Speaker 1: Hi everyone, Welcome to Packers unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford, sitting next to the one and
Speaker 1: only West Hodkowits. We're coming to you here from our
Speaker 1: studios at lambeau Field and West. Next up for the
Speaker 1: Green May Packers is the New York Giants on Sunday. Now,
Speaker 1: just a bit of a programming note. Because it's Thanksgiving week,
Speaker 1: our beloved producer Matt Arvin, affectionately known as Marvin, he
Speaker 1: will be off with his family for the long weekend.
Speaker 1: Good for him, and because of that, we won't have
Speaker 1: shows this week on Thursday and Friday. So today we
Speaker 1: need to sort of combine our Tuesday Wednesday shows and
Speaker 1: then tomorrow will combine our Thursday Friday shows and call
Speaker 1: it an early rap on the week from this desk.
Speaker 1: So I want to first go to a quick update
Speaker 1: with regards to the Packers, because we did mention on
Speaker 1: yesterday's show that Brian Bulaga had left the game against
Speaker 1: the forty Niners, obviously with a knee injury. Matt Lafleur
Speaker 1: did not provide an update for the media as to
Speaker 1: where that injury stands, but it sounds like He's leaving
Speaker 1: the possibilities open as to how the Packers might compensate
Speaker 1: for that injury if Bolaga has to miss some time.
Speaker 1: Was that your read on the situation. Yeah, they're keeping
Speaker 1: everything on the table right now. Alex Light was the
Speaker 1: guy that came in the second year player out of Richmond.
Speaker 1: His you know, still yet to make an NFL start,
Speaker 1: So that is obviously one potential avenue they could go down.
Speaker 1: And La Fleur also said if they had a full
Speaker 1: week of preparation, if Blagga couldn't go, that Light would
Speaker 1: be better for it, would be ready for this task.
Speaker 1: But you know, they could shuffle the deck too, and
Speaker 1: that's something that Mike McCarthy did early on in his tenure.
Speaker 1: I think back to, you know, when t J. Lang
Speaker 1: would bump out and a right tackle moving from the
Speaker 1: guard position. You have a guy in Billy Turner that
Speaker 1: can play multiple positions. You have a guy in Lucas
Speaker 1: Patrick who has six NFL starts, played in thirty five
Speaker 1: NFL games on his resume that could potentially slide in
Speaker 1: it right guards. So there's a lot of different, you know,
Speaker 1: variations of this offensive line that could go with the
Speaker 1: big thing that Lafleur discussed though, is they want to
Speaker 1: get their best five out there if Bolaga isn't healthy
Speaker 1: and isn't prepared, isn't ready to be, you know, clear
Speaker 1: to be out there against the Giants. Yeah. And I
Speaker 1: think the other message, at least the other message that
Speaker 1: I took from Matt Lafleur's Monday press conference was that
Speaker 1: it's on everybody on this Packers team, players, coaches, everyone
Speaker 1: to own what happened, to take their part in ownership
Speaker 1: in the disaster in San Francisco. But there's also a
Speaker 1: heck of a lot of confidence within the walls of
Speaker 1: that locker room, within the walls of those coaches offices,
Speaker 1: that that the right people are here to turn this
Speaker 1: thing around. This is the Packers themselves do not believe
Speaker 1: this is suddenly going to spark some losing streak here.
Speaker 1: They believe in themselves, they believe in what they're doing
Speaker 1: and uh, and they're confident that they're going to turn
Speaker 1: this thing back around quick. What's been really neat to
Speaker 1: see over the course of the season, now we're almost
Speaker 1: into December, is the maturation of Matt Lafleur just at
Speaker 1: the podium and doing these news conferences, and honest with you,
Speaker 1: I totally agree with you. I felt like that was
Speaker 1: one of his best press conferences had as the Packers
Speaker 1: head coach. And certainly you don't want to be up
Speaker 1: there having to discuss what happened in a loss, but
Speaker 1: the way he handled it, and you know he since
Speaker 1: the very beginning. Matt for is always the first one
Speaker 1: to point his finger back at himself, at his coaching staff,
Speaker 1: but he was honest. You know, j K. Scott is
Speaker 1: struggling right now. There's been some issues there with the
Speaker 1: punt unit. They have to get straightened out. But he
Speaker 1: was very quick to say that. He said it to
Speaker 1: Scott to his face. I believe in you. We believe
Speaker 1: you because the proof is there. You have done it
Speaker 1: in this league. And that was just one example of
Speaker 1: many that he had throughout that news conference, whether it
Speaker 1: was offense, defense, otherwise. They have to look inward. I
Speaker 1: put that as my inbox title first, that you have
Speaker 1: to look inward. You have to find answers because this
Speaker 1: isn't about winning these next few games. The Packers should
Speaker 1: win these next few games. It's about being better now
Speaker 1: for a potential playoff run. Yeah, and as I wrote
Speaker 1: in my story late on Monday from that press conference
Speaker 1: about the criticism being just as strong as the confidence
Speaker 1: that the Packers have. Here, the words that he said
Speaker 1: to J. K. Scott, I think reflect how he feels
Speaker 1: about the entire team. Hey, we've done it, we know
Speaker 1: we we know we can do it, so let's uh,
Speaker 1: let's put in the work. One of my favorite lines
Speaker 1: from that press conference he was asked, Okay, so how
Speaker 1: do you get this thing turned around? And he just said,
Speaker 1: the only way I know how to do it is
Speaker 1: to go back to work, day by day and and
Speaker 1: and it's the cliche. It's one day at a time,
Speaker 1: it's one practice at a time, it's one game planning
Speaker 1: session at a time, whatever the whatever the case might be,
Speaker 1: whatever your job, whatever your part is in this thing,
Speaker 1: it's just about going back to work. And you don't
Speaker 1: completely forget about a disaster like what happened in San Francisco,
Speaker 1: but you don't dwell on it at the same time.
Speaker 1: And I think there's there's a fine line that athletes
Speaker 1: at this level, professional athletes in particular and coaches always
Speaker 1: have to walk that you have to learn from the past,
Speaker 1: but you can't let it bog you down at the
Speaker 1: same time. And I think that's the line the Packers
Speaker 1: are planning to walk this week. That line that La
Speaker 1: Fleur said reminded me of something that Jordy Nelson always
Speaker 1: used to say. And I know there are members of
Speaker 1: the media that would get kind of annoyed by it
Speaker 1: and saying that. But you know what, Mike, I wrote
Speaker 1: this also an inbox for Tuesday. There isn't a magic
Speaker 1: pill here. No, you can't just go and sign a
Speaker 1: free agent or trade for a player and then okay,
Speaker 1: all your problems are solved. No improvement comes from within
Speaker 1: because this is yes, it's it's November twenty six as
Speaker 1: we tape this show. The first day of the off
Speaker 1: season program, I think was April eighteen. That's seven months
Speaker 1: that you've been working with the core unit of this team.
Speaker 1: That's how you win in this league. You win with
Speaker 1: that unit. And I actually this was another thing I
Speaker 1: went off on an inbox. This is just becoming Packers inbox,
Speaker 1: but it was somebody men. You know, the Packers didn't
Speaker 1: make a move for a receiver at the trading deadline.
Speaker 1: They didn't get Aja Green. Aja Green still has yet
Speaker 1: to play. They didn't get Mohammed Sanu. Mohammed Sanu has
Speaker 1: a hundred and eight receiving yards in three games. He
Speaker 1: was held without a catch last week against Dallas. They
Speaker 1: will you know, they didn't ge Emmanuel Sanders. He torched
Speaker 1: the team. He had one catch for fifteen yards in
Speaker 1: that game. You have to be able to find improvement
Speaker 1: from your players from your locker room, and that is
Speaker 1: how you're going to beat the Giants. That's how you're
Speaker 1: going to beat Washington, That's how you're going to beat
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears. And that's ultimately where you have to
Speaker 1: be going into that game against Minnesota. Yeah. Absolutely, well,
Speaker 1: next up is the New York Giants. That is the
Speaker 1: next one on the schedule of Packers traveling to the
Speaker 1: opposite coast, going east this weekend for a one o'clock
Speaker 1: Eastern noon Central Time kick off, the first road game
Speaker 1: of the season in the early television window. If you can,
Speaker 1: if you can believe that, it's all the way until
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving weekend before the Packers play a road game in
Speaker 1: the in the first TV window. And this is the
Speaker 1: one I would have liked to have been at night.
Speaker 1: I've only been to New York twice. Michael, you want
Speaker 1: a galvant around Central Park and everything every the three.
Speaker 1: This is a side note, but all three games that
Speaker 1: I've covered where the Packers have played the Giants of
Speaker 1: the Jets have been New one pm Eastern time starts.
Speaker 1: What's up with that? So it goes. I feel like
Speaker 1: I've spent like three years of my life in San Francisco,
Speaker 1: but I mean like New York. Okay, but no, this
Speaker 1: this is it's it is. It's nice to be able
Speaker 1: to get on a somewhat normal schedule again. We're gonna
Speaker 1: get We're gonna get home after the game at at
Speaker 1: a like a normal time, at least from a from
Speaker 1: a work perspective. What a win? Yeah, well awesome. The
Speaker 1: Giants a team that is definitely in a rebuild mode.
Speaker 1: They are struggling. They are two and nine. They actually
Speaker 1: started the season two and two, and they've lost seven
Speaker 1: consecutive games. Offensively, they're building around there first round draft
Speaker 1: picks from the last two years, and that is running
Speaker 1: back stay Kwan Barkley out of Penn's Day and quarterback
Speaker 1: Daniel Jones out of Duke Now. Barkley was injured earlier
Speaker 1: in the year, so he doesn't really have the um
Speaker 1: the full slate of games in terms of his statistics
Speaker 1: this year. But that being said, it's still surprising that
Speaker 1: a running back of his talent and his caliber only
Speaker 1: has two rushing touchdowns this year. The Giants deciding after
Speaker 1: just a couple of games this year to move on
Speaker 1: from Eli Manning and to throw the rookie Daniel Jones,
Speaker 1: the number six overall pick in the draft. They decided
Speaker 1: to throw him into the fire in September and move
Speaker 1: on to the future sooner than some people were predicting.
Speaker 1: And uh, um, you know, typical of a rookie quarterback,
Speaker 1: Jones has had his ups and downs. Yeah, it's uh,
Speaker 1: you know, this is the bright spot for them, though,
Speaker 1: let's be honest. I mean, I think Daniel Jones, the
Speaker 1: way he's played this year has shown people, Okay, maybe
Speaker 1: it wasn't a total reach to go up and get
Speaker 1: this guy. Now that being said, he's made mistakes, and
Speaker 1: he's made mistakes from the very moment that he replaced
Speaker 1: Eli Manning. He has seventeen touchdowns, He has eight interceptions
Speaker 1: thrown for around yards sixty two point five percent clip fine,
Speaker 1: fourteen fumbles, ten lost and if you look at the
Speaker 1: takeaway margins, the turnover differential, that's where the Giants have
Speaker 1: lost a lot of games. And let's be honest, Mike,
Speaker 1: I mean, the Giants are dangerous. They played Chicago very
Speaker 1: tough last week, but there is a dearth of talent
Speaker 1: with this roster. Cody Lattimore, who is also draft in
Speaker 1: that same draft that the same second round, is Davantas.
Speaker 1: He started nine games this series and eight receiving yards.
Speaker 1: I mean, Evan Ingram right now has been dealing with
Speaker 1: the injuries. He's there probably their best outside skill position
Speaker 1: player that isn't Sae Kwon Barkley, And even say Kwon
Speaker 1: Barkley has not really been himself here over the last
Speaker 1: three or four weeks. You know, there's even these conversations,
Speaker 1: these stories that I saw that hey, you know, maybe
Speaker 1: they consider shutting him down, you know, with the way
Speaker 1: things have gone this year in the ankle injury and
Speaker 1: everything like that, and just the lack of production and
Speaker 1: where the season is headed for the Giants. Golden Tate
Speaker 1: is in the con Ushon protocol. Yeah, you see on
Speaker 1: the other side of the ball, Jabriel Peppers, you know,
Speaker 1: dealing with that back injury, that transverse process injury that
Speaker 1: you've heard about the last years. They're hurting unit and
Speaker 1: the Packers you cannot take them lightly. You have to
Speaker 1: take them serious. But let's be honest. It's a rookie
Speaker 1: quarterback and there's a lot of questions. The offensive line
Speaker 1: has been playing through some things. They got to take
Speaker 1: care of business against this group. Yeah, absolutely, the Packers
Speaker 1: do need to take care of business. You mentioned they are,
Speaker 1: they are banged up a little bit. When I look
Speaker 1: at the defensive side of the ball, what jumps out
Speaker 1: at me is that during the seven game losing streak
Speaker 1: that the Giants are on, only once in those seven games,
Speaker 1: and it was last week against the Bears, only once
Speaker 1: have they allowed fewer than twenty seven points to the opposition.
Speaker 1: I mean, teams are putting up big scoring numbers against
Speaker 1: this defensive unit, and it's starting quickly. In games West.
Speaker 1: You look at the quarter by quarter breakdown for the Giants,
Speaker 1: they've been outscored eighty one to twenty seven in the
Speaker 1: quarter of games. You and I have been talking, you know,
Speaker 1: all the time about obviously the Packers wanting to get
Speaker 1: out to a fast start, and I know We're talking
Speaker 1: yesterday about being able to win a game on the
Speaker 1: road maybe when things don't start out all that well,
Speaker 1: and you know, still finding a way, but just based
Speaker 1: on this particular opponent and how teams have beaten the
Speaker 1: Giants consistently this year, you have to get out to
Speaker 1: a fast start and make that rookie quarterback play from behind. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you need to be able to to sink your
Speaker 1: teeth into this defense and and get the yards that
Speaker 1: have been out there so far this season, especially if
Speaker 1: Peppers doesn't play. Peppers has been arguably their best defensive
Speaker 1: player this season. I mean, if you if you really
Speaker 1: break it down, I mean, he's made some big plays
Speaker 1: at the safety position. Genera's Jenkins is a guy I
Speaker 1: really respect. At cornerback, Marcus Golden has seven and a
Speaker 1: half sacks, But outside of that, yeah, Genor's Jenkins has
Speaker 1: four interceptions. He's certainly been a playmaker for them in
Speaker 1: the back end as well. But they have ten interceptions
Speaker 1: as a total, you know, and and four those belong
Speaker 1: to Jenkins, two of them to Ryan Connelly, and then
Speaker 1: Jabriel Peppers has one of them. So I mean it's
Speaker 1: just it's one of these deals where you look at
Speaker 1: where season is headed for the Giants and being on
Speaker 1: the skid that they're on. This is why you can't
Speaker 1: have a letdown. And that's why the Packers had to
Speaker 1: make sure they get their bodies right, because this is
Speaker 1: a game. You have to scheme, you have to prepare,
Speaker 1: you have to plan for the Giants playing their very best.
Speaker 1: And the Floor said of himself standing at the podium,
Speaker 1: you can't take them lightly. You saw what happened last
Speaker 1: week with with the Bears and how close that game was.
Speaker 1: At the same time, that was a nineteen to fourteen
Speaker 1: game in which the Bears and you know, Mitchell Traubisk
Speaker 1: have been working through some things and they haven't been
Speaker 1: able to find the running game. Packers are a different breed.
Speaker 1: They're eight and three, they have more wins right now.
Speaker 1: Are just as many wins is the next three opponents
Speaker 1: that they're gonna face combined. It starts with the Giants.
Speaker 1: You have to be able to get that w Yeah,
Speaker 1: absolutely well, looking at the bigger picture here for the Packers,
Speaker 1: I know we talked about a little bit a little
Speaker 1: bit yesterday, but you're tied for first in the NFC
Speaker 1: North at eight and three with the Minnesota Vikings. You're
Speaker 1: looking up in terms of the rest of the NFC.
Speaker 1: You're looking up at the Niners at ten and one,
Speaker 1: the Saints at nine, into the Seahawks also at nine
Speaker 1: into the Vikings play the Seahawks this week on Monday
Speaker 1: Night Football, so somebody is going to take another loss there.
Speaker 1: But with what happened on Monday Night Football with the
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Rams picking up their fifth losses, the Baltimore
Speaker 1: Ravens continue to just steamroll the league right now. Um,
Speaker 1: and we could do a whole show on the Baltimore
Speaker 1: Ravens and Lamar Jackson with what that with what that
Speaker 1: outfit is doing. But where I'm going with this West
Speaker 1: is that it And I don't like to say, hey,
Speaker 1: this is all set in stone, We've got it all
Speaker 1: figured out with five games to go, but you look
Speaker 1: at where things are in the NFC and it kind
Speaker 1: of looks like you already know really where the two
Speaker 1: wild cards are going to come from and how and
Speaker 1: how this is going to shake out. And I mentioned
Speaker 1: this to you yesterday when we were talking off camera.
Speaker 1: There's a very good chance here that in the NFC North,
Speaker 1: with the Packers and the Vikings. Barring some crazy slump
Speaker 1: or you know, by either team that we're looking at,
Speaker 1: the winner of the NFC North is going to be
Speaker 1: the three seed and the runner up in the NFC
Speaker 1: North is going to be the sixth seed, which essentially
Speaker 1: means that the game in Minneapolis in Week sixteen very
Speaker 1: well could simply determine the location of the wild card game,
Speaker 1: because the Packers and Vikings very well could meet again
Speaker 1: as that three six matchup and the winner gets to
Speaker 1: host it and the loser will be the team on
Speaker 1: the road. It kind of looks like that's where this
Speaker 1: all is pointing, even even to say that with five
Speaker 1: games left as it stands, yes, it is going to
Speaker 1: be really interesting to see how San Francisco and New
Speaker 1: Orleans kind of meander through this month of December, because
Speaker 1: they both have difficult matchups still in the schedule, and
Speaker 1: they have some teams within their own divisions that are
Speaker 1: going to play each of them tough. That being said,
Speaker 1: if you look at the way that things have kind of,
Speaker 1: you know, laid out here, it's actually kind of interesting.
Speaker 1: Like in my time with the Packers, Packers have been
Speaker 1: playing from behind. They played from behind in fourteen or sixteen,
Speaker 1: I should stay with the run. The table being at
Speaker 1: four and six. Um, it really was the last time,
Speaker 1: going back to two thousand and fourteen, where they've been
Speaker 1: in a position like this where their works kind of
Speaker 1: cut out for them. They've positioned themselves to be a
Speaker 1: playoff team, and now you're trying to climb the seating chart. Uh,
Speaker 1: that's fascinating. And I said this on the radio, the
Speaker 1: pregame radio. I know I said this to you last week.
Speaker 1: I may be one of the only people that remember
Speaker 1: is just based on how the last two and a
Speaker 1: half years have played out. But Aaron Rodgers standing in
Speaker 1: that that podium at Mercedes ben Stadium and talking about
Speaker 1: the importance of playing playoff games at home because they've
Speaker 1: had to play on the road a lot since the
Speaker 1: NFC Championship Game in two thousand and fourteen. Ever since then,
Speaker 1: it's been a grind. This is the opportunity and in
Speaker 1: the unique thing about it is where San Francisco got
Speaker 1: a big win. I think if you're looking at the
Speaker 1: overall a lot of things here, Green Bay has a
Speaker 1: much better schedule heading into a potential playoff run than
Speaker 1: what San Francisco is gonna have to do with and
Speaker 1: how competitive those games are gonna be. So that depends
Speaker 1: on perspective, right, is that conditioning yourself or is that
Speaker 1: wearing yourself down? We'll find out in January. But be
Speaker 1: that as it may. The Packers and T. J. Lang
Speaker 1: tweeted this um yesterday too. I believe for two days
Speaker 1: ago Packers could very easily be thirteen and three, twelve
Speaker 1: and four if you work for it, if you do
Speaker 1: what you need to do. That's why, going back to
Speaker 1: your original point of this entire question, that Week sixteen matchup,
Speaker 1: Packers are still looking for that win at US Bank Stadium.
Speaker 1: What better way to make a statement about what this
Speaker 1: team could potentially accomplished in January and maybe into February,
Speaker 1: then finally being able to take out the Vikings at
Speaker 1: home to win a division title. That's that's where my
Speaker 1: eyes are right now. But in order to be even
Speaker 1: in that conversation, the Giants, Washington Chicago teams that have
Speaker 1: had real difficulties this year that I've had to work
Speaker 1: through some stuff, You've seen changes across the word, you
Speaker 1: have to be able to put those teams away. Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: the Packers have to take care of business. And certainly
Speaker 1: with two of those three, as you mentioned, Washington Chicago,
Speaker 1: both being at lambeau Field, the Packers will be this
Speaker 1: weekend at the Giants. The Packers will be wrapping up
Speaker 1: this stretch of four road games in a stretch of
Speaker 1: five games over the course of six weeks, with the
Speaker 1: bye week mixed in between. Then you're gonna come back
Speaker 1: home and you have back to back home games against
Speaker 1: teams that are looking up at you record wise, looking
Speaker 1: up at you in the standings. So yes, I mean,
Speaker 1: all eyes are on that week six team, two nights
Speaker 1: before Christmas, Monday Night football at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
Speaker 1: But the Packers have to put themselves in position to
Speaker 1: where that game means what they wanted and needed to mean.
Speaker 1: And that's what these next three weeks are all about. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and two things I want to say. First thing is
Speaker 1: we have to see where this injury this week takes
Speaker 1: with the Giants, because if Evan Ingram plays, if rhtt
Speaker 1: Ellison plays, those are the top two tight ends. That's
Speaker 1: those are those are safety valves forward Daniel Jones. And
Speaker 1: that's also a position where the Packers have had struggled
Speaker 1: and say you can bet Daniel Jones wants Evan Ingram
Speaker 1: his top tight end out there against the Packers. With
Speaker 1: the way the Packers defenses struggled against tight ends the
Speaker 1: waiky Cushing protocols go. We'll see. I saw the play
Speaker 1: with with Golden Tate. We'll see how that goes. But
Speaker 1: I mean, certainly if he if he would happen to
Speaker 1: get cleared, that's a big weapon that has a lot
Speaker 1: of experience against Green Bay. So all those things have
Speaker 1: to get chalked up and accounted for. What I want
Speaker 1: to point to you though, is I was trying to
Speaker 1: think of this, and that was this is actually yesterday.
Speaker 1: I was thinking about this, but I had neither the
Speaker 1: time nor inclination actually want to look this up. I
Speaker 1: don't remember a year like this and the NFC, at
Speaker 1: least the a f C. Maybe it's happened because of
Speaker 1: the overall dominance at the top of that that conference,
Speaker 1: but we're going into the month of December. You really
Speaker 1: did have six clear cut teams where you have at
Speaker 1: the very top green Bay, San Francisco, Seattle in the
Speaker 1: New Orleans, Minnesota has played catch up in his back
Speaker 1: in this thing. And then whoever wins the NFC East,
Speaker 1: and that's kind of it. I mean, if the M's win,
Speaker 1: as you said yesterday, the Rams right to me that
Speaker 1: that was that was the thing going into last night.
Speaker 1: If the Rams would have been able to beat the
Speaker 1: Ravens and get to seven and four, then you're looking
Speaker 1: at another team that's right on the heels of that
Speaker 1: last wild card spot, which right now, that last wild
Speaker 1: card spot is whoever finishes second in the NFC North
Speaker 1: based on where the records are. But with the Rams
Speaker 1: picking up their fifth loss, you have the teams in
Speaker 1: the NFC East. It doesn't it doesn't look like the
Speaker 1: runner up in the NFC East is really going to
Speaker 1: be in a position to get a wild card. It
Speaker 1: would be like, yeah, absolutely, But the problem is that
Speaker 1: the Cowboys and the Eagles both to each other. So
Speaker 1: there's gonna be another loss no matter no matter which
Speaker 1: team potentially runs the table. Well, the one the one
Speaker 1: that runs the table is is going to win the
Speaker 1: division and and be handing the loss to the other one.
Speaker 1: So um, I agree with you. I can't remember. I
Speaker 1: can't remember any year that I've been doing this where
Speaker 1: we're sitting here talking the of Thanksgiving and looking at
Speaker 1: the NFC picture, going, you know, we can we can
Speaker 1: be pretty darn sure who the six teams are going
Speaker 1: to be in the playoffs. Now, we don't know one
Speaker 1: through six exactly how that's going to shake out, with
Speaker 1: the exception of the fact that it sure looks like
Speaker 1: the champion of the NFC East is going to be
Speaker 1: the four, and it certainly looks like the runner up
Speaker 1: in the NFC West is going to be the five.
Speaker 1: And that's why I say that, you know, with that
Speaker 1: the with the four and the five kind of already
Speaker 1: figured out in terms of where they're coming from. That's
Speaker 1: why it looks to me like in the NFC North,
Speaker 1: the champion is going to be the three and the
Speaker 1: runner up is going to be the six. So winning
Speaker 1: the division gets you the home game for the rematches
Speaker 1: is kind of where this is headed. Now. Obviously things
Speaker 1: can change, but it does have a different feel to
Speaker 1: it that here we are with five games to go,
Speaker 1: and we're not looking at this whole list of teams
Speaker 1: in the NFC saying, oh, well, they're only one game
Speaker 1: backer they're tied with those guys, are everybody? Everybody is
Speaker 1: at least two games are more behind the NFC North
Speaker 1: runner up, which is essentially in the sixth spot right now. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and this is why this month of December is gonna
Speaker 1: be fascinating, because you look at the NFC West right now,
Speaker 1: there is a scenario where those two teams, Seattle in
Speaker 1: San Francisco could win this thing out play each other
Speaker 1: in week seventeen for that division championship in the number
Speaker 1: one by the bye overall you know, home field vanage
Speaker 1: throughout the playoffs, and there's a scenario where San Francisco
Speaker 1: could lose that game, be fourteen and two and be
Speaker 1: the wild card. Yeah, I mean that would be something well,
Speaker 1: and and that would be if if that plays out,
Speaker 1: that would be reminiscent in some senses of not exactly
Speaker 1: the same. But when the Lions came to lambeau Field
Speaker 1: in the finale, in the winner was winning the North
Speaker 1: and getting a bye and getting the two seat, and
Speaker 1: the loser was going to be a wild card team
Speaker 1: and going on the road the very next the very
Speaker 1: next week, and the Packers ended up winning that game.
Speaker 1: The Lions went down to Dallas and lost, Alice came
Speaker 1: to Green Bay and lost, and then that's what sent
Speaker 1: the Packers to Seattle. But you're right, the way it's
Speaker 1: shaping up this year, that Week seventeen could be for
Speaker 1: the difference between the one seed and the five seed.
Speaker 1: I mean you talk about you talk about the highest
Speaker 1: of the highest of steaks, and then and then the loser,
Speaker 1: the loser having to go on the road immediately um
Speaker 1: after putting everything they would have into trying to win
Speaker 1: that Week seventeen game. It that's that's the intrigue here
Speaker 1: in terms of how this will play out in the NFC.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's necessarily question of who's going to
Speaker 1: get in again, barring one of these six teams that
Speaker 1: we're talking about going into just a major slump, which
Speaker 1: I don't see happening based on the way things look
Speaker 1: right now. It's not about who's getting in, it's about
Speaker 1: where they're going to be slot. It is funny though,
Speaker 1: as much as we make and then certainly the San
Speaker 1: Francisco Fos won that game Sunday, but as much as
Speaker 1: we make about you know, the outcome of that, that
Speaker 1: really was kind of a must win game for the
Speaker 1: forty niners because you look at it now, you travel
Speaker 1: the Baltimore, you travel the New Orleans, and you host
Speaker 1: Atlanta who came back down to Earth, and you host
Speaker 1: the Ramps who are struggling, and then you got to
Speaker 1: go to and you have to go to see that
Speaker 1: is a heck of a way to finish a month,
Speaker 1: especially when you consider the fact they have not had
Speaker 1: a bike since week four. Well, it's interesting, I'll say this.
Speaker 1: I I definitely sense that when you know, we're only
Speaker 1: out in San Francisco, out on the West coast for
Speaker 1: one night, but just catching things on the local news,
Speaker 1: looking at stuff online, this whole narrative out there was,
Speaker 1: you know, Okay, this three game gauntlet that the Niners have.
Speaker 1: They have to play the Packers and they have to
Speaker 1: go on the road to Baltimore and then they have
Speaker 1: to go on the road to um um New Orleans.
Speaker 1: This three game gauntlet, it's like, oh, you know, the
Speaker 1: forty Niners really have to prove themselves. I think I
Speaker 1: think they started to internalize all that. I mean, they
Speaker 1: they came out obviously and made a statement against the
Speaker 1: Packers and uh, and now they're going onto this two
Speaker 1: game road swing to to Baltimore, New Orleans with U
Speaker 1: with all kinds of confidence and they're saying, yeah, we
Speaker 1: are out to prove something like here we come. So um,
Speaker 1: I'll be curious to see now just where the forty
Speaker 1: Niners go with these tough road back. That game Sunday
Speaker 1: is gonna That's why I was actually interested that they
Speaker 1: flex the Green Bay game because that that San Francisco
Speaker 1: Baltimore game is going to be fascinating to watch, because
Speaker 1: I mean, and I think it's going to be going
Speaker 1: on at the same time as Packers Giants. It's it's
Speaker 1: it's a new game, yeah, and it's if you look
Speaker 1: at it, the way it breaks down is you basically
Speaker 1: got two defenses. We'll talk about it later in the week,
Speaker 1: but you've got two defenses are very similar, two offenses
Speaker 1: that succeed in different ways. So we'll see where it goes.
Speaker 1: Football is fun, That's what I was saying. Football is.
Speaker 1: It's a fun game. It's a fun game to cover,
Speaker 1: and it is a fun time a year to follow
Speaker 1: all of the stuff that's going on. But for now,
Speaker 1: we're going to call it a wrap on this edition
Speaker 1: of Packers on Script, and be sure to follow all
Speaker 1: of our coverage of the team on Packers dot com
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Speaker 1: of great video content out there for you. Thank you
Speaker 1: for tuning in, everybody, We'll see you next time.