December 9, 2025 • 34 mins
Mike and Wes review the victory over the Bears, discussing CB Keisean Nixon’s game-saving INT (1:04), the overall defensive performance (5:34), the big plays on offense from WRs Christian Watson and Bo Melton (11:02), plus the standout performances from QB Jordan Love and RB Josh Jacobs (18:35). They also look at the NFC North standings and playoff picture (29:32).
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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 as always
by my trusted colleague West Hodkoitz. We're coming to you
here from our studios at lambeau Field to discuss weston.
A big victory for the green Bay Packers. Twenty eight
to twenty one was the final score over the Chicago
Bears at lambeau Field late on Sunday afternoon into the evening.
(00:31):
Turned into a real back and forth second half, and
none other than mister Keishawn Nixon had the last word
in this one.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
It's an excellent way to intro it, Michael, And it
was funny. I was thinking as I was walking in
here this morning, Boy, have the networks got their money's
worth with Green Bay Packers football season? Right?
Speaker 1 (00:50):
I mean there is.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
I don't know if there's been a boring one in
the bunch so far, maybe the Minnesota game, but each
one of these that Green Bay has played has kind
of come down to that last drive, that last you
know play. And in Keishawn Nixon's case, obviously the story
of his game was you know, you look early on
he has the illegal hands of the face penalty. He
has the scuffle with Luther Burden where he actually has
(01:13):
like I'm just telling you what I'm seeing on the film, yep,
Burden puts his hand on Keishawn's throat. Keishawn reacts very
poorly to that, as I think most people would. I know,
I would. You know, we all try to be the
best human possible. But in the spirit of competition, sometimes
the the uh you know that stuff comes out bears
(01:34):
end up getting some points off that drive. But then
you see him in the way he rallied late, and
I thought the biggest key to his game, No pun Intended,
is the the ability to always push forward and not
let adversity set him back. I mean, I think the
two strongest attributes in Keishawn Nixon's game are his physicality
and the way he plays. I think he's one of
the best tackling cornerbacks I've covered personally. And also he
(01:58):
is the very definition of wiping the slate clean, forgetting
about what just happened and moving on to the next play,
and for him to play with his instincts on that
fourth and one where Evan Williams took ownership for the play, afterwards,
he said he was the one responsible for cole comet.
He lets him leak out into the end zone, a
play that the Philadelphia Eagles ran successfully against Philadelphia a
week earlier, the Chicago ran successfully a week earlier. Keyshawn
(02:23):
Nixon covers it up and makes an unreal play on
the ball to end another hotly contested down to the
wire game. And Michael, it's funny. For the last month,
it feels like I've been walking in here on these
Tuesdays talking about how these really were must win situations
for Green Bay and this I think takes the cake,
being able to knock off the Chicago Bears to move
(02:43):
into first place by half a game in the NFC North,
and again, a lot of football left to be played,
but you could tell the emotions that were involved of
being able to get this one.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yeah, no doubt about it. It was a big one,
I think. I said after the Thanksgiving win in Detroit
that was the Packers' biggest win to date on the season,
and then this one was even bigger. Took another another
step forward, as you said, It moved the Packers back
into first place in the NFC North, a half game
ahead of Chicago, and we'll get to more about the
standings in the NFC playoff picture later on. I like
(03:13):
what you said, what you said about Kishan and how
he You know, the old adage with cornerbacks is it's
the It's the one position in the NFL where you
have to have the shortest memory, right, And Kishan really
embodies that. He just he doesn't he doesn't let anything.
He doesn't let anything bother him. And I'm not and
(03:34):
that's not really the right way to say it, because
he's a very emotional guy and you know, you see
it all out there, but he doesn't let anything that
happens change his approach to how he plays the game,
and the Packers are better for it. The personal foul
in the second quarter was really unfortunate. It was just
one of many moments where Craig Rolstad's officiating crew was
(03:58):
not up to the task for a very, very big
football game late in the season in the NFL. That
was disappointing. But I don't want to get into all
that because Keishawn Nixon, Keishawn Nixon made the play and
you know, we hear all the time defensive backs in particular,
they talk about how important it is to communicate out
there on the field, how important it is to play
(04:20):
together and to know each other. I mean, that was
the perfect example of it, because Keishawn Nixon on the
fourth and one in the red zone, he's responsible for
DJ Moore, who's you know, kind of slicing his way
through the formation to the other side. But as Kishaan
is following him, he sees Evan Williams abandon his assignment
and go to the flat to take I believe it
(04:43):
was the running back who was over there. And that's
that's an issue of It's not even necessarily communication because
they're not talking to each other, but they know the defense,
they know everybody's responsibilities, and when Kishan saw that, he saw, okay,
Evan abandoned his responsibility. I gotta make sure this isn't
a touchdown, right, And it was just it was an incredibly,
(05:06):
incredibly intelligent heads up play by Nixon to make that
one save the game for the Packers. I think you
would agree with me on this, and Ben Johnson happened
to say so on Monday as well. But in the moment,
I think we were both watching that final drive for
the Bears, figuring Okay, if they get a touchdown, they're
going for two. Ben Johnson is playing win or loss.
(05:28):
Was not going to play overtime in that game, and
it was a rough second half of the Packers defense.
From the standpoint of that Bears running game was controlling
the clock, not with big runs, but with the four
and five yard runs that were moving the chains, churning
the clock, keeping that defense on the field, wearing them out.
It was a long second half for Green Bay's defense,
(05:51):
but they made the play when it mattered.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Yeah, I'm I can't. We're There's a huge game this
week between the Denver Broncos and the Green Bit Packers,
So I don't want to get too far ahead of
my an insider inbox I even said, I'm not going
to get ahead of myself, but I think that game
at Soldier Field in two weeks is going to be
the most challenging Green Bay's probably going to play in
the regular season. One. The Bears haven't lost at home yet.
But two, I think Ben Johnson got lost in the
(06:16):
sauce a little bit in this game. I think he
got way too cute with some of his play calls
when you look at where they were the most successful.
It's when they were playing tried and true NFC North football,
the Chicago Bears, running north and south, getting Caleb Williams
out of the pocket and letting him extend plays and
create big plays downfield. That's when the Chicago was at
(06:39):
its best. Sunday, when they started doing you know, convoluted
end to rounds to burden. When they started, you know,
trying to throw in some like kind of tricky concepts,
that's when it seemed like their drives stalled the most,
and it was particularly early on. I think there was
a couple of different things they were trying to do
that just were not working to Green Bay's benefit. I
(07:00):
will say this about the defense. For the most part,
they played to their keys, and particularly in that secondary,
not allowing a Jamison Williams to kind of break out
the way he did a week earlier. That sort of
kept Detroit in the game. The Packers kept everything in
front of them, and the ultimate in as much as
Evan Williams will put a lot of this on himself
in addition to the fact he might have even had
(07:21):
an interception or force fumble in the first quarter, Yeah,
but the fact is is that Williams. The play that
Keisham made was really important because one you're giving up
the first down even if his guy ends up coming uncovered.
But Philly got posterized on the touchdown. I think also
was to.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Commet, Yes, it was. It was about It was between
like twenty five to thirty yard touchdown, exact same play
play action roll to the left and Caleb Williams put
it out there and Comet was behind the defender and
got a long touchdown out of it.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
And nobody from the Eagles covered it. This was not
that case. I think it shows you the depth of
this defense, the experience of this defense. There's plenty of
stuff to still clean up. But what you're learning about
the Packers with the way they performed laid against Detroit,
the way they performed against Chicago in this game, this
is a championship caliber defense. They're up to fifth now
again in total defense too. By the way, the Packers
(08:14):
have a unit that can play and win multiple different ways,
and that's why they're suddenly on a four game winning streak.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, it's interesting what you said about Ben Johnson because
I'll put it a little bit different way. I think.
I think Ben Johnson got spooked by Kyle Manungai getting
stoned on third and one by kings Leannigbari, because if
you go back through the play by play, and I
did this for I believe it was for Monday's Insider Inbox,
(08:41):
the Bears had not had a handoff to a running
back gain less than three yards, going back to actually
the play on which Keishaw Nixon got the personal foul,
which was when they had stopped the running back for
a one yard gain, and I think in that moment
third and one and Johnson just, okay, you know, we've
been running straight ahead, we've been picking these up, and
(09:03):
then Anigbari makes the big stop there, stops Manungai for
like a half yard game, so it's fourth and fourth
and a half yard, and I think he got a
little spooked and he just he just even though they
had done so well running the ball in the traditional way,
he just didn't quite have that confidence that they were
going to get it, because, yeah, he had let the
clock run down, but he still had two timeouts left
(09:25):
if they get the first down there, he was perfectly
comfortable where they were with the clock and the timeouts
and the opportunity to get the touchdown. So hats off
to Anigbari because the Packers had not had as I
was just outlining a lot of run stops in that game.
You know where you really stop a running back cold,
and he did it on third and one to set
(09:46):
up the fourth and one.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Yeah, if I may just to throw on there too.
About because big year for Kingsley. He's in a contract year,
no doubt. It was a remarkable fine for them in
the fifth round. Excuse me three and a half years ago.
And how he's been able to affect this football team
in so many different ways. I don't think it's talked
nearly enough about. And that's on me too. This is
a guy that is a guard on their punt coverage team.
(10:10):
I mean he plays in multiple phases for them. In
addition to he's always been a reliable, durable, rotational edge rusher,
and I think you've seen him make a lot of
growth and a lot of strides with his run defense.
In addition to, when there's an opportunity where Micah Parsons
is penetrating and he's getting so much attention anddie, Barry
steps up and ends up getting the only sack of
this game for Green Bay. He is a very heads
(10:32):
up player. In addition to the fact that when the
game was on the line, there the way he slid
from the right basically defensive end position, moved across the
line and filled that gap, which I think was almost
like the right B gap. Remarkable second effort, good eyes,
and allowing himself to keep the offensive lineman's hands off him. Again,
I think you're right. I think that was probably the
(10:53):
most pivotal play in that game that probably didn't garner
the most headlines afterwards.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Yeah, yeah, I think so. Well, there's a lot to
talk about on the offensive side here for Green Bay
as well, because we saw yet another big time performance
from Christian Watson. I tell you what, what Jordan Love
and Christian Watson are doing together is going to make
every single opponent the rest of the way wonder whether
(11:20):
they really want to blitz Jordan Love, because because if
you blitz and you're compromising your coverage in the back end,
that means you got to go man to man, you
gotta single up. And Christian Watson singled up is a
mismatch in this league, and he burned CJ. Gardner, Johnson
on the slant for the second touchdown, and you know,
(11:44):
Jordan Love really just kind of threw one out there
toward towards the goal line on the first one because
the Bears were sending seven guys, there's only four guys,
there's only four guys in coverage. With three guys out
in the route, he knows it's a one on one,
and it's like, all right, throw it at out there
somewhere and let Christian run and go get it. I mean,
it's it's going to be interesting to see as the
(12:07):
Packers hit the stretch, run here and then hopefully the playoffs,
how how many times are defense is really going to
come after Jordan Love because you got to have a
plan for Christian Watson. If you're gonna blitz the quarterback.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Yeah, you absolutely do, Mike, and I love seeing the
way they're using Christian now too. I know Matt Lafleur
said on Monday, you know, you have to be cognizant
of how the defense is covering you, what the scheme is,
what the coverage is, what the assignments are going to be.
But throwing a six foot four, two hundred and eight
pound man and probably even a little heavier than that
who runs as fast as he does in the slot
(12:40):
creates mismatches because no disrespect to Gardner Johnson, he's having
a great year. He's had a bunch of picks for
that defense.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Including one in the first hat and putting quarter.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Yeah, but him and a lot of a lot of
slot corners. They aren't typically four four guys for three guys.
They typically are more of the safety varieties in the
four to six. And the Packers got a matchup they
like there, and he went to work, and it was
so fascinating to listen to matt Lefleure talk about him
and Jordan Love talk about him, and certainly the other receivers.
(13:09):
You know, we were chatting with Jayden Reid about it
afterwards a game too, the route tree and how Christian
has expanded his game. He didn't just come back a
healthy receiver. He didn't just come fit back fast as ever,
he looks confident and complete. This is the guy that
I think a lot of people looked at in the
twenty twenty two draft as a potential first round pick,
(13:31):
a really raw tooled but talented young man, and he
is grabbing that opportunity. The fact that he has done
all this without an offseason program, without a training camp.
He's almost had five hundred receiving yards already on the season.
Depending on the metric you use, he now starts to
qualify for some of those receiving categories. Eighteen point one
yards per catch. That is the second most productive receiver
(13:55):
right now in terms of average yards per reception the NFL,
only to Alec Pierce from Indianapolis. Christian Watson has it
all together right now, and he just keeps getting better
and better and better. And the guys afterwards joking about,
you know, the gazelle that he's become. When you are
that big and that talented and that fast, defenses have
to take into account what you bring to the table.
(14:17):
The Packers lost Tucker Craft. There is no making up
for that the rest of the way. But getting Christian
Watson back, getting Jayden Reid back in this game, you
started to see them sort of rediscover their identity. And
it's funny, as much as time moves forward and you evolve,
there's those players that have led you to this point
that are now stepping up.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Yeah, you mentioned that Packers getting Jayden Reid back his
first appearance since week two, He gets a handful of touches,
got a couple of handoffs, also some pass receptions fifty
plus yards for him, including a big catch that kind
of jump started what turned out to be the game
winning drive there in the fourth quarter. And obviously then
you got Bell Bell bo Melton, excuse me, showing up
(15:03):
catching a forty five yard touchdown pass kind of out
of nowhere, quite frankly. And uh, and it was right
at the end of the first half, the last the
last minute of the first half allowed the Packers to
take a fourteen to three lead. And you gotta love,
you love the way this team reacts, rallies around a
guy like bow Melton. You love the way you love
(15:23):
what Matt Lafleur said about bow Melton on on Monday
at the podium just uh, just what he means, what
he means to the team from a spirit standpoint, this
guy is uh, you know, the the whole like you know,
glue guy. Type of term gets gets overused, but it
really does apply to a guy like bow Melton. And uh.
(15:45):
And to see him make a big play like that
in a big game, that was really cool.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
It was it was incredible to watch. And you and
I are in the locker room. You see it all
the time. Uh, this is a guy that will he
is friends with everybody in that locker room. Yeah. You know,
sometimes the way these NFL teams go, when there's fifty
three guys on an active roster, sixty nine seventy with
the practice squad, and then you added another maybe five
six guys on injured reserve, it's really easy to not
(16:09):
be able to connect with anybody. I think I've at
this season alone, I think I've pretty much seen bo
at everybody's locker throa at the course of here, interacting
with every player in that locker room. In the fact
that he has now become a three phase player, I
think sort of his apropos, but at the end of
the day, he said it in numerous times. He is
a receiver by trade. That is how he made his mark.
(16:32):
You know, when you look at what he did at
Rutgers and becoming a seventh round pick for the Seattle
Seahawks a number of years ago. He is a really fast,
really talented football player, really solid flyer on punt coverage
and has the bandwidth, has the football IQ to be
able to handle. Also learning these assignments at cornerback at
a pinch. But Christian Watson said it after the game.
(16:53):
It was actually completely different conversation from Bow. I wish
I had been able to ask Bow about it. He
ran the same play on back to back plays Green
Bay did the first one. They Christian Watson's running the
same concept downfield, that street route across the middle of
the field and the ball ended up going over to
Luke Musgrave and was incomplete. Well you know these rules,
(17:16):
when a guy runs thirty forty yards, they come out,
you're gassed. They don't bring you back to line of
scrimmage and set up a new play. So Bo was
the one responsible for spelling Christian Watson. That's why he's
even in that position to begin with. And he laughed
afterwards because something that's been happening here in these last
two games was people are forgetting to cover him. He
almost had a touchdown against Detroit, but Jordan wasn't able
(17:38):
to fire the ball, And they're quite right this one.
Bow was almost standing in the end zone. Yeah, And
I'd asked him about that afterwards, like, I mean, what
is going through your mind there? I mean his time
stands still a little bit, and really he was just
in awe of the ball that Jordan threw, that he
led him that far and Brisker had to cover that
much territory that it ends up being a touchdown. It's
(18:00):
one play, and obviously I think Bow only had nine
offensive plays in the game. But seeing how that sideline
responded to Matt Lafour even said, you have to be
careful that not people don't come onto the field they're
that excited about when Bow Melt makes a play. My
good friend, your good friend, Joe Reuter was celebrating with
him on the sideline, one of the football tech guys.
I mean, people love this dude. Yeah, And I think
(18:22):
when you look at how Green Bay was sort of
going to halftime at fourteen to three, it's plays like
that that I think lift a little bit more energy
out of everybody, especially on a cold evening at Lambeufield.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Yeah. Well, a couple other things I want to hit
on offensively. One was the performance by Jordan Love. And
for those who are who like to get into the
statistical nerdy stuff like I do, I've got a story
on packers dot Com. It's kind of my crazy what
I call my crazy stat column, and I focus specifically
on Love for this one because this was the first
(18:53):
game in Jordan Love's career where he posted a passer
rating above one hundred and twenty, but through an interception,
and that's very difficult to do because interceptions really hurt
you in the passer rating formula. But the fact that
he still had a passer rating of one hundred and
twenty with an interception on the ledger in that game
(19:13):
just tells you how efficient and how explosive Green Bay's
passing game is, because that's what passer rating is. It's
about being efficient, it's about being productive, and you get
a lot of credit for big plays because yards per completion,
yards per attempt, all that stuff factors in. And again
we've talked about it many times before, but Jordan Love
(19:34):
displayed what is probably his best trait as an NFL quarterback,
which is the ability to shake off a mistake made,
a bad throw, a bad decision, whatever you want to
call it. For the interception that ended the Packers first
drive right after a sack had put them in you know,
third and a gazillion, So he tries to force one
down the field. It doesn't work. The Bears get the interception.
(19:56):
Credit to the Packers defense. They didn't allow that turnover
to result in any points for Chicago kept the game
zero zero. But Love just completely shook it off and
bounced back and played his game the rest of the way.
And I was really impressed there. And then you also
got to tip your hat to Josh Jacobs. The more
you watch this guy, the more you just you love
(20:21):
the way he just sticks his nose in there and
is not going to be denied in big moments, right,
I mean, and I know there was a lot about
the whole fourth and one against Philadelphia in that Monday
night game that blew up on the Packers and all that,
But man, I tell you need if you need a
(20:41):
yard or two in the middle of the field, you
need a yard or two at the goal line. All
trust Number eight, all day, any day.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Never seen anybody like him. He now leads I think again,
I think he led the category last year too. Leads
the NFL and touchdown scored inside the five yard line
he has eight now, which I.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Think is eight of his twelve, eight of his twelve.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
And you know I'm gonna start there because we focus
so much on the twenty one yard run. And I'll
get to that in a second. But that two yard
touchdown off a draw, I mean that's a third down play.
I mean there was a lot of big third down
plays that he made in this game that if Josh
Jacobs doesn't make the play, the Packers have some difficult
questions to answer on fourth down yep, And what are
(21:22):
they gonna do? Are you you know, if Jacobs doesn't
get in the ends on there? Are you kicking a
field goal to take a lead? That would be like
twenty two yards? I mean like it's those type of
decisions that would be on Matt Lafleur's plate. And Jacobs
erases that right the third and two carry for twenty
one yards. I'm sure there was a Houdini run that
(21:44):
Aaron Jones had during his time that I am forgetting,
But I don't know if I've seen a better run
than that my fourteen years covering the team. Yeah, there
are four Bears players pretty much all there to make
the play. It's a toss right that turns into a cutback.
You don't see that every day, even if there aren't
blockers there, even if there aren't defenders there. But Josh
(22:08):
just part of the seas Man two bears on each side.
Almost it was like a comedy routine. It was like
it was like a cartoon, the way they're colliding into
each other and he gets through it.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
It was like it was like this cloud of smoke
and all of a sudden he emerges. He emerges, and
then he's in the open field and you know, was
almost looking like he was going to take at the
distance and score, ends up getting you know, inside the
ten to set up first and goal. But yeah, I
mean I asked Matt Lafleur about it after the game.
Jason Wilde followed up on Monday Monday's press conference, like
(22:38):
how did he do that? And the answer is still like,
we don't know. Like you you look at you look
at it on film and it's it's really hard to
tell exactly how that happened, how he got through there.
And I agree with you, I said in the live
blog at the time, I thought it was I thought
it was the best run I've ever seen Josh Jacobs make.
All things considered the circumstances, you know, what was what
(22:59):
was on the line, what what the Packers needed in
that moment, just a just a big time play, and
it was great to see him finish it off. As
you said, at the goal line. It was third and
goal and Jordan Love actually checked to the run because
they had called a pass play. Didn't like to look
for the pass. And it must be nice when you
just say, oh, we don't like the look for the past,
all right, we're just gonna give it to number eight
(23:19):
and he's and he's gonna get the job done. That's
it's kind of that that's as big a compliment as
you can give to any offensive weapon you've got.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Trust I mean no trust man. And you know it's
funny too because like I don't want to say that
Aaron Jones wasn't meant for the offense. He definitely was.
But like Aaron Jones is like a fifth round find, right,
Like he was like originally projected as like the scat
back that ended up becoming a Pro Bowl player for
Green Bay. But but I'm going all the way back
to twenty twelve when I first started covering the team.
(23:47):
Obviously you got the Ryan Grant earon Grant came in
on a trade. But it's just like this running back
is Taylor made for what Matt Lafleur wants to do offensively.
This is you. You needed this type of back. And
you know, as much as we've always looked back on
that off season of twenty twenty four and Xavier McKinney,
(24:08):
they had to make a change, right. They needed to
improve their safety position. They were a they were in
dire straits at the safety position. They need to renovate it, right, yep.
But Josh was just like, Okay, well, Aaron's going We're
bringing in Josh Jacobs. But it's like, it's almost like
it caught me so much by surprise that they actually
signed Josh Jacobs that I never really fully computed in
(24:28):
my head. Okay, this is this is the guy, Like
this is not He's He's an all time, he's a
rushing champion already is an all Pro. But I'm just saying, like, no,
this is the missing piece for what Matt Lafleur wants
to build. And at that point, he's twenty six years old.
It's wild. It's wild to watch him run because even
if it's not there, he finds it.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Yeah. I mean, I knew who Josh Jacobs was at Alabama.
I knew who he was with the Raiders, admired his game,
admired his stats and his production. There there's a different
admiration you get for Josh Jacobs when you watch him
week after week and when when you get to know
him and you talk to him. You know, all the
(25:10):
interviews we've done over these two seasons he's been with
Green Bay, there's a there's an appreciation level for the
professional running back that he is that that's just something
different and and I hope, I hope he can keep
it rolling here in Green Bay for a few more
years to come.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Before we roll it over to looking at the rest
of league. I just want to make one more attempt,
one more comment I should say on Jordan Love because
I in addition to what you said about kind of
Ben Johnson explaining some things you want to talk about
when this conversation. I know the question was asked of
Matt Lafleur on Monday if Jordan should be in the
MVP conversation, right, I think definitely needs to be in
(25:49):
the Pro Bowl conversation. I mean, this is the guy
that I think already should have been there. I really
hope that that works out for him this year because
I think the league needs to start appreciating what this
young man is doing. But you want to talk about
ultimate signs of respect. Ben Jonson saying on Monday, one
of the things that facked in their mind with running
that clockdown was they didn't want to give the ball
back to Jordan.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Ye, he didn't. He didn't have he didn't have a
whole lot of faith that his defense was going to
stop Jordan Love with the game on the line, if
there was if there was any time left there, and
he had made the decision, Yeah, they were going to
run the clock down, and they were going to go
for two. They were gonna they were going to go
for the win there. And uh yeah, because to Chicago's credit,
(26:29):
they got a pair of three and outs defensively in
the second half, the Packers offense became a little bit
of feast or famine there, and that those those two
three and outs certainly contributed to Green Bay's defense getting
worn down as as the second half went along. So
that was a factor there. But even with that, his defense,
his defense had gotten two three and outs in the
(26:49):
second half. But the other two possessions were both touchdowns
and relatively easy drives for touchdowns, where where the Packers
weren't put in any you know, third and sevens or
any really really big time opportunities for the defense to
get off the field. And that's what Ben Johnson was
feeling as he was calling that final drive for his offense.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Pretty remarkable. I mean, for Jordan to be viewed like
that by a coach that hasn't his team off to
nine wins. I tell you what, man, it's just it's
wild and and anything can happen in the National Football League.
This kind of goes into the next segment here talking
about the other teams and stuff. But Jalen hurts through
four interceptions.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
On Monday Monday Night.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Yeah, Jordan has four this season. Anything can happen four
weeks ago in the regular season. But you know, for
so many people that wanted to dog him and get
on him about the way he's throwing the ball and
is he is he being smart with the football? I
hope you're taking a minute to appreciate what you're seeing
this season. Yeah, because Caleb Williams young quarterback that's making mistakes,
(27:53):
but he's at a place where there has been such
I don't want to I don't want to I want
to be careful with how I say, but there's been
inconsistency at the quarterback position for the Bears for a
very long time. Yes, and that allows and then Caleb Williams,
you know, a little bit of latitude with fans and
a little bit of latitude with the front office because
they're not used to have an elite quarterback play.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
That's well said.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
The Packers have had Brett fav Aaron Rodgers, and somehow,
by the grace of God, they got Jordan Love I mean,
and in my opinion, we're talking about one of the
top five quarterbacks in the National Football League right now.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
Yeah, I could couldn't agree with you more. We do
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(29:15):
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slash Wonders. Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. We don't have
a whole lot of time to do this, but we
will do it anyway. The NFC North Packers nine three
and one, Bears nine and four, Lions eight and five
(29:36):
still wide open there with four games to go. Anything
could happen down the stretch, but the Packers have put
themselves in the right position here with four games to go,
and I know we'll be talking on our next show preview.
In this big matchup with Denver and eleven win team
out West, you got to go on the road to
their place, you know. With the road trip to Chicago
(29:57):
looming the following week and all that. The NFC picture
as a whole. Seven teams in the NFC right now,
Wes have either eight, nine or ten wins, and in
some ways you would go, oh, well, that's cool, there's
seven playoff spots right Well not exactly, because there is
not a team in the NFC South that has eight
(30:18):
nine or ten wins right now. That's between Carolina and
Tampa Bay. They're both seven and six with four games
to go. So one of these seven teams that has
eight nine or ten wins in the NFC is gonna
get left out. And there's a lot of it's a
lot of fighting, it's a lot of jockeying for a position.
(30:38):
Just with the results from this past weekend, the Packers
jumped from number six in the NFC all the way
up to number two. The Bears went from number one
all the way down to number seven. And that's it's
not an illustration necessarily of one team or another. It's
an illustration of just how bunched up and crowded everything is,
and how how just a couple of results going this
(31:01):
way or that way can completely turn everything like topsy turvy. Right.
So it's you know, and with four games left to go,
I mean this, it's it's uh, we're deep into the
season here, but yet it's still there's still a long
way to go to sort out exactly what this playoff
picture is going to look like.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Yeah, because as good as the NFC North has been,
the NFC West has been just as good, if not better.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
I mean San Francisco Seattle have been two of the
more consistent teams. What forty nine ers have done this
year despite losing Brock Purty for six games or whatever
it ended up.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Being, and then losing Bosa, losing Warner on defense, I mean, yeah,
the injuries that they have had and where the forty
nine ers are, That's that's been one of the untold
stories on the national scene in the NFL is what
Kyle Shanahan has done with the forty nine ers.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
And I'm telling you right now, I mean the Detroit
Lions are absolutely a playoff team.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
The way it's a dangerous squad man, the way they.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Bounce back from that lost to Green Bay and really
handed it to the Dallas Cowboys.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
The forty four points.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
The only reason that game was even close was because
of Dak Prescott and also Brandon Aubrey. But Dak Prescott
did what Dak Prescott does and he gave his team
a chance. But ultimately that defense could not keep up
with Detroit. But Detroit sitting in that they're without a
chair right now. Right, So okay, the dom Capers, let's
start with the positives, right. If Green Bay takes care
(32:23):
of business, the rest of the NFC is going to
beaten up on itself here in the next four weeks. Yeah,
there's a lot of cross pollination here between what the
NFC West has to play each other and then also
Detroit Chicago having some tough matchups with them as well.
The Packers just have to focus on one these interconference
games they haven't played yet, but then that game against Chicago,
(32:46):
the game against Minnesota. The Packers are in a position
that if they can keep winning, I think the rest
of the laundry is going to get sorted out itself.
But the stakes each week only get higher. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
Absolutely, I mean, what what can happen to you? What
can happen to you with one loss at this stage
if you let a game get away. I mean, it's
it's sort of what happened to Detroit they lose to
the Packers on Thanksgiving. Now it's what happened to the
Bears they lose to the Packers at Lambeau field, and
now the Packers can't let themselves be that team, you know.
And yeah, it's a huge challenge going out to Denver.
(33:20):
And we'll talk about that one preview that one on
our next show. I mean, as big as these games
are with the Bears, this this this matchup with the Broncos,
you're talking a nine win team against an eleven win
team in the middle of December. Yeah, you know, from
from the from the two different conferences. I mean, the
games just keep getting bigger and tougher for Green Bay
(33:42):
as as this stretcher un rolls along.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
I'm sure there's probably as happens every year, but I
just don't notice it. But the fact that you have
the top seeded team, a team that's completing for competing
for the buy and the AFC taking on the second
seeded team right now in the NFC, this late in
the season, Yeah, very unique, if nothing else in Green
Bay's perspective. But at the same time, the Broncos are
writing a ten game losing streak and.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
They've had ten game winning streak.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Ten game winning streak. Wow, all right, needs and the
Broncos are writing a ten game winning streak in much
like Green Bay and up until last week, much like
the Bears have had to kind of pull a rabbit
out of their hat in the fourth quarter a couple
of times to get there. It's gonna be fantastic.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
To watch, Yeah it is. It's gonna be a good one,
and we will get to all of that previewing Sunday's
trip to Denver on our next show, but for now
we're gonna call it a rap on this edition of
Packers Unscript. You'd be sure to follow all of our
coverage of the team, all sorts of great stuff, photos, videos, articles,
everything for you on packers dot com. For Wes, i'mke.
Thank you for tuning in everybody. We will see you
(34:44):
next time.
Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spafford, joined as always
by my trusted colleague West Hodkoitz. We're coming to you
here from our studios at lambeau Field to discuss weston.
A big victory for the green Bay Packers. Twenty eight
to twenty one was the final score over the Chicago
Bears at lambeau Field late on Sunday afternoon into the evening.
(00:31):
Turned into a real back and forth second half, and
none other than mister Keishawn Nixon had the last word
in this one.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
It's an excellent way to intro it, Michael, And it
was funny. I was thinking as I was walking in
here this morning, Boy, have the networks got their money's
worth with Green Bay Packers football season? Right?
Speaker 1 (00:50):
I mean there is.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
I don't know if there's been a boring one in
the bunch so far, maybe the Minnesota game, but each
one of these that Green Bay has played has kind
of come down to that last drive, that last you
know play. And in Keishawn Nixon's case, obviously the story
of his game was you know, you look early on
he has the illegal hands of the face penalty. He
has the scuffle with Luther Burden where he actually has
(01:13):
like I'm just telling you what I'm seeing on the film, yep,
Burden puts his hand on Keishawn's throat. Keishawn reacts very
poorly to that, as I think most people would. I know,
I would. You know, we all try to be the
best human possible. But in the spirit of competition, sometimes
the the uh you know that stuff comes out bears
(01:34):
end up getting some points off that drive. But then
you see him in the way he rallied late, and
I thought the biggest key to his game, No pun Intended,
is the the ability to always push forward and not
let adversity set him back. I mean, I think the
two strongest attributes in Keishawn Nixon's game are his physicality
and the way he plays. I think he's one of
the best tackling cornerbacks I've covered personally. And also he
(01:58):
is the very definition of wiping the slate clean, forgetting
about what just happened and moving on to the next play,
and for him to play with his instincts on that
fourth and one where Evan Williams took ownership for the play, afterwards,
he said he was the one responsible for cole comet.
He lets him leak out into the end zone, a
play that the Philadelphia Eagles ran successfully against Philadelphia a
week earlier, the Chicago ran successfully a week earlier. Keyshawn
(02:23):
Nixon covers it up and makes an unreal play on
the ball to end another hotly contested down to the
wire game. And Michael, it's funny. For the last month,
it feels like I've been walking in here on these
Tuesdays talking about how these really were must win situations
for Green Bay and this I think takes the cake,
being able to knock off the Chicago Bears to move
(02:43):
into first place by half a game in the NFC North,
and again, a lot of football left to be played,
but you could tell the emotions that were involved of
being able to get this one.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yeah, no doubt about it. It was a big one,
I think. I said after the Thanksgiving win in Detroit
that was the Packers' biggest win to date on the season,
and then this one was even bigger. Took another another
step forward, as you said, It moved the Packers back
into first place in the NFC North, a half game
ahead of Chicago, and we'll get to more about the
standings in the NFC playoff picture later on. I like
(03:13):
what you said, what you said about Kishan and how
he You know, the old adage with cornerbacks is it's
the It's the one position in the NFL where you
have to have the shortest memory, right, And Kishan really
embodies that. He just he doesn't he doesn't let anything.
He doesn't let anything bother him. And I'm not and
(03:34):
that's not really the right way to say it, because
he's a very emotional guy and you know, you see
it all out there, but he doesn't let anything that
happens change his approach to how he plays the game,
and the Packers are better for it. The personal foul
in the second quarter was really unfortunate. It was just
one of many moments where Craig Rolstad's officiating crew was
(03:58):
not up to the task for a very, very big
football game late in the season in the NFL. That
was disappointing. But I don't want to get into all
that because Keishawn Nixon, Keishawn Nixon made the play and
you know, we hear all the time defensive backs in particular,
they talk about how important it is to communicate out
there on the field, how important it is to play
(04:20):
together and to know each other. I mean, that was
the perfect example of it, because Keishawn Nixon on the
fourth and one in the red zone, he's responsible for
DJ Moore, who's you know, kind of slicing his way
through the formation to the other side. But as Kishaan
is following him, he sees Evan Williams abandon his assignment
and go to the flat to take I believe it
(04:43):
was the running back who was over there. And that's
that's an issue of It's not even necessarily communication because
they're not talking to each other, but they know the defense,
they know everybody's responsibilities, and when Kishan saw that, he saw, okay,
Evan abandoned his responsibility. I gotta make sure this isn't
a touchdown, right, And it was just it was an incredibly,
(05:06):
incredibly intelligent heads up play by Nixon to make that
one save the game for the Packers. I think you
would agree with me on this, and Ben Johnson happened
to say so on Monday as well. But in the moment,
I think we were both watching that final drive for
the Bears, figuring Okay, if they get a touchdown, they're
going for two. Ben Johnson is playing win or loss.
(05:28):
Was not going to play overtime in that game, and
it was a rough second half of the Packers defense.
From the standpoint of that Bears running game was controlling
the clock, not with big runs, but with the four
and five yard runs that were moving the chains, churning
the clock, keeping that defense on the field, wearing them out.
It was a long second half for Green Bay's defense,
(05:51):
but they made the play when it mattered.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Yeah, I'm I can't. We're There's a huge game this
week between the Denver Broncos and the Green Bit Packers,
So I don't want to get too far ahead of
my an insider inbox I even said, I'm not going
to get ahead of myself, but I think that game
at Soldier Field in two weeks is going to be
the most challenging Green Bay's probably going to play in
the regular season. One. The Bears haven't lost at home yet.
But two, I think Ben Johnson got lost in the
(06:16):
sauce a little bit in this game. I think he
got way too cute with some of his play calls
when you look at where they were the most successful.
It's when they were playing tried and true NFC North football,
the Chicago Bears, running north and south, getting Caleb Williams
out of the pocket and letting him extend plays and
create big plays downfield. That's when the Chicago was at
(06:39):
its best. Sunday, when they started doing you know, convoluted
end to rounds to burden. When they started, you know,
trying to throw in some like kind of tricky concepts,
that's when it seemed like their drives stalled the most,
and it was particularly early on. I think there was
a couple of different things they were trying to do
that just were not working to Green Bay's benefit. I
(07:00):
will say this about the defense. For the most part,
they played to their keys, and particularly in that secondary,
not allowing a Jamison Williams to kind of break out
the way he did a week earlier. That sort of
kept Detroit in the game. The Packers kept everything in
front of them, and the ultimate in as much as
Evan Williams will put a lot of this on himself
in addition to the fact he might have even had
(07:21):
an interception or force fumble in the first quarter, Yeah,
but the fact is is that Williams. The play that
Keisham made was really important because one you're giving up
the first down even if his guy ends up coming uncovered.
But Philly got posterized on the touchdown. I think also
was to.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Commet, Yes, it was. It was about It was between
like twenty five to thirty yard touchdown, exact same play
play action roll to the left and Caleb Williams put
it out there and Comet was behind the defender and
got a long touchdown out of it.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
And nobody from the Eagles covered it. This was not
that case. I think it shows you the depth of
this defense, the experience of this defense. There's plenty of
stuff to still clean up. But what you're learning about
the Packers with the way they performed laid against Detroit,
the way they performed against Chicago in this game, this
is a championship caliber defense. They're up to fifth now
again in total defense too. By the way, the Packers
(08:14):
have a unit that can play and win multiple different ways,
and that's why they're suddenly on a four game winning streak.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, it's interesting what you said about Ben Johnson because
I'll put it a little bit different way. I think.
I think Ben Johnson got spooked by Kyle Manungai getting
stoned on third and one by kings Leannigbari, because if
you go back through the play by play, and I
did this for I believe it was for Monday's Insider Inbox,
(08:41):
the Bears had not had a handoff to a running
back gain less than three yards, going back to actually
the play on which Keishaw Nixon got the personal foul,
which was when they had stopped the running back for
a one yard gain, and I think in that moment
third and one and Johnson just, okay, you know, we've
been running straight ahead, we've been picking these up, and
(09:03):
then Anigbari makes the big stop there, stops Manungai for
like a half yard game, so it's fourth and fourth
and a half yard, and I think he got a
little spooked and he just he just even though they
had done so well running the ball in the traditional way,
he just didn't quite have that confidence that they were
going to get it, because, yeah, he had let the
clock run down, but he still had two timeouts left
(09:25):
if they get the first down there, he was perfectly
comfortable where they were with the clock and the timeouts
and the opportunity to get the touchdown. So hats off
to Anigbari because the Packers had not had as I
was just outlining a lot of run stops in that game.
You know where you really stop a running back cold,
and he did it on third and one to set
(09:46):
up the fourth and one.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Yeah, if I may just to throw on there too.
About because big year for Kingsley. He's in a contract year,
no doubt. It was a remarkable fine for them in
the fifth round. Excuse me three and a half years ago.
And how he's been able to affect this football team
in so many different ways. I don't think it's talked
nearly enough about. And that's on me too. This is
a guy that is a guard on their punt coverage team.
(10:10):
I mean he plays in multiple phases for them. In
addition to he's always been a reliable, durable, rotational edge rusher,
and I think you've seen him make a lot of
growth and a lot of strides with his run defense.
In addition to, when there's an opportunity where Micah Parsons
is penetrating and he's getting so much attention anddie, Barry
steps up and ends up getting the only sack of
this game for Green Bay. He is a very heads
(10:32):
up player. In addition to the fact that when the
game was on the line, there the way he slid
from the right basically defensive end position, moved across the
line and filled that gap, which I think was almost
like the right B gap. Remarkable second effort, good eyes,
and allowing himself to keep the offensive lineman's hands off him. Again,
I think you're right. I think that was probably the
(10:53):
most pivotal play in that game that probably didn't garner
the most headlines afterwards.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Yeah, yeah, I think so. Well, there's a lot to
talk about on the offensive side here for Green Bay
as well, because we saw yet another big time performance
from Christian Watson. I tell you what, what Jordan Love
and Christian Watson are doing together is going to make
every single opponent the rest of the way wonder whether
(11:20):
they really want to blitz Jordan Love, because because if
you blitz and you're compromising your coverage in the back end,
that means you got to go man to man, you
gotta single up. And Christian Watson singled up is a
mismatch in this league, and he burned CJ. Gardner, Johnson
on the slant for the second touchdown, and you know,
(11:44):
Jordan Love really just kind of threw one out there
toward towards the goal line on the first one because
the Bears were sending seven guys, there's only four guys,
there's only four guys in coverage. With three guys out
in the route, he knows it's a one on one,
and it's like, all right, throw it at out there
somewhere and let Christian run and go get it. I mean,
it's it's going to be interesting to see as the
(12:07):
Packers hit the stretch, run here and then hopefully the playoffs,
how how many times are defense is really going to
come after Jordan Love because you got to have a
plan for Christian Watson. If you're gonna blitz the quarterback.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Yeah, you absolutely do, Mike, and I love seeing the
way they're using Christian now too. I know Matt Lafleur
said on Monday, you know, you have to be cognizant
of how the defense is covering you, what the scheme is,
what the coverage is, what the assignments are going to be.
But throwing a six foot four, two hundred and eight
pound man and probably even a little heavier than that
who runs as fast as he does in the slot
(12:40):
creates mismatches because no disrespect to Gardner Johnson, he's having
a great year. He's had a bunch of picks for
that defense.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Including one in the first hat and putting quarter.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Yeah, but him and a lot of a lot of
slot corners. They aren't typically four four guys for three guys.
They typically are more of the safety varieties in the
four to six. And the Packers got a matchup they
like there, and he went to work, and it was
so fascinating to listen to matt Lefleure talk about him
and Jordan Love talk about him, and certainly the other receivers.
(13:09):
You know, we were chatting with Jayden Reid about it
afterwards a game too, the route tree and how Christian
has expanded his game. He didn't just come back a
healthy receiver. He didn't just come fit back fast as ever,
he looks confident and complete. This is the guy that
I think a lot of people looked at in the
twenty twenty two draft as a potential first round pick,
(13:31):
a really raw tooled but talented young man, and he
is grabbing that opportunity. The fact that he has done
all this without an offseason program, without a training camp.
He's almost had five hundred receiving yards already on the season.
Depending on the metric you use, he now starts to
qualify for some of those receiving categories. Eighteen point one
yards per catch. That is the second most productive receiver
(13:55):
right now in terms of average yards per reception the NFL,
only to Alec Pierce from Indianapolis. Christian Watson has it
all together right now, and he just keeps getting better
and better and better. And the guys afterwards joking about,
you know, the gazelle that he's become. When you are
that big and that talented and that fast, defenses have
to take into account what you bring to the table.
(14:17):
The Packers lost Tucker Craft. There is no making up
for that the rest of the way. But getting Christian
Watson back, getting Jayden Reid back in this game, you
started to see them sort of rediscover their identity. And
it's funny, as much as time moves forward and you evolve,
there's those players that have led you to this point
that are now stepping up.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Yeah, you mentioned that Packers getting Jayden Reid back his
first appearance since week two, He gets a handful of touches,
got a couple of handoffs, also some pass receptions fifty
plus yards for him, including a big catch that kind
of jump started what turned out to be the game
winning drive there in the fourth quarter. And obviously then
you got Bell Bell bo Melton, excuse me, showing up
(15:03):
catching a forty five yard touchdown pass kind of out
of nowhere, quite frankly. And uh, and it was right
at the end of the first half, the last the
last minute of the first half allowed the Packers to
take a fourteen to three lead. And you gotta love,
you love the way this team reacts, rallies around a
guy like bow Melton. You love the way you love
(15:23):
what Matt Lafleur said about bow Melton on on Monday
at the podium just uh, just what he means, what
he means to the team from a spirit standpoint, this
guy is uh, you know, the the whole like you know,
glue guy. Type of term gets gets overused, but it
really does apply to a guy like bow Melton. And uh.
(15:45):
And to see him make a big play like that
in a big game, that was really cool.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
It was it was incredible to watch. And you and
I are in the locker room. You see it all
the time. Uh, this is a guy that will he
is friends with everybody in that locker room. Yeah. You know,
sometimes the way these NFL teams go, when there's fifty
three guys on an active roster, sixty nine seventy with
the practice squad, and then you added another maybe five
six guys on injured reserve, it's really easy to not
(16:09):
be able to connect with anybody. I think I've at
this season alone, I think I've pretty much seen bo
at everybody's locker throa at the course of here, interacting
with every player in that locker room. In the fact
that he has now become a three phase player, I
think sort of his apropos, but at the end of
the day, he said it in numerous times. He is
a receiver by trade. That is how he made his mark.
(16:32):
You know, when you look at what he did at
Rutgers and becoming a seventh round pick for the Seattle
Seahawks a number of years ago. He is a really fast,
really talented football player, really solid flyer on punt coverage
and has the bandwidth, has the football IQ to be
able to handle. Also learning these assignments at cornerback at
a pinch. But Christian Watson said it after the game.
(16:53):
It was actually completely different conversation from Bow. I wish
I had been able to ask Bow about it. He
ran the same play on back to back plays Green
Bay did the first one. They Christian Watson's running the
same concept downfield, that street route across the middle of
the field and the ball ended up going over to
Luke Musgrave and was incomplete. Well you know these rules,
(17:16):
when a guy runs thirty forty yards, they come out,
you're gassed. They don't bring you back to line of
scrimmage and set up a new play. So Bo was
the one responsible for spelling Christian Watson. That's why he's
even in that position to begin with. And he laughed
afterwards because something that's been happening here in these last
two games was people are forgetting to cover him. He
almost had a touchdown against Detroit, but Jordan wasn't able
(17:38):
to fire the ball, And they're quite right this one.
Bow was almost standing in the end zone. Yeah, And
I'd asked him about that afterwards, like, I mean, what
is going through your mind there? I mean his time
stands still a little bit, and really he was just
in awe of the ball that Jordan threw, that he
led him that far and Brisker had to cover that
much territory that it ends up being a touchdown. It's
(18:00):
one play, and obviously I think Bow only had nine
offensive plays in the game. But seeing how that sideline
responded to Matt Lafour even said, you have to be
careful that not people don't come onto the field they're
that excited about when Bow Melt makes a play. My
good friend, your good friend, Joe Reuter was celebrating with
him on the sideline, one of the football tech guys.
I mean, people love this dude. Yeah, And I think
(18:22):
when you look at how Green Bay was sort of
going to halftime at fourteen to three, it's plays like
that that I think lift a little bit more energy
out of everybody, especially on a cold evening at Lambeufield.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Yeah. Well, a couple other things I want to hit
on offensively. One was the performance by Jordan Love. And
for those who are who like to get into the
statistical nerdy stuff like I do, I've got a story
on packers dot Com. It's kind of my crazy what
I call my crazy stat column, and I focus specifically
on Love for this one because this was the first
(18:53):
game in Jordan Love's career where he posted a passer
rating above one hundred and twenty, but through an interception,
and that's very difficult to do because interceptions really hurt
you in the passer rating formula. But the fact that
he still had a passer rating of one hundred and
twenty with an interception on the ledger in that game
(19:13):
just tells you how efficient and how explosive Green Bay's
passing game is, because that's what passer rating is. It's
about being efficient, it's about being productive, and you get
a lot of credit for big plays because yards per completion,
yards per attempt, all that stuff factors in. And again
we've talked about it many times before, but Jordan Love
(19:34):
displayed what is probably his best trait as an NFL quarterback,
which is the ability to shake off a mistake made,
a bad throw, a bad decision, whatever you want to
call it. For the interception that ended the Packers first
drive right after a sack had put them in you know,
third and a gazillion, So he tries to force one
down the field. It doesn't work. The Bears get the interception.
(19:56):
Credit to the Packers defense. They didn't allow that turnover
to result in any points for Chicago kept the game
zero zero. But Love just completely shook it off and
bounced back and played his game the rest of the way.
And I was really impressed there. And then you also
got to tip your hat to Josh Jacobs. The more
you watch this guy, the more you just you love
(20:21):
the way he just sticks his nose in there and
is not going to be denied in big moments, right,
I mean, and I know there was a lot about
the whole fourth and one against Philadelphia in that Monday
night game that blew up on the Packers and all that,
But man, I tell you need if you need a
(20:41):
yard or two in the middle of the field, you
need a yard or two at the goal line. All
trust Number eight, all day, any day.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Never seen anybody like him. He now leads I think again,
I think he led the category last year too. Leads
the NFL and touchdown scored inside the five yard line
he has eight now, which I.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Think is eight of his twelve, eight of his twelve.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
And you know I'm gonna start there because we focus
so much on the twenty one yard run. And I'll
get to that in a second. But that two yard
touchdown off a draw, I mean that's a third down play.
I mean there was a lot of big third down
plays that he made in this game that if Josh
Jacobs doesn't make the play, the Packers have some difficult
questions to answer on fourth down yep, And what are
(21:22):
they gonna do? Are you you know, if Jacobs doesn't
get in the ends on there? Are you kicking a
field goal to take a lead? That would be like
twenty two yards? I mean like it's those type of
decisions that would be on Matt Lafleur's plate. And Jacobs
erases that right the third and two carry for twenty
one yards. I'm sure there was a Houdini run that
(21:44):
Aaron Jones had during his time that I am forgetting,
But I don't know if I've seen a better run
than that my fourteen years covering the team. Yeah, there
are four Bears players pretty much all there to make
the play. It's a toss right that turns into a cutback.
You don't see that every day, even if there aren't
blockers there, even if there aren't defenders there. But Josh
(22:08):
just part of the seas Man two bears on each side.
Almost it was like a comedy routine. It was like
it was like a cartoon, the way they're colliding into
each other and he gets through it.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
It was like it was like this cloud of smoke
and all of a sudden he emerges. He emerges, and
then he's in the open field and you know, was
almost looking like he was going to take at the
distance and score, ends up getting you know, inside the
ten to set up first and goal. But yeah, I
mean I asked Matt Lafleur about it after the game.
Jason Wilde followed up on Monday Monday's press conference, like
(22:38):
how did he do that? And the answer is still like,
we don't know. Like you you look at you look
at it on film and it's it's really hard to
tell exactly how that happened, how he got through there.
And I agree with you, I said in the live
blog at the time, I thought it was I thought
it was the best run I've ever seen Josh Jacobs make.
All things considered the circumstances, you know, what was what
(22:59):
was on the line, what what the Packers needed in
that moment, just a just a big time play, and
it was great to see him finish it off. As
you said, at the goal line. It was third and
goal and Jordan Love actually checked to the run because
they had called a pass play. Didn't like to look
for the pass. And it must be nice when you
just say, oh, we don't like the look for the past,
all right, we're just gonna give it to number eight
(23:19):
and he's and he's gonna get the job done. That's
it's kind of that that's as big a compliment as
you can give to any offensive weapon you've got.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Trust I mean no trust man. And you know it's
funny too because like I don't want to say that
Aaron Jones wasn't meant for the offense. He definitely was.
But like Aaron Jones is like a fifth round find, right,
Like he was like originally projected as like the scat
back that ended up becoming a Pro Bowl player for
Green Bay. But but I'm going all the way back
to twenty twelve when I first started covering the team.
(23:47):
Obviously you got the Ryan Grant earon Grant came in
on a trade. But it's just like this running back
is Taylor made for what Matt Lafleur wants to do offensively.
This is you. You needed this type of back. And
you know, as much as we've always looked back on
that off season of twenty twenty four and Xavier McKinney,
(24:08):
they had to make a change, right. They needed to
improve their safety position. They were a they were in
dire straits at the safety position. They need to renovate it, right, yep.
But Josh was just like, Okay, well, Aaron's going We're
bringing in Josh Jacobs. But it's like, it's almost like
it caught me so much by surprise that they actually
signed Josh Jacobs that I never really fully computed in
(24:28):
my head. Okay, this is this is the guy, Like
this is not He's He's an all time, he's a
rushing champion already is an all Pro. But I'm just saying, like, no,
this is the missing piece for what Matt Lafleur wants
to build. And at that point, he's twenty six years old.
It's wild. It's wild to watch him run because even
if it's not there, he finds it.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Yeah. I mean, I knew who Josh Jacobs was at Alabama.
I knew who he was with the Raiders, admired his game,
admired his stats and his production. There there's a different
admiration you get for Josh Jacobs when you watch him
week after week and when when you get to know
him and you talk to him. You know, all the
(25:10):
interviews we've done over these two seasons he's been with
Green Bay, there's a there's an appreciation level for the
professional running back that he is that that's just something
different and and I hope, I hope he can keep
it rolling here in Green Bay for a few more
years to come.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Before we roll it over to looking at the rest
of league. I just want to make one more attempt,
one more comment I should say on Jordan Love because
I in addition to what you said about kind of
Ben Johnson explaining some things you want to talk about
when this conversation. I know the question was asked of
Matt Lafleur on Monday if Jordan should be in the
MVP conversation, right, I think definitely needs to be in
(25:49):
the Pro Bowl conversation. I mean, this is the guy
that I think already should have been there. I really
hope that that works out for him this year because
I think the league needs to start appreciating what this
young man is doing. But you want to talk about
ultimate signs of respect. Ben Jonson saying on Monday, one
of the things that facked in their mind with running
that clockdown was they didn't want to give the ball
back to Jordan.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Ye, he didn't. He didn't have he didn't have a
whole lot of faith that his defense was going to
stop Jordan Love with the game on the line, if
there was if there was any time left there, and
he had made the decision, Yeah, they were going to
run the clock down, and they were going to go
for two. They were gonna they were going to go
for the win there. And uh yeah, because to Chicago's credit,
(26:29):
they got a pair of three and outs defensively in
the second half, the Packers offense became a little bit
of feast or famine there, and that those those two
three and outs certainly contributed to Green Bay's defense getting
worn down as as the second half went along. So
that was a factor there. But even with that, his defense,
his defense had gotten two three and outs in the
(26:49):
second half. But the other two possessions were both touchdowns
and relatively easy drives for touchdowns, where where the Packers
weren't put in any you know, third and sevens or
any really really big time opportunities for the defense to
get off the field. And that's what Ben Johnson was
feeling as he was calling that final drive for his offense.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Pretty remarkable. I mean, for Jordan to be viewed like
that by a coach that hasn't his team off to
nine wins. I tell you what, man, it's just it's
wild and and anything can happen in the National Football League.
This kind of goes into the next segment here talking
about the other teams and stuff. But Jalen hurts through
four interceptions.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
On Monday Monday Night.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Yeah, Jordan has four this season. Anything can happen four
weeks ago in the regular season. But you know, for
so many people that wanted to dog him and get
on him about the way he's throwing the ball and
is he is he being smart with the football? I
hope you're taking a minute to appreciate what you're seeing
this season. Yeah, because Caleb Williams young quarterback that's making mistakes,
(27:53):
but he's at a place where there has been such
I don't want to I don't want to I want
to be careful with how I say, but there's been
inconsistency at the quarterback position for the Bears for a
very long time. Yes, and that allows and then Caleb Williams,
you know, a little bit of latitude with fans and
a little bit of latitude with the front office because
they're not used to have an elite quarterback play.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
That's well said.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
The Packers have had Brett fav Aaron Rodgers, and somehow,
by the grace of God, they got Jordan Love I mean,
and in my opinion, we're talking about one of the
top five quarterbacks in the National Football League right now.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
Yeah, I could couldn't agree with you more. We do
need to pay some bills, So let's hear a quick
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(28:52):
all paired with your favorite sub or sub and a bowl.
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(29:15):
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. We don't have
a whole lot of time to do this, but we
will do it anyway. The NFC North Packers nine three
and one, Bears nine and four, Lions eight and five
(29:36):
still wide open there with four games to go. Anything
could happen down the stretch, but the Packers have put
themselves in the right position here with four games to go,
and I know we'll be talking on our next show preview.
In this big matchup with Denver and eleven win team
out West, you got to go on the road to
their place, you know. With the road trip to Chicago
(29:57):
looming the following week and all that. The NFC picture
as a whole. Seven teams in the NFC right now,
Wes have either eight, nine or ten wins, and in
some ways you would go, oh, well, that's cool, there's
seven playoff spots right Well not exactly, because there is
not a team in the NFC South that has eight
(30:18):
nine or ten wins right now. That's between Carolina and
Tampa Bay. They're both seven and six with four games
to go. So one of these seven teams that has
eight nine or ten wins in the NFC is gonna
get left out. And there's a lot of it's a
lot of fighting, it's a lot of jockeying for a position.
(30:38):
Just with the results from this past weekend, the Packers
jumped from number six in the NFC all the way
up to number two. The Bears went from number one
all the way down to number seven. And that's it's
not an illustration necessarily of one team or another. It's
an illustration of just how bunched up and crowded everything is,
and how how just a couple of results going this
(31:01):
way or that way can completely turn everything like topsy turvy. Right.
So it's you know, and with four games left to go,
I mean this, it's it's uh, we're deep into the
season here, but yet it's still there's still a long
way to go to sort out exactly what this playoff
picture is going to look like.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Yeah, because as good as the NFC North has been,
the NFC West has been just as good, if not better.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
I mean San Francisco Seattle have been two of the
more consistent teams. What forty nine ers have done this
year despite losing Brock Purty for six games or whatever
it ended up.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Being, and then losing Bosa, losing Warner on defense, I mean, yeah,
the injuries that they have had and where the forty
nine ers are, That's that's been one of the untold
stories on the national scene in the NFL is what
Kyle Shanahan has done with the forty nine ers.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
And I'm telling you right now, I mean the Detroit
Lions are absolutely a playoff team.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
The way it's a dangerous squad man, the way they.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Bounce back from that lost to Green Bay and really
handed it to the Dallas Cowboys.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
The forty four points.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
The only reason that game was even close was because
of Dak Prescott and also Brandon Aubrey. But Dak Prescott
did what Dak Prescott does and he gave his team
a chance. But ultimately that defense could not keep up
with Detroit. But Detroit sitting in that they're without a
chair right now. Right, So okay, the dom Capers, let's
start with the positives, right. If Green Bay takes care
(32:23):
of business, the rest of the NFC is going to
beaten up on itself here in the next four weeks. Yeah,
there's a lot of cross pollination here between what the
NFC West has to play each other and then also
Detroit Chicago having some tough matchups with them as well.
The Packers just have to focus on one these interconference
games they haven't played yet, but then that game against Chicago,
(32:46):
the game against Minnesota. The Packers are in a position
that if they can keep winning, I think the rest
of the laundry is going to get sorted out itself.
But the stakes each week only get higher. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
Absolutely, I mean, what what can happen to you? What
can happen to you with one loss at this stage
if you let a game get away. I mean, it's
it's sort of what happened to Detroit they lose to
the Packers on Thanksgiving. Now it's what happened to the
Bears they lose to the Packers at Lambeau field, and
now the Packers can't let themselves be that team, you know.
And yeah, it's a huge challenge going out to Denver.
(33:20):
And we'll talk about that one preview that one on
our next show. I mean, as big as these games
are with the Bears, this this this matchup with the Broncos,
you're talking a nine win team against an eleven win
team in the middle of December. Yeah, you know, from
from the from the two different conferences. I mean, the
games just keep getting bigger and tougher for Green Bay
(33:42):
as as this stretcher un rolls along.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
I'm sure there's probably as happens every year, but I
just don't notice it. But the fact that you have
the top seeded team, a team that's completing for competing
for the buy and the AFC taking on the second
seeded team right now in the NFC, this late in
the season, Yeah, very unique, if nothing else in Green
Bay's perspective. But at the same time, the Broncos are
writing a ten game losing streak and.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
They've had ten game winning streak.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Ten game winning streak. Wow, all right, needs and the
Broncos are writing a ten game winning streak in much
like Green Bay and up until last week, much like
the Bears have had to kind of pull a rabbit
out of their hat in the fourth quarter a couple
of times to get there. It's gonna be fantastic.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
To watch, Yeah it is. It's gonna be a good one,
and we will get to all of that previewing Sunday's
trip to Denver on our next show, but for now
we're gonna call it a rap on this edition of
Packers Unscript. You'd be sure to follow all of our
coverage of the team, all sorts of great stuff, photos, videos, articles,
everything for you on packers dot com. For Wes, i'mke.
Thank you for tuning in everybody. We will see you
(34:44):
next time.
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