#351 Packers Unscripted: Historic matchup

recap the Packers trades from the trading deadline. Now that we've heard from general manager Brian Gudacuin's head coach Mike McCarthy, you got some reaction from players in the locker room. Ha ha. Clinton Dix sent to Washington for a fourth round draft picked, Time Montgomery sent to Baltimore for a seventh round draft pick. In the draft, Brian gudunts made it pretty clear. He made a couple of things pretty clear,

I thought in his press conference on Wednesday morning. One is that this is not some sort of a fire sale and the Packers are giving up on the season. That is not the case at all. And number two, these moves were made primarily for performance reasons. Two players that in the personnel department's eyes, we're having disappointing seasons. And there are other factors as well, in the locker room chemistry, all that kind of stuff certainly factors in.

But the bottom line is these are players that the Packers wanted to move on from and give other players a chance. At this point, Mike, I'm gonna hijack the show a little bit. Okay, you've been doing this for twelve years with the Green Bay Packers. Have you ever been of a part of a week like this? No? I mean just in terms of the well, I'm not just talking about the Rams game, but the West Coast Los Angeles trip, two trades in the deadline, now you're

preparing for Brady Rogers. It's a per view, you know, it's it's it's absolutely unlike anything any single week I think that I've ever been a part of. I mean me this morning, getting up, going to quick trip, getting my crew but coffee, my Packers cup eighty nine cent refills, and just trying to get energized about what exactly is going on. Because be honest with you, Mike, I'm going on about three hours four hours of sleep every night

right now, because there's just always something happening. It seems like still trying to catch up from that West Coast swing. But to your original question, ha ha, Clinton Dick's time Montgomery, the Packers making a move there. I was sitting out at practice on Wednesday. I was surveying the field. The

Packers did make one move. Trey Carson was promoted. They still have one spot available on their fifty three, and I was sitting there trying to think of the last time they'd made a move like this in season, and I couldn't think of one. Mike, I think I've been You've been around the Sun a little bit longer than I have, But I mean they've traded for players. You had Derek Martin come in at one point, you had

Ryan Grant come in. But I think the last time I would say there was something like this in the middle of a season. I remember it was my first year in this job two thousand and six, also Mike McCarthy's first year's head coach. But a mod Carol, who was a first round pick from a couple of years prior, was a starting cornerback on this team, and after a dreadful performance on Monday Night Football in Philadelphia against the Eagles and a very ugly loss for Mike McCarthy's Packers.

A mod Carroll was cut the next morning. I kind of forget that a mod Carroll made it to the McCarthy era. Yeah, he was. He was here for about six games, and Ted Thompson let him go. He was a starter, and the next day he was gone. That's probably about the only thing that I could equate to this, and and the situations are not really similar, too similar, I guess I should say in that respect, but that's

about all I can think of. Well, and then getting back to your original point, I don't mean to take us completely off the rails here, but I thought one thing that Brian Goodkin said during when he addressed the media on on Wednesday that was very interesting, very poignant to me, is that a lot of people you and I saw it an inbox, asking well, why don't you just wait until the end of the season. You'll get a compensatory pick for Clinton Dicks and Goodain said they

got a fourth round pick for him. If you wait that out one, you're gonna just have to see where he falls on that continuum. If he signs a free agent contract contract elsewhere. The best you're gonna get as an end of the third round under the third round pick. Now, there's no questions about that. And the most powerful thing I thought Brian Goodkin said was we also want to be active in free agency. I just thought that was such an about face. And I'm not saying, well, how

Ted Thompson did things was wrong. He obviously did things very right to put this franchise in the situation that it's in right now, and and to to win a super Bowl and to be a perennial playoff contender. But it's interesting here and Goodakin's talk about, Yeah, you know what, the compensed story thing isn't gonna drive us here. We want to be active. You move with with Clinton Dix right now, you get that guaranteed fourth round pick, as you point out, that's in the round, not at the

end of the round. I think that's gonna be something the Packers once the season is over. Gives them a lot of flexibility for those ten picks as it stands right now. I did go around. I was talking to some guys in the locker room. The defensive backs. They're healthy, they're deep, they feel like they can absorb this loss. How Clinton Dix leaves a void. There's no question about that. He's a Pro Bowl safety. He's done some good things

in this league. But the Packers feel like with the depth they have and the young players that they have in that secondary, there is enough talent there to be able to press forward without him. Yeah, and I don't I don't want to make too much of this, but in a lot of ways, what I saw on the field, the play of haw Clinton Dix this season, the play of Time Montgomery just very emblematic, very representative of what this Packers team has gone through as a whole. Good

moments and bad moments, lots of ups and downs. We've seen how Clinton Dix make a couple of turnover plays that were very impactful and and very impressive. We've also seen him look a little bit lost in the red zone, coverage in the end zone and allowing easy touchdown passes

that shouldn't have been quite so easy. We saw Time Montgomery start the final drive against the San Francisco forty Niners with a great fourteen fifteen yard run to get the engine cranking, get the Packers going, but then he fumbles the kickoff in a crucial moment against the Los Angeles Rams just emblematic of what's been going on with the with with this entire team, and uh and you said it West, the Packers feel like, Okay, it's it's

time to move on. Mike McCarthy wasn't going to reveal to the Patriots and Bill Belichick exactly how the Packers are going to line up in the secondary, Who's going to be the kick returner, you know, all of that kind of stuff. It kind of sounds to me like a lot of options are on the table in terms of how Mike Petton is going to play this. In the defensive backfield, You've got Jermaine Whitehead, although he's on the injury report right now. You have maybe some cornerback

is the deepest position on the team. Maybe somebody shifts around there are the six defensive backpackage is gonna look a little different because a lot of times Mike Petton has been using three corners three safeties for those six dbs. Does he now go more to four corners to safeties or something like that. So it just seems to me like all the options are on the table and we're really not going to know until Sunday night, because Mike McCarthy has no interest in giving Bill Belichick a heads

up as to how he's got to play. Yeah, the big thing a lot of the guys in the locker room talked about, obviously Mike McCarthy talked about, was that they want to give guys opportunities. They feel like there's a lot of young guys that have not been getting playing time right now that that could potentially contribute to this defense. You think of guys like Josh Jones, the

second round pick from last year. Think about guys like Josh Jackson who played really well when when they were down, Guys in that cornerback room, but now they're healthy again. Bashad Breland signed him last month. He had the hamstring, he's ready to return. He said he could have played in that game against the Rams on Sunday he was

just a healthy scratch. So this is one of these deals where I think, as Mike McCarthy said, and I'm sure we'll hear Mike Petton talk about it later this week, they are so matchup based and we've seen them Taylor specific game plans to specific opponents. So I think there's gonna be a lot of fluidity, a lot of flexibility

with how they use those guys. But the point I made an inbox on Thursdays, whatever reform this defense takes on Sunday is going to speak to right now as it stands, the scheme, the five the six defensive backs that they feel most comfortable with against one of the NFL's elite. I think that's going to be a very

important statement to make. But yeah, there's gonna be a lot of domino effects with that defense and with that secondary as to how you go about replacing a guy that basically had not missed any games, basically had not missed any snaps over the last four and a half years. Yeah, what do you think? What's your sense of maybe what direction the Packers will go at kick returner? There are

obviously a few options there. We've seen the rookie Marquez Valdes Scantling step in at kickoff returner here and there. He did it in the preseason. He's done it. I believe he had one kickoff return so far in the regular season. Maybe he's the guy or do you see another potential option on to me right now? It's veld As Scantling until Trevor Davis is available, or if they want to active, they have to make because I just

I don't think you want to put Randall Cob back there. Um, you have the two running backs, but I think you're gonna need you know, Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams will probably talk about them here in a second. I think Valdes Scantling makes the most sense. I I don't recall you correct me from hanger. I don't recall Equanimias st Brown doing any kickoff returns in games in the preseason.

Jamon Moore might have, but to meet Valdes Scantling in Montgomery for the first two weeks were platooning that position. Then they finally just decided to run with Montgomery. So I mean, if you're looking for a guy that's done it, it's it's Valdi Scantling. Yeah. All right, Um, quickly here West before I forget, because I have a tendency to forget these things. Uh are other piece of sponsored business. Enter the Cousins Subs Best Seats in the House promotion.

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for Patriots fans, but for all NFL fans. It's Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady sharing the same field for only the second time in their careers four years ago. A great game out here at Lambou Field, Like we talked about the other day, Um, I think this is gonna be uh, this is gonna be a special one. And whatever happens, I think we're gonna remember it for a long time. You know what I love the most about this matchup too? You're right, it is Brady and it is Rogers and it and it only happens so often,

but their offenses are so similar. You know, when you look at Okay, it's Aaron Jones, and it's Jamal Williams, it's Sony Michelle, It is obviously James James White, Rob Gronkowski, Jimmy Graham, Julian Edelman, Randall Cobb. They mirror each other

in a lot of ways. One of the things, you know, Brill Belichick has been so complimentary of Mike McCarthy in the past, I think because there's a lot of similar similarity between the way that they build their team, they build their culture, in the way they play on the utball field. Um and I it does go back though,

to the two quarterbacks. Aaron Rodgers, I thought, as he always does, really something's up perfectly on his went and during his Wednesday news conference, when you know, I appreciate the history of this matchup and what it means to the league to have these two guys playing each other again. But the goat debate is one of the most annoying things I think that has ever been introduced in this new era of trying to determine, you know, the hype of the hype of it in terms of that angle

has gone a bit overboard. Yeah, Rogers, Rogers pretty much you know, through the through the water on the fire with that. Yeah, And he said, I mean you can't really do you really can't prove anything. I mean, it's just banter and debate that is meant for you know, bars and barbershops. But he did say that Tom Brady has five Super Bowls. In most cases, that kind of ends the debate, you know, in terms of you know, trying to determine. I mean, that's what the goal is

for every player. So um. But you know, it's gonna be fun to see those two come back into the same orbit. And you know Brady talked about on his conference call as well. You know, he's had a relationship with now with Rogers, a good solid, you know friendship here for the last five six years. I think Rogers went over to his house at one point to meet with his nutritionist when he was making some of these decisions with his own body and his own wellness as

he tried to extend his career. Brady's kind of set the standard in that regard. In Rogers, arguably the most gifted and intelligent quarterback to ever play the game, has tried to take some cues from that as well. So you can always learn from each other, and these two guys certainly are paying attention to what the other is doing. Yeah, well, I really enjoyed On Wednesday morning, Mike McCarthy Uh, turned

back the clock a little bit reminisced. Was asked about this Rogers Brady thing, and he brought up when he was an assistant coach with the Chiefs first breaking in the league, and I remember this game. McCarthy brought it up. It was a Monday night football game in Joe Montana for the Chiefs John Elway for the Denver Goes. I was actually a grad school student at Northwestern. I was in my cramped little studio apartment on the Northwestern campus

in Evanston, Illinois. I should have been studying on a Monday night, but I was absolutely glued to that football game. It was. It was an incredible game. And then the fourth quarter it was just both quarterbacks taken the teams up and down the field, back and forth, and at mile high on the road, Joe Montana for the Chiefs throws a touchdown pass with eight seconds left two Uh win that game, and you felt like if they put another fifteen minutes on the clock, the two quarterbacks just

would have kept going back and forth. It was. It was two Hall of famers, two of the best of all time. And uh, you know, I'd love to see another game like that on Sunday night and be a real treat. Yeah, and it's Gillette Stadium in that environment. I mean, that's one of the one of my favorite stadiums in the NFL. Um maybe not for the press box,

but in terms of just the overall atmosphere. And yeah, we have kind of an end zone view from Gillette Stadium, so when the players are way down on the other side of the field. Yeah, you've got your binoculars. I usually just watch the television screen. So yeah, but but it is, it's going to be a show. And this is what you want, right November sweeps. I mean, now you've got Rogers versus versus Brady got Michael Jordan's talking

about the matchup. But the biggest thing to me, and someone brought this up an inbox, and it was a good point. I thought, in a game like this that could very well be a shootout, that could very well be you know, you can do one thing, I'm gonna try to do it better. It might very well come down to the last possession. And I think from the Packers perspective, they have been well conditioned for these matches,

for these meetings. If there's one thing the Packers have done exemplarily well this year it's been with their two men in offense. They know how to move the ball when they need to move the ball, and it would be interesting to see in Gillette Stadium if that ends up being the case. Once again. I'm sure for the Packers perspective, they'd like a little less drama this week.

It would be a lot easier just to you know, go in there, get up early, and hold onto that lead and then walk out of there with a much needed victory. But with this type of opponent, with these kind of stakes, and obviously doing it on the road in a very passionate home road environment, home environment for the for the Patriots, it's not going to be easy. But the Packers know that. Yeah. Well, a couple of lessons here to point out. One a lesson from last

week that we talked about. In a game like this on the road against an elite level team, you're gonna have to make the plays at crunch time. That's what we talked about. You're not going to beat the New England Patriots in forty five minutes or fifty minutes or fifty five minutes. You're going to have to beat them for the whole sixty minutes. If they have any chance in the last three or four minutes of the game,

you've got to make sure you put it away. The other thing is, I will say, if you go back to the game here in the Rogers Brady Packers Patriots game, a big lesson here for the Packers in that two rookies played a huge, huge role in that game. Richard Rogers caught a big touchdown pass was a rookie tight end. And then Davante Adams six catches for twenty one yards in that game, kind of his coming out party as

an NFL player, and Rogers talk about that. From the beginning of the game, Belichick's defense was focused on Jordy Nelson and Randall cop Rogers got Davonte going, they hit the touchdown to Richard Rogers. Then Belichick's defensive just then they hit the touchdown to Jordy Nelson before halftime, Belichick's defensive just back again. It's that sort of cat and mouse game and and uh and that sort of chess

match that's going to be going on throughout. But my point is that when you look at the roles that a couple of rookies had in that big victory for the Packers. It's just a lesson that absolutely everybody's got to be ready. If you step on the field, it

might be your moment to shine. And whether that's Feldas Scantling, whether that's e q st Brown, whether that's Marcedes Lewis or Lance Kendricks, a couple of guys that Rogers brought up because you never know who it's going to be on a given night, what it's going to take to beat a Belichick defense and beat the adjustments that he's going to continue to make. So obviously Davantae Adams and Randall Cobb and Jimmy Graham they have to make their

plays as well. But but this game could come down to, you know, one of those unsung hero type guys playing a big role. Absolutely, I think that will be the difference in this game. It's funny you go back and think about that Adams game and I was a part of the media scrum with him discussing it. That was the seventh career start that day. You remember that year. Actually, Jared Boykin started the season as the number three. Adams after the first month going intto October finally took over

that spot. The three games. Going into that, he had four catches for thirty three yards, one of those for a touchdown, but had been relatively quiet during a really powerful stretch of offensive football, as Jordy Nelson was really you know, humming at that point. So you understand why Belichick and company sort of, you know, put him on the back burner in that game that proved to be the wrong approach. Th Davante Adams showed uh and he

said it even this week. This was what he felt was like a really big confidence game for him, a really big boost to show him that he belonged, because he had some solid performances up to that point, but none of them where he really took over the game. And it was funny to listen to talk about it because he said, now it's kind of like it's come old circle for a little bit for me. Now I'm the number one target. He's probably the one that's gonna

be getting gilmore. He's probably the one that they're gonna be tailoring everything too. He's really he likes that challenge because he wants to see, now, okay, I put up six catches for yards when nobody was looking at me. Now everybody's looking at me and I want to have

that similar production. But just like that, as more attention gets driven to him, that's where you want to see a guy like Marcus Valdes Scantling or drawn Will Allison, whoever stepping into the number three role really you know, show that they can shine, because when one guy is getting shadowed or coverage over the top, it's gonna open up an opportunity for another player. And we saw last week Mike with Valve this Scantling what he can do. It's man demn coverage and no safety over the top.

Man demand single high mvs. He's got some pretty good moves at the line, and and if he gets a step on you, he's got the speed, he's he's tough to catch. Absolutely and the other the other element to this too, will probably end up discussing this is our Keys to Victory on Friday Show. But I think this is a really big opportunity for Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams too. Uh, they're the one to punch. I asked Aaron Jones about that in the locker room on Wednesday.

He was always the young guy, he was always a little brother. Ti Montgomery was the one leading that room. Aaron Ripkowski was the guy on top of that room. Well now it's Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams, and he thinks that that's something that's going to continue to bring them closer and really make them and push them to make the most of whatever extra opportunities they're getting going forward. Those two guys can be difference makers in this league.

And I think a game like this, much like as I talked about yesterday Eddie Lacey in two thousand fourteen, you get that run game going, you start getting the Patriots having to creep into the box, Aaron Rodgers can go to work. What I like about the state of the Packers right now heading into this game, as we talk about the possibility of kind of the unsung hero, you know, Adam's Cob and Graham. Those guys have proven veteran guys. They're going to have to do their thing.

But we've but we've seen mvs e Q Aaron Jones, Jamal Williams, Geronimo Allison at different times in their very

young careers. They have answered the call. And one of these guys, a couple of these guys, be three or four of these guys are going to have calls they need to answer on Sunday night in order for the Packers to get what would be a tremendously big victory in a really small storyline to this, uh St Brown, he just looks the part to me, he really does, and not just from what he does on the field, but his temperament. I mean, you throw him in there, you wouldn't know that that was a six round rookie.

He knows how to handle those situations. He played at Notre Dame and he's now going out there and even if it is only twelve snaps like it was against the Rams last week, runs good routes and he gets open. Yeah, that's a lot. That's a lot to get from a

guy that you know was a late third day draft pick. Well, as you said, we've got keys to victory to talk about on our weekly wrap up show on Friday, and we will leave that for tomorrow, but for now, 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 at West Hot, I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account. Thanks for tuning in everybody, We'll see you next time.