Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined by the
Speaker 1: one and only Weston Hodkowitz. We're coming to you here
Speaker 1: from our studios at lambeau Field West. Is just a
Speaker 1: couple of days away now, Saturday night, NFL NFC Divisional
Speaker 1: Playoff football between the Packers and the forty Niners. And
Speaker 1: before we get into our keys to victory and whatnot
Speaker 1: for this game, there's a specific individual here for the
Speaker 1: Packers who's who's worth talking about. And we've gotten the
Speaker 1: reaction from UM coaches, teammates and whatnot on on this
Speaker 1: player making UM I guess a somewhat surprise appearance on
Speaker 1: the UM first team All Pro list that was announced
Speaker 1: late last week. And of course I'm talking about inside
Speaker 1: linebacker Devandre Campbell. You were the one who said it
Speaker 1: on this show and we were talking about the Pro
Speaker 1: Bowl and how he didn't get not only didn't get
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl, which wasn't necessarily a surprise, but he wasn't
Speaker 1: even an alternati for the Pro Bowl, wasn't on any
Speaker 1: kind of a Pro Bowl recognition list at all. And
Speaker 1: you said, let's just wait until the All Pro votes
Speaker 1: come out. Well, I thought he had a pretty good chance,
Speaker 1: maybe to get second team All Pro, First team All Pro.
Speaker 1: Surprised me. I would have to say, let's keep this
Speaker 1: on dev Andre Campbell. Let's start on devonre Campbell. I
Speaker 1: do have some thoughts on the Pro Bowl, though, once
Speaker 1: we get past this. The thing that the reason I
Speaker 1: said that is because one of the reasons I really
Speaker 1: liked the All Pro team is because they they judge
Speaker 1: guys based on the position which they play. When you
Speaker 1: look at strictly inside linebackers, middle linebackers in the National
Speaker 1: Football League, I think Campbell the way he performed this season,
Speaker 1: when you look at the statistics, the analytics, all that stuff,
Speaker 1: he was among the best of his position. And I realistically,
Speaker 1: if you want to go past the numbers, past anything,
Speaker 1: just look at how this defense plays with him on
Speaker 1: the field. Look at the difference in terms of their
Speaker 1: production not only against the run, but also what they've
Speaker 1: done against tight ends this season, against running backs leaking
Speaker 1: out of the backfield, Campbell has been exceptional. And to
Speaker 1: see when we didn't get to see it, but to
Speaker 1: hear what that moment was like on Friday when when
Speaker 1: Matt Flour brings everybody together and announces to the team, Okay,
Speaker 1: we have two pretty obvious first team selections and everybody
Speaker 1: knows what's going on there, and then he mentions, but
Speaker 1: there's a third and it was it was interesting, and
Speaker 1: you were the one that asked it. But listening to
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers kind of like recall his thoughts, They're like, well,
Speaker 1: it could have been Resul Douglas, it could have been
Speaker 1: this player, it could have been Devandre and and to
Speaker 1: hear we haven't at this point which we're taping, is
Speaker 1: we haven't talked to Campbell yet, but to hear what
Speaker 1: that moment was, like how enthusiastic the team was when
Speaker 1: it was announced that Campbell was a first team All
Speaker 1: Pro and then Campbell to give that speech and he
Speaker 1: said it a number of times this year, but the
Speaker 1: fact that the Packers made him feel value, made him
Speaker 1: feel like he was a part of something, and the
Speaker 1: biggest thing of all allowed him to become the player
Speaker 1: he felt he was capable of being. That is where
Speaker 1: this sixth NFL season for Devandra Campbell, I think you
Speaker 1: can tell that this is the one for him. That
Speaker 1: was the galvanizing year, not just because of the success,
Speaker 1: but because he was finally put in a position with
Speaker 1: this defense to be the man. Yeah. And it's interesting
Speaker 1: because any anytime, anytime there's a new addition to the team,
Speaker 1: there are always questions about, Okay, is that is this
Speaker 1: player going to fit the locker room? Is this player
Speaker 1: going to fit the culture? And then there are also
Speaker 1: players who who can come along and and who can
Speaker 1: elevate the locker room and they can elevate the culture.
Speaker 1: Devandre Campbell is one of these guys. Not only not
Speaker 1: only does he fit the culture, did he fit it
Speaker 1: right from the beginning, but he also elevated it with
Speaker 1: his play to have the career year that he's had
Speaker 1: stepping into a brand new system. Didn't really have an
Speaker 1: offseason program because, as we've mentioned, he signs in the
Speaker 1: middle of June, basically like a week or so before
Speaker 1: everybody's being dismissed for the long break before training camp.
Speaker 1: And when I look at you know, we get asked
Speaker 1: these questions all the time. Okay, so what's gonna what's
Speaker 1: different about the Packers this year? You know, last two
Speaker 1: years the Packers have had a first round by they've
Speaker 1: had home games in the playoffs, etcetera, etcetera. And when
Speaker 1: I look at what's going on with these with these Packers,
Speaker 1: if you were to if you were to ask me,
Speaker 1: what is the biggest difference between this team and the
Speaker 1: previous two teams that have tried to make these runs
Speaker 1: to the super Bowl, The biggest difference is Devandre Campbell. Because, yes,
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago, A. J. Dillon wasn't here.
Speaker 1: He's he's a new player. Russeuell Douglas is is a
Speaker 1: new player this year. You've had other you know, guys
Speaker 1: step in, step up on the offensive line, all of that,
Speaker 1: and I'm not discounting that. But if you were to
Speaker 1: ask me the single biggest difference in personnel between this
Speaker 1: pack Ers team and the ones from the previous two
Speaker 1: years that have tried to make this run, Campbell is
Speaker 1: the biggest difference. He changed the way this defense looks,
Speaker 1: He changed the way it plays. And uh and I
Speaker 1: took my cap to him because he in a very
Speaker 1: short amount of time he was able to get due
Speaker 1: recognition for it, and it made a believer out of me.
Speaker 1: In the middle linebacker position of the inside linebacker position.
Speaker 1: You got to see, you know, Nick Barnett in his prime.
Speaker 1: You got to see, you know, a J Hawk earlier
Speaker 1: in his career. Certainly, Blake Martinez had some good moments
Speaker 1: and and Clay Matthews was exceptional after they moved him
Speaker 1: to that inside linebacker position. But Campbell playing at a
Speaker 1: first team All Pro level this year showed you how
Speaker 1: dynamic that position can be and just overall what the
Speaker 1: domino effect is on the rest of the unit when
Speaker 1: you get elite play from that position. That's stat that
Speaker 1: I believe was Mike Reiner was the one. Uh, Mike Reener,
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, Mike if MS pronounced your name. From Pro
Speaker 1: Football Focus, that's STAD pumped out about how Campbell was
Speaker 1: the only linebacker in the National Football League with at
Speaker 1: least eighty solo tackles that had fewer than double digit
Speaker 1: miss tackles and he only had four. Four was one
Speaker 1: of the most illuminating things about this season, because while
Speaker 1: you and I aren't sitting there counting miss tackles every game,
Speaker 1: as soon as I said that, I was like, you know,
Speaker 1: throughout the course of the year, I didn't see a
Speaker 1: whole lot of miss tackles from Devondre Campbell, especially in
Speaker 1: open space, like when he's in the open field man,
Speaker 1: it was like a magnet to the football. He got
Speaker 1: that guy to the ground, or at least held him
Speaker 1: up long enough for the rest of the guys to come.
Speaker 1: There's no whiffing in his game, and that's not easy
Speaker 1: to do. That's a moving target that you're trying to
Speaker 1: put an arrow through, and Campbell has done a really
Speaker 1: good job of it. In addition, he's long, he's lengthy,
Speaker 1: and and you can just tell how much this meant
Speaker 1: to him into this team. The Green Bay Packers are
Speaker 1: going to try to get on a run here. They're
Speaker 1: gonna try to beat the San Francisco forty Niners. They're
Speaker 1: gonna try to win this thing at home in the
Speaker 1: NFC Championship Game, and they're gonna attempt to try to
Speaker 1: win a Super Bowl. If those three things are gonna happen,
Speaker 1: Devandre Campbell, Russell Douglas, some of these guys that you
Speaker 1: and I were not talking about on June one are
Speaker 1: going to be the reason it occurs. I've been again
Speaker 1: as I said, it made a believer out of me.
Speaker 1: This guy has made a believer out of me. And
Speaker 1: what the importances of the inside linebacker position in the
Speaker 1: National Football League in two thousand. Also, just can I
Speaker 1: make the point about the Pro Bowl really quick? Congratulations
Speaker 1: also to Devandre Campbell. Hopefully he's in Green Bay. I
Speaker 1: don't know where he's playing next year. You'll be a
Speaker 1: free agent after the season, but congratulations the two thousand
Speaker 1: twenty three Pro Bowl selection already coming his way. You
Speaker 1: can see it happening. The most antiquated of antiquated systems
Speaker 1: in the National Football League Pro Bowl voting outside linebackers
Speaker 1: having to play inside linebacker because they can't differentiate a
Speaker 1: defensive end from an edge rusher. H Rogers called it.
Speaker 1: Rogers called it the bok tr treatment, right because David
Speaker 1: Baktr got All Pro recognition before he ever got a
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl. Same thing happened with Corey Lindsley. He gets
Speaker 1: first team All Pro last year, and then this year
Speaker 1: with the Chargers in his new free agent contract, he
Speaker 1: makes his first Pro Bowl. And as you said, you
Speaker 1: can pretty much right in in ink. You don't even
Speaker 1: need to put it in pencil in ink of Andrea
Speaker 1: Campbell will be a Pro Bowler next season. Because the
Speaker 1: All Pro recognition came first. A lot of things happened
Speaker 1: with the hubb ark Ish thing. I know there's a
Speaker 1: lot of questions about the voting process. I told you
Speaker 1: I wrote about it. I think I said on the show,
Speaker 1: the AP voters take that responsibility series they do and
Speaker 1: for them to actually acknowledge that. The other thing they've
Speaker 1: gotten right to they right tackle is the first team
Speaker 1: All Pro right tackle, they do a third receiver now
Speaker 1: instead of trying to do a fullback or reflex position.
Speaker 1: The I tip my cap to the Associated Press. They
Speaker 1: have adjusted to the times. I would really like to
Speaker 1: see the Pro Bowl voting do that as well. Yeah. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: And the the for the All Pro voting, there there
Speaker 1: were three linebackers, essentially three interior linebackers who were selected
Speaker 1: and uh and Campbell Hamble was able to get that
Speaker 1: that third spot in the voting. So that's why he
Speaker 1: became a first teamer other than Aaron Rodgers. Telling that
Speaker 1: great story on Tuesday about the reveal by Matt Lafleur
Speaker 1: of the All Pro selections for the team and how
Speaker 1: the team reacted. The other thing that I took out
Speaker 1: of um his session with the media, and I wrote
Speaker 1: about this on the website the other day. There's a
Speaker 1: there's a there's a mindset here with this team that
Speaker 1: that that's permeating a little bit. You know, back in
Speaker 1: t nineteen it was Matt Lafleur's first season, Packers kind
Speaker 1: of came out of nowhere in some respects to go
Speaker 1: thirteen and three right after back to back seasons of
Speaker 1: not making the playoffs. And there's we heard all the
Speaker 1: cliches about oh, you know, everything's gonna be more intense,
Speaker 1: you gotta step up your game, you know, blah blah blah.
Speaker 1: We didn't hear We didn't hear that from Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: this year, and I think there, you know, it's it's
Speaker 1: not about you know, oh, find another level of intensity,
Speaker 1: turn it up a notch. That's not what this is about.
Speaker 1: This team. This Packers team has you know, has been
Speaker 1: there and done that in terms of gotten into the playoffs,
Speaker 1: had some success in the playoffs. No, they haven't had
Speaker 1: all the success that they want to have, but they
Speaker 1: believe in who they are, they believe in their process,
Speaker 1: and they're not going to suddenly try to just go
Speaker 1: outside themselves too, you know, to play the hero. The
Speaker 1: sense that I get is this team, this team, this
Speaker 1: locker room is very much staying within itself, and they're
Speaker 1: going to be very very business like in a lot
Speaker 1: of ways when when they take the field on Saturday
Speaker 1: night against the forty nine ers. This is this is
Speaker 1: all business for these guys because because they've been here before,
Speaker 1: they've won this game before, and they will focus on
Speaker 1: winning this game. But they have they feel they have
Speaker 1: so much more out in front of them, and and
Speaker 1: running around and throwing her arms and doing all the
Speaker 1: raw raw stuff and all that. That's that's not the
Speaker 1: personality of the squad. It's a rate story in terms
Speaker 1: of this matchup. And you have the San Francisco forty
Speaker 1: Niners who were so close to winning a Super Bowl championship,
Speaker 1: got to the promised Land and just tripped a couple
Speaker 1: of bricks before the finish line. You have the Green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers, who have been to back to back NFC
Speaker 1: Championship games two thousand. Didn't go so hot last year.
Speaker 1: It was right there for them. They got the turnovers late,
Speaker 1: they just couldn't finish it. They're trying to finally cross
Speaker 1: that precipice to be able to get back to a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl for the first time in eleven years. You
Speaker 1: can't draw it up any better. My first thing I
Speaker 1: think I wrote an insider inbox this week was this
Speaker 1: game sells itself. Our photo, our video department. Do a
Speaker 1: fantastic job with the trailer. We'll have all the popping circumstances.
Speaker 1: You could sell this with a flyer and a guy
Speaker 1: standing down at the corner just telling me the tickets
Speaker 1: are on sale. That's how big this matchup is. And
Speaker 1: there's a Shanahan La floor angle. There's all these different
Speaker 1: story lines that go with it, but ultimately you have
Speaker 1: two of the league's best teams. I know it's been
Speaker 1: tough for the forty Niners. They've had injuries, they've had setbacks,
Speaker 1: but they've found their way back to this point in
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers. Mike, what I've been telling fans
Speaker 1: all week long, it's time to be confident. I understand
Speaker 1: there's some nervous energy there. I understand the Packers have
Speaker 1: had some playoff runs here. They haven't ended the way
Speaker 1: you wanted. You didn't get that hat on your head
Speaker 1: that you were hoping to get at the end of
Speaker 1: the season. But they're the first seat and they've played
Speaker 1: really well in the divisional round. At home here these
Speaker 1: last few seasons, be confident and and if you can
Speaker 1: take any solace from the fact that, well the fordni
Speaker 1: is really hot, Are they really tough matchup? Of course
Speaker 1: they are. Why wouldn't they be. But remember the Packers
Speaker 1: have been the team other than Week one, have been
Speaker 1: arguably the most consistent team in the National Football League.
Speaker 1: Forty Niners have one some close ball games, they've eaten
Speaker 1: some good football teams, but the Packers have been doing
Speaker 1: it longer. And I feel like, especially as they've cut
Speaker 1: back to better health, now this is the time for
Speaker 1: all those things to kind of click in together and
Speaker 1: make that final push. Absolutely, I just I like the
Speaker 1: I like the mindset, the approach of this team. Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers said, We're not going to make this any bigger
Speaker 1: than it is. Everybody knows it's big, it's it's it's
Speaker 1: the playoffs, it's winn or go home and all that.
Speaker 1: But you don't make it any bigger than it is.
Speaker 1: You believe in who you are, you believe in your
Speaker 1: process and uh m, and you believe that playing your
Speaker 1: best football is going to get the job done. Can
Speaker 1: I say one other thing? I'm not saying that Kyle Shanahan,
Speaker 1: you know, and you know their offensive coaches stuff. Don't
Speaker 1: have some tricks up their sleeves yet. But you know,
Speaker 1: so many people are saying, well, how are they going
Speaker 1: to defend Deebo Samuel? How are they can do all
Speaker 1: this stuff? The one benefit to being able to have
Speaker 1: a buy as opposed to playing that wild card game,
Speaker 1: sam fran Heado empty the holster with a lot of
Speaker 1: their play calling. We saw Trent Williams motioning for crying
Speaker 1: out loud. I mean the reverse looks that they did
Speaker 1: with with Samuel. That stuff's on film. I'm not saying
Speaker 1: that the forty Niners can't hit it against you, but
Speaker 1: the Packers have seen how dynamic this guy is gonna be.
Speaker 1: There's gonna be no blind sides here. You have to execute,
Speaker 1: you have to tackle, you have to be on your keys.
Speaker 1: But the Packers, they have a whole bag of tricks
Speaker 1: here that they haven't shown yet. Going to the playoffs,
Speaker 1: maximize those chances. Yeah, absolutely, And I want to get
Speaker 1: to uh those keys to victory here in a minute.
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Speaker 1: we believe in better. All right, you just mentioned a
Speaker 1: couple of things to me. One thing in particular that
Speaker 1: stands out to me is a key to victory for
Speaker 1: the Packers in this game, and that is to tackle um.
Speaker 1: Deebo Samuel has the statistics he has because he breaks
Speaker 1: tackles and gets yards after contact. George Kittle has the
Speaker 1: statistics that he has as a pass catcher because he
Speaker 1: takes short throws and they rupture into big games because
Speaker 1: he's hard to bring down. The Packers have to be
Speaker 1: on their pas and cues. With the tackling Deebo Samuel
Speaker 1: and George Kittle and these guys, they are going to
Speaker 1: make their plays the differences. Are they going to be
Speaker 1: able to turn a seven yard play into a seventeen
Speaker 1: or a twenty seven yard play? Is George Kittle going
Speaker 1: to be able to turn a ten yard catch into
Speaker 1: a twenty two or twenty eight yard catch, being able
Speaker 1: to make your tackles Devandre Campbell, as we talked about,
Speaker 1: he doesn't miss him right, But the rest of the
Speaker 1: Packers have to tackle in this game as well as
Speaker 1: Davandre Campbell does, because that's what the forty Niners live
Speaker 1: off of, is the broken tackles in the yards after
Speaker 1: contact to move the chains and to create the big
Speaker 1: plays that get their offense rolling. Cooper Cup Davante Adams
Speaker 1: both unanimous first team All Pro selections. I don't think
Speaker 1: anyone can argue with that. There was a lot of
Speaker 1: controversy in the minds of some people that Samuel got
Speaker 1: the third spot over Justin Jefferson. Both are great players, absolutely,
Speaker 1: but the the X factor with Samuel for me is
Speaker 1: I'm not a lie of sports bureau. I'd like to
Speaker 1: see a stat of how many players in NFL history
Speaker 1: had seventy five catches and averaged over eighteen yards per catch.
Speaker 1: I mean, that tells you he's not just the possession receiver.
Speaker 1: He's an explosive receiver. That's that's like James Lofton territory,
Speaker 1: but doing it in a in a much different way
Speaker 1: than James Lofton. Yeah, exactly, And and especially in this
Speaker 1: day and age with passing offenses. Teams are ready for
Speaker 1: this stuff. And the guy didn't matter when he had
Speaker 1: the ball in his hand. It's in an open space,
Speaker 1: He's going to be able to find ways to hurt you.
Speaker 1: The Packers can't let that happen. I don't know what
Speaker 1: the secondary is gonna look like. I don't know how
Speaker 1: they're going to configure if g I R. Alexander's back,
Speaker 1: where he's gonna play. If he's back, who comes out,
Speaker 1: who goes in? What packages are going to come up with?
Speaker 1: All I know is whoever draws that assignment on a
Speaker 1: given play has to lock in like that is the
Speaker 1: most important rep of their season, because, as we've seen
Speaker 1: over and over and over again, especially these last two
Speaker 1: months with the Niners, when Samuel gets going that bowling
Speaker 1: ball doesn't stop and and being able to actually care
Speaker 1: hail him while keeping an eye on Kittle. Brandon Ayuk
Speaker 1: as the guy that nobody is talking about this week
Speaker 1: that really has come on since that Week three matchup
Speaker 1: with Green Bay. They have weapons, Elijah Mitchell in the backfield.
Speaker 1: For me, the biggest key is going to be what
Speaker 1: happens with Jimmy Garoppolo, because I don't see this being
Speaker 1: a game or Jimmy Garoppolo throws the ball twelve times,
Speaker 1: he's gonna have to make some throws. They're gonna want
Speaker 1: to run the ball. You see the playoff statistics. They
Speaker 1: run the ball in the postseason with Shanahan, but with
Speaker 1: the shoulder, with the thumb. The Packers could potentially have
Speaker 1: Sadarius Smith back, Whitney Merciless back. Maybe we'll see. Not
Speaker 1: promising anything, but if those guys are there to take
Speaker 1: reps off of Preston Smith, Rashaan Gary, Kenny Clark in
Speaker 1: the middle had a really nice performance earlier this season
Speaker 1: against Alex Mac. I want to see the pressure that
Speaker 1: they can generate. I want to see them stop the run.
Speaker 1: I want to see them be able to have success
Speaker 1: against Garoppolo and win this game in a lot of
Speaker 1: the same ways you won Week three, forcing turnovers, creating
Speaker 1: points and opportunities off those takeaways. Yeah. Absolutely. And before
Speaker 1: before we came in here and turned on the cameras
Speaker 1: to to shoot this episode of unscripted, we went outside
Speaker 1: in the bowl to shoot our final thoughts. Um. Yeah.
Speaker 1: With with the week being a little condensed with the
Speaker 1: Saturday game. There, you know certain things we're doing on
Speaker 1: on different days. There's only two of us. But the
Speaker 1: one of the things that I mentioned in that video
Speaker 1: in terms of a key to victory here for the Packers,
Speaker 1: and I've said this with some other games this season
Speaker 1: as well, but it's about it's about withstanding the surge
Speaker 1: from the opponent. And I say that particularly with the
Speaker 1: forty niners because of when you look at their last
Speaker 1: two games, as we talked about earlier in the week,
Speaker 1: they were down seventeen nothing to the Rams, with their
Speaker 1: with their season on the line, and then they surged
Speaker 1: all the way back right and and they were able
Speaker 1: to get that game tied up seventeen seventeen and then
Speaker 1: make it a back and forth contest there down the stretch.
Speaker 1: Last week against the Cowboys, they jumped all over Dallas
Speaker 1: in the beginning. The surge is right out of the gate,
Speaker 1: and it was thirteen and nothing before the Dallas Cowboys
Speaker 1: even caught their breath. Um, that surge is coming at
Speaker 1: some point from the forty enters on Saturday night. I
Speaker 1: don't know if it's going to be right away in
Speaker 1: the first quarter. I don't know if it's going to
Speaker 1: be coming out of halftime, or if it's gonna be
Speaker 1: somewhere in between. But this this forty Niners offense, and
Speaker 1: combined with the pass rush of the defense, they're they're
Speaker 1: gonna have this surge and the Packers are going to
Speaker 1: have to limit the damage. They're going to have to
Speaker 1: survive that surge. And it might just be stopping them
Speaker 1: on a given drive to force a field goal, getting
Speaker 1: a key third down stop. Maybe it's maybe it's getting
Speaker 1: a turnover that that suddenly flips the momentum of the game.
Speaker 1: But the Packers are going to have to withstand that surge.
Speaker 1: These playoff games, you know how they go west, the
Speaker 1: momentum shifts are huge, and both teams are going to
Speaker 1: have the momentum at different times in the game, and
Speaker 1: when the other team has it, you have to limit
Speaker 1: it as best you can and and try to turn
Speaker 1: it back your way as as soon as possible. And
Speaker 1: I think that applies on Saturday night. The point I
Speaker 1: made all week is San Francisco one in Dallas. Because
Speaker 1: of that opening surge. People can make their little memes
Speaker 1: of McCarthy. That's fine, he's a big boy, he can
Speaker 1: take it. But the fact of the matter is it
Speaker 1: was what the forty Niners did in that first quarter
Speaker 1: that enabled them to be able to outlast the Cowboys
Speaker 1: in the second half. And at the end, Dallas did
Speaker 1: a lot of things right, but ultimately we're too far
Speaker 1: in the hole by the time their offense started clicking late.
Speaker 1: San Francisco is going to look to do that again
Speaker 1: here because you're at an opposing venue, You're gonna want
Speaker 1: to take that crowd out of it early. But what
Speaker 1: I like about Green Bay is I think that this
Speaker 1: defense is much more disciplined than what's Dallas is, and
Speaker 1: that's a credit to Dallas. By the way, Dallas's defense
Speaker 1: might have been the worst of the National Football League
Speaker 1: last year, it was certainly in the running. They added
Speaker 1: some parts. Michael Parsons is going to be a monster
Speaker 1: in this league for years to come. That Dallas defense
Speaker 1: made a huge jump from but they still were young
Speaker 1: and undisciplined. This unit. And when I say on discipline,
Speaker 1: I'm not talking about just missing gaps. I'm talking about
Speaker 1: tackling an offensive lineman too the ground in the scenario
Speaker 1: in which you gotta get a staff the penalty and
Speaker 1: smart packers are the least penalized team in the National
Speaker 1: Football League this year. You want to be able to
Speaker 1: continue to play with that veteran head, you know, that mindset,
Speaker 1: and be keeping your head on your shoulders. Uh. That's
Speaker 1: where I think Green Bay can do this thing differently.
Speaker 1: And honestly, Mike, you and I were out there in
Speaker 1: the Bowl. It is cold, and while it will be
Speaker 1: a little bit warmer on Saturday night, they have the
Speaker 1: blowers going right now. They're doing everything they can to
Speaker 1: keep this thing, you know, thought out and temperate. But
Speaker 1: the ground in Green Bay, Wisconsin is still the ground
Speaker 1: in Green Bay, Wisconsin. This is not a T and
Speaker 1: T stadium. The game will be slower than it was
Speaker 1: in Dallas. I think that also lends itself to Green
Speaker 1: Bay's favor. Yeah. Well, and you mentioned it earlier in
Speaker 1: the show too, about how these teams and I actually
Speaker 1: looked it up earlier in this week. Earlier this week,
Speaker 1: both of these teams, not just in Week three when
Speaker 1: they played each other and it came down to the
Speaker 1: last couple of seconds obviously with the Mason Crosby kick.
Speaker 1: Both of these teams throughout the course of the year
Speaker 1: have played numerous down to the wire down to the
Speaker 1: last possession of type of games. Both teams had nine
Speaker 1: of their seventeen games in the regular season decided by
Speaker 1: one score, nine out of seventeen both of them, which
Speaker 1: means eight others aside from when when they played one another.
Speaker 1: Both of the both of these teams, both these teams
Speaker 1: are battle tested in that respect in terms of playing
Speaker 1: sixty minute games, and you just know that this one,
Speaker 1: this one is going to come down to the last
Speaker 1: couple of possessions in the last five or six minutes
Speaker 1: of the fourth quarter, and it's going to be who
Speaker 1: is who is going to be executing at the proper level,
Speaker 1: Because it's not somebody, in my opinion, with either these teams,
Speaker 1: It's not somebody who's going to blink. It's not somebody
Speaker 1: who's going to make a crucial mistake at that moment.
Speaker 1: It's going to be one team execute eating at the
Speaker 1: ultimate high level to pull out a close game down
Speaker 1: the stretch with which both of these teams have been
Speaker 1: tested to do um throughout the course of the season.
Speaker 1: You know who the forty Niners kind of remind me
Speaker 1: of a little bit. I think it's the two thousand
Speaker 1: one Chicago Bears. Actually two thousand one green Bay Packers
Speaker 1: against the Chicago Bears. I think that was the year
Speaker 1: with Dick Gerond and maybe I'll get this wrong with
Speaker 1: Jim Miller. Where the Bears weren't they like thirteen or
Speaker 1: three or something like that. But I think the Packers
Speaker 1: ended up beating them twice, and the Bears has gone
Speaker 1: thirteen and three, but they lost twice to Green Bay.
Speaker 1: That's what the forty Niners kind of remind me of
Speaker 1: because they were the ones that lost, you know, these
Speaker 1: games early on, but still ended up beating the Rams twice.
Speaker 1: During the regular the Rams were the division champ and
Speaker 1: the actually West, but the Niners beat them both times.
Speaker 1: See I know history a little bit. But the reason
Speaker 1: I say that is San Francisco totally belongs to be here.
Speaker 1: But you know I have my question is I don't
Speaker 1: know how many games in a row they're going to
Speaker 1: be able to win. And that's why I felt going
Speaker 1: into the playoffs, why you want to have the buyers
Speaker 1: because some of these teams are really talented. I don't
Speaker 1: know if they can win three or four in a row.
Speaker 1: San Francisco may be able to do that. We're gonna
Speaker 1: find out. But Green Bay. You want to create the
Speaker 1: shortest path to victory as possible. The Packers have done that.
Speaker 1: They're gonna get this game at Lambou Field unlike last year. Yes,
Speaker 1: the temperature will be colder. They're gonna have the crowd
Speaker 1: into it again. It's not gonna be a bunch of
Speaker 1: you know, nine thousand people, including my father, banging a
Speaker 1: sign against the bleacher. It's going to be real people,
Speaker 1: real energy, and I think that's gonna bring the best
Speaker 1: out of this Packers team. I can't wait for it.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be an amazing football game. That is it's
Speaker 1: gonna be. It's gonna be dynamite, no question about it.
Speaker 1: Quickly before we go, just your thoughts on how these
Speaker 1: other games are going to unfold. The other one, obviously,
Speaker 1: in the NFC Los Angeles Rams are at the Tampa
Speaker 1: Bay Buccaneers. The winner there will face the winner of
Speaker 1: forty Niners and Packers in the NFC Championship Game. And
Speaker 1: on the a f C side, Cincinnati at Tennessee, Buffalo
Speaker 1: at Kansas City. Any quick thoughts on how those games
Speaker 1: are going to unfold. My quick thought, I've never said this,
Speaker 1: We've done. We've done unscripted for six years now. Can
Speaker 1: you believe that? Go back into two thousand sixteen. Look
Speaker 1: how young we look. My thing is, I've never said
Speaker 1: this on the show. I legitimately hope the Packers win
Speaker 1: on Saturday. And there's a reason for that too, beyond
Speaker 1: all he worked for the team. But the reason I
Speaker 1: say that is I really want to care about these
Speaker 1: Sunday games because it's a great slate of football. I
Speaker 1: was really disappointed by Super Wildcard weekend. I think everybody
Speaker 1: was the one game, the one game that ended up
Speaker 1: mattering the most to the Packers fortunes. Obviously San Francisco
Speaker 1: and Dallas was by far the best game of the weekend.
Speaker 1: As we predicted. We just didn't know that all the
Speaker 1: rest of them were. I should say four of the
Speaker 1: other five we're going to be absolute snoozers. But the
Speaker 1: reason why is because this is the weekend. Man, I
Speaker 1: said this to you three times this week. Here's the fourth.
Speaker 1: This is the first round of the playoffs. To me,
Speaker 1: these are the eight best teams in the National Football League.
Speaker 1: I actually really believe that. I don't think anybody snuck
Speaker 1: through here for to have of Rams playing the Buccaneers.
Speaker 1: I want to see that game. I know it's a rematch.
Speaker 1: I want to see it again. I think the Bills
Speaker 1: in Kansas City. Those teams are going to continue to
Speaker 1: play each other this year, next year, the year after.
Speaker 1: You look at you look at the ages of Patrick
Speaker 1: Mahomes and Josh Allen. They played for the a f
Speaker 1: C Championship last year. They're playing in the a f
Speaker 1: C Divisional Round this year. They these two quarterbacks might
Speaker 1: go against each other a dozen, fourteen times in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Before this is all said, it's gonna be the Batman
Speaker 1: and the Joker Man. We're destined to do this forever.
Speaker 1: And in Cincinnati or Tennessee. Man, one of those teams
Speaker 1: is going to the f C Championship Game cincin Eddie,
Speaker 1: an a f C Championship game Tennessee, after everything they
Speaker 1: went through this year, going to an a Tennessee, Tennessee,
Speaker 1: getting Derrick Henry back. Now for the playoffs, we talked
Speaker 1: about some of these guys the Packers might get back,
Speaker 1: Tennessee potentially getting Derrick Henry back, and Cincinnati being at
Speaker 1: this stage, at this stage for the first time in
Speaker 1: thirty one years, you were just getting out of diapers
Speaker 1: thirty one years ago. West, Yeah, yeah, I really was.
Speaker 1: That actually is true. But this is that That's why
Speaker 1: I want to care about those games on Sunday. And
Speaker 1: I'm telling you right now this thing doesn't work on
Speaker 1: for Green Bay. I ain't watching football on Sunday. So
Speaker 1: I mean to be able to see how this uh,
Speaker 1: this whole hand. You know, it's the beautiful mry Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers always talks about and we are days away from
Speaker 1: finally figuring out some of these answers. Yeah, absolutely, well
Speaker 1: it should be. It's it's usually the best weekend of
Speaker 1: NFL football of of the entire season, and I think
Speaker 1: that's going it's going to play out that way this
Speaker 1: time around. With that, we'll call it a wrap on
Speaker 1: this edition of Packers on Script and be sure to
Speaker 1: follow all of our coverage of the team and everything
Speaker 1: with Saturday night's game. We'll have it for you on
Speaker 1: Packers dot com. For West, I'm Mike. Thanks for tuning in, everybody.
Speaker 1: We'll see you next time.