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 had Kowitz. I'm coming to
Speaker 1: you from our studio at lambeau Field West is across
Speaker 1: the hall as we continue our zoom oriented shows here West.
Speaker 1: Sunday afternoon, three pm Central time kickoff, the Philadelphia Eagles
Speaker 1: will take on the green Bay Packers at lambeau Field.
Speaker 1: Green Bay is eight and three, trying to get to
Speaker 1: nine and three at the three quarter pole of the
Speaker 1: regular season. So let's get right into it. What is
Speaker 1: it going to take? What are the keys to victory
Speaker 1: here for green Bay against Philly. Well, I like that
Speaker 1: you said three quarter pole. We always do the first
Speaker 1: quarter pole, and it seems like we always abandoned it.
Speaker 1: I did that just for your benefit. Thank you. I
Speaker 1: appreciate that. Um, you know, for the green Bay Packers,
Speaker 1: I look at this matchup a lot. In a lot
Speaker 1: of ways, Mike, is very similar to last week's game
Speaker 1: against the Chicago Bears and what they need to do
Speaker 1: and what has to happen now. The interesting thing about
Speaker 1: Philadelphia is for is up and down as their seasons
Speaker 1: has been. For as many injuries as they've had, specifically
Speaker 1: on the offensive side of the ball and even more
Speaker 1: specifically on the offensive line, they've kind of been in
Speaker 1: the front running spot of the division for most of
Speaker 1: the season. Now they finally fall out of that. So
Speaker 1: you can look at the records, you can talk about
Speaker 1: the records in the NFC East. The truth of the
Speaker 1: matter is that the standpoint of where we're talking, there's
Speaker 1: still very much in the playoff hunts. So I think
Speaker 1: green Bay in this matchup, it really comes down to
Speaker 1: again establishing the run, being able to get yards off
Speaker 1: of a Philadelphia defense that is you wrote about, you know,
Speaker 1: has still been playing pretty well this year. Doug Peterson
Speaker 1: even mentioned during his conference called with Green Bay media
Speaker 1: on Wednesday that, you know a lot of ways they've
Speaker 1: been the ones that have sort of paced this year
Speaker 1: when you talk about playing you know, full complete football. Uh,
Speaker 1: it has really been that the defense that has set
Speaker 1: the tone. But for green Bay, I just thought they
Speaker 1: really set the blueprint last week. You start out fast,
Speaker 1: you you'd be efficient with the ball, you protect the football,
Speaker 1: you get a couple of takeaways. Greenby has had at
Speaker 1: least one now in the last four games a total.
Speaker 1: During that time, Carson Wentz has been turning over the
Speaker 1: ball at a pretty prolific rate for two thousand and twenty.
Speaker 1: There's so many things in this matchup that I think
Speaker 1: all signs point to Green Bay, but you actually have
Speaker 1: to go out there and execute that the way they
Speaker 1: did against the Bears in order to take that a reality. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's interesting that you draw the parallel with the Bears
Speaker 1: game because I see that as well from the standpoint
Speaker 1: that this Philadelphia Eagles team has a legit top ten
Speaker 1: defense and the Chicago Bears at last week, the strength
Speaker 1: of their team in trying to stay in the playoff
Speaker 1: fronto the NFC has been their defense. On the flip side,
Speaker 1: it's an offense that has struggled in Philadelphia. They haven't
Speaker 1: really found their footing. You know, you mentioned the injury
Speaker 1: reason on the offensive line. They've also just in terms
Speaker 1: of establishing who are the really who are the go
Speaker 1: to guys for Carson Wentz um as the quarterback of
Speaker 1: this Eagle's offense, they haven't really found that. And you know,
Speaker 1: much like the Bears have been struggling on offense for
Speaker 1: the bulk of the season. When I look at this game,
Speaker 1: I look at a couple of statistics that jump out
Speaker 1: at me. One is that Carson Wentz has been sacked
Speaker 1: forty six times this year, which leads the NFL. The
Speaker 1: other is that the Philadelphia Eagles defensively have thirty six sacks,
Speaker 1: which is tied for second in the NFL. So, as
Speaker 1: I mentioned on our Three Things video yesterday, this game
Speaker 1: just kind of kind of jumps out at me from
Speaker 1: a matchup perspective, as protect your quarterback, get after the
Speaker 1: other guy's quarterback. That that's what That's what this game,
Speaker 1: you know, kind of screams at you. And you know,
Speaker 1: I like the Packers chances in that respect because we've
Speaker 1: seen Green Bay's offensive line handle injuries, position, shuffling, everything
Speaker 1: else throughout the course of the season, and Philly's offensive
Speaker 1: line has has not handled that nearly as well. I
Speaker 1: think the Packers have a big edge in the in
Speaker 1: the trenches in terms of the offensive lines in this matchup,
Speaker 1: and I think that's really what should what should hopefully
Speaker 1: carry green madea victory well, and this is what hurts
Speaker 1: for for the Eagles too, is that Mike, you know
Speaker 1: you and I mentioned There's a lot of different shuffling
Speaker 1: and injuries that have happened with the line this year,
Speaker 1: but for the most part, they've been able to get
Speaker 1: most guys back. Lane Taylor obviously was lost for the
Speaker 1: season to his knee injury in Week one, but you know,
Speaker 1: as David Bactieri was out of the line up for
Speaker 1: a little bit, Billy Turner missed a game. Now you're
Speaker 1: dealing with Corey Linsley and the knee injury, but again
Speaker 1: the Packers are hopeful that he won't be done for
Speaker 1: the season. For the Eagles, they have been so fortunate.
Speaker 1: Now they just lost Lane Johnson again. And the other
Speaker 1: side of things too. You go back to Andre Dillard
Speaker 1: missing time. I mean, Brandon Brooks has been out still
Speaker 1: on pup hasn't played this season. That those are three
Speaker 1: big components of their line that they've not had throw
Speaker 1: and Zach Ertz and these other issues. But that the statistics, Mike,
Speaker 1: when they when you look at them, they just their
Speaker 1: mind boggling for the Eagles this season. I mean, you
Speaker 1: have Carson Wentz at forty six sacks. I think the
Speaker 1: next closest is Brussel Wilson with maybe thirty five the
Speaker 1: takeaway numbers fifteen interceptions, there's three other quarterbacks that are
Speaker 1: tied with eleven. Uh. You know, from Doug Peterson's perspective,
Speaker 1: he boiled it down to three things. It comes down
Speaker 1: to takeaways, there's been too many of them. He comes
Speaker 1: down to injuries, and then he mentions it's just the
Speaker 1: overall execution. When they have protected the football, they just
Speaker 1: haven't produced enough. So seeing exactly what this game plan
Speaker 1: is gonna look like for them, you know, do you
Speaker 1: see Jalen Hurts in this matchup? Are they more committed
Speaker 1: to Miles Sanders in this game? And they get Travis
Speaker 1: Fulham going again after he had an impressive part of
Speaker 1: the season. But it's kind of gotten quiet here. There's
Speaker 1: so many different things that play into this, but ultimately
Speaker 1: it's going to come down to the turnover margin and
Speaker 1: whether or not Green they can keep their takeaways coming
Speaker 1: and also prevent take you know, giving up the ball
Speaker 1: to a very talented Philadelphia and experience. Yeah, and the
Speaker 1: other thing when you talk about injuries. Now, at the
Speaker 1: time we're taping this episode on Thursday morning, we don't
Speaker 1: really know a whole heck of a lot. But Fletcher
Speaker 1: Cox in the middle of that defensive line for the Eagles.
Speaker 1: He missed practice on Wednesday. He cropped up on the
Speaker 1: injury report with a neck injury. Not a whole lot
Speaker 1: of information right now is to how serious. It is
Speaker 1: not entirely unusual for a team coming off of a
Speaker 1: Monday night game to add some guys to the injury report,
Speaker 1: and maybe they won't practice until later in the week,
Speaker 1: so we'll see what happens. But you know, the Packers
Speaker 1: caught a break when a Chem Hicks was not available
Speaker 1: due to his hamstring injury for the Chicago game. If
Speaker 1: Fletcher Cox is not available for the Philadelphia Eagles, you know,
Speaker 1: that's that's another potential stroke of good fortune here. Now
Speaker 1: that being said, I think, you know, Philadelphia certainly has
Speaker 1: the edge rushers with Brandon Graham and Derek Barnett. You know,
Speaker 1: Javonna Hargrave is the other defensive tackle in the middle
Speaker 1: of that front four. Those guys are no slouches either.
Speaker 1: But again, the you know, the Bears have a heck
Speaker 1: of a front four, and when a Chem Hicks was missing,
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears just didn't look the same. And you
Speaker 1: wonder if Fletcher Cox is unable to go. How much
Speaker 1: of a change to this Philly defense, which is ninth
Speaker 1: in the league in total yards, which is fifth in
Speaker 1: the league I believe, or tied for fifth and third
Speaker 1: down defense. You wonder how much that would change things
Speaker 1: based on what we saw with Chicago last week. And
Speaker 1: there's just no way to replace him that. That's the
Speaker 1: other thing with Hicks, you know, there's just there's there's
Speaker 1: no guys that played the position the way that Fletcher
Speaker 1: Cox plays it. I'm not talking about in Philadelphia, I'm
Speaker 1: talking the National Football League right now. He is among
Speaker 1: a handful of defensive tackles that can not only stop
Speaker 1: the run, but can also get after the past or two.
Speaker 1: Remember Mike exactly where he is on sacks for them
Speaker 1: this season? Yeah, he he has five and a half.
Speaker 1: He's second right now behind Brandon Graham and sacks. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's the dimension he brings to this thing. He is
Speaker 1: just such a force in the middle of that defense.
Speaker 1: As you said to neck injuries are so weird when
Speaker 1: they pop up on the injury report because they can
Speaker 1: be you know, your basic stingers or those type of
Speaker 1: things where guys just take a day off. I think
Speaker 1: Kamal Martin had a neck injury on the Packers injury report.
Speaker 1: Not a big deal, or it can be something that
Speaker 1: crops up like Daniel Hunter did, where at first they're thinking, Okay,
Speaker 1: maybe this is something they can play through. Next thing
Speaker 1: you know, they're talking about fusion surgery. So it's so
Speaker 1: vague and ambiguous. We don't know when we're talking about
Speaker 1: this right now, exactly what the week is going to
Speaker 1: forecast for him, but certainly Cox being on there. It
Speaker 1: was a short injury report for the Eagles, but a
Speaker 1: lot of guys on that list that are their premier players. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: quickly here West before I forget some sponsored business. Serious
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Speaker 1: backslash Packers. All right, another thing we we should uh
Speaker 1: talk about here before we move on to the rest
Speaker 1: of the schedule in the NFL. For this week, Packers
Speaker 1: have a new addition to their offense, and I'm talking
Speaker 1: about wide receiver Tavon Austin. Packers have signed him, brought
Speaker 1: him into the mix. He did a zoom call with
Speaker 1: reporters on Wednesday after practice. This is an interesting addition
Speaker 1: here West because much like last year, at this time,
Speaker 1: the Packers are looking for some kind of a boost
Speaker 1: on special teams, some kind of a spark for the
Speaker 1: return game, because the Packers just had not been able
Speaker 1: to uh, you know, to bust any explosive you know,
Speaker 1: impactful returns so far this year. And we saw last
Speaker 1: year when Tyler Irvin was the guy who came in
Speaker 1: and early December and provided that Matt Lafleur wasted no
Speaker 1: time whatsoever in getting him involved in the offense and
Speaker 1: the jet motions and having some packages for for Irvin
Speaker 1: down stretch in um this green Bay offense. So what
Speaker 1: are your thoughts, I guess at this point on Tavon
Speaker 1: Austin and perhaps what we might see not only potentially
Speaker 1: on Sunday, but as the month of December rolls on
Speaker 1: here for green Bay. Yeah. I like the move for
Speaker 1: green Bay and I like the time in which they
Speaker 1: made the move because right now Mike. The Packers are
Speaker 1: actually been relatively healthy. It looks like al Lazard got
Speaker 1: through whatever that issue was at the end of the
Speaker 1: game after that hit he took from Jalen Johnson. He
Speaker 1: was limited on Wednesday with the Corean troum, but nothing
Speaker 1: new on that. Cleared to return, he just didn't because
Speaker 1: of the game situation. Appears like Mark Wesveld is scantling
Speaker 1: after a little scare with the achilles appears to be okay,
Speaker 1: Ecunimia st Brown is getting healthier, and Tyler Irvin certainly
Speaker 1: coming back from the rib injury. Is something we have
Speaker 1: to continue to monitor. But all things considered, the Packers
Speaker 1: offense is if the skill positions is as healthy as
Speaker 1: it's been all season long. So what is guy like
Speaker 1: Tavan Austin add to this unit? He adds another option.
Speaker 1: He adds a guy that not only can help you
Speaker 1: potentially on returns, specifically punt returns. He's done it every
Speaker 1: year he's been in the National Football League, but he
Speaker 1: also could potentially fit into this Matt Lafleur scheme. It's
Speaker 1: sort of that motion guy, the pre snap guy coming
Speaker 1: across the line. He joked about he did not run
Speaker 1: a forty during his workout with Packers, but still feels
Speaker 1: like he can run a four three. Now, all those
Speaker 1: things being said, him learning this offense and understanding the
Speaker 1: nuances of it, that's going to be a big challenge here.
Speaker 1: But you look at what Tyler Irvin did last season,
Speaker 1: coming in late getting claim from the waivers from Jacksonville.
Speaker 1: He brought a lot and by the time the season
Speaker 1: was over, he not only had been the guy that
Speaker 1: helped rejuvenate the return units, he also become kind of
Speaker 1: an interesting gadget player in this offense. I think with
Speaker 1: having a guy like Austin in the fold now with
Speaker 1: his experience and also having some of those, you know,
Speaker 1: those traits that Irvin has, it's another guy that's in
Speaker 1: this equation for Matt Lafleur to play with during the
Speaker 1: final stretch of the season and if injuries crop up
Speaker 1: down the stretch or in the playoffs, here's another veteran
Speaker 1: presence that you have too potential to be able to
Speaker 1: take the workload off some young guys. Yeah, Austin a
Speaker 1: guy who he's dealt with some injuries the last few
Speaker 1: years and kind of derailed his career a little bit.
Speaker 1: Now he does have some experience obviously with with Matt
Speaker 1: Lafleur when la Fleur was the offensive coordinator with the Rams,
Speaker 1: also with with Ben Sermons, the Packers running backs coach.
Speaker 1: Um has some experience with him as well. Um, I'll
Speaker 1: be interested to see just just what he brings to
Speaker 1: the table, because you know, all the athletic ability is there. Maybe,
Speaker 1: as he said, maybe he's not a four two guy
Speaker 1: in the forty anymore, but he thinks he can still
Speaker 1: run a four three. But this is a guy, this
Speaker 1: is a guy with a lot of talent, came into
Speaker 1: the league with a lot of pedigree as a top
Speaker 1: ten pick, and quite frankly, he's looking for the restart
Speaker 1: in a sense to his career. He's he's he's looking
Speaker 1: to get things back on track. And maybe Green Bay
Speaker 1: is uh is just the right opportunity with an offense
Speaker 1: like Matt Lafleur's well, and that's where my battle Fleur
Speaker 1: has had. This might as touch Mike for finding these
Speaker 1: types of players and being able to find a niche
Speaker 1: for them in the offensive role. And that was something
Speaker 1: that Aaron Rodgers kind of alluded to during his conference
Speaker 1: call with the reporters on Wednesday. The fact that, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, is Tavon Austin gonna be a guy that
Speaker 1: is gonna be playing sixties snaps offensively a game. Probably not,
Speaker 1: not at least right away. But if you can find
Speaker 1: something that he does well and build packages off of it.
Speaker 1: You saw what Tyler Irvin adds to this unit, especially
Speaker 1: when he's been healthy here. I just that's the intriguing
Speaker 1: aspect to me with this whole thing. You look at
Speaker 1: the body types that the Green Bay Packers have on
Speaker 1: the offensive side of the ball. You have your Mercedes
Speaker 1: Lewis is of the world, just amazing physical specimens, Uh,
Speaker 1: Robert Tany in the tall tight end, tall receivers, and
Speaker 1: now some of these guys that fit on the other
Speaker 1: side of the spectrum. When you look at it in
Speaker 1: your game planning, you're creating these types of things for
Speaker 1: opposing defenses. That's another thing that they have to think about.
Speaker 1: But first things first, he has to get healthy here.
Speaker 1: He has to get back in football shape, as he said,
Speaker 1: and show that when that opportunity comes he's still very
Speaker 1: much that first round pick that he was seven years ago. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's definitely his objective. No, question about it. Well, I
Speaker 1: want to get your thoughts West on a handful of
Speaker 1: games across the league. UM, in the NFL here as
Speaker 1: we head into the weekend, because there there are some
Speaker 1: interesting matchups. First right in the NFC North, the Detroit
Speaker 1: Lions at the Chicago Bears. UM. Some are calling this
Speaker 1: the you know, the last stand for the Bears to
Speaker 1: to say, you know, hey, we are going to be
Speaker 1: a contender. We're going to be in this thing down
Speaker 1: the stretch. They're facing a Detroit Lions team that now
Speaker 1: has an interim head coach, the former Wisconsin Badgers Rolls
Speaker 1: Bowl winning quarterback former Packers assistant coach Daryl Bevil now
Speaker 1: taking the reins in Detroit. What are your thoughts on
Speaker 1: this NFC North matchup? Must win game for the Bears, Uh,
Speaker 1: in so many different ways. First off, to be six
Speaker 1: and six and still keep yourself in the outside, you know,
Speaker 1: part of the division equation, the playoff equation, you have
Speaker 1: to get this win. But more importantly, Mike, this slide
Speaker 1: that they've been on here. Uh, you know, now five
Speaker 1: and six and this losing streak and not being able
Speaker 1: to really right the ship, and they thought that maybe
Speaker 1: they had the answer with Nick full and obviously he
Speaker 1: led him back in that one game. But the you know,
Speaker 1: kind of the downfall here in the month of November. Uh,
Speaker 1: it has them really reeling here and seeing exactly where
Speaker 1: they're going to be able to fit and if Matt
Speaker 1: Nage can kind of corral the horses here and get
Speaker 1: this thing turned back in the right direction, because on
Speaker 1: the other sideline that's gonna be at your own home field,
Speaker 1: you're seeing a Detroit Lions team that just went through
Speaker 1: an incredible amount of upheaval. Now we've covered enough of
Speaker 1: these interim coaches, Mike, We've seen it enough in the
Speaker 1: National Football League. These things go one of two ways.
Speaker 1: Either teams come together or they fall apart. Very rarely
Speaker 1: is it somewhere in the middle. It's a big gut
Speaker 1: check for both of these squads, but especially the Bears,
Speaker 1: who still want to be in that conversation for a
Speaker 1: playoffs about here in two thousand. Well, speaking of interim coaches,
Speaker 1: the Atlanta Falcons will be hosting the New Orleans Saints
Speaker 1: this weekend. And now the Falcons under Raheem Morris, who
Speaker 1: took over for Dan Quinn if Todd Gurley falls down
Speaker 1: the one yard line against the Detroit Lions, the Falcons
Speaker 1: would be five and one under Raheem Morris. And now
Speaker 1: this is a Saints team that is a top the
Speaker 1: NFC nine and two, one game ahead of the Packers
Speaker 1: in the Seahawks for the best record in the conference.
Speaker 1: But the Saints do not have Drew Brees back yet
Speaker 1: at quarterback. The Falcons coming off of a blowout win
Speaker 1: over the Raiders last week, with many people pegging the
Speaker 1: Raiders as a playoff contender in the a f C,
Speaker 1: having beaten the Chiefs earlier near and taking the Chiefs
Speaker 1: to the wire in the rematch. So an interesting one
Speaker 1: year with the Saints trying to stay in that top
Speaker 1: spot in the NFC against a division rival without Drew Brees. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and that's the biggest question here, Taysom Hill. Now that
Speaker 1: teams have had a chance to get a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks of film on him, how are they going to
Speaker 1: defend him? Because I always think it's too simplistic to say, well,
Speaker 1: if someone's been figured out, if a guy is good enough,
Speaker 1: he're not going to be able to figure him out.
Speaker 1: He's gonna be able to pivot and do other things. Differently,
Speaker 1: but last week was certainly a little bit more adversity
Speaker 1: than what he'll had grown accustomed to facing, specifically as
Speaker 1: a passer. So how does he fare in a matchup
Speaker 1: like this against an Atlanta Falcons team that whose defense
Speaker 1: you know, still is what it is, but now seems
Speaker 1: to have a little bit more of its own swagger back.
Speaker 1: And they have this game and at home in their
Speaker 1: own dome. So, uh, this is gonna be one of
Speaker 1: these teams down the stretch. I think with the Falcons
Speaker 1: that the record might not indicate that they are obviously
Speaker 1: going to be in the playoffs or they're even a
Speaker 1: contender at this point, but with Matt Ryan, with those weapons,
Speaker 1: it still makes you think a little bit. So the
Speaker 1: New Orleans Saints have had some ups and they've had
Speaker 1: some downs this season, but seeing how they're able to
Speaker 1: stem this tide to win Drew Brees gets back in
Speaker 1: the lineup, that's gonna be their ultimate test and squarely
Speaker 1: that's gonna fall on the shoulders of Payom Hill. One
Speaker 1: more in the NFC I want to get your thoughts on.
Speaker 1: Then also one in the a f C. The Rams
Speaker 1: are at the Cardinals, now just a couple of weeks ago,
Speaker 1: the Cardinals win a big game over Buffalo on a
Speaker 1: hail Mary. They're riding high. The Rams get a big
Speaker 1: win over the Seahawks. They're riding high. But now since
Speaker 1: those wins, both of these teams kind of starting to
Speaker 1: head in the wrong direction a little bit. But yet
Speaker 1: they're both still very much in playoff contention in the NFC,
Speaker 1: And you know, you don't want to say it's a
Speaker 1: must win for both teams, so to speak, at this stage.
Speaker 1: I think that's a little bit of a stretch. But
Speaker 1: this is an important game in uh in the NFC West,
Speaker 1: with Seattle sitting on top and both of these teams
Speaker 1: trying to stay within striking distance of the Seahawks. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's really interesting kind of paradox that those two teams
Speaker 1: find themselves in because from the airline the Arizona Cardinals perspective,
Speaker 1: this is a team that I think is going to
Speaker 1: be good, and I think they are going to be
Speaker 1: a team. If I'm the Green of Packers, I meany
Speaker 1: of these squads. I don't want to see the Cardinals
Speaker 1: in the playoffs, just because it has a lot of
Speaker 1: that two thousand nine sort of feel to them where
Speaker 1: they can put up points against anybody, but they still
Speaker 1: haven't quite reached that upper echelon where it's like, okay,
Speaker 1: every single week you can count on them for these
Speaker 1: points for this production to be favor Uh, there's still
Speaker 1: sort of in many ways, especially with Kyler Murge still
Speaker 1: learning how to win at this level. Then you look
Speaker 1: at the Rams, who very much felt like last year
Speaker 1: they could have needed for a title, and this year
Speaker 1: they still feel like they're built to heat, you know,
Speaker 1: even though they've had to make a few changes on
Speaker 1: both sides of the ball. This is another one of
Speaker 1: those games Mike that if you look at it from
Speaker 1: l A's perspective, they're going into Arizona's home field. Can
Speaker 1: they find a way to get that eighth win of
Speaker 1: the season, Because not only does that keep you then
Speaker 1: in striking distance of the Seahawks, but there's going to
Speaker 1: be some tight matchups here down the stretch and both
Speaker 1: conferences to get those wild card birds. Even though they
Speaker 1: expanded to seven, I still think there's a chance that
Speaker 1: you're gonna end up seeing a decent team or two
Speaker 1: not able to crack that field if it does stay
Speaker 1: at fourteen teams, so yeah, division implications, everything else that
Speaker 1: plays into it. It's definitely a Markett matchup. One game
Speaker 1: in the a f C. I want to get your
Speaker 1: thoughts on Cleveland is at Tennessee. Now we've seen the Titans.
Speaker 1: The Titans got off to a hot start this year,
Speaker 1: went through a bit of a lull. They lost three
Speaker 1: out of four games. Now the Titans have come out
Speaker 1: the other side of it, and they look like they're
Speaker 1: looking a lot like that team that was making that
Speaker 1: run last January all the way to the a f
Speaker 1: C title game. The flip side with the Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 1: If you want to announce to the a f C
Speaker 1: and announced to the football world that you're to be
Speaker 1: taken seriously as an a f C playoff contender, this
Speaker 1: is a huge opportunity for Cleveland. They have a winning record,
Speaker 1: they are in the mix for a playoff spot. But
Speaker 1: there are a lot of people that are skeptical. They
Speaker 1: don't really quite believe in the Browns. They're not really
Speaker 1: sure what to think of the Browns. Well, Cleveland, here's
Speaker 1: your chance. Well you shouldn't believe in the Browns because
Speaker 1: I think they've started to find their identity offensively. I
Speaker 1: think when you look at Baker, Baker Mayfield doing a
Speaker 1: better job of protecting the ball this season. I think
Speaker 1: he's shown more of the promise that he showed off
Speaker 1: the bat. He's been able to recapture that. And they
Speaker 1: have a really potent one to punch in their backfield with,
Speaker 1: you know, Kareem Hunting able to kind of get his
Speaker 1: career back on track, and Nick Chubb also has been
Speaker 1: one of the more consistent reliable running presences in this league.
Speaker 1: To me, if you're the Cleveland Browns, that's the ticket.
Speaker 1: Doesn't matter if it's two thousand twenty, doesn't matter if
Speaker 1: it's two thousand en Uh. You play in in the Midwest,
Speaker 1: your your blue collar city, find your running game and
Speaker 1: build things off of that. You don't need to be Hollywood.
Speaker 1: You just need to be black and blue in that division.
Speaker 1: So I like the direction they've gone. Now that being said,
Speaker 1: you're going up against a team that does it as
Speaker 1: well as anybody, with Derrick Henry and certainly Ryan Tannehill,
Speaker 1: who has had one of the more unheralded seasons this
Speaker 1: here as far as playing the quarterback position, how he
Speaker 1: has reinvented himself in Tennessee. Uh there there, It's something
Speaker 1: that people down the line are going to have to
Speaker 1: look at. When he played for as long as he
Speaker 1: did with Miami not being able to fulfill his potential,
Speaker 1: he got that prove it deal, that backup deal that
Speaker 1: we often talk about with quarterbacks that don't work out
Speaker 1: at their first stop, and it actually ended up turning
Speaker 1: into a franchise quarterback a franchise contract. So it's a
Speaker 1: good matchup in on the other side of this, Mike.
Speaker 1: Like I mentioned with the last the last thing, there's
Speaker 1: probably gonna be a team with a winning record that
Speaker 1: doesn't make the a f C playoffs. Up until last week,
Speaker 1: I think Cleveland was still on the outside looking in
Speaker 1: until they got their eighth win in terms of how
Speaker 1: the projected you know, slots are right now in seatings.
Speaker 1: So yeah, they're both teams that are both eight and three,
Speaker 1: but there's still a lot on the line here and
Speaker 1: be able to pick up that that next win and
Speaker 1: ensure themselves of a winning season. Well, I think the
Speaker 1: reason there's there is the skepticism about the Browns is
Speaker 1: because the last time earlier this year, they had a
Speaker 1: game where they were this hyped and you know, going
Speaker 1: into play the Steelers, they got smacked and you know,
Speaker 1: they got knocked down pretty hard. So this is this
Speaker 1: is definitely a prove it type of game for Cleveland.
Speaker 1: And what's fun for them too is they're gonna have
Speaker 1: a chance to show that that wasn't them. I mean,
Speaker 1: they're gonna be able to host the Pittsburgh in that finale.
Speaker 1: Now people will see if whether or not even the
Speaker 1: starters are going to be in that game for Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1: Are they gonna be going for sixteen and all things
Speaker 1: we're gonna have to figure out. But if you look
Speaker 1: at the way the schedule lines up for them, Mike,
Speaker 1: they get Tennessee, they're gonna be taking out a Baltimore
Speaker 1: team that's had a lot of adversity, and then they
Speaker 1: go to New York teams back to back. This thing
Speaker 1: set up for Cleveland, have a ten win season, ten
Speaker 1: plus win season, and make that run, that that long
Speaker 1: anticipated run to a playoff birth that I think everybody
Speaker 1: has been sort of hoping for here the last four
Speaker 1: years and in that part of the country. Yeah, alright,
Speaker 1: well with that, we will call it a wrap on
Speaker 1: this edition of Packers Unscripted be sure to follow all
Speaker 1: of our coverage of the team on Packers dot com
Speaker 1: and all of the coverage of Sunday afternoons big game
Speaker 1: from lambeau Field against the Philadelphia Eagles. It will all
Speaker 1: be there for you on Packers dot com for Wes.
Speaker 1: I am Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody. Let's
Speaker 1: see you next time.