Speaker 1: Hi everyone. Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford. He is the one and only
Speaker 1: West Hodkowitz. We're coming to you here from our studios
Speaker 1: at lambeau Field. Not long after the plane landed from
Speaker 1: Kansas City West Sunday Night Football Arrowhead Stadium. The Packers
Speaker 1: get win number seven. They are seven and one. Thirty
Speaker 1: one too is the final score. I don't know where
Speaker 1: you want to start with this one, because there is
Speaker 1: plenty to dissect and talk about here, but I think
Speaker 1: we have to start with number thirty three. Aaron Jones.
Speaker 1: What a performance I think you have to write. And
Speaker 1: here's what was amazing about this performance from Aaron Jones.
Speaker 1: We talked all off season, how is Matt the Floor
Speaker 1: going to use all these running backs? How is he gonna,
Speaker 1: you know, get them involved in the passing game out
Speaker 1: of the backfield. Aaron Jones was practically a receiver in
Speaker 1: this game with how much they flanked him out wide.
Speaker 1: And and that was a decoy that the Packers have
Speaker 1: used in the past. But very rarely would the ball
Speaker 1: be that you know, he would that receiver be that
Speaker 1: running back be the first or second read for Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1: These plays were designed for Aaron Jones, and he made
Speaker 1: Kansas City pay. I really thought it was funny. You know,
Speaker 1: early on, he has that sixty yard touchdown that ends
Speaker 1: up getting brought back ten yards because they ruled that
Speaker 1: he stepped out of bounds even though you know, there
Speaker 1: really wasn't anybody by him. He kind of outsprinted everybody,
Speaker 1: but his toe just touches the white chalk. He went
Speaker 1: back to the sign line and he told Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: I owe you another one and then lo and behold
Speaker 1: here we are. That a fiery explosive third quarter from
Speaker 1: Green Bay to pull themselves back into this and then
Speaker 1: they come out in the fourth quarter and they carry
Speaker 1: that momentum. He gets the sixty seven yard touchdown seven catches,
Speaker 1: is a career high hundred fifty nine yards of receiving
Speaker 1: two and twenty six yards of total offense. Both he
Speaker 1: and Jamal Williams were responsible for all four Packers touchdowns.
Speaker 1: Can't say enough about the performance of those two running backs. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and Aaron Jones. Now with eleven total touchdowns on the
Speaker 1: season at the midway point um A note to watch here.
Speaker 1: The Packers single season record is twenty touchdowns him on
Speaker 1: Green in two thousand and three. So Aaron Jones on
Speaker 1: pace when you look at the math, halfway to potentially
Speaker 1: getting that record. Yes, eight rushing touchdowns now three receiving
Speaker 1: touchdowns and as you said, could have had another one
Speaker 1: last night if not for the foot just barely hitting
Speaker 1: the sideline there that the replay review caught. But I
Speaker 1: tell you West, the explosiveness of this young man is
Speaker 1: it's really amazing. And yes, he got some great blocks
Speaker 1: and everything else, but um, but boy, he's he's just
Speaker 1: an electric player on the field. We talked all week
Speaker 1: last week about tie Re kill and Nicole Hardman and
Speaker 1: these guys that the Kansa City Chiefs have, and they
Speaker 1: certainly lived up to their building as well, even with
Speaker 1: backup quarterback Matt Moore put on a very solid performance
Speaker 1: and the Chiefs gave the Packers absolutely everything they could
Speaker 1: handle in this game. But Aaron Jones takes a backseat
Speaker 1: to no one in the NFL right now. He is
Speaker 1: He is dynamic. He is on the field every down
Speaker 1: he is. He is a three down back, whether you
Speaker 1: need him to protect Aaron Rodgers, whether you need him
Speaker 1: to run the ball from the two yard line with
Speaker 1: five minutes to go, whether you want to flank him
Speaker 1: out and get him in a matchup to against a
Speaker 1: linebacker to see if you can get an explosive play.
Speaker 1: He's just doing everything for this offense right now at
Speaker 1: a time over the last month when the Packers have
Speaker 1: absolutely needed it with the Vante Adams missing his fourth
Speaker 1: straight game and lo and behold, the Packers are four
Speaker 1: and oh without their pro Bowl wide receiver. One of
Speaker 1: the things I thought was really interesting that you know,
Speaker 1: a little small factor, and I dug up the fact
Speaker 1: that Jones and Williams and these four games together. In
Speaker 1: mind you Jamal Williams didn't play in one of those. Uh,
Speaker 1: they've combined for seven fifty four total yards eleven touchdowns
Speaker 1: the first four to start the season four twelve yards
Speaker 1: and five touchdowns. I mean, both of those guys have
Speaker 1: you know, taken their game to another level. But here's
Speaker 1: the thing, Mike, we talked about it from the very
Speaker 1: beginning when they didn't have Davontae Adams, and they're working
Speaker 1: through some of these things offensively that they need to
Speaker 1: get through. Who are your next biggest playmakers? You can
Speaker 1: make an argument that Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams are
Speaker 1: those next guys and when the moment is called for
Speaker 1: both of them have you know, kind of risen to
Speaker 1: the occasion. But at the end of the day, the
Speaker 1: thing we're starting to learn, you know, halfway through this
Speaker 1: regular season, now, Aaron Jones isn't just a really good
Speaker 1: running back. He's becoming one of the more explosive players
Speaker 1: in this entire league when you get him the ball
Speaker 1: in open space. And I thought you brought up a
Speaker 1: good point a moment ago. When you talk about Hardman,
Speaker 1: when you talk about Hill, when you talk about Watkins,
Speaker 1: then how dangerous they can be in the open field.
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones was the counter to that. And you saw
Speaker 1: when you know, if you get him in space and
Speaker 1: there's no tackles around him, his explosiveness and his top
Speaker 1: end speed. I don't know, to be honest with you,
Speaker 1: And I think it was Vick Fangio that said this
Speaker 1: a month ago. How this guy ever went in the
Speaker 1: fifth round is just beyond me. He's just he's such
Speaker 1: a dynamic football player, and you know, for the first
Speaker 1: time in his career, he's winning. He didn't win a
Speaker 1: lot at you tap, you win a lot his first
Speaker 1: two years in Green Bay. But here the Packers are
Speaker 1: at seven and one and they got a player like this,
Speaker 1: who mind you gutted through his shoulder injury that momentarily
Speaker 1: took him out of the game. He came back, didn't
Speaker 1: look any worse for wear. And I'm sure you're gonna
Speaker 1: talk about this too, but when the Packers needed to
Speaker 1: run the ball too in the four minute offense late
Speaker 1: to kill the last five or four off the clock,
Speaker 1: he did that as well. He got them two first downs,
Speaker 1: twenty nine rushing yards, and allowed the Packers to kneel
Speaker 1: at the ball after an eight yard outroute on third
Speaker 1: and five. The confidence that Matt Lafleur and Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: showed him that young man, it's just incredible what he's
Speaker 1: put together here the last month. Yeah. Well, and then
Speaker 1: you look at the rest of what was going on
Speaker 1: on offense. Obviously two six yards from scrimmage from Aaron
Speaker 1: Jones and a couple of touchdowns you mentioned Jamal Williams.
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers, by the way, puts up a hundred and
Speaker 1: twenty plus passer rating three another three hundred yard game,
Speaker 1: three touchdowns, no interceptions. Yes, he got sacked a handful
Speaker 1: of times. Of the Chiefs definitely gave the Packers some
Speaker 1: issues with their pressure packages. But again, Aaron Rodgers executes
Speaker 1: a game plan, doesn't really ever put the ball in
Speaker 1: danger of being turned over. Um, all of these things
Speaker 1: that you come to just expect from Aaron Rodgers, and
Speaker 1: obviously you don't want to take it for granted. But um,
Speaker 1: but boy, that touchdown pass to Jamal Williams. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't know what you thought. We're sitting next to
Speaker 1: each other in the press box. I don't know what
Speaker 1: you thought at the moment. I didn't even see Jamal
Speaker 1: Williams in the back of the end zone. I'm my
Speaker 1: eyes are on Rogers and on Jimmy Graham, And as
Speaker 1: soon as the ball left Rogers hand, I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: he just he threw it over his head on purpose.
Speaker 1: It's going out of bounds. They're going to kick the
Speaker 1: field goal and and take a three point lead, and
Speaker 1: Jamal Williams is streaking across the back of the end
Speaker 1: zone and makes a diving catch by the by the
Speaker 1: back pylon. And sure enough, you ask Aaron Rodgers after
Speaker 1: the game, Yeah, he saw him. He did, he didn't
Speaker 1: see him like I'm just I'm I'm blown away by
Speaker 1: the stuff we are seeing on a weekly basis from
Speaker 1: this Packers offense and that touchdown pass I don't know
Speaker 1: how to rank him anymore, West, but that touchdown passes
Speaker 1: is one that's somewhere on a list for me. I
Speaker 1: still for this as far as this season is concerned.
Speaker 1: That touchdown he had where he threw it into Aaron
Speaker 1: Jones for like triple coverage in the end zone a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago, that's still the That's the top
Speaker 1: one in terms of just the overall skill level and
Speaker 1: the narrow window. He had some room to work with
Speaker 1: because he was near the sideline. But let's be honest, Mike,
Speaker 1: the Packers needed to make plays in that second half,
Speaker 1: and Aaron Rodgers did just that, uh to to find
Speaker 1: a way. On that particular play, you gotta remember they're
Speaker 1: sitting there. I believe it was third and one at
Speaker 1: that point. I think you and I were both anticipating, Okay,
Speaker 1: is this where you run it and then see if
Speaker 1: you get the first down. If you don't go for it,
Speaker 1: well then they end up coming out an empty set,
Speaker 1: which if you go by the you know, the statistics
Speaker 1: on the night. I don't know how it all ended
Speaker 1: up shuffling out, but that ended up being one of
Speaker 1: their better packages when they were able to take the
Speaker 1: inside linebacker out of the equation and make sure that
Speaker 1: they had to make a decision with how they were
Speaker 1: defending the running back well, and that one was with
Speaker 1: all of your run offensive personnel on the field. So
Speaker 1: from a personnel standpoint, you're thinking the Packers are going
Speaker 1: to run the ball, but then they spread it out
Speaker 1: and go empty, and then it's like, okay, well what's
Speaker 1: coming now. I mean it was I was. I was
Speaker 1: stunned by what was going on, and then even more
Speaker 1: stunned by the touchdown catch that ended the end of
Speaker 1: the drive. It was a big shift and it was
Speaker 1: funny listening to, you know, Jimmy Graham tell it, and
Speaker 1: you know he's thinking he's boxing out the safety or
Speaker 1: the cornerback there. He thought the ball was going to
Speaker 1: come for him. And the way Rogers described it in
Speaker 1: his postgame news conference was that he wanted to put
Speaker 1: in an area that if Jimmy could go up and
Speaker 1: get it, it's there. But if it isn't he saw
Speaker 1: that body whoever it was, and it turned out being
Speaker 1: Jamal Williams in the back that that white jersey that
Speaker 1: could potentially help him out as well. And for Williams
Speaker 1: to show the urgency too. And as you pointed out
Speaker 1: when we were discussing this earlier, Kansas City did everything right.
Speaker 1: The cornerback switched. Jones is covered, Graham is relatively covered.
Speaker 1: As much as you can cover a six ft seven guy,
Speaker 1: it's backing you out. But for Jones to stay with
Speaker 1: the play, curl to the back of the end zone,
Speaker 1: try to find a way to you know, find some
Speaker 1: open space and then make that catch along the sideline
Speaker 1: was absolutely critical for the Packers to capitalize there and
Speaker 1: keep the momentum in their favor. And Jones, I mean Williams,
Speaker 1: I mean, people aren't going to talk a lot about
Speaker 1: him because there's all the stats that Aaron Jones put
Speaker 1: up in this game. But Jamal Williams, for what he
Speaker 1: was asked to do in this contest, including the one
Speaker 1: yard touchdown run early on behind Danny Vitally, he was
Speaker 1: also a very critical part of what the Packers were
Speaker 1: able to do in Kansas City. Yeah, well, you use
Speaker 1: the word momentum, and I want to get back to
Speaker 1: that thought in a second, but I don't want to
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Speaker 1: all right, Wes, you said it, momentum. It was a
Speaker 1: game of momentum shifts, certainly really, from the beginning of
Speaker 1: the game all the way to the end. The Packers
Speaker 1: jump out fourteen nothing in the first quarter. The Chiefs
Speaker 1: come back with an explosive second quarter. They score seventeen points.
Speaker 1: The Packers fortunately hold them to a field goal on
Speaker 1: that final drive before halftime, so the Packers are down
Speaker 1: fourteen and a half. Green Bay puts together a long
Speaker 1: third quarter drive that takes more than eight and a
Speaker 1: half minutes off the clock, but Packers have to settle
Speaker 1: for a field goal. Aaron Rodgers talked about his helmet
Speaker 1: communicator going out, which partly led to the delay of
Speaker 1: game and the goal to go, and then also the
Speaker 1: time out they had to use before the third down play,
Speaker 1: but anyway, so the Packers get the field goal that
Speaker 1: ties it. And then first play of the Chiefs next drive,
Speaker 1: Tyler Lancaster, the undrafted second year defensive lineman from Northwestern,
Speaker 1: makes the biggest play by far of his young career,
Speaker 1: stripped Shady McCoy and gets the fumal recovery at the
Speaker 1: twenty seven yard line, sets up the Packers for the
Speaker 1: go ahead touched on, which turned out to be then
Speaker 1: that fabulous t d catch by Williams. Yeah, and it
Speaker 1: was really interesting talking to some of the guys in
Speaker 1: the locker room. Lancaster was certainly very humble and excited
Speaker 1: that he was able to make the play. As he said,
Speaker 1: you know the way he was describing it, you know,
Speaker 1: when he's basically filling the A gap and when McCoy
Speaker 1: makes a decision to cut into the B gap, Lancaster
Speaker 1: has one play at that point, and it's basically to
Speaker 1: stick his arm out there and see if he could
Speaker 1: find football, which he did, much to his surprise. The
Speaker 1: ball end up bouncing directly, you know, into his gut basically, Yeah,
Speaker 1: while he's laying on the ground there there it is,
Speaker 1: so he gets a fumble recover. He said it kind
Speaker 1: reminded him of play at Northwestern, very similar, where he's
Speaker 1: doing his job inside, he punches the ball, it ends
Speaker 1: up getting out back for a touchdown. But again one
Speaker 1: of those just calm, kind of happy accidents, right. That
Speaker 1: was the uh, you know, the old phrase, and and
Speaker 1: for him to come up in that moment. I was
Speaker 1: asking Preston Smith about this afterwards. You know, you can
Speaker 1: make all you want about Zadarius Smith, Preston Smith, Jyr Alexander,
Speaker 1: Adrian Amos, I mean, all the name type players on
Speaker 1: this defense. If you want to be a team that
Speaker 1: can win in the postseason, you need to have the
Speaker 1: Tyler Lancasters of the world making a play here and there.
Speaker 1: At a critical point in the game, Sadarius Stephen mentioned
Speaker 1: know when he went back to Silon Packers, they got
Speaker 1: punched in the mouth in the second quarter. It did
Speaker 1: not go the way they wanted to. They came out great.
Speaker 1: I think the first seven plays or six plays, kan
Speaker 1: City only mounted seven yards of total offense. But they
Speaker 1: started to find those weapons underneath in the second quarter,
Speaker 1: and those weapons made guys miss. They were able to
Speaker 1: put up a ton of yards and Zadarius said, you know,
Speaker 1: this was kind of the thought in the locker room
Speaker 1: is that this is our time. We have to prove
Speaker 1: that we can. You don't not break in this moment,
Speaker 1: we can come back together. I thought a really under
Speaker 1: rate play was the fact that Jire Alexander finally stuffing
Speaker 1: Watkins for a two yard loss on what that little
Speaker 1: receiver screen they kept burning the Packers for in the
Speaker 1: second quarter. Yeah, one of those funky X and no
Speaker 1: scheme things, and and Alexander was very quick to react
Speaker 1: to it. And I thought that I agree with you.
Speaker 1: I thought that was another play that showed the Packers defense,
Speaker 1: which had its issues and there were miss tackles and
Speaker 1: and you know, you knew these playmakers for the Chiefs,
Speaker 1: we're gonna be able to do some things. But I
Speaker 1: thought that was a play where the Packers defense kind
Speaker 1: of started to stand tall and get a little bit
Speaker 1: of that mojo back again. And I mean, for Alexander
Speaker 1: just shot out of a canon to make that play,
Speaker 1: and then that's what sets up to Darius Smith then
Speaker 1: getting the third down sack. And as cool as that
Speaker 1: was for Green Bay to get a stop out of
Speaker 1: the break right after Kansas City had scored at the
Speaker 1: end of the first half, it was even more important
Speaker 1: to finally get a takeaway. There was one turnover in
Speaker 1: this game. It came by Tyler Lancaster when he went
Speaker 1: back to the sideline. The story I was trying to
Speaker 1: mention is that Darius Smith went up to him and
Speaker 1: basically thanked him and said, you know, kind of saved
Speaker 1: our bacon on that play to be able to get
Speaker 1: a turnover, get the offensive all the back at the
Speaker 1: twenty seven yard line, they go in and they score
Speaker 1: from there, and then that really was the momentum shift
Speaker 1: they needed. Truman Williams said it to in that locker
Speaker 1: room afterwards. That was the play of the game. And
Speaker 1: to have a guy like Tyler Lancaster who in this
Speaker 1: particular game plan, it wasn't a Tyler Lancaster game. Packers
Speaker 1: use a lot of hybrid defenses, including their base package,
Speaker 1: to account for the speed of Kansas City, but when
Speaker 1: Lancaster had to be in there and make a play,
Speaker 1: he certainly did that. Yeah, Well, if there's another play
Speaker 1: on the defensive side that stands out aside from Zadarius
Speaker 1: Smith's two sacks, Packers didn't really get. I don't think
Speaker 1: the pressure on Matt Moore consistently that they were hoping for,
Speaker 1: especially with the Chiefs being down a couple of starting
Speaker 1: offensive lineman's Darius Smith did get the two sacks. But
Speaker 1: the other defensive play that stands out is in the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter. As we talk about the momentum shift, So
Speaker 1: the Packers go up by a touchdown. After the turnover,
Speaker 1: the Chiefs come back and score a touchdown. Packers thought
Speaker 1: they had him stopped, but Tremont Williams gets the flag
Speaker 1: for the hands to the face on the down, so
Speaker 1: they get an extra first and goal and then they score,
Speaker 1: so it's tied up. Then Aaron Jones gets the sixty
Speaker 1: seven yard touchdown off the screen pass, so the Packers
Speaker 1: are back ahead and the Chiefs are coming back third down.
Speaker 1: Who does Matt Moore want to go to a course?
Speaker 1: It's Travis Kelsey, his reliable and very dynamic tight end
Speaker 1: and your guy, Wes Jandon Sullivan. I give you credit, man,
Speaker 1: and I'll say it again. You said it last time,
Speaker 1: I'll say it again. You had your eye on this
Speaker 1: guy from very early in training camp, and I'll admit
Speaker 1: I had my doubts because what I saw in camping
Speaker 1: in the preseason was a guy who made who was
Speaker 1: flagged for just as many penalties as for the plays
Speaker 1: he was making. So that left me wondering, Okay, this
Speaker 1: guy's on the bubble. I'm not really sure. You were
Speaker 1: pretty confident that he was going to make the team.
Speaker 1: And what we've seen when he's been thrown into these
Speaker 1: situations in the regular season is he's not committing the
Speaker 1: penalties we were seeing in the preseason. He's making the plays.
Speaker 1: And he breaks up that third down pass over the
Speaker 1: middle to Travis Kelsey and that turns out to be
Speaker 1: the Kansas City Chief's last offensive play of the game.
Speaker 1: Play of this game, really really solid play by Sullivan
Speaker 1: at a big moment. Yeah, and Sullivan was all smiles
Speaker 1: in the locker room afterwards. I mean, you got understand
Speaker 1: where this young man came from. He's not an undrafted rookie.
Speaker 1: I mean, he is an undrafted free agent. But he
Speaker 1: was with Philadelphia last year. He started a game for
Speaker 1: the Eagles and kind of got tossed aside in May
Speaker 1: and he ends up on the street free agent scrap heap.
Speaker 1: The Packers pick him up and had a really deep
Speaker 1: position he ends up mounting a run. What's impressive, though,
Speaker 1: the most about Sullivan is that he's done this at
Speaker 1: two different positions. He's playing both cornerback and safety and
Speaker 1: almost indiscriminately. I mean, they use them either spot and
Speaker 1: doesn't really seem like Mike Petton has any trepidation about
Speaker 1: deploying him at either spot. In this particular game, a
Speaker 1: lot of safety because Adrian Amos was moving up into
Speaker 1: the box of that nitro nickel package, allowing them to,
Speaker 1: you know, have some flexibility out front. Sullivan has a
Speaker 1: great skill set. He was a big ball hawk at
Speaker 1: Georgia State, which is a still a young program. Didn't
Speaker 1: get a lot of national recognition there, but he stayed home,
Speaker 1: came from an area where there's a lot of talent,
Speaker 1: big hot bed in that Atlanta metro section of Georgia,
Speaker 1: and sort of got overlooked. But if you look at
Speaker 1: his speed, if you look at his coverage ability, I
Speaker 1: think there's a lot of talent in this young man.
Speaker 1: And it was also funny too, Mike. He ends up
Speaker 1: being the kickoff returner for the Packers in this game.
Speaker 1: He had eight kickoff returns at Georgia State. He hasn't
Speaker 1: returned to kickoff since two thousand fifteen, his sophomore year.
Speaker 1: And suddenly, you know, Sean Meninga goes up to him
Speaker 1: this week and says, I'd like to use you in
Speaker 1: this way, And he said, all right, I'm up for
Speaker 1: the opportunity. Why not. Right, This is as you said
Speaker 1: with Lancaster. I mean, these are the type of performances
Speaker 1: you can have. Your Darius smith Is, your Smith's and
Speaker 1: your Preston Smith's. They're critical. That's how you went to
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. No question, you need those guys out there.
Speaker 1: But it's the one eleven thing. I know some people
Speaker 1: think that can be a cliche, but it's absolutely true.
Speaker 1: You need the Lancasters and the Sullivan's to pick you up,
Speaker 1: and in this particular game they did, and they made
Speaker 1: arguably one A, one B for the biggest plays in
Speaker 1: this contest to put away a very dangerous Kansas City team. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and that breakup, that pass breakup by Sullivan on third
Speaker 1: down leads to the Chiefs punting. They pinned the Packers
Speaker 1: back on the two yard line from the two, five
Speaker 1: oh four on the clock. I thought the first play
Speaker 1: running Aaron Jones right up the gut and he powers
Speaker 1: his way for six yards gets the Packers out to
Speaker 1: the eight yard line. I thought that really set the
Speaker 1: tone because that was that was a moment. The Packers
Speaker 1: did not run the ball as well as I thought
Speaker 1: they were going to in this game. Based on Kansas
Speaker 1: City's defensive run statistics coming in, the Packers had not
Speaker 1: reached a hundred yards rushing as a team in this game.
Speaker 1: You know, heading into that final drive, they end up
Speaker 1: running seven consecutive running place, six of those from Aaron Jones,
Speaker 1: one from Jamal Williams, and uh boy, that was some
Speaker 1: I don't know what the right phrases. Big boy football
Speaker 1: is kind of what some people call it. That was
Speaker 1: a big time gut check moment. You're on your own
Speaker 1: two yard line, You're trying to protect a seven point lead,
Speaker 1: You're in allowed stadium, you know, road environment, not a
Speaker 1: place you're familiar with playing in all of that, and
Speaker 1: you're starting right tackles. Out of the game. Brian Blog
Speaker 1: has gone to the locker room with a hand injury,
Speaker 1: so Alex Light is filling in at right tackle. Even
Speaker 1: Evan Bayliss as the third tight end, is coming in
Speaker 1: to block on some snaps there, and the Packers got
Speaker 1: it done. Three first downs, the third one coming right
Speaker 1: after the two minute warning on the only pass of
Speaker 1: the drive, the little quick out to Aaron Jones for
Speaker 1: the kill shot. I guess you could say, because that
Speaker 1: was the one that put the game away. But what
Speaker 1: a drive I mean from your own two yard line
Speaker 1: five minutes and four seconds the Chiefs, I said this
Speaker 1: an insider inbox. The Chiefs had to be liking their chances.
Speaker 1: You pin the Packers on the two, there's five minutes
Speaker 1: on the clock. Andy Reid is thinking we're getting We're
Speaker 1: gonna get the ball back here like we're Matt Moore
Speaker 1: is going to get one more shot at this and uh,
Speaker 1: Packers didn't give him that one more shot five oh
Speaker 1: four with all your time outs. That's a favorable situation
Speaker 1: for any team that's looking to, you know, mount to
Speaker 1: late comeback the thing. There's a couple of things that
Speaker 1: stood out to me in this one. By far. This
Speaker 1: is the Packers best four minute offense that they've had
Speaker 1: since two thousand thirteen. Even in fourteen, when Eddie Lazy
Speaker 1: was running the way he was, they didn't close out
Speaker 1: games the way they're doing it this year. They did
Speaker 1: it in thirteen. It's one of the reasons why they
Speaker 1: ended up making the playoffs. But it's exceptional what they've
Speaker 1: been able to do in this first half of the
Speaker 1: season when you have to have those yards, when they
Speaker 1: know that you're going to run the football and you
Speaker 1: get them anyway. The one thing I disagree with you
Speaker 1: on is that first play. Use the word power for
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones, and there is a good way to use it.
Speaker 1: But the thing I even look at two is it
Speaker 1: was a finesse type run. It's incredible to me. If
Speaker 1: you go back and watch that, he made a little
Speaker 1: sliver in the off pensive line look like a gaping
Speaker 1: hole with how he's able to slice through there. You
Speaker 1: are absolutely right about the power. That's what it was though,
Speaker 1: every single time between the tackles pound pound pound offensive
Speaker 1: line did a great job, especially as you mentioned with
Speaker 1: having Alex Lighton, they're having to work through some things.
Speaker 1: David Baktiari left momentarily early on. Light was playing left
Speaker 1: tackle for two plays. He returned to the game. But
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones, it is incredible to me. For as much
Speaker 1: as people thought he was a scat back or you know,
Speaker 1: kind of an outside stretch type runner man. He can
Speaker 1: run between the tackles and it doesn't matter how big
Speaker 1: the whole. If the hole is large, if the play
Speaker 1: is well blocked, he's taken it from you know, an
Speaker 1: explosive play. But even if there's just a sliver there.
Speaker 1: The guy is so quick and versatile and with his size,
Speaker 1: he really makes you pay. In Kansas City, despite loading
Speaker 1: up the box, despite knowing what was coming, they couldn't
Speaker 1: do it. And then you wrote about it too. But
Speaker 1: Matt Lafleur, the guts that he showed in his quarterback
Speaker 1: and his running back, in his offense after the two
Speaker 1: minute warning, Kansas City doesn't have any time outs left,
Speaker 1: but there is one fifty eight or whatever on the clock.
Speaker 1: You run it, you know, maybe you take it. You
Speaker 1: get forty seconds off, and you see what you leave
Speaker 1: Matt Moore with. They didn't do that. They went and
Speaker 1: past the ball and Aaron Jones made a phenomenal play
Speaker 1: catch to end that ball game. Yeah, well, we've seen
Speaker 1: we've seen this evolution west over the last I don't know,
Speaker 1: maybe what the time frame is, seven to eight years,
Speaker 1: maybe ten years in the NFL, that situation two minutes
Speaker 1: to go, the other teams out of time outs, your
Speaker 1: third and five in your own territory, I say ten
Speaker 1: fifteen years ago, NFL coaches would run the ball, try
Speaker 1: to get the first down. Not saying you're just giving up,
Speaker 1: but you run it and try to get the five yards.
Speaker 1: If you don't, you run the clock down under one twenty.
Speaker 1: You punt the ball back to them. They have a
Speaker 1: little over a minute left with no time outs, and
Speaker 1: they need a touchdown to tie the game or go
Speaker 1: for the win if they want to go for two
Speaker 1: this day and age, if you got the ball in
Speaker 1: your quarterbacks hands, you're going You're going for the win.
Speaker 1: On offense, you're doing whatever it takes to not have
Speaker 1: to put your defense back out on the field. That's
Speaker 1: the decision Matt Lafleur made. The Packers executed it, and
Speaker 1: uh and they drained that last five oh four after
Speaker 1: the first down, even with Aaron Jones going out of bounds,
Speaker 1: it was sub two minute warning. Chiefs are out of
Speaker 1: time outs, kneel down three times, those last two minutes
Speaker 1: off the clock are gone, and the Packers are seven
Speaker 1: and one and one. Thing I love about the NFL
Speaker 1: in two thousand, nineteen two. Is that you can throw
Speaker 1: to your running backs ten times. You get all the
Speaker 1: production that the Packers got out of Bolchamal Williams and
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones, and there's no longer a negative stigma or
Speaker 1: cashid to that. It's a respect factor because you know,
Speaker 1: even go back about twelve years Mike, I remember people
Speaker 1: people just ran Trent Edwards out of the league because
Speaker 1: I was checked down, Charlie, and you know, you're always
Speaker 1: going to the running backs. I honestly think it's sort
Speaker 1: of I mean, Shaun McVeigh deserves a lot of credit
Speaker 1: for this. Certainly you look at at what Kyle Shanahan's
Speaker 1: doing and now Matt Lafleur, But I go back to
Speaker 1: kind of what Bill Belichick was doing a ten years ago,
Speaker 1: when it's like, you know what, if the running back
Speaker 1: is the best option, and the tight ends are covering,
Speaker 1: the receivers are covered, get him the football. No team
Speaker 1: over the last ten fifteen years has moved the changes
Speaker 1: consistently as New England Patriots in the NFL, and and
Speaker 1: seeing these type of things where it's like, you know what,
Speaker 1: you have a your top quarterback against your top receiver.
Speaker 1: You have your second quarterback against your second receiver. You
Speaker 1: have all these things. It's like, Okay, that's the way
Speaker 1: game of football is played. Where's your arguably your biggest mismatch.
Speaker 1: If you have a dynamic running back, it's against the linebacker,
Speaker 1: it's against a collapsing safety. It's incredible. It's simplistic. It
Speaker 1: is it's crazy, and it's simplistic what this game, you know,
Speaker 1: can be if you allow it to be. But again,
Speaker 1: you have to be able to make the catch. You
Speaker 1: have to be able to make you throw exactly. You
Speaker 1: have to be able to execute it. You have to
Speaker 1: be able to execute it and take advantage of it
Speaker 1: when the opportunities present themselves. And that's what the Packers did.
Speaker 1: And Matt floor Man, I mean, I was thinking about
Speaker 1: this as we're walking out the building last night. I mean,
Speaker 1: at some point, I mean, there's some really good coaching
Speaker 1: performances going on in this league right now, but when
Speaker 1: you're talking about Coach of the Year accolades and things
Speaker 1: like that, at least at the midway point of this season,
Speaker 1: I think he has to be firmly in that conversation.
Speaker 1: It's incredible what he's done with this offense and what
Speaker 1: he's done with this team for the first eight games
Speaker 1: this season, and the Packers are seven and one, as
Speaker 1: Mike Spofford pointed out in one last look last week,
Speaker 1: for the first time since two thousand eleven. Yeah, the
Speaker 1: first time they've had seven wins four Halloween since two
Speaker 1: thousand and eleven, when the Packers were eight and no
Speaker 1: at the halfway points. So well, seven and one, one
Speaker 1: game ahead of the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North.
Speaker 1: We'll get to where things stand in the NFC and
Speaker 1: all that and the rest of the Week eight results
Speaker 1: in the NFL on tomorrow's show, but for now we
Speaker 1: have to call it a wrap on this edition of
Speaker 1: Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage
Speaker 1: of the team on Packers dot com. You can subscribe
Speaker 1: to us, like us on iTunes and other podcast services.
Speaker 1: On Twitter, He's at west hot I'm at Mike Spofford
Speaker 1: at Packers for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody,
Speaker 1: See you next time.