WEBVTT - #623 Packers Unscripted: Short week, tall order 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:11.200 Hi everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:11.200 --> 0:00:14.480 Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:16.759 by my partner in crime, Wes Hodkoits. We're coming to 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:19.800 you hear from our studios at lambele Field West. It's 0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:23.440 been a short compact week. Thursday Night football is almost 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:26.320 here and it's a big one of course, Packers against 0:00:26.320 --> 0:00:30.000 the Cardinals out in Arizona. Cardinals at seven and no 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:32.240 Packers at six and one. We know all of that. 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:35.800 A very important game here for late November. And the 0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:39.400 latest with regard to the Packers, Uh, the offense is 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:41.600 going to be a bit shorthanded, it appears because not 0:00:41.680 --> 0:00:44.920 only is Davante Adams on the COVID nineteen reserve list, 0:00:44.960 --> 0:00:48.680 but Alan Lazard has been added to that list as well. Um, 0:00:48.680 --> 0:00:51.800 A real challenge here now for the Packers on offense 0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:55.560 when you're going up against one of the best offenses 0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:57.040 in the league and you kind of think, you know, 0:00:57.080 --> 0:00:58.400 this is going to be one of those you've got 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:02.160 to keep up score type of games without question, and 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:04.000 you know in first and foremost, as I'm gonna say 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:07.240 every time we address COVID nineteen related items. You hope 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:10.240 for the best from a humanistic standpoint for Davante Adams 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:13.959 and al Lazard, both genuinely good guys, you hope everything 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:16.920 works out in that regard. Shifting back to the business 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:19.200 of football, the fact of the matter is that the 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:22.400 Packers are pretty depleted at receiver. You also have Malik 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:25.880 Taylor on COVID nineteen as well. Mark was about the 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:27.760 scantling at the time in which we're taping this, not 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:29.560 sure if he's going to be activated or not. All 0:01:29.600 --> 0:01:32.320 of injured reserve. So just looking at terms of who 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:35.319 the active guys are on the roster, it's Randall Cobb, 0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:39.520 Econemius st. Brown, you would imagine they'll probably end up 0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:42.160 activating Jowan were in free off the practice squad for 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:44.800 this game. He was active last week as well. It 0:01:44.920 --> 0:01:47.320 almost in some ways, Mike reminds you a little bit 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:49.560 of that playoff game at the end of the fifteen season, 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:52.120 where now they lost Randall Cobb in the course of 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:54.640 that game, but they were down to basically their last 0:01:54.640 --> 0:01:57.560 three guys at receiver and James Jones with the hoodie, 0:01:58.600 --> 0:02:01.320 Jeff Janis and Jared aber Dais and then nearly one 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:04.160 the day game. But it's gonna be about the playmakers 0:02:04.200 --> 0:02:06.520 in this game. Regardless of whether or not MBS is 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:09.280 back or Taylor is activated. They have to be able 0:02:09.320 --> 0:02:11.760 to rely on their running backs Aaron Jones and AJ 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:15.000 Dillon not just as runners, as playmakers. They're gonna need 0:02:15.080 --> 0:02:18.080 Robert Tonyan to step up, Mark you know, you know 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:20.480 Mercedes Lewis has gonna go to the last couple of weeks. 0:02:20.919 --> 0:02:23.000 It's gonna take a full throated effort there by the 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:26.480 Packers to make this thing go for them on Thursday night, 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:30.239 and then obviously the biggest kingpin of all, Aaron Rodgers 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:32.840 playing the way that Aaron Rodgers needs to play against 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:35.080 the guy. And Kyler Murray, who had twenty four years old, 0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:36.639 really looks like he's going to be one of the 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:40.280 preeminent quarterbacks here for years to come. Yeah, absolutely, you wonder. 0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:42.200 I mean for the Packers, this is one of those 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:45.240 things where who's it going to be, right? Who is 0:02:45.280 --> 0:02:47.720 the guy or guys? You hope it's even more than 0:02:47.760 --> 0:02:50.520 one that steps up and has that kind of big 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:55.320 time game. Obviously, Robert Tonyan had a very productive game 0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:57.720 last week against Washington, got into the end zone on 0:02:57.760 --> 0:03:00.800 a twenty yard touchdown pass e hu st Brown. We 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:03.359 saw him catch a touchdown against Chicago. Yes it got 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:06.200 called back, you know, controversial or close call type of 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:10.919 penalty thing there. Maybe rookie receiver Marii Rodgers gets more 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:13.680 snaps here. We've seen Randall Cobb have a multi touchdown 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:16.000 game this season. And then we all know what the 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:19.120 Packers have in the backfield. Aaron Jones, A J. Dillon 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:22.600 the Packers interestingly, and this is a stat that's almost 0:03:22.639 --> 0:03:25.720 hard to believe, of course, but in the Matt Lafleur era, 0:03:26.480 --> 0:03:30.320 Davantae Adams has missed six games and yet the Packers 0:03:30.320 --> 0:03:32.320 are six and oh in those games. And the reason I'm, 0:03:32.400 --> 0:03:34.360 you know, asking the question who's it going to be? 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:37.080 Because you look at how the Packers have won those 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:39.480 six games when Adams has been out of the lineup. 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:43.480 In Matt Lafleur's offense, we saw Aaron Jones have a 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:46.160 four touchdown game in Dallas. We saw him have a 0:03:46.240 --> 0:03:50.440 hundred and fifty plus receiving yards at Kansas City, both 0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:54.080 of those games in in nineteen. Jamal Williams had a 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:57.760 hundred yard rushing game in twenty nineteen with Davante Adams 0:03:57.760 --> 0:03:59.960 out of the lineup in the Packers beat the line 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:02.360 in prime time, and then you go to last year, 0:04:02.640 --> 0:04:06.240 Tony In had the three touchdown game against the Atlanta Falcons. 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:08.520 Al Lazard had the big game at New Orleans. So 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:11.320 it's been always been somebody right in order to be 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:14.480 able to come out victorious. So the question is, you know, 0:04:14.640 --> 0:04:17.080 who is it going to be. We'll have to find out. Yeah. 0:04:17.080 --> 0:04:19.000 The best part about that streak that they've been on 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:21.320 is I think the narrative going into every single one 0:04:21.320 --> 0:04:24.240 of those games was, well they lost Stavante Adams, now 0:04:24.279 --> 0:04:28.400 what and and it was inevitably somebody always stepping up. 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:30.440 The Ala Lazard one, although they won't have Lazard on 0:04:30.440 --> 0:04:32.120 Thursday night, is the one that really hits home for 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:34.279 me because I thought it was that game that he 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:37.159 really showed that this guy can be a guy that 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:39.839 can be counted on, you know, when the lights are bright. Unfortunately, 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:42.200 he suffers the cm I in that game and then 0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:45.560 he misses six games. But it's like I said, it's 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:47.520 gonna take all hands on deck to beat a team 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:50.279 like Arizona. They're the top scoring defense in the National 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:52.279 Football League right now. I mean, we focus so much 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:56.200 offensively what they do, but defensively they're limiting teams as well. 0:04:56.440 --> 0:04:59.800 Cliff Kingsbury that style of offense, the air raid, what 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:02.799 ever you want to call it. There's so much focus. 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:04.840 Even going back to his time at Texas Tech has 0:05:04.880 --> 0:05:07.080 been on the offensive side of the ball. They very 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:10.000 quietly built a monster on defense though, with you know, 0:05:10.040 --> 0:05:13.560 Buddha Baker and as you know, Marcus Golden. They bring 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:16.280 in you know, J. J. Watt, Chandler Jones has been 0:05:16.320 --> 0:05:19.520 one of the top pass rushers, while unheralded, a very 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:22.200 productive player for a number of years now. So there's 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:25.039 just been reactivated as well, reactivate as well, and there's 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:27.600 just there's so many weapons that you look at. Um 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:31.240 Isaiah Simmons was a really exciting inside linebacker coming out, 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:34.080 you know, and you know Xavi and Collins. There's a 0:05:34.080 --> 0:05:36.440 lot that Greeny is gonna have to contend with. And 0:05:36.600 --> 0:05:40.840 you know, to their credit, Rogers La Fleur, Nathaniel Hackett, 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:43.400 they've been able to develop some really brilliant game plans 0:05:43.400 --> 0:05:46.320 over the years. And you know, as as Dean Lowry 0:05:46.400 --> 0:05:48.440 kind of said, you know, and talking with the media 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:52.160 on on Tuesday, you know, Aaron Jones, a J. Dillon 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:54.120 have really stepped up through the course of this season. 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:55.880 This might be a game where it makes sense for 0:05:55.880 --> 0:05:58.719 those guys to step up again. Yeah. Absolutely. And on 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:01.400 the defensive side of the ball, all Packers are planning 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:06.039 to be without defensive coordinator Joe Berry, who tested positive 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:10.160 for COVID, Matt Lafleur announcing late in the day on 0:06:10.200 --> 0:06:14.719 Tuesday that defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator on 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:18.080 the defensive side, Jerry Gray, will be the play caller 0:06:18.720 --> 0:06:22.559 for the defense on Thursday, and obviously a natural choice 0:06:22.600 --> 0:06:26.839 there because Gray has been a defensive coordinator for two 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:29.360 different franchises in this league, a total of eight years, 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:32.919 five years with Buffalo, three with Tennessee. This is a 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:36.159 this is a seat he has sat in before, right 0:06:36.400 --> 0:06:40.240 and uh and and and a coach who, in a 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:42.960 couple of short years here has made has made quite 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:45.359 an impact on this Packers. Oh yeah, I mean you 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:47.480 could tell, you know since day one when he came 0:06:47.480 --> 0:06:50.560 in through the door, just the way he carries himself, 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:54.320 you know, the respect, the credibility. Uh. And in the 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:57.039 production I mean, jire Alexander, you know a lot of 0:06:57.080 --> 0:06:59.320 that credit goes to Jay Are, but you know, he's 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:02.799 become an all Pro cornerback now adding to that lineage 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:04.640 with Gray and some of the work he did in 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:08.960 Minnesota and with the Titans. So there's a lot of 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:11.800 history there in terms of his production with with the 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:15.600 cornerback position. But it would have always made sense under 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:18.120 any circumstance for Grading be the guy that gets the 0:07:18.120 --> 0:07:20.760 call if Joe Barry can't be there. But this week 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:23.320 in particular, I think is really important because now it 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:25.680 is going to be about a tight window that Green 0:07:25.680 --> 0:07:28.520 Bay has to bounce back off a really good, you know, 0:07:28.640 --> 0:07:32.680 successful all around team victory on Sunday and now play 0:07:32.920 --> 0:07:35.800 you know, statistically the best team in the National Football League. 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:38.760 You need somebody who's been there. He's done that. Gray 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:40.640 has done it, as you said, in two different stops. 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:43.520 Will be very interested to see what the communication processes, 0:07:43.560 --> 0:07:45.680 Like Matt Lafleur said, right now, Gray will call the 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:48.720 plays inside linebackers coach Kirk Oliva Daddy will be the 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:53.440 one that will actually relay them to uh Devandre Campbell 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:56.720 the Packers, you know, Mike linebacker. So there'll be a 0:07:56.760 --> 0:07:59.640 little bit of a you know, telephone game going on there. 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:02.640 But that being said, uh, this is a unit that's 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:04.880 played really well together and Campbell's made a lot of 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:08.200 things work from a communication standpoint this week, this year, 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:10.320 this is going to be a big stress. It's going 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:12.920 to be a big challenge. But ultimately, I feel like 0:08:12.920 --> 0:08:14.680 the Packers have to think that they're in a good 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:17.880 spot right now considering the way they've built defensively over 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:19.960 the last month. Yeah, and it'll be interesting to see 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:22.800 on the defensive side as well. With regard to the injuries. 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:25.760 Do the Packers get Preston Smith back for this game? 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:28.840 Do they get Kevin King back for this game? And 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:32.320 for all the attention on Kyler Murray, and rightfully so, 0:08:32.440 --> 0:08:35.400 he's off to an m v P type start to 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:39.920 his one season. But you look at this receiving corps 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:44.520 for the Arizona Cardinals. Mike Goodness West, DeAndre Hopkins, A J. Green, 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:49.240 Christian Kirk, and then you're number four is a young 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:51.760 man named ron Dale Moore who I have not watched 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:54.360 a whole lot of Arizona this season, but I did 0:08:54.360 --> 0:08:57.960 watch a good portion of their game against the Minnesota 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:00.360 Vikings early in the season because I believe that was 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:02.480 week two when the Packers were playing on Monday night, 0:09:02.559 --> 0:09:05.720 so we we were at home watching games on Sunday. 0:09:05.800 --> 0:09:08.280 And this Rondel Moore out of Purdue. Obviously I saw 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:11.000 him in the Big Ten as well. If this, if 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:13.640 this guy's your number four receiver, like, my goodness, you 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:17.320 you you're a matchup nightmare for for any defense. If 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:19.280 they want to put all four of those receivers on 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:21.320 the field, they can, they can spread you out. They 0:09:21.320 --> 0:09:23.520 can still have a running back in the backfield to 0:09:23.520 --> 0:09:26.080 to run the ball out of that spread type of stuff. 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:28.360 And obviously Kyler Murray himself is a threat to run 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:30.400 the ball as well. And if they didn't have enough, 0:09:30.400 --> 0:09:32.680 they went and traded a third round pick for Zach Ertz, 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:35.080 you know, just to get to get a tight end 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:36.880 if you if you want to have a tight end 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:39.960 and instead you know, approven Pro Bowl type tight end 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:43.280 instead of one of those wide receivers. There you go. No. 0:09:43.480 --> 0:09:45.840 But you know the thing is, I just love the 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:48.400 balance of their offense. A couple of things. It's impressive. 0:09:48.480 --> 0:09:51.920 First and foremost, Murray has been exceptional hundred sixteen passer 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:56.080 rating this year, seventeen touchdowns against five interceptions, completing passes 0:09:56.120 --> 0:09:59.320 at Mike. I remember back in the day that you 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:01.480 get to six you percent on your completions, that was 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:04.200 a good year for a quarterback. It's trending more and 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:07.800 more towards now. Yeah, he's he's putting. I mean, his 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:11.520 completion percentages even is even north of Drew Brees, and 0:10:11.600 --> 0:10:15.120 Drew Brees was was doing that. But you know, you 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:17.200 look at it. The fact is I mean, you know, 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:19.880 he's scrambling in terms of just running the ball, he's 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:22.360 doing that less this year, but he's still making place happen. 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:24.840 These throws. He's you you've been watching of him escaping 0:10:24.880 --> 0:10:27.280 the pocket and throwing across the hash marks but still 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:31.480 finding receivers. The laws of quarterback have steadily been broken, 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:33.880 and seems like the last few years with what these 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:36.679 guys can do running and throwing against their body and 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:39.040 and Murray exemplifies that. But what I like the most 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:42.040 about what they've built in Arizona is the wide array 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:45.280 of weapons that they have. I'd like Christian Kirk since 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:47.040 he came out of college, and I think you're seeing 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:49.840 him break out this year. DeAndre Hopkins is the guy 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:51.720 that gets all the headlines and while he is having 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:55.440 another productive season. He's leading them in receptions. They have 0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:57.840 so many different ways that they can go. As you 0:10:57.880 --> 0:11:00.840 mentioned Ron del Moore also becoming a your playmaker. And 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:03.480 then obviously you know with Chase Edmonds now being the 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:06.720 featured back, there are just they have what I think 0:11:06.720 --> 0:11:10.360 it's five guys over twenty four catches this year, four 0:11:10.400 --> 0:11:13.160 guys over three receiving yards. They can burn you in 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:15.920 a lot of ways. Yeah. Absolutely, Well, a little bit 0:11:15.920 --> 0:11:18.880 of shout out to our sponsors here West Serious x 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:21.839 M NFL Radio delivers hard hitting analysis and up to 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:25.440 the minute NFL news that true football fanatics need seven 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:29.079 three six and had Cousin subs. We have something for everyone, 0:11:29.160 --> 0:11:31.840 like our Wisconsin Cheese Kurds, mac and Cheese, golden fries, 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:34.640 and creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite sub or 0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:38.400 Submona Bowl Cousins subs. We believe in better. All right, Well, 0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:44.319 you alluded to it early in the show that this stadium, 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:48.120 which is now called State Farm Stadium, I believe it's 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:52.600 been the location of some rather wild and wacky Packers games, right, 0:11:52.640 --> 0:11:55.000 and of course I'm talking about the two playoff games 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:57.959 out there in the Aaron Rodgers era, the two thousand 0:11:58.000 --> 0:12:01.920 nine wild card game the two thousand if team divisional game, 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:06.800 both just nutty crazy games in different ways in their 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:08.640 own way. The first one back in OH nine and 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:12.480 the Packers fall behind by three touchdowns, you know, us 0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:15.080 an onside kick in the middle of this big comeback. 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:17.160 They get the score tied a couple of different times, 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:20.360 goes to overtime. Aaron Rodgers has a shot down the 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:23.360 middle to Greg Jennings for you know, as he said, 0:12:23.360 --> 0:12:25.520 could have been a walk off eight yard touchdown. He 0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:29.360 just misses him, and then of course the sack fumbled, 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:32.480 the missed face mask and Carlos Dansby's running the other way, 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:34.839 and the Cardinals are moving out and the Packers go home. 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:37.439 And then six years later the Packers are back in 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:41.080 that stadium in the postseason, and of course that one 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:45.320 fans probably remember even more. You've got the fourth and 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:48.720 fourth and twenty bomb to Jeff Janis and then he 0:12:48.800 --> 0:12:51.280 catches the Hail Mary. A couple of plays after that, 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:54.120 and as you had mentioned, this is all after back 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:57.280 in the first quarter, Randall Cobb makes an unbelievable catch 0:12:57.600 --> 0:12:59.959 on a deep ball down the field that doesn't even 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:03.040 count because of a penalty, and he ends up getting 0:13:03.040 --> 0:13:05.720 a punctured lung on the play, and and it is 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:08.600 taken to the hospital, and he's watching the second half 0:13:08.600 --> 0:13:11.520 from a second half and the overtime after the hail 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:14.319 Mary from a hospital bed, and Larry Fitzgerald ends up 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:17.520 with the big play and scores the winning touchdown. So 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:21.479 now the Packers are going back without their defensive coordinator, 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:24.040 with two of their top receivers, one of them obviously 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:27.480 an All Pro, not available to play one of those 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:29.760 games where you just you just wonder. Okay, So what's 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:31.719 the crazy thing that's going to happen now? I mean, 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:34.199 this is why everybody's going to tune in Thursday night, right. 0:13:34.360 --> 0:13:37.880 I have a an epilogue to this whole ring, is 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:39.520 what I'm about to say. So I hope you'll give 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:42.120 me the the extended Mike as soon as I finished 0:13:42.160 --> 0:13:45.040 my answer to your question, because there are two different 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:47.960 things I want to go into here. First and foremost, 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:50.640 there has been some wild stuff that's happened in Scottsdale 0:13:50.760 --> 0:13:53.240 over the years, and I wasn't on the beat yet, 0:13:53.280 --> 0:13:55.079 but I remember that two thousand nineteen games. Is that 0:13:55.160 --> 0:13:57.800 still the highest scoring playoff game in NFL history. I 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:00.280 wasn't sure. Yeah, it ended up ended up fifth one 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:03.360 tot five in overtime. The ninety six points, I believe 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:05.560 is still the highest. I don't remember anything beating I 0:14:05.600 --> 0:14:08.319 still I believe that's still the highest scoring postseason game 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:11.360 in NFL in a wild game because of especially all 0:14:11.400 --> 0:14:13.160 the craziness that happened in the Packers offense, but the 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:15.840 Packers defense, that might still be the best defense they've 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:18.360 had pound for pound, you know, since basically Super Bowl 0:14:18.400 --> 0:14:20.640 thirty one, right, I mean, statistically I think it was 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:22.760 what number two in the league and told defense that, Yeah, 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:25.600 and yet Kurt Warner through five touchdown passes and only 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:29.560 four incompletions, and it was it was unbelievable football game. 0:14:29.680 --> 0:14:32.160 Nothing made sense about it. But two thousand fifteen is 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:34.920 a weird one. And I remember technically I guess to 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:37.960 be January of sixteen, right right. I remember saying to 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:41.040 my colleague Pete Doherty as we left the stadium that night, 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:43.040 that was the last game you covered for the press, 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:45.960 because it was I also missed my alarm the next 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:48.280 morning and was almost the only time I missed a 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:51.120 flight I had Pete Doherty and Ryan would calling me 0:14:51.160 --> 0:14:53.560 at four twenty in the morning. We were supposed to 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:56.920 all drive over there quickly, throwing all my clothes and uh. 0:14:57.000 --> 0:14:58.840 I ended up catching the last shuttle to make my 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:01.720 like six o'clock flight over at the airport. Always stay 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:04.320 at the airport hotel. That's the key if you're ever 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:08.360 having to go and be a professional football writer. Getting 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:11.480 back to the main part of this story, But no, 0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:14.520 but that game. What I told Pete when we left 0:15:14.640 --> 0:15:17.760 is that was a hard game to cover because for 0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:21.480 the first time I felt as as strange as the 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:24.440 fourteen NFC Championship game was. But I think there are 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:26.200 a lot of things that worked against the Packers. There 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:28.920 are a lot of opportunities missed right that ultimately led it. 0:15:29.440 --> 0:15:32.120 The thing that stunk about the fifteen playoff game was 0:15:32.160 --> 0:15:36.120 that the outcome didn't match the story. The narrative of 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:40.400 the game didn't actually correlate with the result. It's if 0:15:40.440 --> 0:15:42.160 that should have been a game the Packers one, not 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:44.520 because they played better or not, but because of the 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:48.000 Hail Marys. The Janice, a guy that caught more yards 0:15:48.040 --> 0:15:50.640 I think in that game than maybe the rest of 0:15:50.640 --> 0:15:54.080 his NFL career, at least close to it. Jared Aberdaris 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:57.440 having to step up that game in particular is one 0:15:57.440 --> 0:15:59.200 will always stand out to me because it was it 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:02.800 illustrates to Aaron Rodgers brilliance, but it also, you know, 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:04.920 kind of show just the craziness that can happen in 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:07.160 the National Football League. Yeah, and I'll and I'll add 0:16:07.160 --> 0:16:10.320 on that too because of because of the wild ending 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:12.760 with the bomb from the end zone on fourth and 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:14.920 twenty and then the hail Mary to get the game 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:18.360 to overtime. It's easy to forget in that game. Also 0:16:18.400 --> 0:16:21.240 when you talk about things that were working against the Packers, 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:23.600 they're not only losing Randall Cobb early in the game. 0:16:23.680 --> 0:16:25.800 Davante Adams was not in that game because he had 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:28.680 gotten hurt in the wild card round the previous week 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:31.640 against Washington, So Davantae Adams was not on the field 0:16:31.960 --> 0:16:37.080 for that game. But Arizona's go ahead scoring drive this 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:41.280 is when Carson Palmer was the Cardinals quarterback. On that 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:44.760 go ahead scoring drive, Sam Shields had a chance at 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:47.960 an interception right by the end zone pylon just missed 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:49.760 it wasn't able to haul it in, and then a 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:52.520 couple of plays later, they score the go ahead touched 0:16:52.520 --> 0:16:55.400 on off a deflected pass. You know, you were you 0:16:55.440 --> 0:16:57.680 and I were sitting basically kind of. I was in 0:16:57.720 --> 0:16:59.680 the row behind you in the press box in that 0:16:59.800 --> 0:17:02.760 end zone. That pass gets deflected and I don't even 0:17:02.800 --> 0:17:05.800 remember which receiver caught it, but um, but the Packers 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:09.720 play great defense to deny that touchdown, and yet they 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:13.159 still come up with the touchdown reception off the deflection 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:17.040 um and uh, you know, the Packers almost won that 0:17:17.160 --> 0:17:21.880 game in as shorthanded as they were in regulation without 0:17:21.920 --> 0:17:24.560 the hail Mary. They were that close to winning that 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:26.880 game and and uh and moving on in the playoffs 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:29.359 that year. So just a wild and crazy game. And 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:32.320 as I said, I'm just wondering, given all the circumstances 0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:35.080 that are going into this one, what wild and crazy 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:37.000 thing is going to happen on Thursday night out in 0:17:37.000 --> 0:17:39.840 the desert. You beautifully sent me back up like a 0:17:39.960 --> 0:17:43.920 like a volleyball volley right, You got it right back 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:45.200 to me, Because this is the point I wanted to 0:17:45.280 --> 0:17:47.800 make it. Yeah, this game could be played on Thursday night, 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:49.640 It could be played on Sunday night, could be played 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:52.040 on Monday night. The Packers are probably gonna be a 0:17:52.119 --> 0:17:54.400 hurting unit no matter what. You know, they're gonna They're 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:55.920 gonna have a chance to get some guys back here. 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:58.359 But you don't know what Davante and Lazard, whether or 0:17:58.400 --> 0:18:03.000 not where all that situation would Oh, my rant, my epilogue, 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:04.440 if you will that I wanted to say. And I 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:06.320 don't even know if if Marv wants me to speak 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:08.960 directly into the camera over here on my single shot. 0:18:09.040 --> 0:18:14.240 But to the NFL, if you're watching, if you tuned 0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:16.680 in today the Packers on scripted, thank you, first off, 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:21.720 But secondly, we gotta get rid of these switching time 0:18:21.800 --> 0:18:25.359 zones on Thursday night football. It's got to stop. There's 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:28.720 seventeen regular season games now. This thing is going to 0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:31.520 January nine. Regardless of the Packers win the rest of 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:33.560 their games or lose the rest of their games, January 0:18:33.640 --> 0:18:37.160 nine is the Packers finale. We gotta keep these Thursday 0:18:37.240 --> 0:18:39.360 night games in the same time zone. I understand all 0:18:39.359 --> 0:18:41.280 the things that go into a schedule, and I don't 0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:43.560 care that the Cardinals are seven and old Cardinals could 0:18:43.560 --> 0:18:45.679 be oh in seven, Like it's not about all this 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:48.320 is unfair to the Packers. The fact that guys have 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:50.680 to turn around on this kind of schedule and then 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:53.320 have to fly to Arizona. Thursday night football games are 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:55.439 here to stay. It's just the way life is. They 0:18:55.480 --> 0:18:59.320 make too much money off of it. But we can't 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:01.600 do this and more. Green Bay went to San Francisco 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:03.800 on a Thursday night a couple of years back. Remember 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:06.200 when that was. That was last year. That was last year. Sorry, 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:09.080 it's been a long years going on in the world. 0:19:09.840 --> 0:19:13.480 But if you want to do Thursday football, fine, But 0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:16.800 the Packers play Soak Division games games in the Midwest. 0:19:16.800 --> 0:19:22.480 They played Cincinnaticks played Thursday night game at Seattle. It's time. 0:19:22.760 --> 0:19:24.679 It's time to keep these Thursday night games in the 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:27.920 same time zone in my opinion, But I mean having 0:19:27.960 --> 0:19:31.080 to fly out to even if Arizona was coming here. 0:19:32.080 --> 0:19:33.600 I just I just don't think that's right. I don't 0:19:33.600 --> 0:19:36.320 think it's right from a player's safety standpoint. Packers could 0:19:36.320 --> 0:19:38.760