#15 Packers Unscripted: Big questions for 2016

from our studios at lambeau Field and West. We don't like to jump ahead too much when we talk about the NFL, but I think an interesting thing statistically in NFL history, certainly in recent years, is the playoff field and how on average, I believe it's over the last decade or so, five teams of the twelve in the playoffs do not get back to the playoffs the following year. So if you look strictly at the NFC, that means two to three teams from last year's playoff field supposedly

will not be back now. Green Bay, Minnesota, Seattle, Arizona, Carolina, and Washington where the six NFC teams last year. So, just for grins and giggles, who do you think are the most vulnerable teams in the NFC to perhaps not repeat their playoff appearance. Yeah, it's it's a grins and giggles time of the season right now for us as we get ready for the regular season. These are the

things that everybody always likes to talk about. I'm sure, it's somewhat a cop out, but I think it probably starts with Washington just because they kind of were the Cinderella at the ball last year things fell their way in the division. I think a lot of people are expecting the Cowboys to make a run, not only you know, at the NFC title, you know, the NFC tub, but actually get to the super Bowl with the wow things had ended the year before and Tony Romo and what

they had built up. Romo goes down in Washington, a team that was in a lot of turmoil going into last season is the one that ended up stepping up. And I think that's a at it to to what they were able to accomplish and how they were about to be able to go about their season and underneath Kirk Cousins. But at the end of the day, I think that also leaves in probably the most vulnerable right now because there were a lot of things that had to slant in their direction to to get there in

the first place. Yeah, that NFC East, i think it's fair to say, is maybe the most wide open of the divisions in the NFC. And Dallas you mentioned they were in the playoffs in the number three seed actually, and then they did not get back, mostly due to that injury to Tony Romo. The Detroit Lions, another team from teen that was in the playoffs, did not get back.

In the question I have, I think and I agree with you about Washington and and the NFC East, but does Carolina end up suffering that Super Bowl hangover there? Sort of? I don't have the statistics in front of me, but they're sort of that trend of the team that loses in the Super Bowl. There are several years over the last decade or so that the team that loses in the Super Bowl does not get back to the playoffs the next year, sort of this hangover type of thing.

Do you think that that might happen to the Panthers. It's a good question. I think the way that division is structured, unless we see some some really quick rebuilding in the NFC South, that they still are the favorite by leaps and bounds at this time. And it's also an interesting aspect when you look at everything that they had lost last year. They're the injuries that they had

at receiver. Um, you know Thomas Davis playing with basically a broken forearm and in the Super Bowl, uh, and and they still made it as far as they did. And I think with Cam Newton and what he brings the table, uh, you're talking about, uh, generational quarterbacks. So I guess for me the division I'm probably more concentrated on right now is out West because last year, when we did our preseason predictions, um I picked the Rams to make the playoffs, and I felt pretty good about

that pick. I thought the defense, even if they didn't have all the offensive pieces to get there, the defense was going to carry them this season. And now with Todd Griley on offense and what they still have defensively and in that those trenches, I think that's gonna be a really fun race to track. When you have Seattle, then obviously Arizona having the success that they've had recently, I think that's gonna be a fun one to be

a part of it. I still am looking for Los Angeles to make that jump, depending on how case Keenum and were, depending on how they handle that with Jared Goff, how that all shakes out. But getting back to the original question as it relates to Carolina, I think there is something to be said for that as far as having that let down, But someone else is gonna have to come up and challenge him in that division if

it's going to happen. Yeah, I think the biggest thing that Carolina will have to overcome is the departure of Josh Norman, the star cornerback. He was a big part of that defense. But you mentioned offensively, the receiving corps should be much improved for Cam Newton, and cam Newton won an NFL m v P with a receiving corps that nobody was talking about, so, uh, there's there's a lot to be said there. And Josh Norman going to Washington and providing potentially a big boost to Washington's bid

to repeat as NFC East champs. Yeah, that's a huge signing for them in terms of you know, I watched them last year and no disrespect at all to Will Blackman and in the career that he's had for himself, but it just seemed like in that wild card game, the Packers were kind of able to exploit him a little bit. They got a little thin in that secondary. I think that's one of the reasons that the Green

Bay was able to make that comeback. It is interesting, though, I've never you've been around this a lot longer than I have. I can't ever recall another situations like Norman's where the franchise tag was extended. It was sitting out there and then revoked and then he goes and signs with another team. I can't recall that ever happening that was recently. Yeah, that was that was a really strange situation.

The way out, Yeah, it didn't seem like it would be anything acrimonious, and then suddenly it became this big contentious thing. And and less than twenty four hours later, Josh Norman had a new team. So um interesting to see how that plays out in the NFC. Well after the break, will focus a little bit more on the NFC North, in particular, looking ahead to back with more on Packers Unscripted. Right after this Welcome back to Packers Unscripted.

Mike Spofford alongside Wes Hodkowitz and West. Let's focus a little more specifically on the NFC North as we look at When I look at the Packers three opponents, I see three major changes that will have an impact on the NFC North race this season. You have Detroit no

longer with Calvin Johnson. Megatron has retired, the Bears will no longer have Matt Forte a running back the Packers are used to seeing twice a year and has had plenty of productive games against Green Bay and then Minnesota opening a brand new stadium and as we know, the Packers opening that stadium as far as the first regular

season game in Week two. So as far as those adjustments, those major changes amongst the Packers opponents, which one do you think will have the biggest impact on the division race? In Yeah, that's an excellent question. I would say it's gonna probably be Calvin Johnson just based on the terms of he was. He was a once in a generation player. He was the wide receiver of the two thousand eight to two thousand sixteen time frame. I mean, he was

a legit threat anytime he stepped on the field. We've talked about it before, Joe Wit kind of quipping a little bit that he's no longer going to have as much gray hair as he used to have. But he was just there was no one really like him. And that's no disrespect to Matt Forte. Matt Fourte was is a terrific running back as well, but Calvin Johnson was the one percent he was the cream of the crop. In taking him out of that rivalry now, I'm just really interested to see what the Lions are able to

come up with this here. It sounds like they're going to be moving to more of a no huddle type scheme again, but without him on the field, he was he was the difference maker. Yeah, I think this is a huge challenge for matt Stafford, the veteran quarterback. Now for the Lions to not have Calvin Johnson really for the first time in his career there with Detroit and yeah, they're going to change some things as far as their offensive scheme and whatnot, But taking away a weapon like that.

If you think back to the early days of Brett Farve in his career when he lost Sterling Sharp, Farve actually in a lot of ways became a better quarterback because he wasn't so focused on that one guy. But that was also very early in forest development as well. Taking away Calvin Johnson at this stage of Matthew Stafford's career, I'll be really curious to see just what happens to his play at quarterback and how he leads and conducts that offense going forward. Yeah, I mean just going through

his stats just really quickly. I mean one reception over eleven thousand yards. I mean, my goodness, being able to do that, and what nine NFL seasons, what the averages, the production you have to have, and he played through a lot, as we saw. So now at the same time, to your point, now we've seen the history will show that the Lions can be resurgent, they can come back and compete for a division title. I think everybody's expecting Minnesota to be the one that that is probably the

biggest threat right now to Green Bay. So them actually starting that first game at US Bank Stadium, Uh, that is also going to be an interesting kind of new curveball to this. Packers are used to playing in domes in in Minnesota. They did that for number of years in the Metrodome. But this is going to be a new wrinkle to this this rivalry, and that is one thing when that day comes around in September, I'm gonna

be interested to see how that plays out as well. Yeah, I think we're definitely looking forward to that trip and seeing just what that new stadium entails, what kind of

atmosphere environment excuse me, there will be there. I I think the this new stadi him in Minnesota will will really be interesting the first year because the Vikings had and I know it's not that they made the playoffs every year or anything, but the Vikings had a really significant home field advantage with that Metrodome and with that noise and teams that came in there, and particularly teams unlike say the Packers and Bears, who were there every year,

but teams that came in there, you know, not every year, not all the time. It was a really tough thing to get used to and to play well. And I'm really curious to see if the new U. S. Bank Stadium, you know, has that same sort of annoying, frustrating environment for opponents that the Metrodome did. Yeah, and before you know, the Seahawks ended up having their whole situation with Century Link Field, and in the everyone talks about how loud it isn't there. I mean, the Metrodome was really the

beginning of all that. It was the horn and the crowd. And yeah, well though they'll still have that, it's gonna pass. They're still they're not getting rid of the horn. I just remember my first time in two thousand twelve going there, and and being told, okay, we're out there too. Where there is the press box, wasn't you know window paned

off from everybody you're in the crowd as well. Basically, yeah, we were right in the middle of it, and I had I had my headphones on the entire time trying to drown out the sound because I mean, it was hard to concentrate for me just trying to write a story on deadline, let alone winning a professional football game. So it is, and we've seen there's so many renderings

of it. I haven't gotten to read a whole lot of this stuff on and it's been really popular the stories that have been done on on what the stadium is going to be like. But it will be interesting, especially the last two years after being at in at the Gopher Stadium to where they were outside and you know, playing it's kind of kind of a smaller, a little more intimate type setting, you might say. I thought, I

thought that was interesting how that played out. And and Minnesota certainly ended up playing that super cold playoff game against against Seattle after all those years of their home playoff games being in the Tredome. That was a nice change of pace, I guess you might say for the NFC. Absolutely, the Packers to getting back to the Bears now, They're gonna have a change of pace with Jeremy Lankford now instead of Matt Forty. Matt Forty a dual threat guy.

As you mentioned, I don't have the exact stats up in front of me, but I found a lot of ways to to hurt Don Caper's defense over the years. So I'll be interesting to see what Langford can do now, and and Kevin White and him getting added the equation as well. Yeah, the Bears relying on some changes amongst their offensive weapons. So we'll be back to talk a little bit more about the Packers schedule after the break back with more on Packers Unscripted. Right after this Welcome

back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford alongside West, hod Kowitz and West. We touched on that Week two game in Minnesota opening up US Bank Stage for the regular season. That's a part of a tough double opening, you might say, with weeks one and two with the Packers going to

Jacksonville and then going to Minnesota. A couple other tough stretches of the schedule, three consecutive road games, in November Tennessee, Washington, and Philadelphia, with the latter two against the two NFC East teams, both being in prime time on the road. And then you finished the season with three consecutive division games, playing all of your division opponents Chicago, Minnesota, and Detroit

weeks fifteen through seventeen of the regular season. So I've been throwing a lot of questions at you today, So I'm gonna throw this one at you. Two of those three stretches Weeks one and two, the three road games in November, the three division games to finish up, Which do you believe is the most crucial part of the Packers schedule in you know what's funny, I'm gonna go with option D Okay, I'm not even gonna go with one that you just gave me. A um. As far

as treacherous and difficult, I still maintain it. The November stretch, that's brutal, and Mike McCarthy has talked about it a lot in terms of this regular season schedule not having a lot of rhythm to it. But for me, I think the most crucial stretch for them is actually gonna be after the bye week, where you have three home games in the span of about eleven twelve days. Those are critical in terms of you need w's there and

there's there's gonna be a lot. I mean, the Giants with Ben McAdoo knows the Packers well, the Cowboys are fixing to be better this year, and the Bears is always a tough game, and what will be the color rush there's a game as well. That's the one I keep looking at because that's the only extended time that the Packers have at home. To your point, though, the first two openers, first time in ninety six years, whatever it is, two back to back road games. You're in Jacksonville,

which is gonna be hot. We've already talked about what Minnesota probably be like with them debuting. There's there's stadium in the regular season. But that November stretch, man, I think that's gonna be a difficult one with two primetime

games and uh and against two pretty decent opponents as well. Else. Yeah, you raise an interesting point about that October stretch at home, because if the Packers are going to find any sort of rhythm and get on any kind of a role in the regular scene, that's where you have to do it.

I totally agree. And as we've talked about before, you can't have a better finish to a schedule than playing all three of your division opponents back to back to back, two of them on the road at Chicago and at Detroit in weeks fifteen and seventeen, and then that Christmas Eve Day game at lambeau Field against the Vikings in between. You know, we we've discussed it many times before. It's hard to see this division being decided by anybody before

those final weeks of the regular season. Absolutely, and there is a little bit of a reprieve there because once you do get past the Eagles on November, that's where you do have back to back home games against the Texans and Seahawks, and then you get into this extended stretch of divisional games. Personally, that's the part of the

schedule I really like. I think that it adds another nice little caveat to it because if you go back the last three or four years, that NFC championship, NFC North Championship has come down to that last game of the season, and the Packers have played every team in the division to decide that in those you know, consecutive years. So I think it's gonna be really exciting. You have some noon start times. If they happen to stay there, obviously, we'll see. But it is it's that's that's what the

NFL is all about. That's what the regular season is all about. You gotta win your division to get in the playoffs, and you have to win as many of those other games as possible to get a better seed. And at that point, once the they get to that Bears game on December eighteen, I think the Packers will have a good idea of where they're at now. It's

just gonna be a matter if they can finish it out. Yeah, and you you look at maybe a couple of spots that the schedule Tilton green Bay's favor You might say that those first two games in December, you have the Houston Texans coming in. That's a southern warm weather team coming up to Green Bay in early December, so it could be kind of cold in a tough environment. And then Seattle the following week obviously a big rivalry there and see out on one of the top teams in

the NFC. But again Seattle, Seattle doesn't win the super cold playoff game in Minnesota, without the miss twenty seven yard field goal. That was not Seattle's best performance in those kinds of conditions. So you wonder if they're coming in and it's cold at Lambeau Field, how they'll respond in that environment. It is interesting. I remember originally when this happened, I was hoping there'll be a Jacksonville game

in December. But now the way the schedule lines up, a lot of cold football games will be played between Green Bay Chicago. The Packers are gonna have to put their long sleeve sweaters on those for those games. Yeah, it sounds good. Well, a long time until then, but something to look forward to. So we got one more segment to go West back with more on Packers Unscripted.

Right after this Welcome Back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spafered, alongside Wes Hodkiwits and West have been throwing questions at you the entire show, so I'm gonna throw another one at you. At the at the time that we're taping this episode, there are two training camp practices left in the training camp for the Packers. So to this point, do you have a favorite moment in training camp? Oh? Wow, favorite moment during training camp this is unscripted, so you're

just throwing all these curveballs at me. It's Tim Wakefield and I'm just swinging at all the knuckleballs here. Um, I'll go with the night practices. That was probably my favorite moment, the return of the night practices. And I understand a lot of players don't necessarily like them. Yeah, Aaron Rodgers said, he is, he does enjoy them, but

there is just something special to me about it. Only happens so many times a year, and you know the two thousand, However many people show up for those those practices. It just I just always have really positive memories though, And it's just there's something just very tranquil about it. The weather is usually a little bit cooler at that time and night, the sun is going down, starts sunny

ends you know at night. There's an atmosphere to those workouts that that you can't you can't have whether if it's a nine am or a noon or whatever. There's something about being in a nice summer evening in Green Bay, Wisconsin and there's football going on for people to watch. Yeah, And and I mean there's some there was some fun moments too. You know when you go back to those those practices and the way that they played during this whole training camp. You know, Aaron Rodgers and when he

was out there leading the offense. I mean, there there's a lot of memories that I think, um, that I think can be had out of that. I know you even mentioned it a little bit earlier too. I mean, some of these performances that we saw from these receivers and tight ends really really stood out. Yeah, and that was what I was going to say, is my favorite moment. I believe it was actually the last of the night practices.

It was the first practice that we saw Jared Cook, the new tight end free agent acquisition in the off season. He came off pup from the foot surgery in the off season, and he lit the place up. I mean, he and Aaron Rodgers looked like they had been a quarterback tight end combination for the last five or six years. And it was the first training camp practice for Cook. His real really his introduction to the Packers fans who came there to watch that night. I don't know how

many touchdowns he had in the red zone work. It was a red zone and goal line kind of night, but uh, that's what the packers were working on. But boy, there had to have been at least four or five touchdowns just to him alone on all sorts of different plays. It was really an impressive and for me, a memorable practice in terms of a guy introducing himself to his

new team and his new fan base. Yeah, and it was definitely a positive first impression that you want to set if you're cooked, because the two biggest question marks what were they when he came to Green Bay. One he didn't have a touchdown catch last year, and two people like questions about his hands on that particular night call everything that was thrown his direction and was a

legitimate threat inside the red zone. It was really a precursor to, I think the excitement that everybody's feeling right now, but what he can do with his body type and athleticism in this offense. And we've got a little taste of it so far with Brett Hunley and Joe Callahan working with them, but now actually going into the regular season with Aaron Rodgers, it's a different ballgame, yeah, for sure.

And I'd be remissed as far as reviewing this training camp if I didn't say, on a personal note, how nice it was, how how special it was to be in Canton, Ohio from the gold jack at ceremony for the Brett Farves Hall of Fame induction, and that tremendous speech that's certainly a memory from the training camp I'll take with me. I'm not sure how long we'll remember the canceled Hall of Fame game, but you know, that's a story for another day, so we'll we'll call that

a rap on Packers unscripted for now. Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team on Packers dot com on Twitter. He's at west Hod, I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account. Thanks for watching, everybody, and we'll see you next time. H m hmm.