January 2, 2025 • 32 mins
Mike and Wes review the Packers’ injury situation in the secondary (:40) and discuss CB Keisean Nixon’s unheralded season (5:47). They also give their keys to victory against the Bears (9:02), look at the playoff picture for the Packers (18:20) as well as the league (22:24), and discuss the Packers’ Pro Bowl selections (28:30).
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hi, everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
I and Mike Spoffor, joined as always by my partner
in crime, Wes Hodquitz. Happy New Year to everybody. We
are coming to you hear from our studios at lambeau
Field and Wes. The Packers will be taking on the
Chicago Bears in the week eighteen regular season finale on
Sunday at lambeau Field. We'll kind of get to more
(00:38):
of the specifics on the Bears in a minute, but
the big story from Wednesday here at twelve sixty five
Lombardi Avenue was that there's kind of finally kind of
been an answer on the JayR Alexander knee injury situation.
He had to go in for another procedure. Sounded like
it was just a scope cleanup type of thing. But
(01:01):
his situation with his knee is he is most likely
out for the rest of the season now. The Packers
not going to have him practice. He won't be trying
to come back at this point to play in the playoffs.
So you know, it's disappointing, certainly because I think all
of us were hoping somewhere along the line that jay
(01:22):
R Alexander, the Packers' best cornerback, would be back on
the field at some point, but it's a reality that
the team has been dealing with with him not playing
for quite a while. So now it's moving forward with
the guys you have.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Yeah, it is for sure, Mike. And as you said,
I mean it's not just that Gerry Alexander's their best cornerback.
He's one of their best players when he's healthy and
he's right. We saw it in twenty twenty two he
was able to finally come back from that shoulder injury.
Plays at all pro level. But the last two season,
whether it was the back, the shoulder, or now the knee,
there's just been this never ending chorus. It feels like
(01:56):
an ailment set have kind of plagued him and it
has caused the Packers to really have to shift gears. So, yeah,
I feel bad for you Green Bay and where they're
at right now and how they got to try to
figure this thing out. But at the same time, as
Carrington Valentine said in the locker room, a lot of
guys had talked about, I mean that they've been through this,
they know what's going to be required of them. They
know the domino effect that is going to come from that.
(02:18):
I think the bigger thing now for Green Bay is
figuring out exactly what happens with the safety room, because
there's such a domino effect with these safeties that also
affect what happens at cornerback. Javon Bullard right now still
limited with the with the ankle, but he's the one
healthy guy quote unquote next to Xavier McKinney. You still
don't have Evan Williams out with the quadrcept injury. Then
(02:39):
obviously Zane Anderson gets the concussion on Sunday. So there's
been so many different things that when we always talk
about offensive line play, right, you like to have your
best starting five, you like to have them playing together.
The secondary hasn't really been able to do that for
one reason or another in the domino effect of moving
around Keshawn Nixon or Bullard or having to go in
(03:00):
and out with Valentine and also Eric Stokes. Green Bay
knows what the challenges and dangers that lie ahead against
some of these other NFC teams are with their offensive
passing games, and these guys are gonna have to be
up for that challenge.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Yeah, they absolutely are. And here's what I hope. Obviously,
you hope that everybody can be healthy and available, but
looking ahead to next week when the playoffs start and
when everything is on the line, this is what I
hope for the Packers in the secondary that whatever group
can practice next week Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, you hope
(03:35):
that that is the group that can play the entire
game in the playoff game. Because what we've seen when
this Packer secondary has shown itself to be the most
vulnerable is when guys have gone down during a game
and then the musical chairs start and you have guys
having to shift around and play different positions, and Jeff
(03:56):
Hafley is still trying to make all the calls and everything,
but he's got guys in spots where they weren't practicing
during the week. Because you have your plan, you practice
that plan. It's not that they don't know these other
positions because obviously they can play them during the game.
But there's a big difference between knowing what to do
and practicing the actual game plan at those spots. And
(04:17):
we saw the game at Detroit. Evan Williams went down
early in the game, Javon Bullard went down late in
the game, and there was this constant shuffling around as
far as figuring things out in the back end, and
it made it really tough on the defense. Last week,
the Packers defensively in the first quarter were pretty darn good,
but then Zane Anderson goes down. The domino effects starts.
(04:38):
Javon Bullard, who had just come back from a two
week absence, wasn't one hundred percent, hadn't been practicing full
and let alone practicing the position he was then forced
to play when Anderson went down. So my hope for
this Packer's secondary that has to move on without jyr
Alexander for the rest of the way here is that
whoever's practicing next week Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, hopefully they
(05:01):
can play together for the entire game in the playoffs,
because then I think that gives the Packers their best
chance to win.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
And I give a lot of, you know, kudos in
respect to what Jevon Bullard has done this season, because
he's absolutely he've been putting some tough spots. Yes, because
he starts the year as the starting safety next to
Xavier McKinney. They start the adjustment where he moves down
into the slot because one, they need a Kishawn Nixon outside,
but it also got Evan Williams on the field, and
Evan Williams kind of proved himself along with Bullard as
being one of their top eleven guys. And there's a
(05:30):
lot of years, Mike where the Packers wanted to Len
blessed to have a Xavier McKinney on their roster. Very
possibly you could have had two rookies starting back there
on this absolutely with how with how Green Bay had
to approach this thing, so you know, Bullard has had
to kind of pinball back and forth, I think, and
you know, fans can say whatever they want. I know
at some point I think they were bickering at him
(05:51):
to the point that Kishan just shut down his Twitter.
But Kishawn Nixon, I think has had an extraordinary season
for what has been asked of him. He's still a
top notch kickoff returner, which is one of the big reasons,
you know, getting the contract last year. But he's taken
his game to another level as a cornerback. Last year,
he was the nickel in this year, as he's told
this countless times now, he's been a perimeter cornerback. He
(06:13):
was a perimeter cornerback with the Raiders, but he just
hasn't had the reps. Yeah, game and now back to
back seasons now, I think over eight hundred defensive snaps
each of those seasons. The Packers desperately needed a guy
like that that not only can step up in the
face of injuries, but also allow Jeff Hafley to move
around those pieces whether he's inside or outside.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
I agree with you one hundred percent on Keishawn Nixon.
I put in one of the headlines of one of
the columns Insider Inbox Columns that I wrote last week.
I think Keishawn Nixon has had a vastly underrated season
in terms of what he has contributed with bouncing back
and forth between the between boundary corner slot corner, proving
(06:53):
for a number of games that he that he can
be this team's number one corner when asked to be
when Jay R Alexander is not available. And yes, you
play cornerback in the NFL, guess what you're gonna get beat.
You're gonna give up completions. You might get flagged for
DPI once in a while. It's part of the life
of an NFL cornerback, right, But what Kishaw Nixon, What
(07:14):
Keishaw Nixon has done. I agree with you one hundred
percent that he that he has taken his game to
another level. And I think Kishaw Nixon is probably the
biggest reason the Packers' secondary has been able to withstand
so many games without Jay or Alexander and and things
haven't just completely fallen Apart as frustrating as things were
(07:34):
in the back end against Sam Darnold, you have to
remember this defense also just shut out the New Orleans
Saints on Monday Night, you know, a little over a
week ago, so we've seen what this defense can do.
I think I think Nixon has been and will continue
to be a big part of it. And and I
appreciate you bringing him up because because he deserves he
deserves more recognition than he has gotten to this point
(07:57):
in the season.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
I think a lot about Tremon Williams too. I mean,
there a lot of years Tremont Williams is a future
Packers Hall of Famer, did get to a Pro Bowl
during his career, but there were a lot of years
where Tremon wasn't even considered Like the QB or the
CB one. Yeah, there are a lot of years where
it was you know, obviously you go back to the
Charles Woodson days and then and then Al Harris, and
then you have a guy like Casey Hayward come in
(08:18):
as a rookie and have six interception. Sam Shields is
a top corner. But what was the thing about Tremon
that made him so special was he was always available,
He was always out there, and he did it at
a high level. And there's something about that where with
Keishawn Nixon, former undrafted free agent as well, a guy
that you know, he had some injuries coming out of college,
he had some stuff going on, wasn't able to probably
(08:41):
show the speed that he really truly has that speed
that I thought was evident when he was able to
recover on that pass to Jordan Addison that he was
able to break up in the end zone. Right, that's
what you need to navigate a season. And again, we'll
see how far the Packers can run this thing, but
I don't think they're in the position there are today
without Kishan.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Yeah, I totally agree with you there. Well, turning the
page to the Bears, Chicago is coming into lambeau Field
on Sunday. I remember Wes, you and I, you know,
we have those conversations at the end of our shows
about other results from around the league. And when Washington
beat Chicago on the Hail Mary, I remember both of
(09:21):
us sitting here talking like, well, let's you know, Chicago
was four and two, they were one play away from
getting to five and two and really riding high with
their rookie quarterback Caleb Williams and everything he was doing.
And we sat here and said, well, let's see how
the Bears respond to an absolutely devastating loss. The season
went completely off the rails after the Hail Mary. The
(09:43):
Bears have not won a game since. They have lost
ten straight. Now, obviously the head coach has been the
head coach was replaced along the way, and the Bears
are obviously going to be into a full fledged coaching
search in the offseason. And on the flip side of
the streak things, Matt Lafleur is eleven and zero against
(10:09):
the Chicago Bears, trying to go twelve and oh has
not lost to Chicago since taking over as the head
coach of the Packers. So I'm just gonna throw this
I'm gonna throw this at you right away. What are
the keys to victory for the Packers to give the
Bears their eleventh straight loss and to win their twelfth
consecutive game in this rivalry. Sorry, I threw it at you, fense.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
No, no, no, I'm no. There's a lot that goes
into this answer. It's not ay, I can't come up
with one. It's the because you don't want to be
flippant about this right because the Bears, as Matt Lafleur said,
the Bears are in NFL team, they're hungry. If you
watch the film, they're still hungry. But it's not a
good football team. It just isn't. And there's no other
(10:57):
way you can slice it. I feel like at times
their defenses formed. Caleb Williams has done an extraordinary job
protecting the football this season.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
But the change off and the trade off to that,
as he's been sacked sixty seven times. They got all
these receivers, they've gotten them opportunities, but not necessarily explosives.
I think DeAndre Swift I was really high on that
earlier this season. I'm not as high on it now.
I just don't think he's quite had the season. He
probably wanted it that the Bears wanted. So when you
(11:26):
asked me what the key to victory this is, for me,
it comes back to Caleb Williams. Because I'm not saying
you need to turn it over because he may protect it,
but you can't allow him to get into the rhythm
that he got into in that first game at Soldier
Field because he was feeling it. And when a guy
like that, that's that talented and feels that much comfort
within the pocket, within his arm and being able to
(11:47):
make those throws, he's going to make plays. The Packers
can't allow that to happen this game. Yeah, I know
there's the continuum, the contingencies out there about whether it's
the sixth seed or the seventh seed. Packers will welcome
in anybody they have to face. Obviously the road would
be easier if they're the six But that being said,
that's not why Green Bay needs to win this game.
They need to win this game because they need to
(12:08):
have that feeling of Okay, we need to get back
to where we were at mentally after the Saints game,
right where we can be dominant, we can impose our
will on teams. And we can be able to extract
whatever we need to extract from an opponent that has
lost ten in a row. You don't want to give
them that victory. And as I also mentioned our Insider
Inbox Calumn this week, hal Packers handled things in twenty one.
(12:29):
What happened at the end of the twenty two season,
You can't tell me that that wasn't the thing that
started to light the fire with the Lions. They ended
both of those seasons feeling good about themselves. I see
no reason to give Chicago any semblance, any room for hope.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Yeah, you don't. You definitely don't want to do that.
When I look at the Bears, they what they've done.
You see glimpses of what the Bears are capable of
the second half on Thanksgiving against the Lions, right where
they almost pulled it off, and then that ended up
being the game that got Matt Eberflus dismissed because they
botched the clock management at the end of the game.
(13:04):
You'll look even last Thursday night against the Seattle Seahawks,
the Bears defense showed up and played they were you know,
they they took They took a Seattle off as the
Seattle Seahawks had a ton to play for in that game,
and they couldn't move the football. They couldn't score points
against the Bears in Chicago last Thursday night. There So
there there are times that either side of the ball
(13:25):
for Chicago can you know, can show shows what it's
capable of and and can give you problems. But when
I look back at the first game Chicago and Green
Bay at Soldier Field, I think one of the biggest
reasons the Bears stayed in that game is because they
surprised the Packers with Caleb Williams and the running ability, Yes,
(13:47):
the way he scrambled around and the way he also
ran design runs, the zone read stuff. I think that
that got the Packers on their heels a little bit.
And that element to Chicago's offense in that game was
was a huge factor in the Bears putting themselves in
a position to win it at the end with the
field goal that Green Bay blocked. I think you you
(14:09):
just you, you bottle up Caleb Williams in whatever way
is necessary, and you don't let them, you don't let
it run around, you know, and and and those off
schedule type of players are the design quarterback runs if
the Packers shut those down, I think I think Green
Bay's defense will will be just fine against uh against
Caleb Williams on Sunday. On the offensive side of things,
(14:33):
just you know, just stay balanced, no need to get crazy,
I think, uh, I think Green Bay this is a
game where I expect the Packers to really get their
mojo back on offense. I you know, I believe that
how things are going to play out in terms of
certain guys on the injury report who may or may
not play. You know, I don't know. I don't really
want to get into all that. I think, uh, I
(14:55):
think this is a game where you you re establish clean,
solid execution on the offensive side of the ball that
you try to take into the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Did you see what KILLB Joes's longest pass of the
season was. Have you looked at that at all? No,
forty seven yards? They have a couple in the forties,
but yeah, nothing more than forty seven yards, which is
which is interesting, all right, because you look at a
lot of squads, there's there's that one seventy yard right
off the bat score, those sort of things. They've really
struggled with the explosives DeAndre Swift has a fifty six
(15:26):
yard rushing touchdown, and.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
He had the forty yard or against against in Chicago
against the Pack.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Against Green Bay, which may be probably one of the
longer runs that Green Bay's given up all season. I
might be the long it might be the longest. But yeah,
I agree with you. I just think that Keileb Williams,
he is their best player, and he's a young player
and he's got a lot ahead of him. I think
he's going to be a headache for the NFC North
for years to come. I think this has been a
really challenging year. Yeah, I feel like, you know, you're
(15:51):
hearing him talk this week when he was asked about
what you want from the next head coach and what
you want from you know, he talked to what he
wants to be coached, He wants to be challenged, and
in some ways, I just feel like this year kind
of felt like a continuation of his time at USC.
Not say Dian developed there, he certainly did, but it
just I just look at Caleb Williams and everything he offers,
and there was a reason why he was the top
(16:13):
quarterback over Daniels and over all these other you know,
Bo Nicks and these young guys penics that have been
out there and he just it just feels like it's
been kind of stuck in neutral for them. Now Green
Bay needs to make sure for at least one more
day that's still the case.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Yeah, and we'll see where things go in the future
with the Bears. It feels it feels to me, now
this is just me talking. When they drafted Justin Fields,
it felt like the Bears had a decent offensive line
in front of Justin Yields, but then he didn't have
any didn't have any game breaking type of weapons to
get the ball to. So then as they were trying
(16:52):
to evolve things, and now they've made the transition to
Caleb Williams, they focused on getting offensive weapons, you know,
they have. They signed Dj Moore to a long term,
you know, lucrative contract. They drafted Roma Dunze in the
in the first round. You add DeAndre Swift to the backfield,
all these things, but then the offensive line kind of
(17:12):
falls apart, and so Caleb Williams is constantly under pressure
and he's getting sacked a ton and all this and
so on on. You know that kind of the whole
group just hasn't really been put together offensively for the Bears,
and that's what they're going to look to do moving
forward with Williams and whoever the next head coaches and.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Styles make fights. I mean, that's why maybe Chicago pushed
them as much as they did, because Green Bay was
really struggling with their pass rush earlier this season and
it's been sort of the Spickett that's gone on and
off for them throughout the course of the air. Obviously
wasn't good enough last week in Minnesota. So pressure is
going to be a paramount, you know, and trying to
find ways to not only be smart about how you
approach him, but also making sure that he just doesn't
(17:52):
get into a rhythm offensively.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
All right, I'll take care of some sponsor business here
West and then we need to talk playoff pictures. So
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(18:16):
subs fifty plus years of better all right. Well, As
outlined on our last show, the Packers' playoff picture is
that they can get either the six seed or the
seven seed. If the Packers win and Washington loses, the
Packers will get the six. If Washington wins, or if
the Packers lose, green Bay will be the seven. If
(18:38):
green Bay is the seven, the Packers know they would
be going to Philadelphia because Philadelphia is locked into the
two seed. If the Packers get the six, there's the
possibility of playing either the Los Angeles Rams or the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Packers know that would be on
the road, of course as a wild card team. I'm curious,
did you see and maybe correct me if I'm wrong
(19:01):
if I didn't see this right? But did I see
that the Rams are not playing Matthew Stafford next week?
Speaker 1 (19:08):
See?
Speaker 2 (19:08):
That's really interesting.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Jimmy Garoppolo is starting.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Jimmy Garoppolo is going to start for the Rams. And
that's interesting to me because the Rams are, you know,
fighting with essentially the Buccaneers if the Buccaneers were to win,
fighting with the Buccaneers for the three versus the four seed,
and you know, and maybe there's an injury issue with
Matthew Stafford that they need to you know that they
(19:31):
want him to rest up and get healthy. But if
the Rams follow the four seed, you're getting the loser
of the Lions Vikings game. You're getting a fourteen win
team in the first round of the playoffs, which you
can avoid that if you make sure you get the
three seeds. So I was just very curious to hear
that Matthew Stafford's not going to play when the different
(19:52):
I mean, I know it's the playoffs. You have to
beat everybody regardless, I get that, but you're going to
get a fourteen win team if you're the four seed.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
You know. The tough part though about this, Michael, I
agree with you one hundred percent just for the record,
but and I'm not saying there is a big difference there.
Obviously look at the wins and losses. But you're either
fac in Minnesota with Washington or Green Bay. Like no
matter what, if you look at you know Sean mcvay's
track record against Green Bay, he's really struggled against the
Packers during the Matt Lafleour era. They lost again this
(20:21):
season I understand they were really hurting.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Ever, yeah, they were really banged up that game.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
But I think this is good. People are going to
take this a lot of different ways when you look
at how banged up the Rams were at various intervals
of the season. In the fact that I think there
was a stat now that I don't want to get
it wrong, but basically the Rams are one of very
few teams that have come back from one to four
records to win a division make a playoff, and they've
done it twice. Now underneath McVeigh, this has happened twice
(20:47):
in his tenure where they've gotten off to these slow starts,
So I almost understand it now. Again. Matt Lafleur made
such a brilliant point on Wednesday when he said the
you know whatever, Basically, the only thing that can happen
the decision you make. It is what it is like,
whether you're right or wrong. You have to make the
(21:09):
best decision you feel like for your football team, and
the results will tell you whether or not it was correct.
In terms of the public narrative, everybody else has the
benefit of twenty twenty hindsight, right, These coaches have to
figure out Okay, what is in the best interest of
my football team. I'm gonna stick with that, and then
we'll let the results be what they are.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
I wish I could remember the exactly Floirqule because it
was pretty well said the way you put it. But
long story short, if this is the route that Sean
McVay feels like they got to go with the Rams
to be as healthy as possible going to the playoffs,
let it lie, because I mean, if there's a team
that has been playing with house money more than any
other squad in the NFC over the last month and
a half, it's la Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
And I guess I was caught off guard by it
because I wasn't aware of something injury wise with Matthew Stafford.
Maybe I was just ignorant that or whatever, I you know,
And so if there is some kind of an injury
and they're resting him for that reason like that, I
get it, you know, clearly. But it just when I
first saw the news that Stafford wasn't gonna play, I
was caught off guard because there is a you know,
(22:13):
there is a difference in the seating that that the
Rams are playing for.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
And then you're gonna be going up against the Seattle
team that I think still wants to get to ten
wins and prove that we should have been in this
conversation for the post. Ye so yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
A couple other questions I want to throw at you. One,
who do you think gets the last spot in the AFC.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
I would love to say the Cincinnati I would every
I think everybody want. I think everybody wants to see
Joe Burrow with the way he's playing. They want to
see Joe Burrow get into the playoffs. But Denver is
the one in control.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Yeah, they're gonna be playing a Kansas City team that
has nothing to play for and they're basically resting, resting
the vast majority of their guys.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
But the big guys obviously, I think I saw something.
I think the Denver Broncos are like double digit favorites
in this yeah so approach of Kansas City.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
So if Denver wins, they get it. If the Broncos
don't beat the Chiefs or you know, the Chiefs JV
or what you call it, Carson Wentz chief the Carson
Wentz Chiefs, then then Miami is the next team that
can take that playoff spot. But now I hear Tua
is on the injury report and his status for this
(23:26):
game is not certain.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Got the hip, Yeah, he's.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Got a hip issue. So then if Miami were not
to get it, then it would fall to Joe Burrow
and the Bengals. If the Bengals can win their last game,
which is they play on Saturday. So then if they win,
then they sit and scoreboard watch on Sunday to see
if maybe it falls their way to get that final
playoff spot in the apses.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
And there is a Pittsburgh Steelers team that desperately needs
to win that game too. When we're just talking about
momentum entering the postseason, Pittsburgh cannot go into the postseason
on this kind of slide.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Yeah they had, I mean yeah, if Pittsburgh loses this game,
would it be four losses? Yeah, I mean yeah, I'm
sure it's happened before. But I mean these are all
pretty It's pretty rare for a team to enter the
postseason on a four game losing streak.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Philly, Baltimore, and Kansas City, I mean those are nine.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
The back end of their schedule was absolutely brutal.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
The problem is they just weren't over the competitive in.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Those games, right, So they didn't they didn't really make
a strong run at winning any of those contests. All right, Well,
last one I'll throw at you Lions and the Vikings
yep for the NFC North Crown the number one seed
in the NFC in the first round. By the loser
drops to the five seed and has to go on
the road as a wild card team. Lions are at home.
(24:45):
Both teams obviously, you know, playing pretty darn well. What
are your what are your thoughts on how that went unfold?
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Vikings? I have the Vikings winning this, okay. I and
I'm not just trying to be a hater with the Lions,
but I think the Lions, I mean credit to then
that second half they pulled it together against San Francisco.
I am very nervous for them with that defense, right yeah,
And this is this is a big test, win or lose.
This is a big test for that defense to see
how they're gonna match up with all those weapons that
(25:12):
Minnesota has. Yep. And obviously TJ. Atkinson is back now
he's you know, you have to imagine this is going
to kind of be a re revenge game for him
on so many levels, going back up against the Lions
and Kirby Joseph. I just think efficient efficiency wise, I
don't know if there's anyone in the National Football League
doing it better than Minnesota through all their phases of
(25:33):
the game. I just I was so impressed by how
they performed. Now again, they have to go out and
do it on the road. But Kevin O'Connell's message was
terrific as well this week, saying, I mean they're they
understand around the road, but they're not going to be uncomfortable.
They're going to go and play their style football. I
think Sam Donald, if I saw that right, we could
talk about the Pro Bowl guys in a second. I
think Sam Darnold was. Was he selected as a starter
(25:55):
for the Pro Bowl? I actually didn't. I think he was.
We start talking again, I'll confirm it, okay, But I
mean Sam Darnold's playing an extremely high level. We saw
the plethora of weapons they have. I mean, for as
much as we talked about Jefferson and Addison last week,
Jalen Naylor, you know, really helped them win that game
against screens oh big time. So you asked me that question,
(26:18):
my answer is Minnesota, bike, I.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Totally agree with you in terms of the concern with
regard to the Lions defense. Watching that game on Monday
night against San Francisco, a San Francisco with essentially a
makeshift offensive line was having its way with the Lions
defense until Brock Perdy bade a couple of arrant throws
in the second half that got intercepted by Kirby Joseph
(26:43):
because otherwise, you know, I thought San Francisco was on
its way to matching the forty points that the Lions
put up in that game. So I share your concerns
about the Lions defense. It does sound like they may
get Alex Angeloni, the linebacker back from the broken arm.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
He's offers a star. I got that. I really botched
that golf is the starter.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Oh GoF is okay, So.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
The other team's guy, it's a starter.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Sorry, But so the Lions maybe getting Anzeloni back, which
would be at least a stabilizing force in the middle
of the defense. This is where and I'm with you
in being inclined to pick Minnesota, but this is where
I hedge because the game is in Detroit, and I
think Minnesota's defense, which is predicated on the pass rush
(27:28):
and all those crazy looks that Brian Flora wants to
throw at you on third down. That kind of stuff
isn't the same on the road as it is when
you're at home and su home crowd is making all
the noise on third down and the offense is in
the silent count and everything like that. I think I
think Minnesota's defense is going to have this is going
to be Minnesota's Minnesota defense's biggest challenge of the season
(27:52):
being on the road in Detroit against the Lions offense
that looks about as unstoppable as anything right now. Heck,
they blew they blew a fourth and goal, passed on
a field goal, and did not score on a fourth
and goal on Monday night in San Francisco, and they
still put up forty points in the game. So you know,
so that's just because the game is in Detroit. Like,
(28:13):
that's that's where I hedge. I think it's gonna be
a way of a game. It's an incredible way to
end the regular season in the NFL with with so
much on the line, a division championship and a number
one seed in a first round by and all that,
and then you know, to sort of launch everything into
the playoffs. But but yes, you mentioned the Pro Bowl
(28:34):
three Shortly before we turn the cameras on here, three
Packers get selected to the Pro Bowls, Xavier McKinney, Josh Jacobs,
and Rashaan Geary. Your thoughts on how that went down?
Speaker 1 (28:44):
I just, first and foremost, I feel, I mean, congratulations
all three. Congratulations of the seven alternates for Green Bay,
including first alternate Elton Jenkins. But you can't help it
feel great for Xavier McKinney. Yeah, this is the guy
that has not been to a Pro Bowl yet. I
think has probably been deserving of it in the past
during his time with the Giants, but didn't quite come together.
And now here he is this opportunity comes to Green
(29:05):
Bay seven interceptions. Obviously, has been such a needle mover
and just a tide turner for this defense. And to
be able to be rewarded in this way, the way
he's conducted himself with the media, the way he's been
a team leader from day one, even when he signed
here at twenty four years old, incredible for him. I
also love it for Josh Shacops because here was a
(29:26):
guy that did have He came to Green Bay with
something to prove last year was not his best season
and it was definitely not the type of year you
want going into free agents. Sure, yeah, Josh Jacobs came
back and showed I am still every bit the same
running back I was when I was the NFL rushing
champion two years ago and has done it. Has been selfless,
has been fought through a lot of different things throughout
(29:48):
the course of the year, but has always been available
for his team. Those two signings, I don't think you
can say enough about them and the impact on and
off the field they've made. And then also Rashan Gary
getting some respect. I think last year was, you know,
kind of a snub. I felt like he was a
first alternate just so happens he doesn't get the call. Yeah,
this year he does get that opportunity. Thirty eight sacks
now in his tenure with Green Bay. I think that's
(30:10):
eighth all times since the official statistic in nineteen eighty two.
So a guy that also is on the come up as.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Well, I think there's I think there's something to be
said for the player respect around the league for Rashaun
Gary because he was not all that high in the
fan voting. Correct and he ends up getting a Pro
Bowl selection on this first round, not being an alternate,
but like last year, but actually being selected this time.
The player vote is part of the process, and I
(30:37):
think maybe some respect was shown was thrown Rashaan Gary's
way by his peers around the league in terms of
him getting this recognition. So hats off to.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Him, absolutely, and a guy it's done again, done it
the right way, been around here, been accountable. It's been
neat to see him come back from that ACL which
is really the only hiccup he's had in his NFL career,
and rallied from that. And then also I didn't realize
the stakes were this high. Xavier McKinney gets the Star
darting spot at free safety. That's the only spot Kirby
Joseph not selected to the Pro Bowl. So that was
(31:05):
kind of a one to two. Those two guys are
going back and form in the fan.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
They were right up there at the top of the
fan voting all the way along.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
And then the coaches and players put it over the
top for McKinney. So again it shows you how difficult
it is to make the Pro Bowl. Sometimes at some
of these positions, it's neat to see x get that opportunity. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
Absolutely, And as you said, the two free agents signings,
Xavier McKinney Josh Jacobs, they both end up going to
Pro Bowls and you know, in their first year with
the big time, can't You can't say enough about what
those acquisitions have meant to the twenty twenty four Packers
and most likely beyond here. So listen, folks, the home
of the twenty twenty five NFL Draft is right here
(31:42):
in Green Bay April twenty four through April twenty six
of twenty twenty five, So visit green Bay dot com
slash Draft twenty five for more information. And with that,
we'll call it a rap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the
team on Packers dot com. Wes has a story up
on the site about the Alexander news as well as
what's going on with the rest of the secondary. He
(32:02):
also has a story on the Pro Bowl select Thank you.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
I'm sitting here celebrating because I think you're going to
toss to the Pro Bowl things. So then you say Alexander,
So I'm like sitting here like fist pumping it just
fit the vibe. Okay, now say the Pro Bowl part.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
You have a story up on the Packers Pro Bowl selections,
and later today there will be a story up on
the Packers selecting the team winner of the ed Block
Courage Award, So check for that a little bit later
on on Thursday. That's a story that I was working
on this week as well. So for Wes, I am Mike.
(32:36):
Thank you for tuning in. Everybody, We will see you
next time.
Hi, everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
I and Mike Spoffor, joined as always by my partner
in crime, Wes Hodquitz. Happy New Year to everybody. We
are coming to you hear from our studios at lambeau
Field and Wes. The Packers will be taking on the
Chicago Bears in the week eighteen regular season finale on
Sunday at lambeau Field. We'll kind of get to more
(00:38):
of the specifics on the Bears in a minute, but
the big story from Wednesday here at twelve sixty five
Lombardi Avenue was that there's kind of finally kind of
been an answer on the JayR Alexander knee injury situation.
He had to go in for another procedure. Sounded like
it was just a scope cleanup type of thing. But
(01:01):
his situation with his knee is he is most likely
out for the rest of the season now. The Packers
not going to have him practice. He won't be trying
to come back at this point to play in the playoffs.
So you know, it's disappointing, certainly because I think all
of us were hoping somewhere along the line that jay
(01:22):
R Alexander, the Packers' best cornerback, would be back on
the field at some point, but it's a reality that
the team has been dealing with with him not playing
for quite a while. So now it's moving forward with
the guys you have.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Yeah, it is for sure, Mike. And as you said,
I mean it's not just that Gerry Alexander's their best cornerback.
He's one of their best players when he's healthy and
he's right. We saw it in twenty twenty two he
was able to finally come back from that shoulder injury.
Plays at all pro level. But the last two season,
whether it was the back, the shoulder, or now the knee,
there's just been this never ending chorus. It feels like
(01:56):
an ailment set have kind of plagued him and it
has caused the Packers to really have to shift gears. So, yeah,
I feel bad for you Green Bay and where they're
at right now and how they got to try to
figure this thing out. But at the same time, as
Carrington Valentine said in the locker room, a lot of
guys had talked about, I mean that they've been through this,
they know what's going to be required of them. They
know the domino effect that is going to come from that.
(02:18):
I think the bigger thing now for Green Bay is
figuring out exactly what happens with the safety room, because
there's such a domino effect with these safeties that also
affect what happens at cornerback. Javon Bullard right now still
limited with the with the ankle, but he's the one
healthy guy quote unquote next to Xavier McKinney. You still
don't have Evan Williams out with the quadrcept injury. Then
(02:39):
obviously Zane Anderson gets the concussion on Sunday. So there's
been so many different things that when we always talk
about offensive line play, right, you like to have your
best starting five, you like to have them playing together.
The secondary hasn't really been able to do that for
one reason or another in the domino effect of moving
around Keshawn Nixon or Bullard or having to go in
(03:00):
and out with Valentine and also Eric Stokes. Green Bay
knows what the challenges and dangers that lie ahead against
some of these other NFC teams are with their offensive
passing games, and these guys are gonna have to be
up for that challenge.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Yeah, they absolutely are. And here's what I hope. Obviously,
you hope that everybody can be healthy and available, but
looking ahead to next week when the playoffs start and
when everything is on the line, this is what I
hope for the Packers in the secondary that whatever group
can practice next week Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, you hope
(03:35):
that that is the group that can play the entire
game in the playoff game. Because what we've seen when
this Packer secondary has shown itself to be the most
vulnerable is when guys have gone down during a game
and then the musical chairs start and you have guys
having to shift around and play different positions, and Jeff
(03:56):
Hafley is still trying to make all the calls and everything,
but he's got guys in spots where they weren't practicing
during the week. Because you have your plan, you practice
that plan. It's not that they don't know these other
positions because obviously they can play them during the game.
But there's a big difference between knowing what to do
and practicing the actual game plan at those spots. And
(04:17):
we saw the game at Detroit. Evan Williams went down
early in the game, Javon Bullard went down late in
the game, and there was this constant shuffling around as
far as figuring things out in the back end, and
it made it really tough on the defense. Last week,
the Packers defensively in the first quarter were pretty darn good,
but then Zane Anderson goes down. The domino effects starts.
(04:38):
Javon Bullard, who had just come back from a two
week absence, wasn't one hundred percent, hadn't been practicing full
and let alone practicing the position he was then forced
to play when Anderson went down. So my hope for
this Packer's secondary that has to move on without jyr
Alexander for the rest of the way here is that
whoever's practicing next week Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, hopefully they
(05:01):
can play together for the entire game in the playoffs,
because then I think that gives the Packers their best
chance to win.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
And I give a lot of, you know, kudos in
respect to what Jevon Bullard has done this season, because
he's absolutely he've been putting some tough spots. Yes, because
he starts the year as the starting safety next to
Xavier McKinney. They start the adjustment where he moves down
into the slot because one, they need a Kishawn Nixon outside,
but it also got Evan Williams on the field, and
Evan Williams kind of proved himself along with Bullard as
being one of their top eleven guys. And there's a
(05:30):
lot of years, Mike where the Packers wanted to Len
blessed to have a Xavier McKinney on their roster. Very
possibly you could have had two rookies starting back there
on this absolutely with how with how Green Bay had
to approach this thing, so you know, Bullard has had
to kind of pinball back and forth, I think, and
you know, fans can say whatever they want. I know
at some point I think they were bickering at him
(05:51):
to the point that Kishan just shut down his Twitter.
But Kishawn Nixon, I think has had an extraordinary season
for what has been asked of him. He's still a
top notch kickoff returner, which is one of the big reasons,
you know, getting the contract last year. But he's taken
his game to another level as a cornerback. Last year,
he was the nickel in this year, as he's told
this countless times now, he's been a perimeter cornerback. He
(06:13):
was a perimeter cornerback with the Raiders, but he just
hasn't had the reps. Yeah, game and now back to
back seasons now, I think over eight hundred defensive snaps
each of those seasons. The Packers desperately needed a guy
like that that not only can step up in the
face of injuries, but also allow Jeff Hafley to move
around those pieces whether he's inside or outside.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
I agree with you one hundred percent on Keishawn Nixon.
I put in one of the headlines of one of
the columns Insider Inbox Columns that I wrote last week.
I think Keishawn Nixon has had a vastly underrated season
in terms of what he has contributed with bouncing back
and forth between the between boundary corner slot corner, proving
(06:53):
for a number of games that he that he can
be this team's number one corner when asked to be
when Jay R Alexander is not available. And yes, you
play cornerback in the NFL, guess what you're gonna get beat.
You're gonna give up completions. You might get flagged for
DPI once in a while. It's part of the life
of an NFL cornerback, right, But what Kishaw Nixon, What
(07:14):
Keishaw Nixon has done. I agree with you one hundred
percent that he that he has taken his game to
another level. And I think Kishaw Nixon is probably the
biggest reason the Packers' secondary has been able to withstand
so many games without Jay or Alexander and and things
haven't just completely fallen Apart as frustrating as things were
(07:34):
in the back end against Sam Darnold, you have to
remember this defense also just shut out the New Orleans
Saints on Monday Night, you know, a little over a
week ago, so we've seen what this defense can do.
I think I think Nixon has been and will continue
to be a big part of it. And and I
appreciate you bringing him up because because he deserves he
deserves more recognition than he has gotten to this point
(07:57):
in the season.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
I think a lot about Tremon Williams too. I mean,
there a lot of years Tremont Williams is a future
Packers Hall of Famer, did get to a Pro Bowl
during his career, but there were a lot of years
where Tremon wasn't even considered Like the QB or the
CB one. Yeah, there are a lot of years where
it was you know, obviously you go back to the
Charles Woodson days and then and then Al Harris, and
then you have a guy like Casey Hayward come in
(08:18):
as a rookie and have six interception. Sam Shields is
a top corner. But what was the thing about Tremon
that made him so special was he was always available,
He was always out there, and he did it at
a high level. And there's something about that where with
Keishawn Nixon, former undrafted free agent as well, a guy
that you know, he had some injuries coming out of college,
he had some stuff going on, wasn't able to probably
(08:41):
show the speed that he really truly has that speed
that I thought was evident when he was able to
recover on that pass to Jordan Addison that he was
able to break up in the end zone. Right, that's
what you need to navigate a season. And again, we'll
see how far the Packers can run this thing, but
I don't think they're in the position there are today
without Kishan.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Yeah, I totally agree with you there. Well, turning the
page to the Bears, Chicago is coming into lambeau Field
on Sunday. I remember Wes, you and I, you know,
we have those conversations at the end of our shows
about other results from around the league. And when Washington
beat Chicago on the Hail Mary, I remember both of
(09:21):
us sitting here talking like, well, let's you know, Chicago
was four and two, they were one play away from
getting to five and two and really riding high with
their rookie quarterback Caleb Williams and everything he was doing.
And we sat here and said, well, let's see how
the Bears respond to an absolutely devastating loss. The season
went completely off the rails after the Hail Mary. The
(09:43):
Bears have not won a game since. They have lost
ten straight. Now, obviously the head coach has been the
head coach was replaced along the way, and the Bears
are obviously going to be into a full fledged coaching
search in the offseason. And on the flip side of
the streak things, Matt Lafleur is eleven and zero against
(10:09):
the Chicago Bears, trying to go twelve and oh has
not lost to Chicago since taking over as the head
coach of the Packers. So I'm just gonna throw this
I'm gonna throw this at you right away. What are
the keys to victory for the Packers to give the
Bears their eleventh straight loss and to win their twelfth
consecutive game in this rivalry. Sorry, I threw it at you, fense.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
No, no, no, I'm no. There's a lot that goes
into this answer. It's not ay, I can't come up
with one. It's the because you don't want to be
flippant about this right because the Bears, as Matt Lafleur said,
the Bears are in NFL team, they're hungry. If you
watch the film, they're still hungry. But it's not a
good football team. It just isn't. And there's no other
(10:57):
way you can slice it. I feel like at times
their defenses formed. Caleb Williams has done an extraordinary job
protecting the football this season.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
But the change off and the trade off to that,
as he's been sacked sixty seven times. They got all
these receivers, they've gotten them opportunities, but not necessarily explosives.
I think DeAndre Swift I was really high on that
earlier this season. I'm not as high on it now.
I just don't think he's quite had the season. He
probably wanted it that the Bears wanted. So when you
(11:26):
asked me what the key to victory this is, for me,
it comes back to Caleb Williams. Because I'm not saying
you need to turn it over because he may protect it,
but you can't allow him to get into the rhythm
that he got into in that first game at Soldier
Field because he was feeling it. And when a guy
like that, that's that talented and feels that much comfort
within the pocket, within his arm and being able to
(11:47):
make those throws, he's going to make plays. The Packers
can't allow that to happen this game. Yeah, I know
there's the continuum, the contingencies out there about whether it's
the sixth seed or the seventh seed. Packers will welcome
in anybody they have to face. Obviously the road would
be easier if they're the six But that being said,
that's not why Green Bay needs to win this game.
They need to win this game because they need to
(12:08):
have that feeling of Okay, we need to get back
to where we were at mentally after the Saints game,
right where we can be dominant, we can impose our
will on teams. And we can be able to extract
whatever we need to extract from an opponent that has
lost ten in a row. You don't want to give
them that victory. And as I also mentioned our Insider
Inbox Calumn this week, hal Packers handled things in twenty one.
(12:29):
What happened at the end of the twenty two season,
You can't tell me that that wasn't the thing that
started to light the fire with the Lions. They ended
both of those seasons feeling good about themselves. I see
no reason to give Chicago any semblance, any room for hope.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Yeah, you don't. You definitely don't want to do that.
When I look at the Bears, they what they've done.
You see glimpses of what the Bears are capable of
the second half on Thanksgiving against the Lions, right where
they almost pulled it off, and then that ended up
being the game that got Matt Eberflus dismissed because they
botched the clock management at the end of the game.
(13:04):
You'll look even last Thursday night against the Seattle Seahawks,
the Bears defense showed up and played they were you know,
they they took They took a Seattle off as the
Seattle Seahawks had a ton to play for in that game,
and they couldn't move the football. They couldn't score points
against the Bears in Chicago last Thursday night. There So
there there are times that either side of the ball
(13:25):
for Chicago can you know, can show shows what it's
capable of and and can give you problems. But when
I look back at the first game Chicago and Green
Bay at Soldier Field, I think one of the biggest
reasons the Bears stayed in that game is because they
surprised the Packers with Caleb Williams and the running ability, Yes,
(13:47):
the way he scrambled around and the way he also
ran design runs, the zone read stuff. I think that
that got the Packers on their heels a little bit.
And that element to Chicago's offense in that game was
was a huge factor in the Bears putting themselves in
a position to win it at the end with the
field goal that Green Bay blocked. I think you you
(14:09):
just you, you bottle up Caleb Williams in whatever way
is necessary, and you don't let them, you don't let
it run around, you know, and and and those off
schedule type of players are the design quarterback runs if
the Packers shut those down, I think I think Green
Bay's defense will will be just fine against uh against
Caleb Williams on Sunday. On the offensive side of things,
(14:33):
just you know, just stay balanced, no need to get crazy,
I think, uh, I think Green Bay this is a
game where I expect the Packers to really get their
mojo back on offense. I you know, I believe that
how things are going to play out in terms of
certain guys on the injury report who may or may
not play. You know, I don't know. I don't really
want to get into all that. I think, uh, I
(14:55):
think this is a game where you you re establish clean,
solid execution on the offensive side of the ball that
you try to take into the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Did you see what KILLB Joes's longest pass of the
season was. Have you looked at that at all? No,
forty seven yards? They have a couple in the forties,
but yeah, nothing more than forty seven yards, which is
which is interesting, all right, because you look at a
lot of squads, there's there's that one seventy yard right
off the bat score, those sort of things. They've really
struggled with the explosives DeAndre Swift has a fifty six
(15:26):
yard rushing touchdown, and.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
He had the forty yard or against against in Chicago
against the Pack.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Against Green Bay, which may be probably one of the
longer runs that Green Bay's given up all season. I
might be the long it might be the longest. But yeah,
I agree with you. I just think that Keileb Williams,
he is their best player, and he's a young player
and he's got a lot ahead of him. I think
he's going to be a headache for the NFC North
for years to come. I think this has been a
really challenging year. Yeah, I feel like, you know, you're
(15:51):
hearing him talk this week when he was asked about
what you want from the next head coach and what
you want from you know, he talked to what he
wants to be coached, He wants to be challenged, and
in some ways, I just feel like this year kind
of felt like a continuation of his time at USC.
Not say Dian developed there, he certainly did, but it
just I just look at Caleb Williams and everything he offers,
and there was a reason why he was the top
(16:13):
quarterback over Daniels and over all these other you know,
Bo Nicks and these young guys penics that have been
out there and he just it just feels like it's
been kind of stuck in neutral for them. Now Green
Bay needs to make sure for at least one more
day that's still the case.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Yeah, and we'll see where things go in the future
with the Bears. It feels it feels to me, now
this is just me talking. When they drafted Justin Fields,
it felt like the Bears had a decent offensive line
in front of Justin Yields, but then he didn't have
any didn't have any game breaking type of weapons to
get the ball to. So then as they were trying
(16:52):
to evolve things, and now they've made the transition to
Caleb Williams, they focused on getting offensive weapons, you know,
they have. They signed Dj Moore to a long term,
you know, lucrative contract. They drafted Roma Dunze in the
in the first round. You add DeAndre Swift to the backfield,
all these things, but then the offensive line kind of
(17:12):
falls apart, and so Caleb Williams is constantly under pressure
and he's getting sacked a ton and all this and
so on on. You know that kind of the whole
group just hasn't really been put together offensively for the Bears,
and that's what they're going to look to do moving
forward with Williams and whoever the next head coaches and.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Styles make fights. I mean, that's why maybe Chicago pushed
them as much as they did, because Green Bay was
really struggling with their pass rush earlier this season and
it's been sort of the Spickett that's gone on and
off for them throughout the course of the air. Obviously
wasn't good enough last week in Minnesota. So pressure is
going to be a paramount, you know, and trying to
find ways to not only be smart about how you
approach him, but also making sure that he just doesn't
(17:52):
get into a rhythm offensively.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
All right, I'll take care of some sponsor business here
West and then we need to talk playoff pictures. So
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(18:16):
subs fifty plus years of better all right. Well, As
outlined on our last show, the Packers' playoff picture is
that they can get either the six seed or the
seven seed. If the Packers win and Washington loses, the
Packers will get the six. If Washington wins, or if
the Packers lose, green Bay will be the seven. If
(18:38):
green Bay is the seven, the Packers know they would
be going to Philadelphia because Philadelphia is locked into the
two seed. If the Packers get the six, there's the
possibility of playing either the Los Angeles Rams or the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Packers know that would be on
the road, of course as a wild card team. I'm curious,
did you see and maybe correct me if I'm wrong
(19:01):
if I didn't see this right? But did I see
that the Rams are not playing Matthew Stafford next week?
Speaker 1 (19:08):
See?
Speaker 2 (19:08):
That's really interesting.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Jimmy Garoppolo is starting.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Jimmy Garoppolo is going to start for the Rams. And
that's interesting to me because the Rams are, you know,
fighting with essentially the Buccaneers if the Buccaneers were to win,
fighting with the Buccaneers for the three versus the four seed,
and you know, and maybe there's an injury issue with
Matthew Stafford that they need to you know that they
(19:31):
want him to rest up and get healthy. But if
the Rams follow the four seed, you're getting the loser
of the Lions Vikings game. You're getting a fourteen win
team in the first round of the playoffs, which you
can avoid that if you make sure you get the
three seeds. So I was just very curious to hear
that Matthew Stafford's not going to play when the different
(19:52):
I mean, I know it's the playoffs. You have to
beat everybody regardless, I get that, but you're going to
get a fourteen win team if you're the four seed.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
You know. The tough part though about this, Michael, I
agree with you one hundred percent just for the record,
but and I'm not saying there is a big difference there.
Obviously look at the wins and losses. But you're either
fac in Minnesota with Washington or Green Bay. Like no
matter what, if you look at you know Sean mcvay's
track record against Green Bay, he's really struggled against the
Packers during the Matt Lafleour era. They lost again this
(20:21):
season I understand they were really hurting.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Ever, yeah, they were really banged up that game.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
But I think this is good. People are going to
take this a lot of different ways when you look
at how banged up the Rams were at various intervals
of the season. In the fact that I think there
was a stat now that I don't want to get
it wrong, but basically the Rams are one of very
few teams that have come back from one to four
records to win a division make a playoff, and they've
done it twice. Now underneath McVeigh, this has happened twice
(20:47):
in his tenure where they've gotten off to these slow starts,
So I almost understand it now. Again. Matt Lafleur made
such a brilliant point on Wednesday when he said the
you know whatever, Basically, the only thing that can happen
the decision you make. It is what it is like,
whether you're right or wrong. You have to make the
(21:09):
best decision you feel like for your football team, and
the results will tell you whether or not it was correct.
In terms of the public narrative, everybody else has the
benefit of twenty twenty hindsight, right, These coaches have to
figure out Okay, what is in the best interest of
my football team. I'm gonna stick with that, and then
we'll let the results be what they are.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
I wish I could remember the exactly Floirqule because it
was pretty well said the way you put it. But
long story short, if this is the route that Sean
McVay feels like they got to go with the Rams
to be as healthy as possible going to the playoffs,
let it lie, because I mean, if there's a team
that has been playing with house money more than any
other squad in the NFC over the last month and
a half, it's la Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
And I guess I was caught off guard by it
because I wasn't aware of something injury wise with Matthew Stafford.
Maybe I was just ignorant that or whatever, I you know,
And so if there is some kind of an injury
and they're resting him for that reason like that, I
get it, you know, clearly. But it just when I
first saw the news that Stafford wasn't gonna play, I
was caught off guard because there is a you know,
(22:13):
there is a difference in the seating that that the
Rams are playing for.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
And then you're gonna be going up against the Seattle
team that I think still wants to get to ten
wins and prove that we should have been in this
conversation for the post. Ye so yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
A couple other questions I want to throw at you. One,
who do you think gets the last spot in the AFC.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
I would love to say the Cincinnati I would every
I think everybody want. I think everybody wants to see
Joe Burrow with the way he's playing. They want to
see Joe Burrow get into the playoffs. But Denver is
the one in control.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Yeah, they're gonna be playing a Kansas City team that
has nothing to play for and they're basically resting, resting
the vast majority of their guys.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
But the big guys obviously, I think I saw something.
I think the Denver Broncos are like double digit favorites
in this yeah so approach of Kansas City.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
So if Denver wins, they get it. If the Broncos
don't beat the Chiefs or you know, the Chiefs JV
or what you call it, Carson Wentz chief the Carson
Wentz Chiefs, then then Miami is the next team that
can take that playoff spot. But now I hear Tua
is on the injury report and his status for this
(23:26):
game is not certain.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Got the hip, Yeah, he's.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Got a hip issue. So then if Miami were not
to get it, then it would fall to Joe Burrow
and the Bengals. If the Bengals can win their last game,
which is they play on Saturday. So then if they win,
then they sit and scoreboard watch on Sunday to see
if maybe it falls their way to get that final
playoff spot in the apses.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
And there is a Pittsburgh Steelers team that desperately needs
to win that game too. When we're just talking about
momentum entering the postseason, Pittsburgh cannot go into the postseason
on this kind of slide.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Yeah they had, I mean yeah, if Pittsburgh loses this game,
would it be four losses? Yeah, I mean yeah, I'm
sure it's happened before. But I mean these are all
pretty It's pretty rare for a team to enter the
postseason on a four game losing streak.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Philly, Baltimore, and Kansas City, I mean those are nine.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
The back end of their schedule was absolutely brutal.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
The problem is they just weren't over the competitive in.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Those games, right, So they didn't they didn't really make
a strong run at winning any of those contests. All right, Well,
last one I'll throw at you Lions and the Vikings
yep for the NFC North Crown the number one seed
in the NFC in the first round. By the loser
drops to the five seed and has to go on
the road as a wild card team. Lions are at home.
(24:45):
Both teams obviously, you know, playing pretty darn well. What
are your what are your thoughts on how that went unfold?
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Vikings? I have the Vikings winning this, okay. I and
I'm not just trying to be a hater with the Lions,
but I think the Lions, I mean credit to then
that second half they pulled it together against San Francisco.
I am very nervous for them with that defense, right yeah,
And this is this is a big test, win or lose.
This is a big test for that defense to see
how they're gonna match up with all those weapons that
(25:12):
Minnesota has. Yep. And obviously TJ. Atkinson is back now
he's you know, you have to imagine this is going
to kind of be a re revenge game for him
on so many levels, going back up against the Lions
and Kirby Joseph. I just think efficient efficiency wise, I
don't know if there's anyone in the National Football League
doing it better than Minnesota through all their phases of
(25:33):
the game. I just I was so impressed by how
they performed. Now again, they have to go out and
do it on the road. But Kevin O'Connell's message was
terrific as well this week, saying, I mean they're they
understand around the road, but they're not going to be uncomfortable.
They're going to go and play their style football. I
think Sam Donald, if I saw that right, we could
talk about the Pro Bowl guys in a second. I
think Sam Darnold was. Was he selected as a starter
(25:55):
for the Pro Bowl? I actually didn't. I think he was.
We start talking again, I'll confirm it, okay, But I
mean Sam Darnold's playing an extremely high level. We saw
the plethora of weapons they have. I mean, for as
much as we talked about Jefferson and Addison last week,
Jalen Naylor, you know, really helped them win that game
against screens oh big time. So you asked me that question,
(26:18):
my answer is Minnesota, bike, I.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Totally agree with you in terms of the concern with
regard to the Lions defense. Watching that game on Monday
night against San Francisco, a San Francisco with essentially a
makeshift offensive line was having its way with the Lions
defense until Brock Perdy bade a couple of arrant throws
in the second half that got intercepted by Kirby Joseph
(26:43):
because otherwise, you know, I thought San Francisco was on
its way to matching the forty points that the Lions
put up in that game. So I share your concerns
about the Lions defense. It does sound like they may
get Alex Angeloni, the linebacker back from the broken arm.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
He's offers a star. I got that. I really botched
that golf is the starter.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Oh GoF is okay, So.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
The other team's guy, it's a starter.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Sorry, But so the Lions maybe getting Anzeloni back, which
would be at least a stabilizing force in the middle
of the defense. This is where and I'm with you
in being inclined to pick Minnesota, but this is where
I hedge because the game is in Detroit, and I
think Minnesota's defense, which is predicated on the pass rush
(27:28):
and all those crazy looks that Brian Flora wants to
throw at you on third down. That kind of stuff
isn't the same on the road as it is when
you're at home and su home crowd is making all
the noise on third down and the offense is in
the silent count and everything like that. I think I
think Minnesota's defense is going to have this is going
to be Minnesota's Minnesota defense's biggest challenge of the season
(27:52):
being on the road in Detroit against the Lions offense
that looks about as unstoppable as anything right now. Heck,
they blew they blew a fourth and goal, passed on
a field goal, and did not score on a fourth
and goal on Monday night in San Francisco, and they
still put up forty points in the game. So you know,
so that's just because the game is in Detroit. Like,
(28:13):
that's that's where I hedge. I think it's gonna be
a way of a game. It's an incredible way to
end the regular season in the NFL with with so
much on the line, a division championship and a number
one seed in a first round by and all that,
and then you know, to sort of launch everything into
the playoffs. But but yes, you mentioned the Pro Bowl
(28:34):
three Shortly before we turn the cameras on here, three
Packers get selected to the Pro Bowls, Xavier McKinney, Josh Jacobs,
and Rashaan Geary. Your thoughts on how that went down?
Speaker 1 (28:44):
I just, first and foremost, I feel, I mean, congratulations
all three. Congratulations of the seven alternates for Green Bay,
including first alternate Elton Jenkins. But you can't help it
feel great for Xavier McKinney. Yeah, this is the guy
that has not been to a Pro Bowl yet. I
think has probably been deserving of it in the past
during his time with the Giants, but didn't quite come together.
And now here he is this opportunity comes to Green
(29:05):
Bay seven interceptions. Obviously, has been such a needle mover
and just a tide turner for this defense. And to
be able to be rewarded in this way, the way
he's conducted himself with the media, the way he's been
a team leader from day one, even when he signed
here at twenty four years old, incredible for him. I
also love it for Josh Shacops because here was a
(29:26):
guy that did have He came to Green Bay with
something to prove last year was not his best season
and it was definitely not the type of year you
want going into free agents. Sure, yeah, Josh Jacobs came
back and showed I am still every bit the same
running back I was when I was the NFL rushing
champion two years ago and has done it. Has been selfless,
has been fought through a lot of different things throughout
(29:48):
the course of the year, but has always been available
for his team. Those two signings, I don't think you
can say enough about them and the impact on and
off the field they've made. And then also Rashan Gary
getting some respect. I think last year was, you know,
kind of a snub. I felt like he was a
first alternate just so happens he doesn't get the call. Yeah,
this year he does get that opportunity. Thirty eight sacks
now in his tenure with Green Bay. I think that's
(30:10):
eighth all times since the official statistic in nineteen eighty two.
So a guy that also is on the come up as.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Well, I think there's I think there's something to be
said for the player respect around the league for Rashaun
Gary because he was not all that high in the
fan voting. Correct and he ends up getting a Pro
Bowl selection on this first round, not being an alternate,
but like last year, but actually being selected this time.
The player vote is part of the process, and I
(30:37):
think maybe some respect was shown was thrown Rashaan Gary's
way by his peers around the league in terms of
him getting this recognition. So hats off to.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Him, absolutely, and a guy it's done again, done it
the right way, been around here, been accountable. It's been
neat to see him come back from that ACL which
is really the only hiccup he's had in his NFL career,
and rallied from that. And then also I didn't realize
the stakes were this high. Xavier McKinney gets the Star
darting spot at free safety. That's the only spot Kirby
Joseph not selected to the Pro Bowl. So that was
(31:05):
kind of a one to two. Those two guys are
going back and form in the fan.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
They were right up there at the top of the
fan voting all the way along.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
And then the coaches and players put it over the
top for McKinney. So again it shows you how difficult
it is to make the Pro Bowl. Sometimes at some
of these positions, it's neat to see x get that opportunity. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
Absolutely, And as you said, the two free agents signings,
Xavier McKinney Josh Jacobs, they both end up going to
Pro Bowls and you know, in their first year with
the big time, can't You can't say enough about what
those acquisitions have meant to the twenty twenty four Packers
and most likely beyond here. So listen, folks, the home
of the twenty twenty five NFL Draft is right here
(31:42):
in Green Bay April twenty four through April twenty six
of twenty twenty five, So visit green Bay dot com
slash Draft twenty five for more information. And with that,
we'll call it a rap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the
team on Packers dot com. Wes has a story up
on the site about the Alexander news as well as
what's going on with the rest of the secondary. He
(32:02):
also has a story on the Pro Bowl select Thank you.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
I'm sitting here celebrating because I think you're going to
toss to the Pro Bowl things. So then you say Alexander,
So I'm like sitting here like fist pumping it just
fit the vibe. Okay, now say the Pro Bowl part.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
You have a story up on the Packers Pro Bowl selections,
and later today there will be a story up on
the Packers selecting the team winner of the ed Block
Courage Award, So check for that a little bit later
on on Thursday. That's a story that I was working
on this week as well. So for Wes, I am Mike.
(32:36):
Thank you for tuning in. Everybody, We will see you
next time.
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