#268 Packers Unscripted: Peak Performances, Games 13-16

for the Packers and because of that. Of the five peak performances from this segment of the season, three of them are from one game, the game in Cleveland, and I'm talking about Brett Hunley against the Browns, Davante Adams against the Browns, and then Trevor Davis as well. So

I don't know where you want to start with those three. Obviously, all three you were definitely standout performances in a game that was a big victory at the time, was keeping the Packers in the hunt with Aaron Rodgers coming back against Carolina the following week. But um, one of these three stick out to you the most as far as the Browns game. First and foremost, Mike, one thing you

have to understand about me I'm a big movie guy. Okay, you go, movie comes out, and all the build up towards it, the trailers, the preview stories, all that, and I used that introduction because I liken that a lot to Trevor Davis's punt return in this game. For about two months, we got the trailers, we got the reviews, we had Ron Zook saying that Trevor Davis was close to breaking one. A block here, a block, there, a flag, here,

a flag there. That was the game. I put all my chips at the table, I said, I said, this is it. This has got to be the game for Trevor Davis. And gosh, Darnardy came through almost like a compulsive gambler. Just continue to double down exactly exactly. I kept I kept sticking with him. I kept sticking with him, and eventually it paid off. Had the ability the entire time. Uh, And I think we've seen the speed. He has, great vision,

I think, particularly on punt returns, his savvy nous. He did have some issues with a couple of muff punts in the preseason, but we didn't really see that much during the regular season and this particular game, I just thought, you look at I think a sixty five yard return this is what ultimately basically put him in the top five for good in punt return average. I think he

finished the year third overall. Um. I just think when you look at a confidence of a young player, this is just so important to Trevor Davis because he has all the tools to be an impact player both on offense and special teams, and I think something like this really is going to propel him going forward. So my long introduction that is who uh that really stands out to me coming out of this game. Yeah, Davis won the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week award that week.

He took that that late punt return at his own ten yard line, dodged a bunch of guys, got some really nice blocks sixty five yards, leaving the Packers only twenty five yards to go to get that tying touch

down exact to get the game to overtime. And that tying touched down then was the work of Brett Hunley and Davante Adams with seventeen seconds left to uh to get the game to ot and then of course they hooked up also on the overtime touchdown pass the walk off I don't know if you call it walk off runoff of the tunnel, um, But but to go over the other statistics there, Brett Hunley in this game thirty five of forty six, obviously a lot of passing attempts

because the Packers were down, a couple of touchdowns there in the second half, two and sixty five yards, three touchdowns, a one eleven point two passer rating, and then Adams finishes the game with ten catches, eighty five yards and two touchdowns, the two touchdowns coming at the end of the fourth quarter and in overtime when he spun away from the defense and UH and took at the distance.

Obviously a big win for the Packers and UH and really the culmination in a lot of ways of the chemistry we had seen developing between Hunley and Adams over the course of several weeks. Adams was really the go to guy in the clutch here for Brett Hunley, and he came through. It has so much about Davante Adams, Mike that his first Pro Bowl season comes in which a year that he didn't have really Aaron Rodgers for

a majority of it. We can really break it down five six games all told, so for him to become that go to guy and to have that confidence with Bret Hunley. Let's be honest here for a young quarterback coming in trying to to to find a way, I go back to two thousand thirteen, and you know, you look like Jared Boykin stepped up when you had Matt Flinn at quarterback. And sometimes you just have a chemistry with a guy that just you know, is an overwhelming

sort of thing. And I just look at that performance by Davante Adams late, I think for him to step up the way he did in a critical time in that ball game, and also give credit to Brett Hunley for being consistent at a time in which there really wasn't any margin for error down the stretch. Um, you know it, really I thought Hunley showed an incredible amount of moxie, and I thought Davante Adams showed why he's

a Pro Bowl receiver. It didn't matter if it was Aaron Rodgers or Brett Hunley, he was gonna make plays, and he did it consistently throughout the season. Yeah, it's a very good point. We've got two other peak performances from quarter number four to get to we will do that after the breakback with moreen Packerds unscripted. Right after this, welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford Here West, Hodkoit's

over there in West. The last two Peak performances from quarter number four and again I should remind fans if you'd like to vote for your favorite the story, the highlights, everything is on packers dot com. You can cast your vote in the poll on the Peak Performances page. The last two Randall Cobb at Carolina seven catches eighty four yards with a touchdown, and then defensive tackle Kenny Clark

against the Minnesota Vikings. He had two sacks, which gave him four and a half acts over a four game span late in the season. I'll start with Cobb at Carolina. I think the play obviously that stood out the most was when he made himself an outlet for Aaron Rodgers on a scrambled drill at the end of the first half, and then the move that he made to take to get that into the end zone. There were three guys who really had a chance to tackle him, and he managed to uh to dodge one and split the other

two and get the ball across the goal line. Um. I know it wasn't the type of season Randall Cobb was hoping for in a lot of way, as much as it was for for the entire team, but he still showed he can make a play once in a while. He really did. And this is such an interesting game for a number well the first one, as I was watching it from a hospital. The real peak performer was my wife that day getting birth to our son. But I watched the first quarter and then I had to

step away from it. And later that night I sat down and watched it on game pass and I was just blown away by Randall Cobb in this game. And I think it was a reminder. As you said, it wasn't the season Cobb wanted, no question about that, but it's a reminder of how dynamic he can be. And

I just thought you talked the last segment. We talked about Aaron bred Hunley and and Davonte Adams having that chemistry, the the ability for Rogers to step back in there with Cobb and just like with Jordy Nelson just riding a bike really um and being able to get back

into that rhythm. I just think, Cop, you have to remember Mike at this point in the season, Packers were having a real difficult time getting explosive place for the passing game, and for Cobb to start off the way he did in that contest, I thought really got them moving. With where the final score finished out and how the game sort of turned in the second half, You forget, the Packers really did have a lot of momentum going for them in the first half um and unfortunately it

wasn't enough. But for anyone that needed a reminder of what kind of player Randall Cobb is, I thought that this was the perfect embodiment of what he brings to an offense. Yeah, and he was just inches away from having a huge game because in the third quarter he ran a steam route down the middle. He had beaten his man, and unfortunately it was just a rusty Aaron Rodgers who was a little short on the throw and the throw got picked off. Otherwise that would have been

a probably a seventy four yard touchdown. He would have been looking at a hundred and fifty yard game, maybe even more than that with a couple of scores. So just just that close, and if if Rogers is in peak form himself, instead of coming back from two months off, I think we would have seen we would have seen a really big play that would have that would have flipped that game. But turning the attention then to Kenny

Clark against Minnesota. This was a game. Obviously, the Packers offense got shut out, the Minnesota Vikings were on their way to a first round by in the playoffs and all that. But the Packers defense on a cold night at lambeau Field right around Christmas time, did a pretty darn good job against case keenum in that Minnesota offense, holding them to just sixteen points. And Kenny Clark had a lot to do with that. And this was a guy boy when he came back from that ankle injury,

ust he finished. He finished the season strong. Yeah, I thought his season was over. He gets carted off the field. I believe that was against Baltimore, an unfortunate situation that unfolded. He ends up missing one game with a high ankle sprain. And you've seen guys that try to tough it out, Mike, and it just really doesn't come together. You commend them for their approach, but they just really aren't impactful. Kenny Clark came back and was as good as he's ever been.

During that final stretch, I believe there was one stat that Nate lacas Are Packers pr Mayven came up with. I think it was or maybe it was Tom Fanning. I think he led the league in sacks, wasn't in the December or something like that, four or four and a half over that stretch. You forget that this is a young man that did not have one before December, and I remember how Clinton Dix and some other guys lamenting the fact that, you know, surprised at it. You know,

he hadn't had one yet because of how he'd been playing. Um, he finished the season so strong and really I think when you break it down at the end of the day, was the defensive m v P. You can make an argument he was the m v P of the team this year with how good he was against the run shedding double teams, being able to get those sacks and pressures from the inside. They have a great building blocking Kenny Clark and he's still only what twenty two years old?

I mean, he has his best football ahead of him. Yeah, alright, So those are the five peak performances from quarter number four of the season. Hunley Adams and Davis at Cleveland, cobbat Carolina, and Kenny Clark against Minnesota. You gotta vote for a favorite, you know, Davante Adams is probably the one that should get this, but I'm gonna go with

Kenny Clark. And the reason why I say that is because it this whole run he got on reminded me of b J. Raji during his his rookie season to some extent, but really during that Super Bowl season, his second NFL year, how strong he came out at the end and how that really catapulted and changed the defense. You can see what kind of impact it makes with it.

And I think for that reason, keeping in mind the two thousand eighteen season at that point is what they're focused on, I think you really have to be satisfied with what you got out of him down the stretch. Yeah, and I'll cast my vote for Davante Adams in Cleveland because I want what you said about about Kenny Clark. You know, maybe he was the m v P of

the entire team. I think that's a vote between Clark and Adams based on how went to so with that will toss to a breakback with more and Packers unscripted. Right after this Welcome Back to Packers unscripted, Mike Spofford

in this chair, Wes Hodkowitz in that one. West, I wanted to uh address a couple of things with regards to the Hall of Fame, following up on Jerry Kramer's selection, which we talked about quite a bit in our last show, But in the interviews that I did on the NFL Honors red carpet with Charles Woodson and with Sterling Sharp and looking at the way things went with this particular Hall of Fame class of it got me thinking about a few different things in terms of, Okay, so Jerry

Kramer's in, what's next for the Packers as far as the Hall of Fame is concerned? And three things come to mind for me. One, will Charles Woodson be a first ballot Hall of Famer. He's a Hall of Famer, He's going to get in. But we saw this year brianer Lacker, Ray Lewis, Randy Moss all getting in their first year of eligibility. Woodson will be eligible for the first time in twenty one. I'm wondering if he's going to be another first ballot guy. The other two issues,

Leroy Butler, and Sterling Sharp. Butler, he became a semifinalist for the first time this past year, and now over the last couple of years, we've seen Kenny easily got in via Senior Committee law Seattle safety from a long time ago um and then Brian Dawkins played safety for sixteen years in the NFL he got in in the class of and over the last couple of years we've seen John Lynch and Steve Attwater make the finalist stage.

Safety is getting a little bit more attention. The other thing getting a little more attention is guys with maybe the injury shortened careers. Terrell Davis has gotten in. Now Tony Basselli was a finalist and there was a lot of there's a lot of push for Basselli. I think the vote from what I'm reading, it sounds like the vote was maybe pretty close for for him to get

into this Hall of Fame class. So then you wonder does that open a door potentially for a guy like Sterling Sharp, who only played seven seasons because as of injury, but led the NFL three times in receptions, twice in receiving yards or no twice in touchdowns. Once in receiving yards. So those three issues, I've kind of been kicking them

around in my mind. Where do you want to start? Well, I want to start with the Butler thing quickly because we've touched on in the past, and and the only point I want to make with Butler and I don't want to come off as the squeaky wheel here. We you know, Jerry Kramer's in, so that's plenty to be happy about. But you know, I don't know what's going to happen with Leroy. I'm not sure how this is gonna play out. Um, and you know, we made the semifinals.

He needs to get a run now. I think is the finals being the next step getting his name into that room on that conversation for for Pete Doherty from the Green Bay Presscauseette to make that argument for him. Here's the two things I want to point out with Butler. If John Lynch and Steve Atwater, and no disrespect to either of them, congrats to John on the trade for Jimmy Garoppolo, but no, but both of those guys are

great safeties. The fact that they've been finalists before Leroy Butler has ever been a semifinals is still absolutely befuddling to me. Go back and watch the Packers of those mid to late nineties, Fritz Shermer's defenses come and I commend Fritz Shermer for how he used LA. People didn't use safeties that way at that time. He was playing a role that is popular today. I just I still

to this day. And the two things hurting Larroy is the fact that he didn't really move to safety until his third season, and then he had the career ending shoulder injury. If you had a little bit more time on either side of it, I think he has a more compelling argument. But still, I look at Atwater's stats, and I look at Lynches stats, and I look at

who they were playing with. You're really telling me the Green Bay Packers, And then that went into the next year is eleven and a half point favorite super Bowl thirty two. They had two Super Bowl or two Envy or two Pro Football Hall of Fame players on those teams. I just don't buy it. Yeah, I agree with you. I think I think Butler's candidacy deserves more attention than

it's getting. He was the first defensive back and a lot of other guys have done it since, but he was the first guy to get to twenty sacks and twenty interceptions as a defensive back. And that's when you talk about using guys in different ways. Butler, Fritz Shermer, they were, they were the guys on the cutting edge with that. And I think that's the part with with him that needs to be recognized a little bit more. If he could have just gotten I think, and it's

it's only one and a half away. Yeah, I just I think that that would have really really put him over the top because now you look at Charles Woodson coming up in a couple of years where he put that bar. I mean, it's remarkable now what defensive backs are doing. Yeah, and Charles Woodson, I think he's going to be a first ballot absolutely. I think he's going to get in right away with his class. Yeah, I think with the guys that he that he retired with,

there's some talented guys in there. But I just I think it's a no brainer. Yeah, it's gonna be Peyton Manning. And there's another one too, I think who's a potential first ballot guy And it's it's slipping my mind right now, who also retired at the end of the Calvin Johnson make a TS. Yeah, so you could potentially have another class there of three first ballot guy is in. I just really want to see Peyton Manning and Charles Woodson going together. No that that's no, but you're right, those

are the two guys. They were one two in the They were the one too in the Heisman voting the year that they came out of college. So so yeah, that really would be special to see them going together. With regards to Sterling Sharp, his odds I think are longer than Leroy Butler's I think Butler has a better chance. But it's interesting you you look at what Sharp did and if they are if if people on the committee, voters and stuff are going to look a little bit

more at injury shortened careers. This is a guy who he broke Art Monks record for receptions in a single season and then broke his own record the following year. Now, since then, he had a hundred and twelve that second time, which was the NFL, which was an NFL record. Since then, a whole bunch of guys have gotten more than a hundred and twelve, But at the time he got a hundred and twelve and that was the NFL record for a single season. He had set that record, you know,

two years in a row himself. That says something about being a dominant player, even though the career unfortunately wasn't as long as a lot of people would have hoped. Yeah, and you do wonder if he could have had a Donald Driver type run just where he would have put

some of those franchise records and no disrespected driver. And then I'm just saying in terms of what trajectory he was on pays for no question at that point in time, and if he could have had a few more years with with Brett Farve, but whatever the case, may be a phenomenal football player. I think sometimes because of the shortened career, because of you know, I'm playing his first four or five seasons without five, he doesn't get a

lot of notoriety for that. Um, but I you know, I go back to I think Shannon Sharpe said in his Hall of Fame speech that he's a Pro Football famer and he's a second best player in his family. Um. It's just it's such a it's such an impactful thing for for a guy like that to say that, Yeah, and and Sterling had eight team touchdowns in one season, which is still the Packers single season record at a time where there was only like twenty four to twenty

eight touchdowns a year. Was a great season for a quarterback to throw. So it's it's pretty remarkable, all right. With that, we'll tell us to a break back with more on Packer's Unscripted Reddit to this Welcome back to Packers Unscripted Mike Spofford alongside West, hod Cowits and West. Quickly, before I forget, I need to take care of some sponsor business. Your attention, Packers fans. We're calling you to

fill up with Campbell's Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup. We're talking delicious, hearty SUP packaged in an exclusive Packers super Fan can. These cans are limited edition for all you football fanatics out there, so don't miss out. Go on, huddle up and fill up with this hearty soup. Chunky Soup, the official SUP partner of the Green Bay Packers. Before we go West, one issue I think to follow up on with regards to the super Bowl, and that's quarterback Nick Foles.

We didn't really talk about him probably enough in our last show, and this is a great example that you know, we'll go down in history and we will see where Nick foles career goes from here. But guys don't often get the chance to climb their way out of the box, so to speak. And this was a guy who was pegged as as the one hit wonder in Chip Kelly's offense.

He was the Tommy two tone of of NFL quarterbacks because he had that great year with twenty seven touchdowns and only a couple of interceptions and then you know, kind of fell off the map. Um, He's put himself back on the map, and credit to him. He got his opportunity and uh, and he cashed in. He took advantage of it. And I just I absolutely loved his

postgame speech about failure and success. And I think this is such an important message for people out there in every walk of life, Mike, because so often there's a negative connotation associated with losing, failure, mistakes, and I think sometimes that can overwhelm and eliminate really the reality we all live in. And so many times over the years I've been talking with Packer fans about the way Aaron Rodgers plays and how consistent he is and in the

level and the throws and the vision. It's just even he makes mistakes, even he there's plays he wants back. You mentioned the Randall Cob throw. Nick Foles. I think his perspective on things. The guy that just won the Super Bowl Super Bowl m v P played what appeared to be a perfect game, made so many clutch throws through windows that are almost impossible for a normal human

being to ever be able to get remotely through. And for the second game in a row, when you go back to that NFC type, the second game in a row and Doug Peterson to have the confidence in the young man to come through, you kind of forget what happened in St. Louis and the fact that he got traded from Philadelphia. It was that big Sam Bradford deal.

The Rams think they have a guy that's gonna be their starting quarterback, and he starts eleven games and it doesn't work out, and the next year they offload him to the chiefs ends up back and up. You know, Al Smith, there's questions about whether or not he was going to retire, and for him to get this opportunity and to not be starstruck, to not be uh, you know,

like to not be paralyzed by the moment. Yeah, yeah, I just I think there's just a lesson for everybody out there, in any walk of life of exactly what it means to persevere and to put your best foot forward. Yeah, I agree with you, and a lot of eyes will now be on a just where Nick Fole's career goes. He's under contract another year, uh for a high salary for a backup quarterback. Certainly, Um, the Eagles, you know Carson Wentz. He injured his knee in December. So what's

the timeline there with Wentz? I don't know. I said this in our Insider inbox. If I'm the Eagles, I'm keeping him on the roster just for safe keeping unless certain there's no way he should not be on the roster. Yeah, all right, with that, we'll call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team on Packers dot Com on Twitter. He's still west Hod, I'm still Mike's bofford at Packers is still the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody.

We'll see you next time. H m hm.