Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined by my
Speaker 1: partner in crime, West Hodkowits for coming to you here
Speaker 1: from our studios at lambeau Field to preview Packers Vikings.
Speaker 1: It is week seventeen, West and the kickoff will be
Speaker 1: at three pm Sunday at lambeau Field. Obviously, the Packers
Speaker 1: haven't seen the Vikings since Week one at US Bank Stadium,
Speaker 1: and the irony of that game, if that's the right word,
Speaker 1: is the Vikings beat the Packers by two touchdowns that day.
Speaker 1: They have not beaten anybody else this season by more
Speaker 1: than eight points. Yet they are twelve and three because
Speaker 1: they have won eleven one possession games. This is a
Speaker 1: team that wins games late, that plays well in the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter. If you're going to beat them, you have
Speaker 1: to beat them for all four quarters. Doing it for
Speaker 1: three quarters won't be good enough. And no lead is safe.
Speaker 1: I mean, we learned that with the Indianapolis calls. There
Speaker 1: is so many people out there, and I get it.
Speaker 1: I saw what the Vegas lines are on this game.
Speaker 1: There are so many people that are quick to disrespect
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings, and I've stopped short of doing that
Speaker 1: because what stands out to me the most, Mike is
Speaker 1: you can talk about the one score wins, you can
Speaker 1: talk about the comebacks, you can talk about the greatest
Speaker 1: comeback in NFL history, But what you need to pay
Speaker 1: homage to with this Minnesota Vikings team is they got
Speaker 1: five more wins and the Green Bay Packers, however they
Speaker 1: got there, However they did that. The quality of opponents,
Speaker 1: the strength of schedule, whatever you want to talk about,
Speaker 1: they did it. They're the NFC North champions. They will
Speaker 1: be playing in the playoffs, and the Green Bay Packers
Speaker 1: are trying to make that journey with them. This is
Speaker 1: the biggest game of the Green Bay Packers season. And
Speaker 1: as much as people want to talk about fun playoffs
Speaker 1: scenarios and you know, the running the table two point
Speaker 1: oh and all that, all that can end if you
Speaker 1: don't take care of business, if you don't take this
Speaker 1: team seriously. I go back to Week one, Mike. I
Speaker 1: think about that game against Minnesota, the fact that they
Speaker 1: did have a multiple score win, what Justin Jefferson did defensively,
Speaker 1: what they accomplished, the areas of the game, in which
Speaker 1: Minnesota executed in green Bay did not. So many people
Speaker 1: want to talk about the rookie not being able to
Speaker 1: catch that seventy yard touchdown right off the bat. Wasn't
Speaker 1: about that. I think so many people use it as
Speaker 1: sort of a sin eating sort of thing of Okay,
Speaker 1: well that that's where else. No, the Packers didn't execute
Speaker 1: in so many different other areas of that game too.
Speaker 1: You have to get the job done. It sounds like
Speaker 1: it's going to be a beautiful day, beautiful night at
Speaker 1: lambeau Field. So I don't know if we're gonna have
Speaker 1: your traditional January football game. But all that being said,
Speaker 1: the Packers are at home and they got to take
Speaker 1: care of business. Yeah, they absolutely do. And the games
Speaker 1: just keep getting bigger for this Green Bay team, right
Speaker 1: we after week, and now you're playing the team your
Speaker 1: division rival, the team that has already clinched the division.
Speaker 1: Vikings are fighting for playoff seeding. There you know, right
Speaker 1: in the mix. You know they're they're they're essentially the
Speaker 1: front runner for the two seed right now. They would
Speaker 1: rather not, uh let that go clearly. Um, But back
Speaker 1: to your original point about having to give this team respect,
Speaker 1: You absolutely have to twelve and three. You don't you
Speaker 1: don't win twelve games in the NFL, twelve out of
Speaker 1: fifteen because of some kind of fluke. Yes, an insider
Speaker 1: inbox reader sent in a statistic and they weren't disparaging
Speaker 1: the Vikings that they were just stating effect, Minnesota has
Speaker 1: had the lead at the end of the third quarter
Speaker 1: only six times this season, if they're games. This was
Speaker 1: the sort of his comment or hers. I apologize because
Speaker 1: I can't remember the name of the individual. If the
Speaker 1: Minnesota Vikings games were forty five minutes long instead of sixty,
Speaker 1: they'd be six and nine right now, you know, But
Speaker 1: the games are sixty minutes long, these guys, and this
Speaker 1: is it's not exactly the same thing, but to me,
Speaker 1: there's a similarity too. The Packers and Matt Lafleur's first
Speaker 1: season in twenty nineteen. Because the Packers won a bunch
Speaker 1: of close games that year, there were a lot of
Speaker 1: people that didn't necessarily respect Green Bay. It was like, oh, well,
Speaker 1: you had Carolina at home and you only beat them
Speaker 1: by eight points, or you had you know whoever, and
Speaker 1: you know you had to pull it out in the
Speaker 1: last you know, three minutes or five minutes or something
Speaker 1: like that. Well, you know, guess what, the Green Bay
Speaker 1: Packers were one of the last two teams standing in
Speaker 1: the NFC that year, for all the disrespect that was
Speaker 1: thrown at them in nineteen, just because they were winning
Speaker 1: close games. And yes, a lot of games in the
Speaker 1: NFL can go either way, but we saw it with
Speaker 1: the Packers in nineteen, and I think it's the same
Speaker 1: thing that's happening with the Vikings in two. When you
Speaker 1: start to win those close games, you learn how to win,
Speaker 1: You learn what it takes that crunch time. A team
Speaker 1: develops a belief that somehow, some way, when the game
Speaker 1: is close at the end, they're going to find a way.
Speaker 1: And just like the Packers in twenty nineteen, not every
Speaker 1: single time, but the Minnesota Vikings in two are finding
Speaker 1: a way more often than not. And you have to
Speaker 1: give him a ton of credit for that because they've
Speaker 1: earned exactly where they are. Yeah, and the fact that
Speaker 1: that Kevin O'Connell is a first year head coach has
Speaker 1: been able to keep his team's head in it as
Speaker 1: well as he has into those second halfs, into those
Speaker 1: fourth quarters. Yeah, I look at that game against Indianapolis.
Speaker 1: And I won't say who the representative was of the
Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers that said this to me, but it
Speaker 1: was thirty three to nothing and half to him like, wow,
Speaker 1: I mean Minnesota has just fallen apart. I mean this
Speaker 1: is a terror. This is gonna be a terrible loss.
Speaker 1: And someone was like, no, I mean it's not over yet.
Speaker 1: There's still thirty minutes left. We've seen enough of this
Speaker 1: with them this year. And then sure enough, low and behold,
Speaker 1: look what happened. I Uh, I look at this in
Speaker 1: a lot of different dimensions, Mike. The first one being
Speaker 1: is that the Vikings in a lot of ways, Uh,
Speaker 1: they're just so good at knowing what they are and
Speaker 1: what they need to accomplish to win. And I think
Speaker 1: that's a combination of a lot of returning veterans on
Speaker 1: both sides of the ball, and also I think an
Speaker 1: offensive minded head coach that has sort of instilled a
Speaker 1: new kind of swagger with with those veterans. I mean, Minnesota,
Speaker 1: when you look at their box score this season, Michael,
Speaker 1: it is what it is. Kirk Cousins is the quarterback.
Speaker 1: He's gonna have a couple of turnovers, but I still
Speaker 1: think he does a tremendous job of taking care of
Speaker 1: the football. I think he's I mean, I think there's
Speaker 1: almost no question he's having the best season of his career, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, And it's not just the wins and losses.
Speaker 1: It's like when you watch him, like Kirk Kirk Cousins
Speaker 1: absolutely fully passes the eye test this year as a
Speaker 1: winning quarterback, and the numbers back it up. And obviously
Speaker 1: the wins and losses are there to prove it, yea.
Speaker 1: And I think you look what happened when Washington let
Speaker 1: him walk and what happened in Minnesota. Minnesota has won
Speaker 1: a lot of games during the Kirk Cousins era, for
Speaker 1: as much pressure as he's been under. Dustin Jefferson is
Speaker 1: the pre eminent young receiver in this league receiving yards.
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook has kind of shifted Mike in my mind.
Speaker 1: He went from this guy that when his first couple
Speaker 1: of seasons he always struck me as like this big
Speaker 1: home run threat and a guy that you know is
Speaker 1: explosive and everything. And you can see over the years
Speaker 1: he's just turned himself into a smarter running back, a
Speaker 1: more complete running back, and that he's been the face
Speaker 1: of it for them this year. They go as he
Speaker 1: goes um, the offensive line will see what happens. Defensively,
Speaker 1: they've been going through some struggles as of late, but
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, with what Cousins and
Speaker 1: Jefferson and Cook have done offensively, along with throwing in t. J.
Speaker 1: Hackinson into the equation, Minnesota has a plenty of ways
Speaker 1: in which they can beat you, and honestly, in these
Speaker 1: twelve victories this season, they've used basically all of them
Speaker 1: in order to do it. Yeah, the Vikings, I mean
Speaker 1: right away, starting in Week one against the Packers, they
Speaker 1: showed Kevin O'Connell with this offense and Cousins, they showed
Speaker 1: they're going to be very creative with how they're going
Speaker 1: to use Justin Jefferson. They were gonna devise ways for
Speaker 1: him to get open, for him to eat coverages to uh,
Speaker 1: they were always going to have a counter for what
Speaker 1: you're doing coverage wise in order to get Justin Jefferson open.
Speaker 1: And as you said, he's got over sure receiving yards.
Speaker 1: With two games to go, he's had a hundred and
Speaker 1: twenty three catches. You know, just if he sticks sort
Speaker 1: of with his his average numbers, so to speak. He's
Speaker 1: gonna have, you know, a hundred and forty catches in
Speaker 1: two thousand yards. When when this thing is all said
Speaker 1: and done, Dalvin Cook, He's he's over even yards rushing.
Speaker 1: He strikes me. You you said complete running back, and
Speaker 1: and I agree. He can. He can catch the ball
Speaker 1: out of the backfield. But he can he can also
Speaker 1: be either the pounder or the game breaker, right, I
Speaker 1: mean he can. He can grind out the yards between
Speaker 1: the tackles. But then part of their big comeback in Buffalo,
Speaker 1: he rips off an eight yard touchdown run right to
Speaker 1: get them right back into into that game. And when
Speaker 1: he's in the open field, he's not He's not easy
Speaker 1: to bring down. They pick up t J. Hockenson from
Speaker 1: the Lions at the trading deadline. Mid Sea is in.
Speaker 1: His production is continuing to grow to the point that
Speaker 1: he had two touchdown catches last week UM against the
Speaker 1: New York Giants. Kirk Cousins is the one who's uh,
Speaker 1: who's calling all of it. Packers had a rough time
Speaker 1: with Justin Jefferson in Week one. He had the hundred
Speaker 1: and eighty some yards whatever it was. The uh, the
Speaker 1: coverage is broke down quite frankly, I thought the Packers
Speaker 1: secondary looked lost in terms of what they were trying
Speaker 1: to do. There's a combination here where I think I
Speaker 1: think the Packers will come up with some different plans,
Speaker 1: but regardless of whatever plan they devise for Justin Jefferson,
Speaker 1: the players have to execute it. And there there was
Speaker 1: a complete lack of execution in Week one at Minnesota.
Speaker 1: So this is this is this is a two way
Speaker 1: street here. This is this is about coming up with
Speaker 1: some coming up with some variety, coming up some with
Speaker 1: some better plans, but also the players executing it to
Speaker 1: not let Justin Jefferson completely take over this football game.
Speaker 1: And I think some humility to write. I think the
Speaker 1: Packers defensively went into the season really hard, charging and
Speaker 1: just thinking we're gonna roll the ball out there and dominate. Uh.
Speaker 1: They were humbled the middle of this season through injuries,
Speaker 1: through inconsistency, through miscommunications, and honestly, I feel like where
Speaker 1: they're at and how they've kind of peaked here at
Speaker 1: the end of the season and especially in that second ay,
Speaker 1: I just feel like there's a lot more awareness. I
Speaker 1: don't know what Joe Berry is going to devise for
Speaker 1: going up against Jefferson. But I will say I will
Speaker 1: say this seasons on the line here. If it's me,
Speaker 1: I want to see as much Jaire Alexander over Jefferson
Speaker 1: as possible. I just again, I understand you're gonna mix coverages.
Speaker 1: You can't just be trailing guys when you're doing zone concepts.
Speaker 1: But I want their best to beat our best if
Speaker 1: that's what it's going to come down to. And I
Speaker 1: just felt like when we got out of that game
Speaker 1: in Minnesota, They're just you just didn't feel like you
Speaker 1: saw the best effort against what certainly was a fantastic
Speaker 1: performance from the Vikings offense. So I'm very curious to
Speaker 1: see how they handle that. And then conversely, I know
Speaker 1: this will be your next transition point here, but how
Speaker 1: the Packers perform in the other phases of this thing,
Speaker 1: how they attack this defense at Donnitell's defense that's been
Speaker 1: struggling as of late special teams. I mean ken A Wongu,
Speaker 1: I mean he is. It's right there with Keishaw Nixon
Speaker 1: as far as the most dynamic kickoff returners in the league.
Speaker 1: As much as we're gonna talk about Cousins in the
Speaker 1: headlines are gonna be about Cousins and the Packers defense
Speaker 1: and Jefferson. A three phase football game, and the Packers
Speaker 1: are gonna have to win each one of them in
Speaker 1: order to come out there with the w. Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: I mean on the on the injury side of things,
Speaker 1: we're still waiting to see, you know, with regard to
Speaker 1: Keishan Nixon, he did not practice on Wednesday. Christian Watson
Speaker 1: with the hip injury, did not practice Wednesday. Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: miss practice with a knee injury from uh from a
Speaker 1: sack in the Miami game, but he said, you know,
Speaker 1: he expects to be practicing Thursday. Good to go for
Speaker 1: the week. It's not gonna going to affect his availability.
Speaker 1: We did see David bak Try returned to practice at
Speaker 1: left tackle on a limited basis for the first time
Speaker 1: since his appendectomy. And josh Naiman, who left the Dolphins
Speaker 1: game with a shoulder injury. Sounds like that was just
Speaker 1: a shoulder stinger, not so much a you know, like
Speaker 1: some sort of structural shoulder injury. He was back at
Speaker 1: practice on Wednesday, so um so a good sign there.
Speaker 1: We'll see exactly what the Packers lineup is going to
Speaker 1: be from a health perspective, but um, this this Vikings defense,
Speaker 1: it it, it just it just strikes me as so curious.
Speaker 1: Was because you look at things. You've got Zadarius Smith
Speaker 1: and Danil Hunter both in double digits and sacks. You
Speaker 1: still have Harrison Smith patrolling in the back end. You've
Speaker 1: got Patrick Peterson on one of the corners. You've got
Speaker 1: Eric Kendricks in the middle of all this thing. Those
Speaker 1: are some awfully big names on the defensive side of
Speaker 1: the ball, yet six of Minnesota's last seven opponents have
Speaker 1: put up four hundred plus yards on these guys. Their defense,
Speaker 1: their defense is struggling. They haven't been able to put
Speaker 1: it together yet. They haven't figured it out, I think
Speaker 1: for the Packers. And we'll get into more specifics as
Speaker 1: far as some keys to victory here in a minute,
Speaker 1: but it just feels like, especially with the Packers coming
Speaker 1: off of the Miami game where they were just two
Speaker 1: for five in the red zone, only two for four
Speaker 1: in goal to go situations. Now you're facing a defense
Speaker 1: that has given up yards and let people drive up
Speaker 1: and down the field on them for the last two months.
Speaker 1: This game might come down to can the Packers finished drives,
Speaker 1: you get inside the twenty, you get in goal to go.
Speaker 1: For the season, the Packers have only been about fifty
Speaker 1: red zone goal to go. Both of those not where
Speaker 1: the Packers have been under Matt Lafleur and and historically
Speaker 1: really not where the Packers have been. If if Green
Speaker 1: Bay can finish drives in this game and not play
Speaker 1: to that fifty percent in close profile, um, I think
Speaker 1: the Packers can put up enough points to win this
Speaker 1: I think that's the biggest difference from Week one. I
Speaker 1: just think the way that this offense has matured and
Speaker 1: and the getting stuffed at the goal line in Week
Speaker 1: one was sort of the start of you know, all
Speaker 1: the start of what is now fifteen games in and
Speaker 1: you're sitting at and goal to go and red zone.
Speaker 1: It all started against the Vikings back in Week one. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and now certainly you look at last week and there
Speaker 1: was points left out there. They had to rely on,
Speaker 1: you know, Mason's Crosby's foot, probably a little bit more
Speaker 1: than they wanted to to win that game. But all
Speaker 1: that being said, I just feel like the identity of
Speaker 1: this team is so much more cemented than it was
Speaker 1: in Week one, and Week one when you look at
Speaker 1: that pass to Watson, I just felt like that was
Speaker 1: an offense trying to find something to to sort of
Speaker 1: build on earlier in the season, and the Green Bay
Speaker 1: really struggled with that through injuries, through some of the inconsistency,
Speaker 1: and obviously the if you look at the structurally, there's
Speaker 1: a lot of changes right now with this unit then
Speaker 1: there was sixteen weeks ago. The other aspect of this
Speaker 1: too that's gonna be very fascinating to watch is to see, Okay,
Speaker 1: first and for most Christian Watson, how's he doing with
Speaker 1: the hip? Can he be out there? If he is
Speaker 1: out there, how much is he gonna be available? Those
Speaker 1: are things Green Bay is gonna have to figure out.
Speaker 1: But you know, Romeo Dobbs getting back involved in this thing.
Speaker 1: I thought Romeo, the way he's bounced back from that
Speaker 1: ankle injury, he looks strong, he looks confident, he looks
Speaker 1: like a guy that has really began to find his
Speaker 1: niche in this offense and kind of what his jigsaw
Speaker 1: pieces to this whole puzzle right there. He hasn't had
Speaker 1: these numbers, He hasn't had a you know, a hundred
Speaker 1: fifty yard games since he came back, but it's just
Speaker 1: his accountability. Both of these last two games, he's he's
Speaker 1: made some of the biggest plays that Green Bay has
Speaker 1: needed to win. UM that impresses me. Alan Lazar doing
Speaker 1: all the little things once again, so much of the
Speaker 1: wide receiver one is hung on. Okay, what are the stats. Well,
Speaker 1: you look at last week he had a forty yard
Speaker 1: catch down the sideline and he also had a block
Speaker 1: that level three people. That's this Packers offense, Mike. When
Speaker 1: you think back to two thousand, nineteen and twenty, that's
Speaker 1: how they built this reputation up. Yes, Davante Adams is
Speaker 1: an exceptional Hall of Fame caliber player, but he wasn't
Speaker 1: the only skill position player out there. It was the
Speaker 1: contributions they were getting from the other spots too. That
Speaker 1: is what is different right now. I feel than in
Speaker 1: week one, when it was like, Okay, well we got
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones and a J. Dillon, who's going to be
Speaker 1: the next guy to step up? I just feel like
Speaker 1: the identity is much more established than this one. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think I think that. I think the place that
Speaker 1: they're they're struggling to find their identity is what are
Speaker 1: they going to hang their hat on when they getting close?
Speaker 1: What is that? What? What are the go to calls
Speaker 1: when it's first lewis that's all you gotta do? What?
Speaker 1: What are the go to calls when it's first intent
Speaker 1: from the seventeen yard line? What are the go to
Speaker 1: calls when it's first and goal from the six yard line?
Speaker 1: Those kinds of things to be able to finish drives
Speaker 1: because because I mean we talked about how you know,
Speaker 1: the Packers took a knee on the one yard line
Speaker 1: against the Rams to close that game out, or they
Speaker 1: would have you know, you punched that in for a
Speaker 1: touched on your over thirty points. They scored twenty six
Speaker 1: in Miami, certainly had plenty of opportunities to get above
Speaker 1: thirty points. This team, this team is right there. This
Speaker 1: team is right there where you you almost feel like, okay,
Speaker 1: you know, unless they're playing you know, one of the
Speaker 1: top defenses in the league, so to speak, this is
Speaker 1: a team that should be able to put up thirty points.
Speaker 1: You know, if you've got Christian Watson in the game,
Speaker 1: if you've got your guys healthy, and we have to
Speaker 1: see how that plays out. But it feels like and
Speaker 1: I get the sense from you know, the way Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers talks at his locker. He senses the offense is
Speaker 1: playing better, but it's still not quite there. But the
Speaker 1: point totals, the point totals are almost there. And and
Speaker 1: and this is the game where hey, if, if, if
Speaker 1: you can, you can hit that thirty point mark, score
Speaker 1: thirty three, thirty five or thirty six, something like that,
Speaker 1: you're gonna put yourself in a great position to uh
Speaker 1: to potentially make the playoffs. You know, the most bizarre
Speaker 1: thing about the red zone issues this year is that
Speaker 1: in the past, when Green Bay was really good at it,
Speaker 1: they still didn't necessarily run the ball overly well, especially
Speaker 1: on the goal line. This year, I actually think they
Speaker 1: seemly really found more in that area with a J.
Speaker 1: Dillon feels a lot more confidence, you know, if they're
Speaker 1: inside the five yard line. But now it's been kind
Speaker 1: of the passing game where you're trying to catch up again.
Speaker 1: It's a there's only so many wooden pegs you have.
Speaker 1: Trying to figure out which holes to put them in
Speaker 1: is always the challenge. Um And this is gonna be
Speaker 1: an interesting matchup against Minnesota because as much as I
Speaker 1: think explosive plays could play a role in this based
Speaker 1: on what Minnesota's put on film the last month. A
Speaker 1: lot of times it does come down to, okay, first
Speaker 1: and fifteen, first and ten from the fifteen, what are
Speaker 1: you gonna come up with here to punch that thing in? Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: we've seen as far as the in the keys to
Speaker 1: Victory category, I mentioned the offense needing to finish drives.
Speaker 1: On the defensive side of the ball, this is a
Speaker 1: Packers defense that over the last during this three game
Speaker 1: winning streak, generated eight takeaways in the three game winning streak.
Speaker 1: But we've also seen the defense give up the explosive plays.
Speaker 1: Um even in you know, the games in Chicago, the
Speaker 1: game in Chicago, the game in Miami. The Packers still
Speaker 1: managed to win those games. So on the defensive side,
Speaker 1: what do you see as the biggest key to winning
Speaker 1: this football game. You have to do something to disrupt
Speaker 1: Kirk cousins rhythm. You know, Kirk Cousins man. Again, as
Speaker 1: I talked about earlier, I think there's a lot of
Speaker 1: Packers fans out there that don't really give him the
Speaker 1: credit he deserves because they've played him nine times in
Speaker 1: the regular season. They've only beat him three of those.
Speaker 1: I mean between Washington and Minnesota, he only has thrown
Speaker 1: five picks in nine regular season games, hundred and eleven
Speaker 1: passer rating career against Green Bay. And this guy's had
Speaker 1: a lot of success. And I'm telling you what I know.
Speaker 1: The personnel changes defensively, but all of that is in
Speaker 1: the back of his mind as he steps onto the
Speaker 1: field on Sunday that I've been here, I've done that,
Speaker 1: and I have something to prove with trying to take
Speaker 1: this Minnesota team into the playoffs and actually, you know,
Speaker 1: get some wins and make a run. So I think
Speaker 1: I don't care if it's the pass rush. I don't
Speaker 1: care if it's the secondary, I don't care if it's
Speaker 1: trying anything possible to get him out of his rhythm
Speaker 1: that to be accomplished, because we've seen him, Mike. We've
Speaker 1: seen the Packers shutdown Delvin Cook. But then it's Kirk
Speaker 1: Cousins going off for three and fifty passing yards. Whatever
Speaker 1: you have to do, whatever you need to dig up.
Speaker 1: This starts with making sure that you contain Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 1: Because here's a little secret for you, Mike. Passing yards
Speaker 1: this year receiving yards for Justin Jefferson. He doesn't get
Speaker 1: that production if it's not Kirk Cousins delivering him the football. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and those those two have, those two have certainly developed
Speaker 1: a chemistry that we've we've seen certain receivers in the
Speaker 1: Green and Gold developed with their quarterback. As well, a
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Speaker 1: good show, Buddy, I really appreciate it. This is where
Speaker 1: you're just going to do Path to the Playoffs, right,
Speaker 1: You don't need me anymore, No I need I need
Speaker 1: because I was gonna say, I mean this is ultimately where. Okay,
Speaker 1: so Mike talks about the playoff implications and I just
Speaker 1: regurgitate everything I read from Path to the Playoffs. Well,
Speaker 1: you actually path the Playoffs. For those who aren't aware
Speaker 1: it has returned. Path the playoffs was posted Wednesday afternoon
Speaker 1: on Packers dot com, so you can certainly read there,
Speaker 1: but we will also we will also discuss it here.
Speaker 1: The most important games as they relate to the Green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers. Indianapolis is at the New York Giants. Cleveland
Speaker 1: is at Washington because the player the Packers playoffs scenario
Speaker 1: is this, two victories over Minnesota Detroit to get to
Speaker 1: nine and eight. If that happens, then one of two
Speaker 1: things needs to happen. Either Washington needs to lose a
Speaker 1: game or the Giants need to lose two games. Okay,
Speaker 1: that's where things sit right now for the Packers in
Speaker 1: terms of making the playoffs. And what's and and what's
Speaker 1: really interesting about this from a timing perspective is the
Speaker 1: Giants and the Commanders both will be playing on Sunday
Speaker 1: in the early window the noon Central time kickoff, so
Speaker 1: Packers fans and the Packers themselves are going to know
Speaker 1: the results of those games before they take the field
Speaker 1: against the Vikings. And what's really interesting because of the
Speaker 1: situation with Washington is if Washington wins, then the Packers
Speaker 1: are officially eliminated. If they lose to the Vikings. If
Speaker 1: Washington loses, then the Packers actually take the field for
Speaker 1: the first time throughout this late season push controlling their
Speaker 1: own destiny. If Washington loses, the Packers take the field
Speaker 1: against Minnesota knowing if they can beat the Vikings and
Speaker 1: beat the Lions, they are in the playoffs. They suddenly
Speaker 1: have that control. So the Washington game and that result
Speaker 1: against Cleveland in the early window on Sunday is really
Speaker 1: the key one to pay attention absolutely, And it was
Speaker 1: funny listen to a couple of guys in the locker room,
Speaker 1: you know. DeVante Wyatt was one that we talked to
Speaker 1: about this, about how much are you gonna pay attention
Speaker 1: to that noon game, and he admitted, yeah, you have to.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just you'd be lying to say you
Speaker 1: don't care what happens with the Washington game. The part
Speaker 1: of it is that no matter what the outcome is,
Speaker 1: the job doesn't change against Minnesota. But if Washing, if Washington,
Speaker 1: if Washington wins, as I said, if Washington wins, the
Speaker 1: Packers are eliminated with a loss. But if Washington wins
Speaker 1: and the Packers win, the Packers are still very much
Speaker 1: alive heading into week eight team. Yeah, because I mean,
Speaker 1: as much as you want to look at your Powerball numbers,
Speaker 1: you still have to go to work the next day, right,
Speaker 1: I Mean, it's just the way these things go. But
Speaker 1: but all that being said, I'm really curious about where
Speaker 1: Washington has headed. We saw it this week, Mike, they're
Speaker 1: making the switch back to Carson Wentz. Yeah, we were
Speaker 1: talking about that on our last show. Which way were
Speaker 1: they going to go? Well, Ron Rivere's decided it's car
Speaker 1: It's the Carson Wentz Show now to try to get
Speaker 1: the victory or victories that Washington needs to get into
Speaker 1: the playoffs. And you know, if you look at it,
Speaker 1: I don't want to dive in all the numbers, but
Speaker 1: Terry McLaurin was a much more effective receiver this year
Speaker 1: when Taylor Heinike is his quarterback. Absolutely. So you're so
Speaker 1: I get what Rivera is doing because it's like you're
Speaker 1: basically saying, Okay, hey, we're gonna we're gonna do this
Speaker 1: here in this week. We'll see what happens, all right, cool,
Speaker 1: and then if we need it, then hopefully Wentz builds
Speaker 1: up some momentum for the next game. I think the
Speaker 1: thinking is is that with Cleveland struggling as much as
Speaker 1: they have, is particularly on the offensive side of the ball,
Speaker 1: this is going to be our our build up some
Speaker 1: momentum game if we're gonna make a run here and
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz is going to be the guy. Yeah, Ron
Speaker 1: Rivera is counting on his defense to hold Cleveland to
Speaker 1: like ten or thirteen points, and he's not. And he's
Speaker 1: gonna ask Carson Wentz basically to like not screw this up.
Speaker 1: Just score like seventeen or nineteen points or something like that.
Speaker 1: And and and they're gonna win this game and try
Speaker 1: to build the momentum you're talking about. I think that's
Speaker 1: what Ron Rivere's thought. And let's be honest, Mike. As
Speaker 1: much as I want to sit here and say, hey,
Speaker 1: go go Cleveland, uh, this is a god awful matchup
Speaker 1: for the Browns. I mean, the way that Washington can
Speaker 1: defend the run. Oh that that that defensive front for Washington,
Speaker 1: Cleveland is gonna Cleveland is going to have a really
Speaker 1: hard time moving the football against these guys. But if
Speaker 1: they do, then the Green Bay Packers, as you said,
Speaker 1: that they can go into that game against Minnesota knowing that,
Speaker 1: all right, we take care of business here. We come
Speaker 1: out and do what we're expected to do by the linemakers.
Speaker 1: Let's see what happens. Yeah, and there are some other
Speaker 1: games I talked about in the path to the playoffs
Speaker 1: in terms off if you want to understand some of
Speaker 1: the rooting interests and how they might pertain to Week eighteen,
Speaker 1: should the Packers beat Minnesota and and stay alive, etcetera, etcetera.
Speaker 1: I want to get your thoughts on one other game though,
Speaker 1: on the slate this weekend that has nothing to do
Speaker 1: with the Packers, Jacksonville and Houston. No, because it's a
Speaker 1: game that is just screaming a f C playoff preview.
Speaker 1: And I'm talking about the Monday night game Buffalo is
Speaker 1: at Cincinnati. These two teams have been in the thick
Speaker 1: of it all year. They're gonna be in the thick
Speaker 1: of it over the next uh several weeks. This is
Speaker 1: a fascinating game to have this late in the regular season,
Speaker 1: when you know that it could just be a couple
Speaker 1: of weeks down the road they could be meeting again.
Speaker 1: How in the heck did Monday night football get this game? Yeah,
Speaker 1: no kidding. Usually this is a time of year where
Speaker 1: it's like the Monday night matchups are like, oh yeah,
Speaker 1: they really you know, they really misjudged that one when
Speaker 1: they put the schedule together. Well, Buffalo and Cincinnati in
Speaker 1: Week seventeen on Monday night football, you can't ask for
Speaker 1: anything better than that. I was gonna say, like the
Speaker 1: ESPN Disney Exacts, They're sitting there with a fork and
Speaker 1: knife in both hands, like all excited. Here, Wait, it's
Speaker 1: Monday night football. You can't flex it. This is our
Speaker 1: game for sure. Uh. Flex flexing for Monday night football
Speaker 1: might be in the future, but not not in or
Speaker 1: at least not yet. I'll make one big statement on this.
Speaker 1: Cincinnati has been so hot this season, the second half
Speaker 1: of the season, Joe burrow Man, I mean what they've done,
Speaker 1: not having Chase and I mean just being able to
Speaker 1: continue this thing. They lost mixing for a minute, you know,
Speaker 1: Samari p Ryan is having to be their back and
Speaker 1: they kept finding ways to get victories. It's the type
Speaker 1: of thing you didn't expect from Cincinnati five years ago,
Speaker 1: and now they've become one of the teams that nobody
Speaker 1: wants to face. Yeah. Absolutely and and uh. At the
Speaker 1: same time, the Buffalo Bills for for their various ups
Speaker 1: and downs, and you're not you know, you know they're good,
Speaker 1: You're not quite sure how good they are. Um, they
Speaker 1: still just strike me with with with Josh Allen as
Speaker 1: a team that could that could they could put up
Speaker 1: forty points on anybody at some time. That's that's just
Speaker 1: what its how cool. We gotta get out of here.
Speaker 1: But how cool is this? Those Carolina Tampa Bay You
Speaker 1: know the implications in the South. You look at the
Speaker 1: Jets and the Seahawks. Uh, those two teams were kind
Speaker 1: of the darlings in the first half of the year.
Speaker 1: Now basically, whoever loses that, you're done. Yeah, whoever, Yeah,
Speaker 1: whoever loses that when you're out and the and the win,
Speaker 1: the winner is still trying to you know, trying to
Speaker 1: fight their way in the back door, so to speak.
Speaker 1: So exciting little weekend, Yeah, absolutely no question about it.
Speaker 1: With that, we do have to go though, so we'll
Speaker 1: call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the
Speaker 1: team and everything from Sunday's big game at lambou Field.
Speaker 1: Will have it all for you on Packers dot com.
Speaker 1: For West I Am Mike, thank you for tuning in everybody.
Speaker 1: Happy New Year to everyone out there. We will see
Speaker 1: you next time.