Speaker 1: Hi, everybody.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 2: I and Mike Spafford, joined as always by my trusted
Speaker 2: colleague Weston Hodkowitz. We're coming to you hear from our
Speaker 2: studios at lambeau Field and Wes. It is wildcard playoff
Speaker 2: week for the Green Bay Packers. Unfortunately, they are heading
Speaker 2: into this wild card weekend coming off of a loss,
Speaker 2: a second straight loss. This one, twenty four to twenty
Speaker 2: two is the final score at home against the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 2: A walk off field goal wins it for the Bears.
Speaker 2: No other way to say it other than a disappointing
Speaker 2: defeat and a disappointing way for green Bay to be
Speaker 2: entering the postseason.
Speaker 1: Which fans sometimes ask us about, Hey, you know, these
Speaker 1: guys are getting paid. Hey, you know, there's very little
Speaker 1: to play for at the end of the season other
Speaker 1: than a seed or two. Go to that Packers' locker
Speaker 1: room afterwards. Feel the vibes that we felt in there.
Speaker 1: These guys were legitimately disappointed. They wanted to win that
Speaker 1: football game. Yes it was to keep the streak going
Speaker 1: against the Chicago Bears. Yes it was to end the
Speaker 1: Bears seasons with eleven straight losses. Yes, it was to
Speaker 1: potentially make a run at that sixth seed, but let's
Speaker 1: be honest, Michael, it's the competition of these guys, the
Speaker 1: drive that these guys have. They wanted to go into
Speaker 1: the playoffs with that feeling of victory, with that momentum
Speaker 1: on their side. As Jordan Love said afterwards, they don't
Speaker 1: have that now. But who cares? The big key to
Speaker 1: this game? For me, the part that was the hardest
Speaker 1: for me to leave the building with on Sunday night
Speaker 1: was the fact that you did lose Christian Watson. It
Speaker 1: was a fact that Jordan Love did get nicked up.
Speaker 1: You don't want to see anyone get injured at any time,
Speaker 1: but obviously a regular season finale with very little on
Speaker 1: the line that always hurts the most, and unfortunately for
Speaker 1: Christian toughed it out. He went out there. Romeo Dobbs
Speaker 1: catches a bug, Christian tries to go out there and
Speaker 1: then ultimately ends up with the with the acl tear.
Speaker 1: That being said, the Packers have to march on. They
Speaker 1: have to continue this trek through the postseason and try
Speaker 1: to learn from what they can from that lost to Chicago.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Unfortunately, it's been some bad news on the health
Speaker 2: front a couple weeks in a row now here for
Speaker 2: the Packers. A week ago we find out that JayR
Speaker 2: Alexander would not be coming back for the postseason, and
Speaker 2: now Christian Watson suffers an ACL tear that obviously will
Speaker 2: put the beginning of the twenty twenty five season and
Speaker 2: possibly a good portion of the twenty twenty five season
Speaker 2: in jeopardy for him. You mentioned Romeo Dobbs had come
Speaker 2: down with an illness. It sounds like he is doing
Speaker 2: better here as as the Packers begin their preparations for Philadelphia.
Speaker 2: Jordan Love banged his elbow on the ground. Sounded like
Speaker 2: kind of a funny bone nerve type of issue. He
Speaker 2: left the game. Sounded like if it was absolutely necessar there,
Speaker 2: he could have gone back in. The Packers played the
Speaker 2: high side of caution there and kept Love out, although
Speaker 2: he was getting ready to go in because late in
Speaker 2: the game, Malik Willis ended up kind of banging his thumb.
Speaker 2: I believe it was on the long pass to Malik
Speaker 2: Heath down the field that set up the touchdown in
Speaker 2: the fourth quarter. So there was some question as to
Speaker 2: whether Willis was going to be able to finish the game.
Speaker 2: It sounds like both of those guys are going to
Speaker 2: be okay with regard to those injuries and getting ready
Speaker 2: for the game in Philadelphia. But as Matt Lafuer said,
Speaker 2: it's also can't necessarily guarantee anything that the reps won't
Speaker 2: be limited in some respect. You know, It's one of
Speaker 2: those wait and see things until Wednesday's practice. Elsewhere, on
Speaker 2: the health front, safety Zane Anderson as of now, still
Speaker 2: remains in the concussion protocol, Linebacker Kuway Walker safety Evan Williams,
Speaker 2: both of whom have missed some time with injuries. Those
Speaker 2: guys have not yet returned to practice. There is some
Speaker 2: optimism that they might be available for the wild card
Speaker 2: game in Philadelphia, but again Matt LeFleur was saying, it's
Speaker 2: it's wait and see as far as Wednesday's practice, Thursday's practice.
Speaker 2: Can they get back out there? How do they look?
Speaker 2: Hopefully come Wednesday Thursday, when the team is back on
Speaker 2: the practice field, maybe there'll finally be some good news
Speaker 2: in the health department coming Green Bay's way.
Speaker 1: I tip my cap to katan Oladappo. He ended up
Speaker 1: playing his most extensive playing time against Chicago didn't technically start.
Speaker 1: Chavon Bullard started, but then Bullard went back down into
Speaker 1: the slot of the sub packages, and that's where Aladappo entered,
Speaker 1: a guy that spent most of the off season program
Speaker 1: in a boot on a cart because he was coming
Speaker 1: off that broken toad. I think he suffered at the
Speaker 1: NFL scouting combine. So because of that, Zavier McKinney is
Speaker 1: now lined up next to everybody on the active roster
Speaker 1: at the safety position. But I think you and I
Speaker 1: both know Mike and obviously there's the Russ factor. But
Speaker 1: with what the Packers have to work with, the end
Speaker 1: of last week we found out that jyr alexand not
Speaker 1: going to probably be back this season. He went on
Speaker 1: injured reserve. I think you and I pretty much can
Speaker 1: stand in agreement at this point in time. When you
Speaker 1: look at a Nickel subpackage, the Packers preferred lineup now
Speaker 1: would be Evan Williams on the back end with Xavier McKinney.
Speaker 1: Kyshawn Nixon tip your cap to him has basically become
Speaker 1: CB number one now. Carrington Valentine has stepped up on
Speaker 1: the other perimeter spot and it's Javon Bullard ben in
Speaker 1: the nickel, which was where Keyshawn started the season. You
Speaker 1: wrote about it last week. We'll wait and see if
Speaker 1: they can actually get that group together. But defensively, it
Speaker 1: appears that Green Bay is getting closer to having that
Speaker 1: full unit together. And the thing that was the most
Speaker 1: funny to me. As disappointing as this loss was, and
Speaker 1: obviously they wanted to win it, but you do have
Speaker 1: to consider Jordan Love didn't re enter the game. Josh
Speaker 1: Jacobs had six or seven carries, six carries, Gorda's ninth touchdown.
Speaker 1: It was it eight games or nine touchdowns in a row.
Speaker 2: Eight eight games in a row with a rushing touchdown,
Speaker 2: new franchise record, surpassing Paul Hornings streak of seven back
Speaker 2: in nineteen sixty.
Speaker 1: Thank you for using words for me. You did that
Speaker 1: very well. It's okay he leaves the game. They still
Speaker 1: run the ball pretty well, but they were making some
Speaker 1: business decisions there in the second half. Still, you want
Speaker 1: to win, you want to be able to get through
Speaker 1: this thing. I just feel like for the green Bay
Speaker 1: finishing fifth and total offense fifth and total defense sixth
Speaker 1: in scoring defense, Like there's so much good that is
Speaker 1: still with this team. I know it sucks to be
Speaker 1: on a two game losing streak entering the playoffs, but
Speaker 1: like you and I both did our Insider Inbox column,
Speaker 1: then man a life like people are acting like the
Speaker 1: sky is falling. Like I'm not saying this was a
Speaker 1: preseason game by any means. The Packers, up until the
Speaker 1: last thirty seconds of that game between Washington and Dallas,
Speaker 1: still had a lot to play for with the sixth seed.
Speaker 1: But you know, the comment I made an Insider Inbox
Speaker 1: on Thursday was the Packers shocked the football world last year?
Speaker 1: Why can't they do it again? You and I will
Speaker 1: get into previewing Philadelphia in a little bit, But for
Speaker 1: Green Bay, what I felt in that locker room, what
Speaker 1: I heard from Xavier mckinne, and it sounds like McKinney
Speaker 1: and Rashaun Gary both had some pretty strong words afterwards
Speaker 1: trying to kind of rally the troops a little bit
Speaker 1: going into the playoffs. I feel like this team has
Speaker 1: leadership where it needs it, it has experience where it's needed,
Speaker 1: and it still has a lot of youth. And I
Speaker 1: think sometimes like last year, as much as they wrote
Speaker 1: a hot streak in I also think when they got
Speaker 1: to Dallas it was not even knowing what they were
Speaker 1: supposed to know. Yet they played free. They played like
Speaker 1: they were, you know, had a poker chip that just
Speaker 1: allowed them to sit down at any table. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: we'll see again now if they can do that against
Speaker 1: the Eagles.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I was kind of fired up when I heard
Speaker 2: about the kind of the postgame locker room, seeing where
Speaker 2: some of these team leaders like Xavier McKinney and Rashaun
Speaker 2: Gary had some words for their teammates. And what I
Speaker 2: kind of walked away after Sunday night thinking is I
Speaker 2: don't know if I don't know if those a if
Speaker 2: those words are even said, but b if those words
Speaker 2: even carry a whole lot of weight if the Packers
Speaker 2: somehow had won the game.
Speaker 1: They don't, And McKinnie said that, yeah.
Speaker 2: And and the so in a lot of ways, I mean,
Speaker 2: and I don't want to perseverate on the loss. I mean,
Speaker 2: Matt Lafleur took the blame for using the time out
Speaker 2: when the Packers kicked the go ahead field goal, and
Speaker 2: the clock management there wasn't where it needed to be,
Speaker 2: and the defensive call on the Bear's last play before
Speaker 2: the walk off field goal.
Speaker 1: The Packers botched it.
Speaker 2: They they botched it in multiple ways, and they and
Speaker 2: they came away with a loss. I don't know if
Speaker 2: that was necessarily the worst thing in the world, because
Speaker 2: it was a game they didn't play well, they didn't
Speaker 2: really deserve to win regardless, and maybe the message from
Speaker 2: guys like Gary and McKinney in the locker room afterward,
Speaker 2: maybe it, you know, it carries more and has more
Speaker 2: impact because of because of the loss. Call it a
Speaker 2: wake up call if you want to, I don't know
Speaker 2: whatever phrase you want to use. But the Packers of
Speaker 2: you know, they were in a good spot. I thought,
Speaker 2: you know, the win on Thanksgiving night over Miami, followed
Speaker 2: by a really hard, fought, tough, you know, down to
Speaker 2: the wire loss to the Detroit Lions, the best team
Speaker 2: in the NFC, on the road on a Thursday night
Speaker 2: with you know, a crazy Detroit crowd. Then you go
Speaker 2: on the road to Seattle, the team playing for everything,
Speaker 2: trying to win a division title and get into the playoffs,
Speaker 2: and the Packers quite frankly dominate the game, other than
Speaker 2: a couple of mistakes that got Seattle back into it,
Speaker 2: but the Packers finish it off and get the win.
Speaker 2: I thought the Packers were headed for that strong finish
Speaker 2: to the regular season. The New Orleans game, you know,
Speaker 2: thirty four or nothing. What can you do? The Saints
Speaker 2: weren't even like a real team that night. But then
Speaker 2: these last two games against the two division opponents, Minnesota
Speaker 2: and Chicago, the Packers didn't play well. And I even
Speaker 2: questioned whether the comeback against Minnesota in the last nine
Speaker 2: minutes of the fourth quarter if that might have actually
Speaker 2: in some ways done more harm than good, because the
Speaker 2: Packers came very close to pulling out a miracle comeback
Speaker 2: against Minnesota. But then it becomes too easy to forget
Speaker 2: that for fifty out of the sixty minutes, you didn't
Speaker 2: play well against a team that against one of your
Speaker 2: biggest division rivals and a team that you're trying to beat,
Speaker 2: and a game that was really important as a playoff
Speaker 2: tune up. So all of that big picture says that
Speaker 2: the Packers have a lot to flush and to move
Speaker 2: on and to just say hey, all right, let's you know,
Speaker 2: it's it's go time now. And the way they have
Speaker 2: played the last couple of weeks is not going to
Speaker 2: cut it. And the fact that they lost to a
Speaker 2: team that had lost ten in a row, that had
Speaker 2: lost eleven in a row in the Packers Bears All
Speaker 2: Time series was you know, maybe the final straw to say,
Speaker 2: this isn't this isn't going to get it done, This
Speaker 2: isn't going to cut it in the postseason, and now
Speaker 2: it's time to get ready for a darn good Philadelphia team.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and I love what Matt Lafleur's message was when
Speaker 1: you know he's looking and reflecting on this loss. I mean,
Speaker 1: is it is March Madness time, like anything can happen.
Speaker 1: There's fourteen teams that have a shot at this thing. Yes,
Speaker 1: Detroit has a little bit of advantage there. You know,
Speaker 1: Kansas City has an obvious advantage there having the buys,
Speaker 1: But overall, anybody can take a crack at this thing.
Speaker 1: Green Bay proved it last year becoming the first number
Speaker 1: seven to beat in number two. And we're leading the
Speaker 1: number one seed well into the fourth quarter at San
Speaker 1: Francisco with a chance to get to the NFC Title Game.
Speaker 1: And I go back to last year. Green Bay finished
Speaker 1: this regular season eleven and six. Do you know who
Speaker 1: was eleven and six last year, entering the playoffs, the
Speaker 1: eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, the Kansas Kansas
Speaker 1: City Chiefs team that went four and four after its
Speaker 1: bye week. I understand they won back to back going
Speaker 1: into the playoffs, but they lost to Green Bay. They
Speaker 1: lost to the Las Vegas Raiders. It isn't always about
Speaker 1: heyn how many games in a row can you win
Speaker 1: before you make a run. I'll be honest with you too.
Speaker 1: I think as much as the Minnesota Vikings would have
Speaker 1: loved to have had that number one seed, in love
Speaker 1: to have won the North, if they enter the playoffs
Speaker 1: on a ten game winning streak or whatever, that's a
Speaker 1: tough thing to keep winning that entire time. It's like,
Speaker 1: what kind of lessons can you learn to be able
Speaker 1: to better you and put you in the best situation possible.
Speaker 1: Entering the new season, Green Bay has had in back
Speaker 1: to back weeks a real look in the mirror moment.
Speaker 1: Minnesota didn't do enough to get the job done. You
Speaker 1: lost on their field, yep, last week against Chicago. Yes,
Speaker 1: you're missing some guys, Yes, some guys were down shifting
Speaker 1: a little bit. You still did not like the way
Speaker 1: you played well, what are you going to do about it?
Speaker 1: This is your shot. As I put an insider inbox,
Speaker 1: the lessons are over, the classes are done, You've gone
Speaker 1: through the entire course at this point, this is the
Speaker 1: final test. Can you pass it? Can you take everything
Speaker 1: you've learned in these first eighteen weeks of the regular
Speaker 1: season and now channel that towards a championship? And that's
Speaker 1: what Green Bay is going to find out on Sunday
Speaker 1: afternoon in Philadelphia.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I want to get to talking about the
Speaker 2: Eagles here in just a minute, but I'll take care
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Speaker 2: All right. The Philadelphia Eagles Saquon Barkley two thousand and
Speaker 2: five rushing yards sat out Week eighteen to rest up
Speaker 2: for the playoffs rather than go for the one hundred
Speaker 2: and one yards he would have needed to break Eric
Speaker 2: Dickerson's single season rushing record in the NFL. I totally
Speaker 2: understand what the Eagles and coach Siriani and Barkley did there.
Speaker 2: But Barkley's had a season for the ages. We'll see
Speaker 2: how things go with regard to Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Speaker 2: He's been in the concussion protocol. The expectation, I think
Speaker 2: is that he will be cleared in time to play
Speaker 2: in this game, but nothing official has been announced in
Speaker 2: that regard yet. That offense, which also includes obviously receivers
Speaker 2: like AJ Brown DeVante Smith, is backed up by a
Speaker 2: defense that finished first in the league in yards allowed
Speaker 2: and second in the league in points allowed. This is
Speaker 2: a complete football team. They can run it, they can
Speaker 2: throw it, they can shut you down on defense. This
Speaker 2: is a this is a huge test and and this
Speaker 2: is an Eagles team quite frankly, other than a guy
Speaker 2: like Barkley who was the you know, the free agent
Speaker 2: signing and whatnot, but this is an Eagles team that
Speaker 2: that ended its last season on an absolutely terrible note.
Speaker 2: They were in great position, went into a huge slump
Speaker 2: at the end of the season, they were one and
Speaker 2: done in the playoffs. They're back where they believe they
Speaker 2: should have been last year, and and they're just fine
Speaker 2: with all the attention being on Minnesota and Detroit and
Speaker 2: everything that was going on there for the number one seed.
Speaker 2: The Eagles are. The Eagles are waiting to make their run.
Speaker 1: I mean, I have so much respect for Howie Roseman,
Speaker 1: the way he's built this thing up, just starting on
Speaker 1: the offensive side of the thing. The only thing they
Speaker 1: were missing was the running back, and they found him
Speaker 1: and to be able to take him from a division rival,
Speaker 1: not only did you improve your rushing offense and just
Speaker 1: an incredible fashion, you robbed the New York Giants of
Speaker 1: really any semblance of hope this season in what do
Speaker 1: you do? You put him behind one of the best
Speaker 1: offensive lines in football? I mean, how many teams Mike
Speaker 1: could lose? Jason Kelsey and Cam Jurgens ends up going
Speaker 1: in at center has a Pro Bowl season, right. Makai Beckton,
Speaker 1: who we watched him in the practices here with the
Speaker 1: Jets a number of years ago, did not work out
Speaker 1: for him. First round pick as a tackle in New
Speaker 1: York doesn't come together. He goes to Philadelphia. He's been
Speaker 1: their starting right guard all year. Lane Johnson's been doing
Speaker 1: this longer than anybody. Jordan Malata, I mean, like so
Speaker 1: many Landon Dickerson, you have this ready made offensive line
Speaker 1: and you pair one of the best running backs of
Speaker 1: his generation behind it. They do so many things well.
Speaker 1: Devonte Smith, I mean, aj Brown was the steal of
Speaker 1: the century a number of years ago for them. Dallas
Speaker 1: Goddard now is back that. They are just so complete
Speaker 1: offensively and defensively, you can't say enough. I mean, Jalen
Speaker 1: Carter's one of the most exciting interior defensive tackles in
Speaker 1: the league. Everybody knows what Quinnon Mitchell has done this year.
Speaker 1: Cooper dejen that Zach Brawn signs there on a modest
Speaker 1: contract ends up having a Pro Bowl season. The dangers
Speaker 1: are everywhere with this Philadelphia Eagles team. Now that being said,
Speaker 1: I actually think green Bay does match up okay with them.
Speaker 1: Green Bay's rushing offense is at strength. The one area
Speaker 1: where Philadelphia isn't completely dominant is it's rushing defense. I
Speaker 1: think they're a very respectable tenth. They have the number
Speaker 1: one rank pass defense in the National Football League. Which
Speaker 1: started with the performance that they put together against Jordan
Speaker 1: Love in this offense in Brazil. Yeah. So as Vic Fang,
Speaker 1: you I thought, really proved this season. Whatever the narrative
Speaker 1: was coming out of Miami last year, this guy still
Speaker 1: very much has it him Dom Caper's. The principles that
Speaker 1: they put together were their defense. This thing has been
Speaker 1: as ready made to be able to be as functional
Speaker 1: and as adaptable as any scheme that we've seen in
Speaker 1: the last thirty thirty five years, and really that was
Speaker 1: the missing piece for Philadelphia this season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's interesting to statistically because of that. When you
Speaker 2: look at that number one ranking in fewest yards allowed,
Speaker 2: the Eagles allowed more than five hundred fewer yards than
Speaker 2: anybody else.
Speaker 1: In the league.
Speaker 2: It's astounding to see the difference in the total yardage
Speaker 2: between the top ranked defense in the league and number two,
Speaker 2: which happened to be Tennessee this year. And then when
Speaker 2: you look at the points allowed, only one team in
Speaker 2: the league allowed fewer points and that was the LA Chargers.
Speaker 2: They allowed only two fewer points than the Eaglesbugles at
Speaker 2: three to zho three the Chargers at three oh one.
Speaker 2: Here's the question I want to throw at you. You
Speaker 2: mentioned Week one in Brazil. It feels like a lifetime ago,
Speaker 2: and in NFL terms, in a lot of ways, it
Speaker 2: is a lifetime again because because teams are so different
Speaker 2: in January than they are in September. Is there anything
Speaker 2: big picture, little picture that you think the Packers take
Speaker 2: out of that game that becomes applicable to Sunday at
Speaker 2: Lincoln financially finish drives.
Speaker 1: That was they got off to a fast start, they
Speaker 1: didn't finish dry right in Philadelphia, and then obviously had
Speaker 1: a couple of things go against them, and then certainly
Speaker 1: the last play of the game with Jordan Love getting
Speaker 1: injured sort of set the tone for the first half
Speaker 1: of the season. But so many times, Michael and you
Speaker 1: heard Zavier McKinney talk about it afterwards, I think everybody
Speaker 1: pretty much touched on it. This game is about situational
Speaker 1: aspects and how do you perform in the red zone,
Speaker 1: how do you perform on third downs? We're seeing more
Speaker 1: and more how you handle fourth downs in the National
Speaker 1: Football League is becoming critical, and Green Bay in that
Speaker 1: game did not do a good enough job on once
Speaker 1: it punched the ball inside the twenty. It's the hardest
Speaker 1: area of the field to score in, but you gotta
Speaker 1: find ways to get six or seven points out of it.
Speaker 1: And I feel like green Bay playing on that surface,
Speaker 1: having to go down there make the travel that they did.
Speaker 1: Both teams had to do it, but that is a
Speaker 1: very difficult way to start a season. But I thought
Speaker 1: at the same time, it taught them some very important
Speaker 1: lessons that sort of carried through the games where green
Speaker 1: Bay has been dominant this year. The games in which
Speaker 1: they've been successful is when they are limiting the penalties.
Speaker 1: It's when they are getting off to fast starts, it's
Speaker 1: when they are converting on those those third down situations
Speaker 1: and red zone opportunities. All those things have to happen
Speaker 1: against Philadelphia because if you don't, I mean this offense,
Speaker 1: the way that they're structured, they are going to put
Speaker 1: up points. How do you counter that.
Speaker 2: Said about the red zone, I think speaks volumes for
Speaker 2: how these big time, important games unfold. Just look at
Speaker 2: that regular season finale Sunday Night Football between the Lions
Speaker 2: and the Vikings playing for the number one seed in
Speaker 2: the NFC and a first round by yep, the loser
Speaker 2: is going to drop all the way to the five seed,
Speaker 2: the Vikings, I believe it has had eleven goal to
Speaker 2: go plays, eleven goal to go plays and did not
Speaker 2: get a touchdown in that game. That's astounding. And yes,
Speaker 2: the final score is thirty one to nine, and it
Speaker 2: goes in the books as a blowout for the Detroit Lions,
Speaker 2: but the Vikings had ample opportunity to be right there
Speaker 2: and even take the lead at certain times in that game.
Speaker 2: But when you can't finish drives, especially against good teams,
Speaker 2: it becomes very difficult to make up for those opportunities, right.
Speaker 1: So, and the other thing.
Speaker 2: That I take from the week one game back in Brazil,
Speaker 2: and this sort of goes without saying, of course, when
Speaker 2: it comes to a playoff game and it's the best
Speaker 2: of the best you know for the season going head
Speaker 2: to head, But what happened in Brazil speaks to how
Speaker 2: facing teams like this, it is always going to be
Speaker 2: a four quarter game. Because when I think back to
Speaker 2: we're watching that game at Arena Corinthians, we had talked
Speaker 2: all week long about, Okay, the Packers need to contain
Speaker 2: Saquon Barkley in this debut that he's making for the
Speaker 2: Philadelphia Eagles, and we had seen a couple years prior
Speaker 2: how Jalen Hurts and you know, as a running threat
Speaker 2: at quarterback can hurt the Packers with his legs and
Speaker 2: you need to contain the quarterback and whatever. And quite frankly,
Speaker 2: for three quarters in Brazil, the Packers did a pretty
Speaker 2: good job on Saquon Barkley, and they did a pretty
Speaker 2: good job not letting Jalen Hurts beat them with his legs.
Speaker 2: But then look at what happened in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 2: Barkley got out, Hurts got out the long whatever was
Speaker 2: seventeen eighteen play drive when it's a two point game,
Speaker 2: but they put together a seventeen eighteen play drive that
Speaker 2: kills like the back half of the fourth quarter and
Speaker 2: left the Packers without a realistic chance. Yeah, playing the
Speaker 2: playing a full four quarters is what it's going to take.
Speaker 2: And that was shown to Green Bay against this team
Speaker 2: right away in Week one.
Speaker 1: One hundred percent. And it was funny to me too
Speaker 1: because the Saquon game, remember telling you this, It almost
Speaker 1: was we were watching the Giants game all over again
Speaker 1: from December of twenty three, where it was they took
Speaker 1: a really good job against Saquon and then he started
Speaker 1: breaking them down. But it's not just about, Okay, how
Speaker 1: the Packers are defending him. That's what Saquon does. He
Speaker 1: will hit you with jabs until he finally finds that
Speaker 1: opening to hit you with the knockout blow, to get
Speaker 1: you right across and hit you with that shot that
Speaker 1: you don't see coming. That's what Green Bay has to
Speaker 1: curb against in this thing. And you're not asking me
Speaker 1: for keys the victory right now. But the Packers, somehow,
Speaker 1: some way have to be the better running football team.
Speaker 1: They have to be better in the trenches than Philadelphia
Speaker 1: because Jalen hurts. You know, hopefully everything's good with him physically, psychologically,
Speaker 1: everything that comes along with having a concussion and missing
Speaker 1: as much time as he did. But that being said,
Speaker 1: he's been on the ice here for a little bit.
Speaker 1: He's been on the sideline a little bit. You wouldn't
Speaker 1: anticipate he's gonna come back and be his prime peak self.
Speaker 1: You don't want to give him the rushing attack that
Speaker 1: allows him to get comfortable in those ways. Saquon Barkley
Speaker 1: has been a very difficult puzzle for the National Football
Speaker 1: League to solve this but this season. But if the
Speaker 1: Packers are to continue playing if they are going to
Speaker 1: find their way in Detroit for the divisional round, that
Speaker 1: is the number one thing on the checklist that must
Speaker 1: be taken care of.
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is what I think is so interesting about
Speaker 2: this matchup, And we'll be talking about it throughout the week.
Speaker 2: We'll have stuff on the website and whatnot. But this
Speaker 2: running back matchup Saquon Barkley Josh Jacobs. Barkley obviously the
Speaker 2: NFL's leading rusher. I didn't see exactly where Jacob's the.
Speaker 1: End of finishing fifth. Was it fit because of how
Speaker 1: many guys ended up playing and how he.
Speaker 2: Right exactly, And that was the whole thing going into
Speaker 2: the final game. You know, Jacobs maybe had a chance
Speaker 2: to climb as high as third, but we knew he
Speaker 2: wasn't necessarily going to play the whole game against the Bears.
Speaker 1: Michael I apologize. Jonathan Taylor also got up there. So
Speaker 1: it was Barkley, Henry b John Robinson, Jonathan Taylor, Jamier Gibbs,
Speaker 1: and then.
Speaker 2: Oh so so Gibbs ended up jumping. Well, yeah, Gibbs
Speaker 2: had the big.
Speaker 1: Gibbs got to fourteen hundred yards this year. Yeah, fourteen
Speaker 1: hundred and twelve.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so Gibbs ended up jumping ahead of Jacobs as well.
Speaker 2: But you're talking about two of the premier backs in
Speaker 2: this league kind of in a head to head thing.
Speaker 2: But here's what's really interesting to me about it, Wes.
Speaker 2: The Packers have become the twenty twenty four Green Bay
Speaker 2: Packers have very much become a run the ball, stop
Speaker 2: the run football. Yes, this is the best rushing offense
Speaker 2: the Packers have had in over twenty years. You have
Speaker 2: to go back to two thousand and three when a
Speaker 2: mon Green had the eighteen hundred plus yards for the
Speaker 2: last time the Packers had a rushing offense this good.
Speaker 2: And when is the last time we talked about Probably
Speaker 2: you go back to two thousand and nine, Dom Caper's
Speaker 2: first season here, twenty nine and ten, those first two
Speaker 2: years when the Packers were very much a stop the
Speaker 2: run defense, and there have been a lot of a
Speaker 2: lot of troubles in that area since then. This is
Speaker 2: the first time I can remember in my time here,
Speaker 2: and this is my nineteenth season with Packers dot Com
Speaker 2: where we're talking about the Packers going into the postseason
Speaker 2: as a run the ball, stop the run ball team.
Speaker 2: I think the Packers have done an exemplary job against
Speaker 2: the run in the back half of the season. You
Speaker 2: look at the running backs that they have shut down.
Speaker 2: Really the only what I would consider the only poor
Speaker 2: performance against the run in the back half of the
Speaker 2: season was maybe that first game in Chicago when when
Speaker 2: the combination of Swift and Williams and that kind of,
Speaker 2: you know, jolted the Packers run defense into shape in
Speaker 2: a lot of ways. Because since then, I think they've
Speaker 2: done a really good job and we've seen the consistency
Speaker 2: with the rushing offense, obviously led by Jacobs, but the
Speaker 2: Packers ran the ball pretty darn well without Jacobs in
Speaker 2: this last game with Chris Brooks and Emmanuel Wilson. It's
Speaker 2: a this is a different type of Green Bay football
Speaker 2: team that is entering the playoffs here, and it's just
Speaker 2: interesting to me that they are a run the ball,
Speaker 2: stop the run team in a playoff matchup where the
Speaker 2: other team has the number one running back in the league.
Speaker 2: It's sort of like you can't make it up, right.
Speaker 2: There's there's a little bit of a little bit of
Speaker 2: Hollywood to this in a sense, and I think it
Speaker 2: makes for a great matchup Sunday afternoon early evening in Philly.
Speaker 1: The biggest about face that the Green Bay Packers have
Speaker 1: made in year Oneerner Jeff Halfley, is their run defense.
Speaker 1: And it's not just about Okay, they finished fifth or
Speaker 1: whatever it was or seventh. Actually it's the fact that
Speaker 1: they've finished third in yards per carry aloud. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: the first time I believe since twenty oh nine that
Speaker 1: they fish under allowing four yards per carry three point
Speaker 1: nine to six. They're best in the National Football League.
Speaker 1: In Michael, the amount of buy in that is involved
Speaker 1: with that, getting guys like Kenny Clark, Rashawn Gary, who
Speaker 1: I think everybody agrees had his bettest run stopping season
Speaker 1: in his career. No question, everybody wants to rush the passer.
Speaker 1: Everybody wants to get sacks, and the Packers got plenty
Speaker 1: of those this season, But like Philadelphia, they did it
Speaker 1: as sort of an a la carte, everybody contributing to it.
Speaker 1: Philadelphia's leading sackers, Josh Swat, I think he had eight
Speaker 1: sacks this season. Packers it was seven and a half
Speaker 1: with Rashawn Yeah, but they understood the bigger picture. That's
Speaker 1: how you get to be a top ten defense. That's
Speaker 1: how you get to be a top five defense, which
Speaker 1: Green Bay did. They were a few yards away from
Speaker 1: being a top three defense this season. So you need
Speaker 1: to take what you've done well and you need to
Speaker 1: build off of that. And I think being able to
Speaker 1: have linebackers as well with Eddrin Cooper getting involved in
Speaker 1: this thing, seeing what he has brought to the table
Speaker 1: as a run defender and being able to shoot gaps
Speaker 1: and get that guys down for TFLs. TJ. Slayton, I
Speaker 1: thought came alive in the second half of the season
Speaker 1: kind of trading into the backfield. That has been a
Speaker 1: catalyst to what Green Bay has accomplished. So yeah, this is,
Speaker 1: you know, the immovable object in the unstoppable force here
Speaker 1: kind of coming together and seeing who prevails. But there's
Speaker 1: a reason why they put this game at three point
Speaker 1: thirty in that spotlight and that slot on Sunday afternoon.
Speaker 1: This is a matchup that I think everybody wants to
Speaker 1: see and it's going to take all sixty minutes are
Speaker 1: to prevail.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you mentioned the guys that are the
Speaker 2: biggest difference in the Packers' run defense from early in
Speaker 2: the season to where they are now. It's Rashaan Gary
Speaker 2: having his best season of his career against the run.
Speaker 2: It's TJ. Slayton coming on in the second half of
Speaker 2: the season in the middle there, and it's the presence
Speaker 2: of Edger and Cooper, who was barely playing early in
Speaker 2: the season then obviously dealt with injuries and has been
Speaker 2: a force against the run down the stretch here. And
Speaker 2: I think you know, there's not a lot in terms
Speaker 2: of how Barkley ran the ball against the Packers back
Speaker 2: in Week one in Brazil that necessarily is going to
Speaker 2: apply to this game, because this is a different Packers
Speaker 2: run defense now that they've got four months of games
Speaker 2: under Jeff Haffley and his scheme and the way they
Speaker 2: want to do it. That being said, you're not gonna
Speaker 2: be able to win this game just by stopping the run,
Speaker 2: just by stopping Saquon Barkley, because the Philadelphia Eagles are
Speaker 2: much more complete than that. But the Packers are. The
Speaker 2: Packers are in a position to where as you said
Speaker 2: at the beginning of this, they can shock the football
Speaker 2: world because of how they're built, because they are run
Speaker 2: the ball, stop the run football team. And I'll take
Speaker 2: that into the postseason anytime.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And like I'm going to talk up the Eagles.
Speaker 1: You win fourteen games, you have the season that they did,
Speaker 1: you give that respect. Yeah, But I also don't want
Speaker 1: to paint the image here that this is some unbeatable opponent, right.
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts had a very rough twenty twenty three. He
Speaker 1: bounced back for the most part this season, but you know,
Speaker 1: he still didn't have a three thousand yard passing season.
Speaker 1: You know, obviously was the number two back running you know,
Speaker 1: producer to Saquon Barkley this year with a few more
Speaker 1: yards than Kenneth Gainwell, and protected the ball much better.
Speaker 1: That's why they got to where they got to this
Speaker 1: year and why they were able to be more consistent
Speaker 1: areas that they weren't last season. But ultimately, you know,
Speaker 1: with DeVante Smith, the threat that he provides, it's not
Speaker 1: like this offense is a is an overall jugger, not
Speaker 1: that you cannot find ways to stop. And I think
Speaker 1: that's the lesson and sort of the message that has
Speaker 1: to get preached this week with Jeff Haffleys. We got
Speaker 1: the guys we need to contend with any offense in
Speaker 1: the National Football League and realistically, if you want to
Speaker 1: make a run, much like the Packers did in twenty ten,
Speaker 1: this is the type of opponent in the Philadelphia Eagles,
Speaker 1: that you're going to have to find a way to beat.
Speaker 1: And I will say this one last time, Michael. I
Speaker 1: understand the Packers lost six games. I understand five of
Speaker 1: those that came against the division. I understand they had
Speaker 1: two shots against Dallas and excuse me, Detroit and Minnesota,
Speaker 1: and they didn't take advantage of it. Right, But if
Speaker 1: you're going to set the table and change the narrative
Speaker 1: and get things going in your direction, improving that this
Speaker 1: truly is a new season, coming back and closing the
Speaker 1: gap against Philadelphia after they beat you in Brazil in
Speaker 1: the opener, I think there is no better tone setter
Speaker 1: for Green Bay than that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree, and can't wait for Sunday to get here.
Speaker 2: We'll have more to talk about with regard to the
Speaker 2: Packers and Eagles on our next show. We'll also take
Speaker 2: a look at the entire Wildcard slate around the NFL. Saturday,
Speaker 2: Sunday Monday, It's going to be three days of some
Speaker 2: tremendous playoff football.
Speaker 1: Eighteen teams, Michael are done fourteen. Teams are still playing
Speaker 1: football right now. The Green Bay Packers are one of those.
Speaker 1: At this point, it no longer matters how you got here.
Speaker 1: It certainly didn't matter in twenty ten with the Packers.
Speaker 1: This time, this moment, this opportunity. If you want to
Speaker 1: show that you took those strides that everybody wanted to
Speaker 1: see in year two with Jordan Love under center, with
Speaker 1: as young of a football team as the Packers have,
Speaker 1: this is that opportunity.
Speaker 2: And with that I will just remind folks to be
Speaker 2: among the thousands of football fans cheering on their team's
Speaker 2: NFL picks by joining us April twenty four through April
Speaker 2: twenty six of twenty twenty five to for the NFL Draft.
Speaker 2: Visit green Bay dot com slash Draft twenty five for
Speaker 2: more information and we'll call it a rap on this
Speaker 2: edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of
Speaker 2: our coverage of the team. We'll be back in a
Speaker 2: couple of days to continue all of the wild card
Speaker 2: preview Packers and Eagles. It is set for the link
Speaker 2: at three point thirty pm Central Time on Sunday for
Speaker 2: Wes I Am Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody.
Speaker 2: We will see you next time.