Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford. He is the one and only
Speaker 1: west hod Kuitz. We're coming to you here from our
Speaker 1: studios at lambeau Field West. The Seattle Seahawks in a
Speaker 1: few days will be on their way to Green Bay
Speaker 1: to take on the Packers in the NFC Divisional playoffs
Speaker 1: lambeau Field Sunday, five pm Central Time kickoff. And as
Speaker 1: we get into our discussions of the Seahawks throughout the
Speaker 1: course of the week, this is something I find really interesting.
Speaker 1: The Seattle Seahawks in a very prosperous decade right for
Speaker 1: the franchise. They've been known for an incredible home field advantage,
Speaker 1: for a powerful running game, and for a stifling defense.
Speaker 1: The two thousand nine Seattle Seahawks lost four games at home,
Speaker 1: but they are eight and one on the road after
Speaker 1: winning the wild card game on the road at Philadelphia.
Speaker 1: Their top ranked running game that was built throughout the
Speaker 1: course of this year has lost all of its top
Speaker 1: running backs, and the defense that everybody comes to expect
Speaker 1: is actually ranked in the bottom third of the league
Speaker 1: in the regular season in both yards allowed and points allowed.
Speaker 1: So this is not the classic Seattle Seahawks type of
Speaker 1: team that we've come to expect, but yet here they
Speaker 1: are just like the Packers, two wins away from a
Speaker 1: trip to a Super Bowl. Yeah. I think I've always
Speaker 1: said I feel like there's a lot of parallels between
Speaker 1: Green Bay and Seattle. Uh, and it's been that way
Speaker 1: for the last ten years. And I think that's probably
Speaker 1: kind of an offshoot of John Snyder and his touches
Speaker 1: on that franchise since two thousand nine. But also this year,
Speaker 1: I think their response to adversity. When you look at
Speaker 1: the final eight teams that are left in this playoff hunt,
Speaker 1: these two teams are there because how they've responded to
Speaker 1: having to overcome injuries and set back x and defeats
Speaker 1: and and the CTL Seahawks. You know, Matt Lafleur said
Speaker 1: it at the podium on on Monday, they are a
Speaker 1: tough team. Now. I think the one constant binding this altogether,
Speaker 1: the glue, so to speak. As Russell Wilson question, undoubtedly
Speaker 1: one of the top five quarterbacks in the National Football League,
Speaker 1: It's gonna be able to cover up some holes for you.
Speaker 1: When they lost the running game, he became more fleet
Speaker 1: of foot. They've had different players like you know, DK
Speaker 1: Metcalf and certainly Tyler Lockett now for a number of
Speaker 1: years has been a difference maker at receiver, and he's
Speaker 1: found ways to make do with those pieces. And I
Speaker 1: just think when you really break it all down, his
Speaker 1: ability to extend plays, much like Aaron Rodgers, is such
Speaker 1: a huge advantage for Seattle's offense, especially the way that
Speaker 1: they're structured. Now, the question I wonder is they had
Speaker 1: seventeen backfield carries last week for nineteen yards. That is
Speaker 1: just you've never heard of that before with Seattle and
Speaker 1: the way that they structure their offense, not to mention
Speaker 1: that being successful in winning a playoff team those types
Speaker 1: of numbers. So what I wonder is, if they can't
Speaker 1: get Homer going, if they can't get Lynch going, how
Speaker 1: far can this team go? Does the run end on Sunday?
Speaker 1: We'll have to wait and see, But certainly with Russell Wilson,
Speaker 1: he always is going to give you a chance. Well,
Speaker 1: it certainly seems that as this year is unfolded, the
Speaker 1: Seahawks continue to put a greater and greater burden on
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson to make this work. There are times, and obviously,
Speaker 1: since you and I cover the Packers and we're traveling
Speaker 1: and everything else, we don't always get to sit down
Speaker 1: and watch complete games of other teams. But the times
Speaker 1: this year that I have watched the Seahawks for any
Speaker 1: length of time, it seems that there are significant stretches
Speaker 1: of games where when if they can't get the running
Speaker 1: game going, where suddenly everything offensively is just off schedule
Speaker 1: and improvised, and it's all on Russell to run around
Speaker 1: and make something happen, either either scramble for the first
Speaker 1: down or you know, get right over by the sideline
Speaker 1: and then sly boom, he whips a past to Metcalff
Speaker 1: or Lockett or somebody like that. A lot of the
Speaker 1: off schedule stuff, and I think the Packers heading into
Speaker 1: this matchup, he just you have to be prepared to
Speaker 1: play defense for seven or eight or nine or ten
Speaker 1: seconds on every play. It's just gonna be this, this
Speaker 1: extended battle on every single snap to get a play
Speaker 1: over with when Russell Wilson is doing what he's doing.
Speaker 1: And the fan asked me that insider inbox this week,
Speaker 1: do I feel like they can keep up with Wilson
Speaker 1: for sixty minutes. I actually do think they can for
Speaker 1: whatever reason. When you look at Russell Wilson's career statistics. Now,
Speaker 1: obviously he won the Film Mary Game, he won the
Speaker 1: NFC Championship Game, but his numbers are not gaudy. Against
Speaker 1: Green Bay, he's struggled. Now one of those games was
Speaker 1: historically so, but still, I mean his he has the
Speaker 1: lowest passer rating against Green Bay than any other team
Speaker 1: in the National Football League. And I think one thing
Speaker 1: that Dom Capers did well, and even to a certain
Speaker 1: extent last year, Mike Petton did well their ability to
Speaker 1: kind of keep eyes on him at all times, rush
Speaker 1: from inside, contain the pocket. You want to make him
Speaker 1: throw in that atmosphere and have him step up rather
Speaker 1: than getting outside that the hashes and and really doing damage,
Speaker 1: because that's when his feet can become a real problem.
Speaker 1: What I like though about this, the way that this
Speaker 1: defense is constructed is you have multiple guys that all
Speaker 1: can play that spiral. It can be Kyler Facral, it
Speaker 1: can be Zadarius Smith. You have a couple of safeties
Speaker 1: and Adrian Amos and in Ibrahim Campbell that I think
Speaker 1: are up for it. That's such a critical thing because
Speaker 1: when you look and when the Packers had problems with
Speaker 1: the read option in two thousand twelve and two thousand
Speaker 1: and fourteen, they just didn't have a guy other than
Speaker 1: maybe Clay Matthews that could really play that role. In Matthews,
Speaker 1: you didn't want to take him out of the pass rush.
Speaker 1: So I just think all of those variables are things
Speaker 1: that are going to benefit them in this game because
Speaker 1: it doesn't have to be one guy that's on him
Speaker 1: for the entire game. Mike Petton can mix and match
Speaker 1: depending on what he wants to do with his personnel packages.
Speaker 1: And I've really, I've only believe, but the way they've
Speaker 1: developed Darius Smith and how Kyler Facral has played a
Speaker 1: very quiet but important role for this defense all year long,
Speaker 1: that's going to give them a lot of flexibility that's
Speaker 1: going to not allow the Seahawks to be able to
Speaker 1: pinpoint one guy that they need to, you know, basically stop. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: I wanted to get into some what what we perceive
Speaker 1: as some of the key matchups in this game, kind
Speaker 1: of like we did a couple of weeks ago with
Speaker 1: the big game against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night
Speaker 1: Football and as we're talking here is Mike Petton versus
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson. Is that the matchup that essentially defines this game?
Speaker 1: Do you think I think it is? Up there? I
Speaker 1: think it really is. I mean, when you look at
Speaker 1: how Petton and the run that this defense has been
Speaker 1: on now for the last five games, um that this
Speaker 1: historic streak of holding teams underneath twenty points, twenty or
Speaker 1: fewer points, being able to generate turnovers, you know, not?
Speaker 1: You know they I feel like they've curtailed a lot
Speaker 1: of those explosive plays that kind of bugged them in
Speaker 1: the middle of the season. They're still not perfect. There's
Speaker 1: still areas that they need to work on in certain
Speaker 1: things that they need to change, But all things considered,
Speaker 1: I think as a unit, as eleven people on the
Speaker 1: field at one time, they're playing as well as they
Speaker 1: have all season. So Russell Wilson's is going to challenge
Speaker 1: that though right much like Aaron Rodgers will, He's going
Speaker 1: to challenge your integrity. He's going to challenge what happens
Speaker 1: once the pocket breaks down, once the play gets extended,
Speaker 1: and how you respond to that. They haven't really seen
Speaker 1: a guy like this this at this point of the
Speaker 1: season maybe with the exception being Lamar Jackson, with that
Speaker 1: being a preseason game. So I just think there's so
Speaker 1: much history between these two teams, so much knowledge that
Speaker 1: this defense is going to have of him. Obviously pett
Speaker 1: and seen him a number of times as well. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be a really intriguing matchup. But ultimately who wins
Speaker 1: that particular chest match between Wilson and how Petton wants
Speaker 1: to defend him that has such critical implications for this
Speaker 1: game because of how much Brian Schottenheimer is running this
Speaker 1: offense through Russell Wilson at this point in time. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think the other one people are going to have
Speaker 1: their eye on certainly, and we'll see. With regards to
Speaker 1: Seattle's running game, Pete Carroll has already mentioned he wants
Speaker 1: to give the ball to Marshawn Lynch more that now
Speaker 1: that Lynch has been back for a couple of games,
Speaker 1: they may start trying to feed him and establish him more.
Speaker 1: But DK Metcalf was the big individual star of that
Speaker 1: wild card game against the Philadelphia Eagles, and this is
Speaker 1: a young man, a young receiver, a rookie who has
Speaker 1: really really come on strong. I think in the back
Speaker 1: half of the season, certainly not looking or playing like
Speaker 1: a rookie anymore. And I think it's an interesting decision
Speaker 1: for Petton in terms of how to match up with him,
Speaker 1: because from a size perspective, you have the six ft
Speaker 1: three Kevin King, But by the same token, your best
Speaker 1: pure cover guy is Jayyar Alexander, who from a size perspective,
Speaker 1: is a little bit smaller. Obviously you can rotate around,
Speaker 1: you know, clouds and safety help and and different things.
Speaker 1: I'm really curious to see because I don't know what
Speaker 1: ultimately Mike Petton is going to decide here. I'm very
Speaker 1: curious to see how he decides to defend Dk Metcalf.
Speaker 1: I am to be because not only DK Metcalf, but
Speaker 1: you know Tyler Lockett in the slot. That's not a
Speaker 1: position that Jagr Alexander typically is in either. That's what
Speaker 1: Trumon Williams is. So how do you use number twenty
Speaker 1: three against Seattle? That's a great question that they're gonna
Speaker 1: have to answer. It was really fun listening to Trumon Williams.
Speaker 1: In a tip of the cap to Tremont Williams, uh,
Speaker 1: he said he had two minutes quick because he had
Speaker 1: to go get a massage in at the end of
Speaker 1: locker room on Monday. He's still stuck around for six
Speaker 1: and a half. But near the end of that he
Speaker 1: gave one of his best quotes I felt, because he
Speaker 1: was asked by I believe it was Jim Mozarski from
Speaker 1: The Journal Sentinel about you know, if he sees any
Speaker 1: parallels between Metcalf and Calvin Johnson, and he's like, you know,
Speaker 1: for as big as Metcalf is and he's big and
Speaker 1: he's fast, Calvin Johnson was bigger. I mean, that just
Speaker 1: gives you an idea of what kind of talent he
Speaker 1: was and how difficult he was to defend. But at
Speaker 1: the very end of that, he said, there are comparables
Speaker 1: between those two guys, and I just think with Metcalf,
Speaker 1: he's such a great story. I wrote this an inbox too.
Speaker 1: He's a guy that I think I personally have always
Speaker 1: kind of pushed for a little bit because I don't
Speaker 1: know if I can remember a player with no off
Speaker 1: the field issues, no character flaws. There wasn't any of
Speaker 1: those type of questions that caused him to fall. It
Speaker 1: was just this incredible scrutiny that was placed on his game,
Speaker 1: and you know, maybe a little bit more sensitive to
Speaker 1: this because I just did that Alan Lazard story three
Speaker 1: weeks ago, and Lazard talked about, you know, when you're
Speaker 1: six five, the challenges of proving the teams that you
Speaker 1: are a receiver and that you can be accountable there
Speaker 1: and that you have the speed and you have the
Speaker 1: speed to do it. And DK Metcalf who everybody said
Speaker 1: couldn't run routes. They were showing these videos of all
Speaker 1: this is an impressive route running, or he's not fast enough,
Speaker 1: and here he is making a huge impact and is
Speaker 1: a big reason why Seattle has made it to this
Speaker 1: place in the playoffs. I'm excited to watch him play.
Speaker 1: I'm excited to see how the Packers match up with
Speaker 1: him because I think when you look at the difference makers,
Speaker 1: the playmakers with Seattle's offense for the first time in
Speaker 1: a long time, it starts with the receiver position. It
Speaker 1: starts with him. Yeah, well, when you look at some
Speaker 1: matchups on the other side of the ball, Bobby Wagner,
Speaker 1: kJ Wright, couple of linebackers who have been doing it
Speaker 1: for a long time for Seattle. There, Bobby Wagner certainly
Speaker 1: the you know, the heart and soul of of that
Speaker 1: defense and has been so for a long time now.
Speaker 1: The Packers are going to get Aaron Jones Jamal Williams
Speaker 1: going in the running game. If they want to get
Speaker 1: those running backs going in the passing game, It's about
Speaker 1: finding way to get those linebackers blocked because because right
Speaker 1: in Wagner, those two guys can you know, whatever it
Speaker 1: is fifty three yards wide, is the field or whatever
Speaker 1: the measurements, they can cover the whole thing sideline to sideline,
Speaker 1: as the saying goes, and I think, uh, um, those
Speaker 1: are the two guys the Packers have got to uh
Speaker 1: They've got to get them blocked to get Jones and
Speaker 1: Williams involved to the extent I think that Matt Lafleur
Speaker 1: is gonna want to get them involved. Yeah, and you mentioned,
Speaker 1: you know, all the changes and how different this Seattle
Speaker 1: team is from some of the ones we've seen in
Speaker 1: the past. The one consistent factor throughout the two thousand
Speaker 1: tens in the decades was just really high level caliber
Speaker 1: play at middle linebacker. Certainly Wagner and right are a
Speaker 1: big part of that reason. But what impresses me the
Speaker 1: most when you look at Wagner's game is we're talking
Speaker 1: about a guy that's now in his eighth NFL season.
Speaker 1: In this day and age, it is getting more and
Speaker 1: more difficult to be a high impact player at middle
Speaker 1: linebacker into your eighth, ninth, tenth season. It's just with
Speaker 1: the speed of the position, the speed of the game.
Speaker 1: There's just certain things that you see certain guys step
Speaker 1: up in their first rookie contract and almost sort of
Speaker 1: like a running back, they just can't sustain that level
Speaker 1: play into their late twenties and thirty and the whole
Speaker 1: proliferation of sub packages and everything else where. You know,
Speaker 1: guys are always looking for a specialist to fill in
Speaker 1: here or there and whatever. As you said, Bobby Wagner
Speaker 1: is the constant. And when that Seattle defense, Yeah, when
Speaker 1: you can defend the nickel or the past and a
Speaker 1: true nickel, that's a real that's an advantage for a
Speaker 1: defense right now with the way the game is structured.
Speaker 1: But for Wagner to come back, him and you know,
Speaker 1: Blake Martinez were right there with each other all year
Speaker 1: long for the tackle lead in the NFL. Wagner ends
Speaker 1: up getting it a hundred I just he is he's
Speaker 1: a difference maker. And seeing how I wrote it an
Speaker 1: inbox today, I just feel like this game has to
Speaker 1: start on the ground for Green Bay. I threw out
Speaker 1: those statistics. When you look at Aaron Jones and Jamal
Speaker 1: Williams when they rush for a hundred yards, the Packers
Speaker 1: are undefeated this season, they're six and oh, that number
Speaker 1: becomes seven and oh, if you want to throw in
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones going for a hundred fifty nine receiving yards
Speaker 1: against Kansas City, the offense when they produce the Packers win,
Speaker 1: and seeing if they can penetrate that front and get
Speaker 1: those middle linebackers moving to whether it is through the
Speaker 1: pass or the run, that is just I think it's
Speaker 1: such a huge task that the Packers need to accomplish
Speaker 1: in this game for it to go the direction they
Speaker 1: needed to. Yeah. Well, we also mentioned did jadeveon Clowney yesterday?
Speaker 1: And I apologize I meant to look up before we
Speaker 1: came in here, But is Clowney primarily going to be
Speaker 1: over Brian Blaga or Yeah, that's sort of been the
Speaker 1: way he lines up on their left side, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's really when he was in Houston, they just would
Speaker 1: put him anywhere. Yeah, they moved him all over the place.
Speaker 1: I drew those comparisons with the Dairy Smith. I mean,
Speaker 1: you look at how much the Darius played off the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage this year. It's pretty uh emblematic of
Speaker 1: what Clowney did in Houston. He was really effective in
Speaker 1: that role. But yeah, they were doing that in Houston
Speaker 1: with Clowney and Watton Merciless and you know, and and
Speaker 1: Shuffle and those guys around all the time. But he
Speaker 1: seems to be a little bit more predominantly on one
Speaker 1: side the defense has left the offense is right. I
Speaker 1: think Bilaga is the one who's going to see the
Speaker 1: Lions share of the work, so to speak, against Clowney
Speaker 1: on Sundays. Yeah, Clowney is such a funny player because
Speaker 1: if you look at him this year, thirteen start or
Speaker 1: thirteen games, eleven starts, he only had three sex. He
Speaker 1: actually had more forced fumbles than he did sacks this
Speaker 1: year with four, also through an interception for a touchdown.
Speaker 1: But as a number of pundits and analysts had pointed
Speaker 1: out from that game against Philadelphia, I mean, you want
Speaker 1: to talk about that defensive performance and why the Seahawks
Speaker 1: were able to dominate the way they did and really
Speaker 1: keep the Eagles out of the end zone. It starts
Speaker 1: with Jadeveon Clowney. Now he will rush both sides. I mean,
Speaker 1: they do still flip flop those guys. I think in
Speaker 1: this day and age, you really it's difficult just to
Speaker 1: key in at one spot because of the attention that
Speaker 1: you know potentially the the offense is going to give you.
Speaker 1: But all that being said, I feel like this final
Speaker 1: stretch of the year, after he worked through some injuries,
Speaker 1: I mean, you're seeing a guy that that was the
Speaker 1: first overall pick, that was maybe the most highly touted
Speaker 1: defensive prospect entering the NFL since I don't know, maybe
Speaker 1: going back to two thousand two with Mario Williams. There's
Speaker 1: just so many people that were high on him. And
Speaker 1: while he's never had like that nineteen sacks season, he's
Speaker 1: just been a consistent performer and he doesn't in a
Speaker 1: multitude of different ways. Packers have an very interesting week
Speaker 1: they have to go through here with the offensive line.
Speaker 1: They're kind of battling a little bit of an illness bug.
Speaker 1: They were able to get Bloga back at practice on Monday.
Speaker 1: He's still in the concussion protocol from what I understand,
Speaker 1: but the fact that he's out there and with any setbacks,
Speaker 1: you would hope that he'll be on the field on
Speaker 1: Sunday because having him and David Baker in a game
Speaker 1: like this, I mean you could as you tip your
Speaker 1: captain Jared Valdier a very ad morble performance that he
Speaker 1: had against the Lions. But box Tr and Bolag are
Speaker 1: the reason why the Packers have made it to this
Speaker 1: point of the season and being as effective as they've
Speaker 1: been on the offensive line. Box Tr also welcoming in
Speaker 1: a new left guard in in Elton Jenkins. At the
Speaker 1: right guard, it's been Billy Turner moving in next to Bilaga.
Speaker 1: The way that those guys have galvanized that offensive line,
Speaker 1: it's been so critical that success. And if you're gonna
Speaker 1: be able to hold up against this Seattle front, you're
Speaker 1: gonna need those two on the field. Yeah. I couldn't
Speaker 1: agree more certainly. There. I want to back up for
Speaker 1: one second, though, because I neglected one thing with regards
Speaker 1: to the Packers defense matching up against the Seattle offense.
Speaker 1: We saw in the wild card game. The Seahawks upfront
Speaker 1: offensively had a really, really hard time with Fletcher Cox
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Eagles. Now, they're not the first offensive line
Speaker 1: in the world to have a hard time with Fletcher
Speaker 1: clock Cox. He does that to a lot of people.
Speaker 1: But my question for you, Wes is seeing what number
Speaker 1: ninety one for Philadelphia did in that wild hard game,
Speaker 1: what do you think that means for say Kenny Clark
Speaker 1: or for Zadarius Smith. With the way Mike Petton has
Speaker 1: been moving him inside to attack on the interior at
Speaker 1: certain times, what do you think what do you think
Speaker 1: that means or or what might we be seeing come
Speaker 1: Sunday in terms of that type of match up. Well,
Speaker 1: and it depends, you know, if Mikeya Potti is going
Speaker 1: to be able to play in this game. That's been
Speaker 1: sort of the question mark. The veteran guard was not
Speaker 1: available against the Eagles in the wild card round, but
Speaker 1: some early reports were indicating even when he was ruled
Speaker 1: out for the Eagles game that if the Seahawks advanced,
Speaker 1: they were expecting him to be available for Round two. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was a big loss. Earlier this season, they lost
Speaker 1: Justin Britt, who had settled in at their center spot
Speaker 1: for the last few seasons. Joey Hunt I believe it
Speaker 1: was a former four or six or seventh round pick
Speaker 1: for them. Has been sort of like there, Lucas Patrick,
Speaker 1: He's been in the you know, the practice squad and
Speaker 1: on the roster for the past two years. He's been
Speaker 1: the guy that's settled in there. But the film is
Speaker 1: what it is, and there was a lot of disruption
Speaker 1: that was caused by Fletcher Cox and what Philadelphia was
Speaker 1: able to do in the middle. And I've always said,
Speaker 1: if you want to know, not really a blueprint, because
Speaker 1: anything can change it in any given week. But I
Speaker 1: mean the history is when you can pressure Russell Wilson
Speaker 1: from up front, not only does that make it more
Speaker 1: difficult for him to escape the pocket, it doesn't allow
Speaker 1: him to step into throws when he needs to make
Speaker 1: them from the pocket. I really believe, Mike, this game
Speaker 1: has to be about Kenny Clark, Dean Lowry and Zadarius Smith,
Speaker 1: what kind of disruption they cause, and also how they're
Speaker 1: able to stay fundamentally sound in their rushes to not
Speaker 1: get beat on the other side of that, because if
Speaker 1: you do lose containment, Russell Wilson will go up the
Speaker 1: middle of the field and he will burn you for
Speaker 1: ten to fifteen yards at any given time. That is
Speaker 1: going to be such a huge challenge I think for them.
Speaker 1: But when you see what Philadelphia did with Fletcher Cox,
Speaker 1: who at this point in time, I put him right
Speaker 1: up there with Kenny Clark, right put Kenny Clark up
Speaker 1: there with Fletcher Cox, I should say I agree. I
Speaker 1: just think there is a plan in a formula for
Speaker 1: what Mike Petton can do to make life as difficult
Speaker 1: as it possible for Russell Wilson in the middle of
Speaker 1: the field. Okay, one last thing to throw at you
Speaker 1: here before we go. I mentioned at the top of
Speaker 1: the show the Seattle Seahawks eight and one on the
Speaker 1: road this year, seven and one in the regular season,
Speaker 1: they win the wild card game on the road. They've
Speaker 1: got this whole road warrior mentality going. Packers are seven
Speaker 1: and one at lambeau Field. The last eight Packers Seahawks
Speaker 1: games and thirteen of the last fourteen Packers Seahawks games
Speaker 1: have been won by the home team. Do you think
Speaker 1: it means anything? Um, I think that the latter stat
Speaker 1: does the home field advantage because I think both of
Speaker 1: these teams historically, not just this season, have played well
Speaker 1: to their home stadium. I mean, you can talk to
Speaker 1: Mason Crosby about the advantages of a kicker knowing what
Speaker 1: it's like to be in Lambeau and in the quarterback
Speaker 1: of the defense, and when you get this crowd going
Speaker 1: for meaningful games, what that does for this roster and
Speaker 1: how difficult that can be for an opponent, and certainly
Speaker 1: Century Link that goes without saying, so I understand the
Speaker 1: challenge for both teams going into the other stadium. Now,
Speaker 1: this might be the pessimist in me, but a lot
Speaker 1: of people will look at the seven and one now
Speaker 1: eight in one record for Seattle and they'll say, I
Speaker 1: mean the road Warriors, and they are the proof is there.
Speaker 1: But I always look at that as a disadvantage going
Speaker 1: into this, much like I kind of looked at the
Speaker 1: Packers going into US Bank. You know, it's kind of
Speaker 1: disadvantage at times too. One Green Bay is a much
Speaker 1: different place to play in with the weather. If it
Speaker 1: can be in the twenties, if there's maybe a little
Speaker 1: bit of snow, that's a game changer, especially for a
Speaker 1: Seattle team that hasn't been able to consistently run the
Speaker 1: ball since Chris Carson got hurt. But more importantly than that,
Speaker 1: it's really difficult to go eight in one as a
Speaker 1: road team. It's even more difficult to go nine in one.
Speaker 1: So I think there's probably a glass half empty, half
Speaker 1: full approach to how you got to view that number,
Speaker 1: because sometimes while it does look like it's a team
Speaker 1: that can handle that, there is another side of it
Speaker 1: that says, this is a team that might be due
Speaker 1: for a our performance on the road too. Well, there's
Speaker 1: one thing we definitely do know about both of these teams,
Speaker 1: and that is that they know how to win close games.
Speaker 1: The Seattle Seahawks have won eleven games with a margin
Speaker 1: of eight points or less this year. The Packers of
Speaker 1: won eight of their victories with a margin of eight
Speaker 1: points or less. So these teams they know what it
Speaker 1: takes to win close games in the fourth quarter. And certainly,
Speaker 1: if wild Card weekend was any indication we're gonna have
Speaker 1: a four quarter game on our hands, it's gonna be
Speaker 1: a dogfight. I don't see any other way around it.
Speaker 1: We're always talking with John Coon about this in the
Speaker 1: locker room when we're kind of like breaking down this
Speaker 1: matchup and what you know, those exact numbers too, of
Speaker 1: how colmony one score games these two teams have been in.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't anticipated being a blow out either way. And
Speaker 1: the thing that makes it the most captivating is the
Speaker 1: one score games. I understand how those can go either
Speaker 1: way depending on a play here there. You know, maybe
Speaker 1: a lucky bounce, but there is something you learn about
Speaker 1: yourself and there's a confidence in a swagger that comes
Speaker 1: with it when you are on the winning end of that.
Speaker 1: So many times, I think so too. A real argument
Speaker 1: can be made these are the most forged teams in
Speaker 1: the NFL when it comes to fourth quarter football and
Speaker 1: seeing what that battle looks like as nightfalls on lambeau
Speaker 1: Field on Sunday night, It's gonna be really exciting to watch. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think so, and we'll this is the topic I
Speaker 1: think we'll revisit as the week goes along here, but
Speaker 1: for now, we're going to call it a wrap on
Speaker 1: this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all
Speaker 1: of our coverage of the team previewing this big playoff
Speaker 1: matchup on Packers dot com. You can subscribe to us
Speaker 1: like us on iTunes and other podcast services, and check
Speaker 1: out all the great video content on the Packers Excuse me.
Speaker 1: YouTube channel for wes I Am Mike. Thanks for tuning in, everybody,
Speaker 1: See you next time.