Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Packers dot Com. I and Mike Spofford, joined as always by my trusted colleague Weston Hodkoits for coming to you here from socially distant locations at lambeau Field and west We now know that the NFC Divisional playoff game at lambeau Field will be the Packers against the Los Angeles Rams, Saturday, three pm Central Time kickoff in the Rams, the number six seed in the NFC, got to this stage by knocking off the Seahawks in Seattle, and they did it
with defense, and they did it with navigating some difficult injury situations as well. They really did Mike in this game, I thought, really taught you exactly what the Los Angeles Rams are all about. Sean McVeigh is a fantastic NFL coach. He's a brilliant offensive line. But the Rams have had to win with their defense this year, and that was another example of how dominating l A can be when
they have to. Aaron Donald ended up suffering that rib cartilage injury, but you saw how impactfully was had, like back to back sacks on plays Jalen Ramsey their big acquisition a couple of years ago, one of the best shutdown cornerbacks in the league, you know, and then even Darius Williams too. I mean, they have all these guys that they can throw at you and really complicate things. And then on the other side of it, John Wolford goes down with the stinger. You have Jared Goff playing
twelve days after the thumb surgery. It needed to be cam Akers, and it was cam Akers, that Seattle defense. We talked about it all year, Mike, they really aren't the Seattle defensive. Old cam Akers made them pay for it. And even though you know it was one of those you know, rough and ready NFC self duels, this was our excuse me, NFC West duels. This was the type of game I thought where the Los Angeles Rams showed why they deserve to be a playoff team and why
exactly can't be a team that you sleep on. Yeah, it's interesting when you think just a few weeks ago, maybe a month ago, less than a month ago, this is a Rams team that lost to the New York Jets, and you just wonder, was that, you know, sort of the wake up call that they needed and they've been dealing with injuries, you know, with when Goff went down with the thumb, they weren't really sure, you know, how things were gonna go. They were going with Wolford as
the backup quarterback to start the playoff game. But he gets hit by Jamal Adams pretty early. Goff has to go in. He's got the you know, the pins in his thumb and all of that. He actually ends up completing less than fifty of his passes. But you said it. Cam Akers was the guy that Seattle Seahawks defense did not have an answer for him. His running the ball, catching passes out of the backfield, and then combined with that Rams defense, which even without Aaron Donald still really
controlled things in the second half. And then also of course in the first half, got that pick six by Darius Darius Williams. Did I say that right? Um? On the on the wide receiver screen. So um, this, uh, this really sets up Saturday afternoon at lambeau Field as as a whale of a matchup. And there are a number of storylines we can try to touch on here in the limited time we have. But you have the number one scoring offense in the league with the Packers
against the number one scoring defense in the league. In the Rams, you have the longtime connection, the friendship between Matt Lafleur and Sean McVeigh. They coached for four years together with Washington, then also for a year when McVeigh first got the job with the Ramsey hired Lafleur as as offensive coordinator. You have the Davante Adams versus Jalen Ramsey matchup on the perimeter. You have Aaron Donald against
Corey Lindsley and others on the end. Here, those are those four guys I just mentioned, all first team All pros in the NFL in I don't know where you want to start west, but go ahead, my friend. When you have the reigning defensive Player of the Year and Aaron Donald, a guy that you know, it's so funny when you go back and think about that draft six
seven years ago. They were worried about his size. Size doesn't matter, thirteen and a half sacks, size doesn't at or You'll just take those numbers every day of the week. One of maybe arguably pound for pound, the strongest players to ever put on NFL pads, and he's been a problem for teams all season long. But the other side of it, as you mentioned, this isn't one specific guy, it isn't one specific thing that makes them go. It's
a it's a sum of the whole for them. And I think when you look at this matchup for Green Bay, the Packers, top scoring offense in the league against the top scoring defense in the league, in terms of what they prevented this season, it really shows you what the NFL postseason is all about. I wrote about this an Insider Inbox this week. These are the eight best teams left in the National Football League, and they've all done it in different ways. You have McVeigh and you have
thea Fleur, who come from the same coaching tree. But you see how different their offenses look, how different their teams haven't been built, how differently they win games. But they both were still among the top and time of possession in the league this year. They both have been able to win at times with all three phases of this game. So I think when this game comes down to it, you're looking at probably a twenty degree night at lambeau Field, the atmosphere being able to have six
thousand fans back in attendance. That's where This game really tilts towards Green Bay's advantage, and it's the reason why Mike. Ever since Mike Vrabel said it, I'm going to continue to say it. Games in which the Packers protect the football, they win those games. This is a game that I think that's what it's gonna come down to. It doesn't matter what the health situation is of Donald, it doesn't matter what things are going on with Jared Goff's thumb.
The Packers need to protect the football and they need to use this atmosphere, this thing that they've owned, that they've earned, being able to get home field advantage at Lambeau Field, that has to be towards their benefit. Yeah it At this point, it doesn't sound like Mother Nature is going to make this one of these crazy January
games at Lambeau. It's sounding like a high temperature of around thirty degrees, but with a three thirty kickoff, you know by halftime the temperature will be starting to drop. I'm guessing it's going to be mostly in the twenties for the for the bulk of the games, So nothing, nothing crazy cold. We'll have to see if maybe there's a yeah, maybe we'll have to see maybe if there's a if there's a chance of snow. I did actually go back and check every single one of the Rams
games this year and what the kickoff temperature was. The Rams did not play a game with a kickoff temperature of less than sixty degrees until Week sixteen against Seattle it was forty five degrees. Then this past week in Seattle it was thirty nine degrees. Those are the two coldest games they played. The Packers this year have played seven games with the temperature at thirty eight degrees or less.
So that this is, as you said, this is what the Packers have earned, This is what they're built for. This is what they were born for, is to play playoff games at lambau Field in January, and they certainly hope that they can. They can take advantage of it. And you just wonder, from an injury standpoint, how close will Donald be to what will the Rams do at quarterback?
If Wolford is ready to go? Are they more comfortable with him than try to have a guy with a surgically repaired thumb in the cold trying to make passes. All of those kinds of things. Those are the storylines we're gonna be watching. Here is the week unfold. Well, the number one storyline to me on the offensive side of the ball is cam Akers because the Los Angeles Rams defense was excuse me, offense was different in the second half of the year when they committed to Acres
as they're back now, certainly Henderson, Malcolm Brown. They have a three headed approach. There in different guys that can handle it. They all know the offense, but Acres is the difference maker. He's the guy that they drafted. That's the guy they wanted to build this thing around after Todd Gurley was let go, and when he has been right, when he's been healthy, it's made an impact on everything.
Wolford is an interesting guy because I know so many people made a big deal about, well, he hasn't played in an NFL game before, he's not going to be able to do this when he had to go into that postseason matchup with Golf injured. But the thing is is that if you go back and look at it, he's had a lot of pelts on the wall. It hasn't been at the NFL level, but he's played a
lot of football. And Sean McVeigh has said all along that this is a guy that's really impressed him, and I think when push comes to shove, he can manage the offense. So if he's able to go, it would be interesting to see him get that nod. Conversely, Goff is gonna be one week better knowing what he has to do to compensate for that thumb. He said, it's not a It's still gonna be something he has to deal with, but it is fixed. I mean he got
it surgically repaired. Now the question is just getting the comfort back. If you watch that game last week, there are a couple of moments where you just sort of saw him shot put the ball, just not get his full throwing motion into it. He's going to be able to lean back on all those experiences if he does get the start here against green Bay and be able to make the adjustments. Jared Goff's a good enough quarterback.
He's gonna be able to do that. But you have to go back to the running game, and if green Bay can do what it's done for the better part of six weeks now, containing Acres or whoever the Rams throw at him, that's going to be the difference maker,
because then it changes the complexion of mcveigh's offense. Yeah. Absolutely, And you certainly feel much better about the way the Packers are defending the run al than they were at the tail end of last season where you were you were seeing the cracks in the in the defense and obviously it uh, you know, it bit the Packers in the postseason in San Francisco where they just could not
contain the running game. That's where I think on the defensive side of the ball, that's where the Packers are in so much better shape for this postseason than they were last postseason. As the way they're defending the run, and then on the offensive side of the ball, it's a it's about the balance and it's about the explosiveness. I mean, as I mentioned, this team has played a ton of cold weather games this year, yet it led the league in scoring at thirty one plus points per game.
I mean, in the snow against Tennessee, the Packers put up forty points. This is this is an offense that when it is balanced, when it has the running game, when it has the play action, you have Davantae Adams and Robert Tounyan. This this this offense is as good as it gets right now in the NFL, and you can't ask for a better matchup here than this offense against Eli's defense. No, and then also that the aspect
of Davante Adams versus Jalen Ramsey. We got a very small appetizer of that back in two thousand six team, which I think might have been Jalen Ramsey's first NFL game. He got a little bit of a taste of what it's like to match up with Adams before Davante Adams became the four time pro bowler that we know him to be now. And seeing where both of these guys have adapted, adjusted and grown in their game is really interesting to watch because they're both all pros now, they're
both top of their position. But the cat and mouse game that Lafleur tries to play with Adams is gonna be really interesting to watch. We saw him move around a little bit more of these last few weeks, being able to work him into the slot and those type of things, being able to really expand his his resume there, his repertoire, and and that's worked to Green Bay's advantage
in a lot of times. So you go back to what you do well this time of the year and for Green Bay, it's been a multifaceted running game approach, and it's by finding ways to get Davante Adams the ball. I think this game is very much the same in that way, and seeing exactly how Green Bay can adapt to what l A is giving them, Because it's going to be a strong defense, you know what's going to be.
You have to protect the football and when you do get opportunities, it's going to be imperative that green Bay capitalizes them and turns them into explosive plays. Yeah. Absolutely, Well, I do want to review a little bit of what else went on wild Card weekend. Super wild Card weekend in the NFL. But first serious x M. NFL radio channel is the only radio outlet dedicated to the National Football League seven days a week, sixty five days a year. Okay. On the other half of the NFC bracket, we have
an NFC South Showdown. New Orleans will be hosting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They will be meeting for the third time in The Saints won the first two meetings. The second of those was an absolute blowout thirty eight to three on National TV. Tom Brady and the Buccaneers, you talk, you talk, about an offense that is hot with the
Green Bay Packers, the Buccaneers and Tom Brady. That is an offense that since they had their by in week thirteen in a very late bye week, but since that by in week thirteen, nobody has really been able to slow down this Buccaneer's offense. And that includes a Washington defensive front that, regardless of Washington's record, that was a really really good defensive front and a passengers that really
had no impact on the Buccaneers offense. Tampa Bay controlled that game in the trenches and uh, you tip your you tip your hat to Taylor Heineck. My goodness, what an effort to keep Washington in that game. But Tampa
Bay was just too good. Yeah, first and foremost for a guy that was signed onto the practice squad, had been going for think for his engineering degree, had kind of been away from the game to come in in the middle of December on the practice squad and then end up playing in a in a postseason game with meaningful ramifications for Washington with everything they've had to weather this year, I mean, just the craziest of two thousands and twenties. Alex Smith coming back and being a great
story ron Rivera and his cancer battle. They've had to deal with so many different aspects of this thing. And for it to come down to Taylor Heineke, you got to give credit that this was even a ball game that being said. As cool of a story as Taylor Heinek was, as many interesting throws that he made in that game, the reason why Washington was in this position was their defense, and the defense just didn't show up. I mean, it just didn't have an answer for Tom Brady.
It wasn't able to pressure him. They kind of fell into this pattern where they were just sort of stuck. And for the Buccaneers why they're so dangerous, Yes, it is Brady. It's he makes a massive difference. He's protecting the ball better than Jameis Winston did and and the Buccaneers had a good defensive year ago and they've gotten
better this season. But it really comes down to the fact that Leonard for Nett ends up being called into action, the guy that they acquired in season, because now Ronald Jones was down in this game, it becomes down to Antonio Brown for as much as is people make the off the field situations, and we can debate that and
talk about and everything. He's on the Buccaneers roster and he made an impact in this game, and he's been a really good compliment to what they're doing with Mike Evans, who's been throwing, been playing through some injuries of his own. They are dynamic and they've found themselves now this game, this one coming up. I know we're not previewing, but the Buccaneers and the Saints, that's what this comes down to.
It's a division that has been powerful this year. It's two teams that I think have been at the top of the NFC heat and now they're going to score off with each other, with the best one being able to get to the NFC title game. Yea and Brady and Breeze. That's certainly one that that people will look forward to in the playoffs. We've seen it already twice in the regular season. Go in New Orleans way, We'll see about that whole You know, can you beat a
team three times in in one season? I don't know about you. I just don't take much out of the Saints wildcard victory at the Bears really didn't put up much of a fight. It felt like Chicago defensively was hanging in the game for quite a while. They were making some things difficult on Drew Brees and the Saints. But offensively, Chicago was just trying to protect mitzch Drubisky from making a mistake and you just you you can't
go out and win a playoff game that way. Um, So it felt inevitable in the second half that New Orleans would start to run away with it. That being said, I do think New Orleans has a really sound defense. I'm curious to see how that defense matches up with Brady and the Buccaneers a third time. But it's really hard to It's really hard to get a feel for just where the Saints are right now because frankly, they
didn't get that big of a challenge last weekend. Yeah, to me, it came down to the Saints kind of playing with their food a little bit. Uh. This game really shouldn't have been as close as it ended up being, especially in the first half. They just they weren't able to really find the rhythm. But once they did, I mean, the decision was at hand. For me, it came down to two things. The Bears stopped being able to run the ball. That was the reason they had the resurgence.
David Montgomery and in Green Bay kind of had a blueprint for that, for what they wanted to do to defend them and the Saints and how powerful their defense has been this season. Uh, they followed that to a t. They couldn't break anything on the ground and when it is put in Mitchell Robinski's hands, and I don't mean a dog on the guy. We've talked about him at nauseum, but it just wasn't gonna work out for the Bears.
So here they are. I mean now that the Saints took care of business there the number two seed, it was exactly what the two verse seven matchups should look like, and now are in the divisional round. So uh, it is one of those things where I think the Saints are gonna have to find themselves a little bit. You know, if Michael Thomas gets going again, you know Camara certainly you have the Taysom Hill factor. But it just kind of feels like they've been sort of you know, they've
had moments and they've had setbacks. Now can they get back into that offensive rhythm that everybody's known about and can they turn back of Tampa Bay defense that's been pretty darn good all season long. Well, on the a f C side of things, your two divisional round matchups will have the Kansas City Chiefs the top seed, hosting Cleveland,
and on the other side, Baltimore traveling to Buffalo. Both of those really interesting from the standpoint of Cleveland just puts up a boatload of points against the Pittsburgh Steelers to win the wild Card game, and then on the other side, Buffalo and Baltimore both playing getting pretty solid efforts.
I would say on both sides of the ball, I thought maybe if I were to pick one team out of all of the wild card participants over the weekend that looked the most impressive to me on both sides of the ball, I think I'd have to say Baltimore. They fell behind, tend to nothing, and then just completely dominated and controlled the Tennessee Titans the rest of the
way in that game. What it's impressed me about Baltimore this year is last year they had the m v P. Lamar Jackson was an enigma, no one knew how to defend him, and they won a lot of games on his shoulders. This year, it hasn't been that way. Teams have had a counter they've had a plan for Jackson, but over the course of the year, Baltimore has learned how to win, uh not in spite of him. He's still a very talented quarterback, but they've had to learn
how to win as a team again. And I think that's where when you look at the final stretch of the year, when you want to build to a crescendo, when you want to be able to be an impactful unit, that's where Baltimore is. And defensively, they've had some really strong performances. Obviously a big challenge with Derrick Henry there, but you know, being able to get Mark Andrew's going again and in their running game and those type of things.
I just feel like when you look at a three phase approach, Baltimore is heading the direction that they want to head in. And and obviously a huge win over a Tennessee team that looked good early on in that matchup, it just so happened that that the Ravens were kind
of able to outlast them. Yeah, there's a lot of bitterness between those two teams, I guess to put it mildly, and um, those uh there were a lot of a lot of bad blood you could say, on the field and uh in Nashville there, but Baltimore ends up getting the win and moving on and the Ravens now back to the stage they were last year where they flamed out in the division around as the one seed with
the by uh you know when Tennessee beat them. So now the Ravens are going to try to be the road Warriors to to make that run at a Super Bowl. One other topic that I want to get to here West before we sign off for today. Didn't get to it last week and that's my fault. But a big congratulations to go out to two of the best defensive backs to ever put on a Packers uniform. Charles Woodson and Leroy Butler were officially announced as finalists for Pro
Football Hall of Fame induction. The class one day will find out the night before the Super Bowl if they are going into Canton. And while I believe it's pretty much a given that Charles Woodson is going to get in in his first year of eligibility, we'll have to see what happens with Butler. He's he's in a tough spot, but he's gotten back to this finalist stage. Now he's been there before, and you know, if you can kind of keep getting on this role, however many years it takes.
I think Larroy doesn't really care. He just wants it to happen at some point, right. It's it's so funny. I even wrote this an inbox. I think I care more about Leroy being a modern era UH inductee into the Hall of Fame than he does. He said it time and time again, and all the interviews I've done with him, going back to my days at the Press Becausette. He just wants to get in. It doesn't matter to him which rope. But the realistic thing is Mike, because he has five more years to make it as a
modern era nominee. I want to see the Pro Football Hall of Fame voters do that give him that honor, because he deserves it. I was listening to to Ron Wolf on Mark Daniel's show on Monday night, and you know, Wolf said, when you go back to it, he said this before, but it always really rings true to me, is that when he was looking at that team and what they were accomplishing in nineties six and ninety seven, he thought about it. He's like, we have multiple Hall
of famers on this team. And he wasn't just talking about Brett Farvan, Reggie White. He was talking about Leroy Butler and on this on this medium, on unscripted. I've stated his case before, I've been angry before. I'm trying to take a new approach, at least until the votes come down next month, and saying that this is a
guy that deserves this honor. Again, the only guy first team offense or defense from the All Decade nineties team that is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, a team that was selected by the Pro Football Hall of Fame voters. I want to see them right that wrong. John Lynch also up for it, and Ronde Barber, a first time nominee, a guy that I think really should here have his case heard as well. It's not Lynch's fault, it's not Butler's fault, it's not Barber's fault. It wasn't
Steve Atwater's fault. For a lot of years, the Pro Football Hall of Fame really neglected the safety position, and kind of like your mail getting bunched up, if you don't get that all streamline, there's gonna be kind of a log jam there so you have to be able to usher these things in. I think the Pro Football of Fame has done a good job that the last three or four years. But at the end of the day, we have five more years here, Mike, this is how I worded it in my tweet. We have five more
years to write a really big wrong. I know it's a big class. I understand that it's very difficult to get multiple players of positions unless you're first ballot nominees into the Hall of Fame the same year. But I really hope they take a long, deep look at at Butler's candidacy and understand that this isn't just about a
guy that had some cool numbers. It's about how he changed the defense in green Bay and really is one of the most beloved Packers players on an era in which is one of the most dominant times in the NFL. When you look at what green Bay did over those three seasons. Yeah, absolutely, Well, you know me, West, I'm kind of a math guy. I look at the numbers a lot, and this is what I've continued to say. Not that I don't want Leroy Butler to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as soon as possible,
and I am all with you that he is. He is absolutely deserving and he he was a Hall of Famer on those back to back Super Bowl teams for the Packers in the nineties. But if Charles Woodson, Peyton Manning and and uh Megatron the wide receiver for the Lions, if they all get in as first ballot Hall of Famers this year out of the fifteen finalists, that leaves only two other spots in this year's class for the
other twelve finalists. And so that's why I say, I'm just not sure if this is really the year that that Butler can you know, can can crack that from a math perspective, you know, if you say, wait another year and if you can become a finalist again, if there's only one maybe first ballot guy that's going to get in, then suddenly there's four spots open for fourteen other finalists. You know, four out of fourteen is better odds than two out of twelve. That's just the way
I look at it. So, UM, I do I really do hope Llroy Butler gets in, And I'm with you, I hope he doesn't have to wait for the senior can Itty? I hope he can do it in the in the modern error process. But we'll we'll just have
to wait and see it. When you look at the last two Packers defensive backs to get into the Hall of Fame, you're talking about her bad Early and Willie wood from the Lombardi Packers, and now the Packers have two others from defensive secondary and Charles Woodson and the Roy Butler who are both up for the Hall of Fame the same year. It's a pretty special time no matter how it shakes out. Well, even though Mike, everybody tells me I look like Steve KORNACKI I am not
a numbers guy. I am not a math guy. I am just a guy that goes by the seat of his pants just by emotion, Mike, and my emotion tells me, I don't care if there was four people that are gonna be first ballot Hall of Famers this year. I don't care if it's gonna be three. Leroy Butler deserves to get his case hurt. And I will say this without any argument whatsoever. The other two guys, let's say Megatron is a first ballot I have no doubt about
um Manning and Woodson. I'm guessing Megatron also is. His numbers are just too good for the air in which he played. But whoever, those other two are gonna be really interesting names because there is kind of a log jam. There are multiple guys that have been up numerous years. And then, by the way, Clay Matthews Jr. Also in his last year of eligibility, finally becomes first time a finalist.
Now that doesn't necessarily bode well for him making it, but that probably does suggest there will be you know, if he doesn't get in the uh, senior senior nominee, I'm losing my mind nose senior nominee the next year. So there are options here, but those two other guys, If those other three get in, it's gonna be really interesting names to watch. Hopefully one of them is little Royal Butler. Yeah, well, we will have to wait until
Super Bowl weekend to find out for sure. But uh, with that, we will call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. You should follow all of our coverage of the team here during Divisional playoff week all week long on Packers dot com for Wes, I am Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody. We will see you next time.