#501 Packers Unscripted: Peak performers

the second day of the Packers. Will be back, will be back, excuse me on the practice field later today, a couple of practices here at the end of the week, find out the postseason opponent for the divisional round over the weekend, and then get back to work again on Monday.

What I want to do on today's show as the Packers head into the postseason, We'll try to take a bit of a bird's eye view here, not worrying about specific opponents and how those different scenarios might play out, but who are some of the the big time players for the Packers who need to play big time in the playoffs, And who are some of the lesser known eyes we don't talk about much, unsung hero types that maybe need to play a pretty big role here for

the Packers to make a postseason run. So let's start on the offensive side of the ball. A big time guy who needs to play big time football. Who you got Aaron freaking Jones? And easy answer, right, I mean everybody way to go out on a limb there, hot coits being able to pick Aaron Jones. But I want to read you some statistics here A big stat guy not like you, but I'm a relatively I'm like an

apprentice stat guy. Aaron Jones. Games in which you went over a hundred yards and rushing this year Minnesota week two, Week five at Dallas, Week fourteen against Washington, Week sixteen at Minnesota, and last week at Detroit. Got a hundred yards in that game. Packers were five and oh in those games. If you want to throw in the hundred and fifty nine yard catch game, yeah the biggest seed

for Orman's case, make it six and oh. I'm not gonna be able to draw that up on a Pro Football Focus or ESPN Stats and Info thing, but that's a wes Hotkoitz stat right there. Let's look at the losses really quickly. Thirteen carries twenty one yards against Philadelphia, eight carries for thirty yards against Los Angeles Chargers, in thirteen carries for thirty eight yards against San Francisco. Aaron Jones needs to produce. He needs to have the football

in his hands, because when he does, good things happen. Mike, We've known it for three years, and I think this year seeing the way that he's taken on this role in this offense. He's not just a running back. He's not just a scat back. He's a third down back. He's a pass catcher. He's a guy that can motion out and actually catch slant passes, which I thought has been a real small, minor edition that a lot of people don't talk about, but something the Packers have done

this year with their running backs. Aaron Jones is a ball player, and with having Jamal Williams hopefully getting him back here for this divisional playoff run, and seeing what Tyler Irvin adds to this offense, Aaron Jones become is more and more dangerous. I can't disagree with that selection whatsoever, but since I have to pick my own guy, I'm also going to be captain obvious here. It's Aaron Rodgers. We've seen We've seen it west. The Detroit game last

weekend was a perfect example. Aaron Rodgers went back and forth in that game between missing throws that we've seen him making his sleep over the course of his career, and then making some absolutely incredible pinpoint throws that were

a huge part of that comeback. I'm thinking about, you know, the fade to Davante Adams down the right sideline that set up the field goal in the first quarter, the touchdown pass to Alan was Ard, phenomenal throw, the way he avoided the rush and got the ball to Aaron Jones on the screen pass on the final drive, and there were others, but we also saw the scramble to the right. Aaron Jones is wide open for a touchdown down the right sideline, he throws it over his head.

Um Alan was Ard on a deep post over the middle, completely splits the defense. He's wide open and the and the rocket laser type throws three yards over his head. Those are the kinds of throws that Aaron Rodgers has made. Those over the course of his career way more often

than not. And we've just seen these bouts of inaccuracy with him at different times, and I just think if he straightens out his game, if he becomes more consistent with his throws, I think there are a lot of things about this Packers offense that can become more consistent in the postseason, and that's really what they've been searching for for so long, is some level of consistency on offense. I think it really falls on number twelve. Yeah, I agree with you, Mike, because here's the thing. It is

a human game. It's a human element to this game. Very rarely you're going to see a guy go out there and just be perfect. Yeah. I guess technically Aaron Rodgers was against the Raiders, and I think it was what Drew was it Drew Brees thirty on that that Monday night football game. But in most cases, and even in those two specific instances, I bet both of those guys have certain plays and things that they want to have back. That's just the way that this game is played.

It's incredibly human. It's the most difficult position in all sports.

But I think what we learned in that game against the Lions is that if you start getting more of those big plays the Lazard pass, uh, you know that being able to see Aaron Jones throw all the muck and and junk that was there and avoid throwing the ball and hitting one of the defensive lineman as he shoveled off that that screen pass when these things align and you create more of those and cut back on those maybe plays here there where the ball is just

a little bit too far, you didn't really step into the throw properly. That's when Aaron Rodgers gets really dangerous. And the question was asked this week, Mike. It was masked to me, and I know it was asked of you as well in inbox. Can the Packers? Is this sustainable? Can the Packers win a Super Bowl with the way they're playing? And my answer was, well, there are two games away from it at this point. Now, these are

gonna be two very diff for gold games. I don't care who comes out of the wild Card round to come to Lambolefield, that's gonna be a tough opponent. And whoever survives to get to that NFC title game should the Packers win, will also be a tough opponent. But as we've set all along here, if Aaron Rodgers gets hot, if you get those terrific throws on the regular, watch out for this team because this defense can be suffocating

at times. These special teams are much vastly improved in the final quarter of the season, and offensively, you know what they can do with Aaron Jones when he's going and when the balls in Davante Adams hands, Aaron Rodgers is the one thing right now that I think, if if that all ties together and the consistency is honed, the Green Bay Packers are a team to be reckoned

with here during the postseame. And and I want to clarify too, I'm not saying that Aaron Rodgers needs to go out and play the two thousand and ten Atlanta Divisional Round playoff game at the Georgia Dome. I don't think he necessarily needs to play like that, which was otherworldly performance for the Packers to make a run here

and and take a shot at a super Bowl. But I do think that when it's just a throw here or a throw there, that can be the difference between a touchdown or a field goal, or the difference between a big third down conversion across the fifty that gets you into scoring range versus having to punt and then

you're just trying to pin the other team deep. Those are the things that one or two you know here there in a game can be the difference of another another six points, maybe another ten points, you know that kind of thing. And that's what That's what takes this offense to another level and then takes a little bit more pressure off the defense where they maybe they don't have to hold somebody to seventeen in order to win a playoff game. You've got a little bit more margin

for error there. I think Aaron Rodgers is the guy who creates the margin for error for this Packers team going into January. Yeah, and and that's a guy that you want in that position because he just he manages the game so effectively and that that is such a negative contentation to things. But let's be honest, Mike, if Aaron Rodgers doesn't manage that game on Sunday the way he did, Packers don't have a chance to come back. If the turnovers are there, if the takeaways are there,

doesn't matter how many incompletions there. If you don't protect the football, it's gonna be difficult to put yourself in a position to win that game, right. And he talked about even after the Minnesota game, which you know, there there were obviously some some plays that got away, some thrills that got away, this and that and other really

good plays. But he talked about being you know, on his p's and queues with the checks at the line of scrimmage and the adjustments and getting the offense into the right play and stuff. And that's what he does really well in this Matt Lafleura offense. Now it's just a matter of him obviously continuing to do that and then taking it to another level that we've seen before

with regard to his accuracy and the playmaking ability. And this is the part that I've kind of had problems with with Packer fans this year and even some of the media narratives with this, because so much they try to tie together. Okay, well, he has twenty six touchdowns and four interceptions in his yards per pass are this

and YadA, YadA, YadA. It's it's a difference between understanding that there's certain throws I'm sure Rodgers wants to make it feels like he can make better and also understanding what his role is right now. The Packers had a running back that scored sixteen rushing touchdowns this year. This is a much more dynamic and versatile red zone offense than we've seen in the last ten years in Green Bay.

It doesn't always have to be on him finding Davante Adams or finding Geronio Allison, or throwing or scrambling for rushing touchdowns when they get into the red area. He has weapons out of the backfield that he can utilize. Now, this very easily could have been a thirty five touchdown year for him if you don't have an Aaron Jones

behind you. But the key is and where you've got to be able to disseminate all this information and understand, you know, the areas of improvement versus the areas of reality. Is that there are throws in that game against Detroit that Rogers knows he can make better. He talked about it. If those things get shored up, if sent of those passes get made, this is really a team that can be demonstrative force here in the postseason. That's the only argument I want to make. Yeah, I agree with you

all right on staying on offense. Give me an unsung hero, a lesser talked about guy here that you think could play a really big role in the postseason for Green Bay. A lot of great candidates this, you know, Alan Lazard is the name that probably jumps off as quickly as than most, just based on the way he's come on for this offense. You know, if you pro rade out his numbers since Week five, I mean he basically have been on pace for like a seven, seven or fifty

yard receiving season. Has been a huge addition to this offense. I want to probably go even smaller though than even that, And I want to just focus on Lucas Patrick for a moment, because we're talking about a guy he stepped

in admirably for Corey Linsley. But right now, the way that the Packers are structured, with the injury to Lane Taylor earned the season and the fact that Elton Jenkins ended up having to be a starter basically off Week three, on Lucas Patrick has not only been the backup to Corey Lindsley, he's been the backup to Billy Turner and Elton Jenkins, all three of those bots. And if you look at the way this this fifty three man roster is set right now, Mike, there really isn't another quote

unquote backup in those interior positions now. Alex like can play it. John Leglue was just signed off a practice squad, but they haven't really taken those reps as much as Lucas Patrick does through this postseason. You hope that the only thing Lucas has to do is play on the field goal unit and he gets to collect a Super

Bowl ring at the end of all this. But as we saw last week, it can happen just like that where he has to go into a football game, and honestly, you probably could bring up maybe I'm being a victim of recency bias here, but I think that was the best game he's played as a Green Bay Packer, and he did it in a really critical situation. I think there's no question about it, especially when you look at the number of snaps, the fact that he came in early in the second quarter and the number of snaps

he ended up playing. This was not just you know, subbing in and taking snaps, and he played sixties some I think, you know, essentially a full game. But because the Packers had more than eighty players in the game, it is just that that's the way it played out. And just to throw him one more thing, Elton Jenkins

was a two year starting center in college. I mean that tells you how highly they think of Lucas Patrick, a guy who never played that position in college, only learned it when he got to Green Bay and started working with James Camping and obviously with Adam Stanovic. They feel comfortable enough that you know what, you're going to be the guy they're snapping the ball to Aaron Rodgers and we're gonna keep Jenkins in the position that he's

played all year. I just think that said a lot about Lucas and how he settled into a position that he really never played until he got to Green Bay. Yeah, I'm gonna take a little bit different tack on this one. I am going to stay on the offensive line, though, because the guy that I want to talk about here

is David Baktiari at left tackle. And the reason I bring him up is because in the first half of the season, we're talking about bok tr being a three time All Pro, and we saw a lot more penalty flags being thrown in his direction than we're accustomed to. He wasn't playing at the level that we had seen him play at for the bulk of the previous three years.

But I think you can make a pretty strong argument here that over these last five regular season games, with the Packers going five and oh heading into the playoffs, that the old David Baktiari is back. Now he's going to say, of course that you know he didn't go anywhere. He's still the same guy, and yeah he is. There were there were some flags I think that were questionable. He was trying to work through some things with regard to the point of points of emphasis with offensive holding

and that kind of stuff. But we've seen David Bactieri play some really solid, clean football against some top notch opponents here down the stretch and when you're heading into the postseason where he might be lined up across from a Cameron Jordan's, or he might be lined up across from a Jadeveon Clowney, or you know, a pass rusher like that on the edge. If David Baktieri very quietly as he's done this, keeps doing what he's doing, I think that can be a really big part here of

of what the Packers might accomplish in the playoffs. One thing that doesn't get talked a lot about with XR is his communication skills. Certainly he's an all pro left tackle. He is arguably, I think pound for pound you can make an argument he is right up there with Aaron Rodgers in terms of the best draft picks Ted Thompson ever made, and he did make the Pro Bowl this year.

I will throw that in. But as we had discussed at the time, I over the bulk of the season, box tr was not necessarily a player he was in previous years. The Pro Bowl recognition was just long overdue because he hadn't gotten it previous Yeah, and and Ted Thompson being able to find a franchise left tackle on the fourth round, that is that is something I think really, you know, doesn't get enough a conversation about, especially from and from a college program that at the time was

kind of bottom of the barrel. I mean, the Colorado Buffaloes were not winning, they were, you know, at the bottom of their conference. And Ted Thompson found, you know, the West Coast guys, scouts, they found this guy, and they made the fourth round investment in him, and it was it's been huge for Green Bay. But what a lot of people don't talk about despite all of his acolades on the field, he's a really good communicator off

of it. How many times have we seen Elton Jenkins and him to talking in the locker room, talking on the sideline. I think that's had a lot to do with that young man being able to to play as well as he has right off the bat, much similar to what Josh Sitton did with Box t R Six seven years ago. Now. Absolutely, but the other thing is too, Mike, if you watch these games enough. The point I want to circle this all back to us back Tar is doing the same thing with officials when some of that

stuff was getting called earlier this year. He was asking officials, you know, talking to them after these plays, trying to get some clarification on it. And I think he's found ways. I haven't asked him this, I haven't talked to him about it, but I think you've seen him taylor his game to understanding what's being emphasized and what he needs to do. Because of the second half of the year, I'll be honest with you, I'd be hard pressed to find an offensive lineman that's played as well as he

has since the bye week. Yeah, I think he's been awfully, awfully good here down the stretch. And as we've talked about a lot box tr on one side, Bolaga on the other, I think Brian Blagus should be in the running for for All Pro when those there's a real chance un Um and we'll we'll see what happens there. So I'm not taking anything away from Blaga season, but I think box tr is the one who's gone about a little bit quieter because he didn't get off to

a great start this year. If he keeps doing what he's doing, this Packers offense is in good shape. Yeah, the AP made that adjustment two or three years ago where the actual right tackle is what gets picked for the all protein, not just two left tackles. Yeah, he has a real shot at it. Yeah, all right, defensive side of the ball. Give me a big time guy

who needs to play big time football. It has to be Zadarius Smith right now, just because it isn't just about his pressures, which he led the league in this past year. You can go by ESPNS metric and go by Pro Football Focus. Everybody says nobody brushed with the quarterback more than Zadarius Smith did. But it's the way they're moving him around. It's how you can't really play for him at a specific spot. He can go down with his hand and the dirt is a three tech.

He can stand up and go between the A gap the B gap. He can rush from the outside I think it has led to that whole defensive front. Really, it's it's just been this Pandora's box that has opened for them. Kenny Clark has been more effective. Preston Smith, I think, is doing a really good job doing what he's asked to do. You're seeing Kyler Facto and Rashawn Gary step up the heart and soul. This defense right

now is a Darius Smith. They've known that since September when they put that c on his chest, and he has lived up to that every bit of the way. If the Packers are going to make a Super Bowl run, if this defense is can can continue to be on the streak of holding defense or offenses underneath twenty or fewer points, it has to be Zadarius Smith in the middle of that orbit. My guy in this category. I'm going with Preston Smith. Actually, and the reason I'll say

that for a couple of reasons. One, I think we're going to see these teams in the postseason makes some adjustments to how the Packers are moving Zadarius around and having him attack from some different angles and you know, maybe attack the a gaps here and there. I think because of adjustments, we're going to see an opposing offense make to that. I think Preston Smith needs to be

a bigger force off the edge. And I also that with because he's a guy, he's had a career year twelve sacks, best season that he's had in his five year NFL career, But the last month of the season he's been a little bit quieter. He hasn't necessarily kept up the pace of the high impact plays that he

was making earlier on. I think if Preston Smith gets back to, you know, maybe the guy that we saw in October and November, especially in October, I think when he was really dominant, I think if he gets back to that guy, combined with what sa Darius Smith is doing, this Packers defense has a lot going. Yeah, I agree, Mike. And the one thing that's nice about Preston and Sadarius to when he's outside that really has probably been the

biggest surprise for me. Maybe not so much with Preston, but both of those guys can defend the edge really well. There was a number of years there were Green Bay against the run. If if you know, it wasn't Clay Matthews getting home, they sometimes let stuff open on the outside. Packers have been really sure in being able to protect

to the sideline. The key and will probably bleed into what I'm talking about for the underrated defensive player is going to be what the Packers can do between the handshes you saw Blake Martinez being able to break the franchise record two three tackles and the coaches statistics. Uh, Dean Lowry. I think this run defense goes as as Dean goes a lot of times. Um, if they're able to close those gaps here, that is going to be so critical because from here on out it doesn't really

matter unless maybe it's Seattle. Uh. The Packers are gonna be facing really potent running offenses, versatile, dynamic, a multitude of different guys that can do things. You need Dean Lowry, they signed him an extension earlier before the season. Kenny

Clark has been playing really well. You need those guys to set the tone in the middle of the field because that is the area where I think a lot of these teams, knowing that you can't always stretch against Green Bay, you have to hit them north and south, They're gonna want to attack. Yeah, so is is Lowry. Yeah.

For the unsung here a part of it. Okay, I like I like that choice a lot because I agree with you when you look at when you look at these potential opponents in the playoffs, as you say, aside from Seattle, Packers are going to have to step up and stop the run like they did the final month of the season minus the first half in Detroit. They're gonna need to play that kind of run defense in the postseason. And I agree that Lowry is a big

key to it. The guy I'm gonna mention here as far as the lesser talked about who could play a really big role is Darnell Savage, the rookie safety. Because safeties are going to have opportunities to make plays. And taking nothing away from Adrian Amos, who is your assignment sure, your solid tackler, your big time communicator back there gets

everybody lined up in the right space. Darnell Savage is the guy with the speed, He's the guy with the physical dynamics in that back end of the Packers defense. I just think there's going to be there's gonna be that deep shot, whether it's a whether it's a deep post of you know, a deep over route towards the sideline where he's going to get an opportunity to to jump something and use that speed to make a play, and he's going to have to make it for two potentially,

you know, turn the tide here in a playoffs. It's a great point and it kind of ties into something I've been saying over this last week. I mean, and this is probably the thirtieth time I brought it up, but again, I think another reason why Brian Goodicuins deserves really significant attention and and praise and really should be on the front runner for these Executive Year Awards. This overhaul.

We can talk so much about Zadarius present Smith what they brought, but this overhaul of the secondary in the last two years, over the last two years exactly, it's it's really noteworthy because they've added a lot of speed, and they've added a lot of playmaking ability and and Darnell Savage encapsulates both of those things. He's a guy that if the Packers need him to, I mean, you can have him play stuff well what they used to

refer to his star the nickel cornerback spot. You can move him around, I mean, he can play in the box. He can play center field, and when he's healthy, I just think you've seen a guy that is really an incredibly future in this league. And and he is by far.

I mean the two guys I always go back to him, and it was what um Layton vander Esh from Dallas, the two guys that I think about over the last ten five ten years where we're talking about these high risers in the pre draft process, guys that were maybe second or third round process climbing the climbing climb right up. That doesn't always work out. Sometimes the hype train starts going a little too fast and it gets off the tracks.

And I think Vanderesh was the first guy that kind of opened my eyes with it that this guy can play and he deserved everything that he got. And Darnell Savage to be the first defensive back taken in this past year's draft out of Maryland after a late kind of resurgence in the in the draft process and after his pro day, I just think that this guy is special and he is the perfect compliment to Adrian Amos. Amos came in, he worked alongside Eddie Jackson, had the

success that they did in Chicago. I see the same type of potential with that back end now in green back. And as much as I see the potential for a play that Savage can make here in the playoffs, he also needs to stick with being assignment. Sure, we saw miss the tackle on the running play late in the first half against Detroit. Those are the kind of mistakes

that you know, the rookie. Not to say that you can make rookie mistakes in the playoffs, but they can happen, and uh, you know that those are the kinds of things that he needs that he needs to shore up to make sure those types of things don't happen. Because you look at Hah on the four teen NFC Championship. I mean it's those type of things. And you look at Damarius in in Arizona the following year when he was a rookie and overtime, big mistake and the Packers

got knocked out. So those are the kinds of things you gotta watch out. Yeah. The beautiful thing for him though he has Amos there. He's healthy, he's back in his normal spot. And the more that those four to work together with Kevin King thrown in there as well, I think the better that that group is going to

be here, especially being as young as they are. Yeah, all right, Well, on tomorrow's show, as we wrap up the week, we'll take a look at this wild card weekend here these four games obviously interesting contest too in the a f C Saturday too in the NFC on Sunday. We'll give our thoughts and see how we think maybe this is going to shake out, 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. You can subscribe to us like us on iTunes and other podcast services, and be sure to check out the Packers YouTube channel for all sorts of great video content for West I'm Mike. Thank you for tuning in. We'll see you next time.