#573 Packers Unscripted: Christmas clash

that you want from the family. I know for myself, just happy to have my health, happy to have a healthy family, and Mike, most importantly, I'm happy to have you absolutely well. We are certainly looking forward to getting into a new year as well during this holiday season

with everything that has brought. But there is some business to take care of here in the NFL, and it's Week sixteen Packers and Titans, Sunday night football under the lights at lambeau Field and West This is really an interesting Not very often this late in the season do you get two teams both with double digit victories from

different conferences going at it here. But we saw when this schedule came out in the spring, Packers Titans Week sixteen, a couple of nights after Christmas at lambeau Field, You're kind of like, well, these are the two teams that lost in the conference championship games the previous season, they were the conference runners up, and uh, sure enough, here we are. This is a pretty big ball game. Yeah, that might have been the first thing that came to

mind for you, Mike. The first thing that came to mind for me was why the heck are the Packers playing the Titans in Week sixteen? Like, what is the

point of this? But as I joked about an insider inbox, so the fact that this game was not moved out of the Sunday night football time slot tells you everything you need to know about the fact that this is once again two teams that made it to the final four last year and have stayed right at the cream of the crop in their respective conference this season and

to be able to make another run at this thing. Certainly, the storyline there of Matt Laflour being the former offensive coordinator for Mike Vrabel and Tennessee Uh has been something

that you know this week. Lafleur has been very complementary of that season that he spent there and also complimentary of the time that he was able to learn from Rabel a little bit before moving on to his own head coaching post, And from Rabel's perspective, it's he's a young man in the coaching profession, only forty five, but already developing a coaching tree. Both of these teams have been very successful this season, but if you look at the way they've done it, very different in their paths

to how they've gotten to this point. Yeah, I think both. I think from the outside, you know, fans, analysts, pundits are looking at this game as saying, Okay, which one of these teams is going to make a statement so to speak on Sunday Night that you know they're ready for the playoffs, They're going to be playoff tested all of that. Personally, I think both of these teams are Super Bowl contenders. Regardless of what happens on Sunday Night.

There is going to be a perception though with with regard to the result of this game, how the game looks, how it unfolds, as far as what a lot of people are going to think about these teams heading into January, don't you think it does? And I think, especially from the Tennessee Titans point of view, now that they're still in a competition with the Colts trying to win that

division title. Certainly get a home playoff game to start this thing off in a very tightly contested a f C race right now, even though Pittsburgh's fallen off, you still have Kansas City up there. You can't really take any of these games for granted. If you're the Titans on the NFC side of things, Green Bay, it's pretty

cut and dry for them at this point. As I keep saying over and over again, they're one thirty two minute flight away, uh, you know, going to Chicago away from being able to to run this thing all the way to the Super Bowl at lambeau Field if they're

able to keep winning. So that's a massive advantage. But but like I mentioned earlier, I mean the fact that both of these teams, whether it was the Derrick hun Henry rushing offense, uh, paired with the play action game that Tennessee runs, a defense that well has given up a lot of yards, has been very opportunistic in their ability to take the football away, which has contributed to the Titans being tied for the league lead right now and turnover differential at plus twelve and then you can

firstly or that with Green Bay that can run, can pass, can own time of possession and has been really efficient at getting on the scoreboard right away. I mean they're in a historic streak, Mike. We haven't really talked about it that much, but they're opening possessions scoring I think now ten or eleven of them to this point. They've been able to set the temple in these games, and I think a lot of times that's really dictated where

things have gone in the three quarters after that. Yeah, absolutely, And as we get into before we get into some more of those details about the Keys to Victory, I will take care of our sponsored business here during the holiday season. Serious XM NFL Radio Channel eight is the only radio outlet dedicated to the National Football League seven days a week, three hundred sixty five days a year, and Packers fans score up to five dollars for your devotion to the pack when you open a Packers checking

account from Associated Bank. Learn more at Associated bank dot com. Backslash Packers well West Keys to Victory here. Maybe we'll start in reverse because there's been so much talk obviously about Derrick Henry coming into lambeau Field He's the reigning rushing champion in the NFL, having won the rushing title in twenty nineteen. He is nearly two hundred yards ahead of anybody else in the NFL in going for back

to back rushing crowns. Here, so a lot of focus on the Packers defense and what it's going to take to contain Derrick Henry, and not just Henry, but this entire Titans offense, which has been pretty darn explosive both in the run and the past. How do you see this matchup for Green Bay's defense? One thing that I look at with this matchup, Mike is going to be Derrick Henry, but not just him as a ball carrier,

him as an overall football player. And the fact that if you look at how the Tennessee Titans have performed this season, there has only been four games where he has not touched the ball more than twenty times, and in those games they are one in three this season. He and and it's not just a direct, you know, reflection of what he does when he does have the football.

It also shows you how if he does get doesn't get normal amount of carries that he usually gets, it is going to take them out of their offensive rhythm. Everything is predicated on establishing the run early and building the play action passing game off of that. Late Corey Davis A. J. Brown to the top young receivers in this league deep ball threats. They pair up very nicely with the constant threat that Henry provides in that backfield.

But from Green Bay's defensive standpoint, I think it comes down to early on making him work for those yards. It's going to be almost nearly impossible to keep him underneath fifty sixty yards. It's only happened I think twice this season that he's been under seventy. He's going to get his production, But how many times does he have to carry that ball in order to do it. The more times he carries it, the fewer yards that he's able to mass off of it. That's what can disrupt

the Titans. And that's where the Packers have to win this ball game, because you know, at the end of the day, the breakdowns type of you know, the explosive place, that's where they're gonna want to challenge you. So if you're able to curtails some of that early momentum, I think that's going to really be what helps push this

thing in the Packers favor. Yeah. I mean we talked sometimes about, Okay, is there a magic number to hold a big running back to We've had fans ask us an insider in box welcome the Packers hold them under a hundred yards, And I don't know if there's a magic number in that respect. I don't think the Packers have to hold Derrick Henry under a hundred yards in order to win this game. But I'm with the US. I think it is about how many carries is it

going to take him to get that production? And so maybe it's the it's the yards per carry, it's that per carry. The average might be the key statistic in this game. You look at the Packers run defense. We've talked about, how ever, since right off the bat in that Chicago game a month ago, when David Montgomery ripped off that fifty seven yard run, we've talked about how the Packers run defense has vastly improved since then. They've

only allowed since that fifty seven yard run. Over the last four games, they've only allowed two hundred and sixty eight rushing yards. I believe is the number, and the yards per carry is right at four point zero. I think if the Packers run defense can actually limit Derrick Henry to four point zero, I think that would be a big win for the Packers. That you know, that means, Okay, if he's gonna get a hunter and twenty yards, it's gonna take him thirty carries to get there. That goes

along with the point you were just making. I think it's numbers like that that might mean more than what that final whatever the rushing total is going to be for him at the end of this game. And not wearing down They're going to challenge you early on with Henry, He's going to be just running up the gut and he's going to try to wear down that defense and

that defensive front seven. It's being up to that task where Green Bay needs to really rise to the occasion and keep themselves their feet underneath them for four quarters and not allowed him to break into the second level of this defense. Like, the huge part of this I don't think a lot of people have talked about is when you have a running back like Henry, it's the mental side that he yet he challenges you, not just the physical side, because you know exactly what you're facing.

You can watch the film all week. These are professional athletes. They're gonna see what he presents. It's mentally being up to that challenge of wanting to stop him. And I was listening to Kenny Clark and you can kind of hear the excitement in his voice about where this run defense is at and this being the perfect time to get a test like Derrick Henry. Dean Lowry, a guy that I think earlier this season was kind of off to a slow start. Kenny even talked about it. There's

been something different about Dean the last few weeks. He hasn't been thinking as much. He's been playing more instinctively. And that reminds me a lot of that Dean Lowry that finished the seventeen season as strong as he did, and the Dean Lowry that really brought it for sixteen games in two thousand and eighteen. When those two guys are working in chemistry. Mike Rabel even went out of his way to talk about how fundamentally sound those guys are.

When they're filling their gaps, everything becomes a lot easier for everybody else around them. You need to get the rotation going, no question about it. You can't have them playing of the snaps in a game like this, but that is going to be the first defense that the

Titans are gonna see on Sunday. And if they can hold up, if they can force a three and out or a punt early on, that's where the Titans can start to doubt themselves a little bit, and maybe, just maybe Green Bay can sees the momentum of this thing and reduce those amount of offensive touches that that Derrick Henry is gonna see. Yeah. Well, if there are two things that we've heard repeatedly from the Packers side this week and discussing Derrick Henry, One is the concept of

gang tackling. It's about getting a lot of different helmets to the football because here, this is the bottom line West, If only one guy is going to beat his block on a running play and be the lone guy with a chance to tackle Derrick Henry and end the play, Derrick Henry is gonna win that battle. More often than not. It's gonna be it's gonna be incumbent upon two and three and four guys to beat their block, to beat their guy on a number of plays and to get

those multiple hats to the football. The other thing is about taking the proper angle on Derrick Henry because he's deceptively fast. He's a big guy, and you don't think he's got this beat of say like an Eric Dickerson from back in the you know, a long legged, bigger guy. But when Eric Dickerson was in the open field man he could really go. And Derrick Henry is the same way. It's hard to take the proper angle because of that deception.

For me, this for this Packers defense, I think what we've seen here over the last two seasons is these big games come down to the Packers defense being able to make one or two key stops throughout the course of the game. The big one, obviously against Carolina was Chris Barnes slapping the ball out at the goal line on the quarterback sneak. That was the play defensively that completely changed the complexion of the game. Now, would it will it have to be something that dramatic against Tennessee.

Not necessarily, but it's about, you know, maybe you're gonna have one of those third and two's where everybody knows Derrick Henry is getting the ball and the Packers rise up and get the stop. Maybe it's going to be in the fourth quarter, you know, a key third and seven or third and eight, Just one of those key moment type series where the Packers win the battle and get off the field and get the ball back to Aaron Rodgers. I think that's what this game could come

down to. Yeah, and the other aspect of that that you have to look back on that Carolina game. I know the third quarter did not go how the Packers wanted it to go, but after that takeaway, in the fact the Packers were able to generate a touchdown off of it at three. As much as there was some adversity of Green Bay had to face in the second half, it never really felt like the game was in jeopardy for them, at least on the defensive side of the ball.

They just were able to find those answers and just they seem to have a little bit of swagger there after they got that key takeaway and being able to do their d Train celebration in the end zone and whatnot. That was a big moment I felt, not only in that game, but something that can really launch them forward here because you're seeing I talked about Laurie and Clark, but You're seeing a lot of guys start to really

amp up here during this final stretch. Preston Smith has had a number of sacks the last few weeks after quiet first half of the season. Adrian Amos is playing everywhere in this defense. Had three pass deflection in that game. Uh, Darnell Savage looks a lot more comfortable in the back end. And you don't need me to go into exactly everything that goes into why JayR Alexander has been the player

he's been this season. So with Chris Barnes being able to shake through and appears that eye injury is not an issue. He was a full participant in practice this week, He's able to be on the field as a key communicator and able to rotate those inside backers. I just think that they have the horses to be able to

stop Henry. The challenge is going to be if he does break one early, and I'm not saying it has to be a seventy five yard could be twenty yards, being able to come back the next play and understand that you need to be able to get back to where you're at, because that's naturally just something that could

happen when you're facing someone of Henry's caliber. Yeah, absolutely, So many times, defensive football is about responding to the explosive play against you and either rising up and forcing a field goal or even after an explosive play, getting a stop and getting the ball back. Those those are the momentum shifts that really matter on the offensive side for Green Bay. You know, we talked about it West.

This Packers team has made a pretty good habit. Now, they fell short last week, but they made a pretty good habit of scoring thirty plus points per game this season ten out of fourteen games. And this is this is the statistic that sticks with me, is that the Packers have only lost once this season when they've scored thirty plus points and that was in an overtime game

in Indianapolis when that occurred. So, you know, Aaron Rodgers, he's going to be taking the field here with you know, another one of those m VP candidate type guys on the other side in Derrick Henry. And this is the Titans defense that has struggled, particularly against the past, particularly with the big play and with allowing a lot of points in in some games. I think the Packers offense really needs to to rise to that occasion this year,

it does need to be complimentary football. If the defense does get the stop, the offense has got to respond and put points on the board. And uh and I just I think that thirty plus number is really going to be key for Green Bay in this game Sunday night. The defense pick ed up this team last week to be able to close out that a point victory the way they did. But this week, the offense needs to be the ones that that really stand up to this because the defense is going to be in for a

long night. That's just the way it is. I don't care if your ranked number one or your ranked number thirty two, The Titans are going to stress you out so offensively. You look at these numbers that they're going to be facing. The Titans are twenty seven in total yards, they are twenty nine against the past, They are dead last in third down defense, and they are thirtieth in

red zone defense. What does that tell you? You You need to be able to move the football, take advantage of explosive plays, and once you do get in the gold zone, you need to be able to get the gold You have to be able to turn that into points. Have to be able to turn that into touchdowns. That opportunity is going to be there. And I keep mentioning this point, but you know, Davante Adams in weeks in which he has been quiet more often than not, particularly this season,

he has bounced back with a big game. I think Davante Adams, Aaron Jones, Robert Tonyan, I think all of the classics here for Aaron Rodgers need to be in play. And when it all boils down to it, the guy that very well could be the National Football League m VP in a couple of weeks, he needs to be at his absolute zenith. This is going to be a challenge.

There are going to be momentum swings. There's gonna be times where the Packers are moving the ball at will, and there's gonna be times where they need to respond to that adversity and make sure that if you do have a three not you bounce right back and you find a way to get back downfield. I think long drives, time of possession, and more than anything else, ball security is going to be the pre eminent emphasis in this

matchup in order to win against the Titans. Yeah, it's interesting A lot of people talk about this, this type of game as as a playoff tune up because of the caliber of opponent you're playing. In some ways, it's almost like mentally it's more important to have that playoff

tune up. And what I mean by that is what you just said about momentum swings and handling those, because playoff games are all about the momentum going back and forth and who can respond in the key moments, who who who can stem the tide when things are going wrong, who can seize the momentum when things are going right. Playoff games always have that kind of feel to them, and perhaps this game on Sunday night will have that

kind of feel as well. Yeah, and if there's an opportunity for special teams, you know, with Tavon Austin getting more comfortable on punt returns, or even if it's j K Scott having a timely punt, they just need different areas to kind of be able to pick themselves up. Because when you're facing a ten win team that does have Super Bowl aspirations, that was one game away from it last year and returned most of those players, you have to be able to to find different guys that

are going to step up. As I mentioned, Rogers is the key, He's the kingpin. He's the guy that has to be able to bring it. But it's going to be the the Alan Lazard. It's catching a twenty two yard cross, or Mason Crosby making a fifty one yard field goal, or even Chris Barnes finding a way to get a deflection at the goal line, and undrafted rookie with a big momentum turning play. All of those reasons are why they won a week ago, and they need

more of those type of moments in this game against Tennessee. Yeah. Well, as far as the playoff pictures concerned, I'll repeat where the scenario stands. As we had talked about on our last show. The Seattle Seahawks will face the Los Angeles Rams late Sunday afternoon, and if the Rams are able to knock off the Seahawks, then the Packers will take the field on Sunday night with a chance to clinch

the number one seed in the NFC. If the Seahawks beat the Rams, the Packers will not be able to clinch on Sunday night, and the number one seed will come down to all the activity amongst several teams in week seventeen. So with that in mind, West, I just want to get your thoughts on this one other game that is obviously very important in the Packers playoff picture, the Rams and the Seahawks. Seattle is one game up

on the Rams in the NFC West. The Rams took that surprise loss to the previously winless New York Jets the previous week. The Seahawks had actually had a game very similar to the Packers against the Panthers. The Seahawks were playing Washington, had a big lead, I believe it was twenty two three. They were facing a young backup quarterback in Dwayne Haskins and had to hold off Washington

down the stretch to to squeak one out. How do you see with what these teams are coming off of and where they are, how do you see the Seattle l A matchup l A last week could not have gone any worse. You come off, you get off to a slow start against a previously winless Jets team. They came back a little bit in the second half, but didn't have enough gas left in the tank to be

able to come back and win that game. But we talked so often about Matt Lafleur, the fact the Packers have yet to lose back to back games underneath his leadership. The l A Rams this year have yet to lose back to back games, and one of those bounced back

performances after a loss against Miami was the Seattle Seahawks. Now, it's a different game going into whatever the name of their stadium is now these days, it changes every other week, but Seattle is difficult to be at the stadium formerly known as Century Link and is not going to be

easy any time that you walk into that stadium. But again, seeing that defense with again at who likely will end up being the defensive player of the year and Aaron Donald seeing what they can do to generate pressure on Russell Wilson, I feel like you're going to see a big bounce pack performance from the Rams. Now will it

be enough to win? The Seahawks are pretty darn good to seven Pro Bowlers that they're sending to a virtual game kind of, And this is gonna be one of those moments where I just I feel like with these NFC West matchups, any given week, any of these teams can beat each other regardless of the venue. But I do definitely think you're going to see a much better performance, the best put foot put forward by the l. A. Rams trying to bounce back from a demoralizing loss to

the Jets. Because you gotta remember, the l. A. Rams have a lot to prove here to trying to get back into the playoff hunt missing it a year ago. Yeah, absolutely, the Rams are trying to get back into the postseason and they and they still feel like they have a legitimate shot to win that division and and get a home game. We will certainly be watching that game late Sunday afternoon leading up to the kickoff of Packers and Titans on Sunday night. It should be a pretty good

Sunday of football. With that, we will call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team and of Sunday Night's big game. It'll all be for you on Packers dot com for West I Am Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody. Merry Christmas and happy Holidays. We will see you next time.