WEBVTT - #764 Packers Unscripted: That’s a wrap 0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:10.840 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:14.080 Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spafford, joined as always 0:00:14.120 --> 0:00:16.720 by my trusted colleague Weston Hodkoitz. Coming to you hear 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:20.239 from our studios at lambeau Field and unfortunately Wes. This 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:24.400 is our season ending episode of Packers Unscripted because the 0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:27.000 Packers fell to the forty nine Ers in the NFC 0:00:27.080 --> 0:00:30.480 Divisional Playoffs Saturday night out in Santa Claara. The final 0:00:30.480 --> 0:00:34.240 score was twenty four to twenty one, and the long 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:37.760 and the short of it is missed opportunities early, missed 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:41.519 opportunities late, and the forty nine Ers were able to, 0:00:41.720 --> 0:00:45.320 in my opinion, quite frankly escape with a home playoff 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:48.920 victory that sent the Packers back to Green Bay and 0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:50.800 thinking about twenty twenty four. 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:53.040 Yeah, the word I've been using all week is survival. 0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:55.440 I thought that San Francisco forty nine Ers survived. They 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:58.640 didn't play particularly well. This is a team that I 0:00:58.680 --> 0:01:00.760 think you've already heard people talk on the West Coast 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:01.880 is going to have to play better now in the 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:05.000 NFC Championship to get past Detroit. But for the Green 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:07.120 Bay Packers' circumstances. I think they had a lot to 0:01:07.120 --> 0:01:10.040 do with that. I thought defensively, green Bay set the 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:12.920 tone early. I thought offensively, they were able to push 0:01:12.920 --> 0:01:15.800 the ball downfield, were not able to capitalize on red 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:19.360 zone opportunities in the first half, and then obviously we're 0:01:19.360 --> 0:01:22.399 not able to turn over the football defensively when brock 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:26.720 Purty gave him a couple opportunities. Conversely, looking at San Francisco, 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:29.840 very opportunistic in the second half was strange because for 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:32.360 three quarters it was sort of the struggle between the 0:01:32.400 --> 0:01:35.080 two teams. The third quarter for whatever reason, turned into 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:35.679 a shootout. 0:01:35.880 --> 0:01:36.600 Yeah, But then. 0:01:36.640 --> 0:01:39.080 Suddenly the third quarter the teams are both teams were 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:41.200 just going up and down the field like crazy, and 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:44.040 you have Keishaw Nixon's long return and the fumble and 0:01:44.080 --> 0:01:47.000 the Packers recovered it. Sort of got chaotic, yeah, for 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:49.800 a little while. Then in the fourth quarter things settled down. 0:01:50.840 --> 0:01:53.600 But the Packers had, as much as they had missed 0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:57.000 on those opportunities offensively earlier in the game, they had 0:01:57.080 --> 0:02:00.480 multiple opportunities with the lead, with the ball in the 0:02:00.480 --> 0:02:04.200 fourth quarter, chances to extend that lead, and they didn't 0:02:04.200 --> 0:02:06.320 get it done. And ultimately that bit them because the 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:08.359 forty nine Ers were able to put together the one 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:11.560 final drive they needed to take the ultimate to take 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:13.040 the ultimate lead at the end of the game. 0:02:13.160 --> 0:02:15.600 Yeah, and what I've sort of been saying since the 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:18.000 game was the forty nine Ers kind of did what 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:20.760 to the Packers what the Packers had been doing to teams, 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:24.400 which is finding a lead late and then being able 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:26.600 to use the four minute offense, getting the running game 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:29.480 going move in the chains. Green Bay actually did pretty 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:33.519 well in early down situations, but brock Purdy gave him credit. 0:02:33.520 --> 0:02:35.919 Give the Niners receivers credit. When it came to third 0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:38.000 and long, third and nine to third and tens, they 0:02:38.000 --> 0:02:40.679 found ways to stay on the field and green Bay 0:02:40.680 --> 0:02:44.359 could not get off of it. Ultimately, Christian McCaffrey showed up, 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:47.040 brock Purdy showed up. And when you play a team 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:49.200 that's that good and that talented Michael, you have to 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:52.280 capitalize on your opportunities. When you don't, you find yourself 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:53.760 in the position the Packers are today. 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:55.760 Yeah, that's the thing I think. I think when you 0:02:55.800 --> 0:02:59.639 look back at this game, the Packers had, the Packers 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:04.680 had opportunities to put even more pressure on the forty 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:08.839 nine Ers than they did, because when the Packers were 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:11.919 trailing in this game, they only trailed by a point 0:03:12.080 --> 0:03:14.200 here or there. You know, they were right in it. 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:17.120 When the Packers had the lead, both in the first 0:03:17.120 --> 0:03:20.800 half and then also in the fourth quarter. When the 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:24.040 Packers had the lead, they had chances to kind of 0:03:24.080 --> 0:03:26.520 crank up that pressure on the favored team, on the 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:29.600 forty nine ers by extending that lead, maybe changing the 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:31.880 tenor of the game a little bit. They weren't able 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:33.639 to do that, and because the forty nine Ers were 0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:37.200 always just within that one score, all they needed was 0:03:37.280 --> 0:03:41.400 the one drive to do it. Obviously, you know, you'd 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:44.480 love to see what maybe would have transpired if the 0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:47.960 ending would have transpired differently, if Andras Carlson makes the 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:50.400 kick and the Packers go up by seven, then if 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:52.160 the forty nine Ers go down and score, it's a 0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:54.880 tie game instead of being in desperation mode with a 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:57.240 minute to go, you know, maybe the game goes to 0:03:57.280 --> 0:04:00.840 overtime or something like all these things that you know, 0:04:00.920 --> 0:04:03.360 sort of the the what ifs and and would it 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:06.160 could have should as when it's all said and done. 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:08.920 You know, for me, and I think I think I 0:04:08.960 --> 0:04:12.440 speak for a lot of Packers fans in this regard 0:04:13.040 --> 0:04:16.920 for messing processing the loss. You're kind of caught in 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:20.479 between two places because I've been doing this long enough 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:23.560 to know that that being the hot team at the 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:25.640 end of the season and having the kind of mojo 0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:29.520 that this Packers team had is rare. It doesn't happen 0:04:29.560 --> 0:04:32.919 that often, and when it does happen, you want to 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:36.360 try to maximize it as as best you can. And 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:39.839 unfortunately it you know, as well as the Packers played 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:42.280 for the majority of the game in San Francisco, they 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:44.279 just weren't able to get it done. And seeing a 0:04:44.320 --> 0:04:47.159 hot team with a hot quarterback and that kind of 0:04:47.200 --> 0:04:50.520 mojo come up short is really tough. But then the 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:52.960 other side, when you talk about being in between things, 0:04:52.960 --> 0:04:55.880 the other side of it is what the future holds 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:58.479 for this team. I mean, the biggest question that needed 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:01.000 to be answered in twenty twenty three do the Packers 0:05:01.080 --> 0:05:04.919 have a franchise quarterback? And I don't know when the 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:08.719 season started, if we would be sitting here doing a 0:05:08.800 --> 0:05:14.200 January show saying unequivocally the Packers have that answer, Like 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:18.359 you know, after one season, but the Packers unequivocally have 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:21.640 that answer, they have their franchise quarterback, That's what needed 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:24.039 to be answered. And then with all these other young 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:28.360 players on offense growing around Jordan Love, you can't help 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:31.600 but be excited for what the future holds, even though 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:35.560 this particular moment and this opportunity getting away is still 0:05:35.600 --> 0:05:36.359 tough to swallow. 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:39.040 Oh it burns because of that reason that the team 0:05:39.080 --> 0:05:41.800 did play that well down the stretch, Jordan Love did 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:44.479 actually mesh with these offensive weapons as well as he 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:47.080 did and Mike what impressed me the most about Jordan 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:49.359 and people will point to the stats, and rightfully so 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:51.520 that's where you know, the rubber. 0:05:51.240 --> 0:05:51.880 Meets the road. 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:55.720 Four thousand yards passing, thirty plus touchdowns thrown, getting a 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:58.400 team to the NFC Divisional round of the playoffs in 0:05:58.400 --> 0:06:00.839 his first year as a starting quarterback. But I go 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:02.920 back to what happened in April, and I still had 0:06:02.920 --> 0:06:04.320 that image in my mind. I don't know if it 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:06.800 was Stephen Huddy or whoever it was that was doing 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:09.200 the social media videos or the guys walking in for 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:11.640 the first day of the off season program and Jordan 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:14.720 came in, cool, calm and collected, having been annointed to 0:06:14.800 --> 0:06:17.719 the starting quarterback everybody kind of knowing that's the direction 0:06:17.839 --> 0:06:20.400 things are going. Aaron Rodgers would be getting traded to 0:06:20.480 --> 0:06:22.599 the Jets and everyone would be going their separate ways. 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:25.160 And he never backed down from it. He welcomed it. 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:28.000 He was the guy pulling guys together during the summer, 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:31.839 getting them together in California, being able to get that 0:06:31.839 --> 0:06:34.960 little bit of a workout in that team bonding and camaraderie, 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:38.239 the Monday dinners, the sitting down and breaking down film 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:41.400 with the receivers when things weren't going so hot mid season. 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:45.320 He passed every on and off the field test you 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:47.320 want to see from a rookie quarter or his first 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:50.839 year starting quarterback. And that is what, ultimately is the 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:53.440 reason why I feel confident calling him a franchise guy. 0:06:53.680 --> 0:06:55.599 It's not that he's just talented. It's not that he 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:57.280 just has a good arm. It's not because he was 0:06:57.320 --> 0:06:59.600 one of the hottest quarterbacks during the final stretch. 0:06:59.360 --> 0:06:59.839 Of the season. 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:02.359 It's everything he did in the window of the past 0:07:02.440 --> 0:07:05.039 nine months to earn the right to be the QB 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:07.479 one here. And why is that important for the Green 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:09.840 Bay Packers, Because, Michael, if you look at all the 0:07:09.840 --> 0:07:12.640 franchises around the league that have struggled to find their guy, 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:15.960 all of the wasted equity that goes with that, the 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:19.080 wasted draft picks, the numerous draft picks you're spending high 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:22.760 capital trying to find a quarterback. Green Bay managed to 0:07:22.800 --> 0:07:25.200 do it, and they have a process. 0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:25.360 Of doing it. 0:07:25.440 --> 0:07:27.640 And I think that was probably the most gratifying thing 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:30.960 for me was watching Jordan Love stay true to it, 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:34.560 understand what was asked of him for three years, being patient, 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:36.920 and now finally seeing some of the fruits of his labor. 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:37.240 Yeah. 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:40.200 Absolutely, And I don't want this to come off the 0:07:40.240 --> 0:07:42.560 wrong way in terms of talking about Jordan Love, but 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:45.640 when you look at when you look at what happened 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:50.160 and you start to project forward into the future, the 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:53.520 fact that Jordan Love had the ball in his hands 0:07:53.800 --> 0:07:56.240 with a minute and seven seconds on the clock, down 0:07:56.280 --> 0:07:58.520 by three points, with a chance to keep the Packers 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:03.680 season alive, and he made a colossal mistake that he 0:08:03.800 --> 0:08:07.840 knows was on him. There may be nothing better in 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:10.240 some respects for this team. We'll see how it plays out. 0:08:10.280 --> 0:08:13.640 There may be nothing better than the new franchise quarterback 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:17.680 being motivated by that by that mistake. At the end, 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:22.080 the entire offseason leading into next year. Jordan Love isn't 0:08:22.120 --> 0:08:25.240 walking into the offseason going I was the hottest quarterback 0:08:25.280 --> 0:08:27.240 out there and hey, you know we came up short. 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:31.920 He personally is walking into the offseason going, man like, 0:08:33.000 --> 0:08:35.120 you know, I made it the type of mistake that 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:37.600 I hadn't made for a long time, the type of 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:40.319 mistake that I made early in the season. I wasn't 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:42.200 making it late in the season, but I made it 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:46.280 with the season on the line. I believe that young man, 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:49.839 that young quarterback is going to be supremely motivated heading 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:50.600 into twenty twenty. 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:53.000 The best quote that came out of the season, and 0:08:53.400 --> 0:08:56.199 Matt Lafleur reiterated it after the game, but it was 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:58.200 in the lead up to this game, him talking about 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:00.880 how Jordan has learned from every experience this week, Yes, 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:03.360 this year, good and bad. It's the only thing this 0:09:03.440 --> 0:09:06.560 guy didn't have. He didn't have the reps. He didn't 0:09:06.600 --> 0:09:08.800 have the opportunity to go out and learn from success 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:12.080 and learn from failure at the NFL level. He has 0:09:12.160 --> 0:09:14.840 that now. He's been at the highest of highs now 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:19.280 eight straight games, eighteen touchdowns, one interception. The reason why 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:21.439 the Packers are in the playoffs, the way he played 0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:24.040 down the stretch, and also why they now are not 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:25.959 going to be trying to compete for a championship in 0:09:26.000 --> 0:09:28.600 this specific year. On that drive, Now, he wasn't the 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:31.200 only guy, as you mentioned, there was defense involved with that, 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:34.079 There was special teams involved with that, right, But this 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:36.280 is the position Jordan wants to be in. And when 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:39.080 you have that much confidence in a guy's composure, in 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:42.520 his poise, I don't worry about that being something that's 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:44.440 going to be a deterring factor with him. I see that, 0:09:44.720 --> 0:09:46.440 like you said, something that is going to kind of 0:09:46.480 --> 0:09:49.559 spur him on now into this twenty twenty four season 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:50.040 and beyond. 0:09:50.120 --> 0:09:52.800 Yeah, as much as Matt Lafleur said on Monday, you know, 0:09:53.400 --> 0:09:56.760 when you review that game, you feel, you know, on 0:09:56.840 --> 0:09:58.840 the Packers side of things, it shouldn't have come down 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:01.320 to that final drive. Packers shouldn't have been in that 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:04.079 position to be down by three points with a minute 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:06.559 to go in needing to score to either tie or 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:10.480 try to win the game because of all the other 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:13.960 missed opportunities and and just and you know, close calls, 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:16.160 you know, Matt, Matt Lafleur had said when he's talking about, 0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:18.040 you know, the missed field goal, which is gonna be 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:21.920 a big discussion throughout the offseason as well. These games 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:25.360 are never just about one play, you know, Lafleur said, 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:27.400 you know, you look at that game, they are about 0:10:27.440 --> 0:10:31.800 ten plays. Ten You know that that if maybe one 0:10:31.880 --> 0:10:35.080 or two of those go the other way for Green Bay, 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:37.800 you know, we might be talking about a different result. 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:41.880 But a that's the NFL B that's the NFL playoffs. 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:44.439 When you know the margin the margins in the regular 0:10:44.480 --> 0:10:46.559 season in this league are small enough, the margins and 0:10:46.600 --> 0:10:50.520 the playoffs get even smaller. Especially you know, regardless that 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:52.319 the forty nine Ers were the one seed and the 0:10:52.360 --> 0:10:55.319 Packers were the seventh seed. Everybody knew the Packers were 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:57.719 a hot team, they had a hot quarterback. Everybody was 0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:01.520 wondering how would the forty nine ers respond, you know, 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:04.160 with with having you know, the buy and all the rest, 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:06.400 and you know, trying to get their guys healthy. But 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:08.520 then you know they lose Deebo Samuel. That has the 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:11.439 effect on their offense as well. We saw that earlier 0:11:11.440 --> 0:11:13.640 in the season with the forty nine Ers. So all 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:16.600 these things that get jumbled into the mix in a 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:20.480 playoff game, and it's frustrating to come up short when 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:25.080 you feel like the Packers for the bulk of the 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:28.720 game were the better team. But again it's you know, 0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:31.480 especially in the playoffs, it's about being able to finish 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:34.440 off the game yea, And the Packers weren't able to 0:11:34.440 --> 0:11:34.679 do that. 0:11:34.760 --> 0:11:36.840 No, And you've been on both sides of it. I 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:39.920 know for Packer fans it's difficult because you felt this 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:44.120 pain before. There has been incidences where the Packers got 0:11:44.120 --> 0:11:47.120 into an NFC championship game and they got beaten in 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:50.680 Atlanta against San Francisco the first time, but there's also 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:52.520 been these instances where it got right down to the 0:11:52.520 --> 0:11:54.319 wire and the Packers had a chance, and that's what. 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:55.080 Makes it hurt more. 0:11:55.120 --> 0:11:58.960 But what's exciting about it if you can separate yourself 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:01.840 from that era of Packers football on what you saw 0:12:01.920 --> 0:12:05.000 this year is that Jordan Love has his entire career 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:07.280 ahead of him. Now he has the opportunity to learn 0:12:07.280 --> 0:12:10.120 from his mistakes and be better. And most of all, 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:12.240 Michael I got to give credit to Andy Herman on this. 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:14.480 He was the one that tweeted this out. If you 0:12:14.520 --> 0:12:17.000 look at how their roster is shaped for next year, 0:12:17.360 --> 0:12:20.880 without resigning any players, without signing any free agents, without 0:12:20.880 --> 0:12:23.480 making any of these draft picks. The Packers have a 0:12:23.559 --> 0:12:26.920 bulk of their core already back under contract for next. 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:27.680 Year one hundred percent. 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:30.760 It's not guaranteed. You have to work for it. You're 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:32.800 not just going to be anointed another spot in the 0:12:32.800 --> 0:12:36.040 final four of the NFC. But with given the youth 0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:38.080 of this roster and what Green Bay was able to 0:12:38.120 --> 0:12:41.640 do this season, that's what leads to this optimism now 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:44.040 for what's going to happen now in Jordan Love's second 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:45.120 year as a starting quarterback. 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:47.040 Yeah, and I want to transition to that in terms 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:48.920 of looking forward, but I will take care of some 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:53.160 sponsor business here First. Serious XMNFL Radio delivers hard hitting 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:55.640 analysis and up to the minute NFL news that true 0:12:55.679 --> 0:12:59.200 football fanatics need. Twenty four to seven, three sixty five 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:01.560 and ed cousins. We have something for everyone, like our 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:05.000 Wisconsin Cheese cards, mac and Cheese, golden fries, and creamy shakes, 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:08.160 all paired with your favorite sub or submonable cousin subs 0:13:08.240 --> 0:13:10.240 fifty years of better. 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:10.960 Well. 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:14.400 We had Matt Lafleur's final press conference of the season 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:17.959 on Monday. We had the final open locker room media 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:23.200 availability on Monday morning, and I thought it was really 0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:27.160 I thought it was really poignant what Matt Lafleur had 0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:31.520 to say about, you know, totally acknowledging there's a lot 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:34.160 to be proud of in terms of what this team did. Yes, 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:38.040 the disappointing, the ending is disappointing, it's bitter, it's tough, 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:42.880 and there is a lot to look forward to. But 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:48.080 nobody's gonna crown the Packers NFC North champions. Nobody's going 0:13:48.120 --> 0:13:50.320 to hand the Green Bay Packers a playoff spot in 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:53.600 twenty twenty four just because of how they played over 0:13:53.640 --> 0:13:57.200 the last month or so of the twenty twenty three 0:13:57.240 --> 0:14:01.680 and into January of twenty twenty four. It's all the 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:05.520 discussion is about what are the individual players going to 0:14:05.600 --> 0:14:09.520 do in terms of seizing their off season and making 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:14.640 the individual strides, because the individual improvement that players make 0:14:14.720 --> 0:14:17.720 on their own is what will lead to the collective 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:20.960 improvement when they all get back together for OTAs and 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:24.640 training camp and all that. It's a process here, and 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:29.040 once the games start next season, everything starts over. Everything 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:32.240 is everything is zero and zero. But what you do 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:35.400 between now and then is going to determine whether whether 0:14:35.640 --> 0:14:37.720 the team that you put out there on the field 0:14:37.840 --> 0:14:40.640 next September is a better one than the one you 0:14:40.680 --> 0:14:42.120 had the previous season. 0:14:41.840 --> 0:14:43.680 Because you have to look at where they were at 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:46.360 four months ago and where they can get to four 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:49.640 months from now. Yeah, because yeah, and guys need to 0:14:49.680 --> 0:14:50.880 rest up, they need to recover. 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:51.800 You need to step away. 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:53.280 You got to get your mind clear, you got to 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:55.480 get your body back to full health. Yes, But as 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:58.080 Matt Lafleur said April fifteenth, it's going to be here 0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:00.160 and we're less than three months away from it. The 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:02.360 first day of the offseason program when guys can come 0:15:02.400 --> 0:15:05.960 back voluntary obviously, but usually the starting point for most 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:09.520 of the roster. You want to be able to show 0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:12.120 that not only can you pick up where you left off, 0:15:12.120 --> 0:15:14.800 but you're gonna be one step better even then. And 0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:18.400 I think they will be because Michael I was absolutely 0:15:18.440 --> 0:15:21.800 blown away by what the Packers did this season, not 0:15:21.840 --> 0:15:23.680 even with the rookie class because we talk about that 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:27.000 so often, but a guy like Bou Melton that just 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:30.520 gets thrown in and is playing major snaps for them 0:15:30.520 --> 0:15:32.160 in important games down the stretch. 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:33.000 Bou Meltain. 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:34.920 It won't get talked about it all because they lost 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:38.160 the game, but draws a forty one yard DPI and 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:42.520 then makes a toe tapping touchdown for nineteen yards. For 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:45.600 all the guys we talked about at receiver and cornerback 0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:48.240 going into the season, what those two positions looked like 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:50.960 by the end of the year, that's all based on 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:53.280 what guys were doing in practice, how they were picking 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:57.080 the playbook up. And now those same players are going 0:15:57.160 --> 0:16:00.280 to have an opportunity to sit back, take everything in, 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:03.120 understand the full segment of what's being asked of them, 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:06.480 in knowing how they fit into these offenses and defenses. 0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:07.400 That's very important. 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:09.760 You hope to get some of these guys like Eric 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:12.400 Stokes back and players that dealt with injury this year, 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:17.880 but Carrington Valentine now has banked nine hundred snaps on defense. Yeah, 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:21.280 that type of stuff goes a long way, because now 0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:25.120 these guys know I played at this level, I can 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:27.640 play at this level moving forward, and I can make 0:16:27.760 --> 0:16:29.360 plays going forward. 0:16:29.480 --> 0:16:31.960 And I think that's one of the most exciting aspects. 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:33.600 Of all this. Yeah, And I think when you look 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:37.680 at the big picture of this Packers twenty twenty three season. 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:43.640 I think what everybody has to appreciate because it certainly 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:48.160 never happened around here, and I don't I'm not familiar 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:51.600 enough with the rest of the NFL to recall a 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:56.760 specific instance where where it's gone like this. But within 0:16:57.400 --> 0:17:01.760 one season span of time was discussion as to whether 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:04.400 the Packers were going to get a top five draft pick, 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:08.439 and then by the end they were a legitimate Super 0:17:08.440 --> 0:17:09.800 Bowl contender. 0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:11.320 With the twenty fifth draft picks. 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:15.920 And now selecting twenty fifth in the first round come April. 0:17:16.240 --> 0:17:20.320 The ground that had to be made up, you know, 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:23.800 the progress that had to be made in a fairly 0:17:23.880 --> 0:17:26.760 short amount of time to go from talking about top 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:29.720 five draft pick to not just pie in the sky 0:17:29.800 --> 0:17:32.560 but legitimate Super Bowl contender. The way they were playing, 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:36.720 it's remarkable what this team did. And that's and that 0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:39.840 goes to the personnel department, it goes to the coaching staff, 0:17:39.880 --> 0:17:43.080 it goes to the players, the young players for sticking 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:46.440 with it, the veteran players for sticking with it as well, 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:49.679 knowing that these young guys had stuff to learn and 0:17:49.720 --> 0:17:52.800 had to you know, the veterans had to bring them 0:17:52.840 --> 0:17:57.840 along to a certain extent when you to me, when 0:17:57.880 --> 0:18:01.359 I whenever I, you know, really reflect back on the 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:03.760 twenty twenty three season, That's what I'm going to be 0:18:03.760 --> 0:18:06.720 thinking about. That. This Packers team was two and five 0:18:06.920 --> 0:18:10.119 in October and people were wondering how high the draft 0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:12.000 pick was going to be, and by the end of 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:15.199 the season, people were wondering, can this team go to 0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:19.240 the Super Bowl. I've never experienced a season like that before, 0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:22.199 and I think that big picture part of it is 0:18:22.240 --> 0:18:23.520 something that should be appreciated. 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:26.560 And that's why Matt Lafleur said they've earned higher expectations 0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:28.720 now for next season, because that's one of the reasons 0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:30.639 why we couldn't figure it out because we didn't know 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:32.720 what the expectations were. We really didn't know what the 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:35.000 standard was, especially when this team's sitting at two and 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:37.560 five and three and six trying to figure out, Okay, 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:38.359 what are they. 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:39.639 Going to be? What are they going to make of 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:40.199 this season? 0:18:40.640 --> 0:18:42.359 I think a lot of that give you give the 0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:44.280 locker room credit, you give the players credit for their 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:47.080 own individual development, but I think some of it has 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:48.960 to come back to Matt Lafleur too, And he was 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:52.399 throwing bouquets at Brian Goodekunz in his front office for 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:54.600 finding the talent that they did. But somebody has to 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:57.239 develop it. Somebody has to understand how to incorporate it. 0:18:58.240 --> 0:19:01.520 Lafleur maybe in his staffy in any other season I've 0:19:01.720 --> 0:19:04.840 covered here in Green Bay, found ways to play to 0:19:04.920 --> 0:19:07.639 player's strengths, found ways to bring in a bow Melton, 0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:10.879 found ways to bring in Emmanuel Wilson, Tucker Kraft and 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:14.600 find out how to best utilize their strengths to be 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:18.119 successful on offense. And lastly, just to mention this piece 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:21.000 of it, when you look at the defense had to 0:19:21.000 --> 0:19:23.200 go through a lot and no promises have been made. 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:25.720 Mattlefuller said, he's taken a full evaluation. We'll see where 0:19:25.720 --> 0:19:27.960 things go from here. But I do think it says 0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:30.720 a lot about those defensive players and their character, their 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:34.359 willpower that when things weren't going great, and even when 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:36.119 you win a game in Carolina, but you give up 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:38.000 thirty points to a team that didn't even score any 0:19:38.000 --> 0:19:40.960 more points the rest of the season, that they didn't fold. 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:44.800 Jy R Alexander did not fold. He rallied back. Guys responded, 0:19:45.280 --> 0:19:47.320 and that goes a long way, And I think That's 0:19:47.320 --> 0:19:48.960 one of the reasons too, when you try to figure 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:51.160 out how this thing could look in twenty twenty four. 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:55.520 The locker room will be different, the chemistry will be different, 0:19:56.280 --> 0:19:58.399 but I think the right pieces are in play there 0:19:58.480 --> 0:20:00.680 to ensure you're going to have the best to try 0:20:00.680 --> 0:20:02.000 to build on all this momentum. 0:20:02.119 --> 0:20:05.879 Yeah, I think, And it's somewhat goes without saying, but 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:09.320 we probably should still say it. What's really in place? 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:12.399 Maybe the most important thing, aside from you know, the 0:20:12.480 --> 0:20:14.600 on the field part with the quarterback and having the 0:20:14.600 --> 0:20:18.040 franchise quarterback, the most important thing that Matt Lafleur I 0:20:18.119 --> 0:20:20.760 believe has put in place here is the culture. And 0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:24.320 that's when you talk about the bouncing back, the resiliency, 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:27.400 the sticking together, you know, powering through the tough times. 0:20:28.040 --> 0:20:30.920 That's about the culture that's around the team. It's within 0:20:30.960 --> 0:20:33.480 the locker room, it's within every meeting room. You know, 0:20:33.560 --> 0:20:36.200 when the players are with their position coaches, when they're 0:20:36.240 --> 0:20:40.160 with the coordinators. You know, all of that and that's 0:20:40.200 --> 0:20:45.200 what got this team through things. And that culture, you know, 0:20:45.320 --> 0:20:48.040 it'll be a challenge to it's always a challenge to 0:20:47.760 --> 0:20:50.919 make to maintain, to keep a really good culture like 0:20:50.960 --> 0:20:53.480 that in place over a long period of time. But 0:20:53.600 --> 0:20:55.960 that same kind of culture is what I think is 0:20:56.000 --> 0:21:00.320 going to fuel the Packers in twenty twenty four because 0:21:01.440 --> 0:21:05.840 whatever setbacks they know they encounter are going to be 0:21:05.960 --> 0:21:08.600 with those higher expectations. So there's gonna be a different 0:21:08.680 --> 0:21:10.600 dynamic to things, but you still have to have that 0:21:10.680 --> 0:21:13.600 culture to power through it and get yourself through to 0:21:13.640 --> 0:21:17.080 the other side. I think that's in place here and 0:21:17.160 --> 0:21:19.800 I think that's something that that's another real bright spot 0:21:19.920 --> 0:21:20.760 for twenty twenty four. 0:21:20.840 --> 0:21:23.119 And we'll have to see exactly how this roster shapes up, 0:21:23.160 --> 0:21:25.240 which veterans will be back. Obviously there's a lot of 0:21:25.240 --> 0:21:27.280 business that has to get taken care of between now 0:21:27.320 --> 0:21:29.600 and the beginning of the off season program. But I 0:21:29.640 --> 0:21:31.800 think it says a lot about Aaron Jones and Preston 0:21:31.840 --> 0:21:35.439 Smith for Sean Gary Kenny Clark, guys that maybe weren't 0:21:35.480 --> 0:21:37.840 the most vocal in the past. I shouldn't say that 0:21:37.840 --> 0:21:39.680 about Preston. I think he's pretty much been vocal since 0:21:39.680 --> 0:21:42.480 he's been here, but guys that maybe felt that they 0:21:42.560 --> 0:21:44.760 need to take a step up with their vocal leadership. 0:21:44.800 --> 0:21:46.520 It had to be more of guys stepping in front 0:21:46.520 --> 0:21:49.040 of the room. There wasn't a Mercedes Lewis there this 0:21:49.160 --> 0:21:51.440 season that was breaking down the huddle right or talking 0:21:51.480 --> 0:21:53.679 to the team after games. You don't have someone like 0:21:53.720 --> 0:21:55.800 Aaron Rodgers who's been there and done that and seen 0:21:55.880 --> 0:21:58.440 it all. You had to have guys step into that void. 0:21:58.760 --> 0:22:01.320 There wasn't any permanent captains this season. The Green Bay 0:22:01.359 --> 0:22:04.240 didn't even do it in the playoffs. But what happened 0:22:04.320 --> 0:22:06.520 was I thought you saw individuals stepping up in their 0:22:06.520 --> 0:22:09.040 own phase of the game and taking the bowl by 0:22:09.040 --> 0:22:11.960 the horns. And by doing that, it's what is allowed 0:22:12.000 --> 0:22:14.240 now guys like Romeo Dobbs and some of these younger 0:22:14.240 --> 0:22:16.840 players on this roster to understand, you know what I 0:22:16.880 --> 0:22:17.960 can be those people too. 0:22:18.160 --> 0:22:20.120 Yeah, I want to ask you a couple of big 0:22:20.160 --> 0:22:22.399 picture questions here and then we'll move on to just 0:22:22.480 --> 0:22:24.840 looking at you know, where things stand with the rest 0:22:24.840 --> 0:22:27.560 of the playoffs here moving forward. Since this is our 0:22:27.640 --> 0:22:29.960 last show for a while, I would expect we'll be 0:22:30.040 --> 0:22:32.280 back for those wondering, we'll be back at some point 0:22:32.320 --> 0:22:34.720 before the draft, but this will be our last show 0:22:34.720 --> 0:22:37.240 for a while, and actually our last show physically in 0:22:37.320 --> 0:22:41.800 this studio because we're also moving within the building to 0:22:41.880 --> 0:22:45.040 another location. I think the g behind us is maybe 0:22:45.080 --> 0:22:45.720 coming along. 0:22:45.840 --> 0:22:48.960 No, actually, no, I have my dad's truck outside. I'm 0:22:49.000 --> 0:22:49.480 taking that home. 0:22:49.560 --> 0:22:50.440 Oh you're taking that home. 0:22:50.560 --> 0:22:52.160 Let's go on, all right? 0:22:52.359 --> 0:22:54.400 All right, well, maybe maybe we'll start doing the show 0:22:54.440 --> 0:22:55.680 in your garage. Then we'll stick. 0:22:55.760 --> 0:22:57.560 We'll stick that as soon as we're done shooting. We're 0:22:57.560 --> 0:23:00.359 just gonna start breaking this thing down ourselves. Right. 0:23:01.119 --> 0:23:03.879 Well, here a couple of big, big picture questions for 0:23:03.960 --> 0:23:08.560 you Wes. Aside from the quarterback situation and everything the 0:23:08.600 --> 0:23:12.520 Packers learned there and how that has been established moving forward, 0:23:13.119 --> 0:23:16.640 what was your most pleasant surprise from what you saw 0:23:16.840 --> 0:23:20.040 from this team and its development, whether it be a player, 0:23:20.200 --> 0:23:22.920 a position, or whatever the case. What was your most 0:23:22.920 --> 0:23:25.000 pleasant surprise for twenty twenty Aaron Jones. 0:23:26.440 --> 0:23:28.840 You can talk about being the youngest team in the 0:23:28.880 --> 0:23:30.840 National Football League and the youngest team to win a 0:23:30.840 --> 0:23:34.480 playoff game and all these different things, and it was impressive, 0:23:34.960 --> 0:23:37.399 But when you go back and look at how scary 0:23:37.440 --> 0:23:39.720 that situation got after the Chargers game and not sure 0:23:39.720 --> 0:23:41.359 if you're going to get Aaron Jones back again, and 0:23:41.400 --> 0:23:44.520 seeing how emotional he was to be able to be 0:23:44.560 --> 0:23:46.800 in a position where this guy at twenty nine years old, 0:23:46.840 --> 0:23:49.840 at a position where everybody's just waiting. They're just just plea. 0:23:49.920 --> 0:23:52.720 You know, teams in the NFL, the way they look 0:23:52.760 --> 0:23:54.960 at running backs in this league, they aren't given the 0:23:54.960 --> 0:23:57.520 benefit of the doubt on the back. 0:23:56.840 --> 0:23:57.600 Half of their career. 0:23:57.840 --> 0:23:58.720 That's very true. 0:23:59.240 --> 0:24:01.239 Not saying Green baying that, I'm just saying, look at 0:24:01.240 --> 0:24:03.440 every running back in the National Football League, right unless, 0:24:03.440 --> 0:24:05.679 for whatever reason, your name is Raheem Moster for some reason. 0:24:06.080 --> 0:24:09.080 But the fact is is that with five games to 0:24:09.119 --> 0:24:10.840 go in the season, as it turned out, with the 0:24:10.880 --> 0:24:13.840 two playoff games, Aaron Jones was as good as he's 0:24:13.880 --> 0:24:16.720 ever been, and he was as important as he's ever been. 0:24:16.760 --> 0:24:19.080 He had the most rushing yards in the NFL during 0:24:19.080 --> 0:24:23.240 the divisional round of the playoffs. This guy cannot be 0:24:23.400 --> 0:24:26.800 judged by his position, He cannot be judged by his age. 0:24:27.359 --> 0:24:31.120 He is one of the most important players on this team. 0:24:31.160 --> 0:24:33.480 And Michael, when you asked me what my biggest surprise was, 0:24:33.600 --> 0:24:35.760 it was that we went through this roller coaster this 0:24:35.840 --> 0:24:38.000 year where you and I were saying all summer long, 0:24:38.400 --> 0:24:40.840 he is going to be the catalyst for Jordan love. 0:24:40.880 --> 0:24:42.960 He is going to be his best friend. This guy 0:24:43.080 --> 0:24:45.160 is going to be able to help this offense transition 0:24:45.200 --> 0:24:47.639 to his news phase. He did it against Chicago, but 0:24:47.640 --> 0:24:49.440 they largely missed him for the next two. 0:24:49.240 --> 0:24:51.159 Months, at least on a consistent basis. 0:24:51.480 --> 0:24:53.800 But you know what, Michael, when the time came for 0:24:53.840 --> 0:24:56.159 the playoffs, when the time came for this team to rally, 0:24:56.359 --> 0:24:58.479 he was right there, and I thought it made all 0:24:58.520 --> 0:24:59.040 the difference. 0:24:59.160 --> 0:25:02.040 Yeah, his hundred play yards against San Francisco, first one 0:25:02.080 --> 0:25:04.320 hundred yard rusher against the forty nine ers in like 0:25:04.359 --> 0:25:07.720 fifty game fifty something like that. And I actually look 0:25:07.800 --> 0:25:11.280 this up as well, first Packers running actually only the 0:25:11.320 --> 0:25:13.800 second running back in Packers' history to have one hundred 0:25:13.800 --> 0:25:16.199 plus rushing yards in back to back playoff games in 0:25:16.240 --> 0:25:18.679 the same postseason. The only other one to do it 0:25:18.720 --> 0:25:21.000 was Dorsey Levens back in nineteen ninety seven when the 0:25:21.000 --> 0:25:25.440 Packers went to the Super Bowl. So what you said 0:25:25.440 --> 0:25:27.919 about Aaron Jones, I agree with everything one hundred percent. 0:25:28.000 --> 0:25:31.160 For me, what I would consider my most pleasant surprise 0:25:31.480 --> 0:25:36.000 is where the Packers got to at the tight end 0:25:36.000 --> 0:25:39.200 position this year. Because you and I have sat here, 0:25:39.280 --> 0:25:43.120 whether we're talking pre draft, post draft, you know, OTA's 0:25:43.200 --> 0:25:47.760 training camp, we've talked about how the transition at the 0:25:47.760 --> 0:25:50.359 tight end position from the college level to the NFL 0:25:50.480 --> 0:25:55.000 level is significant. There there are so many more responsibilities 0:25:55.000 --> 0:25:58.080 that are placed on guys in terms of, you know, 0:25:58.160 --> 0:26:00.920 the duties at the line of scrimmage when they line up, 0:26:00.960 --> 0:26:04.320 you know, split out, the pass protection, the run game, 0:26:04.880 --> 0:26:09.480 the route adjustments. Everything. There is a it's a tremendous 0:26:09.600 --> 0:26:13.160 learning learning curve at the tight end position. And Brian 0:26:13.200 --> 0:26:17.680 Gudokunz took a chance because he went into this season 0:26:17.880 --> 0:26:21.520 with three rookie tight ends in Luke Musgrave, Tucker Craft 0:26:21.520 --> 0:26:23.560 and Ben Simms claimed off waivers at the end of 0:26:23.560 --> 0:26:26.560 training camp, and the only veteran tight end in the 0:26:26.680 --> 0:26:29.600 room was a guy who really hadn't been in every 0:26:29.640 --> 0:26:33.119 down player, Josiah Daguara. Important guy and important piece, but 0:26:33.160 --> 0:26:35.480 a role player, yep, throughout the course of his time 0:26:35.520 --> 0:26:39.679 here in Green Bay. And even with the time that 0:26:39.800 --> 0:26:42.680 Musgrave miss due to injury. You know what we saw, 0:26:43.080 --> 0:26:47.280 what we saw from his development. You know, early on, 0:26:47.440 --> 0:26:49.600 you know, guys are running the wrong routes and you 0:26:49.640 --> 0:26:51.840 see two guys in the same spot and whatever, and 0:26:51.960 --> 0:26:54.760 you look at Tucker Craft coming from a school like 0:26:54.840 --> 0:26:59.920 South Dakota State and you know, struggling at times early 0:27:00.119 --> 0:27:02.959 on with his blocking, and then by mid season and 0:27:03.040 --> 0:27:06.000 on you're watching the game film going, Tucker Craft is 0:27:06.000 --> 0:27:08.600 blocking some of the best pass rushers in this one 0:27:08.640 --> 0:27:12.160 on one and protecting Jordan Love based on certain schemes 0:27:12.200 --> 0:27:16.399 and certain calls. Where where the Packers got to in 0:27:16.520 --> 0:27:20.240 one year with these with these rookie tight ends, where 0:27:20.280 --> 0:27:23.320 you expect there to be a much you know, steeper 0:27:23.400 --> 0:27:26.639 learning curve and a longer transition. I think that sets 0:27:26.720 --> 0:27:31.640 up tremendously well for this offense because we know how 0:27:31.760 --> 0:27:35.199 much Matt Lafleur loves to use tight ends in different 0:27:35.240 --> 0:27:38.240 ways within his system and within his scheme. And I 0:27:38.359 --> 0:27:41.040 was really impressed with what the young tight ends did. 0:27:41.160 --> 0:27:45.119 Yeah, and you saw tons of twenty one personnel, uh 0:27:45.160 --> 0:27:47.119 in that game, I should say twelve personal excuse me, 0:27:47.200 --> 0:27:50.119 dyslikes it in that game, you know, with the amount 0:27:50.160 --> 0:27:52.480 of tight ends that they end up having incorporated in 0:27:52.560 --> 0:27:55.879 that I was most impressed with those guys in terms 0:27:55.960 --> 0:28:02.240 of the When Brian Gudikun's draft players, right, it's one 0:28:02.280 --> 0:28:04.080 thing to be like, oh, these are their measurables or 0:28:04.080 --> 0:28:07.080 these are their statistics. Then you go and find someone 0:28:07.080 --> 0:28:09.760 like Tucker Craft, and it's always interesting to me and 0:28:09.800 --> 0:28:12.400 fascinating to me when you can project out the way 0:28:12.440 --> 0:28:15.320 the guy's going to develop. They saw shades of what 0:28:15.359 --> 0:28:18.919 could make him special at South Dakota State, and it 0:28:19.000 --> 0:28:22.040 took time. I think he played maybe three offensive snaps 0:28:22.040 --> 0:28:26.040 in the opener, but the way his blocking came around 0:28:26.800 --> 0:28:29.160 his yards after catch. You know, he talked all off 0:28:29.200 --> 0:28:31.639 season about how, you know, I was a yak machine 0:28:31.640 --> 0:28:34.080 in college. That's kind of my game and that actually 0:28:34.119 --> 0:28:37.119 manifested and developed. And then you have a guy like 0:28:37.200 --> 0:28:41.200 Luke Musgrave who unfortunately suffers just a gruesome, god awful 0:28:41.280 --> 0:28:44.160 injury that he misses a month with but then finds 0:28:44.160 --> 0:28:46.200 his way back, and you could see how this guy 0:28:46.200 --> 0:28:48.440 at six foot six can be a real vertical threat 0:28:48.480 --> 0:28:52.920 against opposing defenses. It's an exciting time, man, I thought, 0:28:53.400 --> 0:28:56.000 and it's really the entire tight end position. Sam Laporter 0:28:56.200 --> 0:28:59.959 was just incredible for Detroit this year. Dalton Kincaid had 0:29:00.080 --> 0:29:03.480 some good snaps for Buffalo, but I was the guy 0:29:03.480 --> 0:29:05.600 that was always saying, yeah, that's the position that takes 0:29:05.600 --> 0:29:07.960 the longest to develop. You gotta be patient with it. 0:29:08.280 --> 0:29:10.800 And now you're seeing these guys, you're seeing Trey McBride 0:29:11.000 --> 0:29:14.160 that the position is almost kind of shifting where guys 0:29:14.160 --> 0:29:16.600 are starting to make instant impacts again. And you saw 0:29:16.640 --> 0:29:20.280 the statistics, Michael. First time the Packers had three rookies 0:29:20.480 --> 0:29:22.160 have a tight end have a touchdown. 0:29:22.920 --> 0:29:23.880 Three rookie tight. 0:29:23.800 --> 0:29:26.080 Ends have a touchdown in the same season, right, and 0:29:26.400 --> 0:29:29.120 first time I believe that happened in NFL history. There's 0:29:29.200 --> 0:29:31.120 going to be markers like that that are you're going 0:29:31.160 --> 0:29:32.880 to see probably more and more in the good news 0:29:32.880 --> 0:29:36.480 for green Bay now they solve their tight end future. 0:29:36.600 --> 0:29:38.360 I mean, these guys, this is what you're going to 0:29:38.400 --> 0:29:39.480 build around for years to come. 0:29:39.520 --> 0:29:43.040 Yeah, they are. It's there's no doubt about it. Another 0:29:43.040 --> 0:29:47.120 big picture question I have for you and Justin our producer. 0:29:47.200 --> 0:29:48.440 We're going to go a little bit long. 0:29:48.320 --> 0:29:50.160 Today because yeah, sorry, Justin. I hope you didn't need 0:29:50.200 --> 0:29:50.480 to get. 0:29:50.400 --> 0:29:53.960 To lunch hanging there with us, Justin, so we're going 0:29:54.040 --> 0:29:56.760 to make the most of this. My other big picture 0:29:56.880 --> 0:29:59.640 picture question for you, what is your and I hope 0:29:59.640 --> 0:30:02.840 I can phrased this properly, what is your biggest hope 0:30:03.760 --> 0:30:08.640 for where or how this team improves moving forward into 0:30:08.720 --> 0:30:10.520 twenty twenty four. What are you looking at? 0:30:11.080 --> 0:30:13.479 You know, I think defensively is probably where it's going 0:30:13.520 --> 0:30:17.440 to start. For me. There's going to be regardless of 0:30:17.440 --> 0:30:19.240 how they're going to shape things and the decisions they 0:30:19.280 --> 0:30:22.600 have to make in the months ahead. But that group 0:30:22.640 --> 0:30:26.080 had such astronomical expectations this year, and we all wrote 0:30:26.080 --> 0:30:29.120 about it. I wrote about it, and then you sometimes 0:30:29.160 --> 0:30:32.320 forget they're still Again, going back to what Matt Lafleur said, 0:30:32.400 --> 0:30:34.640 just because something ends a certain way doesn't. 0:30:34.360 --> 0:30:35.760 Mean it begins the next way. 0:30:35.920 --> 0:30:38.000 Yeah, for as good as things ended last year for 0:30:38.040 --> 0:30:39.800 the Defense, it took time for them to find their 0:30:39.840 --> 0:30:42.680 groove again, And honestly, it took almost thirteen weeks until 0:30:42.720 --> 0:30:44.560 they started to sort of really hold things down and 0:30:44.600 --> 0:30:47.880 shut things down. That side of the ball is going 0:30:47.920 --> 0:30:51.040 to be very interesting to see how everything works itself out. 0:30:51.120 --> 0:30:53.640 It sounds like the Jyr Alexander situation is in a 0:30:53.720 --> 0:30:56.440 much better spot. Matt laflor mentioned again on Monday, the 0:30:56.480 --> 0:30:59.360 communication is much improved. They feel like they're going to 0:30:59.440 --> 0:31:01.880 be in a good position to continue that relationship for 0:31:01.960 --> 0:31:04.840 years to come. You saw how important jaw was in 0:31:04.880 --> 0:31:07.000 those last three games after he came back. How he 0:31:07.080 --> 0:31:09.560 toughed it out through the ankle injury to be out 0:31:09.560 --> 0:31:12.720 there for his team. But a lot of the unrestricted 0:31:12.760 --> 0:31:14.960 free agents, and that's for the Packers have are on 0:31:15.000 --> 0:31:17.640 that side of the ball. You know, Darnell Savage, Rudy Ford, 0:31:17.760 --> 0:31:20.240 Jonathan Owens are all going to be going into free agency. 0:31:20.840 --> 0:31:23.560 Keishawn Nixon again is going to be coming up. They 0:31:23.560 --> 0:31:25.920 have some big decisions to make there in the secondary. 0:31:26.000 --> 0:31:28.360 Seeing where things are at again with Eric Stokes. So 0:31:29.280 --> 0:31:33.719 I look for the defense to sort of galvanize and 0:31:33.760 --> 0:31:37.040 crystallize and develop around the way they played down the 0:31:37.080 --> 0:31:39.920 final stretch. Yeah, because I'm not saying you have to 0:31:39.920 --> 0:31:41.840 always hang your hat on the defense, but there's gonna 0:31:41.840 --> 0:31:43.560 be times reader and to need them to help set 0:31:43.560 --> 0:31:45.600 the pace with you. And I thought that was one 0:31:45.680 --> 0:31:48.120 area where Greenbaya at times really did sort of struggle. 0:31:48.360 --> 0:31:51.479 Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna pair it a word that 0:31:51.480 --> 0:31:53.720 Matt Lafleur used, but it's also one that I have 0:31:53.840 --> 0:31:56.760 talked about, you know, in Insider Inbox, on this show, 0:31:56.800 --> 0:31:59.920 other platforms with regard to the defense. And I know 0:32:00.160 --> 0:32:03.160 it's a buzzword, but the word is consistency, and I 0:32:03.240 --> 0:32:07.360 know that there is There is no such things as 0:32:07.880 --> 0:32:11.640 full consistency, as we like to joke about. Because this 0:32:11.800 --> 0:32:14.440 is the NFL, You're gonna have bad days at the office. 0:32:14.480 --> 0:32:16.360 Like I get that. You know, you can't just say, 0:32:16.640 --> 0:32:18.760 you know, you have to build a defense that's gonna 0:32:18.760 --> 0:32:21.880 hold everybody to you know, eighteen points or less or whatever. 0:32:21.920 --> 0:32:27.760 It doesn't work that way. But the issue with this defense, 0:32:27.800 --> 0:32:30.760 in my opinion, over the past two seasons, has been 0:32:31.800 --> 0:32:33.640 not just that it's been up and down, but that, 0:32:33.960 --> 0:32:38.040 you know, the swings have been wildly up and then 0:32:38.240 --> 0:32:42.400 wildly down to where you just don't really know what 0:32:42.440 --> 0:32:45.600 you're gonna get. I mean, for this for this defense 0:32:45.640 --> 0:32:48.959 to play like it did in the victories over the 0:32:49.000 --> 0:32:51.600 Lions and the Chiefs that got the Packers kind of 0:32:51.640 --> 0:32:54.800 back in the hunt and back in the picture. To 0:32:54.880 --> 0:32:59.600 then follow that up with the three games against the Giants, 0:33:00.160 --> 0:33:04.880 the Buccaneers and the Panthers defensively before then you can 0:33:04.920 --> 0:33:07.280 turn it back around again and get things going back 0:33:07.320 --> 0:33:09.680 the other direction. It's like I said, it's one thing 0:33:09.720 --> 0:33:12.040 to have a bad day at the office, but you 0:33:12.120 --> 0:33:15.200 can't have this level of inconsistency where when things start 0:33:15.240 --> 0:33:17.400 to go wrong, it goes wrong for three weeks. 0:33:17.720 --> 0:33:17.959 You know. 0:33:18.560 --> 0:33:22.280 That's where that and I don't know, I don't know 0:33:22.280 --> 0:33:24.880 what Matt Lafluir is going to decide big picture wise 0:33:24.920 --> 0:33:27.200 with how he wants to go forward. I don't know 0:33:27.240 --> 0:33:29.440 if it's I don't know, if it's the style of defense, 0:33:29.480 --> 0:33:32.160 something with the scheme, if it has to do with 0:33:32.160 --> 0:33:34.960 with the leadership, whatever the case might be. He's going 0:33:34.960 --> 0:33:39.280 to make his decisions on that. But Matt Leffleuur, as 0:33:39.320 --> 0:33:41.400 the head coach and the offensive play caller and the 0:33:41.440 --> 0:33:44.000 guy running this thing with Jordan Love and the new 0:33:44.040 --> 0:33:47.160 franchise quarterback, he's got to have something you can rely 0:33:47.320 --> 0:33:51.040 on on that other side and not get into a 0:33:51.040 --> 0:33:54.720 situation where Baker Mayfield comes into lambeau Field and puts 0:33:54.760 --> 0:33:57.440 up one fifty eight point three, or you go to Carolina, 0:33:57.880 --> 0:33:59.600 the worst team in the league, and they put up 0:33:59.600 --> 0:34:01.760 thirty point on you, and you barely get out of 0:34:01.760 --> 0:34:03.840 there with a victory to keep your playoff hopes alive. 0:34:04.200 --> 0:34:07.400 That's the kind of thing that as this defense played 0:34:07.480 --> 0:34:12.600 really really well the last four games Minnesota, Chicago, Dallas, 0:34:12.600 --> 0:34:16.880 San Francisco. On balance, the defense played really well, but 0:34:16.920 --> 0:34:20.319 then what was the previous three weeks when for three 0:34:20.360 --> 0:34:23.360 weeks we're waiting for the you know, waiting and wondering 0:34:23.400 --> 0:34:25.920 what's going on with the defense, And that's when you know, 0:34:26.000 --> 0:34:28.000 kind of it feels like this crisis mode as to 0:34:28.040 --> 0:34:29.840 what the future of the defense is going to be. 0:34:30.520 --> 0:34:33.000 The other thing I'll say with regard to consistency, of course, 0:34:33.080 --> 0:34:36.800 is the kicking game. Because Andras Carlson missed too many kicks. 0:34:36.880 --> 0:34:39.680 There's no there's no two ways about that. I don't 0:34:39.719 --> 0:34:41.720 know what the Packers are going to do moving forward. 0:34:41.760 --> 0:34:45.759 I would expect potentially some competition for that job in 0:34:45.840 --> 0:34:50.239 twenty twenty four, But the lack of consistency in the 0:34:50.320 --> 0:34:53.480 kicking game obviously bit the Packers in a really big moment. 0:34:53.800 --> 0:34:57.279 And you have to you have to get to a 0:34:57.320 --> 0:34:59.239 situation where you can be a little bit more sure 0:34:59.239 --> 0:35:02.040 of yourself as much as we believe will be on 0:35:02.120 --> 0:35:03.760 the line from this team moving forward. 0:35:03.880 --> 0:35:06.280 Yeah, and I'm a big proponent for competition. Matt Lafleur 0:35:06.400 --> 0:35:08.600 talks about it all the time. I always go back 0:35:08.640 --> 0:35:12.360 to what Mason Crosby talked about of twenty thirteen twenty 0:35:12.400 --> 0:35:15.320 twelve did not go well at all, I mean sixty 0:35:15.360 --> 0:35:16.920 one percent whatever it ended up being on. 0:35:16.840 --> 0:35:17.520 His field goals. 0:35:17.719 --> 0:35:20.240 Green Bay doesn't make a major move, they don't sign anybody, 0:35:20.239 --> 0:35:22.719 they don't draft anybody, but they brought in Giorgio Tavacchio, 0:35:23.320 --> 0:35:26.120 and so many times Mason talked about how that competition 0:35:26.320 --> 0:35:28.000 kind of brought out the best in him. Again, it 0:35:28.120 --> 0:35:30.560 sort of allowed him to right himself along with some 0:35:30.600 --> 0:35:33.120 of his own structural and procedural ways that he went 0:35:33.160 --> 0:35:36.719 about his kicking process. But I think that can do 0:35:36.760 --> 0:35:38.560 a world of good. I thought it did a world 0:35:38.640 --> 0:35:41.960 good this offseason with the punting competition. Yes, Green Bay 0:35:42.000 --> 0:35:45.640 didn't necessarily need to replace Pat O'Donnell, but they found 0:35:45.719 --> 0:35:48.399 Daniel Wheeland and they felt really good about this guy, 0:35:48.480 --> 0:35:50.600 and I thought, on average was one of the highlights 0:35:50.640 --> 0:35:52.680 of special teams for them this season. In addition to 0:35:52.719 --> 0:35:54.800 what he did as a punter, also as a holder. 0:35:54.840 --> 0:35:56.880 I just thought, again brought a lot of consistency in 0:35:56.880 --> 0:35:59.200 that facet. I think a lot of good can come 0:35:59.200 --> 0:36:00.880 out of that. The one thing I feel pretty good 0:36:00.880 --> 0:36:03.600 about with Anders is that he is not a guy 0:36:03.640 --> 0:36:05.799 that frets. You can tell he kind of has that 0:36:05.840 --> 0:36:08.839 calmness and that composure to him, much like Jordan Love. 0:36:09.160 --> 0:36:11.440 We just got to figure out the process and exactly 0:36:11.480 --> 0:36:13.880 what the hitch has been there, because with some of 0:36:13.960 --> 0:36:18.279 these kicks, you're trying to look for the common denominator, 0:36:18.280 --> 0:36:21.160 the parallel between them, and I really personally wasn't able 0:36:21.160 --> 0:36:23.560 to do that. I'm also not a special teams coach. Yeah, 0:36:23.600 --> 0:36:27.120 but if you can figure that out and allow him 0:36:27.440 --> 0:36:29.759 the latitude that they did this year to try to 0:36:30.719 --> 0:36:33.480 right the ship, so to speak, I think there's a 0:36:33.480 --> 0:36:35.239 lot there too, because with the sixth round pick, you 0:36:35.239 --> 0:36:37.160 are making a heavy investment into a player and you 0:36:37.239 --> 0:36:39.520 want to see the thing through as opposed to what 0:36:39.560 --> 0:36:41.799 the Vikings went through in twenty eighteen. 0:36:41.520 --> 0:36:42.080 With his brother. 0:36:42.239 --> 0:36:46.759 Yeah. Absolutely, Well, before we go, I want to get 0:36:46.800 --> 0:36:50.120 your thoughts on the rest of the playoff picture. At 0:36:50.120 --> 0:36:53.080 this point, we saw Baltimore beat Houston. We saw Kansas 0:36:53.120 --> 0:36:56.680 City win at Buffalo in really another playoff classic and 0:36:56.760 --> 0:37:00.960 yet another heartbreaker for Buffalo Bills fans. Troit wins its 0:37:01.040 --> 0:37:04.759 second playoff game, knocking off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to 0:37:04.800 --> 0:37:08.399 get that shot out in San Francisco. So Kansas City 0:37:08.440 --> 0:37:10.720 is at Baltimore at the Lions are at the forty 0:37:10.800 --> 0:37:13.719 nine ers. What are your thoughts on what's gonna happen here? 0:37:13.960 --> 0:37:16.719 Lions protect the football, They absolutely win that game. I 0:37:16.760 --> 0:37:17.560 fully believe it. 0:37:17.640 --> 0:37:18.239 Really I do. 0:37:18.680 --> 0:37:20.759 I think if they if Jared Goff can go in 0:37:20.800 --> 0:37:23.120 there and keep a go sag in that interception's calm, 0:37:23.160 --> 0:37:25.000 I think they win that game against forty nine ers. 0:37:25.200 --> 0:37:28.520 See I'm I'm I'm gonna I'm the opposite here. 0:37:28.600 --> 0:37:30.239 Do you think if he throws an interception they'll win? 0:37:30.800 --> 0:37:32.960 No? What I was what I was gonna say is, 0:37:33.000 --> 0:37:35.799 while I do believe that that the forty nine ers, 0:37:35.920 --> 0:37:40.000 as has been proven this year, they've they've had their 0:37:40.000 --> 0:37:43.000 struggles without Deebo Samuel on offense, and I don't know 0:37:43.040 --> 0:37:45.520 if they're going to have Deebo Samuel for this game. 0:37:46.120 --> 0:37:48.600 But I also feel, because I watched enough of the 0:37:48.640 --> 0:37:51.360 forty nine ers this year, I also feel that maybe 0:37:51.360 --> 0:37:54.000 the forty nine ers might have gotten away with their 0:37:54.480 --> 0:37:59.160 like off game in the playoffs, in escaping last week 0:37:59.200 --> 0:38:00.960 and being able to beat the Packers and move on. 0:38:01.040 --> 0:38:03.319 And I think even without Deebo Samuel, I think the 0:38:03.360 --> 0:38:06.560 forty nine ers are going to play much much better. 0:38:06.640 --> 0:38:09.640 And I think I'm not counting out the Lions, but 0:38:09.680 --> 0:38:11.120 I think the Lions are going to have a really 0:38:11.160 --> 0:38:12.160 tough time winning that game. 0:38:12.239 --> 0:38:15.200 Yeah. I really think San Francisco is a different team 0:38:15.280 --> 0:38:17.040 based on whether or not Samuel is out there. And 0:38:17.080 --> 0:38:19.280 I know Kyle Shanahan put it as fifty to fifty 0:38:19.600 --> 0:38:21.040 of whether or not he'll be able to play through 0:38:21.040 --> 0:38:24.600 that shoulder injury, but they that passing game is different 0:38:24.640 --> 0:38:27.000 when he's not available. Ye, And I'm very interested to 0:38:27.000 --> 0:38:29.640 see which route they take. The thing I like about 0:38:29.640 --> 0:38:32.719 the Lions is I feel like they're kind of like 0:38:32.760 --> 0:38:37.080 a They're like a an NFL plus version of where 0:38:37.120 --> 0:38:38.799 the Packers were at this season. They had to go 0:38:38.840 --> 0:38:41.239 through their own crucibles too, but they passed it, yep, 0:38:41.280 --> 0:38:43.520 and they were able to find their path into the postseason. 0:38:43.840 --> 0:38:46.480 They won that close game against the Rams, they made 0:38:46.480 --> 0:38:48.600 some mistakes against the Bucks, but still were able to 0:38:48.600 --> 0:38:49.359 pull this thing out. 0:38:49.480 --> 0:38:51.480 The Lions might have been the number one seed. Now, 0:38:51.480 --> 0:38:54.040 granted the forty nine ers wouldn't have rested their guys 0:38:54.040 --> 0:38:56.520 in Week eighteen, but the Niners, I mean, the Lions 0:38:56.600 --> 0:38:58.200 might have been the number one seed if they win 0:38:58.239 --> 0:39:00.080 that game in Dallas. Yeah, in what tam right, Now. 0:39:00.600 --> 0:39:02.719 What's wild about that is you're right, they wouldn't have 0:39:02.800 --> 0:39:05.200 rested Purty, but they may have had to rest McCaffrey 0:39:05.239 --> 0:39:07.879 in that game regardless with the calf, So it would 0:39:07.880 --> 0:39:09.719 have been very interesting to see how that would have 0:39:09.719 --> 0:39:13.080 played out. Yeah. But to make my quick point here 0:39:13.080 --> 0:39:15.000 on all of this, whether it's the forty nine ers, 0:39:15.000 --> 0:39:17.640 whether it's the Lions, somebody needs to prove to me 0:39:17.840 --> 0:39:20.160 or the or the Ravens have to have a really 0:39:20.200 --> 0:39:22.919 poor game, that the Baltimore Ravens are not the best 0:39:22.920 --> 0:39:25.760 team in the National Football League. The best team doesn't 0:39:25.760 --> 0:39:28.439 always win the Super Bowl, right right, That's the way 0:39:28.480 --> 0:39:32.240 this thing goes. Sometimes somebody gets hot, it's a best 0:39:32.239 --> 0:39:36.799 of one tournament. That's the end of it. But Baltimore, 0:39:37.040 --> 0:39:40.439 the way that d deconstructed Houston, and that's the only 0:39:40.440 --> 0:39:43.840 other game I watched this weekend, the way they deconstructed 0:39:43.880 --> 0:39:47.040 them and just completely defanged everything they were trying to 0:39:47.040 --> 0:39:54.040 do offensively while picking up part their defense. Who Kansas City, 0:39:54.120 --> 0:39:58.080 either Patrick Mahomes gonna have to play extraordinarily well or 0:39:58.960 --> 0:40:01.000 Kansas City's going to be in long afternoon. 0:40:01.120 --> 0:40:04.400 Yeah, I'm with you that I think Baltimore has proven 0:40:05.200 --> 0:40:08.440 that the Ravens are the best team in the NFL 0:40:08.560 --> 0:40:13.680 this season. And it's it's there. It's their championship chase 0:40:13.680 --> 0:40:16.560 to finish, right that that that's really where this is 0:40:16.600 --> 0:40:19.720 as far as Baltimore is concerned. What I will say 0:40:19.920 --> 0:40:22.600 with regard to the Kansas City Chiefs going into Baltimore 0:40:22.800 --> 0:40:26.319 is for all to talk about, Patrick Mahomes is gonna 0:40:26.360 --> 0:40:28.200 have to finally gonna have to play a road game 0:40:28.239 --> 0:40:31.080 in the playoffs, have to go to Buffalo. You know. Now, 0:40:31.120 --> 0:40:33.640 obviously the Chiefs have played in you know, the week before, 0:40:33.680 --> 0:40:35.880 they played in the freezing cold at Arrowheads, So the 0:40:35.920 --> 0:40:38.440 conditions in Buffalo aren't going to be an issue for 0:40:38.480 --> 0:40:41.560 the Kansas City Chiefs. But Mahomes is on the road 0:40:41.600 --> 0:40:44.279 in the playoffs. This is not This Kansas City team 0:40:44.360 --> 0:40:47.839 is not the offensive juggernaut that we have seen in 0:40:47.840 --> 0:40:52.040 in you know, past past versions with this Andy Reid 0:40:52.080 --> 0:40:58.200 Patrick Mahomes partnership. But what Patrick Mahomes did going into Buffalo. 0:40:58.840 --> 0:41:03.760 You take out the Neil forty three offensive snaps, twenty 0:41:03.840 --> 0:41:07.480 seven points on the board, twenty one first downs, they 0:41:07.480 --> 0:41:11.120 were only in third down four times in the game. 0:41:12.000 --> 0:41:16.879 I mean the offensive efficiency that they put together on 0:41:16.920 --> 0:41:20.360 the road against a hot team, a good team, a 0:41:20.440 --> 0:41:23.719 team had that was playing for everything because they were 0:41:23.800 --> 0:41:26.480 tired of losing to the Chiefs, right, I mean all 0:41:26.520 --> 0:41:31.600 the past results there. I do think Baltimore is the 0:41:31.600 --> 0:41:34.400 best team in football. But man, what I saw on Sunday, 0:41:34.440 --> 0:41:36.160 and I know you told me you didn't watch the game, 0:41:36.239 --> 0:41:39.640 what I saw from the Chiefs going into Buffalo, I 0:41:39.800 --> 0:41:43.040 absolutely cannot count them out. It would As much as 0:41:43.040 --> 0:41:46.200 I believe Baltimore is the best team in football, it 0:41:46.239 --> 0:41:49.440 would not shock me in the slightest if Patrick Mahomes 0:41:49.440 --> 0:41:49.879 goes in there. 0:41:49.800 --> 0:41:50.600 Oh for sure. 0:41:50.920 --> 0:41:53.480 I mean, this guy is he's one of the goats, 0:41:53.520 --> 0:41:54.520 now right, I mean. 0:41:54.520 --> 0:41:57.399 He's I mean, if you put it this, if he 0:41:58.360 --> 0:42:00.919 with what that Chiefs team was up against this year, 0:42:01.520 --> 0:42:05.399 if he wins the Super Bowl again this year, all 0:42:05.480 --> 0:42:08.520 the talk is gonna be about is he going to 0:42:09.080 --> 0:42:12.440 ultimately surpass Tom Brady down the road as the goat 0:42:12.520 --> 0:42:15.640 with the championships, the rings and all the accolades. Like, 0:42:15.920 --> 0:42:18.160 if he does it this year with the team that 0:42:18.200 --> 0:42:21.880 the Chiefs had, you can't do anything but tip. 0:42:21.719 --> 0:42:23.719 Your cap and the one thing I will say, because 0:42:23.760 --> 0:42:25.480 I didn't watch the games on Sunday, I had a 0:42:25.600 --> 0:42:28.880 very important appointment with my son for Guy's Grocery Games. 0:42:28.920 --> 0:42:31.200 There was a lot of miss time with the Sun 0:42:31.280 --> 0:42:32.080 the last couple of week. 0:42:32.120 --> 0:42:34.760 Absolutely, yeah, so I've been there in years past. 0:42:34.840 --> 0:42:38.239 So the Sun was all about Guy's Grocery Games on 0:42:38.280 --> 0:42:40.560 Discovery Plus this week, so that was fun. But what 0:42:40.640 --> 0:42:43.320 I did do though, on Sunday night and on Monday 0:42:43.400 --> 0:42:45.760 was watching those highlights on Twitter of that game. 0:42:46.160 --> 0:42:46.800 And you can. 0:42:46.640 --> 0:42:49.160 Spout off all the stats about Patrick Mahomes and every 0:42:49.160 --> 0:42:51.960 single one of them is spot on, But watching how 0:42:51.960 --> 0:42:54.600 that guy navigated the pocket on the All twenty two 0:42:54.680 --> 0:42:58.920 film on several of those throws, Patrick Mahomes is on 0:42:58.960 --> 0:43:01.960 a different level. Yeah, And it's gonna be a great 0:43:02.000 --> 0:43:04.640 test seeing how he matches up with Baltimore's defense and 0:43:04.680 --> 0:43:08.240 seeing how Steve Spagnola's defense actually tries to contain Lamar Jackson. 0:43:08.400 --> 0:43:10.440 Yes, because that's a different challenge, a different. 0:43:10.280 --> 0:43:12.959 Challenge too, and it's kind of an oil and water 0:43:13.040 --> 0:43:15.920 proposition because they're going to take chances defensively to try 0:43:16.000 --> 0:43:18.719 to contain Jackson, and Jackson can really hurt you if 0:43:18.719 --> 0:43:21.319 you don't have the containment on himself. It'll be a 0:43:21.320 --> 0:43:23.279 fun weekend of games. I'm excited to see how the 0:43:23.280 --> 0:43:26.680 final four plays out. Just obviously, as Matt lafore said, 0:43:26.880 --> 0:43:28.920 you just wish the Packers were also part of the 0:43:28.960 --> 0:43:31.640 party in the preparation right now for Detroit. Yeah. 0:43:31.640 --> 0:43:33.719 And if there's one thing, even if it might be 0:43:33.760 --> 0:43:36.399 a little bit painful to hear as a Packers fan, 0:43:37.400 --> 0:43:40.439 but these are the facts. There are four teams left 0:43:40.480 --> 0:43:43.120 playing for a championship. The Packers beat two of them 0:43:43.160 --> 0:43:45.759 this season and back to back weeks, and they took 0:43:45.760 --> 0:43:47.799 a third one all the way to the wire and 0:43:48.120 --> 0:43:50.440 probably outplayed them most of the game and just came 0:43:50.520 --> 0:43:53.439 up short. And those of those four teams that are left, 0:43:53.800 --> 0:43:56.759 that's how the Packers fared, yep, against those squads. And 0:43:56.800 --> 0:43:59.799 that's something to maybe just maybe hang your hat on 0:44:00.200 --> 0:44:03.640 moving forward here. But with that we will call it 0:44:03.680 --> 0:44:04.080 a wrap. 0:44:04.160 --> 0:44:06.520 I got to catch a plane on this edition. 0:44:06.760 --> 0:44:10.319 Of Packers Unscripted. And for the season of Packers Unscripted. 0:44:10.360 --> 0:44:13.800 Thank you all out there for watching, for listening following along. 0:44:14.360 --> 0:44:16.880 We really appreciate it. We will be back at some 0:44:17.000 --> 0:44:19.759 point before the draft. I don't know exactly when that's 0:44:19.800 --> 0:44:22.400 going to be. It will be in a new room 0:44:22.520 --> 0:44:26.480 somewhere in this building, or on Zoom or on Zoom, 0:44:26.600 --> 0:44:29.480 or in Wes's garage with the Big G on us. 0:44:30.520 --> 0:44:33.680 We will see what happens there. But in all seriousness, 0:44:33.760 --> 0:44:36.000 thank you for following along. We will continue with all 0:44:36.040 --> 0:44:39.319 of our off season coverage on Packers dot com. Have 0:44:39.400 --> 0:44:42.239 it all for you as there so for Wes. I 0:44:42.280 --> 0:44:44.880 am Mike, Thank you for tuning in everybody, and we 0:44:45.000 --> 0:44:46.640 will at some point see 0:44:46.640 --> 0:44:47.200 You next time.