#694 Packers Unscripted: Christmas challenge

on the flight down to Miami. And we'll talk about those the games that impact that a little bit later in the show. But you look at this Dolphins team in two and it has been a team of streaks. They began the season with three straight wins, then they lost three straight games, then they won five in a row. Now they head into this Christmas matchup with a three

game losing streak. Not to say that they're necessarily playing poorly in this three game losing streak, but it was a three game road gauntlet at San Francisco, at the l A Chargers, at Buffalo they came up short all three times. And that now with the Dolphins going from

eight and three to eight and six. They're fighting for their playoff lives in the a f C. Very interesting situation that Dolphins find themselves in because after this game against Green Bay, they are traveling to the New New England Patriots and then they finish up the season verse hosting the Jets. So as much as we're talking about the Packers and their run here towards the end of the season, the Dolphins have very similar implications with this

whole run. The part of it that is the most fascinating to me though, is, and we've talked about it a couple of times throughout the week and the coverage with Matt Lafleur and some of the players, this is a different team at hard Rock Stadium. Uh. They're five and one on the season and that only loss was the game in which they did not have to uh

available to them. So the the explosivity of this offense, a running game that Green Bay is very familiar with with Raheem Mostart, and by all indications it sounds like Jeff Wilson will be back this week. Tyreek Hill is one of the most dynamic receivers in this league, and Jalen Waddle is a real nice up and comer for them. I was a hundred and fifty wrong, Mike Um, and

I'm not ashamed to say it. I was. I had some real questions when they acquired Hill about whether or not this offense a new head coach to UH, they were gonna be able to keep him happy and also make sure that Jalen Waddle gets his touches. Mike Gasecki hasn't really been the same type of receiving threat he's ben,

So it's not like everybody's flourishing. But for both of those two receivers to be the only two in the NFL right now with a thousand yards, this is a stiff test for Green Bay going down into South Beach well. And what's impressive about the numbers that Hill and Waddle it put up. And credit to Mike McDaniel, the first year head coach of the Dolphins, because you said it.

There were a lot of questions as to how they were going to make this work offensively, and as Matt Lafleur has told us this week, having worked with Mike McDaniel UM as an assistant coach at at UH, you know previous stops in UH in La Fleur's NFL career. Hill and Waddle, they aren't just over a thousand yards. I mean, Tyreek Hill is over fifteen hundred yards with three games left to go in the regular season. And he's already over a hundred receptions with three games left

to go. Jalen Waddle, this is the amazing thing. He's over eleven hundred yards receiving any and on just sixty two receptions. The guy is averaging eighteen yards per catch. In this day and age of of the you know, the quick game, the bubble screens and this and that for a wide receiver in the current NFL, the way passing games are designed to be averaging eighteen yards a catch for an entire season is phenomenal. I mean, you

just don't see that. That's a you know that that's sort of in the James Lofton category from back in the in the nineteen eighties when he was in his heyday. So and obviously then you know, you mentioned Mostard, who hasn't had a huge workload necessarily for the Dolphins. But lo and behold, the guy is averaging four point nine yards per carry. He's still he's still lighten it up

as well. And then Gisicky doesn't have the big numbers, but he's got four touchdowns this year despite everything that that Hill and Waddle are doing in the passing game. So this is a and you know I've been I've been saying this all week long. This is no disrespect to the Philadelphia Eagles, this is no disrespect to the Dallas Cowboys, other teams the Packers have played this year. I think this is the the biggest challenge the Packers

are gonna face defensively all season long. These guys, these guys are dangerous, They're explosive, they can score from anywhere on the field. And somebody has to explain to me how to a Tago Vloa, as the leading fan vote getter in the Pro Bowl and with the number one passer rating in the league at one oh seven point eight, somehow is not on the a f E roster for the Pro Bowl games. Somebody has to explain to me

how that has happened. But whatever chip he may or may not be carrying on his shoulder with regard to that snub heading into this week to a especially having come back from from a couple of scary moments with the head injuries to us having a whale of a season. It was the thing. I was writing our story on Aaron Rodgers and his media scrum on Wednesday, and I had asked him about Tega the Law, and it was interesting in that I was going to go in there and I was just gonna take for granted that he'd

been in the Pro Bowl. As I was getting ready to basically press him in my story, the guy's leading the league and passer rating. How is the number one passer rating quarterback in the league? Like not on a Pro Bowl ros. There's a lot of players and coaches out there that must not have felt very strongly about it. But goodness, whatever the case may be. I mean, you listen to them talk. The way he carries himself. He was like that at Alabama, He's been like that in Miami.

And and here's the most exciting thing if you're a Dolphins fan, I think Mike McDaniel the best compliment I can pay him is he basically replicated the blueprint that San Francisco used, and he did it in year one. Um a good offensive line, tarn Armstead. You know, as much as we talked about David baktr In the thirteen draft, tarn Armstead was just as good of a pick one round earlier for the New Orleans Saints. He comes to Miami, he now makes a Pro Bowl in his first year there.

That that running offense with mostart in now Wilson. After the acquisition, you know, alec Ingold was coming off an a c L injury. I don't know what happened. Well,

there's a lot of things that happened. But with the Raiders non tendering all these guys, Ingold got non tenure, Nixon got nontendered, Keshan Nixon, and in Ingold has been, you know, one of the better fullbacks in this league and is playing kind of that Kyle us Chick role for this offense where he's not going to show up a lout of a statu sheet, but he's going to be a part of this game plan um. And then having the two receivers that they have. I love the

way that those pieces have fit together for Miami. Now, the one thing about this, as you said, is it's been a streaky team. They've had off weeks, they've had on weeks, but their strength of schedule and their strength of victory have been pretty impressive. And as much as you can point to that three game losing streak, they took care of business against Houston and Cleveland before that, and those aren't necessarily teams that a lot of you know clubs have had success, you know, beating them by

two scores this season. Yeah, absolutely, and the uh and give the Dolphins credit to I think we mentioned this on our last show, how they they went into Buffalo in Buffalo weather in prime time last weekend, with you know, the cold, the snow started flying in the second half and all that kind of stuff, and they were they were right there against the Buffalo Bills with with a lead in the fourth quarter, um end up losing on a on a walk off field goal to a Buffalo

Bills team that is looking to wrap up the number one seed, number one playoff seed in the a f C. So defensively though, here for the Dolphins, there are certainly guys to watch out for. They acquired Bradley Chubb to help out with with the pass rush. I believe Melvin Ingram is another one of their pass rushers, a guy who's hopped around to some different teams, but he's he remains productive. But the bottom line West. This Dolphins defense is twenty three in the league and yards allowed tied

for twenty six in the league, and points allowed. It's a defense that can be had. It's a defense that

that has given up its share. And with the way, with the way the Packers offense has turned a corner here the last month in terms of getting healthier at the perimeter positions, the you know rookies more the rookie receivers in particular, and then Zack tom at left tackle coming along and uh and making this making this unit more productive in a unit that would have scored thirty plus again on Monday night had it not been for you know, taking a knee on the one yard line

there in the last two minutes. Packers offense, you're moving out of the cold. Now. It's gonna be fifty something degrees or whatever down in Miami. Um, certainly it'll be a fast track for the Dolphins. But the Packers have to take advantage of of these um, you know, ideal conditions so to speak for Green Bay's offense and UH and and have a big time game because it's it's going to be difficult to stop these Miami Dolphins from scoring. Yeah,

it will be. Uh, the most fascinating part about the Dolphins though, as you touched on the defense, I don't mean to be disrespectful when I say this, but it's a very meat and potatoes unit. Uh. It is a unit that has not taken the ball away much this year. I mean, Xavien Howard the number one positive thing you can say at him, much like you know Ji Alexander here. He is a traditional shutdown Durrell Reava's type cornerback. Teams just don't want to throw at him. And you know,

he only has one pick on the season. The Dolphins as a team only have seven interceptions on the year. Despite as impressive as they've been, I think they're minus two in the turn over margin this year. You know, end up credit largely goes to toa on that there haven't been a lot of giveaways. You know, three of their what do they have fifteen? Yeah, fifteen giveaways this here. Three of those came from Teddy Bridgewater in his appearances.

So it's been an offense and a defense that have played together, but necessarily defensively haven't been you know, an inspiring unit. Also a statistic that Larry Mcaron brought up to me when we were doing our three Things video yesterday. That I was not aware of is the fact that the Dolphins are right near the bottom of the league and kickoff return yardage allowed in terms of you know, average, So there's a potential opportunity there for Keishaw Nixon as well.

The whole point, and I'm trying to draw with this is the Dolphins are a very good football team. They are dynamic, they can shut teams down, they can win in multiple ways, and they're very creative with Mike McDaniel at the helm. But it is not an insurmountable hill

to climb. And I think that's why is the week is sort of progressed and the Packers have been healthier, you know, the tide has slowly turned a little bit back into I think maybe the Packers getting more of an opportunity and seen as having a shot in this game. But ultimately, Mike, I think it ultimately does come down to the mono explosive plays that the Dolphins generate offensively,

and how many of those are running through hill and waddle. Yeah. Absolutely, I want to get to uh some keys to victory and go into more detail on that in a minute,

But first some sponsored business. Serious x M NFL Radio delivers hard hitting analysis and up to the minute NFL news that true football fanatics need seven three six, And at Cousin Subs, we have something for everyone like our Wisconsin Cheese Kurds, mac and Cheese, golden fries, and creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite sub or sub in a bowl.

Cousin Subs fifty years of better. All right, well, you you hinted at it already as far as a key to victory here, and I do think it absolutely comes down to limiting the explosive plays that this my emmy offense is going to generate. And I think not the only factor, but one of the key factors in limiting explosive place for this Packers defense is going to be tackling. You're not necessarily going to be able to prevent Jalen

Waddle and Tyree Hill from getting the football. Mike McDaniel is is creative enough, savvy enough, he's going to find a way to get his guys the ball one way or another. But we saw what happened in Philadelphia when the Packers didn't tackle, well, they had twenty plus miss tackles in that that primetime game out in Philly and play you know, plays that were you know, four or five, six, seven yard plays were rupturing into twenty and twenty five

yard games for Jalen Hurts and company. There the real danger with these guys is miss tackles can turn a five yard play into a touchdown from anywhere on the field because as soon as they get loose and they get up to top speed, it's almost impossible to catch them. So the tackling, I think is is going to is going to be key. The Packers certainly have tackled much better since the Philadelphia game, which was the big let down in that category, and it needs to continue and

perhaps reach you know, its peak level against weapons like this. Yeah, and and it is. It's an interesting mix with what Miami brings to the table because as dynamic as those two receivers are, and that's what the offense largely runs through. Uh, you know, both Wilson since he jumped on board in Miami and Mostart have had their moments too as runners. Uh Wilson a couple of weeks ago was the lead

back had over a hundred yards. Last week, Mostard had hit his best game of the season when Wilson was out with the hip injury. Yeah, they relied on him in that in that cold and Buffalo and he delivered for him and Mike. If there was every you bring up the point of of the tackling issue, if there was ever a player that the Green Bay Packers are going to face that it reminds you that how much you need to be disciplined, how much you need to

put a hat on a hat. It is Raheem Moster who had, you know, the biggest game in his career against Green Based several years ago, the thing that kind of put him on the map after He's not just a guy in that Kyle Shanahan offense. This is a legitimate number one type back. So Packers can't take any of this for granted. What I'm most fascinated to see, and you can call it a key to victory, you can call it a three thing, whatever you want, is the decisions the Packers are going to have to make

in this game on how they defend Miami. How much resources are spent to the two you know, you know receivers Jr. Alexander can obviously shadow somebody if you need them to you, you know, can mix up the zone coverages. That's all gonna be up to Joe Berry and Jerry Gray and how they want to approach it. But you can't be so overcommitted to that that it then leaves you light in the box against that running game. They

can hurt you either ways. There's gonna be some I candy that that McDaniel's offense is gonna throw at him. That ultimately, I think when you look at keys to victory, when you look at how do the Packers win this game defensively, it starts there. Yeah, and it will be interesting to see how the Packers go about to fending things because I still think as as as great a season as two has had, he's still he's still a

young quarterback. And generally the approach against young quarterbacks is too is to constantly be mixing up, mixing up coverage. You don't want to get into certain patterns, you know, and and and in the process of mixing up coverages, you don't want to always be playing, you know the

same thing on third and six. You know, you don't you don't want to get into into those kind of patterns that that he can decipher that being said, lots of teams have tried lots of things against this offense, and and uh and and Ta has has sliced and diced a lot of a lot of defenses on the offensive side of the ball. I think it just it just comes down to efficiency, because the Packers are going to need to put up a good number of points,

I believe, in order to win this game. But by the same token, you don't necessarily want it to become a shootout. UM, So it comes down it comes down to being efficient offensively where you're getting the points you need to make, but potentially shortening the game at the same time. You you had talked on our last show about over the last couple of games, how the Packers have had numerous scoring drives of ten plus eleven plus plays. Those are the kinds of drives the Packers need to continue.

They need they need to finish them and punch them all into the end zoner as many of them as they can. But those are the kinds of drives that the Packers need because if you get into you get into a game, you get into a game with the Dolphins where you're upwards of you know, fourteen fifteen sixteen possessions over the course of four quarters. Against these guys, they're gonna be really really hard to keep up with.

But if you can, if you have some longer drives, limit the number of possessions, shorten the game in that sense a little bit, then umum, you know, then I like the Packers chances to to hang around and give themselves a shot. That's probably why I fell so much in love with that performance against the Rams. It wasn't about the opponent, it wasn't about the fact that Packers need to win that game. It was that that finally felt like Matte floor football again. That the Rams only

ran forty five offensive places. Uh, you know, and the Packers have been on the other side of that Cole times where you're you're you're looking at the offensive film and you're going, we only we only ran fifty plays. Well, no wonder, this guy only had this many touches and this guy only had this many because we didn't run enough plays. Yeah, and thirty seven minutes over thirty seven minutes in terms of their time of possession to run

out the clock. It was quintessential Packers football. This matchup I look at well, first off, getting a J. Dillon back is a huge side of relief because it sounds like even you know, Aaron Jones dealing with some stuff right now with the knee. So at least to have both of those guys available so it doesn't have to

fall on one specific guy. You tip your cap to Patrick Taylor the way he finished that game for Green Bay, but the way that you know AJ has been running the ball, specifically in the red zone these last few weeks, these last few games, has been very encouraging. But I look towards the Christian Watson thing. I look towards Alan Lazard. I looked towards this this sort of you know, weaponry that Green Bay has built throughout the course of the

season too to come up big in this thing. Watson changes the way defenses attack this offense, and there's a multitude of ways to use them. And I know there's some some film buffs out there that we're already putting out film talking from the last game of here were opportunities where Watson could have been even more involved, if he would have been the primary target, if he would have been the hot read on things that that's the exciting thing to me, and how they want to use things.

You know, the ultimate credit to this young man is how much Jalen Ramsey was covering him, you know last week. I mean, teams have taken notice and offensively for the Packers, I think with Aaron Rodgers feeling a little bit better, this is feeling like the green Bay Packers offensive old again. They're still trying to get back to that thirty point threshold. Aaron Jones had kind of smirk on his face after the game when talking about being that close to it.

But you know, they're right there. So that if you know, you do have some offensive success on Miami side, green Bay could potentially be able to match that firepower. Yeah, you mentioned that matchup with Ramsey against Watson Monday night against the Rams. So I'm curious what you think do the do the Dolphins put Howard on Watson and and and and let that let that go one. I mean, there are different ways you can do this, right because because some teams take the approach of yep, we're putting

our number one guy on their number one guy. Other teams take the approach when you're talking about man coverage. Essentially, zon zone is a whole different idea. But other teams take the approach of you know, no, we're gonna put our number two guy on the number one guy and have the safety help over the top most of the time, and then put our number one guy on their number two guy and ask him to cover that guy without any help at all and be the shutdown guy on

the other side of the field. So there are different ways to go about it, and I'm curious to see with with a an all pro talent like Xavian Howard and an emerging star in Christian Watson, how the how the Miami Dolphins go about this. Yeah, I am too, because the thing about Howard is he's been one of the best corners of this league for the last three years, but he's also probably one of the league's best up secrets.

You don't hear a lot of love for him when you're talking about you know, guys like jayre and guys like Jalen Ramsey are a little bit more boisterous right in terms of the national scene. So to be honest with you, I really don't know how. You know, traditionally week to week Miami lines him up. But but that's a decision they're gonna have to make. And how they

want to go about attacking this thing. It's not the deepest secondary in the league, so maybe potentially you see that kind of versatility there and maybe he's he's tracking around some guys. But you know, all that being said, I I really think this comes back to the Packers being and the Packers and you know last week the mix of the run and the past and the consistency of it um two back to back games, Mike, where they've had three scoring drives of eleven or more plays.

That that speaks to the efficiency the offense. That speaks to the ability to protect the football, and it speaks to, you know, just being able to have success again. And I think that can be demoralizing for a defense and offensively, I think it can remind Green Bay once again, as

Aaron Rodgers talked about it is locker on Wednesday. You know, when you're not having success, when you're not winning, you sometimes forget what that feels like a little bit in Green Bay now has a little bit of that momentum on their side. Yeah, we hear all the time. Explosive plays often lead to points, right well, when you can still score points in this league without necessarily getting a

bunch of explosive plays. It speaks to it speaks to the execution, it speaks to the sharpness of everything that you're doing on offense. So whether the Packers can hit can hit the big plays or not limiting the Dolphins in that regard, I think is a key to this game. And uh, and whatever it takes, whatever it takes on offense to to continue doing what they're doing. I want to get your thoughts before we go on a very interesting weekend, Um can can I? Can I edit that

a little bit? Yeah? A very interesting Saturday. Yeah, Yeah, that's what I love about the way the NFL set this up. We've got the Christmas Day games, right if you like. If you ranked all the games, Packers is by far the most compelling one against the Dolphins. Yeah, a lot, a lot of a lot of people will be tuned into pack Chris Dolphins, and then the other the other two on Christmas late afternoon and evening will just kind of be like on the TV in the background.

I'm not sure how closely people are gonna be paying attention. Ye, Tampa Bay in Arizona, they might be getting a run for their money with It's a wonderful life. I'm not sure, but but hey, to your point though, it is a great slate of games this weekend, a lot of um, you know, playoff implications, and I will let you lead

me through the dance from there. Well, the interesting thing from the Packers perspective, when you're looking at you know, doing the scoreboard watching and the teams that the teams that you want to get some help, you'd like to see certain teams lose. Detroit, Seattle, the Giants, and Washington, all of them are on the road, all of them with um potentially difficult matchups. Detroit is at Carolina, Seattle is at Kansas City, the Giants are at Minnesota, and

Washington is at San Francisco. This lines up pretty well for potentially for the Packers to get the help they need and then to be heading to hard Rock Stadium on Sunday morning going, you know, all right, we you know, we really are in this thing. If we can, if we can get this victory, and then be heading back to Green Bay knowing that they're you know, to home games left with a chance to uh to finish the regular season above five. So, Detroit Seattle Giants commanders, what

are your thoughts on some of those games. First things first, when I was working on my story for today on the Packers dot Com, I found that fascinating when you look at New York Times, if the Packers win out, they have them at making the playoffs. UHIVET eight actually has it all the way up to seventy. So it is interesting just by controlling what they can control, green Bay actually does have still what I would consider to be higher odds than I would have anticipated, you know,

even a week ago. But all that being said, I love the matchup between Detroit and Carolina because Detroit is finally kind of getting a taste of its own medicine. The Panthers are one of these teams that, while they are technically still in the playoff hunt due to the you know, just the atrocity of that division, Panthers are a team that can play with anybody and lose the anybody. They They'll play anybody tough the way that they've acted

this season. The Minnesota Vikings, man, it's such a weird matchup because they're coming off a win, but I still feel like there's so much for them to prove, and if you if you lose a game, like this to the Giants. Suddenly you're not feeling so great about where you're at heading into this final stretch because that's a team that you very easily could see in the playoffs

and potentially lose to the Commanders in forty. Certainly that goes without saying that's a huge game, the biggest game in terms of the Packers situation, but Philadelphia in Dallas, because you and I have had this conversation about what do you do with Jalen Hurts, what do you do with these starters if it gets to week eighteen, and maybe it doesn't matter. Well, now he's dealing with the shoulder spring, so Gardener sounds like playing. He's not Gardner.

Minshew's starting that game, Nick Sirianni I was talking about before we popped in here. So now it becomes a question of, Okay, whatever happens in this game happens, obviously, But if he ends up getting healthy here with the sprain, do you want him sitting a month before he plays

a playoff game? Like in a weird backdoor kind of way, if Green Bay makes a run here, maybe this ends up working out to their advantage, because yeah, Jalen Hurts not playing against a game against another playoff team, it doesn't really matter. But as we know, the Philadelphi Eagles have one coming up down the pipe that that will have implications for Green Bay. Yeah. Absolutely. And and the Cowboys, if I'm not mistaken, the Cowboys have four losses, is correct? Okay?

So essentially the ah the Philadelphia Eagles can clinch the number one seed with one more victor, correct, Is that right? So by the same by the same token, the Cowboy if the Cowboys beat If the Cowboys beat the Eagles on Sunday, I believe it's a late afternoon. I think that's the central kickoff. You're JNA Cowboys? Yeah, and I see. And I didn't even like write all this down before

he came in here. This show is truly unscripted folk trust. Um. So the Cowboys looking to get within two games of that NFC East lead with two games to go, there, you know, their chances of getting a division championship as opposed to a wild card, which is which would be the difference between obviously a home game and being the five seed in the first round? Are are you know?

Hinging on every week? Here? And this Jalen hurts shoulder injury, you know, kind of throws a wrench into where Philadelphia wanted to be. I don't know, did did you see the tackle when the Bears The Bears guy, you know, tackled him and and his shoulder got driven into into the ground there and and you know, it's the kind of thing that can happen to any quarterback at any time. But you raise, you raise a really interesting point because all the Eagles have to do is win one more

game to clinch the number one seed. And Gardner Minshew, whether it's against the Cowboys or somebody else here in the last two weeks of the regular season is certainly is certainly capable of doing that. But then what's the

decision in terms of when to play Jalen hurts. If you're going to get the one seed and then have the buy and not be playing in the postseason until the second weekend, um, it's it's going to be it's going to be very interesting to see, well the decisions that are made and and and how this plays out. For now, I think from the Packers perspective, you want the Cowboys to win that game. You want you want the Cowboys because they're gonna be playing one of their

NFC East rivals in week eighteen. You want the Cowboys the Washington Football Commanders. They're playing Washington. You want the Cowboys to have something to play for in week eighteen to potentially beat the Commanders if the Packers are are on the run and trying to trying to steal that

seventh spot. That's the interesting thing in this equation is that we can talk right now about Philly, but if the Giants go into US Bank Stadium, which has not been you know, a place where the Vikings have just dominated everybody, the Giants go in there and win, and enough things go their way, they can clinch a wild cards. Yeah, then they can. They can clench it. You don't even give up who about what happens in week eighteen with

the Philly or the Giants or whatever. The main thing then becomes Mike McCarthy becoming the Green Bay Packers best friend again, because then if they have if they beat Philly, then they faced Tennessee and then that last one is at Washington. And you know, Cooper Rush is a good little quarterback too, so it isn't necessarily the end of the world if he has to start that game, But how many of the complimentary pieces is a Micah Parsons playing in that game then, and then it kind of

becomes a question. Yeah, absolutely, those are kinds of Those are the kinds of things that I hope we're talking about, because if the last two weeks of the regular season are going to be at a high level of interest for the Green Bay Packers, it starts with beating the Miami Dolphins on Christmas down in South Florida. So with that we will call it a wrap on this of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team and all of the coverage from Sunday's

Christmas Day game in Miami. We will have it all for you on Packers dot com for Wes, I am Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody. Merry Christmas to everyone out there. We will see you next time.