Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford. He is my
Speaker 1: partner in crime, Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming to you here
Speaker 1: from our studios at lambeau Field West. The Packers on
Speaker 1: Sunday Night football, they blow out the Minnesota Vikings thirty
Speaker 1: seven to ten and in the process clinch the number
Speaker 1: one playoff seed for the NFC because the Cowboys had
Speaker 1: lost earlier in the day. I want to get to
Speaker 1: the playoff scenarios and and where all that stands a
Speaker 1: little bit later, but for this show, and I don't
Speaker 1: want us to start sounding like a broken record, but
Speaker 1: I think we have to start with what Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: and Davante Adams are doing. I mean, how that looked
Speaker 1: on Sunday night. What those two guys are doing is incredible.
Speaker 1: What really struck me on Sunday night was just the
Speaker 1: way in which they continue to make it look so easy.
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers with another hundred plus passer rating in sub
Speaker 1: zero temperatures or sub zero windshills, excuse me, and Davante
Speaker 1: Adams getting the double digit catches over a hundred yards
Speaker 1: gets in the end zone again, and uh, it just
Speaker 1: it looks too easy in this game. Is not that easy.
Speaker 1: It is not. And the plays that they make, Mike
Speaker 1: Packer fans are so spoiled when you look at the
Speaker 1: NFL and just the amount of jaw dropping plays week
Speaker 1: to week to week. Rogers, for one, makes on his own,
Speaker 1: but to that combination of him and Adams, it's special.
Speaker 1: You might have those a few times in a season
Speaker 1: in other NFL cities. Here it happens literally every Sunday.
Speaker 1: But I want to take this in a different direction
Speaker 1: on you too, though, Mike, because we've talked a lot
Speaker 1: about Aaron Rodgers making a compelling bid for that fourth
Speaker 1: straight m v P. We talked a lot about Davante Adams.
Speaker 1: It would be an absolute travesty if he doesn't actually
Speaker 1: be an unanimous All Pro. I know last year someone
Speaker 1: voted for Cole Beasley for some reason and he wasn't,
Speaker 1: but that he wasn't actually a unanimous all fifty votes
Speaker 1: all Pro at receiver. But it was something that Davante
Speaker 1: Adams said after the game that really hit home with me.
Speaker 1: DeVante talked about almost eighteen minutes, which for a postgame
Speaker 1: interview is about as long as it gets for anyone
Speaker 1: not named Aaron Rodgers or Matt Lafleur. And in the
Speaker 1: middle of it, when he was talking about some of
Speaker 1: the things that him and Rodgers have accomplished together, Davante
Speaker 1: took that car and hit the off ramp and what
Speaker 1: he said was, it's also about the guys in that
Speaker 1: locker room and the way that that offense plays together
Speaker 1: with all eleven parts and the selflessness for guys to
Speaker 1: understand if we're gonna play winning football, this offense and
Speaker 1: a lot of occasions, has to run through Rodgers. It
Speaker 1: has to run through number seventeen. Aaron Jones is a
Speaker 1: guy that in a lot of cities probably is a
Speaker 1: two earned, fifty touch type player. A J. Jones I
Speaker 1: think can show you one week after week after week.
Speaker 1: This is a guy that can carry the ball three
Speaker 1: times a year, no problem, and he's gonna be able
Speaker 1: to get you production. Markquisveldes Scantling has had some huge games,
Speaker 1: and he's had games like Sunday where it was one
Speaker 1: catch for three yards, Alan Lazar, the list goes on
Speaker 1: and on and on. In some places that could be
Speaker 1: a problem for people in Green Bay. They understand what
Speaker 1: everybody's role is and they embrace that role. And in
Speaker 1: this particular case, when you have a generational type talent
Speaker 1: like Aaron Rodgers, and you have a guy that could
Speaker 1: very well go down on that receiver Mount Rushmore here
Speaker 1: in Green Bay, maybe right alongside Don Hudson in Davante Adams,
Speaker 1: you want to ride those horses. And for the Green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers for the last three seasons, it's led to
Speaker 1: an incredible amount of winning and a lot of records
Speaker 1: as well for those two players. Yeah, I was just
Speaker 1: blown away and and I I know we see it
Speaker 1: on a regular basis, but there was something about Sunday
Speaker 1: night with the conditions under the lights. Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: the temperatures were in the single digits, the windshills were
Speaker 1: below zero. It's it's not supposed to be that simple.
Speaker 1: And yet the the back shoulder throws, the tear drop
Speaker 1: throws down, you know, down the sideline that you know,
Speaker 1: sort of the drop in the bucket type of throws.
Speaker 1: I mean, it was just it was it felt like
Speaker 1: it was one after another and they were running around
Speaker 1: out there on you know, the frozen tundra as though
Speaker 1: it was a seventy degree day in September. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: in a in a preseason game or something. And I'm
Speaker 1: not disparaging the Minnesota Vikings defense. I know they've had
Speaker 1: an up and down season and all that, but um,
Speaker 1: a couple of a couple of those back shoulder throws
Speaker 1: were were Um, they were absolutely guarded as closely as
Speaker 1: you could possibly guard them. And that ball is still
Speaker 1: fitting into the tightest of windows with Adams snatching it
Speaker 1: with his hands at absolutely the last possible millisecond and
Speaker 1: not give away to the defender that the ball is coming.
Speaker 1: I mean, the timing and the precision of it in
Speaker 1: those conditions absolutely floored me. In and and again, I
Speaker 1: don't I'm sorry if I'm making our show like a
Speaker 1: broken record that we talked about this every week, But
Speaker 1: I think there's something about that particular game Sunday night
Speaker 1: and what they did and everything that it encompassed that
Speaker 1: was different and special compared to what we've seen before
Speaker 1: offensively for the Minnesota Vikings. I have a lot of questions.
Speaker 1: It seemed to me like Minnesota and Summer guards didn't
Speaker 1: want to really even be there. That's the way I felt. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I tip my cap to their defense, though, Mike, it's
Speaker 1: been a much maligned defense this year. That secondary. Everybody
Speaker 1: talks about how they don't have, you know, the horses
Speaker 1: that they had in the past. You know, cam dancler
Speaker 1: doesn't play in this game, right. I actually thought Chris
Speaker 1: Boyd played a pretty good game. I was watching Harrison,
Speaker 1: you know, Smith basically run laps around the field, trying
Speaker 1: to get on the back end, trying to cover the slot,
Speaker 1: trying to get over to where Davante is and Green
Speaker 1: Bay in the cat and mouse game they played, specifically
Speaker 1: in that second quarter, was just incredible to watch. I mean,
Speaker 1: by and large, Minnesota did a good job against Davante Adams,
Speaker 1: and he had eleven catches for a hundred and thirty
Speaker 1: six yards in a touchdown. But when he got going, man,
Speaker 1: they had few answers to stop him, and and ultimately
Speaker 1: that led to him now being twenty two yards shy
Speaker 1: of Jordy Nelson's franchise record for single season receiving yards.
Speaker 1: He broke his own record for single season catches now
Speaker 1: at one seventeen. And then suddenly not that he's gonna
Speaker 1: be challenging you know, the record that he shares with
Speaker 1: sterling sharp for single season touchdowns. But suddenly this guy
Speaker 1: that was having an issue getting into the red zone
Speaker 1: earlier the season now has ten eleven touchdowns on the year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: DeVante Adams is one of a kind man, and that
Speaker 1: synergy has with Aaron Rodgers, it's it's unlike anything we've seen. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the numbers that he's putting up this year, and you
Speaker 1: mentioned the double digit touchdowns. I believe that's either the
Speaker 1: fourth or fifth time in his career that he's reached
Speaker 1: double digit touchdowns. Now, Um, pretty incredible And with regard
Speaker 1: to to me, and I take nothing away from from um,
Speaker 1: you know, from a guy like Jamaar Chase in Cincinnati
Speaker 1: was having an absolutely phenomenal rookie year. But the but
Speaker 1: the two All Pro receivers on the first team in
Speaker 1: the NFL or Cooper Cup in Davante Adams, I just
Speaker 1: don't see how that goes any other way. And whether
Speaker 1: you whether it's supposed to be unanimus or not, I
Speaker 1: guess I'm not going to get too hung up on that.
Speaker 1: But those two guys, you know, Jamaar Chase has had
Speaker 1: a phenomenal season and he is he He and Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow are elevating Cincinnati into that contender conversation in the
Speaker 1: a f C. But Cooper Cup and Davantae Adams have
Speaker 1: done it every week all season long, and I don't
Speaker 1: think I would have cared as much about the All
Speaker 1: Pro if it would have been just such an egregious
Speaker 1: thing to have cold beat. Which, by the way, that
Speaker 1: vote no, you're you're at You're absolutely that vote ended
Speaker 1: up making Cole Beasley I think in All Pro. I
Speaker 1: think he was a second team All Pro last year
Speaker 1: because of that vote. Yeah, But be that as it may,
Speaker 1: Chase is an exceptional player. I mean, my goodness, what
Speaker 1: he did against Kansas City. Give that guy credit. But
Speaker 1: in terms of the receiving position, the receiving position in
Speaker 1: and of itself, Cup and Adams right now are the
Speaker 1: gold standards. The way they can run the entire road tree,
Speaker 1: their instincts, their ability to play any of the positions
Speaker 1: that are involved with the skill position player. Uh, those
Speaker 1: two guys. Watching them work and having a chance in
Speaker 1: recent weeks to watch Cup more and more, you really
Speaker 1: see a lot of parallels in their game, and especially
Speaker 1: in Cup's case, being able to develop that chemistry in
Speaker 1: year one with Matthew Stafford. Yeah. Well, a couple other
Speaker 1: things to get to hear from this big victory for
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers. One is that we had talked
Speaker 1: about it all week long, the keying on Dalvin Cook
Speaker 1: and not letting him take control this football game. And
Speaker 1: then lo and behold, we find out on Friday that
Speaker 1: Kirk cousins Um goes on the COVID list and the
Speaker 1: Vikings have to have to substitute Sean mannion and uh, um,
Speaker 1: you know, hats off to the Packers defense. Dalvin Cook
Speaker 1: held to thirteen yards on nine carries, also had zero
Speaker 1: yards on three receptions, so twelve touches and just thirteen
Speaker 1: yards for Cook. And that's a heck of an effort
Speaker 1: by the Packers defense. But that unit also just didn't
Speaker 1: really have to worry about Minnesota's passing game because because
Speaker 1: Sean Mannion um gave it everything he had on a
Speaker 1: difficult night in difficult conditions. But that Minnesota passing game,
Speaker 1: even with Justin Jefferson but also without Adam Feeling, was
Speaker 1: just never a threat to the to this Packers defense,
Speaker 1: and and then with them never really getting Dalvin Cook going,
Speaker 1: um the whole game just became a foregone conclusion. You know,
Speaker 1: I have a lot of respect for what Matt Lafloora
Speaker 1: and Joe Barry did in this game because they didn't
Speaker 1: disrespect Minnesota's offense. They did if you you always say
Speaker 1: every week, like fans always like to ask in the
Speaker 1: instigram box, hey, is this a trap game? Or are
Speaker 1: they overlooking this point? The green Bay Packers respected the
Speaker 1: Vikings for everything they could be with or without Kirk
Speaker 1: Cousins on the field. But by doing that, they also
Speaker 1: didn't get outside themselves, and they just kind of dominated
Speaker 1: an opponent they should dominate in the fashion that was
Speaker 1: actually you know that that corresponded to the performance. You
Speaker 1: didn't see them cheating guys up. You didn't see them
Speaker 1: just running base packages in the entire game. They incorporated
Speaker 1: the dime the situations that called for specific packages, They
Speaker 1: ran those packages, and they asked their guys to execute.
Speaker 1: I actually think this is a really important game for
Speaker 1: Green Bay from a defensive standpoint, because I thought it
Speaker 1: allowed them to get in and out of their base
Speaker 1: nickel Penny in dime packages with more fluidity. That was
Speaker 1: where we'd seen some of the issues with the communication
Speaker 1: in recent weeks. That was the most unified that Dimes
Speaker 1: seemed this year with Kevin King in that role. There
Speaker 1: was even the one where they kind of had King
Speaker 1: mugging up front with with you know, Devondra Campbell, you know,
Speaker 1: teasing a blitz, you know, kind of more true, you know,
Speaker 1: nickel type looks. The Green Bay Packers have a really
Speaker 1: talented defense, and as we'll probably talk about at some point,
Speaker 1: they could potentially be getting reinforcements back here for the
Speaker 1: post season. But I just felt like they kind of
Speaker 1: need to get their swagger back a little bit, and
Speaker 1: this was the game to do it. The fact that
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook only carried the ball nine times, it is
Speaker 1: what it is. That's the game plan that they went with.
Speaker 1: But the fact that they only gave up thirteen yards
Speaker 1: on those carries and not giving him extraditional room to breathe.
Speaker 1: That was my main takeaway from this game. The Packers
Speaker 1: one up front and they dominated. Yeah, I think the
Speaker 1: point that you made with regard to the changing of
Speaker 1: the personnel packages in the communication and everything being smoothed out,
Speaker 1: we saw some issues with that with the Packers defense
Speaker 1: in recent weeks, and that did seem to get straightened out.
Speaker 1: I went through the defensive film by what you might
Speaker 1: have missed segment, I actually I focused on on the
Speaker 1: coverage of Eric Stokes because it really was impressive what
Speaker 1: he was doing. He was he certainly got his share
Speaker 1: of of Justin Jefferson in this game, and Stokes is
Speaker 1: playing is playing some really really good football for the
Speaker 1: Packers right now. But with regard to the communication, there
Speaker 1: was one play I saw. I think it was when
Speaker 1: the Vikings were in the red zone or close to
Speaker 1: the red zone or something, and and um, Channon Sullivan
Speaker 1: got kind of mixed up where he was on the
Speaker 1: wrong side of the tight end was on the other
Speaker 1: side and he and he had yeah and he had
Speaker 1: to you know, chase the guy. But other than that one,
Speaker 1: other than that one instance, it felt like it felt
Speaker 1: like everything the Packers wanted to do on offense was
Speaker 1: it was implemented and it was executed smoothly. And that's
Speaker 1: what you like to see with where this team is
Speaker 1: heading into the postsea. And I'm so glad you brought
Speaker 1: that up because what also stood out to me is, Okay,
Speaker 1: after the play happened, they get the guy down, watching
Speaker 1: the defense come back together. Watching Chandon and Ull come
Speaker 1: back together kind of kind of tap each other on
Speaker 1: the helmet and get onto the next one. That was
Speaker 1: my biggest takeaway from that is that, Yeah, that was
Speaker 1: you let what you you gave one up there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but they found a way to rally back. That's a
Speaker 1: really really salient point. Yeah. The The other thing we
Speaker 1: saw that will be very interesting to monitor here going
Speaker 1: forward is a very under the radar signing. The Packers
Speaker 1: pick up David Moore. They signed him to the practice squad.
Speaker 1: He'd been released from the Broncos practice squad. He's a
Speaker 1: wide receiver. Just a couple of months earlier, Packers bring
Speaker 1: him in, sign him of the practice squad, elevate him
Speaker 1: for game day with a Marii Rodgers on the COVID list,
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, bang this guy. Well, first
Speaker 1: it looked like he had drawn a penalty for for
Speaker 1: you know, interference of interference to catch a punt. The
Speaker 1: officials picked up that flag and I still don't understand
Speaker 1: why they did. But then later on he returns a
Speaker 1: punt twenty one yards, which becomes the Packers longest punt
Speaker 1: return of the season fifteen yards get tacked on for
Speaker 1: a late hit out of bounds. Suddenly it looks like,
Speaker 1: you know, do the Packers here have their you know,
Speaker 1: the two thousand nineteen Tyler Irvin. This this late addition
Speaker 1: to the special teams in in David Morde had to
Speaker 1: help out here. It looks like he could make an impact.
Speaker 1: Tell you what a couple of things here. One. I
Speaker 1: was driving into work today, I was talking to my friends.
Speaker 1: Scott Vincy, my former cork at the Press Gazette, I
Speaker 1: know him well, and we got talking about the game
Speaker 1: a little bit and I just casually brought up David
Speaker 1: more In. Scott goes, wait, that the Seahawk. That the
Speaker 1: guy that was with the Seahawks. I'm like yeah, and
Speaker 1: I'm like, since when does he played for the Packers.
Speaker 1: I was like, well since Thursday, and I mean that's
Speaker 1: the season. That's the way this thing's gone. Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: even mentioned and this post game interview he met more
Speaker 1: on the sideline and he's like, yeah, he had a
Speaker 1: nice kick. A nice punt return for US twenty one
Speaker 1: yards that also doubled as both agreement Packers longest punt
Speaker 1: return of the season and the longest that Moors had
Speaker 1: in his career. Listen, Mike, I almost I almost equated.
Speaker 1: It was sort of like the pepno bismol a little
Speaker 1: bit of the punt return game there. He just seemed
Speaker 1: to really alleviate, you know, some of those issues. I mean,
Speaker 1: there just was a lot more comfort with him back there.
Speaker 1: And it was just one performance. He's got to be
Speaker 1: able to string this together. But what have you and
Speaker 1: I and everyone, coaches, fans, everybody's talked about this. They
Speaker 1: just needed more consistency from their special teams and with
Speaker 1: more He didn't dance under the ball, He tracked it well.
Speaker 1: He didn't seem to be panicky under pressure. Give the
Speaker 1: Jammers a lot of credit. They gave him some room
Speaker 1: to which to work. He did have, he did have
Speaker 1: some room to work. It was by far well. It
Speaker 1: was by far the best punt return performance of the season,
Speaker 1: and it put him up there for one of the
Speaker 1: best special teams outings there. Mason Crosby five touchbacks, four
Speaker 1: extra points, three field goals. They found ways to be consistent,
Speaker 1: and that's all they're asking for them here. They're not
Speaker 1: asking for Devin Hester. They're asking to get the ball
Speaker 1: back to Aaron Rodgers with as favorable field position as possible,
Speaker 1: and they did their job on Sunday night. Yeah, one
Speaker 1: rough punt from bo Joe Um and then also a
Speaker 1: shaky hold on that first field goal, but he recovered,
Speaker 1: got down, Mason was able to make the kick. But
Speaker 1: we're definitely seeing, definitely seeing some some progress there on
Speaker 1: special teams. Before I forget West, I'll take care of
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Speaker 1: Cousins Subs, we believe in better all right. The Packers
Speaker 1: clinched the number one seed in the NFC playoffs. The
Speaker 1: Cowboys had lost to the Cardinals earlier on Sunday afternoon,
Speaker 1: so the Packers took the field on Sunday night. They
Speaker 1: took care of business. They have the one seed which
Speaker 1: comes with it the first round by home field advantage.
Speaker 1: Everything that the Packers also had last year. But there's
Speaker 1: still one regular season game left to play, so there
Speaker 1: are a lot of questions. Now, how how do the
Speaker 1: Packers go about this game in Detroit in Week eighteen
Speaker 1: where the win or the loss doesn't impact your obviously
Speaker 1: your your playoff implications at all. And Matt Lafleur said,
Speaker 1: suggested on Sunday night, reiterated on Monday, they're going to
Speaker 1: prep and play the starters in this game. He does
Speaker 1: not want to to give healthy players a week off
Speaker 1: now and then have the playoff by and essentially then
Speaker 1: set up a scenario where from the Minnesota game to
Speaker 1: the divisional playoff game, it's it's three weeks essentially between games.
Speaker 1: That being said, it doesn't sound like the starters are
Speaker 1: necessarily going to play the entire game in Detroit, So
Speaker 1: there is a little bit of a treat this like
Speaker 1: a preseason game kind of thing in a way the
Speaker 1: way it's sounding at least right now early in the week.
Speaker 1: Um And and the other factor that's going on here too,
Speaker 1: as you had alluded to before, is some of these
Speaker 1: injured guys, whether we're talking about David bok T Jaire,
Speaker 1: Alexander Um, Randall, Cobb, are these guys going, Are these
Speaker 1: guys going to be back for the playoffs? Would they
Speaker 1: potentially play against the Lions to get their feet wet
Speaker 1: so to speak. It's maybe not as big an issue
Speaker 1: for Cobb because he's only been out like a month
Speaker 1: or a little over a month. But um, obviously Alexander
Speaker 1: has been out since Week four. Boxtr has not played
Speaker 1: yet this season. We don't know how this is going
Speaker 1: to go. But there's a lot to consider. There's sort
Speaker 1: of there's sort of a lot of a lot of
Speaker 1: balls being juggled in the air, so to speak, by
Speaker 1: Matt Lafleur and his coaching staff and the medical staff
Speaker 1: to figure out the best approach here between now and
Speaker 1: when the Packers will play that divisional playoff game in
Speaker 1: a few weeks. Yeah, And I don't know anything about
Speaker 1: anything as it relearns to the injury front. Obviously, Matt
Speaker 1: Flour has played a pretty close to the best here,
Speaker 1: especially in the last two weeks. But I'll say this,
Speaker 1: I mean the way that Aaron Rodgers was speaking about
Speaker 1: Randall Cobb one, obviously it appears that Cobb is pretty
Speaker 1: close to returning. Rogers even said, you know, if that
Speaker 1: would have been a playoff type game, maybe would have
Speaker 1: even been back out there. What that really tells me, though,
Speaker 1: and this is the biggest thing, is that core injury.
Speaker 1: Obviously it wasn't too significant, and what we've learned more
Speaker 1: and more with these core muscle injuries a lot of times, Mike,
Speaker 1: it's almost kind of like an mcl in some regards
Speaker 1: where you just got to kind of go in there
Speaker 1: and get the things stitched up and just work your
Speaker 1: way back. So obviously being able to at least be
Speaker 1: clear to be back on the field one month after that,
Speaker 1: to be able to return to practice in a padded
Speaker 1: session last Thursday, a very big positive for him. The
Speaker 1: other three, it's gonna be really interesting. Um and Josh
Speaker 1: Meyers certainly trying to come back from that knee injury
Speaker 1: as well. Well, we'll see where things were at with him.
Speaker 1: He's actually been in the rehab group now the last
Speaker 1: few weeks, but Jarry Alexander's practicing, David Bakti was not
Speaker 1: practicing last week. We'll see if he practices this week.
Speaker 1: And then obviously Zadarius Smith, I know there was some
Speaker 1: stuff said about him being back in town. We'll see
Speaker 1: what happens there. The way I look at this is
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers have made themselves the top seed
Speaker 1: in the NFC, the top dog, the team that has
Speaker 1: should be favor to represent this conference in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: Without a five time All Pro left tackle, without an
Speaker 1: all Pro cornerback, and and certainly, um, when you look
Speaker 1: at what happened with Elton Jenkins and and all these
Speaker 1: other guys they've lost along the way, Robert Don incredible.
Speaker 1: I mean, they still managed to overcome it and put
Speaker 1: themselves in this position. If you get back as a
Speaker 1: Darius Smith and he can give you fifteen snaps in
Speaker 1: an NFC Championship game or fifteen snaps in a Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: what a boost that could give you. If you can
Speaker 1: get back John Alexander for a playoff run, if you
Speaker 1: can get back David box tr and he's ready in
Speaker 1: that in the medical staff feels good about that knee.
Speaker 1: Rogers equated it to two thousand and thirteen, and when
Speaker 1: he and and Randall Copp both came back for that
Speaker 1: regular season finale against Chicago, they've both been out for
Speaker 1: a couple of months. At that Cop breaks his freaking
Speaker 1: leg in Baltimore, Rogers dealing with the collar bone, two
Speaker 1: months of questions about when he would be back. Both
Speaker 1: of those guys get back, and he said, you could
Speaker 1: see the jolt that gave the team because it's like, hey,
Speaker 1: we got we could do this, we can win this game.
Speaker 1: We can go to the super Bowl. For crying out loud,
Speaker 1: this team at thirteen wins, could be fourteen. We'll see
Speaker 1: what happens, doesn't really matter. There's there's some energy here,
Speaker 1: and especially if you get those type of all pro
Speaker 1: type players back down the stretch, there's no better way
Speaker 1: to make a super Bowl run. Yeah. Absolutely, well it's
Speaker 1: going to be. It's a storyline that's going to be
Speaker 1: monitored not only this week but during the playoff by
Speaker 1: and then leading up to to that divisional game. What's
Speaker 1: going on with these guys who have been on the
Speaker 1: injured list and been out. Also been some more guys
Speaker 1: added to the COVID list, David Moore, who we were
Speaker 1: just talking about the return man being one of them.
Speaker 1: Of course, now you know with a with all the
Speaker 1: changes of the rules, guys can come back from that
Speaker 1: so much quicker. So um, hopefully they're healthy and feeling
Speaker 1: well and and uh and they'll get they'll get cleared,
Speaker 1: much like many of their teammates did UM over this
Speaker 1: past week. One other thing I want to talk about
Speaker 1: before we go, UM, just with regard to where things
Speaker 1: sit in UH in the NFC playoff picture. First off,
Speaker 1: there's only one playoff spot available UM and that essentially
Speaker 1: comes down to either the forty Niners or the Saints.
Speaker 1: The forty Niners are playing the Rams. If the forty
Speaker 1: Niners win, they are in as a wild card if
Speaker 1: they lose. If the Rams win that game, then the
Speaker 1: Saints can get and can get that last playoff spot
Speaker 1: by getting a victory in their final game. What's really
Speaker 1: interesting about this, though, is that is that if the
Speaker 1: forty Niners win and get that last spot, that loss,
Speaker 1: the loss by the Rams in that scenario really throws
Speaker 1: the seating and everything kind of up for grabs in
Speaker 1: the in you know, seating the two through five spots,
Speaker 1: because if the Rams lose, the Cardinals could steal back
Speaker 1: that NFC West Division title and drop the Rams all
Speaker 1: the way to the five seed. Whereas right now, if
Speaker 1: the Rams win, they get the two seed, and they
Speaker 1: are they are the one that is right behind Green Bay.
Speaker 1: So between between the Rams, the Cowboys, the Buccaneers, and
Speaker 1: the Cardinals. Everything with regard to who's going to be
Speaker 1: in the two through five slots is very much up
Speaker 1: in the air. Well, this is what I love it, Mike,
Speaker 1: You and I were talking about it for weeks. This
Speaker 1: is why I like the by was the biggest reason
Speaker 1: you want to get it this particular year. Yes you
Speaker 1: want to have home fiel advantage. Yes, you want to
Speaker 1: be able to play in lambeau Field. Aaron Rodgers has
Speaker 1: pontificated quite a bit on what that value is when
Speaker 1: it's twenty degrees out and teams don't want to be here.
Speaker 1: But it really also comes down in my respect to
Speaker 1: I don't know if you really want to face the
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles right now. I don't know if you really
Speaker 1: want to face the San Francisco forty Niners. Some of
Speaker 1: these teams, the way they've kind of come on, they
Speaker 1: didn't make division title type runs, but they're bona fide.
Speaker 1: I mean, they actually are playoff caliber teams that can
Speaker 1: beat top teams. I have real questions about how many
Speaker 1: consecutive games the forty Niners Eagles. You know, in some regards,
Speaker 1: the Cardinals can win, but they can knock off anybody
Speaker 1: in that wild card round. So that's where I think
Speaker 1: this thing gets really dangerous. I don't think there's anyone
Speaker 1: truly limping in right now at this stage. I think
Speaker 1: you've got a lot of teams that feel pretty good
Speaker 1: about their chances in a wide open Brackett the a
Speaker 1: f C. A five win team or five lost team
Speaker 1: is going to be the number one seed. I mean,
Speaker 1: it is incredible the way that this thing is sorted out.
Speaker 1: And I'm sure I know you're thrilled about this. I
Speaker 1: just have to point out that for all of our
Speaker 1: consternation previously, there will not be an eight and nine.
Speaker 1: Thank god the playoffs. Thank god, we have four team
Speaker 1: teams in the playoffs, and so there's no losers at
Speaker 1: at worst, at worst, at worst nine and eight, um
Speaker 1: at worst, nine and eight will be uh will be
Speaker 1: a playoff team, and and very possible that all the
Speaker 1: teams in the playoffs this year could have ten wins.
Speaker 1: Just just saying saying no, no, no, that's that's great
Speaker 1: that I'm joking with you, because because I know I'm trying,
Speaker 1: I'm trying to get you riled up, so I can't
Speaker 1: figure out about all this eighteen week and extra team
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. But anyway, we're running short on time,
Speaker 1: so we'll let it go for today. Let it go.
Speaker 1: I got I got one final thing one okay, all right,
Speaker 1: I'm just curious what do you think about this? And
Speaker 1: then we'll we'll let Marv go to lunch. Um. Okay.
Speaker 1: So do you think I'm gonna be upset when a
Speaker 1: seven seed ends up winning this? More upset about the
Speaker 1: seventh seed winning a super Bowl or more upset about
Speaker 1: the seventh seed actually being in the playoffs at some
Speaker 1: point when they're inevitably will be a seven and ten
Speaker 1: or an eight nine team in the playoffs. I think,
Speaker 1: I mean, honestly, for me. For me, it comes down
Speaker 1: to the fact that that in this league, that say
Speaker 1: a team whether you're talking seven ten or eight and
Speaker 1: nine and they and they squeak in as a seven seed,
Speaker 1: that that team, that that team could because anything can
Speaker 1: happen any given week, as we know that that team
Speaker 1: could knock off a thirteen and four two seed that
Speaker 1: just has a bad day like in the first round,
Speaker 1: when in the previous system that thirteen win two seed
Speaker 1: has a buy and doesn't have to doesn't have to
Speaker 1: play a team like that. That's where to me, um,
Speaker 1: you know, things will get things will get kind of annoying, frankly.
Speaker 1: And and yeah, I mean we've seen, you know, in
Speaker 1: the NHL, you know these eight seeds, you know, knock
Speaker 1: off the one seed. Well, there is something that doesn't
Speaker 1: feel quite right about that. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: that's the best of seven s in those in those sports.
Speaker 1: Right in the NFL, in football, it's it's a it's
Speaker 1: a one shot deal. And and uh, I mean, we'll
Speaker 1: see your point, though I agree with you that that
Speaker 1: the way the San Francisco forty Niners are playing now
Speaker 1: they have a very tough game to try to beat
Speaker 1: the Rams and get into the playoffs. But the way
Speaker 1: the Niners are playing, the way the Eagles are playing,
Speaker 1: especially the way the Eagles are running the football. You know,
Speaker 1: a ground game travels in the playoffs. I don't care
Speaker 1: where you play, I don't care how hostile the environment
Speaker 1: is when you're a road team. Those types of things,
Speaker 1: you know it it will it will make for I think,
Speaker 1: a very interesting wild card weekend in the NFC, even
Speaker 1: if you're going to have you know, nine and ten
Speaker 1: win teams going up against these twelve and thirteen win teams,
Speaker 1: it's definitely gonna be It's definitely going to be in
Speaker 1: anything can happen type of week. Yeah, and the Eagles
Speaker 1: are really fun. I would like to see them beat somebody, though,
Speaker 1: Like that's the thing. I mean, their their strength of
Speaker 1: victory this year isn't great. I mean they've beaten teams
Speaker 1: they've had to beat to be in this position. So
Speaker 1: but but yeah, again, with their with the run defense,
Speaker 1: the way that they're they're running the ball offensively, and
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts doing what he's doing, it's gonna be a
Speaker 1: difficult team to out. Yeah. Well, we'll be able to
Speaker 1: talk a lot more about that next week as well,
Speaker 1: and we'll have another show on Thursday to preview the
Speaker 1: game coming up against the Lions. But for now, we're
Speaker 1: going to call it a wrap on this edition of
Speaker 1: Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage
Speaker 1: of the team all week long. We've got everything for
Speaker 1: you on Packers dot com. For West, I'm Mike. Thanks
Speaker 1: for tuning in everybody. We'll see you next time.