Speaker 1: Hi everyone. Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford. He is the one and only
Speaker 1: West Hodkowitz. We're coming to you here from our studios
Speaker 1: at lambeau Field and West. The bye week is here
Speaker 1: for the Green Bay Packers. It is Week eleven. Quick
Speaker 1: programming note, this will actually be our final unscripted show
Speaker 1: for this week. Wes and I. We still have some
Speaker 1: work to do, but we're going to try to do
Speaker 1: it out of the office and not have to come
Speaker 1: into the office. You're going to Barbados. What are you talking? Yeah, sure, yeah, right, um.
Speaker 1: But anyway, we will be back after this show. We
Speaker 1: will be back next Monday with resuming our usual five
Speaker 1: shows a week leading up to that all important Packers
Speaker 1: road trip to San Francisco. But right now it is
Speaker 1: the bye week. The players are off for the rest
Speaker 1: of the week. The Packers coaching staffs, interestingly, Matt Lafleur
Speaker 1: talked on Monday about how their bye week project is
Speaker 1: essentially too game plan for the other guys. The offensive
Speaker 1: coaches are going to look at the defensive film like
Speaker 1: they're going to put together a plan to try to
Speaker 1: beat them and the defensive coaches are going to do
Speaker 1: the same thing, looking at the Packers offensive film, a
Speaker 1: form of self scouting to try to get to the
Speaker 1: bottom of some of these things are what opponents are
Speaker 1: looking at in terms of where some weaknesses are, some
Speaker 1: things that the coaches want to shore up when they
Speaker 1: get the players back from the break. Yeah, it can
Speaker 1: be very illuminating to do that kind of stuff. You know.
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy always called it across the hall meetings that
Speaker 1: they would do with their self ressessment, self reviews. So
Speaker 1: I would imagine and I was anticipating that they were
Speaker 1: going to do something like that with Matt Lafleur and
Speaker 1: Mike Petton. Why it's so interesting with these two particular
Speaker 1: sides though, Is it even just because of Okay, how
Speaker 1: the game film has gone. It's because they've been practicing
Speaker 1: against each other going back to May, so seeing where
Speaker 1: those teams and offenses that have evolved, who's picked up
Speaker 1: certain concepts better than others. Where things are now five
Speaker 1: six months after the installation period. I always find this
Speaker 1: to be a very fascinating time to be able to
Speaker 1: go back and a lot of times when they come
Speaker 1: out of the break, you see some adjustments. They don't
Speaker 1: always have to be Clay Matthews moving to inside lineback
Speaker 1: or something that is drastic as that, but you do
Speaker 1: see subtle changes, sudden personnel that are emphasized, different concepts
Speaker 1: that are maybe emphasized or de emphasized. So it's an
Speaker 1: important time to be able to obviously rest the mind.
Speaker 1: You know, you don't want to push yourself too hard because,
Speaker 1: as Jamal Williams said in the locker room on Monday,
Speaker 1: they're planning to play through February here, so this is
Speaker 1: like the last little rest bit before you get into
Speaker 1: that big run. But at the same time also being
Speaker 1: cognizant of where you are and what you're doing. So
Speaker 1: when the players come back into the building on Monday,
Speaker 1: you put forth a plan that's not only going to
Speaker 1: get you through these next six weeks, but could really
Speaker 1: potentially propel you into a postseason. Yeah. I guess one advantage,
Speaker 1: if there is an advantage to having a bye week
Speaker 1: this late in the season, is when it comes to
Speaker 1: this sort of self scouting process. There's a lot of
Speaker 1: film in the vault. You've got ten games in uh,
Speaker 1: you know, in the film room to go over as
Speaker 1: opposed to maybe having only four or five if you
Speaker 1: have the bye week earlier in the season. So um,
Speaker 1: it'll be interesting to see if there are any adjustments.
Speaker 1: I'm guessing there will be some adjustments, but they won't
Speaker 1: necessarily be noticeable to us in terms of what the
Speaker 1: Packers might be doing schematically um as they go forward.
Speaker 1: But before we get any further though, West, We've got
Speaker 1: to talk about this Monday night football game, and if
Speaker 1: it's funny, I want to use this to pivot into
Speaker 1: this because I was watching parts of that game last night,
Speaker 1: and as we talked about on yesterday's show, San Francisco
Speaker 1: had a Week four by if there was ever a
Speaker 1: better example of Okay, if you could get eight week
Speaker 1: or eight or nine, that's perfect, But why you would
Speaker 1: rather have it in week e eleven rather than Week
Speaker 1: four is exactly what I think I saw in that
Speaker 1: San Francisco game. A lot of things went wrong for them,
Speaker 1: but the thing that kept popping up into my mind
Speaker 1: is how different is this game if George Kittles available? Obviously?
Speaker 1: How different is this game if Robbie gold is available,
Speaker 1: even though he's obviously had some issues at times this
Speaker 1: year And Emmanuel Sanders. Emmanuel Sanders goes down with the rib.
Speaker 1: They're obviously missing Kyle used check at that point. It's
Speaker 1: just there are so many things kind of pulling against
Speaker 1: the forty Niners and the thing that they're gonna have
Speaker 1: to go through, like I talked about it on yesterday's show, now,
Speaker 1: is you lose this game to Seattle, You're gonna have
Speaker 1: to see him again at their place. You go against Arizona.
Speaker 1: Now next week we can play with anybody, and then
Speaker 1: the Packers Baltimore, New Orleans. But at the end of
Speaker 1: the day, you have to win the ball game. In
Speaker 1: the San Francisco forty Niners and Seattle, for the most part,
Speaker 1: neither one wanted to grab that brass ring, and eventually
Speaker 1: it turned up to be Seattle's game. Well that was
Speaker 1: It was just a crazy game. I mean, it has
Speaker 1: to go down as of right now as the game
Speaker 1: of the year in the NFL so far. Monday night,
Speaker 1: those two teams, just the turnovers, the defensive touchdowns, the
Speaker 1: swings and momentum going to overtime, going all the way
Speaker 1: to the end of overtime, the missed field goal when
Speaker 1: the forty Niners had a chance to win. Before that,
Speaker 1: the Seahawks look like they're going to win, and Russell
Speaker 1: Wilson throws an interception. I mean, um, the back and
Speaker 1: forth in the game was wildly entertaining. But the bottom
Speaker 1: line is now, this is this is where things sit
Speaker 1: with us in the NFC. San Francisco's eight and one,
Speaker 1: The Packers and the Seahawks are eight and two, The
Speaker 1: Saints are seven and two, and the Vikings are seven
Speaker 1: and three. That's loaded, my friend, I mean, and honestly,
Speaker 1: I will say this flat out. I can see any
Speaker 1: one of those five teams getting the number one seed
Speaker 1: in the NFC at this point with six games for
Speaker 1: some seven, whatever the situation is, I can see any
Speaker 1: one of those five teams getting the number one seed.
Speaker 1: And here's the really interesting part of those five teams
Speaker 1: I just rattled off. There are still five games left
Speaker 1: this season that involve two of those five teams playing
Speaker 1: each other. The Packers play the forty Niners and the Vikings.
Speaker 1: The Vikings play the Seahawks, and you, as you already mentioned,
Speaker 1: San Francisco also has to play the Saints and the Seahawks.
Speaker 1: And that's not even including games that are on the
Speaker 1: schedule for some of these teams that include Carolina who's
Speaker 1: still in the mix, that include either Philadelphia or Dallas
Speaker 1: who's still in the mix. And you mentioned San Francisco
Speaker 1: has to play Baltimore and a cross conference game. This is, uh,
Speaker 1: this is really something the way the way this is
Speaker 1: shaping up. This this one result with San Francisco not
Speaker 1: getting to nine and oh and taking that first loss,
Speaker 1: and as you say, they're bye week as well in
Speaker 1: the past, and they've got injuries to deal with here
Speaker 1: as as this gauntlet of a schedule comes up, this
Speaker 1: thing is wide open for the top seeds in the NFC. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and just first off, to be my own own budsman here,
Speaker 1: I was in correct. Kyle us Check has since returned,
Speaker 1: but they still were dealing with a lot of injuries
Speaker 1: in this ball game, and Kindles such a big important
Speaker 1: part of that offense. He was watching the luxury box
Speaker 1: or whatever. He wasn't even on it wasn't even able
Speaker 1: to be on the sidelines with his teammates. So here's
Speaker 1: what this does. I thought, you know, friend of the program,
Speaker 1: Aaron Nageler, your one time co host on the show.
Speaker 1: You know, he said after watching that game, you know,
Speaker 1: the Packers have a legitimate shot at a super Bowl here.
Speaker 1: I think any of those five teams in the NFC
Speaker 1: right now that are sitting at side too, can all
Speaker 1: say that they have a legitimate shot. And it's not
Speaker 1: only just because of the parody, even though it is
Speaker 1: a slightly top heavy conference. It's because you look over
Speaker 1: in the a f C and everybody's talking about all
Speaker 1: the issues that the New England Patriots have and they're
Speaker 1: sitting in the position that they are right now. Buffalo
Speaker 1: just gets beat by Cleveland. That there are just there's
Speaker 1: very few teams out there right now that are just
Speaker 1: world beaters that are just knocking everybody down that haven't
Speaker 1: shown everybody has flaws. Everybody has shown flaws, and just
Speaker 1: about every every one of those teams, I think I
Speaker 1: could probably name him if he gave me enough time,
Speaker 1: has played a true clunker of a game. Quite frankly.
Speaker 1: I mean, for San Francisco, it really was last night's game.
Speaker 1: The way they turn the ball over and the way
Speaker 1: their defense could not get the stops to force field
Speaker 1: goals because Um, with the short fields, Seattle was able
Speaker 1: to punch things in for touchdowns. Um the uh that
Speaker 1: that was definitely San Francisco's worst performance of the season.
Speaker 1: As you said, they're they're dealing with injuries, but they
Speaker 1: don't get a break here and they've got a lot
Speaker 1: to deal with. And the thing that Seattle did that
Speaker 1: you are absolutely unequivalently going to have to do if
Speaker 1: you're going to beat the forty niners, you have to
Speaker 1: stop the run, and Seattle did that. They were not
Speaker 1: able to get going because you know, the way Kyle
Speaker 1: Shanahan wants to play with this particular group, They want
Speaker 1: to get their running backs thirty opportunities in a game,
Speaker 1: whether it's most dirt, whether it's Coleman, whether it is
Speaker 1: all these different you know permutations that they use. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Brita in there as well, who couldn't get anything going
Speaker 1: with his ten carries. So it is incredible to see
Speaker 1: a plan get fulfilled. People will talk about the missed opportunities.
Speaker 1: They'll talk about those last few minutes overtime. They'll talk about,
Speaker 1: you know, a rookie, you know, I should say, off
Speaker 1: the street free agent kicker having to come in make
Speaker 1: a game tying field goal to go into overtime and
Speaker 1: then badly missing the one and overtime. But make no mistake,
Speaker 1: Seattle put themselves in a position to win that game
Speaker 1: against an undefeated opponent on the road. That's a credit
Speaker 1: to Russell Wilson. It's a credit to Carson too, man.
Speaker 1: I mean his longest carry was nine yards, but just
Speaker 1: continually kept grinding at it. And you know, between whether
Speaker 1: it was jadeveon Conn, they're just they found ways to
Speaker 1: win that football game. Yeah, it was after going down
Speaker 1: early to mind you yeah, oh yeah, they were they
Speaker 1: were down, they were down, they had to come back.
Speaker 1: It was it was a really it was just a
Speaker 1: really really entertaining game, not in the same way that
Speaker 1: you know, the game of the Year in the regular
Speaker 1: season last year, that Chiefs Rams game with like a
Speaker 1: hundred points on the board. That was entertaining in a
Speaker 1: in a very different way, and a lot of people
Speaker 1: thought and that actually came close to being a Super
Speaker 1: Bowl preview last year, except then the Chiefs lost in
Speaker 1: overtime in the a f C championship games, so that
Speaker 1: rematch never happened. Um, neither this one total yards to
Speaker 1: which is incredible, and they basically played an extra quarter. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's a heck of a ball game. Yeah, this one.
Speaker 1: We're going to see the rematch in week seventeen as
Speaker 1: division rivals, and who knows that maybe meeting number two
Speaker 1: out of three between these teams, because there's a chance
Speaker 1: that that that they could meet up in January as well.
Speaker 1: And you talk about one of those teams is going
Speaker 1: to be going in the playoffs. I don't care if
Speaker 1: it's Seattle, I don't care if it's San Francisco. Again,
Speaker 1: they have to get other They have to do their
Speaker 1: homework here. They have to be able to get to a
Speaker 1: a position to be in clinching a spot to the
Speaker 1: playoffs for that to have the full meeting. But whoever
Speaker 1: wins that could very well have a first round by
Speaker 1: could very well end up being the number one seed.
Speaker 1: Whoever loses it is going to have an absolute drag
Speaker 1: out kind of match up and then five, you know,
Speaker 1: six days, seven days later, you're gonna have to come
Speaker 1: out and play a wild card game right after that too. Uh.
Speaker 1: That's that's where the stakes are really high in that conference.
Speaker 1: But getting back to original point, because I think it
Speaker 1: worth bears repeating here. For Green Bay, they took care
Speaker 1: of business to get to eight and two they needed
Speaker 1: to win that game against Caroline, as you and I
Speaker 1: were talking about last week, to put themselves in a
Speaker 1: position to sit back this weekend and see how the
Speaker 1: Chips fall. Could Arizona come out now, could they be
Speaker 1: able to maybe get San Francisco on a bit of
Speaker 1: a slide here testing them with that Cliff Kingsbury offense.
Speaker 1: But even more than that, the way the schedule lines
Speaker 1: up for green Bay, now you're gonna have to travel
Speaker 1: to Washington, You're gonna have to travel to New York.
Speaker 1: Two teams together, I think, have what three or four wins.
Speaker 1: Those are games you have to win. Then you get
Speaker 1: Chicago at home, You're gonna have a tough matchup against Minnesota,
Speaker 1: and then you're gonna have to go back into Ford
Speaker 1: Field against Detroit. But that's why you win the eight games.
Speaker 1: You're no longer after three years of having to kind
Speaker 1: of chase the dog chase in the car. You're in
Speaker 1: the driver's seat right now, and you're in a position
Speaker 1: to potentially, you know, control your destiny here going into
Speaker 1: the playoffs. Well, and and also given that result on
Speaker 1: Monday night, just how big was that win by Minnesota
Speaker 1: on the road at Dallas on Sunday night. If Minnesota
Speaker 1: is sitting at six and four and two games behind
Speaker 1: the Packers. With as top heavy as things are in
Speaker 1: the conference, nobody's really talking about Minnesota in this conversation
Speaker 1: for first round by and whatnot, not to say that
Speaker 1: they would have been out of it. But the Vikings
Speaker 1: they had they've navigated their toughest back to back. They
Speaker 1: had to go at Kansas City and at Dallas back
Speaker 1: to back weeks, and they were able to split them. Um,
Speaker 1: probably in somewhat the reverse way people thought with Patrick
Speaker 1: Mahomes not playing for Kansas City. Maybe you think, Okay,
Speaker 1: the Vikings will beat Kansas City, but then they won't
Speaker 1: be able to beat a healthy Dallas Cowboys team. Well
Speaker 1: it went the other way. But to come off of
Speaker 1: the loss in Kansas City and then and then to
Speaker 1: do what they did down in Dallas knock off the
Speaker 1: Cowboys stay right on the Packers heels at seven and three,
Speaker 1: this is uh, this is just gonna be really fun
Speaker 1: down the stretch. Um. And as I said, a lot
Speaker 1: of a lot of big games, a lot of interesting
Speaker 1: games to watch here. With Minnesota still having to play Seattle,
Speaker 1: the Packers are gonna come out of the by and
Speaker 1: go to San Francisco. As you said, San Francisco's next
Speaker 1: game is against Arizona, a team that rallied from a
Speaker 1: deficit against them and took them right down to the wire,
Speaker 1: um when they just played them recently on a Thursday
Speaker 1: night game. So there's a lot to be sorted out
Speaker 1: here in the NFC over the last six seven weeks
Speaker 1: as we get to the end of the end of
Speaker 1: the calendar year, and then it's all just a preview
Speaker 1: for what's gonna happen in Jay anywhere. Yeah, and I'll
Speaker 1: be honest with you, Mike, Arizona is not going to
Speaker 1: the playoffs this year. But I do not want to
Speaker 1: play the Arizona Cardinals. If you've watched the games they've had,
Speaker 1: Kyler Murray looks like a legitimate talent and he seems
Speaker 1: to really fit Kingsbury's offense. They're flawed, They are still
Speaker 1: a little bit away, and I don't mean to be
Speaker 1: dismissive of their chances, but they they have three potential
Speaker 1: playoff teams staring right up on top of them in
Speaker 1: that division. It's a law of math. But I wouldn't
Speaker 1: want to play them right now because they play everyone
Speaker 1: pretty much the same way, right down to the wire,
Speaker 1: and that offense always gives them a chance. So you
Speaker 1: have for San Francisco, they're gonna have to get themselves
Speaker 1: back together here. Defensively, they're as good as they get
Speaker 1: right now in the NFL. You can talk about Shanahan's offense.
Speaker 1: You can talk about, but I mean it is incredible.
Speaker 1: You know, the job that they're doing defensively with that unit.
Speaker 1: I know some deep ties there from Matt Lafleur with
Speaker 1: that entire team, but it's it's a big question mark.
Speaker 1: And if you look at Minnesota right now, Mike, that team,
Speaker 1: the way that they've bounced back from some adversity, you
Speaker 1: have to tip your cap to him, and you've got
Speaker 1: to see where these chips fall over the next month.
Speaker 1: Because that week six team matchup on Monday Night football
Speaker 1: every single week, it looks more intriguing. Yeah, it's definitely
Speaker 1: getting more intriguing with with each passing week. Before I
Speaker 1: forget here, Wes, because I did forget yesterday. Select Cousin
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Speaker 1: we believe in better am I allowed to take the
Speaker 1: like the reins of the ship for the last five
Speaker 1: minutes because the thing I wanted to ask you, and
Speaker 1: I didn't get a chance to put this in our
Speaker 1: pre production meeting, but I want to ask you is
Speaker 1: when you look at the totality of where the Packers
Speaker 1: are at night now ten games. Because I have an
Speaker 1: answer to this too, but I want to put it
Speaker 1: out there for you. What is maybe the biggest thing
Speaker 1: that has surprised you to this point? And I know
Speaker 1: it's easy to point to the record, Jimmy Graham talked
Speaker 1: about it, nobody expecting it to be eight and two,
Speaker 1: But when you look at the construct of this team
Speaker 1: and where they got through the first two plus months
Speaker 1: of the season, Now, what, what's maybe one thing you
Speaker 1: didn't know when we were going into that first game,
Speaker 1: you know, walking into Soldier Field, getting into that press
Speaker 1: box that these past ten games I've talked, I think
Speaker 1: what I would say for me, what surprises me the
Speaker 1: most is the way things have gone in some different
Speaker 1: forms and fashions with regards to Davante Adams, and I
Speaker 1: mean that in a couple of ways. One, I wasn't
Speaker 1: sure that this offense would be able to continue to
Speaker 1: ascend and continue to improve. We saw so much improvement
Speaker 1: in the first month and then Adams went down, but
Speaker 1: the offense continue to get better. Um that surprised me
Speaker 1: a little bit. Matt Lafleur, Aaron Rodgers. They found something
Speaker 1: that works with running the offense through the running backs,
Speaker 1: through Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams and letting them be
Speaker 1: the real bell cows offensively. And I think that's going
Speaker 1: to continue as we saw against Carolina, even with Adams
Speaker 1: being back. But then the other thing is that this
Speaker 1: offense would have the numbers that it had as and
Speaker 1: Davante Adams hasn't caught a touchdown pass after the guy
Speaker 1: has had three consecutive double digit touchdown pass seasons. As
Speaker 1: we talked about yesterday, He's not worried about it, he's
Speaker 1: not hung up on it. Credit to him and whatnot.
Speaker 1: But yeah, if you had said to me after ten
Speaker 1: games that Davantae Adams would not have a touchdown pass,
Speaker 1: how many wins would the Packers have? I would not
Speaker 1: I would not say eight. You know, so, um, that's
Speaker 1: the thing. I that's the thing that stands out to
Speaker 1: me in terms of how this offense has has managed,
Speaker 1: has evolved, has adapted to the circumstances. And I and
Speaker 1: I still don't think we've necessarily seen this Packers offense,
Speaker 1: this Matt Lauthor offense with Aaron Rodgers at the Helm.
Speaker 1: I don't think we've seen it at its best yet.
Speaker 1: And to me, that's what's going to be really intriguing
Speaker 1: about the last six regular scenes. This isn't what I
Speaker 1: wanted to say from my surprise, but the thing I've
Speaker 1: been really encouraged by and and certainly l A was
Speaker 1: a step back, but this offense. Watching that first month
Speaker 1: of September, there were sony people talking about how things
Speaker 1: aren't quite working. You know, they're they're kind of ranking
Speaker 1: low in some of these categories. Very quietly and steadily.
Speaker 1: It wasn't one particular game, but you saw them rise
Speaker 1: in passing yards, in points in the in the indicators
Speaker 1: that everybody points to for offensive success and efficiency. It's
Speaker 1: interesting the rushing numbers are still low compared to the
Speaker 1: league average, but you I think that's arguably the thing
Speaker 1: offensively that maybe you have the most confidence in right
Speaker 1: now with what those two guys can do back there,
Speaker 1: and seeing Aaron Jones evolve the way he has has
Speaker 1: been a real treat to watch. But even more so,
Speaker 1: there were so many years, Mike where you and I
Speaker 1: would answer insider inbox questions and people asking what can
Speaker 1: the Packers do to get Jamal Williams and Aaron Jones
Speaker 1: on the field together. I'm not saying football is easy,
Speaker 1: it really isn't, but when you look at your playmakers,
Speaker 1: I get I have so much respect for the way
Speaker 1: that Matt Lafleur decided both of these guys can go,
Speaker 1: and both these guys have their strengths and the fact
Speaker 1: that they both can be three down running backs, they
Speaker 1: can pass, protect, they can catch. Yeah, find ways to
Speaker 1: get them on the field, innovate, don't be afraid of,
Speaker 1: you know, utilizing your full talent, and and Flora has
Speaker 1: been willing to do that. I want to just point out,
Speaker 1: in terms of my biggest surprise one the way they've
Speaker 1: started games this season. And there's been a few exceptions,
Speaker 1: but for the most part, they've just rocking it out,
Speaker 1: and that's been an area where they really struggled offensively, defensively,
Speaker 1: everything the past few years, just being able to get
Speaker 1: out get those points on the board right away. They
Speaker 1: usually had to work into it. But man, oh man, Mike,
Speaker 1: and you've covered the team a lot longer than I have.
Speaker 1: But their ability to finish, working through adversity, working through
Speaker 1: yards on both sides of the ball, special teams, you know,
Speaker 1: at times not being able to come through, but finding
Speaker 1: ways to win and crunch time. That is the number
Speaker 1: one thing a team has to do if they want
Speaker 1: to play deep into the postseason. And this team, if
Speaker 1: they can stay healthy, which to this point they have
Speaker 1: been able to, if they get into the postseason, it
Speaker 1: doesn't matter what the environment is. Although Packers are hopeful
Speaker 1: that they're gonna be able to play some games at Land,
Speaker 1: but with the way things have gone so far, they
Speaker 1: are going to be able to overcome the circumstances. That
Speaker 1: is so difficult to achieve. Because when you talk about
Speaker 1: one eleven and it's great, it's a great model, you
Speaker 1: can put it on a T shirt, it's something that
Speaker 1: guys can all go to. But if you don't believe
Speaker 1: that you're not going to succeed in those predicaments in
Speaker 1: the Packers for the most part this year have Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: I think that's why I focus so much early in
Speaker 1: the season. I felt that win at Soldier Field in
Speaker 1: Chicago said so much about where this team could potentially go.
Speaker 1: And what I'm talking about is the way things went
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter, because you're talking about crunch time
Speaker 1: and being able to do things when the game is
Speaker 1: on the line. That opening win over Chicago, the offense
Speaker 1: in a one score game was backed up inside it's
Speaker 1: ten yard line. They drove the ball out of there,
Speaker 1: put together the drive that they needed late in the
Speaker 1: game to attack on a field goal. The defense gets
Speaker 1: the interception in the end zone to thwart a potential
Speaker 1: game tying drive by the Bears. And then you also
Speaker 1: had special teams with j. K. Scott coming through with
Speaker 1: that big punt the fourth quarter. The very first game
Speaker 1: of the year, you had all three phases do something
Speaker 1: really really crucial in the fourth quarter at crunch time.
Speaker 1: And as you said, as the season has gone along,
Speaker 1: it's been some different ways and some some different happenings
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter to get it done. But what
Speaker 1: we saw there in Week one was fortunately a sign
Speaker 1: of things to come, because that's how this team is.
Speaker 1: When this this team is winning games at the end
Speaker 1: at crunch time, and that's what you have to do.
Speaker 1: And that's one of the things that's kind of bothered
Speaker 1: me too about some of the submissions. We've got people
Speaker 1: comparing this particular defense to two thousand eleven, and I
Speaker 1: get the one comparable and that there's been some yardage
Speaker 1: allowed and they both, you know, kind of thrived on takeaways.
Speaker 1: But and you covered the every game that year. I
Speaker 1: only covered the home games. But my takeaway from that
Speaker 1: season was a lot of defense. A lot of offenses
Speaker 1: could kind of score at will. If they didn't get
Speaker 1: the takeaway, they were getting three, they were getting seven
Speaker 1: every single time. There there's a difference there this year,
Speaker 1: and I think that's why if you want a true
Speaker 1: assessment of defense. Pete Doherty from the Press, Becausette said
Speaker 1: this years ago, you have to do some kind of
Speaker 1: calculation where you have to factor in scoring defense for
Speaker 1: everything that went wrong, for the yards that were allowed,
Speaker 1: some of the explosive games that happening in Carolina. Carolina
Speaker 1: is still only scored sixteen points in the points are
Speaker 1: going to be what ultimately determined whether or not you well.
Speaker 1: And you look at some of the other games to
Speaker 1: the Kansas City game, the Oakland game, a ton of
Speaker 1: yards up and down the field. But even those games,
Speaker 1: they only allowed twenty four. Now you'd like to allow
Speaker 1: fewer than twelve, but but but twenty. But allowing twenty
Speaker 1: four points in this day and age in the NFL,
Speaker 1: that's not bad defense. It's giving your team a chance
Speaker 1: when you have Aaron Rodgers and you have the weapons
Speaker 1: that you have. And yes, at the end of the
Speaker 1: day against Carolina it was only sixteen and and you'll
Speaker 1: take that. You'll take that any day of the week
Speaker 1: because if Aaron Rodgers, if an Aaron Rodgers offense can't
Speaker 1: win the game when the defense only allows sixteen, it's
Speaker 1: not on the defense at least, that's the way I
Speaker 1: look at Yeah, and it as we talked about yesterday,
Speaker 1: and I'll close on this, I mean, Kenny Clark said it.
Speaker 1: You don't want to just always live this way. It's
Speaker 1: a dangerous way to play the game. They want to
Speaker 1: find answers to some of the things that have plagued
Speaker 1: him and across the hall meetings this week that that
Speaker 1: all factors into it and been able to self scout,
Speaker 1: but also the week arrest here. I just I wrote
Speaker 1: it an inbox today, Mike. He has seven guys right
Speaker 1: now who have played over the defensive snaps. Those aren't
Speaker 1: all defensive backs either. I wrote it three maybe four
Speaker 1: weeks ago that the defense to me was just looking
Speaker 1: like it needed to get to the bye week. And
Speaker 1: the fact that the Packers got to the bye week
Speaker 1: at eight and two, they are relatively healthy on the
Speaker 1: defensive side of the ball. Yes, that's where that's where
Speaker 1: there are. There are more issues to be worked out
Speaker 1: defensively than offensively. Not that the offense doesn't need to
Speaker 1: figure out these false starts and delay games and some
Speaker 1: of these things that have plagued them, but the defense
Speaker 1: for a few weeks now has needed to get to this.
Speaker 1: By they got there, the Packers are eight and two.
Speaker 1: I look for I look for a little bit of
Speaker 1: a rejuvenation from the defense after this break. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: it's that Mike Spofford, you know, realist thing of the week.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, just be realistic about it. There's
Speaker 1: a huge difference between finishing a marathon on and you know,
Speaker 1: falling down at the finish line as opposed to quitting
Speaker 1: at mile marker thirteen and walking it in. This team
Speaker 1: ran all the way to the finish line, specifically on defense.
Speaker 1: They got to where they need to get to. They
Speaker 1: need to rest, they need to recover, and they need
Speaker 1: to find some answers when they come out of it.
Speaker 1: But to be at eight and two and to be
Speaker 1: in this position where among flawed teams you stand above,
Speaker 1: I think that says a lot about the character of
Speaker 1: that team and exactly what they could potentially be capable
Speaker 1: of in this season. Yeah, well, it is time for
Speaker 1: the Packers to rest up, for us to rest you
Speaker 1: gotta flight to Barbados, and for the fans to rest up, because,
Speaker 1: as I like to say, buckle up, this thing is
Speaker 1: just getting started. It's gonna be a fun uh, It's
Speaker 1: gonna be a fun, fun stretch run. But for now,
Speaker 1: we will sign off on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team.
Speaker 1: We still do have a lot of content coming on
Speaker 1: the website this week. As I said, we're working from home,
Speaker 1: and no I'm not going to Barbados, but subscribe to
Speaker 1: us like us on iTunes and other podcasts services. 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
Speaker 1: will see you next time. Yeah yeah