Speaker 1: Hi, everybody, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford, sitting alongside my trusted colleague West Hodkowitz.
Speaker 1: Were coming to you here from our studios at lambeau Field, West.
Speaker 1: We are one day closer to Packers Seahawks Thursday Night
Speaker 1: football at Century Link Field, a four four in one
Speaker 1: Packers team, a four and five Seahawks team. Because of
Speaker 1: the short week, this is actually our final show of
Speaker 1: the week, which means its keys to victory time. So
Speaker 1: with these two teams both fighting for victory number five
Speaker 1: in the season, what do you see as the biggest
Speaker 1: key to victory for the Packers in Seattle? Well, I
Speaker 1: think it starts with the elements in that stadium. I
Speaker 1: don't see it, as we talked about yesterday's show, Mike,
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's the impenetrable force that maybe
Speaker 1: it was four or five years ago. But as a
Speaker 1: couple of guys in the locker rooms said on Tuesday,
Speaker 1: including Aaron Rodgers, there is something still to be said
Speaker 1: about being able to seize momentum there and being able
Speaker 1: to take the crowd out of it. Claim Matthews touched
Speaker 1: on this as well in that it gets loud. Uh.
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy made the comment that they have the loudest
Speaker 1: speakers system in the NFL, and the crowd gets into
Speaker 1: it and everything sort of feeds off of each other.
Speaker 1: What you need to be able to do if you're
Speaker 1: the Packers, if you're any road team, is go in
Speaker 1: there and put up points, really get some production going
Speaker 1: and not allowed that fan base to get the wind
Speaker 1: behind their sales. I just think whether it's the run,
Speaker 1: whether it's the past, whether it's a defensive stop to
Speaker 1: begin the game, whatever it takes being able to not
Speaker 1: allow Russell Wilson to get off to a fast start
Speaker 1: and really get that crowd humming. Yeah. I really liked
Speaker 1: one comment that Aaron Rodgers had at his locker on
Speaker 1: Tuesday in which he talked about you have to be
Speaker 1: able to withstand the surd in that stadium, and I
Speaker 1: kind of build a whole story around that on Packers
Speaker 1: dot Com and that anytime you go into that place,
Speaker 1: there's always going to be a surge from Seattle at
Speaker 1: some point. You just look at the Packers history there.
Speaker 1: Two thousand and twelve, it was eight sacks of Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers in the first half. Unfortunately, the Packers stayed in
Speaker 1: the game, only down seven nothing at halftime. After that
Speaker 1: horrible first half, they came back with a strong running
Speaker 1: game and they were in position should have won the
Speaker 1: game obviously, if not for the fail Mary. Then you
Speaker 1: look at the season opener. Packers were right in the game.
Speaker 1: I believe it was a seven point game at halftime,
Speaker 1: but there was an interception which set up points and
Speaker 1: then a safety which was followed by a touchdown. It
Speaker 1: was like this third quarter surge that the Seahawks had
Speaker 1: and the Packers couldn't stop it. It was that snowball
Speaker 1: rolling downhill and then we all know what happened in
Speaker 1: the two thousand and fourteen NFC Championship game to end
Speaker 1: that year. So you've got to be able to withstand
Speaker 1: the surge and find a way to stop it. Now,
Speaker 1: a turnover could stop it. A key third down conversion
Speaker 1: on offense when the crowd is, you know, at its
Speaker 1: peak volume wise, trying to mess up the offense and everything.
Speaker 1: You convert something there that can stem the tide, so
Speaker 1: to speak. The Packers are going to be in a
Speaker 1: couple of positions on Thursday night, where they have to
Speaker 1: do something like that and it's a matter of whether
Speaker 1: or not they get it done. Yeah, And I think
Speaker 1: you bring up a good point, and certainly we do
Speaker 1: not need to go over the two thousand fourteen NFC
Speaker 1: title game. I know that was a question that some
Speaker 1: people try to bring up to veterans on this roster,
Speaker 1: but Clay Matthews being one of them, kind of shut
Speaker 1: that down, saying this is a completely different team. I
Speaker 1: think it was even to the point that the Packers
Speaker 1: actually had guys or had players in the locker room
Speaker 1: raise their hands if they even played in century like before,
Speaker 1: and there weren't that many hands. But one thing that
Speaker 1: I that I do remember from that four teen game
Speaker 1: was how quiet that stadium was at halftime. Packers obviously
Speaker 1: weren't able to finish what they wanted to, they weren't
Speaker 1: able to get the touchdowns they had to settle for
Speaker 1: field goals, but it still was sixteen to nothing, and
Speaker 1: that's as quiet now. Might have only been there three times,
Speaker 1: I think now, but that was as quiet as I
Speaker 1: can recall that atmosphere. The Packers need to make sure
Speaker 1: that happens again. And and the one thing I like
Speaker 1: that Green Bay has going for it going into this
Speaker 1: game is one of the it's its strongest, most complete
Speaker 1: defensive performances. Very multiple wasn't relying on one player. Head
Speaker 1: guys step up in the face of injury and offensively
Speaker 1: seeing that juggernaut out of the backfield that is Aaron
Speaker 1: Jones and getting him going the way he's going on
Speaker 1: a short week. There's a lot of things the Packers
Speaker 1: put on film that the Seattle Seahawks are going to
Speaker 1: have to take into account, and I think that's a
Speaker 1: good place to be in uh in terms of really
Speaker 1: making Pete Carroll his coaching staff think about what they're
Speaker 1: gonna see Thursday night. Yeah, Well, with this being the
Speaker 1: last show of the week, I've got a lot of
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Speaker 1: Kay if we set aside the noise issue, now that
Speaker 1: I've taken care of the bows sponsor business. This kind
Speaker 1: of sets up, doesn't it west as a run the ball,
Speaker 1: stop the run, this classic type of game. I mean
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones, he's coming off his career best game. The
Speaker 1: Packers actually number one in the league right now in
Speaker 1: yards per carry as far as running the ball five
Speaker 1: point to the Seattle Seahawks twenty nine in the league
Speaker 1: in yards allowed per rush at five point zero. Now,
Speaker 1: they haven't given up a ton of rushing yards overall
Speaker 1: because teams haven't necessarily run the ball that much. But
Speaker 1: those two statistics really sort of stand out. And then
Speaker 1: obviously the flip side of it. The Seahawks, the number
Speaker 1: one rushing offense in the league, get a hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty two yards per game, and the Packers they always
Speaker 1: seem to have some lulls or some ruts in their
Speaker 1: run defense. Where I mean, we saw Adrian Peterson get
Speaker 1: going for Washington, we saw Frank Gore start out really
Speaker 1: hot for the Miami Dolphins. Things like that have happened.
Speaker 1: The Packers have had their ups and downs in that area.
Speaker 1: It just it feels like a run the ball, stop
Speaker 1: to run game to me. Yeah, and it was interesting
Speaker 1: listen to Pete Carroll in his conference call with the
Speaker 1: Green Bay Media. Was basically asked something along those lines,
Speaker 1: because you look at it, Mike, this is the number
Speaker 1: one rushing offense in the NFL statistically hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: two point two yards per game. And Carol said, one
Speaker 1: thing that this year's team has done, and they've had
Speaker 1: to do with a number of different running backs, as
Speaker 1: we outlined in some of our previous shows, but they're
Speaker 1: getting back to what they feel is their their true form,
Speaker 1: being able to establish the run, being a run team
Speaker 1: that that can move the football in that way, maybe
Speaker 1: lull you a little bit, and then make a big
Speaker 1: play happen off the pass from that, and they feel
Speaker 1: like they're getting close in terms of being able to
Speaker 1: do that consistently. We saw we saw Rashad Penning step
Speaker 1: up the way that he did. Uh, you have Mike
Speaker 1: Davis involved in there. That could potentially be the one
Speaker 1: to punch if Chris Carson can't come back from the hip.
Speaker 1: At the time we're shooting this, all we know is
Speaker 1: that he was a limited participant in Monday's practice or
Speaker 1: their walkthrough with the hip injuries. So you don't know
Speaker 1: exactly what what dimension or who's going to be in
Speaker 1: that backfield, but you do know that the Seahawks are
Speaker 1: feeling pretty good about whatever combination they're running with, that
Speaker 1: they can that they can move the ball and be
Speaker 1: able to set things up for Russell Wilson because going
Speaker 1: back to two thousand and ten when Pete Carroll came
Speaker 1: in as the head coach there, regardless of what the
Speaker 1: defenses look like, regardless of whether or not Russell Wilson
Speaker 1: was on the field, the main m O of Pete
Speaker 1: Carroll's teams have been to establish the run. They struggled
Speaker 1: to do that for two years and the results in
Speaker 1: the in the record reflected that seems to me, and
Speaker 1: as Carroll agrees, they are back to being the team
Speaker 1: that they want to be in that regard. Still other
Speaker 1: places to clear up, but that they they feel like
Speaker 1: confident in their ability to move to football on the ground. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I heard Pete Carroll. I believe he made some
Speaker 1: comments to the Seattle media or maybe it was even
Speaker 1: to some national reporters earlier this week. Everybody's talking about
Speaker 1: the Seahaw being four and five coming off of they've
Speaker 1: lost twice to the Rams in their own division. But
Speaker 1: Pete Carroll points back to, just like Packers fans point
Speaker 1: back to in terms of trying to get going late,
Speaker 1: the Seahawks one. I believe it was six of their
Speaker 1: last seven after a four and five start just a
Speaker 1: few years ago, and they got themselves in the playoffs
Speaker 1: and and we're right in the thick of it again.
Speaker 1: So um, in that respect, there's certainly no no sleeping
Speaker 1: on this team. They will be just as fired up
Speaker 1: and and I don't like to say desperate necessarily right now,
Speaker 1: but in need of a victory just as much as
Speaker 1: the Packers with regards to that, uh, With regards to
Speaker 1: that Seahawks running game, Wes, We've seen them do it
Speaker 1: with a lot of different guys. I was actually surprised
Speaker 1: when I looked at the statistics that Russell Wilson, he
Speaker 1: only has about two hundred or so rushing yards on
Speaker 1: the season, and almost half of those came just in
Speaker 1: in last week's game. I still think he can be very,
Speaker 1: very dangerous obviously in that respect. But you said it
Speaker 1: it's getting for it's getting the running game going and
Speaker 1: then running the play action off of it. Yeah. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: And and It goes back to something when you look
Speaker 1: at Carson earlier this season. I mean, Chris Carson had
Speaker 1: a game which he carried the ball thirty two times.
Speaker 1: Before he had the hip flare up, he carried it
Speaker 1: twenty five times. They felt pretty comfortable with him being
Speaker 1: a bell call back for them. In sprinkling in Mike Davis,
Speaker 1: now you're starting to get Penny, their first round draft pick,
Speaker 1: more involved. They feel good about where he's at. They
Speaker 1: felt like he turned a corner in that game last weekend,
Speaker 1: so it gives them more multiple options going into the season.
Speaker 1: I think everybody, myself included I drafted him in fantasy football.
Speaker 1: We were kind of thinking that maybe Penny could be
Speaker 1: the guy there and just be, you know, the next
Speaker 1: Marshawn Lynch. It hasn't really worked out that way at
Speaker 1: this point, but at the same token, whatever the combination
Speaker 1: has been, they've been able to move to football. Now,
Speaker 1: what I'm interested to see is after that game against
Speaker 1: the Rams where Russell Wilson did scramble nine times for
Speaker 1: ninety two yards, do you see him start to open
Speaker 1: up a little more. Does Brian Schottenheimer feel a little
Speaker 1: bit more comfortable? Uh In in, you know, exploring that
Speaker 1: avenue of his game. All things the Packers are gonna
Speaker 1: have to answer. But the original point about the Packers
Speaker 1: defense twenty second right now, in the NFL, they've done
Speaker 1: a good job of not really giving up the big run,
Speaker 1: but it is been those intermediate kind of runs and
Speaker 1: second and third down leaking out for first downs that
Speaker 1: they have to be mindful of. And I'm very interested
Speaker 1: to see in this particular game. Do you see more
Speaker 1: of the combination of Blake Martinez Antonio Morrison. Do you
Speaker 1: see them maybe stack in the box a little bit
Speaker 1: more in challenging Russell Wilson to go downfield. We'll have
Speaker 1: to see. Well that that's what I'm curious about. Schematically,
Speaker 1: because we've seen Mike Petton be so multiple with this defense.
Speaker 1: You're right, one potential option to stop the run is
Speaker 1: to put Morrison and Martinez both next to each other
Speaker 1: off the ball in the middle of the defense at linebacker.
Speaker 1: The other way you can go about it is you
Speaker 1: can play a five man front three down linemen have
Speaker 1: your two outside linebackers, but you can then you have
Speaker 1: Martinez in the middle and you still have five defensive
Speaker 1: backs on the field. To guard against the playoffs, and
Speaker 1: you know, yeah, so there are some different options there,
Speaker 1: and you know the chess match part of this. You
Speaker 1: can't get too far into it on such a short
Speaker 1: week in terms of trying to figure it out, but
Speaker 1: you have those options in your back pocket. The players
Speaker 1: rep them, you know, as much as you can on
Speaker 1: a short week, and uh, and have to execute it
Speaker 1: when it's called because this is the type of game
Speaker 1: where adjustments might have to be made right away when
Speaker 1: suddenly it's like, oh, we're trying something, it's not working
Speaker 1: and we haven't repped it. You know, we haven't repped
Speaker 1: these other things enough, but we've got to We've got
Speaker 1: to try it because we can't let the game get
Speaker 1: out of hand. Yeah, definitely. And from the Packers perspective,
Speaker 1: you mentioned it with Aaron Jones, getting that side of
Speaker 1: things going. The Seattle run defense isn't as how would
Speaker 1: you say, restricting, isn't a lockdown, isn't as dominant as
Speaker 1: probably was for a number of years. Definitely definitely against
Speaker 1: the run. Right now, Mike, they're tied for twenty eight
Speaker 1: with five point zero yards allowed per care. So if
Speaker 1: the Packers, this seems like the type of game too.
Speaker 1: As you mentioned, if you can get Aaron Jones going
Speaker 1: start getting that momentum built early on, it also can
Speaker 1: go a long wait and really opening things up. Yeah.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, a little more sponsored business here West,
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Speaker 1: Official sup partner of the Green Bay Packers. You mentioned
Speaker 1: it on our last show West, the success the Packers
Speaker 1: defense has had getting some interceptions off of Russell Wilson. Um,
Speaker 1: I believe you said the number was ten. Yeah, in
Speaker 1: five regular season games. I don't have it with the
Speaker 1: playoff game mixed in. Yeah, I mean you throw in
Speaker 1: the NFC champion were four. There were four more in
Speaker 1: the NFC Championship game, so fourteen and six. Yeah, they
Speaker 1: and they had the five interception game here at Lambe
Speaker 1: Field in when the Packers were in there. They're late
Speaker 1: season run. So you know Wilson is certainly aware of
Speaker 1: that in terms of what in terms of what this
Speaker 1: defense has done to him. I guess my question to you,
Speaker 1: it's kind of an obvious one every week, but talking
Speaker 1: specifically this game, these two teams, how important do you
Speaker 1: think it is for the Packers defense to get I'll
Speaker 1: pick or maybe two off of Wilson in order to win? Well, certainly, again,
Speaker 1: you and I seems to always talk about this every week.
Speaker 1: It is important to win the turnover margin. But for
Speaker 1: my money, this game is important because the Packers stacked
Speaker 1: some success with the takeaways last week, with the fumble
Speaker 1: recovery in Bashad Brelan's interception. They've been looking for those
Speaker 1: type of place if you can get one or two
Speaker 1: more in this game, and also had the offense convert
Speaker 1: those into points like they did a week ago, three
Speaker 1: days ago with get caught myself there, but they turned
Speaker 1: him into fourteen points. They were able to take that
Speaker 1: ball and really build that momentum after such a momental, emotional, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, game changing type play. So if you're able
Speaker 1: to do that again, well, one, there's nothing more demoralizing
Speaker 1: in the NFL than a takeaway at home. From the
Speaker 1: Seattle's perspective, that's what really can suck the air out
Speaker 1: of the building. So yeah, I think it's important. I
Speaker 1: think if you can get a strip, if you can
Speaker 1: get an interception, if you can do anything to steal
Speaker 1: a possession, especially against a team like that, it's gonna
Speaker 1: go a long way. Because when this team, when the
Speaker 1: Seahawks are at their best, it's Russell Wilson throwing four
Speaker 1: or five interceptions a season. It's it's them having three
Speaker 1: or four fumbles a season. Uh, it's just it's they
Speaker 1: do a fairly good job at historically protecting the football,
Speaker 1: and then when they had the defense that they did,
Speaker 1: that's what is really uh you know, allowed them to
Speaker 1: get on the run that they were on. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it's paramount if you can achieve that. And
Speaker 1: when you talk about the crowd noise, obviously you know
Speaker 1: Rogers said it certainly at his locker on Tuesday, Protecting
Speaker 1: the football, you know, a turnover is what can really
Speaker 1: get that crowd going and can be part of that
Speaker 1: surge that ultimately you're going to have to withstand. So
Speaker 1: so limiting those can the silly penalties to like, there's
Speaker 1: gonna be some communications, here's no question about it, but
Speaker 1: avoiding the full starts, avoiding the encroachments at times defensively,
Speaker 1: just being able to make sure you don't give them
Speaker 1: any free artage because that's only gonna, you know, add
Speaker 1: a little bit more fuel to that fire for the
Speaker 1: Seattle fan base. And certainly the Packers need to play.
Speaker 1: As we've talked about over the last several weeks, the
Speaker 1: Packers need to play a clean game on special teams
Speaker 1: at some point. I mean the mistakes that happened in
Speaker 1: the Miami game with the block punt, the fumble on
Speaker 1: the punt return, those kinds of things, especially on the road,
Speaker 1: can be really tough to come back from. We saw
Speaker 1: how hard it was for the Packers just to bounce
Speaker 1: back from the little punt snaffoo with Kevin King in
Speaker 1: Detroit that gives Detroit a seven nothing lead right off
Speaker 1: the bat, and it felt like it was until the
Speaker 1: almost the third quarter before the Packers really recovered and
Speaker 1: and uh and started to get something going. And it
Speaker 1: all started with a big miskey on special team Packers
Speaker 1: roster at this time, what time we're tape in this
Speaker 1: still at fifty two, they have a guy that's eligible
Speaker 1: to return in this game. Trevor Davis was the third
Speaker 1: ranked second ranked pount returner in the in the league
Speaker 1: last season. I thought he did an exemplary job after
Speaker 1: taking over for Jeff Jennis on kickoff returns. Trevor Davis
Speaker 1: could be a really important piece for the Packers in
Speaker 1: the second half of the season. We'll see whether or
Speaker 1: not this is the week, but from all indications what
Speaker 1: he said after the game on Sunday, he feels good,
Speaker 1: he feels healthy from that and recovered from that hamstring.
Speaker 1: Could go a long way and really settling things down
Speaker 1: on those special teams, those return units. If he can play, yeah,
Speaker 1: maybe the maybe the spark that the special teams need.
Speaker 1: One other thing. I want to get to West before
Speaker 1: we go, because I'm getting this question a lot in
Speaker 1: Insider Inbox this week, the fans are looking at what
Speaker 1: else is going on around the league. Sunday night, the
Speaker 1: Packers are off on the weekend after playing on Thursday.
Speaker 1: Sunday Night as the Bears against the Vikings. Packers fans
Speaker 1: are wondering, okay, Bears are six and three Vikings or
Speaker 1: five three and one. Who are you supposed to cheer for?
Speaker 1: You know, I don't know. Do you do you have
Speaker 1: do you have a gut feeling? Do you have an
Speaker 1: answer on who which team Packers fans should root for
Speaker 1: in this NFC North matchup? I'm gonna go with oh Man,
Speaker 1: if you just go by based alone on quote unquote
Speaker 1: power rankings, it would probably be Chicago because you just
Speaker 1: feel like Chicago might be more susceptible to falling into
Speaker 1: a lull. Minnesota is a pretty veteran team at this point.
Speaker 1: They have a veteran quarterback, and it seems like any
Speaker 1: win for them is only going to help kind of,
Speaker 1: you know, move the ball a little bit for them.
Speaker 1: But there is a part of me too that wonders
Speaker 1: if the Vikings could win this game. Go to six
Speaker 1: three and one, the Bears go to six and four,
Speaker 1: the Packers win, well, then suddenly you know they're at
Speaker 1: five four and one, You're only one game out, and
Speaker 1: you get a chance to go into Minnesota very next
Speaker 1: week and US Bank Stadium the very next week in
Speaker 1: prime time. So, um, I don't think there's a really
Speaker 1: true winner or a loser, but maybe you just wait
Speaker 1: and see who wins this one, and you cheer for
Speaker 1: the other team when they meet a second time, and
Speaker 1: just hope the Bears and the Vikings split their two games.
Speaker 1: That might be the best case scenario for the Packers
Speaker 1: as we're looking at it right, because I mean, if
Speaker 1: the Bears pick up these two, man that there they
Speaker 1: have eight wins going into December. So yeah, it's it's
Speaker 1: and from a schedule standpoint to obviously anything can happen
Speaker 1: any week. But I know the Vikings still have to
Speaker 1: go to New England, but the Bears also still have
Speaker 1: to play the Rams, you know, so we both both
Speaker 1: teams have something. I think the Bears schedule might be
Speaker 1: a little bit more favorable than the Vikings, but again
Speaker 1: this is this is the NFL to say schedules are favorable,
Speaker 1: you know that can that can change in seven days. Yeah,
Speaker 1: a good week though for you and I to not
Speaker 1: have to work the weekend when you look at that
Speaker 1: the Bears Vikings game, the Saints and the Eagles, that's
Speaker 1: gonna be a good one. Another tough matchup for Philling.
Speaker 1: Super Bowl champs are four and five and now they
Speaker 1: have to go to New Orleans to try to avoid
Speaker 1: a sixth loss, that's another tough one. And then just
Speaker 1: looking also at the Cowboys and the Falcons, Uh, two
Speaker 1: teams that had big hopes going in this year. One
Speaker 1: of those teams likely will be four and six. And
Speaker 1: then you always throw in the caveat and just since
Speaker 1: I did that, ever since I did that back in
Speaker 1: the early party. And then next Monday night Kansas City
Speaker 1: in l A. You know, it's uh, it's gonna be
Speaker 1: a good weekend of football. But the Packers get to
Speaker 1: kick it off, and I'm sure there's a lot of
Speaker 1: fans out there hoping they pick up that big first
Speaker 1: road win in a very noisy, at least at the
Speaker 1: beginning environment. Yeah, we will see how it shakes out,
Speaker 1: but for now we have to sign off on this
Speaker 1: edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of
Speaker 1: our coverage of the team and all of the coverage
Speaker 1: of Thursday night's game from Century Link Field on Packers
Speaker 1: dot com. On Twitter, you can follow him at west
Speaker 1: Hot I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account.
Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning in, everybody, We'll see you next time.