#505 Packers Unscripted: Sizing up Seattle

here and interestingly West. You look at these two teams, the Packers and the Seahawks, and there aren't a whole lot of similarities in how they play, but yet you look at their seasons and there are a lot of similarities and just how they figure out ways to win. I mean, that's the similarity between these two teams. But in terms of like the xs and os in the personnel, they are very few similarities. So it's just kind of

a strange matchup in that sense. It really is. But that's why I love it so much, because it's the NFL. I mean, there's so many different ways you can get from A to Z and and I think Seattle and Green Bay have both proved that. But you do mention some of the statistical parallels between the two. They tied for I think second or third in the NFL, third in the NFL. I think it was second in the NFC for the best turnover margin plus twelve on the season.

With how they ended things, they're both really strong red zone offensive teams. I think in some areas they've you know, I think they're right next to each other and run defense in the twenties. I mean, it's just there's been a lot of different things that they both seems to

do relatively similar. Now, all that being said, you can throw that out the window once they step on the field, But seeing you know which team ends up on the positive side of the turnover battle, which team controls the time of possession, which team defends the run better than the other. These are all the little tiny boxes that you check off and route to figuring out who the better team is and who's going to advance to the

NFC Championship. And then when you just throw in the fact that outside of teams in the NFC North, they know each other as well as anybody in the NFL for non divisional opponents, They've seen each other every season for the last six years. I haven't seen members of my family for the last six years, So I mean, just to see how this is kind of laid out

and played out. Uh, you don't really get the matchups with Ben Roethlisberger and Tom Brady and obviously when Peyton Manning was playing as much as I'm sure fans would like. But they've seen Russell Wilson year after year, and you know, seeing him match wits with Matt Lafleur and Aaron Rodgers. Those those are fun things to be able to dissect

and really look into. But I think another interesting aspect of this You mentioned the familiarity and how many times these teams have played one another regular season and post season over the last six or seven years. But yet the two thousand nineteen vers to these teams don't really look like the teams that we've seen in years past, because, yes, you have Russell Wilson, you have Aaron Rodgers, but Matt Lafleur is the new head coach in Green Bay. The

Packers have a lot of new personnel on defense. The Seahawks,

the legion of boom is no longer there. In the secondary, we talked about how their top running backs have been injured and they've been, you know, filling in guys who don't have at the same level of experience in uh that offense, so as familiar as they are with one another over the over the long haul, over the course of time, these two teams, the two thousand nineteen Packers in the two thousand nineteen Seahawks are very different even from the two that met in November on that Thursday

night game in Seattle, just over a year ago. Yeah. And one of the thing I want to be able to use off of that pivot too, is when you look at the roster construction, I think one area where the Packers have kind of caught up to Seattle. In one area I thought, I tipped my my captain, John Snyder. I thought they did a tremendous job with this was augmenting their roster with veteran players, leadership, and obviously production

on the field. John Snyder has been doing a tremendous job of that going back for the last decade now Green Bay and a lot of times would end up being maybe caught with the undrafted rookie in a certain position that maybe he wasn't quite ready for or having to you know place you know, fill out their special teams units with guys that maybe don't have a lot of experience with the way that they built this team this year, you see the Marcedes Lewis is and you know,

being able to you know, find guys like Ibraheim Campbell, Tyler Irvin who was a fourth year proh put them onto your team and and not have them with this you know, deer in the headlights kind of look. Not only does that allow you to to put guys that are you know, have been in those situations before on the offense and a defenseiveside the ball, I think it's

also allowed your your tie summers of the world. You know, a rookie that's played on all the core special teams all season, he's ready for these moments in the areas in which he has been asked to play the entire season. That's one thing I've always been impressed with Seattle about is I just feel like in all three phases they play to their personnel and you're not going to catch them being unprepared. Not saying that the Packers weren't. But I just think there's a lot of veteran leadership there

that has helped Seattle through this run. And now when you look at Green Bay, when you talk about the difference to what that roster looked like last November to what they are here in January two twenty, that's what stands out to me. They added not only those four free agents, but then you look at the Jared Valdiers, the Ryan Grants, even though he hasn't been asked to play yet. All these guys have a lot of pelts on the wall at this point, and if they get

called upon, they're going to be ready for it. So it's just an exciting time. It's an exciting week to be able to discuss this matchup and the latest permutation of this rivalry over the last decade. Yeah. Well, and it seems as though with these two teams you sort of get the latest permutation of the team on a week to week basis. And what I mean by that you look at the Seattle Seahawks. We talked all season long about how the Packers keep finding different ways to win.

They make some key plays in the worth quarter. Maybe it's on defense with an interception. Maybe it's on offense with a big third down conversion. Maybe it's a big punt on special teams that flips the field. Those are the ways in the fourth quarter of the Packers of won games. You look, you look at the Seahawks West. This is a team, a defense that in sixteen regular season games, had twenty eight sacks, not even two per

game over the course of the regular season. So what do they do in the wild card game in Philadelphia? They sack Carson Wentz and Josh McCown a combined seven times cent of their sack production of the entire season. They get it in one game in the playoffs when they got to have it on the road to stay alive. That's that's what has defined the Seahawks. That in some ways is what has defined the Packers. When we talk about you find a way to win, you do what it takes that day to chalk up the w and

move on. So a funny little side story to this, I have to put together the game program for all these Packer home games, which is just a joyous joy as venture for myself. But I was working with Alexei Kinnard, who is one of our production assistants here, and she was getting together the dope sheet that natela Cassio, Tom Fanning, all our wonderful people up in communications put together and in that is the in the league ranking section where they realist out the leaders on the team and all

these categories. And I'm looking at Seattle's and it's Jaren Reid with four sacks. Four s and I literally like, wait, double check that that can't be right. It can't be four sacks because I thought Jadave and Clowney maybe had more. He only had three. So like they just for whatever reason this year, and I think it probably goes back to what you were saying yesterday, where it isn't quite the dominant defensive yesteryear, but they have good personnel and

they played to it. Ken Norton Jr. Has been a guy that has been there for many years now. He understands what Pete Carroll's looking for, and they understand the strengths of that defense. It just so happens that for whatever reason, the big pressure statistic this year wasn't something that Seattle really thrived in. Yeah, it's it's it's interesting how that played out. I want to get back to that in a second, but I need to take care of some sponsor business. Select Cousin Subs locations are now

offering delivery. Whether you're ordering catering or your favorite sub, They're delivering right to you when you order online at Cousin Subs dot com. Cousin Subs we believe in better. Yeah, it's interesting the way the way this season has evolved because I don't think I don't think this particular version of the Seattle defense has um something that is their

trademark to speak. And I think in a lot of ways this Packers offense with the first season of Matt Lafleur and everybody getting adjusted to the new system and and Aaron Rodgers working his way through the playbook and all the processing that he does at the line of scrimmage, I don't know if this Packers offense necessarily has a trademark in year one of la Fleur system, but by the same token when you get when you get into

the postseason. We heard Matt Lafleur and Aaron Rodgers talking last week about the bye week, the self scout process, finding what you do best, and maybe cutting back on some of the different concepts and segments of the playbook that you study it and they didn't go as well as you had hoped, And so you pair things down a little bit, and you have to believe the Seahawks defensively when you look at their numbers, you know, twenty twenty second and twenty six in the league one or

the other in terms of yards allowed, points a lot on the season. I mentioned the low sack total. They haven't been very good in the red zone relative to

the rest of the league. But you know, with Pete Carroll and the way he coaches defense, and as long as he's been doing this and as successful as he's been, he's gonna put the best defense he can out there in terms of this is what we've done well this year, and so this is this is what we're going to ride uh and try to make it work against whatever opponent. That's the sense that I get in terms of how you go about it when over the course of the

regular season you weren't some highly ranked Juggernauts. Absolutely, and I want to address that, But first off, I need to give mysel up a correction, because we're all about accuracy here on Unscripted. It was Reshime Green that led them in Sex, not Jared Reid. He only had two and a half. Green had four. Yeah, and I actually really enjoyed, you know, Pete Carroll spoke to They haven't really had much of media availability yet this week, but he spoke to their reporters on Monday, and I thought

he made two really great points. The first one was Green Bay is as difficult as any place in the NFL to play, especially this time of the year. And I mean the record bears it out there. Oh and three going into this at least under Pete Carroll trying to you know, turn that around from their perspective. But the other thing, when you look at the way he's going to have this team ready. He said, we are going to be as ready as we can be for

this matchup and what it's going to take. And I think when you look, you know, with what Pete Carroll has done, it always felt like he's an underrated coach. I know that sounds weird because he won a Super Bowl and he's been there for a decade now, but when you just look at the entire gamut of what he did at the college level and the pro level, you go back and watch some of those clips of him as an assistant coach in places in the early nine ease. I mean, this guy's been doing it for

a long time. He's a master motivator and he also understands his personnel to the tiniest of details, and that is I think what has allowed them to create winning game plans, especially this time of the year. It's what has allowed them to get on some runs. So, yeah, when you look at all the statistics, it doesn't look tremendous for Seattle, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, but they find ways to win. Last week was a great example of it on offense, where you know they

had seventeen carries from the backfield for nineteen yards. Well, they got their receivers going. There's been times when you look at Hollister this year, who's what the third or fourth tight end that's been up for them. Luke Wilson didn't even start the season with them before returning, and now he's the quote unquote starter. They find ways to win.

And when you have a team that has been beat up and banged up and has had to weather injuries throughout the course of the season, they've been able to to maneuver the maneuver those pieces around. Then again going back to John Snyder, Quandre Diggs gets added mid season. You heard all the things in Detroit, how much of a loss that was for them. That was a very emotional transaction for them to lose him, and he goes to Seattle and has helped be a fixture, and that's

that defense. So all these things add together that it doesn't matter what the full season says at this point, it's what did you look like in your last matchup. That's the only thing that you can really go off of. I think when you try to predict, if you even can, how these postseason matchups are going to play out. Yeah, I mean, I think there's an argument to be made.

And I know Pete Carroll is a coach that a lot of Packers fans despised, and you know they don't like all the TV shots of him chewing his gum and cheering and pumping his fists and all that kind of stuff. I get it, trust me, I get it. But I think there's an argument to be made when you look at all the injuries the Seahawks have dealt

with this year. They've had, They've been banged up on the offensive line over the last couple of years, they've completely replaced that legion of boom secondary, they've had all the injuries that they've had at running back throughout the

course of the year, some key positions. On top of the fact that San Francisco was a rising, highly competitive team obviously this year, and that division also included the Los Angeles Rams, the defending NFC champions who went to the Super Bowl, and yet this Seahawks team came an inch away from winning the division championship in the NFC West.

I think there's an argument to be made that, regardless of what happens from here on out with the Seahawks, this might be Pete Carroll's best coaching job that that he's done there. And that's saying a lot for a guy who's gone to two Super Bowls and all sorts

of playoff appearances and whatnot. But we talked about this in some respects, you know, in other years with Mike McCarthy, where when there's so much to have to overcome to create a successful season and to get where you are, those are sometimes the ones that become the best coaching jobs, not necessarily the the championship season that everybody remembers. Yeah, and and there's a couple of those things that jump

out to you, certainly with McCarthy. I think you always look at thirteen and how they kept themselves in it and fifteen how they were able to pull through despite the litany of injuries they dealt with. But from Pete Carroll's perspective, it isn't just how he managed this team, it's how him and that whole organization has kept them afloat. I mean, you look at it, Mike. They had to stare themselves in the mirror for a long time for

a couple of seasons. Now, they didn't fall in those kind of dulg rooms that the Saints did, and even to some extent the Packers did with these you know, six and nine and one seven and nine type seasons. But you remember Earl Thomas being carted off the field and the questions with with Richard Sherman. And it wasn't just that the legion of boom Era ended. It was how it ended and what they had to do to

keep their ship afloat. And they did that and they've been able to create I think, not that there was anything wrong with the past culture that was their identity, but they forged a new one now with this current makeup, in this current group. And then you bring in the Marshawn Lynches of the world. You know, I know they were saying they want to get Lynch going more. But

you and I have been talking since the beginning. I mean, just the the idea of him reinserting himself off into that locker room and what that could do, not only for the veterans that are still there, but some of these young guys that have looked up to him. I mean, those are important voices to have. It's not always just about having a hundred forty yards rushing, although I'm sure

the Seattle Seahawks would willingly take it. It's about what those guys can do to formulate a culture, chemistry and make themselves believe. I think that's what Seattle has done. They believe. It's on the Packers now going into this matchup on Sunday, to say, you know what, we're the healthier team, statistically, we're the better team, were the more complete team, and we're going to be the team advancing

to the NFC title game. What do you make of Pete Carroll's assertion earlier this week, he made it pretty clear that he wants to get Marshawn Lynch more involved. He wants to feed him the ball more. Now we've seen his limited involvement in the two games that he's been back, but Lynch does have a rushing touchdown in each of those games, against San Francisco in Week seventeen

and then against Philadelphia in the wild card game. We also saw the rookie running back Homer fumble on his first postseason carry against the Eagles last week, which the Seahawks fortunately were able to recover. I think that through a little bit of a scare into um maybe what they were planning to do in some respects against the against the Eagles. That's just speculation on my part, but

I'm just curious what your thoughts are on. When we hear from Pete Carroll like, Yeah, we want to get Lynch the ball more, we want to we want to ramp this up more. It's almost as though he's saying, we want to try to get back to that Seahawks postseason team that we've been in the past. Yet, of course Pete Carroll is as aware as anyone that this is not the same team. That he's had in the past, like we've been talking about. Yeah, so what I when I heard those words, And I've watched both of these

these last couple of games. I watched the San Francisco game too. Yeah, what stands out to me? What I kept thinking the back of my mind is what Buffalo went through this year. Uh. Now, don't get me wrong, Singletary is a much more accomplished, higher highly touted pick here than what Homer was. But they also had Frank Gore. Frank Gore is steady, Eddie. He is the veteran. He's seen every situation and when you give him the ball,

you know he's gonna be, you know, smart with it. Singletary, though, has the bigger threat of the home run. That's the question I think that they need to answer right now with how they want to use Travis Homer and how they want to actually go on about incorporating Marshawn Lynch. And I think a lot of that is dependent on game situations. If it's me, you know, Homer was a

draft pick of their's. Obviously we've talked about all these other guys that have come through for them, But I mean, this is a guy that they felt good about going back earlier to the summer, and even though he didn't get his opportunity right away, there was obviously something that they liked in him, and he's younger. I see that guy is the guy that if I'm the coach, I want to get him out there early. And depending on what that game looks like a halftime, that's when the

Marshawn Lynch Show begins. Because you just know he's gonna be smart with the football. He's going to be consistent because, as you said, you know you don't want to speculate, but I think it isn't even that big of a speculation. When you have an unproven young running back and they put the ball on the ground, there's gonna be questions there. There's gonna be some uncertainty, and at the very least

with Lynch, you know what you're getting. Now. All that being said, I have to give credit where credits due Marshawn Lynch. Even though the yards per carry aren't exactly what I think everyone probably wants them to be so far his goal line dive, I was really impressed with

the vertical he got on that. I was not anticipating that from a thirty three thirty four year old running back, and even some of the small things he's done well, the way the way he powered that one in inside the five against the Eagles last week, that was an

impressive run. That was the beast mode power run. Uh, you know, in a short yardage type situation that that you're used to seeing and and maybe maybe it was seeing that that that's prompted Pete Carroll to say, Okay, maybe maybe Marshawn has his he has his legs back under him again, Let's let's maybe see if we can

ride this guy a little bit. I just think the fact that Pete Carroll put that out there, and the fact that if there is anybody in you know, in the NFC divisional round who's going to have fresh legs, so to speak, it's a guy like Lynch, even though he is the age that he is, but he didn't play. He's only playing in his third game and essentially the last year and a half. Yeah, and I'll say this too.

I mean, if you're gonna have to turn to Marshall Lynch at this juncture the season, I actually would prefer what ended up happening with them where they basically signed him off the street as opposed to him being on the rostrail year and taking those hits. I mean Aaron Jones, a conversation I had with him two weeks ago really changed my mindset and all that. I mean, yeah, there is something to be said for being in a groove and feeling momentum and you know, being in football shape.

There also is something too with your body being healthy in January and the benefit of not having all that wear and tear on it. So I'm not saying that the Seahawks have like tapped into something. We're gonna see he become common where all these veterans just come back for posting speculation about the Patriots and ground and everything if they were going to bring him back and then that didn't work out. But yes, go ahead, but you

know all these things that you factor into it. It's just it's gonna be a really interesting situation for the Seahawks because I think, no matter if it's Bailey, I said, Homer Bailey there for a second, Travis Homer, whether it's Homer, whether or not it's Marshawn Lynch, the Seahawk if they feel like they're gonna have a chance in this game, they're gonna have to get the run game going more

than they did last week. For as much as people want to make about the Packers and oh are they are they really a thirteen three team, They're not going to allow Russell Wilson to have the game he did against Philly. If Seattle does even threaten to consistently run the ball at their backfield, that's gonna be a recipe first disaster when you look at Sadarius Smith, Preston Smith, and the rest of those guys for green Bay. That

is my blueprint though right now. It's being able to make sure that you contain Russell Wilson and you can contain that running game, because if you do that, that's what makes those downfield shots a DK metcalf more difficult to do. And it's going to be what allows, you know, Tyler Lockett not to be able to get into the rhythm that he has against some of these teams this year. Yeah,

I would agree with you. Well, We've got plenty more to talk about here as the week continues with this playoff game approaching, 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 there's all kinds of great video content out there on the Packards YouTube channel for West. I'm Mike. Thanks for tuning in everybody. We'll

see you next time. H