Speaker 1: Hi, everybody, Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my trusted colleague West Hodkowitz. Were coming to you
Speaker 1: here from socially distant locations at lambeau Field and West. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: we are discussing yet another loss in an NFC championship
Speaker 1: game for the Green Bay Packers, this one twenty six
Speaker 1: to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at lambeau Field. And compared
Speaker 1: to the other two that you and I have covered
Speaker 1: together here on with Packers dot Com, I know we
Speaker 1: also both covered the one in Seattle six years ago.
Speaker 1: Um in uh when you had a different job. But um,
Speaker 1: this one, this one hurts. This one, Uh, this one
Speaker 1: really hurts everybody in the organization because it was all
Speaker 1: lined up. The Packers got the first on by the
Speaker 1: only team to get one. They're playing in January at home.
Speaker 1: It's everything that they wanted and the combination of too
Speaker 1: many mistakes early, not quite enough of a comeback late,
Speaker 1: and they come up short once again. Yeah, it was
Speaker 1: really frustrating game on so many levels. And I think
Speaker 1: you can ask anybody in the locker room. I mean
Speaker 1: We heard a lot of guys talk about it after
Speaker 1: the game, just how disappointing this was, because this was
Speaker 1: as as Taylor made and set up for green Bay
Speaker 1: to make a Super Bowl run as any season that
Speaker 1: I've covered, certainly you were there for two thousand ten
Speaker 1: and and also seeing the run in two thousand and seven,
Speaker 1: the last hurrah there Brett Farve. And it's difficult because, Okay,
Speaker 1: in fourteen, green Bay got off to a good start.
Speaker 1: They didn't finish drives, but they did get off to
Speaker 1: good start, got all those picks off of Russell Wilson.
Speaker 1: But the Seahawks were the lead dog. They were the
Speaker 1: team that was sort of the team to beat, especially
Speaker 1: in that stadium where they had been on a big
Speaker 1: undefeated streaks, so there was sort of that aura around it.
Speaker 1: Six team was run the table was really fun, a
Speaker 1: huge emotional victory against the Dallas Cowboys that got them there.
Speaker 1: But once they got there, they had so many injuries.
Speaker 1: You know, Jordy Nelson playing with a flak jacket on.
Speaker 1: I mean, like those it was just a bizarre game
Speaker 1: San Francisco they lost to him earlier in the season.
Speaker 1: They went back pretty much the same recipe really weren't
Speaker 1: in that game. This game, they were in it until
Speaker 1: the bitter end. And that's what makes these losses difficult.
Speaker 1: And the fact that you know, and you and I
Speaker 1: talked about it, Mike, more than we could ever uh
Speaker 1: really describe. They had to play clean football. They didn't.
Speaker 1: They couldn't turn over the football. They need to run
Speaker 1: the football. That there were all these things that needed
Speaker 1: to happen. They need to pressure Tom Brady, and it
Speaker 1: just didn't happen consistently enough. And you know, there's there's
Speaker 1: when you have a loss like this and there's so
Speaker 1: many eyeballs on it, people point to specific coaches and
Speaker 1: specific players and they try to make scapegoats, but the
Speaker 1: reality is the Packers didn't do enough as a football
Speaker 1: team to win this game and unfortunately for them, for
Speaker 1: the fourth straight time falling in an NFC Championship matchup. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think the thing that gets the most frustrating when
Speaker 1: you look at it, and when you look at it
Speaker 1: in the larger context of these last couple of trips
Speaker 1: to the NFC Championship game is in two thousand sixteen,
Speaker 1: when the Atlanta Falcons were the better team, they played
Speaker 1: like it in two thousand and nineteen when the San
Speaker 1: Francisco forty Niners were the better team, they played like it.
Speaker 1: I believe the Green Bay Packers were the better team
Speaker 1: going into Sunday. I think the Packers are a better
Speaker 1: team than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But the Packers didn't
Speaker 1: play like it. And you have to play like it
Speaker 1: to do that to to win it. And we had
Speaker 1: talked heading into the postseason West this was all about
Speaker 1: for the Green Bay Packers, this was all about b
Speaker 1: who you are right, And they did that against the
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Ramps because they converted on third down, they
Speaker 1: converted in the red zone, they didn't turn the ball over.
Speaker 1: All of those things. Well, what happened against the Tampa
Speaker 1: Bay Buccaneers gold to go possessions that came up short.
Speaker 1: You had a couple of turnovers that led to fourteen points.
Speaker 1: The other way, they didn't stay balanced on offense. Matt
Speaker 1: Lafleur admitted to getting away from the running game at
Speaker 1: some at some crucial moments, you know in goal to
Speaker 1: go after Jayre Alexander got a couple interceptions that were
Speaker 1: part of the comeback. Just all these things that you
Speaker 1: point to and say, you know, the Packers didn't follow
Speaker 1: the be who you are mantra in in order to
Speaker 1: win the game. And uh and unfortunately that's that's what happens.
Speaker 1: It was looking like they might pull off a miracle
Speaker 1: comeback down to ten early third quarter after the second
Speaker 1: turnover gave the Tampa Bay Buccaneers another touchdown. The Packers
Speaker 1: get back within five points three possessions in the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: two of them down by five, another one down by eight,
Speaker 1: three possessions needing a touchdown, couldn't get it. And uh
Speaker 1: and unfortunately it's the second straight year where where the
Speaker 1: Packers and and Matt Lafleur in his very successful tenure
Speaker 1: here early on as the Green Bay Packers head coach,
Speaker 1: it ends at the same painful stage. Yeah. And it
Speaker 1: was funny to the games in which Tampa Bay won
Speaker 1: this year, it was what fourteen of them or something
Speaker 1: like that, something crazy. Uh. Tom Brady had thrown three
Speaker 1: interceptions in those games. He throws three interceptions in this
Speaker 1: game alone, all in the second half. And if you
Speaker 1: would have told me back to back to back interceptions
Speaker 1: by Amos by jyr Alexander, by jyr Alexander again. Uh,
Speaker 1: and in Green Bay would still come up on the
Speaker 1: losing end. I don't know if I would have believed you,
Speaker 1: But you know, the biggest moment there one they got
Speaker 1: off to a slow start again, um, which was actually
Speaker 1: kind of turned on its head from the first matchup
Speaker 1: with Tampa Bay where they actually got off to pretty
Speaker 1: fast start, but then the second quarter was was a grind.
Speaker 1: And then I mean, ultimately, Mike, you can get takeaways,
Speaker 1: you can get turnovers, but when the Buccaneers get two
Speaker 1: of them and convert those into fourteen points and Green
Speaker 1: Bake gets three and only gets six out of it,
Speaker 1: that ultimately was the difference in this game. And and and
Speaker 1: I tweeted it when they got the ball back with
Speaker 1: too fourteen, I believe it us who are to seventeen
Speaker 1: to go in the in the half, I'm like, well,
Speaker 1: this is their chance to double up, and unfortunately, through
Speaker 1: a series of events there it ends up being the
Speaker 1: Buccaneers who doubled up on them, and and we're able
Speaker 1: to to get that eight team point lead that wasn't insurmountable.
Speaker 1: I was saying that the entire time I saw Aaron
Speaker 1: Eagler mentioned it too. There was a lot of ballgame left.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of time left. There's twenty seven minutes
Speaker 1: left at that point. Uh, and Green Bay did get
Speaker 1: their offense back on the tracks a little bit. But
Speaker 1: with a game like this, it's the NFC title game,
Speaker 1: you're playing a really good competition, regardless of how they
Speaker 1: got there. Uh. Yeah, you can't put yourself in those positions.
Speaker 1: And for good to Green Bay Packers, it was just
Speaker 1: enough of uh, you know, I don't want to not errors,
Speaker 1: but I mean it just it was enough mistakes that
Speaker 1: ultimately lead to them coming up one game short of
Speaker 1: of their ultimate goal. Yeah. I mean, you couldn't ask
Speaker 1: for more of a nightmare sequence than what happened at
Speaker 1: the end of the first half and beginning of the
Speaker 1: second half. As you mentioned, the Packers win the coin
Speaker 1: toss and her because you like to have that opportunity
Speaker 1: to potentially double up, well, it ends up backfiring twice
Speaker 1: on them because the Buccaneers take the opening kickoff, go
Speaker 1: down and score and have a lead. Um. But then
Speaker 1: when you do have the chance to double up on
Speaker 1: either side a halftime it it it burns you both
Speaker 1: ways because Rogers throws an interception. Unfortunately, then the Buccaneers
Speaker 1: hit the touchdown over the top on the last play
Speaker 1: of the first half, than Aaron Jones fumbles and they
Speaker 1: get a goal to ghost situation and they and they
Speaker 1: punch it in. I believe it was only about seventy
Speaker 1: five seconds of clock time between those two touchdowns. And uh.
Speaker 1: And when a team gets fourteen points off of two
Speaker 1: turnovers that quickly and you end up losing the game
Speaker 1: by five, that just that just makes it that much
Speaker 1: harder to swallow. It really does. Yeah, And it's that
Speaker 1: and again getting back to my original premise when we
Speaker 1: open the show, it's it isn't just one specific player.
Speaker 1: All the eyes are gonna be on Scottie Miller's touchdown,
Speaker 1: the ridge that was involved with that, Kevin King being
Speaker 1: in in in coverage against him. But you also think
Speaker 1: about a couple of plays earlier where Will Redman has
Speaker 1: a chance at you know, just a lob ball that
Speaker 1: Brady throws and could have easily been picked off. It
Speaker 1: looked like you see the replay, would have been picked
Speaker 1: off and it goes through his hands. It's that decision
Speaker 1: from the buck side, because there are two teams on
Speaker 1: the field. It's the decision for the Bucks to go
Speaker 1: back to the sideline and decide, you know what, we're
Speaker 1: gonna try for this thing. Um. And then certainly coming
Speaker 1: out of the second half, the hit that Jordan Whitehead
Speaker 1: laid on Aaron Jones legal hit, good hit, Uh, pops
Speaker 1: the ball out. Jones unfortunately gets injured on the play.
Speaker 1: They get the ball at the eight yard line, and
Speaker 1: you just I I just kept going back through my
Speaker 1: head over and over again that it's like that was
Speaker 1: fourteen points. Uh, those two instances in a game in
Speaker 1: which um, the Buccaneers only ended up scoring thirty one.
Speaker 1: So uh again, It's just it's a disappointing end to
Speaker 1: a special year. And I think that's what makes these
Speaker 1: more and more difficult. When you put together a team
Speaker 1: like they did. And obviously there were a lot more
Speaker 1: injuries this year than there were in but you have
Speaker 1: a team that you feel can compete for Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: I know the New Orleans Saints had teams like that
Speaker 1: the past few years, Minnesota Vikings, There's been some good squads,
Speaker 1: but that margin for error, that that thin line of
Speaker 1: greatness is so so thin. And for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
Speaker 1: it's a huge opportunity that they have now going up
Speaker 1: against Kansas City for the Super Bowl Championship. Actually, but
Speaker 1: that one too, um serious. X M NFL Radio channel
Speaker 1: is the only radio outlet dedicated to the National Football
Speaker 1: League seven days a week, three d sixty five days
Speaker 1: a year. Um. Well, it wouldn't be a an NFL
Speaker 1: playoff game and a close game without some controversy involved,
Speaker 1: and we're gonna go there. Huh Well, I'll just I'll
Speaker 1: just say there's there's been there's a lot of discussion
Speaker 1: obviously about the past interference call at end when it
Speaker 1: looks like the Packers are going to get a defensive
Speaker 1: stop and Rodgers is maybe going to get another shot
Speaker 1: down by five points, the flag comes out for d
Speaker 1: p I when lots of stuff had been let go
Speaker 1: throughout the course of the game, including on the ball
Speaker 1: that what that Um Murphy bunting for the Buccaneers intercepted
Speaker 1: Um where it looked like he had held Alan Lazard.
Speaker 1: The Bucaneers get an interception which then they turned into
Speaker 1: the Scotty Miller touchdown. So you have all of that,
Speaker 1: you have, um, the discussion about Matt Lafleur's decision on
Speaker 1: fourth and goal to kick the field goal and send
Speaker 1: his defense back out there rather than go for it
Speaker 1: on fourth and eight. There was some miscommunication or I
Speaker 1: should say more of an opportunity an opportunity a lack
Speaker 1: of opportunity to communicate between the quarterback and the head
Speaker 1: coach there, because they were clearly on different pages in
Speaker 1: terms of what the decision was going to be UM
Speaker 1: in that situation. And uh and and you know, Packers
Speaker 1: kind of get caught because yeah, it'd be great to
Speaker 1: call time out and think about it, but then you
Speaker 1: want your time outs for when you go back on defense.
Speaker 1: So all of that, you know, ultimately lead to Packers
Speaker 1: put their defense back on the field, and it looked
Speaker 1: like the strategy was going to work. UM, But then
Speaker 1: the flag comes out. UM. The only other than the
Speaker 1: I believe, other than the helmet shot on Davante Adams,
Speaker 1: that was the only flag on anybody in a defensive
Speaker 1: secondary the entire game. And it comes with it. It
Speaker 1: comes with a minute and a half, a minute and
Speaker 1: a half left in the game. And look, I'm I'm
Speaker 1: not one to say I'm just gonna say this. You
Speaker 1: look at you look at the replay. It was a penalty. UM,
Speaker 1: But it was the type of penalty that hadn't been
Speaker 1: called all game long. And I think that's what makes it,
Speaker 1: that's what makes it tough from from the Green Bay side.
Speaker 1: And that's why you saw Matt Lafleur as upset as
Speaker 1: he was. That's why you heard what Aaron Rodgers said
Speaker 1: after the game, just just said, Hey, the way the
Speaker 1: game had been, the way the game had been called,
Speaker 1: you know, they were letting them play. But as we
Speaker 1: as we always say, the Packers shouldn't have let it
Speaker 1: come down to that. And uh, and you know, you
Speaker 1: put the game in the referees hands and and you
Speaker 1: just have to you have to take whatever is delivered.
Speaker 1: And the Packers didn't like what was delivered. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: a good way of putting it, Mike. And and it's
Speaker 1: I hate talking about officiating because there you can't you
Speaker 1: can't win because you know, we're wearing g's and everything.
Speaker 1: We sound like Homer's and you know, and and so
Speaker 1: our grapes and whatnot. But I mean, I can tell
Speaker 1: you it was a poorly officiated game. I can tell
Speaker 1: you that clip Blakman's crew. I don't think at any
Speaker 1: point in that game had any real command over the
Speaker 1: action on the field. UH six to go on the
Speaker 1: third quarter was the first time a flag was thrown
Speaker 1: the Lazard play. Alan did everything right. When he talked
Speaker 1: to the media on Monday, did not say one thing
Speaker 1: I owed about it. I think the closest we came
Speaker 1: to someone actually discussing it was just Kenny Clark saying, well,
Speaker 1: whether you're great with it or don't agree with it,
Speaker 1: it was the call in the field. And then for
Speaker 1: Paul Pleas Lusni or whatever that back judge's name was
Speaker 1: um whatever, Perry Paganelli. Yeah, um, I mean take a picture.
Speaker 1: I'll last longer and it's just way twelve minutes and
Speaker 1: then throw the flag. It is what is. You could
Speaker 1: have made your job a lot easier, You could have
Speaker 1: made everything a lot easier on you if you just
Speaker 1: instantaneously react to it. Was the only flag to this day,
Speaker 1: I still think that was thrown on that play. He
Speaker 1: missed the call earlier in the game. What I felt
Speaker 1: was probably defensive holding on Lazard ends up being a
Speaker 1: pivotal moment because not only does Murphy Bunting get the pick,
Speaker 1: it ultimately is what sets up the past. To Scottie Miller,
Speaker 1: all that being said, the Green Bay Packers had countless
Speaker 1: opportunities to win this game. They had countless opportunities to
Speaker 1: bounce back from it. They didn't do that. But in
Speaker 1: that juncture, after calling it the way that they did
Speaker 1: the entire game, that is a difficult moment on a
Speaker 1: third down to make the decision that now is the
Speaker 1: time to do my job it. Yeah. Well, and you
Speaker 1: could hear after the game, and not just in the
Speaker 1: comments about the officiating. We can move on from that,
Speaker 1: but whether you're talking about, um, Matt Lafleur's voice, Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers voice, the the pain, the disappointment, UM, the shock
Speaker 1: in a lot of ways, not that the Packers, not
Speaker 1: that anybody was assuming, Um, you know, the Packers are
Speaker 1: gonna win the game. They were just gonna, you know,
Speaker 1: go out there and win because it was at lambeau Field.
Speaker 1: But when you're having the type of season the Packers
Speaker 1: are having and things are falling into place, you are
Speaker 1: planning on winning that game, and you are planning on
Speaker 1: going to the super Bowl, and um, the you know,
Speaker 1: as Rogers said, the suddenness, the abruptness of the ending
Speaker 1: like that. When when that's the mindset that you're in
Speaker 1: and even when you're down eighteen points and you start
Speaker 1: rallying that whole sideline believe they were coming back to
Speaker 1: win that game. They they believe they had it and
Speaker 1: they had the opportunities to do it. Um, it's a
Speaker 1: it's it's difficult, it's gonna make it's gonna make for
Speaker 1: a long off season or for everybody involved, it's going
Speaker 1: to be, you know, scrutinized up one side and down
Speaker 1: the other, just like everything with Seattle was six years ago.
Speaker 1: But um, but at the end of the day, the
Speaker 1: Packers have had back to back trips to the NFC
Speaker 1: Title Game. There's a lot to hang your hat on there,
Speaker 1: and unfortunately you're just gonna have to keep waiting and
Speaker 1: keep fighting to try to get back to a super Bowl. Yeah,
Speaker 1: no question, And that is the tough thing because it's
Speaker 1: not just exclusive to the Packers. There's a lot of questions.
Speaker 1: I know Sean McDermott and the Buffalo Bills have had
Speaker 1: an answer this week. It always happens this week this way.
Speaker 1: I mean, whoever loses in the Super Bowl is going
Speaker 1: to have a lot of questions and lingering things that
Speaker 1: they're gonna have to address. But I'm guessing just listening
Speaker 1: to Matt Lafloor and the hurt and his voice on
Speaker 1: Sunday night, it really is going to come back to
Speaker 1: not running the ball enough down the stretch. You get
Speaker 1: the two takeaways, it just leads to three straight passes
Speaker 1: and in two three and notes and then getting down
Speaker 1: to the four you know, between um that to the
Speaker 1: eight yard line. Obviously the decision to go for two
Speaker 1: same Brown not being able to catch that ball, and
Speaker 1: then maybe that ultimately affected the way they approached the
Speaker 1: end of that drive where they get down to the
Speaker 1: eight yard line. But Mike, you and I have seen
Speaker 1: it so much. We saw it, especially in the Rams
Speaker 1: game when they get inside the tent, how you can
Speaker 1: kind of chip away with the run. Jamal Williams did
Speaker 1: a really solid job of that against the Rams down
Speaker 1: the stretch. Uh, they didn't, they didn't. They didn't go
Speaker 1: that direction here, they went with the passes. It is
Speaker 1: what it is, and ultimately made the decision go for
Speaker 1: the field goal. I think if you saw the statistics
Speaker 1: I've seen a lot of the analysts mentioning, you know,
Speaker 1: might have been ten percent either way in terms of
Speaker 1: win probability there. It's just it's a difficult spot to
Speaker 1: be in. Things will be questioned. But at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, the Green Bay Packers, which just came
Speaker 1: up five points short there of of being able to
Speaker 1: figure out a way to way back down to Tampa. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's interesting, I think, and I think you and I
Speaker 1: share the same perspective and that you know, we we
Speaker 1: watch everything that goes on with this team. We we
Speaker 1: remember moments and games and and you know, seasons, especially
Speaker 1: when you're in the midst to them. You remember all
Speaker 1: kinds of things inside and out. And you could just
Speaker 1: tell certainly as as that first half was unfolding, and
Speaker 1: certainly the way the first half ended, in the way
Speaker 1: the second half began, it just felt like this completely
Speaker 1: out of character game for the Green Bay Packers. It's
Speaker 1: like the Packers are not This is not the two
Speaker 1: thousand twenty Packers we're seeing out there. And it can
Speaker 1: happen to anybody at any time. But when you get
Speaker 1: into that out of character type of game in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: when it's a do or die, you know, win or
Speaker 1: go home situation, it's really really hard to It's it's
Speaker 1: hard to recover from that, and the Packers tried, uh,
Speaker 1: they fought, I mean to to be down eighteen points
Speaker 1: against Tom Brady and intercept three passes and get a
Speaker 1: couple of touchdowns and and keep that a one score
Speaker 1: game throughout the fourth quarter and give yourself a chance.
Speaker 1: It doesn't make it, it doesn't make it any easier,
Speaker 1: but it's it's just an even greater reflection in my
Speaker 1: mind of how out of character so many other things
Speaker 1: were that we're going on. Whether it's whether it is
Speaker 1: a ending run, you know, not staying balanced on offense
Speaker 1: when you know when you're in gold go or when
Speaker 1: you have a when you have a chance to settle
Speaker 1: the game down. Just all of those things that the
Speaker 1: Packers didn't look like the Packers in in a game
Speaker 1: that that you need to be. You need to be
Speaker 1: playing your best, and unfortunately they just they just didn't
Speaker 1: bring their best on Sunday Now, And you feel for
Speaker 1: the guys in the locker room, is is Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: said afterwards. You feel for Mercedes Lewis and and these
Speaker 1: guys that were trying to make a run at this thing,
Speaker 1: make a run of the ring, make a run at
Speaker 1: playing in a Super Bowl. I mean even you know
Speaker 1: Corey Linsley mentioned on Monday when he spoke to the media.
Speaker 1: You know, him and David Baktari have talked for six
Speaker 1: seven years now about wanting to to be able to
Speaker 1: go to a Super Bowl together and and be part
Speaker 1: of an offensive line that plays in that environment. And also, uh,
Speaker 1: you do feel for the fan base because Wisconsin sport fans,
Speaker 1: like you've seen a lot of those graphics here, They've
Speaker 1: had a lot of heartache the last ten years, especially
Speaker 1: since the Packers won Super Bowl forty five, and whether
Speaker 1: it was the Brewers, whether it's of Bucks two years ago,
Speaker 1: what there was a Bucks last year, um in the semifinals.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just it hurts for these moments because
Speaker 1: there's so much emotion involved and it's been building up
Speaker 1: now after a lot of disappointments. So all you can
Speaker 1: do is point to the future, point to the fact
Speaker 1: that on February seven, the sixth, they're going to crown
Speaker 1: a new Super Bowl champion. The seventh, everything swings back
Speaker 1: over and Hope springs eternal and the Green Bay Packers
Speaker 1: will put their best foot forward and trying to finally
Speaker 1: bring that elusive championship back home in this an upcoming season.
Speaker 1: Yeah alrighty well, we'll uh perhaps talk about the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl fifty five matchup on our next show, but for now,
Speaker 1: we're going to call it a wrap on this edition
Speaker 1: of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to continue following all of
Speaker 1: our coverage of the team here on Packers dot com.
Speaker 1: For Wes, I am Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody.
Speaker 1: We will see you next time.