January 16, 2025 • 43 mins
Mike and Wes close the season by discussing their takeaways from GM Brian Gutekunst's news conference (1:09) and making their choices for the team's unsung hero (9:19), emerging player (13:38) and surprise player (19:29). They also select their best (23:58) and what-if moments (27:49), and preview divisional playoff weekend (32:33).
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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 am Mike Spafford, joined as always by my trusted
colleague Weston Hodkoitz. We're coming to you here from our
studios at Lambeufield kind of a season wrap up show.
I guess you would say this will be our last
show for the time being. We will be back at
some point before the draft, just not quite sure exactly
(00:39):
when that'll be, but we will be taking a break
on Packers Unscripted. We'll start this final show of the
season West with this.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Not long before.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
We stepped into the studio here, we heard from Packers
General manager Brian Gudukunst. He addressed the media for about
thirty five minutes in his annual season wrap up news conference.
And I'll just throw an open ended question out to you,
what if anything stood out to you as your biggest
takeaway from that media session.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Yeah, Mike, there was plenty of takeaways from it. I
think the one where my ears perked up the most,
and obviously a lot of the media outlets have kind
of grabbed onto it the idea that you know, now
is the time to start competing for championships and that
not that Green Bay isn't always doing that, but they
understand how good these recent draft classes have been in
(01:32):
twenty two to twenty three, and then obviously you've already
seen some production from the twenty four class in how
that translates to this team taking the next step. And
I think my biggest takeaway beyond that was just Brian
talking about the financial flexibility of these guys. They can
make any move they want. Obviously, every dollar that you
spend in free agency is also would come out of
(01:52):
the kiddy, so to speak, for the dollars that you
can spend on extensions, which Green Bay now also is
going to have coming up right. And I just think
when you talk about Brian Guda Kuntz as the general
manager and Russ Ball in this front office and how
it's been constructed over the last six seven years, they
like having their options and I think at this point
(02:12):
in time they have a lot of those. They've worked
theirselves back from kind of that kicking the can down
the road, you know, bowering against the future to win
now back in twenty one and somewhat in twenty two,
they've gotten back into the black, so to speak in
terms of the financial aspect of it, and Green Bay's
(02:32):
ready to compete. So disappointing ending to the season, but
Brian definitely painted a and optimistic picture of what this
future looks like in Green Bay.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Yeah, I heard much the same that you did in
terms of what's top of mind for me the salary
cap situation. The Packers are in as good a shape
as they've been really since the COVID seasons, when you know,
there was the big shift in the cap and lots
of other decisions were made to try to stay at
the forefront and compete for a championship. As Aaron Rodgers
career was in Green Bay was winding down, and what
(03:04):
you said about the it's time to compete for championships,
I thought it was right at the very very end
of the last answer, the way he talked about a
lot of the young players on this team, they've now
proven they can play in the NFL. They've established themselves
as NFL players, and he sort of threw this question
out there about, Okay, well, what's next in terms of
(03:27):
what you can bring to this team to push this team.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Over the top.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
It's not every player that comes into this league yes,
you need to be a team player, but you need
to establish yourself. And you know that's first and foremost
for these guys because they're here to have a career,
they're here to make money, they're here to do the
best that they can.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
There's a bunch of young guys.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Who have established themselves now, so now their personal attitude
about success. And I'm not saying guys haven't been team players,
don't get me wrong, but your personal attitude, your personal
approach to success now needs to branch out and embrace
the entire team. And what more can you do to
(04:11):
help the team take the next step. That's sort of
what I heard.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Yeah, ask not what your team can do for you,
but what you can do for your team? Nice, very nice,
Thank you. No, but listen, I love that message because
you're talking beyond just guys being NFL players and being
good NFL players. You're talking about can you make the
next step to be a leader? Can you be the
(04:36):
next step to be a consistent playmaker, a star?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
That's I think exactly what he was getting at that.
You're putting it better than I No.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Not at all. I thought you made a fine point
as well, But I agree with you, I think we
have so many great players on this team, but who's
going to make that next jump? And by the way,
not to say that you're behind on that. It took
Jordy Nelson two three years, honestly the end of the
ten season before his star really start to shine. No doubt,
it doesn't always happen overnight. But that being said, you
(05:06):
have guys like Eddrian Cooper, and you know, you look
at some of these offensive skill position players like you know,
Tucker Kraft and the jump that he has made each
year he's been in the league, and and those are
the type of players that are also ultimately going to
be foundational pieces for you. And that was sort of
something that good it consoluded to as well as far
as needing to extend guys here in these next couple drafts.
(05:27):
The twenty two draft now is going to be eligible
for extensions. You get through next year, the twenty three
draft will be eligible for extensions. And one of the
reasons when you when you look at the Xavier McKinney's
and Josh Sjacobs, that's a lot of fun. We all
really enjoy that. But as Brian said, there isn't always
those players available, right, and you have to be very
pragmatic with how you use your your finances and the
(05:47):
decisions that you make as you build your team up
for the future, and how that all ties together. The
one thing that's been fun for me. You probably caught
onto this earlier than I did, because one you're you're
much smarter than I am. But two, you also have
covered this for quite a while now in the National
Football League. There was a time my first few years
(06:07):
where I was doing this beat where it's like, okay,
well you need to have your cornerback one and your
cornerback two. These are your starting safeties, here's your offensive line,
and then this is it. You built your team. Well,
the longer you cover this league, even under the most
favorable situations, you're going to have injuries, You're going to
have things that change. You're not going to have the
same exact lineup the entire season. And that is honestly
(06:29):
the way that Brian builds his team. That's how he
does it. It's about, yeah, you're preferred starters, but also
you're young guys that you're going to develop. He mentioned
Jordan Morgan, He's going to be coming back off that
shoulder surgery. Where does he fit into the picture next year?
For these guys. The only guy it sounds like that
won't be available at the beginning of the year based
on pre existing injuries right now is Christian Watson. What's
(06:52):
the reaction to that this offseason. Whether it's a free
agent or whether it's a draft pick, these are all
the decisions Brian Goodikuns has to make. But at the
end of the day, Mike him and his personnel department,
they're going to give themselves depth. They're going to give
themselves options, so you're not just tied into one specific scenario.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Yeah, and I think this is something to keep in
mind here as the Packers enter an off season with
a lot of salary cut flexibility and the ability to
really do whatever it is that they want to do
in terms of augmenting and reshaping the roster. You mentioned
Xavier McKinney Josh Jacobs. Just because McKinney and Jacobs were
(07:30):
guys the Packers were able to bring in last year,
that doesn't mean, for example, that the top wide receiver
who will be available on the market, or the top
cornerback who will be available on the market, or the
top pass Rusher will be available on the market.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Will be as good as those guys.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
You know, there's going to be a top so and
so available on the market. It doesn't mean it's the
next Xavier McKinney or the next Josh Jacobs. And that's
something for fans to keep in mind. Because the Packers
went out and got those top guys last year doesn't
mean that though, that the top guys available this year
are necessarily going to fit the Packers' vision and the culture,
(08:11):
and they may not be as good a players as
the guys. You know, Gota Kuntz has said it so
many times and you just reiterated it. Guys like Xavier
McKinnon and Josh Jacobs are not available on the free
agent market every year. That's why Brian jumped in and
was as aggressive as he was last year because he
saw those as rare opportunities. Just something to keep in
(08:32):
mind as a free agency eventually rolls around here in
about six to eight weeks.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Yeah, and that's a great point. One thing I've always
personally loved too. How many people, including myself would have said, Hey,
the Minnesota Vikings last year had an A plus free agency.
Andrew Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman were not household names,
and they both ended up turning into two of their better.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Players an time.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Zadarius Smith when the Packers signed him in twenty nineteen,
it was a rotational rusher in Baltimore, not a household name.
It's projecting sometimes where these guys are going to. It's
not always going to be an All Pro running back
that was a rushing champion.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Yeah, they's gonna be exactly.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
There's still some there's still some crystal ball business to
free agency, just as there is with the draft. It's
just you're at a different point in a player's career
in terms of trying to look and to project. Well,
some of the guys that you mentioned just a few
minutes ago, I think are going to come up in
the next conversation we're going to have, which is I'm
going to throw out some awards, if you want to
(09:31):
call it that, players that you would pick to fit
certain categories here. And I'm not going to say, you know,
this isn't going to be like Team MVP, because if
you say Josh Jacobs, then I'm gonna say Zaber McKinney
or viceversa. I'm not even gonna go there. These are
going to be a little bit, a little bit deferstmid guard.
And if you and I have not tied him up
(09:51):
for this, folks, if you end up picking a guy
that I wanted to talk about, I will have to
pivot on the fly and talk about somebody else. So
my first one the unsung hero of the twenty twenty
four Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Oh, what a great question, Mike, the unsung hero. There's
so many levels to this. Yeah, how far do we
want to talk about?
Speaker 2 (10:11):
You can take that, You can take this any direction.
You can define unsung hero anyway.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
You Okay, So I'm gonna do I'm going to define
unsung hero as a guy that helped them get to
where they got to at the end of the season.
So for my unsung hero, I'll pick Carrington Valentine as
a guy who started the year it looked like he
was going to be the odd man out because he
misses the beginning of training camp with the hamstring injury.
He he kind of has some setbacks with that and
then it, you know, it appears like Jay Air, Eric Stokes,
(10:40):
you have Keshawn Nixon the slot, you have a lot
of depth at cornerback. It just seemed like, well, how
is Carrington going to get on the field after starting
slow out of the gates, And then you can make
a case that he might have been one of their
most important defensive players during the final month of the season.
He ends up having his first two interceptions in a
span of three games. He forces a fumble. In another context,
(11:00):
Carrington is a guy that battles, and the more I
watch him play, the more I'm impressed by him and
in what he brings to the table. And talking about
how things align for next season, you know, good to Consett.
I mean he really thought, in kind of echoing your
comments from a couple of weeks ago as well, when
they settled in on Valentine on one side and Nixon
on the other, No, you're not getting Jay airback having
(11:23):
Bullered in the slot that ended up being their optimal
package there in the nickel, which is ultimately the one
that most NFL teams end up running on a percentage basis.
Carrington is a happy, go lucky, gregarious guy, but he
is serious about football. And you asked me the unsung
hero of this team, I think he's definitely in the
conversation there.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Yeah, And this is a tough one for me to
narrow it down because I think there's actually a pretty
long list of guys on this team in that regard.
I'm gonna mention too, and I won't talk too long
about either one because I want to I want to
get into some of these other topics as well. I
don't want this category to go by without mentioning Malik Willis,
because I mean, it's not just that a backup quarterback
(12:02):
came in and won two games as a starter and
won another game in relief and almost won a fourth
game in relief at the end of the season. It's
that when Malik Willis had to When Malik Willis was
called upon to start those two games, and even when
he was called on in relief in Jacksonville, he hadn't
been here very long, and that could have gone really south,
(12:26):
really fast for the Packers. And the fact that all
three of those games, yes, they were all against AFC
South teams, and that was a very poor division this year,
So the Packers were fortunate the timing and the schedule
in that regard. But what Malik Willis did cannot be
forgotten in terms of where the twenty twenty four Packers went.
(12:47):
The other one I want to mention, I think we
talked about him on previous shows. In this category of
unsung hero is Eric Wilson, the veteran linebacker. Because when
Edrin Cooper wasn't out there as much early in the
season and kway Walker had to miss some games anytime
the Packers needed some extra snaps and some and the
(13:08):
the communication and the leadership at the inside linebacker position,
they turned to Eric Wilson. And and for a guy
who's a little bit undersized, he's not an overly dynamic player.
Not only did he hold the defense together, but he
made some splash plays along the way too, whether it
be a TfL here there, or a sack or an
(13:28):
interception that he had against the Colts in that the
Malik Willis's first games as the Packers starter. So that
would be my guy there. Next category, emerging player, I.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Mean it's it's entering coop. Yeah, I mean that's the answer, right.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
I threw that one to you because now I have
to come up with some Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
So now I will pontificate and whatnot.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
O start, I'll be ready, I'll be ready.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Listen I've said this so many times, but I wrote
this an insider inbox. I truly mean it. Going back
to twenty twelve and so many people think about that
playoff loss to the forty nine ers, when people often
forget about as they were a top ten, top eleven
defense that year, and a big reason for that was
Casey Hayward coming in as a rookie second round pick,
having six interceptions, finishing third in Defensive Rookie of the
(14:18):
Year voting that year. He was a huge part of
what Green Bay did that season, and he did it
right from the get go. Unfortunately, he had some hamstring
issues and some other stuff that popped up in the
subsequent years, but that season was a huge critical piece
for them, especially with Charles Woodson getting injured midway through
the season. So all that being said, Edger and Cooper
kind of reminded me of that a little bit this season.
It didn't matter about the position, it didn't matter about
(14:40):
the inexperience, and I understand there's some things he had
to learn on the fly, but he was a difference
maker and this defense was different when he was on
the field. I would love to see the compare and
contrast from the first half of the year to when
Edgron really got going, especially after he came back from
the hamstring injury. He catapulted this defense forward and was
one of their best players. And I think of us,
including myself, talked about when you're looking at an off
(15:02):
ball linebacker. Some of the things he was doing was
so emblematic of what they did with Clay Matthews in
the mid twenty tens, being able to rush him from
different areas, him being able to have his coverage skills.
He still has much to learn, but he definitely was
the gem so far of this draft class. And I
think when you're looking at the optimism and the hope
(15:22):
and the potential of this defense the years to come
under Jeff Haffley, it starts with Cooper because his speed,
his quickness, and it's not just about him blitzing or
being incorporated in the pass rush. He incorporates that into
how he defends the run as well, and I thought
had a big reason for why Green Bay ended up
having their best performance against the run in fifteen years.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Yeah, I'm going to give what probably will strike you
as a little bit of a surprising answer to this quest.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Wes Hodwaks Verrging player? What's that?
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Is?
Speaker 2 (15:49):
It?
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Me?
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (15:51):
But I'm gonna say tight end Tucker Kraft.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
And I say that because as big a jump as
he made from his rookie season to his second season
and becoming an all around tight end in terms of
the blocking and the pass protection, the blocking in the
run game, the pass protection, the receiving and the yards
after the catch, and all of that evolution and growth
(16:17):
in Tucker Craft's game that we saw, I think I
still label him as an emerging player on this team.
Because Matt Lafleur hinted the other day Tucker Craft very
well could go from that solid all around tight end
that every team wants to being a major, major featured
(16:38):
player in this offense in his third year. I think
that might be what is coming down the road for
number eighty five. And so that's why he's my answer
to this one. And we were both there what he
said at his locker on Monday on the final locker
cleanout day. He's already starting to become a leader on
(16:58):
this team, obviously, and he announced essentially to everybody not
only with what he said but how he said it,
that he's going to continue to take steps to be
a leader in that locker room. And I think the
next step in that regard started on Monday. The way
he assessed this team and how he feels about it
(17:21):
and where he feels it can and should go.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
I'm with you one hundred percent on that, and he
is when you're listening to Matt Lafleure talk as well.
I mean, he is a focal point of what Green
Bay wants to build this offense around moving forward. He's consistent,
he's durable, he's tenacious, he prides himself just as much
on his blocking as he does his pass catching. He's
looking like a complete all around tight end and seeing
(17:44):
him grow into that has been really encouraging. And then
even more than that, too, the fact that the offense,
when you're talking about the consistency of it, when he's
a focal point, when he's going when things are right,
that does seem to be one of the things that
does sort of, you know, shoot the fuel into the engine,
so to speak. Yeah, big plays are huge, and certainly
running the ball is huge, but when you can move
(18:06):
the sticks with a tight end like him, sometimes he
doesn't even have to run the route to the first down,
he can break a tackle or two to get going.
I did see a statistic I wish I could credit
the right source. I think it's Pro Football Focus. If
it's not, it's a next gen stats other than George Kittle.
I think he was the best in the league as
far as yards after contact and in his route depth.
(18:27):
For the amnt of yards he ended up having this
season relative to his route depth, I think Tucker Craft
is a third round pick two years ago is going
to turn out to be one of the best that
Brian Goodecons has made in terms of draft choices.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Yeah, and I'm totally with you in this category. As
far as Edger and Cooper, and I think even though
they don't play the same position, what you said about
Clay Matthews and how we saw Clay Matthews emerge, I
think I think edgerin Cooper is without a doubt on
that same track.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
It's very exciting.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
Because it's about unpredictability, right, and why was Clay so
effective there? You didn't know when they were going to
throw a match you. As far as the quarterback and
some things, he adds a different dimension to that double
a gap. Look where you're you're doing those simulated pressures,
you're not sure where it's coming from. With his quickness,
and the dude is listed at only two twenty eight,
I have a hard time believe in that. Like he
(19:16):
I've seen two hundred and twenty eight pound receivers and
safeties and things like that. Edrin Cooper wears it well. Man.
If I didn't know any better, I would say he
was two forty one, just like Kway.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Yeah, he's it's a.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
Good football player. I'm excited to see him grow.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Yeah, all right, next one surprise player?
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Can I pick Brandon McManus here? Sure? So Brandon McManus
comes off the street, and obviously you know all this
stuff has been covered, but I was blown away by him.
I know the season didn't end how he wanted to.
I mean, missing a thirty eight yarder in his hometown.
It's tough pill to swallow right at the end of
this thing, but I think Brian even said it was
kind of the journey they were on with the kicker situation.
(19:54):
And you know, Brandon Narvisen, God bless him. I hope
it works out for him. A nice kid. But I
think he was number six seven in the line of
all these guys that they had signed throughout the course
of the offseason, and since since April, McManus comes available,
they sign him. He comes in here and he won
them games. Man Like Bill James and baseball always had
(20:15):
like the you know wins, you know gained and things
like that, how much you contribute to it, And I
would love to have a statistic like that for Brandon McManus.
I mean, I think you have to make a case
he won the Packers a game or two this season
just the way he performed, and you know, and he
came up in some big clutch situations as well. And
Brian talked about how you know that that is going
(20:36):
to be a major emphasis here this offseason. They would
like to get him back.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
They want to keep that nucleus together with the specialists.
It's something they've really struggled to do here for for
several years now, to have those same three that battery together,
like Rich Bisacci always talks about. So yeah, certainly, I
think McManus, for a guy that was not on the
top of my head when the season started as a
potential savior for this kicking situation, definitely came through for
(21:01):
Green Bay.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Yeah, my guy for surprise player is Keishaan Nixon.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Yeah, that's a good one.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Uh, you know, And we talked about him on previous
shows as well. I mean, with as much time as
Jay Alexander missed and Nixon being asked not only to
bump out and play outside corner, but to play essentially
the CB one spot for as many games as he did,
and to perform at the level that he did. I
(21:29):
thought the player, the defensive player that Kishan Nixon has
become over the last couple of years is nothing short
of very impressive. And it's a lot of credit to him.
It's it's a credit to it's a credit to the
coaches to give him the opportunity to see what he
can do, and the credit to him to deliver when he's.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Called upon there. And you know, if.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
I'll just say it this way, and we don't need
to go off on the tangent, so I apologize if
it sends us there. If the OPI is called at
the end of the Detroit game, we're talking about Keishawn
Nixon as maybe the hero of that football game.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
That's all I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
You know what it is, It's it's like the Hey,
don't poke me, Yeah, don't prod me here, Spofford, all right,
we'll move on. Hey, let me say this, and that's
a great you know what, you know what I mean though,
I know exactly what Keishawn Nixon did in that game
in Detroit was impressive as all get out.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
And then and unfortunately, then you know, the discussion turns to,
you know, to to that play right at the end
where he's all over their number one receiver and just
gets shoved out of the way, and it doesn't matter.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Doesn't matter. Yeah, there's too many of those situations this here,
and obviously Green Bay talked about it too. You don't
want to be in those situations where the refs are
are changing stuff. But the one, the one credit I'll
give to Kishawn. I've covered this team. This was year thirteen,
season thirteen for me. The one thing I will say
about him is Treman Williams is probably the only cornerback
I can think of that has been able to play
(23:00):
outside on the perimeter and slide into the slot and
perform as well as he did. That is not an
advantageous situation to be And Keishan did a really good
job in the locker room this year of kind of
explaining the differences between the two positions, the instincts that
are required outside and reading exactly how guys are lining
up and what you're potentially facing, and then inside, where
it's you're trying to be physical. You don't have as
(23:22):
much time to read and react. It's a difficult juggling act.
And there were several times this year where because of
injuries or certain situations, he had to handle both of
those things at a fly, and he passed that test.
For as much as I people just don't want to
give him his flow. Some fans don't want to give
him his flowers. Keishaw Nixon is a huge part of
this thing and what Koreembia is going to build here
(23:44):
in the years to come.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Yeah, I agree, and it's why I wanted to I
want to continue to emphasize.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
That, because why is an unsung hero, because.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Yeah, he could fit.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
He could have fit in that category as well as
whether you want to call it unsung hero a surprise player.
I think I know what your answer is is already
to this next one, but I'm gonna throw it out
there anyway, And you kind of already hinted at it
unless you've changed your mind.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
Always changed my mind. Best moment of the season, Oh yeah,
I love the McManus field goal against Houston. Against Houston,
yeah yeah. And the only reason for that is first
first game, the guy shows up.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
I mean they sign him on what Tuesday? Yeah, and
then on Sunday he's got to walk out in the
Lambeau Field and and hit a walk off field goal.
And not just a walk off field goal, but one
that you lose if you missed it.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Because the Packers were down by a point.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
And in what's the definition of best moment in the season,
it's the It's the thing that you think of immediately.
It's the image that you think of Aaron Rodgers a
number of years ago doing that I still own you
thing to the fans at Soldier Field and what ended
up being his last start for Green Bay. There mcmannon
and obviously McManus wasn't being wasn't doing that, but him
jumping to the crowd, the way that guys reacted to it,
(24:55):
the Packers wearing the winter Warning jerseys, it just and
it was a very big win. It was a win
over a team that at the time in which we're shooting.
This is still playing for a Super Bowl. I mean,
I just I loved everything about it. It was the
biggest headache Green Bay had had. They went through so
many different kickers and situations, and it's a situation where
(25:16):
it's not just about whether Brandon Narvson con made it.
How many kickers in the National Football League are able
to come up in that situation. And mcmahonus proved that
he is is a veteran, He's done this before, he
has a process that works for him. And I think
it was after that day everybody kind of felt like, Okay,
the Packers are going to be okay.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
For me, it's and part of this is, I mean,
you know how things are for us at the end
of games, Like I'm live blogging the game and I
need to you know, you're doing the quarter by quarter
updates on the website, and then I need to write
kind of the summary, the quick recap right at the
end of the game that goes on top of your
quarter by quarter thing. That's how we kind of piece
(25:57):
this together. So when things are frantic at the end
of game, like my mind is going like a gazillion
different miles an hour, So for me, the best moment
of the season is sort of related to all of
that chaos, and it's in Jacksonville tie score, and Malik
Willis hits Jaden Reid for fifty one yards. That sets
(26:18):
up then another walk off, a chip shot in this
case for McManus, because you know, Willis had come in, Hey,
he'd done a great job. The Packers were up ten points.
Then the defense starts to falter, gives up ten points
on two straight drives by Trevor Lawrence. The offense had
been going nowhere, and so you know, I'm thinking, you know,
oh my gosh, this looks like one that's going to
(26:39):
get away. You know, it's it felt a lot like
the Carolina Yeah, for sure last year one that was.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
Going to get away.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
That you're just like, how do you let this game
get away? And then Willis hits Red and they get
the big play fifty one yards down the field, and
you know, we hop on the plane to come home
from Jacksonville with another victory and a lot more exciting
things to write about than if that game had gone
the other way. And that, for me, that's the one
that stands out with the Carl Brooks blockfield goal in
(27:06):
Chicago being right up there as well. But the Jacksonville
one mentally is the one that sticks with me.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
I'm with you on that too, because the only thing
that kind of hurts about the Brooks one is that
Santos gets it back at Lambeufield.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Right finalitey agreed, But what I.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Loved about willis Man is I mean, he can spin it, dude.
I love watching him throw football.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Yeah, get no doubt it is it is.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
He throws a nice, tight spiral. I just I can't
get over the fact Green Bay got him for a
seventh round pick, and especially in.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Nness, was in quarterback purgatory all year long after trading
that guy for a seventh round pick.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Well, some things they won't be anymore. Yeah, some teams.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Some team's misfortune is yeah, another team's good fortune. So
all right, this last one I'm gonna throw at you.
And this I've never asked you this question before, Okay,
within this context, but it struck me as one to
ask because of how we had talked on our last
show about the big what if of the playoff game
(28:07):
was obviously the opening kickoff and the replay review and
all that, and it was sort of the what if
about the game against Philly that was hanging out there
like a Matza ball to steal a Jerry Seinfeld expression.
So I want to ask you, what do you feel,
aside from that one from the playoff game, what was
your biggest what if moment of this season for the Pack?
Speaker 3 (28:29):
Before I turn it over that, I just want to say,
what if the New York Office had access to the
same skycam footage that Bob from Krivits had access to
and how that might have affected this football game? That's
that's my my what if. No, I think my big
what if is ultimately going to end up being just
(28:50):
with Christian Watson. And I don't want to put it
all on Christian because, as I've talked about with you before,
Green Bay didn't have him for most of the last
season and they were able to overcome it. They were
without you know, Aaron Jones last season for most of
last season in various intervals, and we're able to overcome it.
So you always have to play above that. You need
guys to step up. But but that being said, Christian
(29:13):
is such a solid football player, good leader, will do
anything you need him to do. If he's on the
field for them down the stretch, and he's commanding. We're
talking about the shelf and the ceiling that they built,
that roof that Philadelphia built. Well, running number seven against
that changes then number nine, number nine as much as
(29:36):
quite sure where that game. Number seven is on my
mind right now, but let's stick to name.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Thought i'd correct you before that.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
Yeah, thanks for doing that, by the way, yeah scream,
but even have a number seven right now?
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Yeah, it's kuay Walker.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
Oh kay Walker. Yeah, because he's on defense. I'm yeah,
I'm going to retire. Uh, it's been a log season.
There's a reason this is our last. Shit. This reminds
me of the time that somebody who will remain nameless
asked you in the press box, Mike, who's number eighteen? Yeah,
when it was Randall Cobb. Listen, I'm taken away from
the point here, but Christian Watson is a really good
(30:10):
football player, and to lose him in that sense and
not have him on the field and now we'll see
exactly what the future holds here as they try to
navigate this offseason without him. I just I just wonder
if Christian Watson is out there for this playoff run.
How that changes Green Bay's offense and maybe the way
that the Philadelphia Eagles and potentially the opponent after that.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Would have had to send him. Yeah. For me, the
what if moment is.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
It'll it'd be pinpointed to somewhere around give or take
a few minutes, but three pm on Week eighteen, because
the Washington Commanders threw a touchdown pass with five seconds
sure right the Dallas Cowboys and the Packers lost to
the Chicago Bears on a walk off field goal. Those
(31:00):
two things happened within moments of each other.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Yeah, And if both of.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Those games go the other way, the Packers are the
sixth seed and not the seventh seed, and they are
going to Tampa Bay, which is just a ten win
football team in the winner of a poor division, instead
of a fourteen win team in Philadelphia. Playing the three
seed versus the two seed, I think was a huge
difference in terms of the wild card round in the
(31:26):
NFC playoffs. So for me, that's my what if because
I think if the Packers go to Tampa instead of
going to Philly, I think we've been spending this show
talking about a rematch with Detroit. Yeah, and game number
three against the Lions. But that's the what if. That's
the what if.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
I really wanted that one too. I just again, you
know me, the pro wrestling fan in me, the narratives
and all that stuff that goes into it. I just
think the build of that game would have been so
much fun. It didn't happen. Yeah, Washington goes to Detroit, obviously,
the Los Angeles Amselill go to Philadelphia, and the NFC
representative will be one of those four teams in the
Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
And I want to get your thoughts quickly. This took
a little longer than I thought, but it's the last show.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
Oh you're talking to me, But I'm a long winded.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
I've been a little long winded today too. But for
some sponsor business.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
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(32:37):
weekend Houston at Kansas City, Washington at Detroit on Saturday.
Any thoughts to share as the weekend approach.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Washington versus Detroit's is more specifically, Washington's offense versus Detroit's
defense will be really interesting. Aaron Glenn, rightfully, so, getting
a lot of attention for potential head coaching opportunities. I
think sometimes and I really lies Alex Azeloni, like they
were dealing with some injuries this year that affected, but
I mean they are the twentieth ranked defense in the league,
(33:06):
and seeing if Washington can have some success against it
is going to be I think, ultimately the storyline of
this game, certainly Dan Quinn's defense. It's going to be
a supreme challenge trying to defend Detroit. It sounded like
before we hopped in here that David Montgomery is going
to be back or potentially could be back here.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
It sounds like it.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
Yeah, So, I mean, they're they're coming back to full
force here for this stretch run in a situation in
which a couple of weeks ago at least it was
put out there that he wasn't going to be back.
Although there's part of me the contrary and sort of
skeptic in me always wondered if that really was true
or not. But be that as it may, David Montgomery
is still in the cards here for the Lions, So
that's gonna be a really good matchup. I mean, Houston's
(33:46):
gonna see I mean you talk about like Green Bay
last year, kind of playing with house money and going
into San Francisco and seeing if something can happen. That's
kind of where the Texans are right now. I don't
think anybody really expected them to handle you know how
they did, you know, kind of running through the Chargers
last week. Yeah, and we'll see, man, I mean it's
it's you have nothing to lose in that scenarios. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
I mean, for me, the team, the team that's playing
with the most house money right now is Washington. Just yeah,
for sure, with them being on this run of all
of these last second, last play of the game victories
and stuff like that, it doesn't get more more house
money than that.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
Houston.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
I'm just very interested. I fully expect Kansas City to win,
but I'm really interested in what Houston's defense does against
a Kansas City offense that has not been a typical
Patrick Mahomes offense. Yeah, right, route this year, they haven't
really gotten to where you know, they've been expected to
be offensively, and this Houston defense is no joke, So
(34:45):
that that intrigues me in that respect. Sunday's games Rams
at Eagles, Ravens at Bills. What are your thoughts there?
Speaker 3 (34:53):
Baltimore and Buffalo is maybe the biggest game of this
entire postseason. Yeah, honestly, yeah, I understand the super Bowl.
Everybody wants to win the Super Bowl, but Lamar and
Josh Allen can't both get there. They can't both get
to the AFC Championship game, and one of those two
stories is going to have a very disappointing ending. You
have Lamar, who, as good as he's been and multiple
(35:14):
time MVP now has not been able to take that
next step in the playoffs, and unfortunately Josh Allen has
been on the losing ends so many times of these
losses against Kansas City. One of them gets to advance here,
and honestly, I think I potentially could favor either one
of them to end up being the super Bowl champion,
whoever wins that, depending on how they do so that is,
(35:34):
and then also can Baltimore's defense, the issues that they've
had over the course of this year, some of the
ups and downs they've had. Can they contend with everything
that Buffalo presents? Very good football game, And again you
and I have talked about several times now, Kansas City,
this is why you want the number one seed, especially
in that conference. If you can take care of business
(35:55):
against Houston, you get to face the team that actually
gets through that gauntlet. Here between Baltimore and Buffalo, huge,
huge implications in that one.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
Yeah, it's interesting because I mentioned the whole thing about
Buffalo being an underdog and a home playoff game for
the first time in franchise history.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
I mentioned that on our last show.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
But if there's a game, if there's a January playoff
game in Buffalo where the Bills actually want really really
good weather, yeah it's this one. This was because not
only Baltimore's running game with Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson,
but Baltimore's pass defense is the biggest weakness of that team.
And Buffalo needs to be able to throw the ball
(36:36):
all over the yard, and Buffalo doesn't run the ball
well anyway, except for their quarterbacks. So Buffalo doesn't want
a ten degrees. I haven't even looked at what the
forecast is. They don't want ten degrees next to Lake
Erie on Sunday night. That's not what they want for
this game against against the Ravens Rams at Eagles. I'll
just say, if Philadelphia can handle LA's pass rush, I
(36:58):
think the Eagles win this game.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
I think that.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
I think that's really the biggest thing that it comes
down to two quarterbacks. They both won their share of
playoff games. You know, the best running game is obviously
Philadelphia's and the Rams I think are going to have
a hard time stopping Philadelphia's offense regardless of how they
do against Barkley. But if that defensive front can't, you know,
(37:22):
repeat what they did against the Vikings, I think the
Rams are in trouble.
Speaker 3 (37:27):
Well in two weeks a row An offense with the
Lafleur attached to it is going to try to find
an answer here for the for the Philadelphia Eagles passing
defense and everything that they present. The Rams are the
wild card in all of this. I feel like like
as much as you're talking about and I agree with you,
Washington playing with house money, the Rams are the one
that are sort of the unknown elements of this postseason
(37:49):
run because we didn't get to see them at full
strength for basically the entire season up until this stretch run.
We're gonna find out how legitimate they are. If you
can beat the Minnesota Vikings the way that they beat
them and then go on the road into Philadelphia and
hand it to the Eagles, there may not be a
hotter team even if Washington finds a way to upset
Detroit heading into that championship AFC and NFC weekend. So
(38:14):
Matthew Stafford's been there, He's done that. You're talking about
experienced quarterbacks in this league. There's nothing that Vic Fangio
is going to show him that Stafford hasn't seen before.
Do they have the weapons and everything around that to
take advantage of it? And we'll find out on Sunday afternoon.
Speaker 1 (38:28):
Yeah, we will find out.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
And we've run a little bit long again, but that's okay,
it's our last show of the year. I'm just gonna
do this one more time, folks, because the countdown to
the twenty twenty five NFL Draft has begun. Green Bay
is hosting this year. If you didn't already know that,
and you won't want to miss it, so mark your
calendars for April twenty four through April twenty six of
twenty twenty five and it visit green Bay dot com
slash Draft twenty five for more information. And before we go,
(38:54):
I will turn it over to you for a couple
of last times.
Speaker 3 (38:57):
Yeah, thank you. Michael us Here Packer's Digital and Broadcast
and Social Department. Everybody attached with us lost somebody very
close to us this week, and Mike Vandersnick. I just
want to say a couple of words about Snick, and
these last couple of days have been really hard for
me personally. I've known Mike basically since I was a
(39:17):
teenager and I worked with them at Spectrum what was
previously Time Warner Cable. Got to know him there twenty thirteen,
JP cadoran love you, JP, wherever you're at. Him and
his lovely wife Welcome to the birth of a child,
and Spectrum sent me. I was covering the games for
the Press gazette. They decided, Hey, we're gonna have you
(39:38):
be our stand up guy. You're gonna do the live
stand up or not lives, but the look live, and
Snick was my videographer and god, I was terrible. I
was so bad, Mike, Like, I'm not saying I've ever
been good on camera. I have to ask thee if
Dennis Crowsey has those videos for me. I was so bad.
And Nick Snick was so encouraging to me. This guy
has worked in the field forever. He was with us
(40:00):
as a videographer. He basically worked for every TV station
in this area. A total professional. You'll never find anybody
better at what he did. And he was so encouraging
to me. And I was so bad at what I
was doing. I went back and looked at it and
it was so terrible. But that's just the type of
guy he was. And there's a million stories we could share.
(40:20):
I've had great time talking to people the last few days,
you know, sort of bringing through some of our favorite
moments of him. And I just want to say this.
In twenty fifteen, Mike was the first person that came
up to me and told me that VIC was going
to be retiring. And he was the first guy that
said to me, Hey, you know, maybe this is something
that you should consider. Not that the packers would have
(40:40):
even wanted me, but to keep your eyes and your
ears open to.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
Oh, we wanted you, We wanted you.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
But I'll give a shout out and thank you to
Snick for planning the seed.
Speaker 3 (40:53):
And I actually at first said, no, I'm not interested
in that. I'm a newspaper man. I'm a tough guy.
And Snick and I always had a relationship. I never
got into a fight with him once, never had to
disagree with him once. But he looked at me kind
of like the way a young older brother would look
at a younger brother, like you're being stupid, Like what
are you talking about? And because Mike had seen what
(41:15):
the news industry was looking like, he knew what my
situation looked like at the newspaper when Gannett had bought
the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and there's gonna be a merger
between the Prescazette and the JS and and who knows
what that could mean for jobs. And I ended up
reconsidering and I texted Ryan Hartwig. I texted Duke Bobber,
who's my direct boss, our our direct supervisor. And six
(41:37):
months later I got a job with the packers. And
I will never forget the look that Mike gave me
the day that I started here. And I love you Mike,
I appreciate everything you did for me. I'm so heartbroken
and sad for the people that know you even better
(41:59):
than I did. His wife, Shelley is wonderful wife. Shelley's
beautiful wife, Shelley, and everybody that he touched and everybody
that he did so much good with, And I will
forever cherish all the memories, the road trips, everything we
did and the bond that we formed. And the last
(42:19):
two days have been two of the rougher days that
I've had in a very long time. And what's kind
of getting me through it right now, spot is the
fact that there are so many good memories of things
that we did together and times that we shared, and
laughs and photos and and everything. So I appreciate the
packers and you and everybody given me an opportunity to
(42:41):
kind of express that, because Mike, for as long as
I live, buddy, I am going to be living for you.
I love you, and I am never ever ever going
to forget you, And I'm looking forward very someday have
a reconciliation with you there and be able to.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
Meet up again. Yeah. Well I couldn't say it any better.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
So I'm not gonna try, and with that we're going
to call it a rap on the edition of Packers
Unscripted and this season of Packers Unscripted. A thank you
to all of our viewers and listeners and everybody who
enjoys what we do here, and also a shout out
to our producer Zach. Thanks for hanging with us all season, buddy.
Speaker 1 (43:22):
And as I said.
Speaker 2 (43:25):
We will be back at some point before the draft,
which is in Green Bay in case you haven't been
paying attention, But until then, for Wes, I am Mike.
Thank you for tuning in everybody, and we will see
you next time.
Hi, everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
I am Mike Spafford, joined as always by my trusted
colleague Weston Hodkoitz. We're coming to you here from our
studios at Lambeufield kind of a season wrap up show.
I guess you would say this will be our last
show for the time being. We will be back at
some point before the draft, just not quite sure exactly
(00:39):
when that'll be, but we will be taking a break
on Packers Unscripted. We'll start this final show of the
season West with this.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Not long before.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
We stepped into the studio here, we heard from Packers
General manager Brian Gudukunst. He addressed the media for about
thirty five minutes in his annual season wrap up news conference.
And I'll just throw an open ended question out to you,
what if anything stood out to you as your biggest
takeaway from that media session.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Yeah, Mike, there was plenty of takeaways from it. I
think the one where my ears perked up the most,
and obviously a lot of the media outlets have kind
of grabbed onto it the idea that you know, now
is the time to start competing for championships and that
not that Green Bay isn't always doing that, but they
understand how good these recent draft classes have been in
(01:32):
twenty two to twenty three, and then obviously you've already
seen some production from the twenty four class in how
that translates to this team taking the next step. And
I think my biggest takeaway beyond that was just Brian
talking about the financial flexibility of these guys. They can
make any move they want. Obviously, every dollar that you
spend in free agency is also would come out of
(01:52):
the kiddy, so to speak, for the dollars that you
can spend on extensions, which Green Bay now also is
going to have coming up right. And I just think
when you talk about Brian Guda Kuntz as the general
manager and Russ Ball in this front office and how
it's been constructed over the last six seven years, they
like having their options and I think at this point
(02:12):
in time they have a lot of those. They've worked
theirselves back from kind of that kicking the can down
the road, you know, bowering against the future to win
now back in twenty one and somewhat in twenty two,
they've gotten back into the black, so to speak in
terms of the financial aspect of it, and Green Bay's
(02:32):
ready to compete. So disappointing ending to the season, but
Brian definitely painted a and optimistic picture of what this
future looks like in Green Bay.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Yeah, I heard much the same that you did in
terms of what's top of mind for me the salary
cap situation. The Packers are in as good a shape
as they've been really since the COVID seasons, when you know,
there was the big shift in the cap and lots
of other decisions were made to try to stay at
the forefront and compete for a championship. As Aaron Rodgers
career was in Green Bay was winding down, and what
(03:04):
you said about the it's time to compete for championships,
I thought it was right at the very very end
of the last answer, the way he talked about a
lot of the young players on this team, they've now
proven they can play in the NFL. They've established themselves
as NFL players, and he sort of threw this question
out there about, Okay, well, what's next in terms of
(03:27):
what you can bring to this team to push this team.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Over the top.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
It's not every player that comes into this league yes,
you need to be a team player, but you need
to establish yourself. And you know that's first and foremost
for these guys because they're here to have a career,
they're here to make money, they're here to do the
best that they can.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
There's a bunch of young guys.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Who have established themselves now, so now their personal attitude
about success. And I'm not saying guys haven't been team players,
don't get me wrong, but your personal attitude, your personal
approach to success now needs to branch out and embrace
the entire team. And what more can you do to
(04:11):
help the team take the next step. That's sort of
what I heard.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Yeah, ask not what your team can do for you,
but what you can do for your team? Nice, very nice,
Thank you. No, but listen, I love that message because
you're talking beyond just guys being NFL players and being
good NFL players. You're talking about can you make the
next step to be a leader? Can you be the
(04:36):
next step to be a consistent playmaker, a star?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
That's I think exactly what he was getting at that.
You're putting it better than I No.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Not at all. I thought you made a fine point
as well, But I agree with you, I think we
have so many great players on this team, but who's
going to make that next jump? And by the way,
not to say that you're behind on that. It took
Jordy Nelson two three years, honestly the end of the
ten season before his star really start to shine. No doubt,
it doesn't always happen overnight. But that being said, you
(05:06):
have guys like Eddrian Cooper, and you know, you look
at some of these offensive skill position players like you know,
Tucker Kraft and the jump that he has made each
year he's been in the league, and and those are
the type of players that are also ultimately going to
be foundational pieces for you. And that was sort of
something that good it consoluded to as well as far
as needing to extend guys here in these next couple drafts.
(05:27):
The twenty two draft now is going to be eligible
for extensions. You get through next year, the twenty three
draft will be eligible for extensions. And one of the
reasons when you when you look at the Xavier McKinney's
and Josh Sjacobs, that's a lot of fun. We all
really enjoy that. But as Brian said, there isn't always
those players available, right, and you have to be very
pragmatic with how you use your your finances and the
(05:47):
decisions that you make as you build your team up
for the future, and how that all ties together. The
one thing that's been fun for me. You probably caught
onto this earlier than I did, because one you're you're
much smarter than I am. But two, you also have
covered this for quite a while now in the National
Football League. There was a time my first few years
(06:07):
where I was doing this beat where it's like, okay,
well you need to have your cornerback one and your
cornerback two. These are your starting safeties, here's your offensive line,
and then this is it. You built your team. Well,
the longer you cover this league, even under the most
favorable situations, you're going to have injuries, You're going to
have things that change. You're not going to have the
same exact lineup the entire season. And that is honestly
(06:29):
the way that Brian builds his team. That's how he
does it. It's about, yeah, you're preferred starters, but also
you're young guys that you're going to develop. He mentioned
Jordan Morgan, He's going to be coming back off that
shoulder surgery. Where does he fit into the picture next year?
For these guys. The only guy it sounds like that
won't be available at the beginning of the year based
on pre existing injuries right now is Christian Watson. What's
(06:52):
the reaction to that this offseason. Whether it's a free
agent or whether it's a draft pick, these are all
the decisions Brian Goodikuns has to make. But at the
end of the day, Mike him and his personnel department,
they're going to give themselves depth. They're going to give
themselves options, so you're not just tied into one specific scenario.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Yeah, and I think this is something to keep in
mind here as the Packers enter an off season with
a lot of salary cut flexibility and the ability to
really do whatever it is that they want to do
in terms of augmenting and reshaping the roster. You mentioned
Xavier McKinney Josh Jacobs. Just because McKinney and Jacobs were
(07:30):
guys the Packers were able to bring in last year,
that doesn't mean, for example, that the top wide receiver
who will be available on the market, or the top
cornerback who will be available on the market, or the
top pass Rusher will be available on the market.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Will be as good as those guys.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
You know, there's going to be a top so and
so available on the market. It doesn't mean it's the
next Xavier McKinney or the next Josh Jacobs. And that's
something for fans to keep in mind. Because the Packers
went out and got those top guys last year doesn't
mean that though, that the top guys available this year
are necessarily going to fit the Packers' vision and the culture,
(08:11):
and they may not be as good a players as
the guys. You know, Gota Kuntz has said it so
many times and you just reiterated it. Guys like Xavier
McKinnon and Josh Jacobs are not available on the free
agent market every year. That's why Brian jumped in and
was as aggressive as he was last year because he
saw those as rare opportunities. Just something to keep in
(08:32):
mind as a free agency eventually rolls around here in
about six to eight weeks.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Yeah, and that's a great point. One thing I've always
personally loved too. How many people, including myself would have said, Hey,
the Minnesota Vikings last year had an A plus free agency.
Andrew Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman were not household names,
and they both ended up turning into two of their better.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Players an time.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Zadarius Smith when the Packers signed him in twenty nineteen,
it was a rotational rusher in Baltimore, not a household name.
It's projecting sometimes where these guys are going to. It's
not always going to be an All Pro running back
that was a rushing champion.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Yeah, they's gonna be exactly.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
There's still some there's still some crystal ball business to
free agency, just as there is with the draft. It's
just you're at a different point in a player's career
in terms of trying to look and to project. Well,
some of the guys that you mentioned just a few
minutes ago, I think are going to come up in
the next conversation we're going to have, which is I'm
going to throw out some awards, if you want to
(09:31):
call it that, players that you would pick to fit
certain categories here. And I'm not going to say, you know,
this isn't going to be like Team MVP, because if
you say Josh Jacobs, then I'm gonna say Zaber McKinney
or viceversa. I'm not even gonna go there. These are
going to be a little bit, a little bit deferstmid guard.
And if you and I have not tied him up
(09:51):
for this, folks, if you end up picking a guy
that I wanted to talk about, I will have to
pivot on the fly and talk about somebody else. So
my first one the unsung hero of the twenty twenty
four Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Oh, what a great question, Mike, the unsung hero. There's
so many levels to this. Yeah, how far do we
want to talk about?
Speaker 2 (10:11):
You can take that, You can take this any direction.
You can define unsung hero anyway.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
You Okay, So I'm gonna do I'm going to define
unsung hero as a guy that helped them get to
where they got to at the end of the season.
So for my unsung hero, I'll pick Carrington Valentine as
a guy who started the year it looked like he
was going to be the odd man out because he
misses the beginning of training camp with the hamstring injury.
He he kind of has some setbacks with that and
then it, you know, it appears like Jay Air, Eric Stokes,
(10:40):
you have Keshawn Nixon the slot, you have a lot
of depth at cornerback. It just seemed like, well, how
is Carrington going to get on the field after starting
slow out of the gates, And then you can make
a case that he might have been one of their
most important defensive players during the final month of the season.
He ends up having his first two interceptions in a
span of three games. He forces a fumble. In another context,
(11:00):
Carrington is a guy that battles, and the more I
watch him play, the more I'm impressed by him and
in what he brings to the table. And talking about
how things align for next season, you know, good to Consett.
I mean he really thought, in kind of echoing your
comments from a couple of weeks ago as well, when
they settled in on Valentine on one side and Nixon
on the other, No, you're not getting Jay airback having
(11:23):
Bullered in the slot that ended up being their optimal
package there in the nickel, which is ultimately the one
that most NFL teams end up running on a percentage basis.
Carrington is a happy, go lucky, gregarious guy, but he
is serious about football. And you asked me the unsung
hero of this team, I think he's definitely in the
conversation there.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Yeah, And this is a tough one for me to
narrow it down because I think there's actually a pretty
long list of guys on this team in that regard.
I'm gonna mention too, and I won't talk too long
about either one because I want to I want to
get into some of these other topics as well. I
don't want this category to go by without mentioning Malik Willis,
because I mean, it's not just that a backup quarterback
(12:02):
came in and won two games as a starter and
won another game in relief and almost won a fourth
game in relief at the end of the season. It's
that when Malik Willis had to When Malik Willis was
called upon to start those two games, and even when
he was called on in relief in Jacksonville, he hadn't
been here very long, and that could have gone really south,
(12:26):
really fast for the Packers. And the fact that all
three of those games, yes, they were all against AFC
South teams, and that was a very poor division this year,
So the Packers were fortunate the timing and the schedule
in that regard. But what Malik Willis did cannot be
forgotten in terms of where the twenty twenty four Packers went.
(12:47):
The other one I want to mention, I think we
talked about him on previous shows. In this category of
unsung hero is Eric Wilson, the veteran linebacker. Because when
Edrin Cooper wasn't out there as much early in the
season and kway Walker had to miss some games anytime
the Packers needed some extra snaps and some and the
(13:08):
the communication and the leadership at the inside linebacker position,
they turned to Eric Wilson. And and for a guy
who's a little bit undersized, he's not an overly dynamic player.
Not only did he hold the defense together, but he
made some splash plays along the way too, whether it
be a TfL here there, or a sack or an
(13:28):
interception that he had against the Colts in that the
Malik Willis's first games as the Packers starter. So that
would be my guy there. Next category, emerging player, I.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Mean it's it's entering coop. Yeah, I mean that's the answer, right.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
I threw that one to you because now I have
to come up with some Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
So now I will pontificate and whatnot.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
O start, I'll be ready, I'll be ready.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Listen I've said this so many times, but I wrote
this an insider inbox. I truly mean it. Going back
to twenty twelve and so many people think about that
playoff loss to the forty nine ers, when people often
forget about as they were a top ten, top eleven
defense that year, and a big reason for that was
Casey Hayward coming in as a rookie second round pick,
having six interceptions, finishing third in Defensive Rookie of the
(14:18):
Year voting that year. He was a huge part of
what Green Bay did that season, and he did it
right from the get go. Unfortunately, he had some hamstring
issues and some other stuff that popped up in the
subsequent years, but that season was a huge critical piece
for them, especially with Charles Woodson getting injured midway through
the season. So all that being said, Edger and Cooper
kind of reminded me of that a little bit this season.
It didn't matter about the position, it didn't matter about
(14:40):
the inexperience, and I understand there's some things he had
to learn on the fly, but he was a difference
maker and this defense was different when he was on
the field. I would love to see the compare and
contrast from the first half of the year to when
Edgron really got going, especially after he came back from
the hamstring injury. He catapulted this defense forward and was
one of their best players. And I think of us,
including myself, talked about when you're looking at an off
(15:02):
ball linebacker. Some of the things he was doing was
so emblematic of what they did with Clay Matthews in
the mid twenty tens, being able to rush him from
different areas, him being able to have his coverage skills.
He still has much to learn, but he definitely was
the gem so far of this draft class. And I
think when you're looking at the optimism and the hope
(15:22):
and the potential of this defense the years to come
under Jeff Haffley, it starts with Cooper because his speed,
his quickness, and it's not just about him blitzing or
being incorporated in the pass rush. He incorporates that into
how he defends the run as well, and I thought
had a big reason for why Green Bay ended up
having their best performance against the run in fifteen years.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Yeah, I'm going to give what probably will strike you
as a little bit of a surprising answer to this quest.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Wes Hodwaks Verrging player? What's that?
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Is?
Speaker 2 (15:49):
It?
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Me?
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (15:51):
But I'm gonna say tight end Tucker Kraft.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
And I say that because as big a jump as
he made from his rookie season to his second season
and becoming an all around tight end in terms of
the blocking and the pass protection, the blocking in the
run game, the pass protection, the receiving and the yards
after the catch, and all of that evolution and growth
(16:17):
in Tucker Craft's game that we saw, I think I
still label him as an emerging player on this team.
Because Matt Lafleur hinted the other day Tucker Craft very
well could go from that solid all around tight end
that every team wants to being a major, major featured
(16:38):
player in this offense in his third year. I think
that might be what is coming down the road for
number eighty five. And so that's why he's my answer
to this one. And we were both there what he
said at his locker on Monday on the final locker
cleanout day. He's already starting to become a leader on
(16:58):
this team, obviously, and he announced essentially to everybody not
only with what he said but how he said it,
that he's going to continue to take steps to be
a leader in that locker room. And I think the
next step in that regard started on Monday. The way
he assessed this team and how he feels about it
(17:21):
and where he feels it can and should go.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
I'm with you one hundred percent on that, and he
is when you're listening to Matt Lafleure talk as well.
I mean, he is a focal point of what Green
Bay wants to build this offense around moving forward. He's consistent,
he's durable, he's tenacious, he prides himself just as much
on his blocking as he does his pass catching. He's
looking like a complete all around tight end and seeing
(17:44):
him grow into that has been really encouraging. And then
even more than that, too, the fact that the offense,
when you're talking about the consistency of it, when he's
a focal point, when he's going when things are right,
that does seem to be one of the things that
does sort of, you know, shoot the fuel into the engine,
so to speak. Yeah, big plays are huge, and certainly
running the ball is huge, but when you can move
(18:06):
the sticks with a tight end like him, sometimes he
doesn't even have to run the route to the first down,
he can break a tackle or two to get going.
I did see a statistic I wish I could credit
the right source. I think it's Pro Football Focus. If
it's not, it's a next gen stats other than George Kittle.
I think he was the best in the league as
far as yards after contact and in his route depth.
(18:27):
For the amnt of yards he ended up having this
season relative to his route depth, I think Tucker Craft
is a third round pick two years ago is going
to turn out to be one of the best that
Brian Goodecons has made in terms of draft choices.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Yeah, and I'm totally with you in this category. As
far as Edger and Cooper, and I think even though
they don't play the same position, what you said about
Clay Matthews and how we saw Clay Matthews emerge, I
think I think edgerin Cooper is without a doubt on
that same track.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
It's very exciting.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
Because it's about unpredictability, right, and why was Clay so
effective there? You didn't know when they were going to
throw a match you. As far as the quarterback and
some things, he adds a different dimension to that double
a gap. Look where you're you're doing those simulated pressures,
you're not sure where it's coming from. With his quickness,
and the dude is listed at only two twenty eight,
I have a hard time believe in that. Like he
(19:16):
I've seen two hundred and twenty eight pound receivers and
safeties and things like that. Edrin Cooper wears it well. Man.
If I didn't know any better, I would say he
was two forty one, just like Kway.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Yeah, he's it's a.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
Good football player. I'm excited to see him grow.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Yeah, all right, next one surprise player?
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Can I pick Brandon McManus here? Sure? So Brandon McManus
comes off the street, and obviously you know all this
stuff has been covered, but I was blown away by him.
I know the season didn't end how he wanted to.
I mean, missing a thirty eight yarder in his hometown.
It's tough pill to swallow right at the end of
this thing, but I think Brian even said it was
kind of the journey they were on with the kicker situation.
(19:54):
And you know, Brandon Narvisen, God bless him. I hope
it works out for him. A nice kid. But I
think he was number six seven in the line of
all these guys that they had signed throughout the course
of the offseason, and since since April, McManus comes available,
they sign him. He comes in here and he won
them games. Man Like Bill James and baseball always had
(20:15):
like the you know wins, you know gained and things
like that, how much you contribute to it, And I
would love to have a statistic like that for Brandon McManus.
I mean, I think you have to make a case
he won the Packers a game or two this season
just the way he performed, and you know, and he
came up in some big clutch situations as well. And
Brian talked about how you know that that is going
(20:36):
to be a major emphasis here this offseason. They would
like to get him back.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
They want to keep that nucleus together with the specialists.
It's something they've really struggled to do here for for
several years now, to have those same three that battery together,
like Rich Bisacci always talks about. So yeah, certainly, I
think McManus, for a guy that was not on the
top of my head when the season started as a
potential savior for this kicking situation, definitely came through for
(21:01):
Green Bay.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Yeah, my guy for surprise player is Keishaan Nixon.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Yeah, that's a good one.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Uh, you know, And we talked about him on previous
shows as well. I mean, with as much time as
Jay Alexander missed and Nixon being asked not only to
bump out and play outside corner, but to play essentially
the CB one spot for as many games as he did,
and to perform at the level that he did. I
(21:29):
thought the player, the defensive player that Kishan Nixon has
become over the last couple of years is nothing short
of very impressive. And it's a lot of credit to him.
It's it's a credit to it's a credit to the
coaches to give him the opportunity to see what he
can do, and the credit to him to deliver when he's.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Called upon there. And you know, if.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
I'll just say it this way, and we don't need
to go off on the tangent, so I apologize if
it sends us there. If the OPI is called at
the end of the Detroit game, we're talking about Keishawn
Nixon as maybe the hero of that football game.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
That's all I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
You know what it is, It's it's like the Hey,
don't poke me, Yeah, don't prod me here, Spofford, all right,
we'll move on. Hey, let me say this, and that's
a great you know what, you know what I mean though,
I know exactly what Keishawn Nixon did in that game
in Detroit was impressive as all get out.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
And then and unfortunately, then you know, the discussion turns to,
you know, to to that play right at the end
where he's all over their number one receiver and just
gets shoved out of the way, and it doesn't matter.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Doesn't matter. Yeah, there's too many of those situations this here,
and obviously Green Bay talked about it too. You don't
want to be in those situations where the refs are
are changing stuff. But the one, the one credit I'll
give to Kishawn. I've covered this team. This was year thirteen,
season thirteen for me. The one thing I will say
about him is Treman Williams is probably the only cornerback
I can think of that has been able to play
(23:00):
outside on the perimeter and slide into the slot and
perform as well as he did. That is not an
advantageous situation to be And Keishan did a really good
job in the locker room this year of kind of
explaining the differences between the two positions, the instincts that
are required outside and reading exactly how guys are lining
up and what you're potentially facing, and then inside, where
it's you're trying to be physical. You don't have as
(23:22):
much time to read and react. It's a difficult juggling act.
And there were several times this year where because of
injuries or certain situations, he had to handle both of
those things at a fly, and he passed that test.
For as much as I people just don't want to
give him his flow. Some fans don't want to give
him his flowers. Keishaw Nixon is a huge part of
this thing and what Koreembia is going to build here
(23:44):
in the years to come.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Yeah, I agree, and it's why I wanted to I
want to continue to emphasize.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
That, because why is an unsung hero, because.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Yeah, he could fit.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
He could have fit in that category as well as
whether you want to call it unsung hero a surprise player.
I think I know what your answer is is already
to this next one, but I'm gonna throw it out
there anyway, And you kind of already hinted at it
unless you've changed your mind.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
Always changed my mind. Best moment of the season, Oh yeah,
I love the McManus field goal against Houston. Against Houston,
yeah yeah. And the only reason for that is first
first game, the guy shows up.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
I mean they sign him on what Tuesday? Yeah, and
then on Sunday he's got to walk out in the
Lambeau Field and and hit a walk off field goal.
And not just a walk off field goal, but one
that you lose if you missed it.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Because the Packers were down by a point.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
And in what's the definition of best moment in the season,
it's the It's the thing that you think of immediately.
It's the image that you think of Aaron Rodgers a
number of years ago doing that I still own you
thing to the fans at Soldier Field and what ended
up being his last start for Green Bay. There mcmannon
and obviously McManus wasn't being wasn't doing that, but him
jumping to the crowd, the way that guys reacted to it,
(24:55):
the Packers wearing the winter Warning jerseys, it just and
it was a very big win. It was a win
over a team that at the time in which we're shooting.
This is still playing for a Super Bowl. I mean,
I just I loved everything about it. It was the
biggest headache Green Bay had had. They went through so
many different kickers and situations, and it's a situation where
(25:16):
it's not just about whether Brandon Narvson con made it.
How many kickers in the National Football League are able
to come up in that situation. And mcmahonus proved that
he is is a veteran, He's done this before, he
has a process that works for him. And I think
it was after that day everybody kind of felt like, Okay,
the Packers are going to be okay.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
For me, it's and part of this is, I mean,
you know how things are for us at the end
of games, Like I'm live blogging the game and I
need to you know, you're doing the quarter by quarter
updates on the website, and then I need to write
kind of the summary, the quick recap right at the
end of the game that goes on top of your
quarter by quarter thing. That's how we kind of piece
(25:57):
this together. So when things are frantic at the end
of game, like my mind is going like a gazillion
different miles an hour, So for me, the best moment
of the season is sort of related to all of
that chaos, and it's in Jacksonville tie score, and Malik
Willis hits Jaden Reid for fifty one yards. That sets
(26:18):
up then another walk off, a chip shot in this
case for McManus, because you know, Willis had come in, Hey,
he'd done a great job. The Packers were up ten points.
Then the defense starts to falter, gives up ten points
on two straight drives by Trevor Lawrence. The offense had
been going nowhere, and so you know, I'm thinking, you know,
oh my gosh, this looks like one that's going to
(26:39):
get away. You know, it's it felt a lot like
the Carolina Yeah, for sure last year one that was.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
Going to get away.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
That you're just like, how do you let this game
get away? And then Willis hits Red and they get
the big play fifty one yards down the field, and
you know, we hop on the plane to come home
from Jacksonville with another victory and a lot more exciting
things to write about than if that game had gone
the other way. And that, for me, that's the one
that stands out with the Carl Brooks blockfield goal in
(27:06):
Chicago being right up there as well. But the Jacksonville
one mentally is the one that sticks with me.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
I'm with you on that too, because the only thing
that kind of hurts about the Brooks one is that
Santos gets it back at Lambeufield.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Right finalitey agreed, But what I.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Loved about willis Man is I mean, he can spin it, dude.
I love watching him throw football.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Yeah, get no doubt it is it is.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
He throws a nice, tight spiral. I just I can't
get over the fact Green Bay got him for a
seventh round pick, and especially in.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Nness, was in quarterback purgatory all year long after trading
that guy for a seventh round pick.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Well, some things they won't be anymore. Yeah, some teams.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Some team's misfortune is yeah, another team's good fortune. So
all right, this last one I'm gonna throw at you.
And this I've never asked you this question before, Okay,
within this context, but it struck me as one to
ask because of how we had talked on our last
show about the big what if of the playoff game
(28:07):
was obviously the opening kickoff and the replay review and
all that, and it was sort of the what if
about the game against Philly that was hanging out there
like a Matza ball to steal a Jerry Seinfeld expression.
So I want to ask you, what do you feel,
aside from that one from the playoff game, what was
your biggest what if moment of this season for the Pack?
Speaker 3 (28:29):
Before I turn it over that, I just want to say,
what if the New York Office had access to the
same skycam footage that Bob from Krivits had access to
and how that might have affected this football game? That's
that's my my what if. No, I think my big
what if is ultimately going to end up being just
(28:50):
with Christian Watson. And I don't want to put it
all on Christian because, as I've talked about with you before,
Green Bay didn't have him for most of the last
season and they were able to overcome it. They were
without you know, Aaron Jones last season for most of
last season in various intervals, and we're able to overcome it.
So you always have to play above that. You need
guys to step up. But but that being said, Christian
(29:13):
is such a solid football player, good leader, will do
anything you need him to do. If he's on the
field for them down the stretch, and he's commanding. We're
talking about the shelf and the ceiling that they built,
that roof that Philadelphia built. Well, running number seven against
that changes then number nine, number nine as much as
(29:36):
quite sure where that game. Number seven is on my
mind right now, but let's stick to name.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Thought i'd correct you before that.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
Yeah, thanks for doing that, by the way, yeah scream,
but even have a number seven right now?
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Yeah, it's kuay Walker.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
Oh kay Walker. Yeah, because he's on defense. I'm yeah,
I'm going to retire. Uh, it's been a log season.
There's a reason this is our last. Shit. This reminds
me of the time that somebody who will remain nameless
asked you in the press box, Mike, who's number eighteen? Yeah,
when it was Randall Cobb. Listen, I'm taken away from
the point here, but Christian Watson is a really good
(30:10):
football player, and to lose him in that sense and
not have him on the field and now we'll see
exactly what the future holds here as they try to
navigate this offseason without him. I just I just wonder
if Christian Watson is out there for this playoff run.
How that changes Green Bay's offense and maybe the way
that the Philadelphia Eagles and potentially the opponent after that.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Would have had to send him. Yeah. For me, the
what if moment is.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
It'll it'd be pinpointed to somewhere around give or take
a few minutes, but three pm on Week eighteen, because
the Washington Commanders threw a touchdown pass with five seconds
sure right the Dallas Cowboys and the Packers lost to
the Chicago Bears on a walk off field goal. Those
(31:00):
two things happened within moments of each other.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Yeah, And if both of.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Those games go the other way, the Packers are the
sixth seed and not the seventh seed, and they are
going to Tampa Bay, which is just a ten win
football team in the winner of a poor division, instead
of a fourteen win team in Philadelphia. Playing the three
seed versus the two seed, I think was a huge
difference in terms of the wild card round in the
(31:26):
NFC playoffs. So for me, that's my what if because
I think if the Packers go to Tampa instead of
going to Philly, I think we've been spending this show
talking about a rematch with Detroit. Yeah, and game number
three against the Lions. But that's the what if. That's
the what if.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
I really wanted that one too. I just again, you
know me, the pro wrestling fan in me, the narratives
and all that stuff that goes into it. I just
think the build of that game would have been so
much fun. It didn't happen. Yeah, Washington goes to Detroit, obviously,
the Los Angeles Amselill go to Philadelphia, and the NFC
representative will be one of those four teams in the
Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
And I want to get your thoughts quickly. This took
a little longer than I thought, but it's the last show.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
Oh you're talking to me, But I'm a long winded.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
I've been a little long winded today too. But for
some sponsor business.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
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(32:37):
weekend Houston at Kansas City, Washington at Detroit on Saturday.
Any thoughts to share as the weekend approach.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Washington versus Detroit's is more specifically, Washington's offense versus Detroit's
defense will be really interesting. Aaron Glenn, rightfully, so, getting
a lot of attention for potential head coaching opportunities. I
think sometimes and I really lies Alex Azeloni, like they
were dealing with some injuries this year that affected, but
I mean they are the twentieth ranked defense in the league,
(33:06):
and seeing if Washington can have some success against it
is going to be I think, ultimately the storyline of
this game, certainly Dan Quinn's defense. It's going to be
a supreme challenge trying to defend Detroit. It sounded like
before we hopped in here that David Montgomery is going
to be back or potentially could be back here.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
It sounds like it.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
Yeah, So, I mean, they're they're coming back to full
force here for this stretch run in a situation in
which a couple of weeks ago at least it was
put out there that he wasn't going to be back.
Although there's part of me the contrary and sort of
skeptic in me always wondered if that really was true
or not. But be that as it may, David Montgomery
is still in the cards here for the Lions, So
that's gonna be a really good matchup. I mean, Houston's
(33:46):
gonna see I mean you talk about like Green Bay
last year, kind of playing with house money and going
into San Francisco and seeing if something can happen. That's
kind of where the Texans are right now. I don't
think anybody really expected them to handle you know how
they did, you know, kind of running through the Chargers
last week. Yeah, and we'll see, man, I mean it's
it's you have nothing to lose in that scenarios. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
I mean, for me, the team, the team that's playing
with the most house money right now is Washington. Just yeah,
for sure, with them being on this run of all
of these last second, last play of the game victories
and stuff like that, it doesn't get more more house
money than that.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
Houston.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
I'm just very interested. I fully expect Kansas City to win,
but I'm really interested in what Houston's defense does against
a Kansas City offense that has not been a typical
Patrick Mahomes offense. Yeah, right, route this year, they haven't
really gotten to where you know, they've been expected to
be offensively, and this Houston defense is no joke, So
(34:45):
that that intrigues me in that respect. Sunday's games Rams
at Eagles, Ravens at Bills. What are your thoughts there?
Speaker 3 (34:53):
Baltimore and Buffalo is maybe the biggest game of this
entire postseason. Yeah, honestly, yeah, I understand the super Bowl.
Everybody wants to win the Super Bowl, but Lamar and
Josh Allen can't both get there. They can't both get
to the AFC Championship game, and one of those two
stories is going to have a very disappointing ending. You
have Lamar, who, as good as he's been and multiple
(35:14):
time MVP now has not been able to take that
next step in the playoffs, and unfortunately Josh Allen has
been on the losing ends so many times of these
losses against Kansas City. One of them gets to advance here,
and honestly, I think I potentially could favor either one
of them to end up being the super Bowl champion,
whoever wins that, depending on how they do so that is,
(35:34):
and then also can Baltimore's defense, the issues that they've
had over the course of this year, some of the
ups and downs they've had. Can they contend with everything
that Buffalo presents? Very good football game, And again you
and I have talked about several times now, Kansas City,
this is why you want the number one seed, especially
in that conference. If you can take care of business
(35:55):
against Houston, you get to face the team that actually
gets through that gauntlet. Here between Baltimore and Buffalo, huge,
huge implications in that one.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
Yeah, it's interesting because I mentioned the whole thing about
Buffalo being an underdog and a home playoff game for
the first time in franchise history.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
I mentioned that on our last show.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
But if there's a game, if there's a January playoff
game in Buffalo where the Bills actually want really really
good weather, yeah it's this one. This was because not
only Baltimore's running game with Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson,
but Baltimore's pass defense is the biggest weakness of that team.
And Buffalo needs to be able to throw the ball
(36:36):
all over the yard, and Buffalo doesn't run the ball
well anyway, except for their quarterbacks. So Buffalo doesn't want
a ten degrees. I haven't even looked at what the
forecast is. They don't want ten degrees next to Lake
Erie on Sunday night. That's not what they want for
this game against against the Ravens Rams at Eagles. I'll
just say, if Philadelphia can handle LA's pass rush, I
(36:58):
think the Eagles win this game.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
I think that.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
I think that's really the biggest thing that it comes
down to two quarterbacks. They both won their share of
playoff games. You know, the best running game is obviously
Philadelphia's and the Rams I think are going to have
a hard time stopping Philadelphia's offense regardless of how they
do against Barkley. But if that defensive front can't, you know,
(37:22):
repeat what they did against the Vikings, I think the
Rams are in trouble.
Speaker 3 (37:27):
Well in two weeks a row An offense with the
Lafleur attached to it is going to try to find
an answer here for the for the Philadelphia Eagles passing
defense and everything that they present. The Rams are the
wild card in all of this. I feel like like
as much as you're talking about and I agree with you,
Washington playing with house money, the Rams are the one
that are sort of the unknown elements of this postseason
(37:49):
run because we didn't get to see them at full
strength for basically the entire season up until this stretch run.
We're gonna find out how legitimate they are. If you
can beat the Minnesota Vikings the way that they beat
them and then go on the road into Philadelphia and
hand it to the Eagles, there may not be a
hotter team even if Washington finds a way to upset
Detroit heading into that championship AFC and NFC weekend. So
(38:14):
Matthew Stafford's been there, He's done that. You're talking about
experienced quarterbacks in this league. There's nothing that Vic Fangio
is going to show him that Stafford hasn't seen before.
Do they have the weapons and everything around that to
take advantage of it? And we'll find out on Sunday afternoon.
Speaker 1 (38:28):
Yeah, we will find out.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
And we've run a little bit long again, but that's okay,
it's our last show of the year. I'm just gonna
do this one more time, folks, because the countdown to
the twenty twenty five NFL Draft has begun. Green Bay
is hosting this year. If you didn't already know that,
and you won't want to miss it, so mark your
calendars for April twenty four through April twenty six of
twenty twenty five and it visit green Bay dot com
slash Draft twenty five for more information. And before we go,
(38:54):
I will turn it over to you for a couple
of last times.
Speaker 3 (38:57):
Yeah, thank you. Michael us Here Packer's Digital and Broadcast
and Social Department. Everybody attached with us lost somebody very
close to us this week, and Mike Vandersnick. I just
want to say a couple of words about Snick, and
these last couple of days have been really hard for
me personally. I've known Mike basically since I was a
(39:17):
teenager and I worked with them at Spectrum what was
previously Time Warner Cable. Got to know him there twenty thirteen,
JP cadoran love you, JP, wherever you're at. Him and
his lovely wife Welcome to the birth of a child,
and Spectrum sent me. I was covering the games for
the Press gazette. They decided, Hey, we're gonna have you
(39:38):
be our stand up guy. You're gonna do the live
stand up or not lives, but the look live, and
Snick was my videographer and god, I was terrible. I
was so bad, Mike, Like, I'm not saying I've ever
been good on camera. I have to ask thee if
Dennis Crowsey has those videos for me. I was so bad.
And Nick Snick was so encouraging to me. This guy
has worked in the field forever. He was with us
(40:00):
as a videographer. He basically worked for every TV station
in this area. A total professional. You'll never find anybody
better at what he did. And he was so encouraging
to me. And I was so bad at what I
was doing. I went back and looked at it and
it was so terrible. But that's just the type of
guy he was. And there's a million stories we could share.
(40:20):
I've had great time talking to people the last few days,
you know, sort of bringing through some of our favorite
moments of him. And I just want to say this.
In twenty fifteen, Mike was the first person that came
up to me and told me that VIC was going
to be retiring. And he was the first guy that
said to me, Hey, you know, maybe this is something
that you should consider. Not that the packers would have
(40:40):
even wanted me, but to keep your eyes and your
ears open to.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
Oh, we wanted you, We wanted you.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
But I'll give a shout out and thank you to
Snick for planning the seed.
Speaker 3 (40:53):
And I actually at first said, no, I'm not interested
in that. I'm a newspaper man. I'm a tough guy.
And Snick and I always had a relationship. I never
got into a fight with him once, never had to
disagree with him once. But he looked at me kind
of like the way a young older brother would look
at a younger brother, like you're being stupid, Like what
are you talking about? And because Mike had seen what
(41:15):
the news industry was looking like, he knew what my
situation looked like at the newspaper when Gannett had bought
the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and there's gonna be a merger
between the Prescazette and the JS and and who knows
what that could mean for jobs. And I ended up
reconsidering and I texted Ryan Hartwig. I texted Duke Bobber,
who's my direct boss, our our direct supervisor. And six
(41:37):
months later I got a job with the packers. And
I will never forget the look that Mike gave me
the day that I started here. And I love you Mike,
I appreciate everything you did for me. I'm so heartbroken
and sad for the people that know you even better
(41:59):
than I did. His wife, Shelley is wonderful wife. Shelley's
beautiful wife, Shelley, and everybody that he touched and everybody
that he did so much good with, And I will
forever cherish all the memories, the road trips, everything we
did and the bond that we formed. And the last
(42:19):
two days have been two of the rougher days that
I've had in a very long time. And what's kind
of getting me through it right now, spot is the
fact that there are so many good memories of things
that we did together and times that we shared, and
laughs and photos and and everything. So I appreciate the
packers and you and everybody given me an opportunity to
(42:41):
kind of express that, because Mike, for as long as
I live, buddy, I am going to be living for you.
I love you, and I am never ever ever going
to forget you, And I'm looking forward very someday have
a reconciliation with you there and be able to.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
Meet up again. Yeah. Well I couldn't say it any better.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
So I'm not gonna try, and with that we're going
to call it a rap on the edition of Packers
Unscripted and this season of Packers Unscripted. A thank you
to all of our viewers and listeners and everybody who
enjoys what we do here, and also a shout out
to our producer Zach. Thanks for hanging with us all season, buddy.
Speaker 1 (43:22):
And as I said.
Speaker 2 (43:25):
We will be back at some point before the draft,
which is in Green Bay in case you haven't been
paying attention, But until then, for Wes, I am Mike.
Thank you for tuning in everybody, and we will see
you next time.
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