Speaker 1: Hi everyone, Welcome to Packers unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford, joined by my trusted colleague West Hodkowitz.
Speaker 1: Were coming to you here from our studios at lambeau Field.
Speaker 1: Hope everyone had a happy New Year. West. It is Thursday,
Speaker 1: the second day of the Packers. Will be back, will
Speaker 1: be back, excuse me on the practice field later today,
Speaker 1: a couple of practices here at the end of the week,
Speaker 1: find out the postseason opponent for the divisional round over
Speaker 1: the weekend, and then get back to work again on Monday.
Speaker 1: What I want to do on today's show as the
Speaker 1: Packers head into the postseason, We'll try to take a
Speaker 1: bit of a bird's eye view here, not worrying about
Speaker 1: specific opponents and how those different scenarios might play out,
Speaker 1: but who are some of the the big time players
Speaker 1: for the Packers who need to play big time in
Speaker 1: the playoffs, And who are some of the lesser known
Speaker 1: eyes we don't talk about much, unsung hero types that
Speaker 1: maybe need to play a pretty big role here for
Speaker 1: the Packers to make a postseason run. So let's start
Speaker 1: on the offensive side of the ball. A big time
Speaker 1: guy who needs to play big time football. Who you
Speaker 1: got Aaron freaking Jones? And easy answer, right, I mean
Speaker 1: everybody way to go out on a limb there, hot
Speaker 1: coits being able to pick Aaron Jones. But I want
Speaker 1: to read you some statistics here A big stat guy
Speaker 1: not like you, but I'm a relatively I'm like an
Speaker 1: apprentice stat guy. Aaron Jones. Games in which you went
Speaker 1: over a hundred yards and rushing this year Minnesota week two,
Speaker 1: Week five at Dallas, Week fourteen against Washington, Week sixteen
Speaker 1: at Minnesota, and last week at Detroit. Got a hundred
Speaker 1: yards in that game. Packers were five and oh in
Speaker 1: those games. If you want to throw in the hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty nine yard catch game, yeah the biggest seed
Speaker 1: for Orman's case, make it six and oh. I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna be able to draw that up on a Pro
Speaker 1: Football Focus or ESPN Stats and Info thing, but that's
Speaker 1: a wes Hotkoitz stat right there. Let's look at the
Speaker 1: losses really quickly. Thirteen carries twenty one yards against Philadelphia,
Speaker 1: eight carries for thirty yards against Los Angeles Chargers, in
Speaker 1: thirteen carries for thirty eight yards against San Francisco. Aaron
Speaker 1: Jones needs to produce. He needs to have the football
Speaker 1: in his hands, because when he does, good things happen. Mike,
Speaker 1: We've known it for three years, and I think this
Speaker 1: year seeing the way that he's taken on this role
Speaker 1: in this offense. He's not just a running back. He's
Speaker 1: not just a scat back. He's a third down back.
Speaker 1: He's a pass catcher. He's a guy that can motion
Speaker 1: out and actually catch slant passes, which I thought has
Speaker 1: been a real small, minor edition that a lot of
Speaker 1: people don't talk about, but something the Packers have done
Speaker 1: this year with their running backs. Aaron Jones is a
Speaker 1: ball player, and with having Jamal Williams hopefully getting him
Speaker 1: back here for this divisional playoff run, and seeing what
Speaker 1: Tyler Irvin adds to this offense, Aaron Jones become is
Speaker 1: more and more dangerous. I can't disagree with that selection whatsoever,
Speaker 1: but since I have to pick my own guy, I'm
Speaker 1: also going to be captain obvious here. It's Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1: We've seen We've seen it west. The Detroit game last
Speaker 1: weekend was a perfect example. Aaron Rodgers went back and
Speaker 1: forth in that game between missing throws that we've seen
Speaker 1: him making his sleep over the course of his career,
Speaker 1: and then making some absolutely incredible pinpoint throws that were
Speaker 1: a huge part of that comeback. I'm thinking about, you know,
Speaker 1: the fade to Davante Adams down the right sideline that
Speaker 1: set up the field goal in the first quarter, the
Speaker 1: touchdown pass to Alan was Ard, phenomenal throw, the way
Speaker 1: he avoided the rush and got the ball to Aaron
Speaker 1: Jones on the screen pass on the final drive, and
Speaker 1: there were others, but we also saw the scramble to
Speaker 1: the right. Aaron Jones is wide open for a touchdown
Speaker 1: down the right sideline, he throws it over his head.
Speaker 1: Um Alan was Ard on a deep post over the middle,
Speaker 1: completely splits the defense. He's wide open and the and
Speaker 1: the rocket laser type throws three yards over his head.
Speaker 1: Those are the kinds of throws that Aaron Rodgers has made.
Speaker 1: Those over the course of his career way more often
Speaker 1: than not. And we've just seen these bouts of inaccuracy
Speaker 1: with him at different times, and I just think if
Speaker 1: he straightens out his game, if he becomes more consistent
Speaker 1: with his throws, I think there are a lot of
Speaker 1: things about this Packers offense that can become more consistent
Speaker 1: in the postseason, and that's really what they've been searching
Speaker 1: for for so long, is some level of consistency on offense.
Speaker 1: I think it really falls on number twelve. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: agree with you, Mike, because here's the thing. It is
Speaker 1: a human game. It's a human element to this game.
Speaker 1: Very rarely you're going to see a guy go out
Speaker 1: there and just be perfect. Yeah. I guess technically Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers was against the Raiders, and I think it was
Speaker 1: what Drew was it Drew Brees thirty on that that
Speaker 1: Monday night football game. But in most cases, and even
Speaker 1: in those two specific instances, I bet both of those
Speaker 1: guys have certain plays and things that they want to
Speaker 1: have back. That's just the way that this game is played.
Speaker 1: It's incredibly human. It's the most difficult position in all sports.
Speaker 1: But I think what we learned in that game against
Speaker 1: the Lions is that if you start getting more of
Speaker 1: those big plays the Lazard pass, uh, you know that
Speaker 1: being able to see Aaron Jones throw all the muck
Speaker 1: and and junk that was there and avoid throwing the
Speaker 1: ball and hitting one of the defensive lineman as he
Speaker 1: shoveled off that that screen pass when these things align
Speaker 1: and you create more of those and cut back on
Speaker 1: those maybe plays here there where the ball is just
Speaker 1: a little bit too far, you didn't really step into
Speaker 1: the throw properly. That's when Aaron Rodgers gets really dangerous.
Speaker 1: And the question was asked this week, Mike. It was
Speaker 1: masked to me, and I know it was asked of
Speaker 1: you as well in inbox. Can the Packers? Is this sustainable?
Speaker 1: Can the Packers win a Super Bowl with the way
Speaker 1: they're playing? And my answer was, well, there are two
Speaker 1: games away from it at this point. Now, these are
Speaker 1: gonna be two very diff for gold games. I don't
Speaker 1: care who comes out of the wild Card round to
Speaker 1: come to Lambolefield, that's gonna be a tough opponent. And
Speaker 1: whoever survives to get to that NFC title game should
Speaker 1: the Packers win, will also be a tough opponent. But
Speaker 1: as we've set all along here, if Aaron Rodgers gets hot,
Speaker 1: if you get those terrific throws on the regular, watch
Speaker 1: out for this team because this defense can be suffocating
Speaker 1: at times. These special teams are much vastly improved in
Speaker 1: the final quarter of the season, and offensively, you know
Speaker 1: what they can do with Aaron Jones when he's going
Speaker 1: and when the balls in Davante Adams hands, Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: is the one thing right now that I think, if
Speaker 1: if that all ties together and the consistency is honed,
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers are a team to be reckoned
Speaker 1: with here during the postseame. And and I want to
Speaker 1: clarify too, I'm not saying that Aaron Rodgers needs to
Speaker 1: go out and play the two thousand and ten Atlanta
Speaker 1: Divisional Round playoff game at the Georgia Dome. I don't
Speaker 1: think he necessarily needs to play like that, which was
Speaker 1: otherworldly performance for the Packers to make a run here
Speaker 1: and and take a shot at a super Bowl. But
Speaker 1: I do think that when it's just a throw here
Speaker 1: or a throw there, that can be the difference between
Speaker 1: a touchdown or a field goal, or the difference between
Speaker 1: a big third down conversion across the fifty that gets
Speaker 1: you into scoring range versus having to punt and then
Speaker 1: you're just trying to pin the other team deep. Those
Speaker 1: are the things that one or two you know here
Speaker 1: there in a game can be the difference of another
Speaker 1: another six points, maybe another ten points, you know that
Speaker 1: kind of thing. And that's what That's what takes this
Speaker 1: offense to another level and then takes a little bit
Speaker 1: more pressure off the defense where they maybe they don't
Speaker 1: have to hold somebody to seventeen in order to win
Speaker 1: a playoff game. You've got a little bit more margin
Speaker 1: for error there. I think Aaron Rodgers is the guy
Speaker 1: who creates the margin for error for this Packers team
Speaker 1: going into January. Yeah, and and that's a guy that
Speaker 1: you want in that position because he just he manages
Speaker 1: the game so effectively and that that is such a
Speaker 1: negative contentation to things. But let's be honest, Mike, if
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers doesn't manage that game on Sunday the way
Speaker 1: he did, Packers don't have a chance to come back.
Speaker 1: If the turnovers are there, if the takeaways are there,
Speaker 1: doesn't matter how many incompletions there. If you don't protect
Speaker 1: the football, it's gonna be difficult to put yourself in
Speaker 1: a position to win that game, right. And he talked
Speaker 1: about even after the Minnesota game, which you know, there
Speaker 1: there were obviously some some plays that got away, some
Speaker 1: thrills that got away, this and that and other really
Speaker 1: good plays. But he talked about being you know, on
Speaker 1: his p's and queues with the checks at the line
Speaker 1: of scrimmage and the adjustments and getting the offense into
Speaker 1: the right play and stuff. And that's what he does
Speaker 1: really well in this Matt Lafleura offense. Now it's just
Speaker 1: a matter of him obviously continuing to do that and
Speaker 1: then taking it to another level that we've seen before
Speaker 1: with regard to his accuracy and the playmaking ability. And
Speaker 1: this is the part that I've kind of had problems
Speaker 1: with with Packer fans this year and even some of
Speaker 1: the media narratives with this, because so much they try
Speaker 1: to tie together. Okay, well, he has twenty six touchdowns
Speaker 1: and four interceptions in his yards per pass are this
Speaker 1: and YadA, YadA, YadA. It's it's a difference between understanding
Speaker 1: that there's certain throws I'm sure Rodgers wants to make
Speaker 1: it feels like he can make better and also understanding
Speaker 1: what his role is right now. The Packers had a
Speaker 1: running back that scored sixteen rushing touchdowns this year. This
Speaker 1: is a much more dynamic and versatile red zone offense
Speaker 1: than we've seen in the last ten years in Green Bay.
Speaker 1: It doesn't always have to be on him finding Davante
Speaker 1: Adams or finding Geronio Allison, or throwing or scrambling for
Speaker 1: rushing touchdowns when they get into the red area. He
Speaker 1: has weapons out of the backfield that he can utilize. Now,
Speaker 1: this very easily could have been a thirty five touchdown
Speaker 1: year for him if you don't have an Aaron Jones
Speaker 1: behind you. But the key is and where you've got
Speaker 1: to be able to disseminate all this information and understand,
Speaker 1: you know, the areas of improvement versus the areas of reality.
Speaker 1: Is that there are throws in that game against Detroit
Speaker 1: that Rogers knows he can make better. He talked about it.
Speaker 1: If those things get shored up, if sent of those
Speaker 1: passes get made, this is really a team that can
Speaker 1: be demonstrative force here in the postseason. That's the only
Speaker 1: argument I want to make. Yeah, I agree with you
Speaker 1: all right on staying on offense. Give me an unsung hero,
Speaker 1: a lesser talked about guy here that you think could
Speaker 1: play a really big role in the postseason for Green Bay.
Speaker 1: A lot of great candidates this, you know, Alan Lazard
Speaker 1: is the name that probably jumps off as quickly as
Speaker 1: than most, just based on the way he's come on
Speaker 1: for this offense. You know, if you pro rade out
Speaker 1: his numbers since Week five, I mean he basically have
Speaker 1: been on pace for like a seven, seven or fifty
Speaker 1: yard receiving season. Has been a huge addition to this offense.
Speaker 1: I want to probably go even smaller though than even that,
Speaker 1: And I want to just focus on Lucas Patrick for
Speaker 1: a moment, because we're talking about a guy he stepped
Speaker 1: in admirably for Corey Linsley. But right now, the way
Speaker 1: that the Packers are structured, with the injury to Lane
Speaker 1: Taylor earned the season and the fact that Elton Jenkins
Speaker 1: ended up having to be a starter basically off Week three,
Speaker 1: on Lucas Patrick has not only been the backup to
Speaker 1: Corey Lindsley, he's been the backup to Billy Turner and
Speaker 1: Elton Jenkins, all three of those bots. And if you
Speaker 1: look at the way this this fifty three man roster
Speaker 1: is set right now, Mike, there really isn't another quote
Speaker 1: unquote backup in those interior positions now. Alex like can
Speaker 1: play it. John Leglue was just signed off a practice squad,
Speaker 1: but they haven't really taken those reps as much as
Speaker 1: Lucas Patrick does through this postseason. You hope that the
Speaker 1: only thing Lucas has to do is play on the
Speaker 1: field goal unit and he gets to collect a Super
Speaker 1: Bowl ring at the end of all this. But as
Speaker 1: we saw last week, it can happen just like that
Speaker 1: where he has to go into a football game, and honestly,
Speaker 1: you probably could bring up maybe I'm being a victim
Speaker 1: of recency bias here, but I think that was the
Speaker 1: best game he's played as a Green Bay Packer, and
Speaker 1: he did it in a really critical situation. I think
Speaker 1: there's no question about it, especially when you look at
Speaker 1: the number of snaps, the fact that he came in
Speaker 1: early in the second quarter and the number of snaps
Speaker 1: he ended up playing. This was not just you know,
Speaker 1: subbing in and taking snaps, and he played sixties some
Speaker 1: I think, you know, essentially a full game. But because
Speaker 1: the Packers had more than eighty players in the game,
Speaker 1: it is just that that's the way it played out.
Speaker 1: And just to throw him one more thing, Elton Jenkins
Speaker 1: was a two year starting center in college. I mean
Speaker 1: that tells you how highly they think of Lucas Patrick,
Speaker 1: a guy who never played that position in college, only
Speaker 1: learned it when he got to Green Bay and started
Speaker 1: working with James Camping and obviously with Adam Stanovic. They
Speaker 1: feel comfortable enough that you know what, you're going to
Speaker 1: be the guy they're snapping the ball to Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: and we're gonna keep Jenkins in the position that he's
Speaker 1: played all year. I just think that said a lot
Speaker 1: about Lucas and how he settled into a position that
Speaker 1: he really never played until he got to Green Bay. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take a little bit different tack on this one.
Speaker 1: I am going to stay on the offensive line, though,
Speaker 1: because the guy that I want to talk about here
Speaker 1: is David Baktiari at left tackle. And the reason I
Speaker 1: bring him up is because in the first half of
Speaker 1: the season, we're talking about bok tr being a three
Speaker 1: time All Pro, and we saw a lot more penalty
Speaker 1: flags being thrown in his direction than we're accustomed to.
Speaker 1: He wasn't playing at the level that we had seen
Speaker 1: him play at for the bulk of the previous three years.
Speaker 1: But I think you can make a pretty strong argument
Speaker 1: here that over these last five regular season games, with
Speaker 1: the Packers going five and oh heading into the playoffs,
Speaker 1: that the old David Baktiari is back. Now he's going
Speaker 1: to say, of course that you know he didn't go anywhere.
Speaker 1: He's still the same guy, and yeah he is. There
Speaker 1: were there were some flags I think that were questionable.
Speaker 1: He was trying to work through some things with regard
Speaker 1: to the point of points of emphasis with offensive holding
Speaker 1: and that kind of stuff. But we've seen David Bactieri
Speaker 1: play some really solid, clean football against some top notch
Speaker 1: opponents here down the stretch and when you're heading into
Speaker 1: the postseason where he might be lined up across from
Speaker 1: a Cameron Jordan's, or he might be lined up across
Speaker 1: from a Jadeveon Clowney, or you know, a pass rusher
Speaker 1: like that on the edge. If David Baktieri very quietly
Speaker 1: as he's done this, keeps doing what he's doing, I
Speaker 1: think that can be a really big part here of
Speaker 1: of what the Packers might accomplish in the playoffs. One
Speaker 1: thing that doesn't get talked a lot about with XR
Speaker 1: is his communication skills. Certainly he's an all pro left tackle.
Speaker 1: He is arguably, I think pound for pound you can
Speaker 1: make an argument he is right up there with Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers in terms of the best draft picks Ted Thompson
Speaker 1: ever made, and he did make the Pro Bowl this year.
Speaker 1: I will throw that in. But as we had discussed
Speaker 1: at the time, I over the bulk of the season,
Speaker 1: box tr was not necessarily a player he was in
Speaker 1: previous years. The Pro Bowl recognition was just long overdue
Speaker 1: because he hadn't gotten it previous Yeah, and and Ted
Speaker 1: Thompson being able to find a franchise left tackle on
Speaker 1: the fourth round, that is that is something I think really,
Speaker 1: you know, doesn't get enough a conversation about, especially from
Speaker 1: and from a college program that at the time was
Speaker 1: kind of bottom of the barrel. I mean, the Colorado
Speaker 1: Buffaloes were not winning, they were, you know, at the
Speaker 1: bottom of their conference. And Ted Thompson found, you know,
Speaker 1: the West Coast guys, scouts, they found this guy, and
Speaker 1: they made the fourth round investment in him, and it
Speaker 1: was it's been huge for Green Bay. But what a
Speaker 1: lot of people don't talk about despite all of his
Speaker 1: acolades on the field, he's a really good communicator off
Speaker 1: of it. How many times have we seen Elton Jenkins
Speaker 1: and him to talking in the locker room, talking on
Speaker 1: the sideline. I think that's had a lot to do
Speaker 1: with that young man being able to to play as
Speaker 1: well as he has right off the bat, much similar
Speaker 1: to what Josh Sitton did with Box t R Six
Speaker 1: seven years ago. Now. Absolutely, but the other thing is too, Mike,
Speaker 1: if you watch these games enough. The point I want
Speaker 1: to circle this all back to us back Tar is
Speaker 1: doing the same thing with officials when some of that
Speaker 1: stuff was getting called earlier this year. He was asking officials,
Speaker 1: you know, talking to them after these plays, trying to
Speaker 1: get some clarification on it. And I think he's found ways.
Speaker 1: I haven't asked him this, I haven't talked to him
Speaker 1: about it, but I think you've seen him taylor his
Speaker 1: game to understanding what's being emphasized and what he needs
Speaker 1: to do. Because of the second half of the year,
Speaker 1: I'll be honest with you, I'd be hard pressed to
Speaker 1: find an offensive lineman that's played as well as he
Speaker 1: has since the bye week. Yeah, I think he's been awfully,
Speaker 1: awfully good here down the stretch. And as we've talked
Speaker 1: about a lot box tr on one side, Bolaga on
Speaker 1: the other, I think Brian Blagus should be in the
Speaker 1: running for for All Pro when those there's a real
Speaker 1: chance un Um and we'll we'll see what happens there.
Speaker 1: So I'm not taking anything away from Blaga season, but
Speaker 1: I think box tr is the one who's gone about
Speaker 1: a little bit quieter because he didn't get off to
Speaker 1: a great start this year. If he keeps doing what
Speaker 1: he's doing, this Packers offense is in good shape. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the AP made that adjustment two or three years ago
Speaker 1: where the actual right tackle is what gets picked for
Speaker 1: the all protein, not just two left tackles. Yeah, he
Speaker 1: has a real shot at it. Yeah, all right, defensive
Speaker 1: side of the ball. Give me a big time guy
Speaker 1: who needs to play big time football. It has to
Speaker 1: be Zadarius Smith right now, just because it isn't just
Speaker 1: about his pressures, which he led the league in this
Speaker 1: past year. You can go by ESPNS metric and go
Speaker 1: by Pro Football Focus. Everybody says nobody brushed with the
Speaker 1: quarterback more than Zadarius Smith did. But it's the way
Speaker 1: they're moving him around. It's how you can't really play
Speaker 1: for him at a specific spot. He can go down
Speaker 1: with his hand and the dirt is a three tech.
Speaker 1: He can stand up and go between the A gap
Speaker 1: the B gap. He can rush from the outside I
Speaker 1: think it has led to that whole defensive front. Really,
Speaker 1: it's it's just been this Pandora's box that has opened
Speaker 1: for them. Kenny Clark has been more effective. Preston Smith,
Speaker 1: I think, is doing a really good job doing what
Speaker 1: he's asked to do. You're seeing Kyler Facto and Rashawn
Speaker 1: Gary step up the heart and soul. This defense right
Speaker 1: now is a Darius Smith. They've known that since September
Speaker 1: when they put that c on his chest, and he
Speaker 1: has lived up to that every bit of the way.
Speaker 1: If the Packers are going to make a Super Bowl run,
Speaker 1: if this defense is can can continue to be on
Speaker 1: the streak of holding defense or offenses underneath twenty or
Speaker 1: fewer points, it has to be Zadarius Smith in the
Speaker 1: middle of that orbit. My guy in this category. I'm
Speaker 1: going with Preston Smith. Actually, and the reason I'll say
Speaker 1: that for a couple of reasons. One, I think we're
Speaker 1: going to see these teams in the postseason makes some
Speaker 1: adjustments to how the Packers are moving Zadarius around and
Speaker 1: having him attack from some different angles and you know,
Speaker 1: maybe attack the a gaps here and there. I think
Speaker 1: because of adjustments, we're going to see an opposing offense
Speaker 1: make to that. I think Preston Smith needs to be
Speaker 1: a bigger force off the edge. And I also that
Speaker 1: with because he's a guy, he's had a career year
Speaker 1: twelve sacks, best season that he's had in his five
Speaker 1: year NFL career, But the last month of the season
Speaker 1: he's been a little bit quieter. He hasn't necessarily kept
Speaker 1: up the pace of the high impact plays that he
Speaker 1: was making earlier on. I think if Preston Smith gets
Speaker 1: back to, you know, maybe the guy that we saw
Speaker 1: in October and November, especially in October, I think when
Speaker 1: he was really dominant, I think if he gets back
Speaker 1: to that guy, combined with what sa Darius Smith is doing,
Speaker 1: this Packers defense has a lot going. Yeah, I agree, Mike.
Speaker 1: And the one thing that's nice about Preston and Sadarius
Speaker 1: to when he's outside that really has probably been the
Speaker 1: biggest surprise for me. Maybe not so much with Preston,
Speaker 1: but both of those guys can defend the edge really well.
Speaker 1: There was a number of years there were Green Bay
Speaker 1: against the run. If if you know, it wasn't Clay
Speaker 1: Matthews getting home, they sometimes let stuff open on the outside.
Speaker 1: Packers have been really sure in being able to protect
Speaker 1: to the sideline. The key and will probably bleed into
Speaker 1: what I'm talking about for the underrated defensive player is
Speaker 1: going to be what the Packers can do between the
Speaker 1: handshes you saw Blake Martinez being able to break the
Speaker 1: franchise record two three tackles and the coaches statistics. Uh,
Speaker 1: Dean Lowry. I think this run defense goes as as
Speaker 1: Dean goes a lot of times. Um, if they're able
Speaker 1: to close those gaps here, that is going to be
Speaker 1: so critical because from here on out it doesn't really
Speaker 1: matter unless maybe it's Seattle. Uh. The Packers are gonna
Speaker 1: be facing really potent running offenses, versatile, dynamic, a multitude
Speaker 1: of different guys that can do things. You need Dean Lowry,
Speaker 1: they signed him an extension earlier before the season. Kenny
Speaker 1: Clark has been playing really well. You need those guys
Speaker 1: to set the tone in the middle of the field
Speaker 1: because that is the area where I think a lot
Speaker 1: of these teams, knowing that you can't always stretch against
Speaker 1: Green Bay, you have to hit them north and south,
Speaker 1: They're gonna want to attack. Yeah, so is is Lowry. Yeah.
Speaker 1: For the unsung here a part of it. Okay, I
Speaker 1: like I like that choice a lot because I agree
Speaker 1: with you when you look at when you look at
Speaker 1: these potential opponents in the playoffs, as you say, aside
Speaker 1: from Seattle, Packers are going to have to step up
Speaker 1: and stop the run like they did the final month
Speaker 1: of the season minus the first half in Detroit. They're
Speaker 1: gonna need to play that kind of run defense in
Speaker 1: the postseason. And I agree that Lowry is a big
Speaker 1: key to it. The guy I'm gonna mention here as
Speaker 1: far as the lesser talked about who could play a
Speaker 1: really big role is Darnell Savage, the rookie safety. Because
Speaker 1: safeties are going to have opportunities to make plays. And
Speaker 1: taking nothing away from Adrian Amos, who is your assignment sure,
Speaker 1: your solid tackler, your big time communicator back there gets
Speaker 1: everybody lined up in the right space. Darnell Savage is
Speaker 1: the guy with the speed, He's the guy with the
Speaker 1: physical dynamics in that back end of the Packers defense.
Speaker 1: I just think there's going to be there's gonna be
Speaker 1: that deep shot, whether it's a whether it's a deep
Speaker 1: post of you know, a deep over route towards the
Speaker 1: sideline where he's going to get an opportunity to to
Speaker 1: jump something and use that speed to make a play,
Speaker 1: and he's going to have to make it for two potentially,
Speaker 1: you know, turn the tide here in a playoffs. It's
Speaker 1: a great point and it kind of ties into something
Speaker 1: I've been saying over this last week. I mean, and
Speaker 1: this is probably the thirtieth time I brought it up,
Speaker 1: but again, I think another reason why Brian Goodicuins deserves
Speaker 1: really significant attention and and praise and really should be
Speaker 1: on the front runner for these Executive Year Awards. This overhaul.
Speaker 1: We can talk so much about Zadarius present Smith what
Speaker 1: they brought, but this overhaul of the secondary in the
Speaker 1: last two years, over the last two years exactly, it's
Speaker 1: it's really noteworthy because they've added a lot of speed,
Speaker 1: and they've added a lot of playmaking ability and and
Speaker 1: Darnell Savage encapsulates both of those things. He's a guy
Speaker 1: that if the Packers need him to, I mean, you
Speaker 1: can have him play stuff well what they used to
Speaker 1: refer to his star the nickel cornerback spot. You can
Speaker 1: move him around, I mean, he can play in the box.
Speaker 1: He can play center field, and when he's healthy, I
Speaker 1: just think you've seen a guy that is really an
Speaker 1: incredibly future in this league. And and he is by far.
Speaker 1: I mean the two guys I always go back to him,
Speaker 1: and it was what um Layton vander Esh from Dallas,
Speaker 1: the two guys that I think about over the last
Speaker 1: ten five ten years where we're talking about these high
Speaker 1: risers in the pre draft process, guys that were maybe
Speaker 1: second or third round process climbing the climbing climb right up.
Speaker 1: That doesn't always work out. Sometimes the hype train starts
Speaker 1: going a little too fast and it gets off the tracks.
Speaker 1: And I think Vanderesh was the first guy that kind
Speaker 1: of opened my eyes with it that this guy can
Speaker 1: play and he deserved everything that he got. And Darnell
Speaker 1: Savage to be the first defensive back taken in this
Speaker 1: past year's draft out of Maryland after a late kind
Speaker 1: of resurgence in the in the draft process and after
Speaker 1: his pro day, I just think that this guy is
Speaker 1: special and he is the perfect compliment to Adrian Amos.
Speaker 1: Amos came in, he worked alongside Eddie Jackson, had the
Speaker 1: success that they did in Chicago. I see the same
Speaker 1: type of potential with that back end now in green back.
Speaker 1: And as much as I see the potential for a
Speaker 1: play that Savage can make here in the playoffs, he
Speaker 1: also needs to stick with being assignment. Sure, we saw
Speaker 1: miss the tackle on the running play late in the
Speaker 1: first half against Detroit. Those are the kind of mistakes
Speaker 1: that you know, the rookie. Not to say that you
Speaker 1: can make rookie mistakes in the playoffs, but they can happen,
Speaker 1: and uh, you know that those are the kinds of
Speaker 1: things that he needs that he needs to shore up
Speaker 1: to make sure those types of things don't happen. Because
Speaker 1: you look at Hah on the four teen NFC Championship.
Speaker 1: I mean it's those type of things. And you look
Speaker 1: at Damarius in in Arizona the following year when he
Speaker 1: was a rookie and overtime, big mistake and the Packers
Speaker 1: got knocked out. So those are the kinds of things
Speaker 1: you gotta watch out. Yeah. The beautiful thing for him
Speaker 1: though he has Amos there. He's healthy, he's back in
Speaker 1: his normal spot. And the more that those four to
Speaker 1: work together with Kevin King thrown in there as well,
Speaker 1: I think the better that that group is going to
Speaker 1: be here, especially being as young as they are. Yeah,
Speaker 1: all right, Well, on tomorrow's show, as we wrap up
Speaker 1: the week, we'll take a look at this wild card
Speaker 1: weekend here these four games obviously interesting contest too in
Speaker 1: the a f C Saturday too in the NFC on Sunday.
Speaker 1: We'll give our thoughts and see how we think maybe
Speaker 1: this is going to shake out, but for now 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. You can subscribe to us
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Speaker 1: sure to check out the Packers YouTube channel for all
Speaker 1: sorts of great video content for West I'm Mike. Thank
Speaker 1: you for tuning in. We'll see you next time.