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Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from

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Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always

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Speaker 1: by my trusted colleague West hod Kuwitz. Were coming to

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Speaker 1: you from socially distant locations at lambeau Field, West Packers

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Speaker 1: Panthers lambeau Field Saturday Night football in prime time. A

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Speaker 1: couple of thoughts about this Carolina Panthers team started the

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Speaker 1: season three and two, but since then seven losses in

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Speaker 1: their last eight games. But it comes with a bit

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Speaker 1: of a caveat because not only has Christian McCaffrey missed

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Speaker 1: the majority of the Panthers games this season, but during

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Speaker 1: this struggling time for them, they lost by three points

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Speaker 1: to the New Orleans Saints, two points to the Kansas

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Speaker 1: City Chiefs, and by one point to the Minnesota Vikings.

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Speaker 1: This isn't a team of four and nine team that's

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Speaker 1: got a whole bunch of blowouts on its ledger. These guys.

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Speaker 1: These guys play four quarters. They've been in pretty much

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Speaker 1: every game they've played this year, and I think that's

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Speaker 1: what the Packers can expect even without Christian McCaffrey. On

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Speaker 1: Saturday Night. It kind of reminds you of the first

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Speaker 1: year that Mike McCarthy was in Green Bay sort of

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Speaker 1: you know, I mean, I know they're not getting on

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Speaker 1: that run at the end of the season here, but

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Speaker 1: a lot of one score games, a lot of close losses.

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Speaker 1: I mean, you look, they lost by five to Denver,

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Speaker 1: They lost by one at Minnesota, we all know that story.

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Speaker 1: They did get blown out by Tampa Bay. But a

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Speaker 1: two point loss at Kansas City, Uh, an eight point

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Speaker 1: loss to Atlanta, in a three point loss at New Orleans.

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Speaker 1: This has been a really you know, tear you know,

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Speaker 1: kind of tough schedule that the Panthers have had to

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Speaker 1: weather this year. And they've had to do it with

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Speaker 1: the exception of three games without Christian McCaffrey. Uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: one of the top playmakers in the National Football League.

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Speaker 1: So for Matt Rule, it's interesting him coming into this situation.

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Speaker 1: He's been familiar with rebuilds before, and with rebuilds you

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Speaker 1: occasionally take your lumps early on. Uh. They've had some

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Speaker 1: good adjustments. We'll talk about some of those here momentarily.

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Speaker 1: But UH, the fact that they still sit four and nine,

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Speaker 1: it is what it is, and you have to imagine

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Speaker 1: this is a team that's still looking to finish this

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Speaker 1: year on an upswing and show that year one under

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Speaker 1: Rule was indeed a success. Well, you look at this

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Speaker 1: offense and what it does have going for it even

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Speaker 1: without Christian McCaffrey. Teddy Bridgewater obviously a productive player. He's

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Speaker 1: done it in a few different locations now and uh,

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Speaker 1: and he's putting together a pretty solid season. Mike Davis

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Speaker 1: at running back is certainly no slouch, and they're getting

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Speaker 1: dj more back um in their receiving corps and they

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Speaker 1: have kind of that you know, trickster gadget play guy

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Speaker 1: in Curtis Samuel that they do some different things on offense.

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Speaker 1: This is a team that, certainly when you look at

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Speaker 1: guys like Samuel and Moore, has a lot of speed

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Speaker 1: on the perimeter on the outside, and the Packers are

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Speaker 1: gonna have to be ready for that speed on Saturday Night. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and the big thing was getting more back to i

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Speaker 1: mean eighteen point five yards to catch this season. We

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Speaker 1: and he's proven product. It's not that this this guy

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Speaker 1: just came out of nowhere. I mean he's had a

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Speaker 1: lot of success in Carolina for a number of years now,

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Speaker 1: so having him back is huge. The big thing with

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Speaker 1: Bridgewater that I find so interesting and compelling is he

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Speaker 1: only has fourteen touchdown passes this year, but he's completing

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Speaker 1: his passes at a seventy clip h eight interceptions, you know,

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Speaker 1: pretty modest stats for the most part, but he also

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Speaker 1: adds that dimension where he can run with his feet

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Speaker 1: and extend plays as well. So this is gonna be

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Speaker 1: a great matchup, I think, a great test for this

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Speaker 1: Packers defense. Mike Davis, the backup, the veteran that has

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Speaker 1: been there for a number of you know, number of

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Speaker 1: different teams, whether it with San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, he

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Speaker 1: had to cup a coffee with. He's settled in really

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Speaker 1: well into this backfield and it has allowed rule in

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Speaker 1: this offense to stain a lot of the same concepts

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Speaker 1: that they were wanting to do with Christian McCaffrey. So

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Speaker 1: again with with Bridgewater, in these various weapons that they have,

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Speaker 1: it's it's an opponent you can't take for granted, and

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Speaker 1: they are battle tests to throw out the courses thirteen

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Speaker 1: game season. Yeah, well, right, before we get to some

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Speaker 1: of the key used to victory here for Green Bay,

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Speaker 1: I will take care of our sponsor business. So serious

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Speaker 1: x M NFL radio channel is the only radio outlet

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Speaker 1: All right, Well, keys to victory here for green Bay West.

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Speaker 1: When I look at things on the offensive side of

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Speaker 1: the ball for Green Bay, there are three things that

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Speaker 1: come to mind for me. One is that this Panthers

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Speaker 1: defense has eighteen forced fumbles and thirteen fumble recoveries on

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Speaker 1: the season, so the Packers do a good job protecting

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Speaker 1: the football. It is always an emphasis, but when you

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Speaker 1: see numbers like that heading into a game, you definitely

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Speaker 1: it definitely gets your attention because those are some significant

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Speaker 1: fumble statistics for this Panthers defense. And the other the

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Speaker 1: other two things for me are what the Packers have

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Speaker 1: done on third down and what the Packers have done

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Speaker 1: in the red zone. Green Bay right now second in

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Speaker 1: the league and third down conversions just to shade under

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Speaker 1: fifty and number one in the league in red zone,

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Speaker 1: or I guess the gold zone offense at seventy seven percent.

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Speaker 1: And just to put this in perspective here, last year,

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Speaker 1: the Packers were just thirty six percent on third down

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Speaker 1: and they ranked twenty three in the league. They've gone

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Speaker 1: from thirty six percent to over and all the way

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Speaker 1: up to number two in the league. That is a

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Speaker 1: huge jump. And the Packers were still actually pretty good

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Speaker 1: in the red zone last year at sixty percent, ranked

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Speaker 1: eighth in the league, but they've jumped from sixty percent

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Speaker 1: to seventy percent and all the way up to number

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Speaker 1: one in the league. If the Packers continue to convert

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Speaker 1: on third downs and convert in the red zone slash

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Speaker 1: gold zone at those paces at at at those kind

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Speaker 1: of rates, that's how you continue to rack up victories

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Speaker 1: and keep yourself in this position that Green Bay finds itself. Well,

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Speaker 1: they're just so vastly improved in efficiency. I think you

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Speaker 1: looked at last year, Mike, they had this talent in

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Speaker 1: the ability, you know, with a lot of these guys

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Speaker 1: to be productive and in to score touchdowns in that

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Speaker 1: but uh, this year, the way that they're finishing drives,

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Speaker 1: the way they're finishing third downs has been probably the

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Speaker 1: biggest jump that they've made in year two underneath Matt Lafleur.

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Speaker 1: It was kind of comical a little bit. We were

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Speaker 1: talking with Mason Crosby on Wednesday, and obviously coming off

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Speaker 1: of that fantastic performance that he had in Detroit, and

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Speaker 1: he talks, you know, about the relationship he has with

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Speaker 1: Rogers and how long they've been around each other, and

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Speaker 1: he mentions, you know, his ability to watch excellence as

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Speaker 1: he calls it from the sidelines. There's been a lot

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Speaker 1: of times this season where he's been revved up, getting

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Speaker 1: ready to go out there to be mentally prepared to

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Speaker 1: kick a thirty or forty fifty yard field goal. The

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Speaker 1: offense just keeps driving Aaron Rodgers, keeps pushing them downfield,

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Speaker 1: and next thing you know, he's kicking a thirty three

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Speaker 1: yard extra points. So, uh, that's just the way of it.

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Speaker 1: Crosby leads the league and in extra points attempted and

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Speaker 1: made this year. I mean that that's how this offense

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Speaker 1: has played out. Now you put that in contrast with

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Speaker 1: what the Carolina There's do. This is a completely renovated

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Speaker 1: scheme here. Uh, in the first year underneath Matt Rule. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: Luke Kickley retired, they still have a lot of great

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Speaker 1: weapons in that defense. I mean, and being able to

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Speaker 1: get a guy like Brian Burns last year I thought

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Speaker 1: was such a big thing for them. Uh, one of

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Speaker 1: the big pass rushers that I was really high on.

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Speaker 1: Not really as many sacks are on the you know,

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Speaker 1: same toward pace he was a year ago, but very effective,

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Speaker 1: very efficient, but I mean so many different areas where

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Speaker 1: they can take the ball away. And then as you mentioned,

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Speaker 1: you know their ability to they've forced, they've recovered. I

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Speaker 1: believe it's thirteen fumbles and they've only lost three. I mean,

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Speaker 1: to have that kind of difference in your turnover differential, Uh,

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Speaker 1: that that's that's gonna be something that's gonna keep you

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Speaker 1: in a lot of games. Yeah. And on the defensive

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Speaker 1: side of the ball for the Packers, we talked about

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Speaker 1: the speed and these weapons that Teddy Bridgewater has. It

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Speaker 1: kind of feels like, doesn't it, West, that it just

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Speaker 1: comes down to preventing those really big explosive plays that

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Speaker 1: can hurt you. You have to make this Panther's offense

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Speaker 1: earn its way down the field, you know, seventy seventy

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Speaker 1: five yard drives, but doing it doing in in in

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Speaker 1: little chunks, and if this Packers defense can you know,

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Speaker 1: can get them into a third and seven or a

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Speaker 1: third and nine, that's going to be the opportunity to

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Speaker 1: to get off the field and get the ball back

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Speaker 1: to number twelve. Yeah, and that's where you know the

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Speaker 1: counter punches with the Panthers that they can do it

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Speaker 1: both ways. I mean, as we mentioned, you have a

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Speaker 1: guy like d G. Moore back in the lineup, one

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Speaker 1: of the most explosive receivers in this league. And then

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Speaker 1: you have a guy like you know, Mike Davis who

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Speaker 1: can kind of chip away at you a little bit

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Speaker 1: with the passing game and the running game. I think

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Speaker 1: as long as carry this year is only twenty five yards,

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Speaker 1: but he's been effective in averaging, you know, over four

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Speaker 1: four point one four point two yards per carry this year.

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Speaker 1: So depending on which direction they want to go, they

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Speaker 1: can kind of wear you down and hit you with

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Speaker 1: the big punch. But the other side of this thing

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Speaker 1: I that I look at is the difference in the quarterbacks,

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Speaker 1: a difference in the experience level. Aaron Rodgers goes into

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Speaker 1: this thing, he's looking to hit that tipping point again

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Speaker 1: for forty touchdowns. He's over five you know, fifty career

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Speaker 1: passing yards, has been one of the biggest and most

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Speaker 1: consistent performers in one specific offense for so many years

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Speaker 1: and then now has taken those traits and translated to

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Speaker 1: what Matt Lafleur does. On contrast, Teddy Bridgewater, who's a

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Speaker 1: guy I've always been really high on. He's gone through

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Speaker 1: multiple offensive systems now, and he was brought in this

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Speaker 1: year because of a lot of things he did in

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Speaker 1: spot duty in New Orleans, obviously coming off of the big,

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Speaker 1: terrible leg injury that he had that ended his time

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Speaker 1: in Minnesota. So, uh, you haven't seen a lot of

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Speaker 1: these type of matchups. It's been a while since Bridgewater

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Speaker 1: has played the Packers, So I think that that's gonna

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Speaker 1: be one of these these type of matchups and and

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Speaker 1: how things shuffle out here, Um, that's gonna tell you

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Speaker 1: a lot, not only about this Packers defense, but also

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Speaker 1: this Packers offense trying to stay in the rhythm that

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Speaker 1: they've been in. Yeah, and on the special teams side

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Speaker 1: of things, we've seen obviously the Packers have had some

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Speaker 1: issues with their coverage units and this Carolina Panthers special

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Speaker 1: teams unit, Trent and Cannon kickoff returner. He's got a

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Speaker 1: ninety eight yard kickoff return, had that against Tampa Bay

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Speaker 1: this season. Pharaoh Cooper is their punt returner. He was

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Speaker 1: a pro bowler a few years ago. But on the

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Speaker 1: flip side of things, Carolina has allowed an eighty three

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Speaker 1: yard punt return for a touchdown this season. Packers have

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Speaker 1: Tavon Austin back there now, a different a different weapon,

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Speaker 1: a new guy that they're working into uh into the mix.

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Speaker 1: So special teams could definitely play a factor in this game.

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Speaker 1: Not just the kicking game with with Mason Crosby and

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Speaker 1: Joey Slye, but but those the returns and the coverage

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Speaker 1: that could definitely be a factor Saturday night. Yeah, And

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Speaker 1: if I remember right, I think sly actually had a

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Speaker 1: missfield goal there that kind of loom large in that

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Speaker 1: that game last year too. From what I recall, I

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Speaker 1: mean this this is the area with the third phase

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Speaker 1: that you're gonna see a lot of these games be

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Speaker 1: decided down the stretch. And I think that's one of

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Speaker 1: the big things of why Matt Lafloor Shawn Menee have

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Speaker 1: talked about wanting to shore up the areas where they've

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Speaker 1: fallen short. Crosby touched down in it as well. I mean,

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Speaker 1: they've had these moments where you get thirty plays and

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Speaker 1: you know, twenty eight of them, twenty nine of them

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Speaker 1: look okay. But then you let a seventy one yard

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Speaker 1: kickoff return go, or you have a blocked punt or

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Speaker 1: a punt return for a touchdown. Those things won't fly,

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Speaker 1: especially down the final stretch here. So the one thing

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Speaker 1: I you look at Tavon Austin, Uh, this is a guy.

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Speaker 1: I said it to you last week because we were

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Speaker 1: watching the game, Mike. He catches the ball fluidly on

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Speaker 1: punt returns. Now, it's one thing to be a really

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Speaker 1: good returner. Jeremy Ross was an excellent punt returner, but

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Speaker 1: he wasn't always the best at catching the ball fluidly

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Speaker 1: and looking natural back there when he receives it. That.

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Speaker 1: There wasn't a lot that we saw from Tavon Austin

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Speaker 1: that first game. It was a very modest workload that

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Speaker 1: he had. They only used him on punts especially, But

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Speaker 1: you can just tell the confidence he has there. This

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Speaker 1: is a guy that's been doing that his entire life.

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Speaker 1: He's done it every single season he's been in the NFL.

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Speaker 1: It's a second nature and it is one of the

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Speaker 1: most underrated positions in the National Football League that when

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Speaker 1: you have a guy there that you have confidence that

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Speaker 1: he's not only gonna be able to catch the ball,

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Speaker 1: but it is naturally gonna be able to turn up field.

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Speaker 1: That's where the Packers are trying to get something here

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Speaker 1: during this final stretch. Last year it was Tyler Irvin.

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Speaker 1: This year they needed to be Tavon Austin. Yeah. Absolutely well.

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Speaker 1: In looking at where the Packers sit, as we talked

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Speaker 1: about on our last show, the NFC North is in

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Speaker 1: the books. The Packers are the division champions and currently

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Speaker 1: sitting in control of the number one seed, tied with

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Speaker 1: the New Orleans Saints at ten and three for the

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Speaker 1: top record in the NFC. The Packers have that head

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Speaker 1: to head tiebreaker over New Orleans. Three victories in these

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Speaker 1: last three games and the Packers will be the number

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Speaker 1: one seed in the NFC and get that first round

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Speaker 1: by Obviously, you'd love to be able to get some

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Speaker 1: breathing room, right, I mean um, And this is an

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Speaker 1: opportunity this week is an opportunity for the Packers to

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Speaker 1: do that, You're you're hosting a Carolina Panthers team that

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Speaker 1: is significantly below five hundred. While the New Orleans Saints

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Speaker 1: unsure whether or not Drew Brees will be back from

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Speaker 1: his rib injury, they have to take on the Kansas

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Speaker 1: City Chiefs, the top team in the a f C,

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Speaker 1: A team that I think has lost only one of

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Speaker 1: its last six or twenty seven games dating back to

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Speaker 1: last year and through the Super Bowl and everything like that.

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Speaker 1: So everything went right for the Packers last weekend that

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Speaker 1: you could have asked for in terms of what you

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Speaker 1: wanted to happen in the position you wanted to be.

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Speaker 1: And you get a win here and uh and a

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Speaker 1: win from Kansas City over New Orleans, then things are

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Speaker 1: really really looking good heading into the last two weeks

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Speaker 1: of the regular season. Yeah, they really are. I mean,

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Speaker 1: because I think before that game last week for the

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Speaker 1: Saints going up against the Philadelphia a lot of a

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Speaker 1: lot of the thinking was, Okay, well, the Saints could

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Speaker 1: run the table here, but it's that Kansas City game

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Speaker 1: that we have to keep an eye open for. When

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Speaker 1: the door opens after a loss like that to the Eagles,

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Speaker 1: especially heading into a game with Kansas City. That's where

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Speaker 1: it starts to raise some questions there. Taysom Hill has

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Speaker 1: done a fantastic job of keeping that ship afloat for them,

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Speaker 1: But I think you've seen defenses kind of make their adjustments.

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Speaker 1: Now he's gonna have to find ways to win in

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Speaker 1: different ways now where it's not just gonna be the same. Okay,

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Speaker 1: you know we're gonna throw on this place, so it's

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Speaker 1: looking down the receiver and there he is and throw

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Speaker 1: the past or or going out and trying to scramble

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Speaker 1: and make something happen. Hill's really talented. But that's going

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Speaker 1: to be the CounterPunch here. And this is going to

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Speaker 1: be a matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs where they

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Speaker 1: have a defense that's going to be able to get

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Speaker 1: after him and pressure him up the middle. So that's

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Speaker 1: gonna be something to follow. But for Green Bay standpoint,

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Speaker 1: as we talked about just now, where you can't really

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Speaker 1: look past Carolina. It doesn't matter if it's offense or defense.

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Speaker 1: You have Jeremy Chin on the defensive side for Carolina too,

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Speaker 1: is a defensive Rookie of the Year candidate. At this point,

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Speaker 1: they can't look past this opponent either. So because you

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Speaker 1: have the Tennessee Titans coming up on the horizon as well.

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Speaker 1: It's what makes playoff football so compelling, it what makes

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Speaker 1: the last two or three weeks of the regular season great.

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Speaker 1: I wish this game wasn't playing being played on Saturday night.

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Speaker 1: I wish you and I were watching it at New

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Speaker 1: and Central time on Sunday. But that's not the world

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Speaker 1: we live in. The Packers had to make that adjustment

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Speaker 1: this week, and we'll see how they handle this in

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Speaker 1: the past when things are unique, when schedules aren't really

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Speaker 1: typically set and they have to create, you know, a

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Speaker 1: new plan. Matt Lafleur and his coaches have done a

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Speaker 1: pretty good job of it. Well. A couple other games

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Speaker 1: that will be interesting in terms of the NFC playoff

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Speaker 1: picture that are worth talking about as well. Right in

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Speaker 1: the NFC North, you can almost call it a playoff

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Speaker 1: game on Sunday, the Vikings taking on the Chicago Bears.

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Speaker 1: Both teams are six and seven. I mean, really, the

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Speaker 1: simplest way to explain it is the winner of this

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Speaker 1: game is going to still be alive for a wild

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Speaker 1: card spot, and the loser of this game is probably out.

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Speaker 1: It really is almost a playoff game for these two

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Speaker 1: teams that are trailing the Packers in the NFC North,

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Speaker 1: What are your thoughts here as the Bears and the

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Speaker 1: Vikings go head to head for a second time in

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Speaker 1: the Bears and Vikings, in two very different ways, are

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Speaker 1: both just screaming towards eight and eight seasons. And that's

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Speaker 1: a phrase I've used in the past because they've just

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Speaker 1: been two up and down, and when you're two up

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Speaker 1: and down as a team, you typically end up falling

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Speaker 1: right under that five hundred line throughout the course of

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Speaker 1: a year. From Chicago standpoint, it's funny how one game

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Speaker 1: can kind of make you get your confidence back, your

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Speaker 1: swagger back a little bit. Mitchell Robinsky was up for

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Speaker 1: FedEx Air Player of the Week after everything he's been

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Speaker 1: through to have a three touchdown performance where he really

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Speaker 1: looked like he had a command of the offense. Matt

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Speaker 1: Negie was talking about it. He sees a difference in

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Speaker 1: him right now. But can you carry that over? Can

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Speaker 1: you do it again against Mike Zimmers defense? Can you

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Speaker 1: finish the year strong and make your team convinced that

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Speaker 1: you're not a guy that can step up and make

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Speaker 1: throws and make plays. You know here and there that

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Speaker 1: shows those bright spots that that you can be a real,

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Speaker 1: you know, franchise quarterback. Can you do that? Every single

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Speaker 1: week I keep throwing out that line about Aaron Rodgers

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Speaker 1: thirteen games this season, twelve of them over eight passer rating.

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Speaker 1: It's so difficult to do. That's not easy to do.

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Speaker 1: But that's what the elite quarterbacks can do in this league.

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Speaker 1: And that's just one the one area where Troubinsky has

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Speaker 1: fallen short to this point. Minnesota, they made the rally,

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Speaker 1: they got back into this thing. Sometimes you wonder can

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Speaker 1: you maintain that? Can you finish the race here to

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Speaker 1: the to the final bell. That's what we're gonna find

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Speaker 1: out very soon. They have weapons, we've seen them all

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Speaker 1: they had, they could honestly as as good as Delvin

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Speaker 1: Cook is, they could become one of the top passing

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Speaker 1: offenses in the National FOOTBA. Like if they just if

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Speaker 1: that's the focus of how they wanted to do things,

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Speaker 1: they're built to win in a lot of different ways.

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Speaker 1: But unfortunately for them, again, it's been one step forward,

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Speaker 1: one step back. Yeah, it's really interesting when you when

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Speaker 1: you look at these two teams, they're sitting there, sitting

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Speaker 1: there at six and seven. Both of them have a

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Speaker 1: very recent loss that looks extremely damaging to their playoff

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Speaker 1: chances right now. The Vikings lost that game a few

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Speaker 1: weeks ago to the Dallas Cowboys, which really they had

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Speaker 1: no business losing to a team like the Cowboys and

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Speaker 1: the struggles that they were going through, but it happened.

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Speaker 1: The Bears. They had the Detroit Lions on the ropes,

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Speaker 1: They had a ten point lead with four minutes to

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Speaker 1: go in their own building and had the Lions backed

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Speaker 1: up near their own goal line, and they let them

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Speaker 1: off the hook. And those those individual losses for those teams,

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Speaker 1: those are the ones that you lament. But as you said,

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Speaker 1: that's that that's sort of what happens to teams that

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Speaker 1: ride the roller coaster up and down like that. And

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Speaker 1: so now they have to forget about those results. They

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Speaker 1: they've got a de facto playoff game against one another

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Speaker 1: here on Sunday. The other one I want to ask

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Speaker 1: you about um two division leaders actually in the NFC.

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Speaker 1: Seattle is at Washington, and we've seen this Washington. We've

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Speaker 1: seen this Washington football team though West. I mean the

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Speaker 1: you know Alex Smith, Alex Smith is playing you know

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Speaker 1: Alex Smith football, he's he doesn't make a whole lot

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Speaker 1: of mistakes. They found a little bit of a running game.

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Speaker 1: But this Washington team is doing it with defense. Chase Young.

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Speaker 1: Chase Young that high draft pick, and this Washington team

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Speaker 1: has has shown in the last few weeks it's not

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Speaker 1: easy to just go out there and you know, put

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Speaker 1: up points on these guys. Seattle, they're in a you know,

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Speaker 1: a real dog fight in the NFC West with the

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Speaker 1: Los Angeles Rams. Those two teams are going to play

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Speaker 1: each other next week. Um the Rams sort of get

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Speaker 1: you know, if you can call it such in the

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Speaker 1: NFL the gimme game. They have the New York Jets,

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Speaker 1: which was the team that Seattle be up on last week.

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Speaker 1: Um So Seattle is looking at, you know, feeling like

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Speaker 1: they have to win get to tenant four to keep

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Speaker 1: pace with the Rams, who most likely will be tenant

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Speaker 1: four when the Seahawks and the Rams face off a

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Speaker 1: week from now. Can somebody just win the NFC East

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Speaker 1: Already it's been every team I think there's They've brought

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Speaker 1: in teams off the street that have made a run

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Speaker 1: at this thing. At this point. The thing that's great

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Speaker 1: about Washington. You mentioned he's playing Alex Smith football. That's

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Speaker 1: true game management one O one, but he actually has

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Speaker 1: been turning over the ball a little bit and they've

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Speaker 1: still found a way to overcome that with the way

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Speaker 1: that this defense is structured. And probably another defensive Rookie

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Speaker 1: of the Year candidate there. They've lost Antonio Gibson, they

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Speaker 1: still end up rolling last week. That that's the sign

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Speaker 1: of a good team. Ron Rivera excels in these situations.

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Speaker 1: I mean, when they were looking at changing their culture,

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Speaker 1: they were looking to change their you know, the win

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Speaker 1: loss record, a new identity. He's the guy unfortunately has

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Speaker 1: had to work through some other things. But this is

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Speaker 1: is the test now, Washington, can they have success against

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Speaker 1: this defense in Seattle? Kind of in a different way.

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Speaker 1: Can they penetrate what has been one of the top

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Speaker 1: defenses in the National Football League this year with Russell

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Speaker 1: Wilson being able to, you know, take on a unit

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Speaker 1: like this and not have the errors or mental lapses.

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Speaker 1: The NFC West race has tightened up real fast, and

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Speaker 1: unfortunately for the San Francisco forty Niners, they hadn't really

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Speaker 1: been a part of it. But just watching these teams

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Speaker 1: and and trying to assert their dominance there and understanding

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Speaker 1: what that means for their playoff implications. Um, this is

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Speaker 1: a game that the Seahawks cannot look past. Yeah. Absolutely.

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Speaker 1: And the Arizona Cardinals in third place in that NFC

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Speaker 1: West there right in the right, in that wild card hunt,

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Speaker 1: they sit a game ahead of the Bears and Vikings,

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Speaker 1: the Cardinals at seven and six and trying to get

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Speaker 1: one of those wild card spots in the NFC. Any

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Speaker 1: games in the a f C West that uh in

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Speaker 1: the West, I'm sorry, games in the a f C

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Speaker 1: that jump out at us that you're going to have

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Speaker 1: your eye on this weekend. Yeah, there were a couple.

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Speaker 1: The first one is I mean, if they're New York Jets,

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Speaker 1: if there was ever a year for them to draw

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Speaker 1: the NFC West uh in a in a season series

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Speaker 1: that that's just turned out really well for them. Uh No.

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Speaker 1: But New England and in Miami, Mike was the game

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Speaker 1: that stood out to me. And this was so many years.

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Speaker 1: I mean, there was a huge winning streak I think

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Speaker 1: the Patriots had too over the Dolphins or season series,

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Speaker 1: and then that was a team that they just sort

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Speaker 1: of they were the big brother too for so many

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Speaker 1: years and now with Brian Flores there, now the Dolphins

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Speaker 1: are looking like a team on the rise, and in

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Speaker 1: the Patriots are having to answer a lot of questions,

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Speaker 1: so seeing how they how they handle that, I mean otherwise, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: there's not a whole ton of you know, huge matchups here.

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Speaker 1: Pittsburgh's gonna beat up likely on Cincinnati. The Ravens kind

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Speaker 1: of after a really tough little run that they had

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Speaker 1: to go through, now they get a winnable game against Jacksonville.

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Speaker 1: This seems kind of more like a take care of

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Speaker 1: business week for most teams, but um, seeing if Miami

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Speaker 1: can complete that, you know, the season sweep there on

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Speaker 1: the Patriots gonna be interesting to watch. Well, even in

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Speaker 1: a take care of business week, there's usually some game

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Speaker 1: that jumps up on somebody where somebody doesn't take care

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Speaker 1: of business and then the playoffs scenarios in one conference

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Speaker 1: or another kind of get thrown for a loop. So

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Speaker 1: we'll see if that, uh, we'll see if that happens here.

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Speaker 1: As Week fifteen in the NFL comes to a close.

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Speaker 1: Oh that's wrong. The Dolphins last week one to the Patriots,

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Speaker 1: so they didn't sweep. But Dolphins are finishing really strong though, Mike,

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Speaker 1: So there are that would be that that would be

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Speaker 1: that'd be quite an achievement for Brian Flores in his

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Speaker 1: second year as coach there with the program he took

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Speaker 1: over to potentially get Miami to the playoffs. That would

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Speaker 1: be impressive. And the moves they made a dit to

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Speaker 1: do it, I mean going with two uh and you know,

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Speaker 1: kind of saying this is gonna be our guy. The

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Speaker 1: rest of the way. We feel like we can compete

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Speaker 1: this year. We're gonna do it. They've had to go

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Speaker 1: through a bunch of different running backs to whether it

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Speaker 1: be through COVID or injuries. I think that says a

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Speaker 1: lot about his program, the way they've kind of rallied

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Speaker 1: this thing. And Patrick Graham, former Packers inside linebackers coach,

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00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:58,880
Speaker 1: the defensive coordinator down there, that's right, absolutely well with that,

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Speaker 1: we will call it a wrap on this edition of

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Speaker 1: Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage

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Speaker 1: of the team and everything going on with Saturday night's game.

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Speaker 1: It'll all be on Packers dot Com for West I

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Speaker 1: Am Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody. We'll see

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Speaker 1: you next time.