Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford and he is wes Hodkuits. We're
Speaker 1: coming to you here from our studios at lambeau Field
Speaker 1: and West. It's time for us to move on to
Speaker 1: our second quarter of the season review, and in doing that,
Speaker 1: we will talk about the peak performances, which is a
Speaker 1: feature on our website packers dot Com. Fans can go
Speaker 1: to the story read about the selected individual top performances
Speaker 1: from games five through eight of the season, vote for
Speaker 1: your favorite. So there are five of them to talk
Speaker 1: about and uh and we'll run through them quickly. Here
Speaker 1: the first couple of segments of the show, because the
Speaker 1: first three are actually all from the same game, that
Speaker 1: big win over the dead Alice Cowboys that really, I
Speaker 1: guess when you look at it was probably the single highlight,
Speaker 1: probably biggest highlight of the season for the Packers, and
Speaker 1: three peak performances out of that game, quarterback Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: running back Aaron Jones, and on the defensive side, cornerback
Speaker 1: to Marius Randall. I'll let you start wherever you want
Speaker 1: as far as which of those performances stood out to you.
Speaker 1: The most. I'm gonna start with Aaron Rodgers on this
Speaker 1: because we didn't get a lot of Aaron Rodgers this
Speaker 1: season due to that color bone injury. And I thought
Speaker 1: you made a great point there in the introduction, like
Speaker 1: you could put this up there, I guess with the
Speaker 1: Bears game, But offensively, I think this was the best
Speaker 1: performance the Packers had. It was the most complete performance.
Speaker 1: They finally were able to break through at the run game,
Speaker 1: which we'll talk about here shortly. But Aaron Rodgers was
Speaker 1: just so deadly in this game, and even the passes
Speaker 1: he missed, he found ways to correct them. And it
Speaker 1: just seemed to me, you know, there's been a lot
Speaker 1: of cat and mouse here the last few years between
Speaker 1: him and Rod Marinelli, the defensive coordinator for the Cowboys.
Speaker 1: Each team has had their successes, each team has had
Speaker 1: their failures. But on this day, I just thought Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers was just incredibly efficient in the passes, the performances
Speaker 1: he put together, the communication and chemistry with Davante Adams. Um.
Speaker 1: I don't want to keep opening up a story here
Speaker 1: for Packer fans, because I'm sure they would have liked
Speaker 1: to have seen this the entire season but I think
Speaker 1: that this was the offensive output the Packers showed that day,
Speaker 1: really showed what they were capable of than two thousand seventeen. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And just to give you the rundown on the numbers
Speaker 1: from Aaron Rodgers in this game, nineteen of twenty nine,
Speaker 1: two twenty one yards, three touchdowns a one two point
Speaker 1: nine passer rating. Packers were down twenty one to six
Speaker 1: in this game, West came back to win thirty five
Speaker 1: to thirty one. Obviously the most memorable part a seventy
Speaker 1: five yard drive took only sixty two seconds one minute
Speaker 1: and two seconds to go seventy five yards to win
Speaker 1: this game, a twelve yard touchdown passed Davante Adams with
Speaker 1: eleven seconds left, and that that final drive also included
Speaker 1: some of Aaron Rodgers athleticism. He escapes a couple of
Speaker 1: potential sacks on a third and eight scrambles for eighteen
Speaker 1: yards and then two plays later where he hits Adams
Speaker 1: for the game winning touchdown, a really top notch performance.
Speaker 1: And then to hear him talk about it afterwards, where
Speaker 1: the opening play of the final drive a back shoulder
Speaker 1: throw to Davantae Adams that he essentially uses to set
Speaker 1: up a different type of back shoulder throw for the touchdown.
Speaker 1: A lot of really a lot of really amazing things
Speaker 1: about the performance. But also you mentioned the Packers got
Speaker 1: their running game going in this game, and that was
Speaker 1: thanks to Aaron Jones. The previous game against the Bears,
Speaker 1: he had come in the second half. Time Montgomery Jamal Williams,
Speaker 1: both out with injuries, showed something there the second half
Speaker 1: of the Chicago game. Becomes the feature back for this
Speaker 1: game against Dallas. Nineteen rushes, a hundred and twenty five
Speaker 1: yards and a touchdown. It was Hello world to uh
Speaker 1: that Aaron Jones said that day down in Dallas, a
Speaker 1: really impressive performance. Gotta keep in mind too, this is
Speaker 1: a guy that traveled a lot as a kid, but
Speaker 1: his family eventually settled down in El Paso and he
Speaker 1: had a lot of family friends make that. I believe
Speaker 1: it was a seven or eight hour drive over. Packers
Speaker 1: running game at that point in time was sort of
Speaker 1: a work in progress. They had a really hard time,
Speaker 1: regardless of it was Aaron Jones, Jamal Williams or Time Montgomery,
Speaker 1: they had a hard time establishing it for four quarters.
Speaker 1: This was the game I think not only Aaron Jones needed,
Speaker 1: but the Packers needed to really establish themselves. And as
Speaker 1: it turned out over the last ten weeks of this season,
Speaker 1: that ended up being one of the biggest strengths of
Speaker 1: this team is what players like Aaron Jones and Jamal
Speaker 1: Williams were able to do. It started with this game
Speaker 1: against Dallas, and you saw it sort of snowball from
Speaker 1: there with some of the other performances he put together
Speaker 1: in the weeks to come. Yeah, and Jones making his
Speaker 1: first NFL start in this game, he became the first
Speaker 1: Green Bay rookie with a one yard rushing performance in
Speaker 1: his first start since two thousand five. I believe that
Speaker 1: was Sam Kangato, a street free agent so to speak,
Speaker 1: that the Packers picked up that year. But Aaron Jones
Speaker 1: a seven yard touchdown run, also had a diving nine
Speaker 1: yard catch along the sideline that helped us set up
Speaker 1: that TV run runs of twenty two and fifteen yards
Speaker 1: for some explosive plays. The fifteen yard are coming on
Speaker 1: the game winning drive. A very smart lee got out
Speaker 1: of bounds the whole thing to stop the clock. Just
Speaker 1: a lot of really good things about that. The third
Speaker 1: one peak performance from the Cowboys game is on the
Speaker 1: defensive side and it's cornerback to Marius Randall. And this
Speaker 1: one was chosen really because the previous game against Chicago,
Speaker 1: things did not go well for Randall. He was essentially
Speaker 1: banished to the locker room by Mike McCarthy to avoid
Speaker 1: any sort of sideline distraction after you know, a mix
Speaker 1: up that led to a Chicago touchdown, a lot of
Speaker 1: emotions kind of getting in the way. He ends up
Speaker 1: getting a pick six on Dak Prescott in this game
Speaker 1: against the Cowboys. That was a huge part of the
Speaker 1: comeback from the twenty one to six deficit. I personally
Speaker 1: felt this game by Randall was the one that turned
Speaker 1: his season around, maybe even turns his career around. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree with and as you were saying that in
Speaker 1: terms of how I really was able to flip the
Speaker 1: momentum in that game, that was a really demoralizing play
Speaker 1: for the Cowboys. Correct me if I'm wrong here. I
Speaker 1: think that was the first touchdown returned from an interception
Speaker 1: since Micah Hyde had one, like or was a Casey
Speaker 1: Hayward had one two year prior to that, Packers really
Speaker 1: had been looking for one of those type of game
Speaker 1: changing type plays off an interception, Damarius Randall was the
Speaker 1: first of four picks, a team high he ended up
Speaker 1: having in two thousand seventeen. As you said, I think
Speaker 1: this was the start of a new chapter for him,
Speaker 1: and it's momentum that you hope he can continue to
Speaker 1: build upon now going into what will be his fourth
Speaker 1: NFL season. Yeah, that pick six off of a ball
Speaker 1: that hit Terrence Williams and Damarius Randall was there to
Speaker 1: snag it. Gave the Packers lead early in the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: of their first lead of the game, and then they
Speaker 1: obviously had to retake the lead that at the end.
Speaker 1: But we've got a couple more peak performances from the
Speaker 1: second quarter of the season to talk about. We'll get
Speaker 1: to those after the breakback with more on Packers Unscripted
Speaker 1: right after this A welcome back to pack Kers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: Mike Spofford in this chair, Wes Hodkowits in that one
Speaker 1: in West. Continuing our discussion of peak performances games five
Speaker 1: through eight. Fans can go on Packers dot com, call
Speaker 1: it the story and vote for their favorite um. These
Speaker 1: last couple from the second quarter of the season are
Speaker 1: from games the Packers unfortunately lost, but it doesn't take
Speaker 1: away from what these individuals accomplished, starting with linebacker Blake
Speaker 1: Martinez at Minnesota. The game that's obviously remembered for Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers broken collar bone and uh the game that really
Speaker 1: changed the entire Packers season. But I thought this was
Speaker 1: the game fourteen tackles, twelve solo tackles, a couple of
Speaker 1: tackles for loss on Latavius Murray, deflected pass that Damerius
Speaker 1: Randall intercepted. I thought this was the game that really
Speaker 1: epitomized that first to second year jump that Blake Martinez made.
Speaker 1: I think we really started to see it here in Minnesota,
Speaker 1: even though it was in a loss. Yeah, and it
Speaker 1: was a point in time. I think I always tell
Speaker 1: this story, but sometimes you forget about it. With how
Speaker 1: we finished the season as one of the leading tacklers
Speaker 1: in the NFL come Week one, going into that first
Speaker 1: game against Seattle, we didn't really know that Blake Martinez
Speaker 1: was gonna be a starting linebacker, let alone in every
Speaker 1: down linebacker for this defense. Up until that last preseason game,
Speaker 1: it really looked like it was Jake Ryan, Joe Thomas,
Speaker 1: and then Morgan Burnett as a hybrid linebacker. Well, as
Speaker 1: it turns out, they end up giving Martinez a chance
Speaker 1: as the nickel linebacker at the start of the season
Speaker 1: and just to see him build upon that and take it. Okay,
Speaker 1: he was early down back, uh, you know, early down linebacker.
Speaker 1: Then he comes back and starts to really put together
Speaker 1: some really productive games. And I don't know, off the
Speaker 1: top of my head, maybe you remember how many double
Speaker 1: digit tackle performances he had this season. I want to
Speaker 1: say it was somewhere in the range of eight or nine.
Speaker 1: I was going to say it was about half the games.
Speaker 1: Incredibly productive. This was another part of that. Yes, it
Speaker 1: didn't go how the Packers wanted to turn out. The
Speaker 1: Rogers thing took a lot of the wind out of
Speaker 1: their sales. But defensively, uh, this was a big part
Speaker 1: of the Packers run defense starting to get it together
Speaker 1: after a slow start. YEA. And the play I think
Speaker 1: that stands out to me the most decide from the
Speaker 1: past deflection which Randall turned into an interception to help
Speaker 1: the Packers get a field goal in this game was
Speaker 1: there was a third down play and it was a
Speaker 1: little swing pass, checkdown type of thing. To Jerick McKinnon
Speaker 1: out in the flat and Jerick McKinnon's one on one
Speaker 1: with Blake Martinez. It was third and six or so,
Speaker 1: and McKinnon's job is to make one guy miss and
Speaker 1: get the first down, and Blake Martinez completely fundamentally sound
Speaker 1: tackle gets him down to the ground. The Vikings end
Speaker 1: up having to punt a really sharp play because McKinnon
Speaker 1: can make a lot of guys miss in that situation
Speaker 1: and Martinez didn't give in. For my money, I think
Speaker 1: that's one of the best things that Martinez does in
Speaker 1: his games. He's really good in open space and he
Speaker 1: seems to be really solid in the flat. We saw
Speaker 1: that a couple of times over the course of the season,
Speaker 1: where if a running back or you know, a slat
Speaker 1: receiver has one guy to miss there and can extend
Speaker 1: it for a first down or maybe an explosive play.
Speaker 1: Martinez does a good job. If he's not tackling him
Speaker 1: by himself, he does a good job of holding the
Speaker 1: guy up and allowing guys to circle to the ball
Speaker 1: around him. And like when you're looking at playing complete defense,
Speaker 1: and there's many areas of packers are looking and prove
Speaker 1: going into eighteen, that's definitely a good starting point for them. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And last, but not least as far as the peak
Speaker 1: performances from games five through eight, Aaron Jones again twice
Speaker 1: in this segment, I guess, but this one against the
Speaker 1: New Orleans Saints. This is Brett Hunley's first start at
Speaker 1: quarterback in place of Aaron Rodgers, and on the opening
Speaker 1: drive of the game, he takes the first carry for
Speaker 1: fifteen yards. Then just a few plays later he burst
Speaker 1: up the middle for a forty six yard touchdown and
Speaker 1: uh again just immediately showing that what he did against
Speaker 1: the Dallas Cowboys with that five yard performance certainly no fluke.
Speaker 1: He ends up with seventeen carries one hundred and thirty
Speaker 1: one yards, a good chunk of them obviously on the
Speaker 1: on the first drive of the game. But again a
Speaker 1: rookie really showing up when the Packers needed him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and this is the thing that really oppressed me the
Speaker 1: most about this performance from Aaron Jones. You also have
Speaker 1: to remember, I think he ended up being I want
Speaker 1: to say, the NFL ground Player of the week and
Speaker 1: then maybe the NFL Rookie of the week twice during stretch.
Speaker 1: Definitely piled on some honors he did, and this was
Speaker 1: an important time for the Packers to start establishing that
Speaker 1: run because bred Hunley was struggling to kind of get
Speaker 1: comfortable there at quarterback. They needed someone else to step up.
Speaker 1: And you know, you know how running backs are in
Speaker 1: today's NFL. You get a guy that stands up, you
Speaker 1: have a guy that really, you know, takes that step
Speaker 1: forward and becomes a featured guy. The entire league is
Speaker 1: staring at you. Now, Aaron Jones wasn't gonna catch anybody off,
Speaker 1: you know, off guard. New Orleans defense was vastly improved,
Speaker 1: and they knew going into this game they were gonna
Speaker 1: have to contain him. He still found a way to
Speaker 1: make plays and I just think his explosiveness. He's shifted
Speaker 1: between the tackles. He can run, stretch outside zone plays.
Speaker 1: He has to work on the past protection now going
Speaker 1: into next season. But overall, when you look in terms
Speaker 1: of what you look for in a complete back as
Speaker 1: a runner, he kind of, for lack of a better term,
Speaker 1: has the whole route tree figured out. He can do whatever.
Speaker 1: You know, the Packers offense is asking him to. Yeah,
Speaker 1: a quick statistical note, that forty six yard touchdown run
Speaker 1: early in the Saints game, the Packers longest rushing touchdown
Speaker 1: since Week six of so um a big play there.
Speaker 1: So we've gone over all five of them. The three
Speaker 1: from the Cowboys game. Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Jones, da Marius Randall,
Speaker 1: Blake Martinez against Minnesota, Aaron Jones against New Orleans. Do
Speaker 1: you have a favorite out of this quintet? Aaron Jones
Speaker 1: against the Cowboys, just because Aaron Rodgers was incredibly effective
Speaker 1: that day, very efficient, but he did only have twitter
Speaker 1: and twenty one passing yards, and that they needed the
Speaker 1: run game to get established and to be productive. And
Speaker 1: that was really the turning corn that the Packers run game,
Speaker 1: turning a corner from a slow start to become in
Speaker 1: a pretty good unit by the end of the year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And if I had to pick one, I would go
Speaker 1: with Aaron Rodgers in that Cowboys game. It was obviously
Speaker 1: the last time we saw him really in peak form, obviously,
Speaker 1: and just the fact that you know, the Cowboys looking
Speaker 1: to avenge the playoff loss from the year before, they
Speaker 1: jump on top twenty one to six. It looks like
Speaker 1: they might run the Packers right out of the building.
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers just keeps everything composed, puts together, drives the
Speaker 1: chemistry with Jordy Nelson, DeVante Adams in some key moments
Speaker 1: for some touchdown passes really stood out. I thought it was,
Speaker 1: you know, as I said at the beginning, I thought
Speaker 1: that was the highlight of the season for Green Bay
Speaker 1: and the Eagles had gotten off to a fast start,
Speaker 1: but the Cowboys were still viewed as the favorite in
Speaker 1: the NFC East, and at that point in time they
Speaker 1: needed to catch up. I think everybody was really high
Speaker 1: on them still, and it showed the Packers in terms
Speaker 1: of really been able to go into their house and
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers continue to play really well in that stadium. Yeah, alright,
Speaker 1: with that, we'll toss to a break back with more
Speaker 1: on Packers Unscripted right after this. Welcome back to Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: Mike Spofford here, Wes Hodkowits over there in West. We
Speaker 1: kind of rushed through those five peak performances from the
Speaker 1: second quarter of the season because I wanted to spend
Speaker 1: the last couple of segments of today's show talking about
Speaker 1: the conference championship games from over the weekend and getting
Speaker 1: some of your thoughts. Let's start in the a f C.
Speaker 1: The New England Patriots their seventh consecutive appearance in the
Speaker 1: a f C title Game. They are headed back to
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. They overcome a twenty to ten fourth
Speaker 1: quarter deficit with two touchdowns and knock off the feisty
Speaker 1: Jaguars to twenty. What are your thoughts on how that
Speaker 1: turned out? Here's my thoughts, Mike. The Jacksonville Jaguars beat
Speaker 1: New England Patriots in every single major category of this game.
Speaker 1: Time of possession thirty eight to two, two, third down
Speaker 1: efficiency Patriots. You look at every single major area that
Speaker 1: you look to achieve and become efficient in, and the
Speaker 1: Jaguars did it except for one. Situational football, the intangible
Speaker 1: something that you cannot look at a statistic and say, well,
Speaker 1: this team is just better than this team in that area.
Speaker 1: New England Patriots play that. I said this an insider
Speaker 1: inbox this week. They play situational football as well as
Speaker 1: any team in the NFL. Bill Belichick the adjustments that
Speaker 1: they made at halftime, getting a little bit of a
Speaker 1: spark at the end of the first half to kind
Speaker 1: of give him some momentum, but ultimately Tom Brady making plays,
Speaker 1: Danny Amon Dolas stepping up when they don't have Rob Gronkowski.
Speaker 1: It's just that's the thing that impresses me the most.
Speaker 1: You're looking at two teams now in the Eagles and
Speaker 1: the Patriots, who have had to overcome adversity, have had
Speaker 1: to overcome injuries. It's just how things are in the NFL.
Speaker 1: But having that next guy be ready when you don't
Speaker 1: have a star is ultimately you need your quarterback. I'm
Speaker 1: not denying that. I mean Nick Foles played really well
Speaker 1: too for the Eagles, but to have the Danny am
Speaker 1: and Dolas of the world step up, and also the
Speaker 1: Patriots defense to play as well as they did after
Speaker 1: a rough season, I think you just have to tip
Speaker 1: your cap. It was frustrating, you know, you really thought
Speaker 1: that Jacksonville Jabows are gonna pull it out, and you
Speaker 1: get the rug pulled out from underneath you. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: just I felt the Jaguars executed their game plan almost
Speaker 1: two a t for three and a half quarters. They
Speaker 1: had a huge time of possession advantage. They were setting
Speaker 1: everything up to be able to pound the ball with
Speaker 1: Leonard Fournett in the fourth quarter to protect the lead,
Speaker 1: and New England's defense just did not give in. They
Speaker 1: could not. The Jaguars could not stay ahead of the
Speaker 1: chains with the running game in the fourth quarter because
Speaker 1: the Patriots were clamping down on it. It put the
Speaker 1: game in Blake Bortle's hands and and the Jaguars just
Speaker 1: were not able to convert enough first downs in that
Speaker 1: fourth quarter to keep the lead. And I really thought
Speaker 1: the game change, I know, the end of the first
Speaker 1: half was was a key sequence. The Jaguars are looking
Speaker 1: like they're going to score and extend a fourteen to
Speaker 1: three lead. They get to delay a game penalty that
Speaker 1: wipes out a third down conversion. They end up hunting
Speaker 1: the ball back, and the Patriots go down and score
Speaker 1: before halftime to make it fourteen to ten. A big
Speaker 1: a big shift for sure. But then in the third quarter,
Speaker 1: the Jaguars got back to doing what they were doing.
Speaker 1: They were shutting down the Patriots. They kicked two field
Speaker 1: goals they extended to twenty to ten. So to me,
Speaker 1: the game hinged was about nine or ten minutes to go.
Speaker 1: In the fourth quarter. The Patriots have the ball, They're
Speaker 1: on their own twenty five yard line. It's third and
Speaker 1: eighteen West, third and eighteen with a ten point lead
Speaker 1: Tom Brady converts that I belie even to a mandola,
Speaker 1: if I'm not mistaken. I thought the game completely changed
Speaker 1: right there, because that was the play. The Patriots were
Speaker 1: one of eight on third downs up until that point,
Speaker 1: and then they convert a third and eight teen. It
Speaker 1: sparks them for a touchdown drive to get within twenty
Speaker 1: to seventeen. And I felt from there the Jaguars were
Speaker 1: just trying to hang on for dear life, and you
Speaker 1: could kind of feel like it wasn't gonna happen. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and and for the defense, you know, for it to
Speaker 1: be against their defense. All season long, the Jaguars have
Speaker 1: been so good in that area of the game and
Speaker 1: and so sturdy, and and it just showed to me,
Speaker 1: you know, they have a lot of experience in the trenches.
Speaker 1: They don't have as much experience on the perimeter um,
Speaker 1: and and you know, opportunities are what they are, and
Speaker 1: Tom Brady, you know, made the most of them. Uh.
Speaker 1: The thing that I think, if you're looking at it
Speaker 1: from a hindsight perspective, and I know a lot of
Speaker 1: people mention this an Insider inbox this week, I do
Speaker 1: wonder if you have fifty five seconds ago and two
Speaker 1: time outs at the end of the first half. There
Speaker 1: is that playing to win mentality and playing not to lose.
Speaker 1: I think he got a little too conservative there. It's
Speaker 1: it's easy to look at that now and say that,
Speaker 1: but it just seemed to me that Jay Guards are
Speaker 1: just a little too cautious and the Patriots a little
Speaker 1: too optimistic opportunistic. Yeah. Well, before we go to a
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Speaker 1: on Packers Unscripted right after this. Welcome back to Packers
Speaker 1: Unscripted Mike Spofford alongside West, Hodkowitz and West. Before we go,
Speaker 1: I definitely have to get your thoughts on the NFC
Speaker 1: Championship game. The Philadelphia Eagles thirty eight to seven at
Speaker 1: home at the link over the Minnesota Vikings. I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna say I'm surprised the Eagles one. I thought this
Speaker 1: would be a really hard fought game. I definitely felt
Speaker 1: either team had a legitimate chance, certainly to win this one.
Speaker 1: I did not see the Eagles winning by thirty one points. No,
Speaker 1: and I don't think Vegas that either. It was what
Speaker 1: three and a half points spread in favor of the Vikings. Uh.
Speaker 1: Here's the thing. There was a couple of years back,
Speaker 1: I remember seeing this interview with Doug Peterson. This is
Speaker 1: before he ends up going to Kansas City. He was
Speaker 1: still coaching high school football his sons, and I I was saying,
Speaker 1: I'm perfectly content, you know, coaching school football and just
Speaker 1: happy at the level I'm at. Not amazing. This guy
Speaker 1: was born to be a head coach. And I think
Speaker 1: a lot of people said that even back when he
Speaker 1: was the backup quarterback for Brett Farve. What a game
Speaker 1: plan him and Frank Reich, that entire coaching staff put
Speaker 1: together to really disassemble what the Minnesota Vikings do so well?
Speaker 1: What was inarguably the top defense. Absolutely they were number
Speaker 1: one in yards and points, the whole thing. They knew
Speaker 1: defense offe what they were gonna get out of Gym
Speaker 1: Schwartz's unit. They knew they were going to be in
Speaker 1: this thing. But they needed Nick Foles to make plays.
Speaker 1: They didn't need him to expose the football. They didn't
Speaker 1: need him to throw for five yards, but to get
Speaker 1: this kind of performance, three two yards, three touched, one,
Speaker 1: one passer rating. This was the two thousand thirteen Nick Foles.
Speaker 1: Everybody was raving about, smart with the football in every
Speaker 1: single time he needed to make a play, he made
Speaker 1: that play. Yeah, and I thought the way this game started.
Speaker 1: The Minnesota Vikings take the opening kick off, they marched
Speaker 1: seventy five yards down the field, touchdown past to Kyle Rudolf.
Speaker 1: They're up seven nothing. You're thinking, oh boy, you know,
Speaker 1: case Keendom's got a rolling. They got all the momentum
Speaker 1: from the big win over the Saints the previous week.
Speaker 1: You know, the drama, everything. But then about halfway through
Speaker 1: the first quarter, suddenly everything shifts when the Eagles end
Speaker 1: up with a pick six, They get a they get
Speaker 1: a hit on the quarterbacks of the ball floats a
Speaker 1: little bit intercepted. Uh weaves his way, you know, across
Speaker 1: gets picks up a couple of big blocks and gets
Speaker 1: into the end zone and suddenly, where the Vikings seemed
Speaker 1: to have everything going their way, they're up seven nothing,
Speaker 1: and you're thinking they're gonna eventually get a two score lead.
Speaker 1: It's seven to seven. I don't think Minnesota ever recovered
Speaker 1: from that play. It just see it seemed to completely
Speaker 1: flip the game. And to make that point, I just
Speaker 1: made the last segment too, about Jacksonville getting a little
Speaker 1: bit conservative at the end of the first half. Eagles
Speaker 1: took the exact opposite approach. Not only did they have
Speaker 1: a lead, Doug Peterson, they kept the foot on the
Speaker 1: gas pedal and to be able to get that extra
Speaker 1: touchdown and then come out in the second half and
Speaker 1: get the football to it just seemed like a boxer
Speaker 1: that was against the ropes and just kept taking shot
Speaker 1: after shot and just never had a second to recover. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it's easier to do that when you're playing at
Speaker 1: home to Jacksonville had a decision to make their Philadelphia
Speaker 1: had the crowd going and everything, and yeah, they put
Speaker 1: them away early in the third quarter. Really, now they're
Speaker 1: going to the Super Bowl, and they're going to the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. With that, that's a wrap on this edition
Speaker 1: of Packers Unscript, and be sure to follow all of
Speaker 1: our coverage of the team on Packers dot com On Twitter,
Speaker 1: He's at west Hot, I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers
Speaker 1: for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody. We'll
Speaker 1: see you next time. H m hm