Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my trusted colleague West Hodkowitz. Were coming to you
Speaker 1: here from our studios at lambeau Field and West. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: we're here today to talk about the end of the
Speaker 1: Packers season, a walk off to ten home loss to
Speaker 1: the San Francisco forty Niners in the NFC Divisional Round.
Speaker 1: And I don't know where you want to start with this,
Speaker 1: and this show truly is unscripted, but all I will
Speaker 1: say to start is that for a franchise that has
Speaker 1: had a number of devastating playoff exits, this one was
Speaker 1: in another fashion and it just gets added to the list. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the whole weekend, it was kind of wild with how
Speaker 1: these games ended to in this game, between what happened
Speaker 1: with Kansas City and Buffalo UM, the four divisional round
Speaker 1: games coming down to the final play of the game
Speaker 1: being decided on the final snap of the game, which
Speaker 1: has never happened before on divisional playoff weekend. But yes,
Speaker 1: it was certainly historic in that I said it was
Speaker 1: gonna be a good weekend, Mike, But unfortunately that was
Speaker 1: strictly from the viewers standpoint, It wasn't strictly from a
Speaker 1: Packer fan standpoint. Yeah, disappointing game. Uh. As I mentioned
Speaker 1: in our show on Thursday, I was like, I was
Speaker 1: kind of pushing for the Packers to win because I
Speaker 1: really didn't watch much of the football games on Sunday.
Speaker 1: I ended up clicking in and watching the final two
Speaker 1: minutes of both games in the regulation our collige Grindhartig
Speaker 1: was the one that was learning to me just the
Speaker 1: craziness that was going on. But I think there's a
Speaker 1: lot of guys said during locker room clean out on
Speaker 1: Monday they really didn't feel like watching it, And I
Speaker 1: don't blame them. I mean, it's it's a tough way
Speaker 1: to go out and and certainly, as you mentioned, we've
Speaker 1: covered a lot of these from two thousand eleven, uh
Speaker 1: and the loss to the Giants after the fifteen and
Speaker 1: one season to what happened in volv in thirteen with
Speaker 1: the Ers, and you know, don't even get into with Seattle.
Speaker 1: But it's a difficult thing because defensively, this is the
Speaker 1: best defense the groom of Packers have really had, and
Speaker 1: at least seven years you can maybe even make an
Speaker 1: argument for before that and the defense came to play,
Speaker 1: they allowed six points um, with the exception of really
Speaker 1: that final drive gave them a chance to win and
Speaker 1: only three points for fifty nine minutes and fifty six
Speaker 1: seconds or whatever it was. Right and offensively, they come
Speaker 1: out clicking, they come out looking strong. Um. Even that
Speaker 1: second series, they're moving the ball and then there's the fumble. Um.
Speaker 1: It was funny my friend Scott was talking to before
Speaker 1: the game because I was asking about Fred, not asking
Speaker 1: what we're talking about Fred Warner and I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, Warners is a problem, and there was the
Speaker 1: questions of what his health was going to be like.
Speaker 1: And He's like, ah, he hasn't really made any plays
Speaker 1: this year. He made a couple of big ones in
Speaker 1: this game, and then certainly this special teams was a disappointment.
Speaker 1: So at the end of the day, Mike, the Packers
Speaker 1: had countless opportunities to win this game. They did not
Speaker 1: get it done. And uh, it is going to be
Speaker 1: a a long, um thoughtful offseason here as Green Bay
Speaker 1: sort of tries to regroup for this next step. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and that's certainly what we heard from the players who
Speaker 1: spoke to the media via zoom on Monday, and then
Speaker 1: also from the head coach you spoke, who spoke late
Speaker 1: on Monday afternoon. You can you can feel the disappointment.
Speaker 1: There's there's disappointment, there's shock, there's dismay um and to
Speaker 1: say shocked. That's not to say that anybody was taking
Speaker 1: anything for granted, but the Packers just but the Packers
Speaker 1: believed in who they were. They believed they were the
Speaker 1: better team. And and uh and quite frankly, you know,
Speaker 1: as that game unfolded on on Saturday night, the way
Speaker 1: the defense was playing, with the offense scoring a touchdown
Speaker 1: on the opening drive and moving the ball in the
Speaker 1: second drive before the fumble, you just felt like the
Speaker 1: Packers were going to be in command of this thing.
Speaker 1: They were going to roll it right. But yet it
Speaker 1: never you know, the block field goal at the end
Speaker 1: of the first half makes it still just seven to nothing.
Speaker 1: The Packers never even made it a two score game.
Speaker 1: It was it was seven and nothing, then seven to three.
Speaker 1: Then they have a chance to make it a two
Speaker 1: score game. You get goal to go right, but then
Speaker 1: a false start kind of messes up. I think I
Speaker 1: think the Packers wanted to try to pound Aaron Jones
Speaker 1: there from the five yard line, but you get the
Speaker 1: false start, you're pushed back to the ten, you have
Speaker 1: to throw, you don't get it, you end up kicking
Speaker 1: a field goal. Still a one score game, ten to three.
Speaker 1: UM the Packers had numerous, numerous opportunities, and as much
Speaker 1: as it felt like they should have had control of
Speaker 1: the game early, it still comes down to you have
Speaker 1: to be as we talked about on this show and
Speaker 1: in final thoughts and everything else, you still in these games.
Speaker 1: You have to be the better team in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: You have to be the better team at crunch time
Speaker 1: in order to win playoff games. And UH, and you
Speaker 1: know crunch time was the final drive was really when
Speaker 1: when the defense had I guess I would say it's
Speaker 1: only real hiccup because certainly getting a fourth and one
Speaker 1: stop with six minutes to go at the twenty yard line,
Speaker 1: that's a huge, huge play right there. That is the
Speaker 1: defense rising up and UH and making something happen. But
Speaker 1: then the offense faltered, The special teams faltered with the
Speaker 1: block punt, the offense faltered again, and UH and the
Speaker 1: defense gave up just enough yards for Robbie Gold to
Speaker 1: to have a makeuple field goal and what turned into
Speaker 1: a little bit of a snow globe game there in
Speaker 1: the second half. The snow was falling, the windshills were dropping,
Speaker 1: but the forty five yard or from from one of
Speaker 1: the best cold weather kickers to do it was true
Speaker 1: and and that was all she wrote. Such an idiotic
Speaker 1: move by the Chicago Bears to cut that guy. Isn't
Speaker 1: that amazing? Um, what what a find he's been and
Speaker 1: he's in a six year now. I think with San Francisco,
Speaker 1: um and go dude. As soon as Gold came on,
Speaker 1: I I'm not saying I was completely like, ah, this
Speaker 1: is pretty much over, but I mean, I I've said
Speaker 1: it for a long time. I think him and Mason
Speaker 1: don't get enough credit for what they've accomplished in their careers.
Speaker 1: And certainly robb he's gone out to San Francisco and
Speaker 1: a warmer climate and still performed really well. But I
Speaker 1: certainly wasn't thinking he was going to miss I was
Speaker 1: just so unless there was, you know, a major gust
Speaker 1: of winds suddenly that was gonna that was gonna misdirect
Speaker 1: that that football. But um, this has not Soldier field
Speaker 1: where the winds can get really crazy. So that wasn't
Speaker 1: in the card. No, And and I I have a
Speaker 1: hard time putting this on the defense still because ultimately
Speaker 1: I know they're disappointed. And certainly Samuel gets that nine
Speaker 1: yard run and and that kind of put him for
Speaker 1: sure in kicking range. But the fact of the matter
Speaker 1: is the defense rarely ruptured in this game. I'm trying
Speaker 1: to think if they even had a play over twenty
Speaker 1: yards offensively for San Francisco eighteen yards throughout the course
Speaker 1: of this game. It was close. I think Kittle might
Speaker 1: have had one, right, Yeah, but before the before the
Speaker 1: fourth and one stop, Kittle had I believe a twenty
Speaker 1: four yard catch and run that was actually on a
Speaker 1: third and eleven. It was really one of the only
Speaker 1: third and long until the Samuel run at the end,
Speaker 1: the only real third and long breakdown the Packers defense had.
Speaker 1: Um Kittle had about a twenty four yard reception. But
Speaker 1: then the next series is the one that ended with
Speaker 1: the fourth and one stop, and the defense got the
Speaker 1: ball back to Aaron Rodgers. Yeah, and defensively, I just
Speaker 1: I was so impressed by you know, Rashawn Gary was
Speaker 1: just the man amongst boys out there, said, Darius Smith
Speaker 1: comes out. He only played nineteen snaps, but gets a
Speaker 1: sack on his first play. I thought Joe Barry showed
Speaker 1: a lot of creativity with the packages. Matt Floor said,
Speaker 1: he challenged him to come up with some different looks
Speaker 1: at San Francisco hasn't seen before. He definitely did that.
Speaker 1: Um But but ultimately after the fourth and one stop,
Speaker 1: you have to be able to move the ball, and
Speaker 1: unfortunately for Green Bay, I think one thing we learned
Speaker 1: in this game was just how important A. J. Dillon
Speaker 1: is to this offense and how important he's going to
Speaker 1: be moving forward. And that's not a discredit to Aaron Jones.
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones had what a hundred and seventy total yards
Speaker 1: in this game, I mean, really strong performance. But when
Speaker 1: they needed to pound the football, unfortunately they lose Dylan
Speaker 1: to the fractured rib on the kickoff return. Uh and
Speaker 1: and that kind of took away that dimension of their
Speaker 1: offense and and certainly weren't able to push the ball
Speaker 1: down field. I know the play a lot of fans
Speaker 1: are gonna be talking about for a lot of long
Speaker 1: time is that the third and eleven Rogers tries the
Speaker 1: pass down field to two Adams and double coverage when
Speaker 1: it appears that Lazard's coming free over the middle. That's
Speaker 1: the game in its hindsight, and that's the way these
Speaker 1: things roll sometimes. I still felt, you know, even though
Speaker 1: the offense kind of fell into some dul rooms there,
Speaker 1: even though the defense, I honestly felt the whole time
Speaker 1: that as long as the Packers don't turn over this football,
Speaker 1: they're going to be Okay. This is the type of
Speaker 1: game where I think they were playing good enough that
Speaker 1: they're gonna be able to hold off the forty niners.
Speaker 1: The block punt happens, the block punt goes for a touchdown. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, the block punt was the equivalent of a turnover.
Speaker 1: Doesn't go as a turnover in the statistics, but it
Speaker 1: was the same thing as a scoop and score or
Speaker 1: a pick six. I mean, there's five minutes left in
Speaker 1: the game, the Packers are up by seven points, and yes,
Speaker 1: you would hope after the big fourth and one stop.
Speaker 1: You and I am you know, we we were sitting there,
Speaker 1: We're thinking the same thing. It's like, Okay, no matter
Speaker 1: how many minutes you can kill or whatever, but at
Speaker 1: ten to three, you go down and get and kick
Speaker 1: a field goal, thirteen to three, a two score game,
Speaker 1: and it's over. For all of the offensive struggles. The
Speaker 1: offense just needed one drive in the fourth quarter, whether
Speaker 1: it was that one or after the after the block punt.
Speaker 1: And uh, not only could the offense not put together
Speaker 1: a drive, it couldn't even get a first down. And uh.
Speaker 1: And that's what that's what's so so disappointing about the exit.
Speaker 1: And you know, I mean it was it was on
Speaker 1: you know, the face, the tone of voice of Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: Matt Lafleur after the game. The this is a darn
Speaker 1: good offense with really really good offensive players, and when
Speaker 1: when they absolutely needed it and everyone expected it, it
Speaker 1: couldn't deliver. And and that's that's hard to swallow. That
Speaker 1: that that's tough to swallow when you're really good at
Speaker 1: what you do and you can't do it when it
Speaker 1: matters most that can petitors these guys are, that's that's
Speaker 1: tough to take. And uh and and they have unfortunately,
Speaker 1: they're gonna have a long time in the off season
Speaker 1: to think about it. Yeah, And I think that's the
Speaker 1: hardest part with these things like I was thinking about
Speaker 1: as we walked in the studio. Um, you know, it's January,
Speaker 1: the time in which we're taping this, basically six months
Speaker 1: since the start of training camp. It's almost like that
Speaker 1: intermediate point where six months removed from the start of
Speaker 1: training camp. It's six months away from the start of
Speaker 1: training camp. There's a lot of time in between there
Speaker 1: to have to to ponder this. Um. Certainly, there were
Speaker 1: some great stories this year and in the in the
Speaker 1: coming days, you know, we'll have another one of these
Speaker 1: and we'll review some of that. But you know, to
Speaker 1: have the Russeul Douglas is step up, the Devondre Campbell's,
Speaker 1: to see a guy like Dennis Kelly uh Not play
Speaker 1: half the season and then be the right tackle against
Speaker 1: Nick Bosa in the most important game of the season.
Speaker 1: Those those things I think made this year feel a
Speaker 1: little bit different because certainly the Packers have probably had
Speaker 1: deeper teams if it, definitely had healthier teams, but where
Speaker 1: they needed guys and veterans and young here Is alike
Speaker 1: to really respond. They did that. And you got your
Speaker 1: Alexander back for this game in a limited fashion. You've
Speaker 1: got Sadarius back, Whitney Merciless had the freaking harness on
Speaker 1: playing in this game. It just felt like things were
Speaker 1: finally turning for Green Bay. But unfortunately, as we always
Speaker 1: realize with these things, it ends suddenly and this is
Speaker 1: the end of this journey. And as I kind of
Speaker 1: close our Insider Inbox with on Monday into Tuesday Mornings edition,
Speaker 1: and you just got to start the other the next climb.
Speaker 1: As difficult as that is, that's the way this game works. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: it's the best of one scenario. Mike and I've talked
Speaker 1: about it so many times, and for how hard these
Speaker 1: teams have to work to get a playoff spot, to
Speaker 1: get a bye, to to get that it ultimately comes
Speaker 1: down to those sixty seconds, and in Green Bas case,
Speaker 1: it didn't go in their favor. Yea to review. A
Speaker 1: few thoughts from Matt Lafleur on Monday when he gave
Speaker 1: his his conducted his season ending media session over Zoom. Obviously,
Speaker 1: he was asked about Aaron Rodgers in the future of
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodger, Matt Lafleur saying that he and the front office, um,
Speaker 1: everybody's on the same page and wanting Aaron Rodgers to
Speaker 1: come back. They are going to give him his give
Speaker 1: him his space to contemplate what he wants to do.
Speaker 1: Rodgers has talked about that retirement is possibly on the table,
Speaker 1: though he still says um the competitive fire burns, he
Speaker 1: does want to continue playing. He doesn't want to be
Speaker 1: part of a rebuild. If that's where Green Bay has headed.
Speaker 1: Matt Lafleur trying to reassure with his words that they're
Speaker 1: for all of the contract and salary cap challenges. There
Speaker 1: is a plan. There is a plan that they don't
Speaker 1: have to blow this whole thing up, that they feel
Speaker 1: they can still be a competitive team and keep things
Speaker 1: going in the right direction. Um if if they can, um,
Speaker 1: if they can bring Aaron Rodgers back, and if he
Speaker 1: wants to continue playing for Green Bay. Um, I don't
Speaker 1: think this is based on what Rodgers has said, it
Speaker 1: doesn't sound like this is going to take long to
Speaker 1: sort out. There there's going to be an answer. We're
Speaker 1: not going to be wondering in the middle of July
Speaker 1: like last year, oh, where things are headed with Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1: But but right now it's sort of it's sort of
Speaker 1: like everything is on hold and it's just wait and
Speaker 1: uh and find out what the presumptive back to back
Speaker 1: m v P quarterback is going to decide to do.
Speaker 1: To me, there there's really two scenarios here that in
Speaker 1: my mind as far as how this thing should go. Um,
Speaker 1: if Rogers decides, you know, pon some some reflection and
Speaker 1: looking at things, that this is it, this is the
Speaker 1: time to go out, you know, could very well end
Speaker 1: up getting his fourth m v P here in a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks. If he wants to end, you know,
Speaker 1: at the peak of his position. I wouldn't blame him
Speaker 1: for that at all. But if he does want to
Speaker 1: play again, if he wants to come back for year eighteen,
Speaker 1: I still think it has to be here. Well, we'll
Speaker 1: see what happens. I understand there's a lot of things
Speaker 1: with the contract and that and things they have to
Speaker 1: figure out. But I was watching those games over the weekend, Mike,
Speaker 1: and I understand how this history has gone and how
Speaker 1: things have been in the playoffs for Green Bay recently.
Speaker 1: But it's just it's so I thought about I watched
Speaker 1: Josh Allen with the Bills, right, and it's not about
Speaker 1: how Josh Allen plays a position, Aaron Roch plays decision.
Speaker 1: I thought about how many quarterbacks the Buffalo Bills had
Speaker 1: to go through between Jim Kelly and Josh Allen to
Speaker 1: get to that moment, right, I thought about the issues
Speaker 1: that Kansas City went through for a lot of years.
Speaker 1: Kansas City wasn't always the team that's going to all
Speaker 1: these a f C Championship games. There are a lot
Speaker 1: of years in between there where you had, you know, shoot,
Speaker 1: random quarterbacks just kind of ended up being the starter
Speaker 1: there for for some time, and and they couldn't they
Speaker 1: couldn't find their next guy. Uh really, I guess unless
Speaker 1: I'm forgetting somebody since what Joe Montana Elvis Gerback was
Speaker 1: in there a little bit. The point I'm trying to
Speaker 1: illustrate is that it's difficult to find franchise quarterbacks and
Speaker 1: if you feel like this team still wants to compete
Speaker 1: for a championship, which Matt Laflour that was probably the
Speaker 1: biggest thing that came out of his forty three minute presser.
Speaker 1: They're not rebuilding, They're not. That isn't where they're looking
Speaker 1: at right now. Realistically, probably what's going to have to happen, though,
Speaker 1: he said, difficult decisions will have to be made and
Speaker 1: they're gonna have to probably end up making some decisions
Speaker 1: at some veteran positions if they want to go with
Speaker 1: some of the younger guys that have been coming up.
Speaker 1: That was the one thing we learned about this season, Mike,
Speaker 1: because there's a lot of young guys on this roster,
Speaker 1: specifically on the defensive side of the ball that stepped
Speaker 1: into bigger roles this year and really grabbed that opportunity
Speaker 1: you know, by the horns and made the most of it.
Speaker 1: So and the reality of how it works in this
Speaker 1: league is younger is cheaper, right, And when you have
Speaker 1: a salary cap to deal with, if you have young
Speaker 1: players that you feel can step in and do the
Speaker 1: job and they don't, they don't take up as much
Speaker 1: cap space. Those are That's what's called the difficult decisions
Speaker 1: because it's not saying that that veteran guy who has
Speaker 1: the bigger contract that he can't play and that he
Speaker 1: can't help you. Um. It's it's making the decision based
Speaker 1: on all of the factors, right, Um, you know, all
Speaker 1: of all of the financial ramifications and what each decision
Speaker 1: relative to the salary cap means for all the other
Speaker 1: positions on the roster. It's this big puzzle that needs
Speaker 1: to be put together, and you know that this is
Speaker 1: this is something they've been you know, they're not talking
Speaker 1: about it publicly, but you know they know the situation
Speaker 1: with the contracts, the money they pushed out in order
Speaker 1: to keep this group, the most of the group together,
Speaker 1: in order to make this run at it. They knew
Speaker 1: exactly what they were doing, but they but they didn't
Speaker 1: just do it. They didn't just do it and then say, Okay, well,
Speaker 1: we'll deal with the rest of it later. They know
Speaker 1: there are things that are going to change over the
Speaker 1: course of how certain guys play and and and potentially
Speaker 1: injuries and how things play out. But they have a
Speaker 1: plan for what they're going to do with all of
Speaker 1: the contract situation, the financial ramifications. But as both of
Speaker 1: us have said, with Aaron Rodgers situation, and then with
Speaker 1: Davante Adams and him having an expiring contract and and
Speaker 1: being on the brink of unrestricted free agency, those are
Speaker 1: the first two dominoes here, um the quarterback and the
Speaker 1: best wide receiver in the league. And whichever way those
Speaker 1: go is going to determine. You know, now there are
Speaker 1: those who are saying, well, Aaron Rodgers is going to
Speaker 1: want to know what the other moves are. Well, As
Speaker 1: I said, they have a plan, and they will present
Speaker 1: that plan to him. I believe they will show him
Speaker 1: this is what we plan to do. If you are here.
Speaker 1: If Aaron Rodgers is not here, there may be a
Speaker 1: different plan than in terms of how they go about it.
Speaker 1: But um, the first two decisions that have to be
Speaker 1: made and have to get settled our number twelve and
Speaker 1: number seventeen. Yeah, and those are those are the biggest dominoes,
Speaker 1: the heaviest dominoes, And once those fall, I think the
Speaker 1: rest of the offseason sort of takes care of itself.
Speaker 1: In that regard that. The thing about the Rogers scenario,
Speaker 1: there's gonna be a lot of discussion about it in
Speaker 1: the days and weeks ahead. I've been saying this for
Speaker 1: a number of years now, and I want to make
Speaker 1: this abundantly clear because I've seen a lot of comparisons
Speaker 1: towards the end of the far era in two thousand
Speaker 1: seven and things of that nature. Rogers pretty much has
Speaker 1: always been pretty transparent with what his intentions are. Even
Speaker 1: last year when there there was those questions of whether
Speaker 1: or not he was coming back, I never really got
Speaker 1: the feeling of it was he was going to do
Speaker 1: that or he was going to be done. It just
Speaker 1: seemed like he probably was gonna end up playing. It
Speaker 1: just matters, you know, if they could make it work here,
Speaker 1: which they did. I don't feel like this is going
Speaker 1: to be a situation that really gets you know, strung along,
Speaker 1: let alone to July. But I'm saying even the months ahead,
Speaker 1: I think the Packers will have a pretty clear idea.
Speaker 1: I think Rogers is very clearheaded and focused on what
Speaker 1: he wants to do. Um, you gotta give him his
Speaker 1: time a lot of let him sort it out. But
Speaker 1: I feel like because the question kept getting asked, well,
Speaker 1: you know, developing your plan for the off season and
Speaker 1: those sort of things, they'll figure that out. Yeah, you
Speaker 1: know that these next couple of weeks, they're gonna look
Speaker 1: at what other NFL teams are doing. They're gonna self scoult.
Speaker 1: They certainly have to figure out what the coaching staff
Speaker 1: situation is going to be, where all those things are.
Speaker 1: That's that's what the end of January into early februaries about. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and and Matt and Matt Lafleur did say he hadn't
Speaker 1: as of Monday, afternoon, he hadn't even gotten to the
Speaker 1: evaluation of the coaching staff. It's for for those for
Speaker 1: those who don't understand, it's a very methodical process that
Speaker 1: every head coach goes through at the end of every season,
Speaker 1: where the meets with all of his individual coaches, there's
Speaker 1: an evaluation process. Step by step, they go through everything
Speaker 1: and then decisions are made and so um for those
Speaker 1: who are wondering what might be happening with the coaching staff,
Speaker 1: whether whether it's in regard to special teams or if
Speaker 1: Nathaniel Hackett moves on he's a finalist for the Denver
Speaker 1: Broncos coaching job, and then that could um lead to
Speaker 1: some changes obviously here in Green Bay. But Matt Lafleur
Speaker 1: said that process has has not even really begun yet
Speaker 1: because because the players were still just cleaning out their lockers.
Speaker 1: So it's wait and see in that regard, Yeah, and
Speaker 1: then you know, it's a typical thing. Is he even
Speaker 1: mentioned on Monday, it was a lot of eggs and interviews,
Speaker 1: a lot of discussions. That's where the discussion came with Rogers.
Speaker 1: It's whereas the discussion came with Adams as well. I
Speaker 1: think everybody understands what's at stake here and where they're
Speaker 1: going to try to line this thing up for the future.
Speaker 1: And that's not even just to clear this up too,
Speaker 1: that's not even necessarily an indictment on Jordan's Love. The
Speaker 1: point I was just trying to illustrate with what I
Speaker 1: was saying is that you don't want to wish away
Speaker 1: your franchise quarterback, and because there's just no guarantee what
Speaker 1: it's going to be on the other side of it,
Speaker 1: I still think, in my opinion, Rogers comes back. I
Speaker 1: still think that's a great scenario for Love to get
Speaker 1: another year of seasoning, just like Rogers did getting the
Speaker 1: third year behind Brett Farve. All those things have to
Speaker 1: figure them, you know, you have to get be determined.
Speaker 1: But again, I think once the calendar flips towards March
Speaker 1: and we get closer to the Looke New League year,
Speaker 1: I think everybody will have a pretty clear vision of
Speaker 1: what's ahead for the Packers and what challenges they're gonna
Speaker 1: have to overcome to to put together this two thousand
Speaker 1: two roster. Yeah. Well, a shout out to our sponsors
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Speaker 1: we believe in better all right, before we go, I
Speaker 1: know you said you didn't watch too much of it,
Speaker 1: but you did catch the endings. Um, just those Sunday
Speaker 1: games Rams, and I mean to two down to the
Speaker 1: wire thrilling games that unfolded completely differently, right, I mean
Speaker 1: the Rams. The Rams have a twenty four point lead
Speaker 1: on Tampa Bay and uh, and then they start fumbling
Speaker 1: the football all over the place and the Buccaneers end
Speaker 1: up getting the score tied. And then um, Matthew Stafford pulls,
Speaker 1: pulls a Cooper cup out of his hat and uh
Speaker 1: and hits Uh the all Pro receiver on back to
Speaker 1: back plays and they get in position for a walk
Speaker 1: off field goal. And then the last two minutes at
Speaker 1: Arrowhead Stadium between the gun Slinger duel whatever you want
Speaker 1: to call it, between Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes, absolutely stunning,
Speaker 1: and for for as much as for as much you know,
Speaker 1: I'm not just trying to say misery likes company, but
Speaker 1: for as much as Packer Nation is hurting after a
Speaker 1: loss like that one to San Francisco. The Buffalo Bills
Speaker 1: scored to go ahead touchdown with thirteen seconds left west
Speaker 1: and they had to defend. They gave up forty four
Speaker 1: yards in two plays that took ten seconds with the timeouts,
Speaker 1: and then the field goal tied the game and sent
Speaker 1: it to overtime. I mean, it's kind of it's kind
Speaker 1: of ridiculous. I saw I saw one. I saw one
Speaker 1: tweet that Patrick Mahomes drove the Chiefs forty four yards
Speaker 1: and kicked a field goal in less time than it
Speaker 1: took Dak Prescott to run a quarterback dor on stop
Speaker 1: the clock seriously, And that's that's just true. It's crazy
Speaker 1: to think about. But he pulled it off. And somehow
Speaker 1: the Buffalo Bills scoring a go ahead touchdown in a
Speaker 1: playoff game with thirteen seconds left couldn't win the game. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and Buffalo, I mean for them not to squib that
Speaker 1: kick with thirteen seconds left to kick in the ends,
Speaker 1: and I don't know what the plan was there, um,
Speaker 1: especially with the time outs that Kansas City had, that
Speaker 1: didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Man,
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what the Packers. I know, you're always
Speaker 1: going to favor your team because that's when you watch
Speaker 1: the most, right, that's where fans talk about them having
Speaker 1: their hearts ripped out. There might not have been a
Speaker 1: team that deserved to be in the super Bowl more
Speaker 1: than the Bills this year just because of for lack
Speaker 1: of a better term, they have circled the wagons so
Speaker 1: to speak, when it's come to making it to the
Speaker 1: super Bowl, and they just haven't been able to make
Speaker 1: that step. And Mahomes has been really the big, you know,
Speaker 1: obstacle to making that happen. I mean, these single the
Speaker 1: single best player in all of the NFL postseason thus
Speaker 1: far is not playing for a conference championship, and that's
Speaker 1: Josh Allen. Josh Allen has been an absolute mega star
Speaker 1: in this postseason and yet yet his team is his
Speaker 1: team is home, just like uh, you know, twenty seven
Speaker 1: other teams. Yeah, and and you know you give credit
Speaker 1: to Mahomes, you gotta give credit to Harrison Buckner too
Speaker 1: to be able to make that kick. That's a big kick. Oh,
Speaker 1: that's big. That's a big time kick. I mean outdoors
Speaker 1: on grass not I mean Kansas City was not lambeau
Speaker 1: Field in terms of conditions, but it wasn't It wasn't
Speaker 1: sunny Florida either. No, and and for it really did
Speaker 1: feel like that was probably the most important coin to
Speaker 1: us in terms of the overtime as I can remember,
Speaker 1: because I don't think either team has probably stopping the
Speaker 1: other one. No, those those both of those defenses, the
Speaker 1: tanks were empty. There's there's no question about it. Neither
Speaker 1: neither one of those defenses had anything left. And for
Speaker 1: the Rams, you feel good for Matthew Stafford. I've said
Speaker 1: that for a long time. I think Stafford went about
Speaker 1: it in the right way. In Detroit. I think he,
Speaker 1: you know, kind of had some some mud thrown over
Speaker 1: his legacy there just because of some of the talent,
Speaker 1: you know, dearth of talent that they had for a
Speaker 1: number of seasons. It's good to see him be able
Speaker 1: to make a big playoff, you know, push at the
Speaker 1: end Cooper Cup is exceptional. Yeah, you have you have
Speaker 1: to give you have to give Stafford credit. You tip
Speaker 1: your cap to Stafford because he came into this. He
Speaker 1: was brought to the Rams. You know, in in this
Speaker 1: you know, complete all in sellout move by the Rams
Speaker 1: and how they built their roster right to go win
Speaker 1: a super Bowl. And he's a quarterback who hadn't won
Speaker 1: a playoff game. There's a lot of pressure on him.
Speaker 1: He got his first playoff win. That Arizona Cardinals had
Speaker 1: a god awful performance, but Matthew Stafford gets his first
Speaker 1: playoff win and it felt to me West watching from
Speaker 1: from Matthew Stafford a playoffs passed to that game in
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay on Sunday. Suddenly, with one playoff win under
Speaker 1: his belt, Matthew Stafford was in his element in the postseason.
Speaker 1: He was there and for as badly as that looked
Speaker 1: for the Rams to blow that lead, it was all
Speaker 1: of Matthew Stafford's teammates that were making all the mistakes.
Speaker 1: He wasn't making. He wasn't the one making the mistakes
Speaker 1: and giving the ball away. His teammates were that game.
Speaker 1: That game was was almost handed to the Buccaneers. But
Speaker 1: then when the Chips were down, Matthew Stafford came through
Speaker 1: and uh and got a slightly injured kicker who came
Speaker 1: up short from forty seven yards got him close enough
Speaker 1: to be able to make that game winning kick in
Speaker 1: a walk off scenario. Yeah, Matthew Kay has been so
Speaker 1: good for them this year too. I think he's a
Speaker 1: pro bowler if I remember correctly. I mean, it really
Speaker 1: has been strong. But then dealing with some of these issues.
Speaker 1: Air's what's interesting, Wake because now you've got either San
Speaker 1: Francisco or the Rams are going to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: Right Either the Rams are going to kind of fulfill
Speaker 1: this prophecy that they've sort of ad here with Sean
Speaker 1: McVeigh and getting back to that game, or I think
Speaker 1: officially you put San Francisco right in that category with
Speaker 1: Green Bay from two thousand and ten. As far as
Speaker 1: a team that got fired got caught on fire late
Speaker 1: in the season one, difficult games and difficult circumstances to
Speaker 1: be able to advance knocked off the number one seed,
Speaker 1: both of those stories are great. On the other side
Speaker 1: of the conference, you have the Cincinnati Bengals and Joe Burrow,
Speaker 1: who looked like they're going to probably be one of
Speaker 1: the more exciting teams for years to come, very interested
Speaker 1: to see if they can win the games necessary to
Speaker 1: get a Super Bowl just based on the way they play.
Speaker 1: It's they're flying by the seat of their pants a
Speaker 1: little bit, but they're incredibly talented, have great offensive weapons.
Speaker 1: And then the other one is the Kansas City Chiefs,
Speaker 1: which is the dynasty that has really sort of emerged
Speaker 1: here in this league. And Patrick Mahomes at six years old, uh,
Speaker 1: him really carrying this team on its back, them having
Speaker 1: early season adversity and now make another championship run. I
Speaker 1: don't know how much of the breast of the playoffs
Speaker 1: I'll be watching, but it does set up really well
Speaker 1: for some entertaining football y'ere down the stretch. Yeah, it
Speaker 1: should be pretty exciting. And uh and yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: the the um the Cincinnati Cincinnati Bengals going into going
Speaker 1: into Arrowhead Stadium mean they just won a big road
Speaker 1: game in Nashville, obviously, but from an environment standpoint, in
Speaker 1: Nashville is not Arrowhead. I mean, um, Joe Burrows walking
Speaker 1: into a into a completely different situation and Josh Allen
Speaker 1: answered the bell um. Now we'll see if we'll see
Speaker 1: if Joe Burrow can even though Josh Allen came up
Speaker 1: short but no fault of his own by any stretch
Speaker 1: there So with that we'll call it a rap on
Speaker 1: this edition of Packers on Scripted. Be sure to continue
Speaker 1: to follow all of our coverage of the team. Will
Speaker 1: have everything for you on packers dot com for West
Speaker 1: Sim Mike. Thanks for tuning in everybody, We'll see you
Speaker 1: next time.