December 4, 2025 • 30 mins
Mike and Wes preview the matchup with Chicago, looking at the Bears’ season to date (2:41), their defense (5:39), and their ground game (8:23). They also give their keys to victory (15:42) and look at the NFC playoff picture and other key matchups (21:42).
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spafford, joined by my
partner and everything Packers, Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming to you
Hear from our studios at lambeau Field to preview Wes.
It is here. It is Packers Bears. It will be
Sunday at three twenty five pm Central Time at Lambeufield.
(00:27):
First place in the NFC North on the line Packers
Bears in December, with high stakes for both clubs. It
doesn't get much better than this.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
No, it doesn't. And you know, I'm still gonna stay
with my original contention. I'm not a huge fan of
the how this laid out. I really wish the Packers
and Bears would have at least played once already. I agree,
it just felt like it was way too delayed. Now,
mind you, the NFL absolutely is in love with this.
We just learned that this game in week sixteen at
Soldier Field will now be at seven to twenty pm
(00:55):
Prime Time on December twentieth, Saturday, December twentieth, and they
are just licking their chops at how this thing has
worked out here towards the end of the season, no doubt. Now,
all that being said, after I have to put down
those conditions. This is extremely exciting and you and I
were kind of spitballing back and forth this past week.
I was trying to find a more consequential game that
(01:17):
has been played between the Packers and Bears at lambeau Field. Certainly,
there was the NFC Championship at Soldier Field. There was
a twenty thirteen finale at Soldier Field. There's been times,
as you outlined, where the Packers clinch big playoff spots,
the Bears clinched big playoff spots, but they both weren't
like quote unquote good. At the same time, the Bears
(01:37):
have taken everybody by surprise to be nine to three
and sitting atop the NFC right now. Green Bay has
clawed itself back into this thing at a three to one,
and most importantly, the stakes could not be higher. If
you win this game, you're kind of in the driver's
seat in not only the NFC North but the entire conference.
If you lose, now you're looking at that six seven
(02:00):
spot in the playoff race. These guys are going to
be rip roaring, ready to go.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Yeah, That's that's the thing with this The Packers are
in a good spot. They've won three in a row.
Some of those the duldrums from earlier in November when
the offense was sputtering and things weren't going well. Packers
seem to have put that behind them. Obviously, the win
at Detroit huge division win on Thanksgiving Day. But this
Bears team is going to be coming into lambeau Field
(02:25):
as confident as I'll get out, and we're going to
talk about the secrets to their success. Two of the
biggest ones being the takeaways on defense and the running
game on offense. But if you really want to know
the biggest reason the Bears are nine to three, it's
because of the way they've pulled games out late. I mean,
(02:46):
you go through their schedule, the Raiders, the Commanders, the Bengals,
the Giants, and the Vikings. The Bears won all of
those games yep, essentially in the final minute, if not
the final play of the game. All of those games
could have gone the other way. But they won all
five of them, and that is why they are nine
(03:07):
to three. If you are going to beat the Bears,
you can't just beat them for fifty eight minutes for
fifty nine and a half minutes. You have to play
the whole sixty minutes because if there's any time this
season has shown if the Bears have any time left
on the clock, they might be able to find a
way to beat you.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Yeah, And I think when you look at Green Bay
and Chicago in this matchup, it's two of the best
teams in terms of how they've finished games this season,
how they've been able to sort of, you know, pull
victory from the jaws of defeat, so to speak. I
think the Bears have done it even in more dramatic
fashion when you look at how some of these games
that the opponents they were facing, they've been kind of
(03:47):
riding the lightning there a little bit, oh yeah, throughout
the course of this thing. But that being said, I
think it's probably speaks to Ben Johnson, and you know,
he was a guy that was a huge prospect coaching realm.
Probably could have had a job two years ago if
he wanted one, decided to stick around one more year
in Detroit and really sort of saw the landscape for
(04:08):
what it was before deciding that the Chicago Bears were
the team that he wanted to take charge of and
everybody knows the offensive innovation and ingenuity that he displayed
with the Lions, he's done that with the Bears. But
I think he's also proven to be the head coach
that this particular Chicago team required, and for the first time,
(04:34):
I don't want to get too hyperbolic about it, but
I mean the first time really since I think Mike Ditka.
They have a head coach who has a swagger, a character,
almost like a gimmick to him and Ben Johnson, the
guy's ripping his shirt off in the locker room, and
how his players are responding to that. Bears of one,
(04:55):
nine to ten going into this thing, they're feeling really
good about themselves.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Yeah, they won nine out of ten after the zero
to two star It's interesting that you go back to
Ditka in terms of that character thing, because Bears had
a lot of success under Lovey Smith. But Lovey Smith
was not some sort of charismatic head coach. He was
just a very even keeled from that, you know, Tony Dungee,
you know, type of approach to coaching in the NFL.
(05:18):
With Johnson, it's been I mean, quite frankly, it's been
a culture change completely you don't win as many close
games as the Bears have won without changing the culture.
They were in a ton of close games with Matt
Eberflus as the head coach and they couldn't win them.
And Johnson is the guy who has changed the culture.
One thing that hasn't really changed about the Bears, though,
(05:38):
is that they have a defense that is predicated on
taking the football away. That seems to be the case regardless,
and Dennis Allen has come in as Ben Johnson's defensive
coordinator and he's coordinating a Dennis Allen type defense that
goes after the ball. They lead the league with twenty
six takeaways, including a league leading seventeen interceptions, so there's
(06:00):
nine fumble recoveries to go with that. They have forced
fourteen fumbles, so there have been even more takeaway opportunities
out there. And here's the thing, Wes twenty five of
their twenty six takeaways have come in their nine wins.
In their three losses, they have only one takeaway. If
there's a game to protect the football, if there's an
opponent to from whom to protect the football, it's this.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
It is, Mike. But it's so much easier said than done,
no doubts I was watching. I've watched a lot of
Bears football the last few weeks, you know, just based
on how the schedule is sort of aligned, and having
some opportunities to see some Sunday action. Obviously the Black
Friday game against Philadelphia. And it's one thing to like
look at a stat sheet and be like, wow, that's
a lot of takeaways. And then you see the way
(06:41):
that a guy like you know, Kevin Byer, the way
he flies in that secondary, the interception he had of
Jalen Hurts, who in most cases protects the ball very well.
It is about not just being opportunistic, but finding those
moments and seizing them. And I even comment to an
insider inbox which you had to edit. You know, Byard
(07:02):
I think is really one of the most underrated safeties
in this league. And as much as gets made out
of Mike Vrabel left Tennessee and you know, they let
Derek Henry walk, nobody talks about the fact that they let.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Byard out the door two years ago, yep.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
And that Tennessee defense hasn't been the same since he left.
And right you know, they you look at you know,
Ryan Pace and what he's been building in Chicago and
some of the acquisitions. You know, it's been hit or
miss on some of the draft picks, but some of
the signings that he's had, uh have been really savvy.
It reminds me a lot of what Brian Goodekuins did
in those early years where you only have so many picks,
(07:39):
you have to find guys that are going to fit
the rest of your team. Byard's done that, and I
mean obviously the trade for Montes sweat, he's leading them
in sacks this season. The one thing I'll say, and
we'll get more into it with the Keys to victory,
but like they've given up a lot of production too.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
That's the other side of this. Both against the run
and the pass, teams have been able to move the
ball against him. I've been nervous about using the analogy
of the twenty eleven Packers because the Packers finished dead
last in total yards that year, but Green Bay by
and large was one of the biggest takeaway teams that season.
That's what allowed them to get to fifteen and one. Yep.
That's sort of where Chicago's been at, mixed with the
(08:15):
fact that Caleb Williams. Those running backs have protected the
ball very well as well.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Yeah, and that's the other side of the turnover equation
is the Bears have done a really good job protecting
the ball, particularly Caleb Williams as a second year quarterback,
as a guy who took a lot of sacks as
a rookie, put the ball in harm's way, you know,
too much, but yet somewhat understandable as a rookie. But
now in his second year, he is protecting the ball
a lot better and he's he's got the greatest protection
(08:42):
any quarterback could ask for in this running game. I
mean DeAndre Swift, Kama nung Guy. Now Manungai did pop
up on Chicago's injury report this week, so that will
be something to watch. But that running back duo they've
combined so far this year now West for thirteen hundred
and sixty five yards and ten touchdowns on the ground,
and we all know they both topped one hundred yards
(09:04):
against the Eagles on Black Friday. When the Bears rushed
for two eighty one against Philadelphia, they just they came
out and just punched the Eagles in the mouth with
that ground game. Right at the beginning and the Eagles
just never had a response for slowing down those running backs,
and they they just kept going back and forth from
one guy to the other and pounding away. But it
(09:26):
has been but it's been impressive to me to watch
and sometimes you know, it's culture, it can be coaching
all those things. Caleb Williams from year one to year two,
he just looks like he's in so much more command
out there, just in his second year as a quarterback
for me.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
And I want to start with the running backs here
because it was interesting when Johnson goes to Chicago, he
built the same thing that Detroit built, right which coincidentally
happened to be one of the former Bears running backs,
you know, and David Montgomery. Right now you have a
former Lions running back that had a little bit of
a pit stop in Philadelphia, and DeAndre Swift. That Swift
(10:04):
has been a guy Mike since day one. I've always said,
I mean, this guy, if he stays healthy, he's a
difference maker. Keeping him healthy has been the issue. But
the fact that when he was down, Manungai, the twenty
second running back taken in the draft, stepped up the
way he did with a vastly improved offensive line this season,
(10:25):
particularly on the interior. They've built their offense around those
two guys, and that, in my opinion, has been what's
allowed Caleb Williams to make that next step because he
sees the field the way he sees it, he plays
the quarterback position the way he plays it. There's certainly
refinements that are going to happen there, but Caleb Williams
that you're not going to change his DNA, and it
(10:45):
just seems like the complimentary pieces are more intact this
season with the Bears. Now, all that being said, Williams
does have the lowest completed passing percentage of any NFL
starting quarterback right now, meeting that metric for amount of
passes at ten. Right. I look at Romadunze, who got
off to just this incredible start of the season that's
kind of slowed down here in the second half. My
(11:06):
fantasy football team can speak to that. But they have
weapons that can hit you and beat you in different ways.
But when they need to get back to their bread
and butter, it is those two backs running, pass catching everything,
and I feel like Green Bay in this matchup, that's
where they got to get to.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Well and Ben Johnson put his stamp on this offense
right away in the off season with the way they
went about rebuilding their offensive line. They used trades and
free agency to essentially rebuild both guard the whole interior.
The two guards in the center spot all new guys.
They're monster at right tackle, Darnell Wright, who was a
(11:43):
first round pick a few years back, as a guy
who seems to be coming into his own. That offensive
line is I mean, that was the foundation of Ben
Johnson's success, getting the running game going, the play action
pass to help your quarterback. He's doing the same thing
in Chicago that he did in Detroit. The one thing
I will say about Chicago's offensive line, as much improved
(12:05):
as it is, Caleb Williams is under duress a lot.
He's been sacked only nineteen times, which is not a
bad number, but he scrambles around back there. He gets
out of difficult spots. I mean, he is under pressure
a lot, and that sack number is only nineteen. I
think more because of Caleb Williams than the guys in
front of him. That being said it, you know, he
(12:29):
is a tough guy to catch. He's a tough guy
to bring down the Packers are going to have to
be very disciplined in terms of in terms of their rush.
But at the same time, this is one of those games,
like I've talked about in other instances, you have to
earn the right to rush the passer because the Bears
will be content to live in third and two and
third and three all day long with their running game.
(12:52):
You have to get them into the third and five
and third and six where they're going to have to
turn to the pass.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
And you can't overextend yourself. You can't rush pass Williams
because he's gonna hurt you. I mean, this is a guy.
What I love about Williams as a quarterback is he's
he runs more than Jordan Love does, but I think
their speed is somewhat comparable. But he doesn't look to run.
It is that last ditch sort of Aaron Rodgers create
your own play sort of mindset. Yeah. And then also
(13:18):
his escapability when he is under duress is potentially the
best in the National Football League. I mean, he is
smooth in terms of how he's able to get past
these guys that are bearing down on him. Now that
being said, if you can rush to contain and keep
your integrity and your discipline, which is sometimes easier heart,
you know said than done. Yeah, I feel like there
(13:41):
is a winning path there for teams. And one thing
I noticed in that game against Philadelphia was he gave
the Eagles secondary a lot of chances. They did not
capitalize on it. There was a couple, but for the
most part, there was guys not pulling down passes at
the right time there, you know. Yet I think there
was one where a Dunes ended up slipping on the
(14:03):
turf and it was right there for the safety, but
he couldn't catch it. Yeah, I'm seeing him attack the
field a little bit more. And I'm curious to see
this Packers defense that has been taking the ball away
at a better clip here in the second half of
the season, what they could possibly do with that, because
when you look at the five interceptions of the year,
he is protecting the ball. Well, they've only lost four
fumbles as a team. But is there an opportunity there
(14:25):
to maybe get some momentum because, as you said, getting
back to the crux of your argument, there as much
improvement as they've made with their offensive line, it seems
to be more affecting their stretch, run game and things
of that nature than necessarily just the pass protection.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Yeah, yeah, totally. I totally agree there. I do want
to get into our Keys to Victory, but we'll pay
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(15:25):
Hey Packers fans, we always knew Lambeufield was a wonder,
but now it's official. Learn more about all the wonders
of Wisconsin at travel Wisconsin dot com Slash Wonders. Welcome
back to Packers Unscripted, All right, Wes Keys to Victory
over the Bears. I'm gonna start with this because it's
the obvious one. It's protect the football. Because, as you
(15:45):
alluded to with regard to the Bears defense, they are
twenty fifth in the league in points allowed. They are
twenty sixth in the league in yards allowed. This is
not a stout defense that makes it difficult for you
to move the ball. It's a defense that hunts the
football and hunts for turnovers, and that is how they've
(16:06):
been effective this year and helping their team win games.
If you do not turn the ball over against this defense,
you will have opportunities to score a lot of points.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Yeah, you will. And I think a lot of this
is gonna come down to Jordan Love. I mean, something's
probably gonna have to break in this one, right either
it's gonna be the Packers have been on the streak
here of not having a turnover the last three games, Uh, Chicago.
I'd be interested to even see how many times I
know you said that, the differential with the games in
which they won where they've had to take away, how
many times they just haven't even had one this season.
(16:38):
I can't imagine it was very many. I believe it's
only twice yeah, So for one of those two things,
somebody's gonna have to win that out the unstoppable forree
movable object. We'll see what prevails there. But I think
this is really gonna come down to Jordan love And
I hate using this term because fans run away with
it and they let their mind do crazy things with it.
(16:58):
But managing the football game, it is going to be
hecka cold outside on Sunday. I don't know if it's
gonna be as cold as it is right now in
green Bay. Nice four degrees, you know, sell or fahrenheit Gosh,
I won't even want to guess what it is Celsius
neg twelve. But the fact is is that Green Bay
has to be able to manage this game. They have
(17:20):
to be able to move the chains, protect the football,
and allow your running game to be the better unit.
If there's big plays to be had, absolutely you have
to take them through the air. And hopefully the Packers
will have some reinforcements with some of their receivers here
going into this one. But all that being said, I mean,
if you allow, if you play into what the Bears
want to do, which is take the football away and
(17:43):
execute and generate offense and points off of your mistakes.
It is going to be a long late afternoon early
evening at Lambeaufield.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Yeah, I mean the Bears. I wrote this an Insider
inbox earlier in the week. The Bears want you to
force the ball. They want you to to take a chance.
That is how this opportunistic defense gets its hands on
the football and makes those momentum changing type of plays.
This is for all the talk about Chicago's running game,
(18:13):
and it's been dynamite. The Bears run defense is twenty
eighth in the league. You can, as you talk about
managing the game, you have some control in this game
against the Bears defense. If you can run the football,
put yourself in good situations, don't fall into their trap
of trying to force it, of trying to make something
happen that's not there. And I agree with you a
(18:35):
lot of this comes down to Jordan Love, not only
in terms of taking care of the ball, but in
terms of, you know, the checks he makes at the
line of scrimmage and how you know, how he sees
what the Bears are doing and trying to get the
Packers into the best possible play offensively. My whole point
in Insider inbox is this game. This is a game
(18:56):
that will test the Packers discipline in so many ways,
and it comes down to the offensive discipline of not
forcing it, but then also the defensive discipline of staying
in your gaps against the run, of keeping the pass,
rush lane, integrity on Caleb Williams so he doesn't get
out and run on you. Every aspect you look at
this game of how to beat the Chicago Bears comes
(19:17):
down to the word discipline.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
And I love this. You's brought up the discipline piece
because here's the thing. Let's be honest, Mike ben Johnson
probably has a game plan that he devised for this
first matchup against Green Bay. He is gonna look to He.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Probably devised it back in May exactly.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
This is a guy with the way that he's wired.
You have to be prepared for everything, because as we've
seen from him time and time again. They saw it
for years in the with the Lions, against the Packers
and against other teams within the division. He is always
looking to stunt on the opposition. Heck, it's probably partially
why he got the job with the Bears, right the
fake fumble play that he ran against Chicago. Right, Yeah,
so you have to be prepared for everything, and that
(19:53):
goes back to your rules, your fundamentals, your technique and
being sound. What I love about that from green Bay's
perspective is particular on the defensive side of the ball.
This is a unit that is not only just dominating
at times, and certainly we saw that stat from Elia
Sportsbeer the four yards that they allowed in the second
half against Minnesota the fewest that Green Bay's defense has
(20:14):
allowed in any half a football dating back to I
think nineteen seventy eight. Right. I mean it was a
stingy performance. It wasn't as stingy against Detroit, but they
found their win condition. They found out, Okay, what do
we have to do to win this game. There was
a couple drives I'm sure they wanted back against the Lions,
that one where I think they got down to like
four or five plays and basically drove the field in
(20:34):
the second half. Yeah, but then they responded, Yeah, Micah
Parsons finished strong. I mean, you have guys that are
that have played and have so much experience. Offensively, it's
been a work in progress a lot because of how
the main skill position players they've had have been banged
up or in Tucker Craft's case, out for the season. Defensively,
that unit has been growing throughout the course of the year.
(20:56):
I'm really excited to watch that chess match play out
between Jeff half in Ben Johnson. I think those are
two of the brightest minds at their respective side of
the football, and they're gonna be throwing a lot of
different stuff at each other. I think that game we
see in two weeks at Soldier Field are probably more
of the traditional Packers Bears football game. This one, to
me almost seems like a little bit of a like
(21:17):
it's like a regular season opener in some ways. These
teams have seen a lot of film of each other.
But how's it all gonna come together?
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Yeah, I agree, this is the one, not so much
the rematch in a couple of weeks. This is the
one where you might see the wrinkles and the surprises. Yeah,
because when you look at the one coming up in
two weeks, it's gonna be on a shorter week, you know,
less preparation and all that, and both teams obviously have
a big game in between. Well, I mean, let's let's
take a look at the standings and where things are.
The Bears are nine to three the Packers are eight
(21:44):
three and one. So if Chicago wins this game, the
Bears are absolutely in the cat bird seed in the division.
They'll be They'll be sitting pretty with four games to
go and incomplete command. If the Packers win, the Packers
will vault into first place in the division, and then
it will be interesting to see Detroit coming off of
the Thanksgiving loss. They are now seven and five in
(22:06):
third place, but still fighting and not out of this
thing by any means. And they have a big game
tonight wes Thursday Night Football against the Dallas Cowboys, two
teams that played on Thanksgiving now they're playing the following Thursday,
which is just what the Packers and Lions did last
year as well. But a hot Dallas Cowboys team that
(22:26):
had kind of been written off a few weeks ago
when they were below five hundred and everybody looked at
their schedule saying, oh, they got to play the Eagles
and then the Chiefs, and well, look what they did
in the span of five days. They beat both Super
Bowl teams from a year ago. The Cowboys are suddenly
six five and one. They're trying to chase down the Eagles,
who have hit the skids a little bit. This Thursday
night game is monster for two teams with five losses.
(22:49):
This is a big one that's gonna have a lot
of eyeballs up.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Well, it's because I think whoever wins is still very
much in the thick of this thing, and whoever loses
is now officially in that run the table. You gotta
just win it out to see a chance at anything, right,
because again, I don't think you can sit here and
confidently look at a ten and seven record going to
get you into the playoffs right now.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Not in the NFC.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
There's just too much divergence between the bottom half of
the conference and then what's come up at the top.
And then even amongst those teams at the top, how
a lot of them have traded and shared victories and losses. Detroit,
this is a pivotal game, There's no question about it.
Because this is the end of their homes. They have
three games at home here. You don't want to go
one and two in those matchups, right and then secondly,
now you got the Los Angeles Rams waiting for you
(23:29):
on the other side of this thing. Going out there.
So if you look at how the season has played out,
it looks like a Lions win. They've basically traded wins
and losses here for the last two and a half months.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Yeah, they haven't. They haven't been a hot team all year,
but they haven't been a struggling team all ye year.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
They got out to that little start of theirs, they
lost the Packers, but then one what for the first
five and ever since then they've been going win loss,
win loss. So I think the challenge for the Dallas
is how far can you get with the league's one
of the league's most potent off says that also is
one of the biggest sieves defensively. They've had some improvements
(24:04):
here since Quinn Williams got in the show, but still
a lot of yards that they're giving up.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Yeah, and thats that Lions offense. As we saw last week.
I mean, they still they gave the Packers defense everything
they can handle. That Detroit offense is dangerous. Detroit's issues
have been on the defensive side of the ball, where
they've had injuries, especially in the secondary, trying to piece
things together the slow down passing attacks. I mean, this
Thursday night game could end up being quite the shootout
at Ford Field. Take a glance at the other games
(24:33):
on Sunday, there isn't really other than Packers Bears, which
is the game of the week for sure. There isn't
much else all that interesting in the NFC because the
playoff contenders in the NFC are all kind of heavily
favored over teams that are below five hundred. I think
the more interesting games are actually in the AFC. When
(24:53):
I look at the fact that Pittsburgh is at Baltimore
and Houston is at Kansas City. The Chiefs are getting
close to run the table time if they're even gonna
make the postseason here. And the Houston Texans have chased
down the Indianapolis Colts. I mean were what were the Texans?
They were zero to three to start the year. They've
(25:14):
now chased down the Colts and they're threatening, you know,
for the lead, along with the Jaguars of course too
in that AFC South. So those both the AFC North
and NFC AFC South, there's some interesting matchups.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Yeah, I mean, Indianapolis travels to Jacksonville this weekend too,
so I mean, wow, I mean how that situation is
unfolded where it looked like, Okay, the Colts are just
taking this thing, no question about it. And now they
kind of got the field coming back up on.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Their Yeah, not so fast, my friend, As of course,
I would say.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Right right then. And then certainly you look at the
Los Angeles Chargers, a huge game with implications on Monday
Night football against Philadelphia, both of those teams sitting at
eight and four. As you just talked about the Eagles
trying to pull themselves back into it. And then what
do you make out of the AFC North right now?
Aaron Rodgers wrist injury, knows leading six and six, now
(26:02):
Steelers six and six, Ravens who wants that division? Who's
gonna take that division? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (26:07):
And the raven the Ravens just tripped all over themselves
on Thanksgiving Night against Cincinnati.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
So, but Cincinnati is so different when Joe Burrow.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Is Yeah, well, and here's and here's the thing. This is,
this is the crazy thing. The Cincinnati Bengals were three
and eight. Now they have Joe Burrow back, they are
four and eight. They play the Buffalo Bills this weekend.
If you look at Cincinnati schedule, if they can beat
Buffalo this weekend. They could run it and get to
nine and eight and potentially win the AFC North with
(26:37):
a nine and eight record. If they lose to the
Buffalo Bills, it makes it a lot harder for them.
But their schedule after they played Buffalo with Joe Burrow
back at quarterback, it lines up for them to run
the table. This the Cincinnati Buffalo game on Sunday is
an interesting one.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
All funny is it too? If they could Let's say
they don't they run the table, but they don't make
if they end up nine to eight miss the playoffs again.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Yeah, because they finished strong, which is what they did
last year. They were the team nobody wanted to play
in the playoffs last year and then they didn't quite
get it into the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Right, Hey, last thing I want to close on, because
let's let's talk about really fast the what really does
matter in the NFC. Packers are looking for somebody to
trip up this weekend. Right Seattle is going to Atlanta.
Nothing is going right for the Falcons right now? Can
can the Falcons have something go their way? The Buccaneers
are in a position now that if okay, you have
the Saints at home. The Saints are very wayward. But
(27:27):
if you would fall there, you're now suddenly in a
tie with the Carolina Panthers, who are on a bye
this week, So I mean trying to keep pace there. Washington, Minnesota,
both of those teams trying to make something of their season.
And then certainly the LA Rams going to Arizona. Jacoby
Brissett's playing really well. The Cardinals are not winning games.
What are you going to do against that defense? Out
(27:49):
of all these little matchups, these little top contenders versus
three to four win teams, if one of those could
potentially trip up, would help Green Bay's efforts as well.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Yeah, absolutely, And I've got I've got that laid out
in Path to the Playoffs, which we posted on Packers
dot com on Wednesday, So if you haven't seen the
launch of this year's Path to the Playoffs, it's out there.
But yeah, I talk about all those games. It's just
but it is where the Packers and the scoreboard watching realm.
You're you're really hoping for upsets in the NFC because
(28:20):
these other NFC contenders other than the toss up game,
you know that we talked about Thursday night with Dallas
and Detroit. The other NFC contenders are all in these
games where they're heavily favored against teams that are below
five hundred, and you're you're hoping for hoping for some
upsets there. But the other, the other thing, the San
Francisco forty nine ers are sitting there at nine and
(28:44):
four on a bye week, and I'm gonna give credit
and it'll be posted in tomorrow's Insider inbox, and I
can't remember who exactly sent it in, so I'm sorry
to not give credit by name. But there is a scenario,
depending on what happens in the NFC, that on their
bye week, the San Francisco forty nine ers could jump
(29:06):
from the seventh seed all the way to the two
seed by not even playing certain if things fall a
certain way with all of these, with all these other games.
That tells you how crazy this thing is right now,
and how much crazier it might get as we as
we really hit the stretch round here.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
We talk about it every year, but I think this
is the perfect example of it. Just win, just win,
and see where everybody if you can just not blink
in somebody else finally misses that musical chair when the
music stops yeah, where that could put you right. But
you have to do it. But to Green Bay. This
is the beautiful thing about where the Packers are at
and Evan Williams talked about it after the game last week.
(29:47):
It's just about controlling what you can control. You have
the Chicago Bears twice in thirteen days. There's a tough
one in the middle there with doubt Denver. You'll worry
about that when it gets there. Yeah, but if you
can take care of business against the Bears, it sets
the table for you perfectly. But it's you have to
be able to do it.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
But you have to be able to do it against
a team that is hot, that is ride and high,
and the NFL's oldest and best rivalry is front and
center here in the month of December. With that, we'll
call it a rap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the
team and of Sunday's big game from lambeau Field. We
will have it all for you on Packers dot Com.
(30:26):
For Wes, I'm Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody.
We will see you next time.
Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spafford, joined by my
partner and everything Packers, Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming to you
Hear from our studios at lambeau Field to preview Wes.
It is here. It is Packers Bears. It will be
Sunday at three twenty five pm Central Time at Lambeufield.
(00:27):
First place in the NFC North on the line Packers
Bears in December, with high stakes for both clubs. It
doesn't get much better than this.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
No, it doesn't. And you know, I'm still gonna stay
with my original contention. I'm not a huge fan of
the how this laid out. I really wish the Packers
and Bears would have at least played once already. I agree,
it just felt like it was way too delayed. Now,
mind you, the NFL absolutely is in love with this.
We just learned that this game in week sixteen at
Soldier Field will now be at seven to twenty pm
(00:55):
Prime Time on December twentieth, Saturday, December twentieth, and they
are just licking their chops at how this thing has
worked out here towards the end of the season, no doubt. Now,
all that being said, after I have to put down
those conditions. This is extremely exciting and you and I
were kind of spitballing back and forth this past week.
I was trying to find a more consequential game that
(01:17):
has been played between the Packers and Bears at lambeau Field. Certainly,
there was the NFC Championship at Soldier Field. There was
a twenty thirteen finale at Soldier Field. There's been times,
as you outlined, where the Packers clinch big playoff spots,
the Bears clinched big playoff spots, but they both weren't
like quote unquote good. At the same time, the Bears
(01:37):
have taken everybody by surprise to be nine to three
and sitting atop the NFC right now. Green Bay has
clawed itself back into this thing at a three to one,
and most importantly, the stakes could not be higher. If
you win this game, you're kind of in the driver's
seat in not only the NFC North but the entire conference.
If you lose, now you're looking at that six seven
(02:00):
spot in the playoff race. These guys are going to
be rip roaring, ready to go.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Yeah, That's that's the thing with this The Packers are
in a good spot. They've won three in a row.
Some of those the duldrums from earlier in November when
the offense was sputtering and things weren't going well. Packers
seem to have put that behind them. Obviously, the win
at Detroit huge division win on Thanksgiving Day. But this
Bears team is going to be coming into lambeau Field
(02:25):
as confident as I'll get out, and we're going to
talk about the secrets to their success. Two of the
biggest ones being the takeaways on defense and the running
game on offense. But if you really want to know
the biggest reason the Bears are nine to three, it's
because of the way they've pulled games out late. I mean,
(02:46):
you go through their schedule, the Raiders, the Commanders, the Bengals,
the Giants, and the Vikings. The Bears won all of
those games yep, essentially in the final minute, if not
the final play of the game. All of those games
could have gone the other way. But they won all
five of them, and that is why they are nine
(03:07):
to three. If you are going to beat the Bears,
you can't just beat them for fifty eight minutes for
fifty nine and a half minutes. You have to play
the whole sixty minutes because if there's any time this
season has shown if the Bears have any time left
on the clock, they might be able to find a
way to beat you.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Yeah, And I think when you look at Green Bay
and Chicago in this matchup, it's two of the best
teams in terms of how they've finished games this season,
how they've been able to sort of, you know, pull
victory from the jaws of defeat, so to speak. I
think the Bears have done it even in more dramatic
fashion when you look at how some of these games
that the opponents they were facing, they've been kind of
(03:47):
riding the lightning there a little bit, oh yeah, throughout
the course of this thing. But that being said, I
think it's probably speaks to Ben Johnson, and you know,
he was a guy that was a huge prospect coaching realm.
Probably could have had a job two years ago if
he wanted one, decided to stick around one more year
in Detroit and really sort of saw the landscape for
(04:08):
what it was before deciding that the Chicago Bears were
the team that he wanted to take charge of and
everybody knows the offensive innovation and ingenuity that he displayed
with the Lions, he's done that with the Bears. But
I think he's also proven to be the head coach
that this particular Chicago team required, and for the first time,
(04:34):
I don't want to get too hyperbolic about it, but
I mean the first time really since I think Mike Ditka.
They have a head coach who has a swagger, a character,
almost like a gimmick to him and Ben Johnson, the
guy's ripping his shirt off in the locker room, and
how his players are responding to that. Bears of one,
(04:55):
nine to ten going into this thing, they're feeling really
good about themselves.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Yeah, they won nine out of ten after the zero
to two star It's interesting that you go back to
Ditka in terms of that character thing, because Bears had
a lot of success under Lovey Smith. But Lovey Smith
was not some sort of charismatic head coach. He was
just a very even keeled from that, you know, Tony Dungee,
you know, type of approach to coaching in the NFL.
(05:18):
With Johnson, it's been I mean, quite frankly, it's been
a culture change completely you don't win as many close
games as the Bears have won without changing the culture.
They were in a ton of close games with Matt
Eberflus as the head coach and they couldn't win them.
And Johnson is the guy who has changed the culture.
One thing that hasn't really changed about the Bears, though,
(05:38):
is that they have a defense that is predicated on
taking the football away. That seems to be the case regardless,
and Dennis Allen has come in as Ben Johnson's defensive
coordinator and he's coordinating a Dennis Allen type defense that
goes after the ball. They lead the league with twenty
six takeaways, including a league leading seventeen interceptions, so there's
(06:00):
nine fumble recoveries to go with that. They have forced
fourteen fumbles, so there have been even more takeaway opportunities
out there. And here's the thing, Wes twenty five of
their twenty six takeaways have come in their nine wins.
In their three losses, they have only one takeaway. If
there's a game to protect the football, if there's an
opponent to from whom to protect the football, it's this.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
It is, Mike. But it's so much easier said than done,
no doubts I was watching. I've watched a lot of
Bears football the last few weeks, you know, just based
on how the schedule is sort of aligned, and having
some opportunities to see some Sunday action. Obviously the Black
Friday game against Philadelphia. And it's one thing to like
look at a stat sheet and be like, wow, that's
a lot of takeaways. And then you see the way
(06:41):
that a guy like you know, Kevin Byer, the way
he flies in that secondary, the interception he had of
Jalen Hurts, who in most cases protects the ball very well.
It is about not just being opportunistic, but finding those
moments and seizing them. And I even comment to an
insider inbox which you had to edit. You know, Byard
(07:02):
I think is really one of the most underrated safeties
in this league. And as much as gets made out
of Mike Vrabel left Tennessee and you know, they let
Derek Henry walk, nobody talks about the fact that they let.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Byard out the door two years ago, yep.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
And that Tennessee defense hasn't been the same since he left.
And right you know, they you look at you know,
Ryan Pace and what he's been building in Chicago and
some of the acquisitions. You know, it's been hit or
miss on some of the draft picks, but some of
the signings that he's had, uh have been really savvy.
It reminds me a lot of what Brian Goodekuins did
in those early years where you only have so many picks,
(07:39):
you have to find guys that are going to fit
the rest of your team. Byard's done that, and I
mean obviously the trade for Montes sweat, he's leading them
in sacks this season. The one thing I'll say, and
we'll get more into it with the Keys to victory,
but like they've given up a lot of production too.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
That's the other side of this. Both against the run
and the pass, teams have been able to move the
ball against him. I've been nervous about using the analogy
of the twenty eleven Packers because the Packers finished dead
last in total yards that year, but Green Bay by
and large was one of the biggest takeaway teams that season.
That's what allowed them to get to fifteen and one. Yep.
That's sort of where Chicago's been at, mixed with the
(08:15):
fact that Caleb Williams. Those running backs have protected the
ball very well as well.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Yeah, and that's the other side of the turnover equation
is the Bears have done a really good job protecting
the ball, particularly Caleb Williams as a second year quarterback,
as a guy who took a lot of sacks as
a rookie, put the ball in harm's way, you know,
too much, but yet somewhat understandable as a rookie. But
now in his second year, he is protecting the ball
a lot better and he's he's got the greatest protection
(08:42):
any quarterback could ask for in this running game. I
mean DeAndre Swift, Kama nung Guy. Now Manungai did pop
up on Chicago's injury report this week, so that will
be something to watch. But that running back duo they've
combined so far this year now West for thirteen hundred
and sixty five yards and ten touchdowns on the ground,
and we all know they both topped one hundred yards
(09:04):
against the Eagles on Black Friday. When the Bears rushed
for two eighty one against Philadelphia, they just they came
out and just punched the Eagles in the mouth with
that ground game. Right at the beginning and the Eagles
just never had a response for slowing down those running backs,
and they they just kept going back and forth from
one guy to the other and pounding away. But it
(09:26):
has been but it's been impressive to me to watch
and sometimes you know, it's culture, it can be coaching
all those things. Caleb Williams from year one to year two,
he just looks like he's in so much more command
out there, just in his second year as a quarterback
for me.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
And I want to start with the running backs here
because it was interesting when Johnson goes to Chicago, he
built the same thing that Detroit built, right which coincidentally
happened to be one of the former Bears running backs,
you know, and David Montgomery. Right now you have a
former Lions running back that had a little bit of
a pit stop in Philadelphia, and DeAndre Swift. That Swift
(10:04):
has been a guy Mike since day one. I've always said,
I mean, this guy, if he stays healthy, he's a
difference maker. Keeping him healthy has been the issue. But
the fact that when he was down, Manungai, the twenty
second running back taken in the draft, stepped up the
way he did with a vastly improved offensive line this season,
(10:25):
particularly on the interior. They've built their offense around those
two guys, and that, in my opinion, has been what's
allowed Caleb Williams to make that next step because he
sees the field the way he sees it, he plays
the quarterback position the way he plays it. There's certainly
refinements that are going to happen there, but Caleb Williams
that you're not going to change his DNA, and it
(10:45):
just seems like the complimentary pieces are more intact this
season with the Bears. Now, all that being said, Williams
does have the lowest completed passing percentage of any NFL
starting quarterback right now, meeting that metric for amount of
passes at ten. Right. I look at Romadunze, who got
off to just this incredible start of the season that's
kind of slowed down here in the second half. My
(11:06):
fantasy football team can speak to that. But they have
weapons that can hit you and beat you in different ways.
But when they need to get back to their bread
and butter, it is those two backs running, pass catching everything,
and I feel like Green Bay in this matchup, that's
where they got to get to.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Well and Ben Johnson put his stamp on this offense
right away in the off season with the way they
went about rebuilding their offensive line. They used trades and
free agency to essentially rebuild both guard the whole interior.
The two guards in the center spot all new guys.
They're monster at right tackle, Darnell Wright, who was a
(11:43):
first round pick a few years back, as a guy
who seems to be coming into his own. That offensive
line is I mean, that was the foundation of Ben
Johnson's success, getting the running game going, the play action
pass to help your quarterback. He's doing the same thing
in Chicago that he did in Detroit. The one thing
I will say about Chicago's offensive line, as much improved
(12:05):
as it is, Caleb Williams is under duress a lot.
He's been sacked only nineteen times, which is not a
bad number, but he scrambles around back there. He gets
out of difficult spots. I mean, he is under pressure
a lot, and that sack number is only nineteen. I
think more because of Caleb Williams than the guys in
front of him. That being said it, you know, he
(12:29):
is a tough guy to catch. He's a tough guy
to bring down the Packers are going to have to
be very disciplined in terms of in terms of their rush.
But at the same time, this is one of those games,
like I've talked about in other instances, you have to
earn the right to rush the passer because the Bears
will be content to live in third and two and
third and three all day long with their running game.
(12:52):
You have to get them into the third and five
and third and six where they're going to have to
turn to the pass.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
And you can't overextend yourself. You can't rush pass Williams
because he's gonna hurt you. I mean, this is a guy.
What I love about Williams as a quarterback is he's
he runs more than Jordan Love does, but I think
their speed is somewhat comparable. But he doesn't look to run.
It is that last ditch sort of Aaron Rodgers create
your own play sort of mindset. Yeah. And then also
(13:18):
his escapability when he is under duress is potentially the
best in the National Football League. I mean, he is
smooth in terms of how he's able to get past
these guys that are bearing down on him. Now that
being said, if you can rush to contain and keep
your integrity and your discipline, which is sometimes easier heart,
you know said than done. Yeah, I feel like there
(13:41):
is a winning path there for teams. And one thing
I noticed in that game against Philadelphia was he gave
the Eagles secondary a lot of chances. They did not
capitalize on it. There was a couple, but for the
most part, there was guys not pulling down passes at
the right time there, you know. Yet I think there
was one where a Dunes ended up slipping on the
(14:03):
turf and it was right there for the safety, but
he couldn't catch it. Yeah, I'm seeing him attack the
field a little bit more. And I'm curious to see
this Packers defense that has been taking the ball away
at a better clip here in the second half of
the season, what they could possibly do with that, because
when you look at the five interceptions of the year,
he is protecting the ball. Well, they've only lost four
fumbles as a team. But is there an opportunity there
(14:25):
to maybe get some momentum because, as you said, getting
back to the crux of your argument, there as much
improvement as they've made with their offensive line, it seems
to be more affecting their stretch, run game and things
of that nature than necessarily just the pass protection.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Yeah, yeah, totally. I totally agree there. I do want
to get into our Keys to Victory, but we'll pay
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(15:25):
Hey Packers fans, we always knew Lambeufield was a wonder,
but now it's official. Learn more about all the wonders
of Wisconsin at travel Wisconsin dot com Slash Wonders. Welcome
back to Packers Unscripted, All right, Wes Keys to Victory
over the Bears. I'm gonna start with this because it's
the obvious one. It's protect the football. Because, as you
(15:45):
alluded to with regard to the Bears defense, they are
twenty fifth in the league in points allowed. They are
twenty sixth in the league in yards allowed. This is
not a stout defense that makes it difficult for you
to move the ball. It's a defense that hunts the
football and hunts for turnovers, and that is how they've
(16:06):
been effective this year and helping their team win games.
If you do not turn the ball over against this defense,
you will have opportunities to score a lot of points.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Yeah, you will. And I think a lot of this
is gonna come down to Jordan Love. I mean, something's
probably gonna have to break in this one, right either
it's gonna be the Packers have been on the streak
here of not having a turnover the last three games, Uh, Chicago.
I'd be interested to even see how many times I
know you said that, the differential with the games in
which they won where they've had to take away, how
many times they just haven't even had one this season.
(16:38):
I can't imagine it was very many. I believe it's
only twice yeah, So for one of those two things,
somebody's gonna have to win that out the unstoppable forree
movable object. We'll see what prevails there. But I think
this is really gonna come down to Jordan love And
I hate using this term because fans run away with
it and they let their mind do crazy things with it.
(16:58):
But managing the football game, it is going to be
hecka cold outside on Sunday. I don't know if it's
gonna be as cold as it is right now in
green Bay. Nice four degrees, you know, sell or fahrenheit Gosh,
I won't even want to guess what it is Celsius
neg twelve. But the fact is is that Green Bay
has to be able to manage this game. They have
(17:20):
to be able to move the chains, protect the football,
and allow your running game to be the better unit.
If there's big plays to be had, absolutely you have
to take them through the air. And hopefully the Packers
will have some reinforcements with some of their receivers here
going into this one. But all that being said, I mean,
if you allow, if you play into what the Bears
want to do, which is take the football away and
(17:43):
execute and generate offense and points off of your mistakes.
It is going to be a long late afternoon early
evening at Lambeaufield.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Yeah, I mean the Bears. I wrote this an Insider
inbox earlier in the week. The Bears want you to
force the ball. They want you to to take a chance.
That is how this opportunistic defense gets its hands on
the football and makes those momentum changing type of plays.
This is for all the talk about Chicago's running game,
(18:13):
and it's been dynamite. The Bears run defense is twenty
eighth in the league. You can, as you talk about
managing the game, you have some control in this game
against the Bears defense. If you can run the football,
put yourself in good situations, don't fall into their trap
of trying to force it, of trying to make something
happen that's not there. And I agree with you a
(18:35):
lot of this comes down to Jordan Love, not only
in terms of taking care of the ball, but in
terms of, you know, the checks he makes at the
line of scrimmage and how you know, how he sees
what the Bears are doing and trying to get the
Packers into the best possible play offensively. My whole point
in Insider inbox is this game. This is a game
(18:56):
that will test the Packers discipline in so many ways,
and it comes down to the offensive discipline of not
forcing it, but then also the defensive discipline of staying
in your gaps against the run, of keeping the pass,
rush lane, integrity on Caleb Williams so he doesn't get
out and run on you. Every aspect you look at
this game of how to beat the Chicago Bears comes
(19:17):
down to the word discipline.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
And I love this. You's brought up the discipline piece
because here's the thing. Let's be honest, Mike ben Johnson
probably has a game plan that he devised for this
first matchup against Green Bay. He is gonna look to He.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Probably devised it back in May exactly.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
This is a guy with the way that he's wired.
You have to be prepared for everything, because as we've
seen from him time and time again. They saw it
for years in the with the Lions, against the Packers
and against other teams within the division. He is always
looking to stunt on the opposition. Heck, it's probably partially
why he got the job with the Bears, right the
fake fumble play that he ran against Chicago. Right, Yeah,
so you have to be prepared for everything, and that
(19:53):
goes back to your rules, your fundamentals, your technique and
being sound. What I love about that from green Bay's
perspective is particular on the defensive side of the ball.
This is a unit that is not only just dominating
at times, and certainly we saw that stat from Elia
Sportsbeer the four yards that they allowed in the second
half against Minnesota the fewest that Green Bay's defense has
(20:14):
allowed in any half a football dating back to I
think nineteen seventy eight. Right. I mean it was a
stingy performance. It wasn't as stingy against Detroit, but they
found their win condition. They found out, Okay, what do
we have to do to win this game. There was
a couple drives I'm sure they wanted back against the Lions,
that one where I think they got down to like
four or five plays and basically drove the field in
(20:34):
the second half. Yeah, but then they responded, Yeah, Micah
Parsons finished strong. I mean, you have guys that are
that have played and have so much experience. Offensively, it's
been a work in progress a lot because of how
the main skill position players they've had have been banged
up or in Tucker Craft's case, out for the season. Defensively,
that unit has been growing throughout the course of the year.
(20:56):
I'm really excited to watch that chess match play out
between Jeff half in Ben Johnson. I think those are
two of the brightest minds at their respective side of
the football, and they're gonna be throwing a lot of
different stuff at each other. I think that game we
see in two weeks at Soldier Field are probably more
of the traditional Packers Bears football game. This one, to
me almost seems like a little bit of a like
(21:17):
it's like a regular season opener in some ways. These
teams have seen a lot of film of each other.
But how's it all gonna come together?
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Yeah, I agree, this is the one, not so much
the rematch in a couple of weeks. This is the
one where you might see the wrinkles and the surprises. Yeah,
because when you look at the one coming up in
two weeks, it's gonna be on a shorter week, you know,
less preparation and all that, and both teams obviously have
a big game in between. Well, I mean, let's let's
take a look at the standings and where things are.
The Bears are nine to three the Packers are eight
(21:44):
three and one. So if Chicago wins this game, the
Bears are absolutely in the cat bird seed in the division.
They'll be They'll be sitting pretty with four games to
go and incomplete command. If the Packers win, the Packers
will vault into first place in the division, and then
it will be interesting to see Detroit coming off of
the Thanksgiving loss. They are now seven and five in
(22:06):
third place, but still fighting and not out of this
thing by any means. And they have a big game
tonight wes Thursday Night Football against the Dallas Cowboys, two
teams that played on Thanksgiving now they're playing the following Thursday,
which is just what the Packers and Lions did last
year as well. But a hot Dallas Cowboys team that
(22:26):
had kind of been written off a few weeks ago
when they were below five hundred and everybody looked at
their schedule saying, oh, they got to play the Eagles
and then the Chiefs, and well, look what they did
in the span of five days. They beat both Super
Bowl teams from a year ago. The Cowboys are suddenly
six five and one. They're trying to chase down the Eagles,
who have hit the skids a little bit. This Thursday
night game is monster for two teams with five losses.
(22:49):
This is a big one that's gonna have a lot
of eyeballs up.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Well, it's because I think whoever wins is still very
much in the thick of this thing, and whoever loses
is now officially in that run the table. You gotta
just win it out to see a chance at anything, right,
because again, I don't think you can sit here and
confidently look at a ten and seven record going to
get you into the playoffs right now.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Not in the NFC.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
There's just too much divergence between the bottom half of
the conference and then what's come up at the top.
And then even amongst those teams at the top, how
a lot of them have traded and shared victories and losses. Detroit,
this is a pivotal game, There's no question about it.
Because this is the end of their homes. They have
three games at home here. You don't want to go
one and two in those matchups, right and then secondly,
now you got the Los Angeles Rams waiting for you
(23:29):
on the other side of this thing. Going out there.
So if you look at how the season has played out,
it looks like a Lions win. They've basically traded wins
and losses here for the last two and a half months.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Yeah, they haven't. They haven't been a hot team all year,
but they haven't been a struggling team all ye year.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
They got out to that little start of theirs, they
lost the Packers, but then one what for the first
five and ever since then they've been going win loss,
win loss. So I think the challenge for the Dallas
is how far can you get with the league's one
of the league's most potent off says that also is
one of the biggest sieves defensively. They've had some improvements
(24:04):
here since Quinn Williams got in the show, but still
a lot of yards that they're giving up.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Yeah, and thats that Lions offense. As we saw last week.
I mean, they still they gave the Packers defense everything
they can handle. That Detroit offense is dangerous. Detroit's issues
have been on the defensive side of the ball, where
they've had injuries, especially in the secondary, trying to piece
things together the slow down passing attacks. I mean, this
Thursday night game could end up being quite the shootout
at Ford Field. Take a glance at the other games
(24:33):
on Sunday, there isn't really other than Packers Bears, which
is the game of the week for sure. There isn't
much else all that interesting in the NFC because the
playoff contenders in the NFC are all kind of heavily
favored over teams that are below five hundred. I think
the more interesting games are actually in the AFC. When
(24:53):
I look at the fact that Pittsburgh is at Baltimore
and Houston is at Kansas City. The Chiefs are getting
close to run the table time if they're even gonna
make the postseason here. And the Houston Texans have chased
down the Indianapolis Colts. I mean were what were the Texans?
They were zero to three to start the year. They've
(25:14):
now chased down the Colts and they're threatening, you know,
for the lead, along with the Jaguars of course too
in that AFC South. So those both the AFC North
and NFC AFC South, there's some interesting matchups.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Yeah, I mean, Indianapolis travels to Jacksonville this weekend too,
so I mean, wow, I mean how that situation is
unfolded where it looked like, Okay, the Colts are just
taking this thing, no question about it. And now they
kind of got the field coming back up on.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Their Yeah, not so fast, my friend, As of course,
I would say.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Right right then. And then certainly you look at the
Los Angeles Chargers, a huge game with implications on Monday
Night football against Philadelphia, both of those teams sitting at
eight and four. As you just talked about the Eagles
trying to pull themselves back into it. And then what
do you make out of the AFC North right now?
Aaron Rodgers wrist injury, knows leading six and six, now
(26:02):
Steelers six and six, Ravens who wants that division? Who's
gonna take that division? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (26:07):
And the raven the Ravens just tripped all over themselves
on Thanksgiving Night against Cincinnati.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
So, but Cincinnati is so different when Joe Burrow.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Is Yeah, well, and here's and here's the thing. This is,
this is the crazy thing. The Cincinnati Bengals were three
and eight. Now they have Joe Burrow back, they are
four and eight. They play the Buffalo Bills this weekend.
If you look at Cincinnati schedule, if they can beat
Buffalo this weekend. They could run it and get to
nine and eight and potentially win the AFC North with
(26:37):
a nine and eight record. If they lose to the
Buffalo Bills, it makes it a lot harder for them.
But their schedule after they played Buffalo with Joe Burrow
back at quarterback, it lines up for them to run
the table. This the Cincinnati Buffalo game on Sunday is
an interesting one.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
All funny is it too? If they could Let's say
they don't they run the table, but they don't make
if they end up nine to eight miss the playoffs again.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Yeah, because they finished strong, which is what they did
last year. They were the team nobody wanted to play
in the playoffs last year and then they didn't quite
get it into the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Right, Hey, last thing I want to close on, because
let's let's talk about really fast the what really does
matter in the NFC. Packers are looking for somebody to
trip up this weekend. Right Seattle is going to Atlanta.
Nothing is going right for the Falcons right now? Can
can the Falcons have something go their way? The Buccaneers
are in a position now that if okay, you have
the Saints at home. The Saints are very wayward. But
(27:27):
if you would fall there, you're now suddenly in a
tie with the Carolina Panthers, who are on a bye
this week, So I mean trying to keep pace there. Washington, Minnesota,
both of those teams trying to make something of their season.
And then certainly the LA Rams going to Arizona. Jacoby
Brissett's playing really well. The Cardinals are not winning games.
What are you going to do against that defense? Out
(27:49):
of all these little matchups, these little top contenders versus
three to four win teams, if one of those could
potentially trip up, would help Green Bay's efforts as well.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Yeah, absolutely, And I've got I've got that laid out
in Path to the Playoffs, which we posted on Packers
dot com on Wednesday, So if you haven't seen the
launch of this year's Path to the Playoffs, it's out there.
But yeah, I talk about all those games. It's just
but it is where the Packers and the scoreboard watching realm.
You're you're really hoping for upsets in the NFC because
(28:20):
these other NFC contenders other than the toss up game,
you know that we talked about Thursday night with Dallas
and Detroit. The other NFC contenders are all in these
games where they're heavily favored against teams that are below
five hundred, and you're you're hoping for hoping for some
upsets there. But the other, the other thing, the San
Francisco forty nine ers are sitting there at nine and
(28:44):
four on a bye week, and I'm gonna give credit
and it'll be posted in tomorrow's Insider inbox, and I
can't remember who exactly sent it in, so I'm sorry
to not give credit by name. But there is a scenario,
depending on what happens in the NFC, that on their
bye week, the San Francisco forty nine ers could jump
(29:06):
from the seventh seed all the way to the two
seed by not even playing certain if things fall a
certain way with all of these, with all these other games.
That tells you how crazy this thing is right now,
and how much crazier it might get as we as
we really hit the stretch round here.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
We talk about it every year, but I think this
is the perfect example of it. Just win, just win,
and see where everybody if you can just not blink
in somebody else finally misses that musical chair when the
music stops yeah, where that could put you right. But
you have to do it. But to Green Bay. This
is the beautiful thing about where the Packers are at
and Evan Williams talked about it after the game last week.
(29:47):
It's just about controlling what you can control. You have
the Chicago Bears twice in thirteen days. There's a tough
one in the middle there with doubt Denver. You'll worry
about that when it gets there. Yeah, but if you
can take care of business against the Bears, it sets
the table for you perfectly. But it's you have to
be able to do it.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
But you have to be able to do it against
a team that is hot, that is ride and high,
and the NFL's oldest and best rivalry is front and
center here in the month of December. With that, we'll
call it a rap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the
team and of Sunday's big game from lambeau Field. We
will have it all for you on Packers dot Com.
(30:26):
For Wes, I'm Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody.
We will see you next time.
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