Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my partner in crime, Weston Hadkowitz. We are coming
Speaker 1: to you here from our studios at Lambeufield to preview
Speaker 1: Sunday's win to get in game for the Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 1: It will be against the Chicago Bears. It will be
Speaker 1: a three to twenty five pm Central Time kickoff televised
Speaker 1: on CBS. Jim Nantz, Tony Romo. I think this will
Speaker 1: be the first time those two will be doing a
Speaker 1: Packers Bears games. I think so interesting the way that
Speaker 1: sets up, and very interesting the way this season for
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears has gone. We will preview this opponent
Speaker 1: thoroughly here on today's episode, Wes. The Chicago Bears started
Speaker 1: out the season zero to four and looked like they
Speaker 1: were going absolutely nowhere, and suddenly they are surging at
Speaker 1: the end of the season. Not only are they four
Speaker 1: and two in their last six games to get to
Speaker 1: seven and nine at this point, but those two losses
Speaker 1: in their last six games, they had double digit leads
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter over two playoff teams in the
Speaker 1: Lions and the Browns and they let those games get away,
Speaker 1: or the Bears are this close to being on a
Speaker 1: six or a seven game winning streak here. I said
Speaker 1: it in Monday's Insider Inbox. I may have even said
Speaker 1: it on our last show. I think the Chicago Bears,
Speaker 1: based on how they're playing right now, is the best
Speaker 1: team that the Packers have faced since the Kansas City game.
Speaker 2: And I would agree with that in a lot of
Speaker 2: regards because they're the most well balanced and when you
Speaker 2: look at where this offense has been and I can't
Speaker 2: give you the exact breakdowns of what Justin Field's stats are,
Speaker 2: what this Offensi's output was in the first half of
Speaker 2: season when they had him and then when they finally
Speaker 2: got him back. But they're just to be more swagger
Speaker 2: with the Bears offense right now. Juice Herbert is coming
Speaker 2: off his first I think one hundred yard games of
Speaker 2: the season back to back weeks, if at the very
Speaker 2: least the first time he's had him back to back
Speaker 2: weeks here this year, and then DJ Moore has come alive.
Speaker 2: I mean, this isn't the same situation as the first
Speaker 2: month of the season, where there were these demonstrative actions
Speaker 2: after plays and visible frustration. The guy's a thirteen hundred
Speaker 2: yard receiver. He had a two hundred yard game this season,
Speaker 2: and you know, the Bears offense is really flowing. But
Speaker 2: I'll tell you what, Mike and we will previewed both
Speaker 2: sides of these, you know, the football here. But Montes
Speaker 2: Sweat in that trade, Ryan Poles took some flak there
Speaker 2: at the trading deadline for acquiring him because it's like,
Speaker 2: what are you doing? Where's the season going? Why do
Speaker 2: we need another defensive player? And Sweat has been exceptional
Speaker 2: and I think and.
Speaker 1: The assignment to a big contract extension right after they
Speaker 1: acquired him, that was the whole point of getting him.
Speaker 1: It wasn't necessarily for this year. It was they saw
Speaker 1: Montes Sweat as a as a bill block for their
Speaker 1: defense for the future, and he's in the fold long
Speaker 1: term for them.
Speaker 2: And watching how Washington's defense is completely folded after oh
Speaker 2: my gosh.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and they traded Chase Young as well from Washington's.
Speaker 2: But I mean, man, sweat is Sweat ended up being
Speaker 2: the guy, yeah, you know, for Young being the second
Speaker 2: overall pick. So, but all that stuff together, Chicago's feeling
Speaker 2: really good about itself right now and Justin Fields. And
Speaker 2: you heard the cries out at Soldier Field last week,
Speaker 2: people saying we want Justin. This is a huge dress
Speaker 2: rehearsal to see if Justin Fields is going to be
Speaker 2: the Chicago Bears quarterback in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's certainly a lot of noise in that direction.
Speaker 1: I personally think it would be foolish for the Bears
Speaker 1: to hinge a decision like that on this one game,
Speaker 1: like win or loss, or how he performs in this
Speaker 1: particular game.
Speaker 2: Four interceptions could make you change that idea.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, or you know, I mean, I just I
Speaker 1: don't think you ever hinge anything on one game when
Speaker 1: it's a decision of that magnitude. That being said, Justin Fields,
Speaker 1: he's the leading rusher on this team six hundred and
Speaker 1: thirty rushing yards, and you know, obviously part of the
Speaker 1: game plan will be to contain him. I think you
Speaker 1: have to try to make Justin Fields beat you from
Speaker 1: the pocket. That being said, you brought up Dj Moore
Speaker 1: ninety two catches, thirteen hundred yards, eight touchdowns, Cole Kamet
Speaker 1: seventy catches, six hundred and seventy eight yards six touchdowns.
Speaker 1: Nobody else for the Bears has really done much of
Speaker 1: anything in the passing game this year. It has been
Speaker 1: those two guys and certainly DJ Moore being the clear
Speaker 1: number one target for Fields and the other thing. I
Speaker 1: give credit to Fields, and we'll talk more about the
Speaker 1: defense because I think that is really what is fueled
Speaker 1: this turnaround for the Bears, but Fields has also protected
Speaker 1: the ball much better. The Bears over their last seven
Speaker 1: games are plus eleven in turnover margin. They've gone from
Speaker 1: minus two I'm sorry, minus nine on the season to
Speaker 1: plus two in basically the last two months. That's hard
Speaker 1: to do. And yes, the Bears defense is certainly taking
Speaker 1: the ball away, but justin Fields and that offense, they're
Speaker 1: protecting it as well. And I think I think it'll
Speaker 1: be very interesting to see what the Packers do here
Speaker 1: because you have jay R Alexander coming back from suspension.
Speaker 1: Do you line him up on Dj Moore and say,
Speaker 1: all right, twenty three, that's your guy, you know, or
Speaker 1: do the Packers take a different approach with it. I'm
Speaker 1: not sure what Green Bay is going to do, but
Speaker 1: it is but it is very clear that you can't
Speaker 1: let justin fields run around back there and you can't
Speaker 1: let Dj Moore get loose.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's almost I joked about this an insider inbox.
Speaker 2: If you could just recreate what they did in Week one,
Speaker 2: everything would be great. Yeah, But obviously we're in a
Speaker 2: different part of the season. Both of these teams have
Speaker 2: grown in our different units going into this one. But
Speaker 2: you look at that opener, Mike, in addition to them
Speaker 2: getting an early turnover on downs, in addition to them
Speaker 2: turning over the football Kuaywalkers intercept your return for a touchdown.
Speaker 2: R DJ Moore had twenty five receiving yards on two catches.
Speaker 2: Juce Herbert had twenty seven rushing yards nine carries. The
Speaker 2: Bears weren't able to get much going until like garbage
Speaker 2: time in that game. It was like sixty thousand people
Speaker 2: down to like three thousand by the time that game ended. Now,
Speaker 2: the one thing I will say, because you want to
Speaker 2: give Chicago its props, but at the same time, also
Speaker 2: not act like you're facing the seventy two Dolphins here.
Speaker 2: When you do look at their wins. It was Carolina,
Speaker 2: it was the Miami or Minnesota Vikings, an impressive win
Speaker 2: over Detroit, at home after they almost beat them on
Speaker 2: the road, and then it was Arizona and then it
Speaker 2: was Atlanta. They haven't really beaten any big time playoff
Speaker 2: teams during this.
Speaker 1: Stretch, Yeah, except for the Lions.
Speaker 2: Except for the Lions.
Speaker 1: They knocked off the Lions, and frankly should have swept
Speaker 1: the Lions should have beaten them both times.
Speaker 2: But what's funny to me, and what is very interesting
Speaker 2: for this matchup is this is an opportunity for the
Speaker 2: Green Bay Packers to show we are a playoff team.
Speaker 2: We aren't like these other squads. We're going to be
Speaker 2: able to get to that ninth win and that's where
Speaker 2: the real challenge lies. But as you said, Michael, more
Speaker 2: than anything, it starts with justin Fields. You want to
Speaker 2: make him a pass or you don't want to allow
Speaker 2: him to beat you with his legs and trying to
Speaker 2: keep as many bodies as possible on DJ Moore. That's
Speaker 2: the one aspect of this, especially if Darnell Mooney is
Speaker 2: not back from the concussion yet, you can devote resources
Speaker 2: to DJ Moore and play your hand with a lot
Speaker 2: of these other guys. It's not what the situation was
Speaker 2: last week against Minnesota.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, I think, honestly, what becomes an even bigger
Speaker 1: challenge for the Packers, and what I think is really
Speaker 1: the more intriguing matchup in this game is a Packers
Speaker 1: offense that is very much on the rise. We've seen
Speaker 1: Green Bay against a couple of pretty good defenses in
Speaker 1: Carolina and Minnesota, put up thirty plus points back to
Speaker 1: back weeks after not hitting the thirty point mark since
Speaker 1: Week one, all the way back in Chicago at the
Speaker 1: beginning of the year. But this Bear's defense. Wes I
Speaker 1: brought up these statistics in our three Things video. When
Speaker 1: the Bear started the season zero to four, they were
Speaker 1: allowing thirty four point three points per game. Their last
Speaker 1: five games, in which they've gone four and one, they've
Speaker 1: allowed fifteen point two points per game. Nineteen points per game.
Speaker 1: Difference from the stretch at the beginning of the year
Speaker 1: to now this stretch at the end of the year.
Speaker 1: I don't know if I've ever seen a shift that
Speaker 1: big within one season by a given unit. They've risen
Speaker 1: all the way to first in the league against the run.
Speaker 1: They are twelfth overall in yards allowed, still twentieth in
Speaker 1: points allowed. But I think a lot of that has
Speaker 1: to do with what was going on at the beginning
Speaker 1: of the year. Montes Sweat has six sacks for the
Speaker 1: Bears since he joined them at the trading deadline at
Speaker 1: the end of October. He has twelve and a half
Speaker 1: on the season, six of them with Chicago. A couple
Speaker 1: other statistics that jump out to me. One is the
Speaker 1: Bears have twenty two interceptions, which is the highest total
Speaker 1: in the league. They have three different players with four interceptions.
Speaker 1: The cornerback Jalen Johnson, rookie cornerback Tyreek Stevenson, who is
Speaker 1: the reigning NFC Defensive Player of the Week, whereas Jordan
Speaker 1: Love is the reigning NFC Offensive Player of the Week,
Speaker 1: and then the third guy with the four interceptions is
Speaker 1: Tremaine Edmunds. And I think what we've seen, and I
Speaker 1: shouldn't say we've seen, I think what has happened with
Speaker 1: this Bears defense is very much what Matt Lafleur said
Speaker 1: in his Wednesday press conference after practice when I asked
Speaker 1: him about this Bears defense is it's a group that
Speaker 1: has just settled in and played together and figured some
Speaker 1: things out. You look back at the beginning of the season,
Speaker 1: Tremaine Edmunds, TJ. Edwards. Those were brand new guys, free
Speaker 1: agents that they brought in to play linebacker. You had
Speaker 1: Stevenson was a rookie, a second round pick out of
Speaker 1: Miami at cornerback. They were fitting trying to fit in
Speaker 1: all of these different pieces. Defensively, this unit has really
Speaker 1: really come together. And when I look at the twenty
Speaker 1: two interceptions number and as I mentioned, plus eleven for
Speaker 1: the Bears in turnover margin in the last seven games,
Speaker 1: Packers have done a really good job protecting the football
Speaker 1: for the most part this year. It is absolutely paramount
Speaker 1: in this game.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, And what I find most startling about the Bears
Speaker 2: these days is looking specif those inside linebackers, if I may,
Speaker 2: for years, the Bears developed incredible Pro Bowl linebackers, Oh yeah, routinely,
Speaker 2: even after Brian R. Lacker.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean they traded away Roquan Smith to the
Speaker 1: Baltimore Ravens.
Speaker 2: And it's just very interesting to me that they it
Speaker 2: started right around when Vic Fangio was there. Where then
Speaker 2: they started, Okay, now we're gonna start signing inside linebackers.
Speaker 2: Maybe we're not developing them the way we used to.
Speaker 2: We're gonna start signing them. They obviously did get Roquan
Speaker 2: but then they went back to this blueprint of bringing
Speaker 2: in inside linebackers veterans and having them at the core
Speaker 2: of the defense. Different gms have done it, different defensive
Speaker 2: coordinators have done it, but Chicago's had a lot of
Speaker 2: success with it. And with TJ. Edwards and Tremaine Edwins
Speaker 2: together building, you know, two guys with over one hundred
Speaker 2: tackles each this season, I think it kind of got
Speaker 2: back to the roots of this defense. Sweat made a
Speaker 2: lot of sense for them because that was the only
Speaker 2: thing they were truly lacking. They just didn't have a
Speaker 2: pass rusher. They didn't have an edge rusher. And he's
Speaker 2: more than just a guy that's going to rush off
Speaker 2: the edge. I mean, he's a pretty complete defensive end. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but they needed somebody that was gonna be able to
Speaker 2: dial out the pressure a little bit. Because Jalen Johnson
Speaker 2: is an incredible cornerback. Yeah, Eddie Jackson has been a
Speaker 2: pro bowler in this league before, and as we're learning
Speaker 2: now with this young man Stevenson, Tyreik Stevenson, they seem
Speaker 2: to have found another guy that can be a perimeter threat.
Speaker 2: For them. So it's a pretty complete unit. And I
Speaker 2: tip my hat to Ryan Poles because they've basically done
Speaker 2: this in a little over a span of a year
Speaker 2: and how they've remade this whole thing. So while you
Speaker 2: have a lot of veteran presence there, they had to
Speaker 2: sort of grow together and I think you're starting to
Speaker 2: see that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And there are a lot of there are a
Speaker 1: lot of statistics with regard to this Bears defense that
Speaker 1: in some respects you throw out the window for the season.
Speaker 1: They are still last in the league in sacks per
Speaker 1: pass play. Yeah, And to me, that just tells you
Speaker 1: how much they struggled to get after the quarterback until
Speaker 1: Montes Sweat came on the scene for them and has
Speaker 1: been a presence in the pass rush the last couple
Speaker 1: of months. They're also twenty ninth in the league still
Speaker 1: in third down efficiency on defense. Again, to me, that's
Speaker 1: a reflection of just how much they were struggling before
Speaker 1: they really before they really got things going here down
Speaker 1: the stretch. So you know, when you talk about other
Speaker 1: than protecting the football, when you talk about keys, you know,
Speaker 1: keys to victory on on offense here for Green Bay,
Speaker 1: I think it's you know, as much as you as
Speaker 1: much as you have to respect the Bears defense and
Speaker 1: where they are and what they're doing. If you're the
Speaker 1: Packers and the way you've been playing lately, you just
Speaker 1: you just say, hey, we've got to We've got to
Speaker 1: keep doing what we're doing. We just whatever is called,
Speaker 1: we have to execute it at the level that we've
Speaker 1: been executing it and it shouldn't matter that much what's
Speaker 1: going on on the other side. And because that's the
Speaker 1: way the Packers have played these last couple of games, frankly,
Speaker 1: that's how they've they've looked on offense since the since
Speaker 1: the Giants game. I mean, I know, the Buccaneers game
Speaker 1: was all about, you know, the all the breakdowns on defense.
Speaker 1: The Packers offense actually did pretty darn well against a
Speaker 1: good Buccaneers defense in that game, but just couldn't keep up. Obviously,
Speaker 1: I think since the Giants game, the Packers' offense has
Speaker 1: been operating at a really, really high level, and they've
Speaker 1: got to find a way to maintain that against I
Speaker 1: think the best defense, the best defense they've faced in
Speaker 1: quite a while.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And it's a great point you raised there, because
Speaker 2: I think for Green Bay what's going to be very
Speaker 2: interesting this week is seen exactly what this offense is
Speaker 2: going to look like and who's going to all be
Speaker 2: available in very few instances? Could I say the Packers
Speaker 2: having a debt, what an injury report that's nearing twenty
Speaker 2: I think somewhere around there. Yeah, that it actually somewhat
Speaker 2: benefits them because now you have Christian Watson back at practice,
Speaker 2: Now you have Jaden Reid back at practice, don Tavian Wicks,
Speaker 2: There's going to be a multitude of guys that could
Speaker 2: potentially be in the cards for Green Bay. I'm envisioning
Speaker 2: on Friday afternoon several questionable players going into this matchup.
Speaker 1: Yep.
Speaker 2: And it's up to Chicago to account for that. So
Speaker 2: in addition to the fact that we have Luke Musgrave
Speaker 2: now and what would be his what third week of
Speaker 2: being able to practice, So it's a lot of things
Speaker 2: for Chicago to consider. And with as much as Green
Speaker 2: Bay has had to grind and fight through injuries, they
Speaker 2: are starting to get relatively healthier in terms of just
Speaker 2: the body count being on the field. In that way,
Speaker 2: you wonder how much Matt Lafleur his coaching staff if
Speaker 2: they feel Okay about certain guys what they can build
Speaker 2: off of that, because Jalen Johnson super talented, Stevenson super talented.
Speaker 2: But the thing Green Bay has really been quietly developing
Speaker 2: here as an offense that you can't just kind of
Speaker 2: zone in on two guys. It's going to be the
Speaker 2: whole entree that you're going to be challenged with.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and when you look back at the first game
Speaker 1: of the season, it's just another example of just how
Speaker 1: long ago it was and how different everything is. The
Speaker 1: Bears will certainly be the Bears will certainly be prepared
Speaker 1: for the two big explosive plays Aaron Jones made against
Speaker 1: them at Soldier Field. There was the throwback screen that
Speaker 1: he took down the sideline almost for a touchdown. Then
Speaker 1: there was the one on one matchup with the linebacker
Speaker 1: that he took the short throw and took the distance
Speaker 1: for a touchdown there. But you know, Christian Watson wasn't
Speaker 1: on the field in week one, Dontavian Wicks wasn't getting
Speaker 1: a whole lot of snaps. We'll see if he comes
Speaker 1: back this week. Jayden Reid was certainly a part of
Speaker 1: things in Week one, but I think we've seen we've
Speaker 1: seen him certainly become a bigger part of things. The
Speaker 1: Packers tight ends Tucker Craft, you know, he was an
Speaker 1: afterthought back in week one, and look what he's doing
Speaker 1: for the Packers now. And we'll see you he played
Speaker 1: three I remember three snaps? Is that what it was? Yeah? So,
Speaker 1: and we'll see if if Luke Musgrave actually gets cleared
Speaker 1: to come back in any kind of a role this week.
Speaker 1: He is, he is out on the practice field on
Speaker 1: a limited basis. There's there's just there's so much about
Speaker 1: both the Bears defense and the Packers offense that it's
Speaker 1: almost like, you know, other than those couple of Aaron
Speaker 1: Jones plays, I don't even know if there's anything on
Speaker 1: the film from week one that's worth looking at for
Speaker 1: either of these teams as far as those two sides
Speaker 1: of the ball.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because I mean even David Bakti is not out
Speaker 2: there right like he was in Week one when he
Speaker 2: had some uh, you know, very funny and photogenic moments.
Speaker 2: What's your field? But hey, this is what it's all about.
Speaker 2: Michael and I wrote in our Insider Inbox column on
Speaker 2: Thursday that when the NFL made the switch and they
Speaker 2: wanted to end division games on the season. Yeah, that'd
Speaker 2: be the finale of these. They wanted hy drop. I
Speaker 2: can't speak today, Michael high drama moments. Yeah, and that's
Speaker 2: what you're getting in things like this. Yes, Chicago Bears,
Speaker 2: I think of like no chance to make the playoffs
Speaker 2: now right, I think they've got that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they've been eliminated.
Speaker 2: But green Bay, much like last year with Detroit, everything
Speaker 2: is still out for them and you just need to
Speaker 2: win and get in and that's what makes it fun.
Speaker 1: In Week eighteen, Yeah, well, we've mentioned containing justin fields.
Speaker 1: We've mentioned Dj Moore and trying not to let him
Speaker 1: get loose, protecting the football on offense from this secondary
Speaker 1: that likes to get his hands on a lot of football's.
Speaker 1: Anything else from the keys to victory standpoint that stands
Speaker 1: out to you right now.
Speaker 2: Stopping Khalil Herbert. It's the number one thing for me.
Speaker 2: As much as this is about fields and more, Herbert
Speaker 2: is the guy that if you allow them to continually
Speaker 2: win down in distance, e'g in for a long afternoon
Speaker 2: and green Bay did an exceptional job. Other than a
Speaker 2: a few runs that Fields leaked out for, they largely
Speaker 2: contain the run very well at Soldier Field in Week one.
Speaker 2: This run defense has been through some trials and tribulations
Speaker 2: this season, no doubt. Isaiah McDuffie currently out with the concussion.
Speaker 2: But now you got Devandre Campbell back at practice. You
Speaker 2: know you're having to kind of mix and match here
Speaker 2: a little bit, but it seems to be you're getting
Speaker 2: closer to what would be your preferred starting lineup. Can
Speaker 2: you take advantage of that against this opponent. I think
Speaker 2: that's going to be really critical because the more that
Speaker 2: they are able to run with Juice Herbert, the more
Speaker 2: it's going to stress the other things. Trying to make
Speaker 2: sure you limit the explosive plays with DJ Moore, which
Speaker 2: can happen not just on a go route. He could
Speaker 2: take anunderneath pass seventy yards if he wants to do.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's where for me. Sorry to interrupt you,
Speaker 1: but I but one thing that stands out to me
Speaker 1: in this game as a key to victory, because there
Speaker 1: are certain games based on the way teams play and
Speaker 1: the way the Bears in particular, they like to throw
Speaker 1: a lot of horizontal passes. They like to throw the
Speaker 1: bubble screens and and and all that sideways stuff. You
Speaker 1: have to tackle. You cannot let them break tackles. You're
Speaker 1: the tackling has to be on point because because as
Speaker 1: you just said, Dj Moore, DJ Moore can take a
Speaker 1: bubble screen at the twenty five yard line and go
Speaker 1: seventy five yards for a touchdown, and suddenly you're in
Speaker 1: big trouble.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, And so I think the more if you're
Speaker 2: able to slow down the run there early generate some
Speaker 2: more takeaways. Mike, how much time did I spend last
Speaker 2: week talking about how much Green Bay needed to get
Speaker 2: some takeaways and you saw the benefit of it in
Speaker 2: that first half against Minnesota with absolutely two touchdowns coming
Speaker 2: off of takeaways that were both deep inside Minnesota territory.
Speaker 2: That's the key, and you have to make sure that
Speaker 2: I think a fast start will go a long way
Speaker 2: here as well, because as I was researching and you
Speaker 2: and I talked a little bit about on Wednesday, you know,
Speaker 2: Chicago hasn't given up a touchdown here and I think
Speaker 2: over a month in the first quarter, I don't even
Speaker 2: know if they've given up a points going back until
Speaker 2: maybe the Carolina game in the first quarter.
Speaker 1: So that's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2: Being able to set yourself up and get yourself going
Speaker 2: with momentum I think is going to be critical. This
Speaker 2: team plays different when they get stuff going early. The
Speaker 2: offense does, the defense does, and I think that's really
Speaker 2: the path for green Bay into the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Yeah, one one last quick thing before I shift gears
Speaker 1: to sponsor business and the playoff picture. Any thoughts on
Speaker 1: the Pro Bowl situation. The Packers didn't get any Pro Bowlers,
Speaker 1: five guys as alternates. I'll just start with this.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I don't always like to say, oh, well this guy
Speaker 1: should have been a Pro Bowler, because then you have
Speaker 1: to say, like, well, who's not. And there are a
Speaker 1: lot of good players in this league and a lot
Speaker 1: of guys having good seasons and all that. What I
Speaker 1: think is maybe the most distressing thing to me is
Speaker 1: that for the season he's having and that he has
Speaker 1: the third most touchdown passes in the entire NFL. Right now,
Speaker 1: that Jordan Love didn't even make the alternate list at
Speaker 1: quarterback in the.
Speaker 2: Nf He wasn't in the top ten in fan voting like.
Speaker 1: That, that's that's that's a little just And I understand
Speaker 1: the first half of the season, nobody was you know,
Speaker 1: nobody out there was really thinking he was a pro bowler,
Speaker 1: and and he's come on strong late. And that's a
Speaker 1: lot of times, how, you know, guys get overlooked and whatnot.
Speaker 1: But I would have thought at least Jordan Love would
Speaker 1: be on the alternate list somewhere here, and unfortunately that
Speaker 1: didn't happen.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know. I there were four teams that didn't
Speaker 2: have a didn't have a pro bowler, and I think
Speaker 2: it was Washington, New England and maybe Carolina, Yeah, and
Speaker 2: then the Green Bay Packers. One of those things is
Speaker 2: not like the other. But uh, I don't know how
Speaker 2: much they weigh the fan vote anymore. I don't know
Speaker 2: what that formula is. I don't feel like it's an
Speaker 2: even third third third.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they used to, they used to say that that's
Speaker 1: what it was, and I'm not sure that. I'm not
Speaker 1: sure that anymore. For all we know, the fan voting
Speaker 1: is simply ceremonial at this point, and somebody else is
Speaker 1: making all these selections.
Speaker 2: I don't know which case. It still doesn't make any sense.
Speaker 2: But Aaron Burks overtook Rashan Gary for the tenth spot
Speaker 2: at outside linebacker in the final fan vote God bless
Speaker 2: you or in a lot of respect for you. He
Speaker 2: started four games this season, So it's just like that's
Speaker 2: where to me, I think there needs to be a
Speaker 2: certain amount of responsibility tied into this thing of hey,
Speaker 2: who exactly is eligible? I mean I can get vote
Speaker 2: for everybody, that's fine, but like, is this gonna end
Speaker 2: up being like I don't know, but be that as
Speaker 2: it made? The Green Bit Packers have five alternates, I
Speaker 2: would think unless the Packers, of course, are playing in
Speaker 2: the Super Bowl, Rashaun Gary probably does have a good
Speaker 2: chance at this thing as a first alternate. But still, no,
Speaker 2: it's disappointing. I thought Jordan Love had a really strong season.
Speaker 2: I wish, you know, Elton Jenkins would have gotten a
Speaker 2: little bit more flowers. I know it was a tough
Speaker 2: start for him when he was playing out of position again,
Speaker 2: but you know, I think he's settled in slowly and
Speaker 2: surely and work through some injuries for this team and
Speaker 2: the Keyshawn Nixon being the leading person for the fan
Speaker 2: vote under return specialists and then being what a you know,
Speaker 2: an alternate in there somewhere too.
Speaker 1: Like yeah, he's he's in the alternate mix.
Speaker 2: Which is just disappointing, but it is what it is.
Speaker 2: I'm sure no one else really cares about it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I honestly don't care that much about it, but
Speaker 1: I do. I do wish that Jordan Love had at
Speaker 1: least been on the alternate.
Speaker 2: He was behind Sam Huwell for most of the season too.
Speaker 2: Sam Huell was the ten spot, Justin Fields overtook Howell
Speaker 2: at the end and the fan vote, which I agree with,
Speaker 2: but it's like, so where's Sam Hull getting all these
Speaker 2: votes from? You can't Jordan Love can't get any love?
Speaker 2: No pun intented?
Speaker 1: All right, Well, the Serious XM Radio, Serious XM NFL
Speaker 1: Radio delivers hard hitting analysis and up to the minute
Speaker 1: NFL news that true football fanatics need. Twenty four to seven,
Speaker 1: three sixty five and had cousin subs. We have something
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Speaker 1: golden fries and creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite
Speaker 1: sub or sub and a bowl cousin subs fifty years
Speaker 1: of better. All right, Well, as we said at the
Speaker 1: top of the show, as you recently alluded to, it
Speaker 1: is a win to get in game for the Green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers. If the Packers beat the Bears, they are
Speaker 1: in the playoffs as either the six or seven seed,
Speaker 1: whether or not they would be the six or the seven.
Speaker 1: If they do indeed get that victory will hinge on
Speaker 1: the Rams facing the forty nine Ers. If the Rams win,
Speaker 1: the Rams are the sixth seed. If the Rams lose,
Speaker 1: then that's where things could change. The other games that
Speaker 1: factor into this whole NFC playoff picture right now, as
Speaker 1: far as who's going to get which seed? Dallas is
Speaker 1: at Washington, Philadelphia is at the Giants, and Minnesota is
Speaker 1: at Detroit. Now, I laid out all of the possibilities
Speaker 1: in the Path to the Playoffs article. It was posted
Speaker 1: Wednesday on packers dot com. If you haven't seen it,
Speaker 1: go take a look. Basically, it's all the possibilities as
Speaker 1: to whether the how the Packers would get the sixth
Speaker 1: seed or the seventh seed, and then who their possible
Speaker 1: opponent would be, the three possible opponents being Dallas, Detroit,
Speaker 1: and Philadelphia. Dallas can get either the two, the three,
Speaker 1: or the five. Detroit can get either the two or
Speaker 1: the three seed, Philadelphia can get either the two or
Speaker 1: the five seed, and then of course, whoever ends up
Speaker 1: winning the NFC South, which right now the Buccaneers are
Speaker 1: the ones in control, and as long as they can
Speaker 1: beat the last place team in their division, Carolina, the
Speaker 1: Buccaneers will be the four seeds as the NFC South champion.
Speaker 1: So a lot of stuff going on here, but the
Speaker 1: way it turned out the way it turned out. With
Speaker 1: regard to the NFC East, you've had Dallas and Philadelphia fighting.
Speaker 1: They currently have the same record, but they're not playing
Speaker 1: each other in this final game because they've already played twice.
Speaker 1: They're playing, you know, they're split, and both on the road,
Speaker 1: playing Washington and the New York Giants. All these games
Speaker 1: will be going on at the same time in the
Speaker 1: three twenty five cent time late afternoon window. So we'll
Speaker 1: we'll just we'll have to see how how it all
Speaker 1: sorts out. The bottom line is the Packers need to
Speaker 1: win to get in. That's the only thing you can control,
Speaker 1: and the rest of it is the rest of it's
Speaker 1: out of your hands and you have to just see
Speaker 1: where the chips fall.
Speaker 2: I will say this though, again, Packers have to take
Speaker 2: care of their business and nothing else matters. But I'll
Speaker 2: be interested to see how Seattle does with Arizona going
Speaker 2: into whatever that stadium's called out. It used to be
Speaker 2: University of Phoenix in Scottsdale.
Speaker 1: The Cardinals played really Lendale, actually not Scottsdale, Glendale, Glendale.
Speaker 1: It's in Glendale, Arizona.
Speaker 2: I like Scottsdale, though I want to retire.
Speaker 1: That's okay, Yeah, that's it's It's probably a more.
Speaker 2: Enjoyable plus show for me. Today. Just knocked it out
Speaker 2: of the park. But Cardinals played really lively ball there
Speaker 2: in the second half. They made some mistakes, but Kyler
Speaker 2: Murray had that offense believing in the second half and
Speaker 2: seeing you know, Trey McBride. They have some young talented
Speaker 2: players there. I mean didn't didn't result in a lot
Speaker 2: of wins this season with Murray missing half the season,
Speaker 2: but that Seattle isn't just going to roll in there
Speaker 2: and expect to win that game. I expect that to
Speaker 2: be a competitive football game. And then Carson Wentz versus
Speaker 2: Sam Darnold for.
Speaker 1: All the marbles.
Speaker 2: I mean, that's what everybody was looking for.
Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, that's what we all That's what we all
Speaker 1: thought in Week eighteen, Rams that that's where that's where
Speaker 1: I mean, things got because last week last week, both
Speaker 1: of the number one seeds in each conference got decided. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the Niners locked up. The Niners locked up the one
Speaker 1: seed in the NFC because of that Eagles loss to
Speaker 1: the Cardinals, and then the Ravens. The Ravens locked up
Speaker 1: the number one seed in the AFC. So now you
Speaker 1: have you have the the Niners are going to play
Speaker 1: their backup quarterback and the Rams, who know they're either
Speaker 1: going to be the six or the seven, they've decided
Speaker 1: to rest Matthew Stafford and and give him a chance
Speaker 1: to to heal up. And uh and on the FC side,
Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh Steelers certainly have a path of the playoffs
Speaker 1: with a victory if they can if they can beat Baltimore,
Speaker 1: but Baltimore on Saturday, I believe it's Saturday afternoon that game.
Speaker 1: Baltimore is not playing for anything, and and the Steelers
Speaker 1: might be able to slip in with a win over
Speaker 1: the number one seed, but with Baltimore resting some guys.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's gonna be fun to see how that
Speaker 2: all works out. I think Buffalo versus Miami is gonna
Speaker 2: be a really good game. I do like that they
Speaker 2: threw that one in the prime time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that made that made all the sense in the
Speaker 1: world that that with that game being for a division
Speaker 1: title and actually in you know, Buffalo could be playing
Speaker 1: for either the division title or no playoff spot at all,
Speaker 1: Like depending on how things go earlier in the day,
Speaker 1: Miami knows that it's in the playoffs. Obviously, if you're Miami,
Speaker 1: you'd much rather win the division and be playing at
Speaker 1: home in the postseason as to going on the road,
Speaker 1: where they know they're going to have, you know, the
Speaker 1: good weather and everything they're used to, whereas if they
Speaker 1: go on the road, you know, you never know.
Speaker 2: Well, they just got ran off the East Coast last week.
Speaker 2: So when you look at Buffalo Miami, two teams who
Speaker 2: have been very up and down through the course of
Speaker 2: this season. Obviously the Dolphins not so much, but I
Speaker 2: mean the losses and the scale the losses that they've
Speaker 2: had have been somewhat noticeable. Seeing which team is going
Speaker 2: to be able to kind of build some momentum for
Speaker 2: a playoff push here or in Buffalo's case, if it
Speaker 2: would all fall apart altogether. And I'll tell you this,
Speaker 2: Michael too. Eleven and five Verses five and eleven, Philadelphia
Speaker 2: versus New York is not a game just to completely
Speaker 2: roll out because if Philly loses that, I don't care
Speaker 2: who's playing, who's not playing. The Eagles effectively just like
Speaker 2: Dove into the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Meanwhile, the Giants and Brian Dabble, who was feeling okay
Speaker 2: about themselves after the win against Green Bay, they've been
Speaker 2: trickling down here as well. I mean, they got a
Speaker 2: lot of things to figure out.
Speaker 1: So and then they took the Rams to the wire
Speaker 1: last year. Marks, you know, with a big punk return
Speaker 1: and some interceptions, you know, tried to pull off a
Speaker 1: big comeback there. Didn't quite work out. But the Giants
Speaker 1: definitely showed showed a lot of signs of life last
Speaker 1: week against against the Rams and almost got themselves a
Speaker 1: big win.
Speaker 2: Last question, Pittsburgh can they beat Tyler Huntley?
Speaker 1: I think they can. I mean if Pittsburgh, if Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: can cross the country and go in and beat Seattle
Speaker 1: with as much as was at stake in that game
Speaker 1: for both teams, like the Steelers did last week to
Speaker 1: help out the Packers, I think they can definitely beat
Speaker 1: the Ravens and put themselves in a position where the
Speaker 1: Steelers and all their fans will be scoreboard watching on
Speaker 1: Sunday to see if they get the right results. I
Speaker 1: think a lot of it hinges on Jacksonville's game and
Speaker 1: some other things. You know, Steelers are looking to get
Speaker 1: that win and then get the right results on Sunday
Speaker 1: to get a wild card spot.
Speaker 2: The thing I love about what Pittsburgh has done though,
Speaker 2: Mason Rudolph becoming the quarterback again. It reminds you of
Speaker 2: like the Steve Bono, the Doug Peterson era, that the
Speaker 2: places where you just had a backup quarterback somewhere that
Speaker 2: just graduates into a starting role. However that's circumstance might
Speaker 2: play off.
Speaker 1: He's put He's put like sixty some points on the
Speaker 1: board in the last two weeks, when we nobody had
Speaker 1: heard a peep out of him all year long. It's
Speaker 1: just it's it is crazy how this league works sometimes.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, you just get these guys that have
Speaker 2: been in a system, had some ups, had some downs,
Speaker 2: but have basically stayed around the program. Yeah, and then
Speaker 2: here here you are on the cusp of a playoff push.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well it should be a wild and wacky Sunday
Speaker 1: of NFL football. The biggest thing that on the Packers'
Speaker 1: agenda is the Bears and getting a win and getting
Speaker 1: into the postseason. And uh, that's that's job one, and
Speaker 1: we'll see how the rest of it shakes out. So
Speaker 1: with that, we'll call it a rap on this edition
Speaker 1: of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our
Speaker 1: coverage of the team and everything from Sunday's game at
Speaker 1: lambeau Field Week eighteen Packers and Bears. In January, we'll
Speaker 1: have it for you on packers dot com. For Wes,
Speaker 1: I'm Mike. Thank you for tuning in. Everybody. We will
Speaker 1: see you next time.