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, Western Hodquits were coming to
Speaker 1: hear from separate rooms at lambeau Field and West PM.
Speaker 1: A game that was flex to the late afternoon time slot.
Speaker 1: It will be Packers Lions on Sunday from Ford Field
Speaker 1: in Detroit. One thing that I've had a hard time
Speaker 1: keeping track of, so I'm gonna start the show by
Speaker 1: throwing this at us. The Detroit Lions have been shuffling
Speaker 1: around their offensive weapons, running backs, wide receivers and what
Speaker 1: not due to injury throughout the year. Can you give
Speaker 1: us the latest on exactly where Matthew Stafford's collection his
Speaker 1: supporting cast stands here heading into Sunday. Yeah, it's really
Speaker 1: interesting when you get down because it seems like no
Speaker 1: matter what year it is, there's always some difference. There's
Speaker 1: always a change with the backfield. And this year everybody
Speaker 1: just figured, Okay, DeAndre Swift, he's the draft pick. They're
Speaker 1: gonna run with this guy, and unfortunately he's had some injuries. Well,
Speaker 1: then lo and behold, it's not Carrie on Johnson. It's
Speaker 1: not some of these other running backs that have come through.
Speaker 1: It's Adrian Peterson, of all people, has emerged as his
Speaker 1: primary running back. Now we got to see what Swift's
Speaker 1: availability is going to be this week. He was limited
Speaker 1: on practice on Wednesday, so maybe he's back in the
Speaker 1: cards of former high school teammate of Packers rookie guard
Speaker 1: John Runyon. But if not, Adrian Peterson has been the
Speaker 1: guy in the backfield for Detroit. And it's funny that
Speaker 1: it works out like this too, because it was was
Speaker 1: talking with Jerry Montgomery, the Packers defensive line coach on
Speaker 1: Wednesday night. He even said, he's like, if you look
Speaker 1: at him, he looks like he has juice. Again. He
Speaker 1: looks like, if you didn't know, you would think he
Speaker 1: was a second or third year player in this league
Speaker 1: just based on the way he's running. But the other
Speaker 1: aspect of this is the the skill position players for Detroit,
Speaker 1: and this year you've seen t. J. Hockenson really become,
Speaker 1: uh the number one target, the big receiver, reliable player
Speaker 1: in this Detroit Lions offense amidst all the injuries with
Speaker 1: Kenny Galladay, who at the time in which we're taping
Speaker 1: this still as yet to practice. And then obviously Marvin
Speaker 1: Jones Jr. Daniel Mendola. There are weapons there on the perimeter,
Speaker 1: but it's really Ben Hockinson, the former first round pick
Speaker 1: that has emerged is really the big playmaker in this
Speaker 1: offense from Matthew Stafford. Yeah, Hockinson definitely seems to have
Speaker 1: have come on here in his second season, a former
Speaker 1: top ten draft pick, and this offense, the passing offense
Speaker 1: definitely looks different without Kenny Golladay out there. And he's
Speaker 1: been out for quite a while now for the Lions.
Speaker 1: He's he's been he was developing into such a reliable
Speaker 1: deep threat for Matthew Stafford, the guy who could take
Speaker 1: the top off the defense. Now we'll have to see
Speaker 1: if Detroit is going to get him back on Sunday
Speaker 1: or by the end of the season, but that offense
Speaker 1: has definitely missed him. Going back to Peterson, though, I
Speaker 1: tell you, if you just if you just turn on
Speaker 1: the film of that game winning touchdown at Soldier Field
Speaker 1: last week when he ran it in from about the
Speaker 1: five yard line, that really did look like the Adrian
Speaker 1: Peterson of old. That was like the high knees the
Speaker 1: power like you know, get out of my way kind
Speaker 1: of Adrian Peterson run that gave gave the Lions that
Speaker 1: big victory in Chicago. So well with regard to this, uh,
Speaker 1: this Lions offense, Let's get right into the keys to
Speaker 1: victory for the Packers on the defensive side. What's it
Speaker 1: going to take? What are the keys for Green Bay
Speaker 1: to notch win number ten in Detroit on Sunday? It
Speaker 1: starts with Matthew Stafford. And I think when you look
Speaker 1: at the ups and downs that Detroit has had this season,
Speaker 1: a lot of it is tied into how Stafford has
Speaker 1: played and if he's been able to get them out
Speaker 1: of certain predicaments. I think, but you know, Daryl Bevel
Speaker 1: taking over this offense now, obviously a guy with former
Speaker 1: ties not only to the Packers but also University of Wisconsin. UM,
Speaker 1: there seems to be a little bit more energy now
Speaker 1: that typically does happen with with inter raim coaches. But
Speaker 1: last week, if that's any indication, they were not afraid
Speaker 1: to sling the ball and and Stayford has the capability
Speaker 1: at any given time to go off for fourner and
Speaker 1: two passing yards like he did last week, and the
Speaker 1: other aspect of this too is how quickly he gets
Speaker 1: the ball out green Bay. You know when when you
Speaker 1: face these type of quarterbacks that that are kind of
Speaker 1: those quick gun slingers, uh, that that can generate a
Speaker 1: lot of power, a lot of speed at at a
Speaker 1: short time frame. Green Bay has had trouble with them
Speaker 1: in the past. We talked about, you know, Drew Brees
Speaker 1: and Philip Rivers. And it's not just the current incarnation
Speaker 1: of this defense, it's going back to the Dom Caper's
Speaker 1: era too. So being able to pressure Stafford, being able
Speaker 1: to get the ball out quickly and probably generate a
Speaker 1: turnover two I think is critical in this because, like
Speaker 1: I mentioned before, whether it's Hawkinson who has put up
Speaker 1: a lot of yards recently, but it's actually been five
Speaker 1: or six weeks since he's had a touchdown. Marvin Jones Jr.
Speaker 1: You know the history of him between with the Packers
Speaker 1: over the last four or five years. Um, there are
Speaker 1: guys that that definitely can still hurt you, and and
Speaker 1: packers need to be aware of that and make sure that,
Speaker 1: um they don't allow Stafford to get comfortable. They had
Speaker 1: seven sacks last week. You got to keep that pressure
Speaker 1: up this week. Yeah. Absolutely. Well, you know, we know
Speaker 1: we've seen Matthew Stafford plenty over the years, and I
Speaker 1: have a lot of respect for him as a quarterback.
Speaker 1: But if there's the one way that you can get
Speaker 1: him off his game, it is to put pressure on him,
Speaker 1: because he becomes a risk taker. When he's under pressure.
Speaker 1: He will try to force things, he will try to
Speaker 1: make things happen. And sometimes he makes some incredible throws
Speaker 1: and some great plays that you know, your your jaw
Speaker 1: kind of hits the floor. Other times he pays for
Speaker 1: taking those risks and and they come back to bite him.
Speaker 1: And that's why he's, you know, throwing the number of
Speaker 1: interceptions that he has in his career because he likes
Speaker 1: to take chances, and so you you get him to
Speaker 1: take chances by putting him under duress, especially in third
Speaker 1: down situations. So the other thing I would say with
Speaker 1: regard to the Packers defense, anytime you face Matthew Stafford,
Speaker 1: you have to be ready to play four quarters. And
Speaker 1: just ask the Chicago Bears. Stafford put together a nineties
Speaker 1: six yard touchdown drive with less than four minutes to
Speaker 1: go last week at Soldier Field to start that comeback
Speaker 1: for the Lions to come back and beat the Bears.
Speaker 1: Matthew staff for just never considers himself out of a game.
Speaker 1: He's always he's going to come at you for four quarters.
Speaker 1: And and we've seen the Packer defense. You know, yes,
Speaker 1: they were up big, and we had talked about all that,
Speaker 1: but there were a couple of letdowns in the in
Speaker 1: the Bears game late there was the letdown on the
Speaker 1: fourth and eight teen against the Eagles. Those are the
Speaker 1: kinds of the setbacks in the fourth quarter that you
Speaker 1: can't afford to have those against Matthew Stafford because because
Speaker 1: then that is what gets him going and gets him
Speaker 1: in a rhythm, and then and you know, the next thing,
Speaker 1: you know, you're back is against the wall trying to
Speaker 1: stop him from getting the game winning touched down. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it is a very interesting thing that the Packers find
Speaker 1: themselves in a situation that they find themselves in right
Speaker 1: now because there have been those lapses. But at the
Speaker 1: same time, you know, the pass rush generating as much
Speaker 1: pressure as they did early on in that game, responding
Speaker 1: at an appropriate time to where you look at it,
Speaker 1: and Philadelphia is able to get down to the thirty
Speaker 1: yard line. There I believe was in the first half
Speaker 1: they get back to back sacks and force them to
Speaker 1: end up hunting. Darniell Savage has three picks in the
Speaker 1: last two games. They have the trio of a your Alexander,
Speaker 1: Kevin King and Shandon Sullivan all available now, which is
Speaker 1: you know, they had to do some juggling. So there's
Speaker 1: been these really stark differences between when Greenby's offense or
Speaker 1: defense has really looked dominant in moments where they they've
Speaker 1: had difficulty getting those stops, particularly on third down. So
Speaker 1: that's where Stafford is gonna challenge you, and honestly, that's
Speaker 1: also where Peterson is gonna challenge the Packers. Can't be
Speaker 1: in a lot of third and short situations. That's been
Speaker 1: a bad recipe for them this year. That's been a
Speaker 1: bad formula. You look at their statistics when it's third
Speaker 1: and six, third and seven and on. They've actually performed
Speaker 1: pretty uh, you know, pretty well this season throughout the
Speaker 1: course of the year. But it's in those third and
Speaker 1: three unless where they've had a hard time kind of
Speaker 1: holding the fort. But you look at the performance Dean
Speaker 1: Lawry had last week. Kenny clark Um the the inside
Speaker 1: linebackers I think get more comfortable as they've gotten healthier,
Speaker 1: and also the infusion of Rashawn Gary in to this defense.
Speaker 1: You're seeing what this group is going to look like
Speaker 1: down the stretch and potentially what the pieces are going
Speaker 1: to be in place for a postseason run. King's Leakiki
Speaker 1: having another two sack performance last week, But you need
Speaker 1: to dring it together consistently, so that starts with the
Speaker 1: run game and making sure that Adrian Peterson is held
Speaker 1: in check, and beyond that, not allowing Matthew Stafford to
Speaker 1: make those big connections downfield. Yeah, you mentioned the third
Speaker 1: and long. I think statistically, if you look at third
Speaker 1: and seven plus, the Packers had one rough game in
Speaker 1: that category this year, was that Indianapolis. But even including
Speaker 1: that third and seven plus, the Packers are are one
Speaker 1: of the top, if not the top defense in the
Speaker 1: NFL in terms of in terms of getting those those
Speaker 1: third down stops. So on the offensive side of the ball,
Speaker 1: this is the highest scoring offense in the NFL and
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers against one of the highest scoring
Speaker 1: defenses in the NFL. That Detroit has really struggled on
Speaker 1: the defensive side of the ball and when I see
Speaker 1: that big a disparity heading into a matchup like this,
Speaker 1: the first thing that always comes to my mind is
Speaker 1: then just protect the football. Because the way the way
Speaker 1: this Detroit Lions defense, you know, can swing the game
Speaker 1: and to and to get Green Bay out of its
Speaker 1: own rhythm offensively is to turn the ball over. The
Speaker 1: Packers have to protect the football, and I think if
Speaker 1: they do that, West, I think this Packers offense should
Speaker 1: be able to score enough points to win this game
Speaker 1: at Ford Field. Yeah. And and then the second there
Speaker 1: has just been such an issue for them this season,
Speaker 1: the Lions that is, and and you know Darius Slay
Speaker 1: there there for so many years they're shutdown cornerback, while
Speaker 1: as we saw last week, now he's with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Speaker 1: And you know, Jeff Akuda was supposed to be the
Speaker 1: guy that's gonna be the one picking up that torch.
Speaker 1: He's had his own struggles this year and now dealing
Speaker 1: with the shoulder injury. He didn't practice on Wednesday. So
Speaker 1: there's just been a lot of different maschinations of this defense.
Speaker 1: You know, Tray Flowers that signing hasn't in that same offseason,
Speaker 1: and the Packers got the Smiths. The trade Flowers signing
Speaker 1: hasn't really been the same productive tool in terms of
Speaker 1: pass rush that that the that the Lions wanted, and
Speaker 1: he's dealt with injuries now too, So Green Bays standpoint is,
Speaker 1: you just got to focus on what's in front of
Speaker 1: you here. Davante Adams is on a historic streak. He
Speaker 1: has an opportunity to break a tie right now with
Speaker 1: Don Hudson before I even tell you what that's for.
Speaker 1: Anytime you're talking about break a tie with Don Hudson,
Speaker 1: you're talking about all time great streaks here in Packers history.
Speaker 1: He's looking for his eighth receiving touchdown and consecutive game,
Speaker 1: which would be a franchise record. He's already over a
Speaker 1: thousand yards of this season. With all the questions that
Speaker 1: Detroit has in the secondary, and a lot of these
Speaker 1: same questions lingered in Week two as well, I just
Speaker 1: think that this is a game where Aaron Rodgers really shines.
Speaker 1: The Packers offensive line has allowed thirteen sacks this season
Speaker 1: through twelve games, on pace for the fewest during Rogers
Speaker 1: tenure as a starting quarterback. You give him time, you
Speaker 1: get the running game going, you start off fast and
Speaker 1: continue that streak of really powerful second quarter performances. The
Speaker 1: Packers are outscoring their opposition two to one in the
Speaker 1: second quarter this season. I just think there are so
Speaker 1: many different snowballs that could really build up for Green Bay.
Speaker 1: But before we get away with just canning them that
Speaker 1: tenth win of the season, Davante Adams, a lot of
Speaker 1: these guys talked about it. They've been in some knockdown
Speaker 1: drag wars in Detroit here over the last five years.
Speaker 1: Doesn't matter what the what the records say, doesn't even
Speaker 1: matter what that The situation is. They've had to find
Speaker 1: ways to win these games late. So you have to
Speaker 1: be ready to play that type of ballgame, especially for
Speaker 1: a Lions team that you know, seems to have a
Speaker 1: little bit more pepping at step with Daryl Bevo running things. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Matt Lafleur has has simply been pointing to his three
Speaker 1: games thus far as the head coach of the Packers
Speaker 1: against the Lions in terms of in terms of what
Speaker 1: the Packers have had to deal with. It had to
Speaker 1: come from behind every time, even in what turned into
Speaker 1: a runaway victory in Week two earlier this year, the
Speaker 1: Packers were down fourteen to three after the first quarter.
Speaker 1: The offense, you know, was starting a little bit slow,
Speaker 1: the defense was starting slow and uh and you had
Speaker 1: you had to rally there. And we all know last
Speaker 1: year the Packers never had the lead with any time
Speaker 1: on the clock in either of those games, kicking a
Speaker 1: walk off field goal to UH to emerge victorious in
Speaker 1: both of the matchups with the Lions in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1: So I'll throw in another note with regard to the
Speaker 1: Davante Adams streak you mentioned. He's tied right now with
Speaker 1: Don Hudson for a touchdown reset option in seven straight games.
Speaker 1: There are only two other players in franchise history who
Speaker 1: have a touchdown rushing or receiving in seven consecutive games,
Speaker 1: which is the team record, and you're talking about amand
Speaker 1: Green and Paul Hornig and Hudson obviously, So Davante Adams,
Speaker 1: now tied with all those guys, could could put himself
Speaker 1: in first place on that list. And I've got a
Speaker 1: bunch of other, you know, potential milestones for Davante Adams
Speaker 1: and Aaron Rodgers that I posted on on our website
Speaker 1: in a story on on Wednesday evening. So if you
Speaker 1: want to check that out a lot of things to
Speaker 1: follow here over the last four games of the regular
Speaker 1: season for for these two offensive superstars for Green Bay. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and and and if you throw on robertsani in the
Speaker 1: street that he's on and I touched on an insider
Speaker 1: inbox on Thursday, the fact that you know he's a
Speaker 1: few touchdowns away now from matching Paul Kaufman's franchise record
Speaker 1: for touchdowns in a season by tight end that's thirty
Speaker 1: seven years old. There are so many different things, and
Speaker 1: that's how you know you're having a special season when
Speaker 1: those type of accolades start to mount up and really
Speaker 1: start to come to the forefront of things. Rogers, there's
Speaker 1: still a number of marks that he's chasing this season,
Speaker 1: in addition to now I believe being the only quarterback
Speaker 1: with five seasons of at least thirty five touchdown passes.
Speaker 1: Just some incredible marks and Mike, before we pivot over
Speaker 1: to some of these matchups this weekend, one off the
Speaker 1: field mark that the Packers also added Corey Linsley, this
Speaker 1: year's Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee. Congratulations to
Speaker 1: uh to Corey, him and his wife Anna. They have
Speaker 1: done some fantastic work in the community over the last
Speaker 1: few years. And if you look at the list of
Speaker 1: guys who have been up for that award in the
Speaker 1: last six season, some really high character, high value people,
Speaker 1: and uh, Corey gets at his name to that list
Speaker 1: as well. Yeah, absolutely, congratulations to Corey and and his wife. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: Corey on injured reserve right now. The Packers hoping to
Speaker 1: get him back before the end of the season and
Speaker 1: uh and get him back in action. But uh, but
Speaker 1: certainly that that's you know that Walter Payton Man of
Speaker 1: the Year. Every team nominates one and then the league
Speaker 1: selects uh some finalists and then one winner when it's
Speaker 1: all said and done. But even within an individual team,
Speaker 1: if if there's an off the field award that that
Speaker 1: the players really do pay attention to it, it's that one.
Speaker 1: And and hats off to uh to Lindsley there um well.
Speaker 1: With regard to the rest of the slate in the
Speaker 1: NFL in Week fourteen and how it impacts the Packers,
Speaker 1: the official scenario is this, the Packers can clinch the
Speaker 1: NFC North with a victory and with a loss by
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings. The Packers also can clinch a playoff
Speaker 1: spot with a victory and either a loss by the Rams,
Speaker 1: a lost by the Cardinals, or strangely enough, a victory
Speaker 1: by the Seattle Seahawks. Now, I have not figured out
Speaker 1: exactly where that I mean, and I don't like to
Speaker 1: admit when I can't figure the stuff out West, You
Speaker 1: know that, Like I dig into the numbers, and I
Speaker 1: I haven't had the time nor the energy to really
Speaker 1: try to understand how a Packers win and a Seahawks
Speaker 1: win actually clinches a playoff spot for the Jets. Jets.
Speaker 1: It has something to do obviously with that NFC West
Speaker 1: and those three teams that are bunched so closely in
Speaker 1: in in the NFC West. But anyway, I would still
Speaker 1: in my path the playoffs. I'm not advising Packers fans
Speaker 1: to root for the Seahawks to win, because we're going
Speaker 1: to be talking about the seeding positions. I think in
Speaker 1: the playoffs and the Seahawks getting losses is what's going
Speaker 1: to help the Packers with the with the seeding of things.
Speaker 1: But with that, we'll start with right away the Thursday
Speaker 1: night game. The Patriots are at the Rams. The Rams
Speaker 1: looking to keep the pressure on those Seattle Seahawks in
Speaker 1: the race for the for the NFC West title. So
Speaker 1: that one has an impact on on Green Bay right
Speaker 1: away here Thursday night. Yeah, it's typically I'll be honest
Speaker 1: with you, Thursday evenings if I'm not writing or working
Speaker 1: or taking care of my son, I personally just like
Speaker 1: to kind of get away from football those nights. This
Speaker 1: one will be a point in viewing for me, though.
Speaker 1: I think you're looking at two teams that, while their
Speaker 1: records do seem different, they're both chasing a very similar
Speaker 1: goal and they've gone about it the same way. Um.
Speaker 1: The Patriots have been up and down, there's no question
Speaker 1: about it. But I think when you look at the
Speaker 1: way they've sort of overachieved in some people's eyes this year,
Speaker 1: it's it's pretty underrated what they've been able to accomplish
Speaker 1: and in being able to at least get to this spot.
Speaker 1: I know there's some even some overtures right now out
Speaker 1: of the New England area that Bill Belichick should be
Speaker 1: up for Coach of the Year. Too bad, that guy
Speaker 1: never gets enough credit for what he does in the league. Um,
Speaker 1: But looking at the rams side of things, this is
Speaker 1: a critical game. You're seeing them right there, not only
Speaker 1: just for this, you know, the playoff spot, trying to
Speaker 1: get back in the postseason, but they're in the running
Speaker 1: now for a division title if they can make this
Speaker 1: thing happen in a tough opponent that they have to
Speaker 1: go up against, in a New England Patriots team that
Speaker 1: I thought last week really proved this isn't just about
Speaker 1: passing anymore. They can win in a lot of different ways. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: as far as the games on Sunday in the NFC
Speaker 1: that will affect Green Bay and its playoffs standing, Minnesota
Speaker 1: is at Tampa Bay. Um obviously the Vikings trying to
Speaker 1: trying to stay alive in the division race, but also
Speaker 1: in the wild card race in general in the NFC
Speaker 1: S and Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay, as far as the
Speaker 1: NFC South is concerned, is kind of in the same
Speaker 1: position as Minnesota. The Buccaneers are three games behind the
Speaker 1: New Orleans Saints with four left to play, so their
Speaker 1: chances for the division title don't look good, but the
Speaker 1: Buccaneers wanting to be right in that wild card race
Speaker 1: as well. You have Arizona at the New York Giants.
Speaker 1: I mentioned an Arizona loss, would you know potentially help
Speaker 1: Green Bay clinch a playoffs spot. The Giants a team
Speaker 1: on the rise right now. They're looking to get rook
Speaker 1: that not rookie but second year quarterback Daniel Jones uh
Speaker 1: back from injury, and uh the Giants looking to try
Speaker 1: to win that NFC East And then late afternoon Sunday
Speaker 1: going on at the same time as Packers Lions will
Speaker 1: be the Saints at the Eagles. The Eagles going with
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts. It's been announced that that Carson Wentz will
Speaker 1: be on the bench and the young quarterback for Philadelphia
Speaker 1: will get his first NFL start. And UH, the Saints
Speaker 1: right now with the top record in the NFC one
Speaker 1: game ahead of the green Bay Packers, the Packers hoping
Speaker 1: to get a win, have the Saints get a loss,
Speaker 1: and then green Bay would be tied for that top
Speaker 1: spot and have the head to head tiebreaker over New Orleans. Yeah,
Speaker 1: if green Bay can keep that to a two team
Speaker 1: race here down the stretch, that works to their advantage.
Speaker 1: This the thing that you look at these the way
Speaker 1: this lays out right now in the NFC, there are
Speaker 1: two very different paths right now. If not no pun
Speaker 1: intended to your pass to the playoffs, but you have
Speaker 1: Green Bay. You want to talk about why it's so
Speaker 1: important on December tenth, the time we're taking taping this
Speaker 1: to be at nine wins, just look at how the
Speaker 1: rest of the NFC is sort of shaped out right now.
Speaker 1: There is a handful of teams between five and seven
Speaker 1: victories right now, you talk about Minnesota and Tampa Bay
Speaker 1: that very well could end up being for a playoff
Speaker 1: spot for one of those teams. Because you have Detroit
Speaker 1: that's still in the thick of this thing, even though
Speaker 1: weird as that says, You have Washington had five wins,
Speaker 1: you have New York Giants at five wins. There are
Speaker 1: teams here that can work themselves back into a playoff
Speaker 1: picture here because of the seven seeds and the fact
Speaker 1: that nine wins quite possibly could get you into the
Speaker 1: postseason this year, regardless of all the different scenarios and
Speaker 1: whether or not the Seattle Seahawks can beat the you know,
Speaker 1: the winless New York Jets. But the other thing to
Speaker 1: keep an eye on two is how these type of
Speaker 1: games go. Jalen Hurts, you saw him in the second
Speaker 1: half against that game against Green Bay. How does he
Speaker 1: look now against the New Orlands Saints, the defense that
Speaker 1: they present. You get him on your own floor, you
Speaker 1: get them out to your own field. But that's a
Speaker 1: big test that Doug Peterson is asking his rookie quarterback
Speaker 1: to endure. But you have to figure out what you
Speaker 1: have in him. Right now is the Eagles look to
Speaker 1: be pivoting towards next season, and for Green Bay Packer fans,
Speaker 1: it's all about the New Orleans Saints right now, and
Speaker 1: you know, kind of keeping tabs on them and where
Speaker 1: they're at, hoping that the Packers continue to take care
Speaker 1: of their own business and seeing exactly where the Saints
Speaker 1: end up here. Yeah, there'll be a lot of scoreboard
Speaker 1: watching by Packers fans in the early part of Sunday
Speaker 1: with how the Vikings and the Cardinals are doing. And
Speaker 1: then later on on Sunday while the Packers are playing,
Speaker 1: keeping an eye on that Saints game. I'm gonna throw
Speaker 1: out a bunch of a f C games West and
Speaker 1: just get some quick thoughts for you. Kansas City is
Speaker 1: at my Ami, an interesting one there Sunday Night football.
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh is at Buffalo Monday night football. Baltimore is that
Speaker 1: Cleveland some really interesting a f C matchups here that
Speaker 1: are going to have an impact on on playoff spots
Speaker 1: and or playoff seeding when this is all said and done.
Speaker 1: Huge gut check for Buffalo. They they've had some highs
Speaker 1: and they've they've had some lows throughout the course this year.
Speaker 1: Now they're going up against the Pittsburgh Steelers team that
Speaker 1: has a couple of questions to answer themselves after they
Speaker 1: dropped last week. Now, in the long run, I think
Speaker 1: they'll probably end up benefiting the Steelers. They can focus
Speaker 1: more on trying to win a Super Bowl, trying to
Speaker 1: make a playoff run here after the missing it last year,
Speaker 1: instead of having this conversation about, Okay, are you gonna
Speaker 1: play your starters in Week seventeen, even though it may
Speaker 1: they may have the one seed locked up. All things
Speaker 1: we have to figure out. But Buffalo has shown that
Speaker 1: they can play with anybody in this league when the
Speaker 1: offense is right, defensively very competitive. Baltimore Ravens versus the
Speaker 1: Cleveland Browns, though, is a matchup I have my eye on.
Speaker 1: Cleveland seems to have found their offensive rhythm here. Baker
Speaker 1: Mayfield has recaptured some of them that magic that he
Speaker 1: sort of alluded to his rookie season in Baltimore. Is
Speaker 1: that a crossroads? So this is going to be one
Speaker 1: of those type of matchups that I think. But at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, both of these teams. I
Speaker 1: still think Baltimore is a playoff team, but they weren't
Speaker 1: looking to be a playoff team in two thousand twenty.
Speaker 1: They were looking to win a super Bowl. They were
Speaker 1: looking to take the next step. And it's a very
Speaker 1: competitive competitive race right now in the a f C.
Speaker 1: And they gotta go against Cleveland Browns team that by
Speaker 1: all intensive purposes, has finally arrived after years and years
Speaker 1: and decades of just not really being able to to
Speaker 1: find the quarterback and find the right foundation to build
Speaker 1: a winning culture around. Yeah. Well, it's a really good
Speaker 1: slate of games in Week four team in the NFL.
Speaker 1: I think things are just going to get better and
Speaker 1: better here as December rolls along. But for now we
Speaker 1: have to sign off on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the
Speaker 1: team and all of our coverage of Sunday's game from Detroit.
Speaker 1: It'll all be on Packers dot Com for wes I
Speaker 1: Am Mike, Oh, you know what, almost a sponsored business
Speaker 1: and again forgotten again. I think I'm gonna have to
Speaker 1: start reading the sponsorship. Maybe maybe I have to maybe
Speaker 1: I have to give that to you, all right, Well serious.
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Speaker 1: know what the key is moving forward? When you forget,
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna interrupt everything. I'm gonna go, Mike, you
Speaker 1: gotta do the thing. Do the thing. It's all. It's
Speaker 1: going back to the it's going back to the zoom thing.
Speaker 1: And you know, I trying to have the conversation this
Speaker 1: way instead, you know. Yeah, So any we're just trying
Speaker 1: to keep the operation above water here. Yeah, but with that,
Speaker 1: we're calling it a rap. Thanks for tuning in, everybody.
Speaker 1: We'll see you next time.