#471 Packers Unscripted: Game of inches

about another Packers victory. I think the phrase game of inches originally was attached to the game of baseball, but there are days it applies to football, and it certainly did on Sunday at Lambeau the Packers stopping Christian McCaffrey inches shy of the goal line to preserve a twenty four to sixteen victory, right down to the final play. My friend, yeah, it was something else to watch and you know, talking to guys in the locker room about

it afterwards, the snow is coming down. Jamal Williams said that line about he felt like he was in Frozen too. But I mean, it's just this is what this team has done so well, and I know you can look at it defensively and be like, there were too many yards again, you know, there's too many times where you know they were able to convert. But man of life, when they get down to the nitty gritty, gotta have the moments this defense finds a way, and they did

it once again. And in watching that play, and I wrote an entire story about it for our Locker Report to see how that played out. I mean, Mike Patton's keeping his dime personnel on the field there two yards away from the end zone, and Truman Williams said it. A lot of these guys said it. They didn't know if it's gonna runner past, but they knew the ball was going to Christian McCaffrey. That's the MVP candidate for the Panthers. That's the guy you want to have the football.

And the Packers with Kyler Facro being readjusted moments before the play is snapped and he breaks through and get some you know, hesitation the backfield from McCaffrey and then press the smith a two sack performance day makes that final tackle, and despite Greg Van Rowton's best efforts trying to pull McCaffrey into the end zone illegally, I might add, the Packers hold their grounds and are eight and two

going to the bye week. What a start. Well, you and I both were thinking in the press box four seconds left final play. You and I were both thinking run. I actually thought the Panthers might try to cross the Packers up and do a quarterback draw with their rookie quarterback, because as you say, the Packers were in the dime defense. It wasn't like they were in a goal line set up front. But they went with their guy McCaffrey. You

can't fault him on the call. And uh yeah, the Packers shifting guys right at the last second and not even really setting their stances as the ball is snapped. But Factor was able to slip the block from Van Rotten, which is why he ends up trying to drag McCaffrey into the end zone because he missed his block on the play, and Preston Smith comes crashing from the other side.

They don't block him on the back side. He comes crashing into to get there, and then Blake Martinez is there to try to, you know, keep that surge from getting across the goal line. Just an incredible finish. As you said, the scene with the snow falling at Lambo kind of that snow globe scene. It only still early November, not even really mid November, just yet early for that, but uh, but quite the scene and the Packers at eight and two, they stay a game ahead of the

Minnesota Vikings. We'll talk about this a little bit later. They got a big win down in Dallas on the road to stay one game behind the Packers. But you said it West. This defense, somehow, more often than not this year, when the unit's back is up against the wall, they find a way the end zone interceptions that we've seen in crucial moments this year. Yesterday basically two stops

at the end zone. You get one interception in the third quarter in the end zone that takes points off the board for the Panthers, and then you get the stup at the end of the game. Yeah, this defense still has a lot to work on, but but boy they are Um they're right in a story of clutch plays in nineteen. Yeah, and Kenny Clark, a guy that I don't think you look at his box score, I don't think it really tells the story of the game he had with four tackles. I mean, he was much

more effective than that. Showed the same thing for Zadarius Smith, Yeah, no question. Talking to Clark in the locker room efforts, he said, I mean this is an emotional way to play. It's a dangerous way to play, and they don't want to play that the entire season. But that being said, you have to look at it where the last you know, sixteen points allowed Carolina. You can move the ball as much as you want. No game in NFL history has been decided by who has more total yards. It's not

a tiebreaker. So for them to be able to come up in those situations, I think that's been the biggest difference. You and I've talked about it in here before. But the other thing I think, you know, you're gonna look at this game, You're gonna see that the Panthers have fourner one total yards. What doesn't really tell you the story there is, by the traditional definition, the Packers did not allow an explosive play to Christian McCaffrey. I thought

that was a big difference in this game. Yeah, he had a hundred yards rushing, he had thirty some odd yards receiving, but he didn't have that breakaway moment that can be backbreaking that has allowed the Panthers to win a lot of these games. Yeah, you never felt like Christian McCaffrey was the guy controlling the game, which is what he has done in a lot of the games

that the Panthers have won this year. Yeah, And regardless of whether or not was the base personnel or whether or not I was that dime personnel in the final stage, when the Packers were between the hashes, really on both sides of the ball, they won this football game. They did it offensively. Aaron Jones another three touchdown performance, first time that's been accomplished in a single season since nineteen

sixty two with the great Jim Taylor. Him and Jamal Williams both were gashing them in the middle of the field. And when the Packers were largely successful, and you and I talked about this after the game. There were a few moments where McCaffrey slipped out, but for the most part, when Carolina tried to play the rough and tough nor

the south football, the Packers won those battles. And that was one area where they've really been lagging behind the last few weeks, and it's set them up to be able to make some critical stops at important junctions of that game. Well, that final drive, as I wrote about in my game recap story, the final drive was just full of all kinds of ebbs and flows. Emotionally, ended up being eighteen plays in all the Panthers started at

their eleven yard line. They get credit for eighty eight yards, but not the eighty nine they needed for the touchdown. But you look at that final drive. JayR Alexander has a shot at an interception right away early in the drive to end the game, can't hang onto it. Then later on you get him in fourth and ten. You

get pressure on Kyle Allen. You're thinking, okay, this is it, and then somehow a floater that he throws up to the left side, DJ Moore is open and is able to catch it, falling to the ground to convert fourth and ten for the first down. Then you get him in fourth and one. You think you have them stopped at Preston Smith is flagg for offside. So there's eight seconds left, they have first down, they've got two our

place to try to score. The the emotional roller coaster of that, And that was the phrase that Matt Lafleur used when I asked him after the game in his press conference, you know what was that final drive like for you coaches and everybody on the sideline. He said, Hey, it's life in the NFL. It's a roller coaster ride, and and that's what that final drive was. And you know, just credit to the Packers. I mean, it's one of those things. Obviously, if the Panthers get the touchdown, they

still need to get the two point conversion. And the Packers had stopped a two point conversion earlier in the fourth quarter, which was a very curious call, I thought by Ron Rivera. But regardless, the Packers had two chances to win this game, stop the drive or stop the two point play, and it didn't get It didn't come down to the two point play. Yeah, it was funny too. I was asking Kenny Clark about this after the game

as well. I was like, you know, what did you see on that play that you know you almost had Alan He's like, well, which one are you talking? Because there was so many instances in Saidarius Smith talked about it too. Smith estimate. He's like, I might have had twelve third team pressures in this game. I'm really interested to see when Pro Football Focus gets done with this film review to see how many he gets credited for

because he was so elusive. Jimmy Graham said afterwards, it was like he was doing some Ben Roethlisberger's stuff out there. Truman Williams said, it was like Harrison Wentz the way he was getting away from people. But Allen for a backup quarterback who was twenty three years old, I thought he showed a lot of poise and you know, three year and seven yards. But as one of the points you and I illustrated going into this game, like they need to pressure him, they did an overall better job

of pressuring the quarterback. They got home three times. I think all of them were critical to the outcome of this game. And then also Truman Williams gets his first interception nearly two years in the end zone off of the tip from Adrian Amos, who was very close to having a pick in his own right. The gyre Alexander one could have ended everything. He had nothing but daylight and snow drifts in front of him. But you know,

you had to come back, You had to persevere. The Panthers convert two fourth downs, one off of play, one off a penalty on that series, so many things. You know, Preston Smith did not really is not a fan of that offsides call that he got flagged for. He flint He flinched, and there's a question as to whether he really entered the neutral zone or not. And if anything, it was almost like his if you look at it closely, his hand when he flinches, goes forward and kind of

goes into the neutral zone. It wasn't like his whole body lunged into the neutral zone. But they throw the flag and the Packers had a savage had a nice pass breakup there that you thought was going to end the game. But the flag gives UH the Panthers new life and UH and the Packers have to come up with another stop to win that. But that's what adversity defense is all about. And we can talk forever about total yards and sacks and points, so all the Packers

have been pretty good in that area this year. Adversity defense is not it's manageable tangible stat but it's so important critical to the overall success of a team. This defense hasn't man and they were able to. They got Ibraham Campbell back. I thought they looked better in their rotations. There were some yards, some plays, some some breakdowns that they got to clean up, and that's stuff that they're gonna have an extra week to kind of rest up

for now. But they put their offense in a position to win this game with what they had done in the third quarter, and you know you can't argue with eight and two. Yeah. Well, with Kyle Allen, I was asked an insider inbox, what I thought in my first response was he belongs. He showed he belongs in the NFL. The elusiveness you talked about was certainly impressive. I thought he made some really pinpoint throws, especially the over route

to Greg Olsen on that final drive eighteen yards. I thought that was a tremendous throw given the conditions and the circumstances. But here's the thing, West, and this is what we talked about a lot the difference with Kyle Allen made three mistakes in this game. He fumbled a snap which the Packers recovered and they turned it into

a touchdown. He tried to force the ball into the end zone on second down from the eleven yard line when he didn't really have to force it, and Tremon gets the pick off the deflection, and then he threw the ball that Alexander should have picked off. So the Packers made him pay for two out of the three mistakes. On the flip side, Aaron Rodgers doesn't throw any touchdown passes has a quarterback rating basically equivalent to what Alan's was. But the only mistakes that Rogers made is he missed

a couple of open receivers. He didn't make any of the mistakes that that turned the game that are the backbreaking type of mistakes. And the Packers rode their running game here to a victory. Jamal Williams Aaron Jones combining for a hundred and fifty six yards. As you said, Jones with the three touchdowns to outproduce Christian McCaffrey the way the Packers backfield did. That's what I talked about last week. I felt if that was going to happen,

I fully expected the Packers to win the game. And uh, and they did. And credit to the offensive line up front, the tight ends and wide receivers being involved in the blocking as well. For the running game, Packers just gash

the Panthers up the middle with the run. The irony being that the only run between the tackles the Panthers stopped all game was the one right at the end of the first half on the one yard line when the Packers decided to punch it in instead of kick the chip shot field goal, and uh, but honestly, that was like the only run between the tackles the Panthers put up any kind of resistance because the Packers were controlling the line of scrimmage in this game. Yeah, and Mike,

it was one of these things too. And I went back and looked at this thing and getting a chance to review it a little bit. You know, Aaron Rodgers after the first game in Chicago, he said we got a defense right after the ten to three win over the Bears. The feeling I got when I look at this game in particular is not that I'm trying to be Aaron Rodgers here anything, but you know, if if it was him, you know, we have a team and this doesn't have to be just the Aaron Rodgers show anymore. Uh.

The structure of this game called four more runs. Packers talked all week long about needing to run the ball more, needing to get the ball in Jamal Williams and Aaron Jones hands more often, and Mike they both touched at thirteen times as far as carry's combined for a hundred

and fifty six rushing yards in three touchdowns. You your biggest key to victory going into this game was outproduced Christian McCaffrey because it wasn't just about making sure that you had more yards than him, it was the defensive responsibility to contain him. And Aaron Rodgers said it. You know, for a couple of weeks there, we're focused on Rogers

being in the m v P conversation. He's throwing Aaron Jones name in the hat now because this young man, for as humble as he is and as unsung as he was coming from Texas al Paso, you know, his hometown school and being a fifth round pick and people wondering if he's just a scatback. Well, suddenly he's already surpassed his career high for a single season in rushing attempts. He's tied with McCaffrey with fourteen total touchdowns and scores on the year. This guy's a playmaker and he's doing

it in different ways each week. And when you think of the greatest, you think of the Alinde Greens of the Green Bay Packers history. You think of the Ladanian, Tomlinsons and some of these other guys that have really separated themselves on that upper echelon over the last fifteen to twenty years. It's that they can beat you to number of different ways, and the Packers have found a ground game that can do that with these two backs

and with Aaron Jones, you know, kind of playing the lead. Yeah. Well, you mentioned the statistic with Jones getting his second three rushing touchdown game of the season. He had the four rushing touchdowns in Dallas. That's the first time that a Packers running back has had two of those types of performances in the same season since Hall of Famer Jim Taylor in nineteen sixty two. Taylor had three of them that year. A couple other things I'll throw out there

for you. Aaron Jones now, with eleven rushing touchdowns on the year, he's the first Packers running back to hit double digits in rushing touchdowns since Eddie Lacey was a rookie. And and Jones is fourteen total touchdowns right now, and we're talking just after ten games, with six more in the regular season to go. His fourteen total touchdowns the most buy a Packers running back in a season since Amon Green had twenty in two thousand and three, when

Green had fifteen rushing and five receiving touchdowns. So definitely some history being made here in UH in the franchise record books as far as Aaron Jones is concerned. And I thought it was great when uh when Rogers, he didn't expound on it at all. It was a very quick answer to UH to one of the questions in the press conference about Aaron Jones. But he said, hey,

you know, Christian McCaffrey, really talented player. He's being talked about as a potential m v P. Maybe it's time to start talking about Aaron Jones in the m v P conversation. It's it could end up being an interesting discussion here depending on how the last six regular season

games go for the package. And you were talking about on on Green most rushing touchdower, most overall touchdowns whatever since two thousand and three, with the twenty Jones right now, total touchdowns on pace for twenty one, the way that this thing is going from seventeen rushing as far as what the trajectory says so far, I would be remiss, Mike.

We have to talk about it. Though with Davante Adams it didn't make it into either of our stories or any of our stories, but his quote was fantastic after the game because the storyline keeps being you know, Davante Adams doesn't have a receiving touchdown and commiseration to your fantasy team if you have Adams and you know it's not working out for you in that regard. But he had such a great line about how he doesn't care if you're eight and two. He doesn't care if Aaron

Jones has eighty two touchdowns. He's getting a workout being the one running down to celebrate with him on these things. That shows you one the team aspect to all this. But too, why Davante Adams is so darn good because he had seven catches for eighteen yards in this game. He had to game breaking catches over thirty five yards. That's set up Jones touchdown runs. Touchdowns are touchdowns, bro. I mean, it's great, and I know these guys wanted.

Adams is in the second year of a four year extension. He's not looking at it contracts or money or anything right now. He needs to play well for this football team, to perform well on the field, and he's filling that role. And I thought this game was a beautiful embodiment of Okay, how you can marry those running backs but still have Davante Adams making plays. And Adams was you know, he lamented afterwards he wanted that downfield catch off the shot play.

I was gonna say, that's the only thing Davanta Adams was worried about after the game was the was the deep shot that he had it in his hands, the defender knocked it away at the last second, and you know he wanted that one. He gets that one. We're talking about Davante Adams having maybe a hundred seventy five yard day out there. Yeah, and you think about it, those are the type of plays that they're not gimmes by any means. But Adams playing at the level he

wants now, he expects those. But Mike, we're the thirty eight yard or down the sideline against I think it was Cockerell. The It reminded me a lot of that Alan's art play from a last month where it's there's such a small window there and Davante Adams laid hands whatever it is, he pulls up with it and that's such a shot of adrenaline. And when that game really got late and you're not able to you know, pass the ball as much anymore. And you know there's the

conditions are you know, flurrying up. Davante Adams is still there and he's still making plays. And I just as good as Joe was. And obviously that the runs that that Jamal Williams had on their last scoring drive, those are so noteworthy. But I just I thought this was a great reflection of Davante Adams and what he does for this offense. Well, I thought offensively for the Packers, Davante Adams had the one key play that flipped the

game in a sense. And what I'm talking about is right at the beginning of the third quarter, the Packers get stuffed at the goal line at the end of the first half when they decided to go for the touchdown instead of kicked the field goal. That kind of wiped out a very questionable roughing the pastor call in the end zone that kept that Packers drive alive very early. And then they ended up killing the rest of the first half clock. But they come out. The Packers get

the ball to start the second half. It's only fourteen to ten. Aaron Rodgers gets sacked on the first play box tr gets flagged for hands to the face on the second play. It's second and twenty six on your own nine yard line in a fourteen to ten game, when you have just blown a scoring opportunity to end the first half. And what happens. Aaron Rodgers finds Davantae Adams open on a deep over route to the left sideline thirty plus yards converts on second and twenty six.

Three plays later, with two of those being Aaron Jones runs, the Packers are in the end zone. They go ninety one yards in four plays after the two negative plays to start that drive, and suddenly it's twenty one to ten. That passed to Davanta Adams on second and twenty six. If you're gonna if you're gonna pick one offensive play, in my mind, that's the play of the game. That's the one. Yeah, because it's just those those type of plays. And it wasn't that, you know, it was just all

yak or anything like that. I mean, it was the ball was placed at a first down level, that was a downfield throw. The percentage of making those with against that type of coverage in those types of situations is not high. But when it's Rogers, when it's Adams, it

feels that way, And yeah, I thought that was. And you look at what happened right after that, Mike, I think you had the big Aaron Jones runs right after they just they just rolled after that catch, We're able to get in the end zone and get that too scorely that they had been searching for. Yeah, well, I know we're pushing our our time limit here, but I do want to talk a little bit about what went

down in Week ten in the NFL. As I mentioned earlier, the Vikings get a huge road win at Dallas twenty four, so Minnesota seven and three, one game behind the Packers at eight and two. Elsewhere in the NFC North, Matthew Stafford is out potentially multiple weeks with a back injury, and the Lions, with their backup quarterback, lose a seven

point game at Soldier Field. But the big result in the NFC was the one and seven Atlanta Falcons facing the seven and one New Orleans Saints in the Superdome and the Falcons come out victorious and very convincingly to nine Drew Brees and the Saints offense does not get into the end zone, so New Orleans picks up lost number two, and that changes the look of the potential layoff picture in in the NFC a little bit. I tell you what you and I were joking in the

press box. I would we're not allowed to gamble on NFL games because we're employees, and even if we were allowed, I never would. And it's games like Atlanta at New Orleans. That that tell you anybody who's in anybody who's in a knockout pool, you know where you pick one game every week. Anybody who was still alive in a knockout pool and hadn't used the Saints yet, they had to have picked them to beat to beat Atlanta there, and they just got knocked out themselves. I mean, that's that's

the NFL for you right there. And uh yeah, the playoff picture looks a little different in the NFC with New Orleans having two losses now almost a two touchdown favorite going into that game the Saints were and they lose by seventeen point Mike, you and I we we had like blood coming out of our mouths last week from biting our tongues about the whole you know, you have bad games, people get a you know, get a grip, get over it. It happens that's what that's This is

the NFL. That's what I leaned over you during the game as we're watching it, we're seeing the result on the TVs. It's like, this is exactly what we're talking about. The NFL is so unpredictable at times, and you know, you look at it with we're talking about with the Charges. Charges played really well offensively against green Bay. They make that short trip over to Oakland, and then they couldn't

find themselves in the first half this particular game. Atlanta's defense, which could do no right all season, last two seasons, then suddenly they're finding a way to shut down one of the games you know, best offenses and a future Hall of Fame quarterback. It is remarkable at times what happens. And the playoffs is not about which team just dominate everybody and just rolled through everybody. It's about what six teams, which six teams were the most consistent over the course

of a sixteen game schedule. There are highs, there are loads, there are bad games. You do not want, bad stretches, and as Aaron Jones talked about Jamal Williams discussed, the green Bay Packers prevented themselves from falling into a bad stretch with bouncing back with thatctory Yeah, well, and you look at what's coming up here Monday night, the undefeated

San Francisco forty Owners. They're taking on the two loss Seattle Seahawks, and also in that division, the l A Rams, the defending NFC champions, go on the road and lose at Hinz Field in Pittsburgh. The defending NFC champs are five and four West and they're there chances at any kind of a division title in the NFC West West could be out the window by Thanksgiving, depending on some of the some of these two upcoming San Francisco Seattle

matchups that that are on the horizon here. So um, a lot of things still have to sort themselves out here, but but a big one tonight um in the Bay Area, San Francisco hosting Seattle, trying to remain the only unbeaten NFL team in twenty nineteen. There's a lot to like about the San Francisco forty Niners, certainly though they're dealing now with you know, George Kittle being injured. I just want to point this out before we wrap the show up.

They have Seattle at home for this but if you really look at their schedule, considering they had the week or bye, they are going to be facing a murderers row here. It's lining up. Yeah, you have Seattle twice. You have the Cardinals before the Packers game, a Cardinals team that looks like it's been more dangerous and took them to the wire just week. Yeah, Baltimore at Baltimore at New Orleans, and they do have the Rams down

the stretch man. We're gonna learn a lot about the Green Bay Packers coming out of the bye with how they play against the forty Niners. But I don't know if there is a single team in the NFL right now that there's going to be more of a barometer on where they're at than what San Francisco is going to face. Now the last eight games including tonight, Yeah, this is uh, this is gonna get This is gonna get really interesting. Buckle up everybody, because I like to say,

all right, with that, we do have to go. 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. We've got lots of content coming up through the bye week, so don't desert us here Like us, Subscribe to us on iTunes and other podcast services. On Twitter, He's West Hot. I met Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody, See you next time. H