Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spafford, joined as always by my trusted colleague Weston Hodkoitz. Coming to you hear from our studios at lambeau Field and unfortunately Wes. This is our season ending episode of Packers Unscripted because the Packers fell to the forty nine Ers in the NFC
Divisional Playoffs Saturday night out in Santa Claara. The final score was twenty four to twenty one, and the long and the short of it is missed opportunities early, missed opportunities late, and the forty nine Ers were able to, in my opinion, quite frankly escape with a home playoff victory that sent the Packers back to Green Bay and thinking about twenty twenty four.
Yeah, the word I've been using all week is survival. I thought that San Francisco forty nine Ers survived. They didn't play particularly well. This is a team that I think you've already heard people talk on the West Coast is going to have to play better now in the NFC Championship to get past Detroit. But for the Green Bay Packers' circumstances. I think they had a lot to do with that. I thought defensively, green Bay set the
tone early. I thought offensively, they were able to push the ball downfield, were not able to capitalize on red zone opportunities in the first half, and then obviously we're not able to turn over the football defensively when brock Purty gave him a couple opportunities. Conversely, looking at San Francisco, very opportunistic in the second half was strange because for three quarters it was sort of the struggle between the
two teams. The third quarter for whatever reason, turned into a shootout.
Yeah, But then.
Suddenly the third quarter the teams are both teams were just going up and down the field like crazy, and you have Keishaw Nixon's long return and the fumble and the Packers recovered it. Sort of got chaotic, yeah, for a little while. Then in the fourth quarter things settled down.
But the Packers had, as much as they had missed on those opportunities offensively earlier in the game, they had multiple opportunities with the lead, with the ball in the fourth quarter, chances to extend that lead, and they didn't get it done. And ultimately that bit them because the forty nine Ers were able to put together the one final drive they needed to take the ultimate to take the ultimate lead at the end of the game.
Yeah, and what I've sort of been saying since the game was the forty nine Ers kind of did what to the Packers what the Packers had been doing to teams, which is finding a lead late and then being able to use the four minute offense, getting the running game going move in the chains. Green Bay actually did pretty well in early down situations, but brock Purdy gave him credit.
Give the Niners receivers credit. When it came to third and long, third and nine to third and tens, they found ways to stay on the field and green Bay could not get off of it. Ultimately, Christian McCaffrey showed up, brock Purdy showed up. And when you play a team that's that good and that talented Michael, you have to capitalize on your opportunities. When you don't, you find yourself in the position the Packers are today.
Yeah, that's the thing I think. I think when you look back at this game, the Packers had, the Packers had opportunities to put even more pressure on the forty nine Ers than they did, because when the Packers were trailing in this game, they only trailed by a point here or there. You know, they were right in it. When the Packers had the lead, both in the first
half and then also in the fourth quarter. When the Packers had the lead, they had chances to kind of crank up that pressure on the favored team, on the forty nine ers by extending that lead, maybe changing the tenor of the game a little bit. They weren't able to do that, and because the forty nine Ers were always just within that one score, all they needed was
the one drive to do it. Obviously, you know, you'd love to see what maybe would have transpired if the ending would have transpired differently, if Andras Carlson makes the kick and the Packers go up by seven, then if the forty nine Ers go down and score, it's a tie game instead of being in desperation mode with a minute to go, you know, maybe the game goes to overtime or something like all these things that you know, sort of the the what ifs and and would it
could have should as when it's all said and done. You know, for me, and I think I think I speak for a lot of Packers fans in this regard for messing processing the loss. You're kind of caught in between two places because I've been doing this long enough to know that that being the hot team at the end of the season and having the kind of mojo that this Packers team had is rare. It doesn't happen that often, and when it does happen, you want to
try to maximize it as as best you can. And unfortunately it you know, as well as the Packers played for the majority of the game in San Francisco, they just weren't able to get it done. And seeing a hot team with a hot quarterback and that kind of mojo come up short is really tough. But then the other side, when you talk about being in between things, the other side of it is what the future holds
for this team. I mean, the biggest question that needed to be answered in twenty twenty three do the Packers have a franchise quarterback? And I don't know when the season started, if we would be sitting here doing a January show saying unequivocally the Packers have that answer, Like you know, after one season, but the Packers unequivocally have that answer, they have their franchise quarterback, That's what needed
to be answered. And then with all these other young players on offense growing around Jordan Love, you can't help but be excited for what the future holds, even though this particular moment and this opportunity getting away is still tough to swallow.
Oh it burns because of that reason that the team did play that well down the stretch, Jordan Love did actually mesh with these offensive weapons as well as he did and Mike what impressed me the most about Jordan and people will point to the stats, and rightfully so that's where you know, the rubber.
Meets the road.
Four thousand yards passing, thirty plus touchdowns thrown, getting a team to the NFC Divisional round of the playoffs in his first year as a starting quarterback. But I go back to what happened in April, and I still had
that image in my mind. I don't know if it was Stephen Huddy or whoever it was that was doing the social media videos or the guys walking in for the first day of the off season program and Jordan came in, cool, calm and collected, having been annointed to the starting quarterback everybody kind of knowing that's the direction things are going. Aaron Rodgers would be getting traded to the Jets and everyone would be going their separate ways. And he never backed down from it. He welcomed it.
He was the guy pulling guys together during the summer, getting them together in California, being able to get that little bit of a workout in that team bonding and camaraderie, the Monday dinners, the sitting down and breaking down film with the receivers when things weren't going so hot mid season. He passed every on and off the field test you want to see from a rookie quarter or his first
year starting quarterback. And that is what, ultimately is the reason why I feel confident calling him a franchise guy. It's not that he's just talented. It's not that he just has a good arm. It's not because he was one of the hottest quarterbacks during the final stretch.
Of the season.
It's everything he did in the window of the past nine months to earn the right to be the QB one here. And why is that important for the Green Bay Packers, Because, Michael, if you look at all the franchises around the league that have struggled to find their guy, all of the wasted equity that goes with that, the wasted draft picks, the numerous draft picks you're spending high capital trying to find a quarterback. Green Bay managed to do it, and they have a process.
Of doing it.
And I think that was probably the most gratifying thing for me was watching Jordan Love stay true to it, understand what was asked of him for three years, being patient, and now finally seeing some of the fruits of his labor.
Yeah.
Absolutely, And I don't want this to come off the wrong way in terms of talking about Jordan Love, but when you look at when you look at what happened and you start to project forward into the future, the fact that Jordan Love had the ball in his hands with a minute and seven seconds on the clock, down by three points, with a chance to keep the Packers season alive, and he made a colossal mistake that he knows was on him. There may be nothing better in
some respects for this team. We'll see how it plays out. There may be nothing better than the new franchise quarterback being motivated by that by that mistake. At the end, the entire offseason leading into next year. Jordan Love isn't walking into the offseason going I was the hottest quarterback out there and hey, you know we came up short. He personally is walking into the offseason going, man like, you know, I made it the type of mistake that I hadn't made for a long time, the type of
mistake that I made early in the season. I wasn't making it late in the season, but I made it with the season on the line. I believe that young man, that young quarterback is going to be supremely motivated heading into twenty twenty.
The best quote that came out of the season, and Matt Lafleur reiterated it after the game, but it was in the lead up to this game, him talking about how Jordan has learned from every experience this week, Yes, this year, good and bad. It's the only thing this guy didn't have. He didn't have the reps. He didn't have the opportunity to go out and learn from success and learn from failure at the NFL level. He has that now. He's been at the highest of highs now
eight straight games, eighteen touchdowns, one interception. The reason why the Packers are in the playoffs, the way he played down the stretch, and also why they now are not going to be trying to compete for a championship in this specific year. On that drive, Now, he wasn't the only guy, as you mentioned, there was defense involved with that, There was special teams involved with that, right, But this
is the position Jordan wants to be in. And when you have that much confidence in a guy's composure, in his poise, I don't worry about that being something that's going to be a deterring factor with him. I see that, like you said, something that is going to kind of spur him on now into this twenty twenty four season and beyond.
Yeah, as much as Matt Lafleur said on Monday, you know, when you review that game, you feel, you know, on the Packers side of things, it shouldn't have come down
to that final drive. Packers shouldn't have been in that position to be down by three points with a minute to go in needing to score to either tie or try to win the game because of all the other missed opportunities and and just and you know, close calls, you know, Matt, Matt Lafleur had said when he's talking about, you know, the missed field goal, which is gonna be
a big discussion throughout the offseason as well. These games are never just about one play, you know, Lafleur said, you know, you look at that game, they are about ten plays. Ten You know that that if maybe one or two of those go the other way for Green Bay, you know, we might be talking about a different result. But a that's the NFL B that's the NFL playoffs. When you know the margin the margins in the regular season in this league are small enough, the margins and
the playoffs get even smaller. Especially you know, regardless that the forty nine Ers were the one seed and the Packers were the seventh seed. Everybody knew the Packers were a hot team, they had a hot quarterback. Everybody was wondering how would the forty nine ers respond, you know, with with having you know, the buy and all the rest, and you know, trying to get their guys healthy. But then you know they lose Deebo Samuel. That has the effect on their offense as well. We saw that earlier
in the season with the forty nine Ers. So all these things that get jumbled into the mix in a playoff game, and it's frustrating to come up short when you feel like the Packers for the bulk of the game were the better team. But again it's you know, especially in the playoffs, it's about being able to finish off the game yea, And the Packers weren't able to do that.
No, And you've been on both sides of it. I know for Packer fans it's difficult because you felt this pain before. There has been incidences where the Packers got into an NFC championship game and they got beaten in Atlanta against San Francisco the first time, but there's also been these instances where it got right down to the wire and the Packers had a chance, and that's what.
Makes it hurt more.
But what's exciting about it if you can separate yourself from that era of Packers football on what you saw this year is that Jordan Love has his entire career ahead of him. Now he has the opportunity to learn from his mistakes and be better. And most of all, Michael I got to give credit to Andy Herman on this. He was the one that tweeted this out. If you look at how their roster is shaped for next year, without resigning any players, without signing any free agents, without
making any of these draft picks. The Packers have a bulk of their core already back under contract for next.
Year one hundred percent.
It's not guaranteed. You have to work for it. You're not just going to be anointed another spot in the final four of the NFC. But with given the youth of this roster and what Green Bay was able to do this season, that's what leads to this optimism now for what's going to happen now in Jordan Love's second year as a starting quarterback.
Yeah, and I want to transition to that in terms of looking forward, but I will take care of some sponsor business here First. Serious XMNFL Radio delivers hard hitting analysis and up to the minute NFL news that true football fanatics need. Twenty four to seven, three sixty five and ed cousins. We have something for everyone, like our Wisconsin Cheese cards, mac and Cheese, golden fries, and creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite sub or submonable cousin subs fifty years of better.
Well.
We had Matt Lafleur's final press conference of the season on Monday. We had the final open locker room media availability on Monday morning, and I thought it was really I thought it was really poignant what Matt Lafleur had to say about, you know, totally acknowledging there's a lot to be proud of in terms of what this team did. Yes, the disappointing, the ending is disappointing, it's bitter, it's tough, and there is a lot to look forward to. But
nobody's gonna crown the Packers NFC North champions. Nobody's going to hand the Green Bay Packers a playoff spot in twenty twenty four just because of how they played over the last month or so of the twenty twenty three
and into January of twenty twenty four. It's all the discussion is about what are the individual players going to do in terms of seizing their off season and making the individual strides, because the individual improvement that players make on their own is what will lead to the collective improvement when they all get back together for OTAs and training camp and all that. It's a process here, and once the games start next season, everything starts over. Everything
is everything is zero and zero. But what you do between now and then is going to determine whether whether the team that you put out there on the field next September is a better one than the one you had the previous season.
Because you have to look at where they were at four months ago and where they can get to four months from now. Yeah, because yeah, and guys need to rest up, they need to recover.
You need to step away.
You got to get your mind clear, you got to get your body back to full health. Yes, But as Matt Lafleur said April fifteenth, it's going to be here and we're less than three months away from it. The first day of the offseason program when guys can come back voluntary obviously, but usually the starting point for most of the roster. You want to be able to show that not only can you pick up where you left off,
but you're gonna be one step better even then. And I think they will be because Michael I was absolutely blown away by what the Packers did this season, not even with the rookie class because we talk about that so often, but a guy like Bou Melton that just gets thrown in and is playing major snaps for them in important games down the stretch.
Bou Meltain.
It won't get talked about it all because they lost the game, but draws a forty one yard DPI and then makes a toe tapping touchdown for nineteen yards. For all the guys we talked about at receiver and cornerback going into the season, what those two positions looked like by the end of the year, that's all based on what guys were doing in practice, how they were picking
the playbook up. And now those same players are going to have an opportunity to sit back, take everything in, understand the full segment of what's being asked of them, in knowing how they fit into these offenses and defenses.
That's very important.
You hope to get some of these guys like Eric Stokes back and players that dealt with injury this year, but Carrington Valentine now has banked nine hundred snaps on defense. Yeah, that type of stuff goes a long way, because now these guys know I played at this level, I can play at this level moving forward, and I can make plays going forward.
And I think that's one of the most exciting aspects.
Of all this. Yeah, And I think when you look at the big picture of this Packers twenty twenty three season. I think what everybody has to appreciate because it certainly never happened around here, and I don't I'm not familiar enough with the rest of the NFL to recall a
specific instance where where it's gone like this. But within one season span of time was discussion as to whether the Packers were going to get a top five draft pick, and then by the end they were a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
With the twenty fifth draft picks.
And now selecting twenty fifth in the first round come April. The ground that had to be made up, you know, the progress that had to be made in a fairly short amount of time to go from talking about top five draft pick to not just pie in the sky but legitimate Super Bowl contender. The way they were playing,
it's remarkable what this team did. And that's and that goes to the personnel department, it goes to the coaching staff, it goes to the players, the young players for sticking with it, the veteran players for sticking with it as well, knowing that these young guys had stuff to learn and had to you know, the veterans had to bring them along to a certain extent when you to me, when I whenever I, you know, really reflect back on the twenty twenty three season, That's what I'm going to be
thinking about. That. This Packers team was two and five in October and people were wondering how high the draft pick was going to be, and by the end of the season, people were wondering, can this team go to the Super Bowl. I've never experienced a season like that before, and I think that big picture part of it is something that should be appreciated.
And that's why Matt Lafleur said they've earned higher expectations now for next season, because that's one of the reasons why we couldn't figure it out because we didn't know what the expectations were. We really didn't know what the standard was, especially when this team's sitting at two and five and three and six trying to figure out, Okay, what are they.
Going to be? What are they going to make of this season?
I think a lot of that give you give the locker room credit, you give the players credit for their own individual development, but I think some of it has to come back to Matt Lafleur too, And he was throwing bouquets at Brian Goodekunz in his front office for finding the talent that they did. But somebody has to develop it. Somebody has to understand how to incorporate it.
Lafleur maybe in his staffy in any other season I've covered here in Green Bay, found ways to play to player's strengths, found ways to bring in a bow Melton, found ways to bring in Emmanuel Wilson, Tucker Kraft and find out how to best utilize their strengths to be successful on offense. And lastly, just to mention this piece of it, when you look at the defense had to go through a lot and no promises have been made. Mattlefuller said, he's taken a full evaluation. We'll see where
things go from here. But I do think it says a lot about those defensive players and their character, their willpower that when things weren't going great, and even when you win a game in Carolina, but you give up thirty points to a team that didn't even score any more points the rest of the season, that they didn't fold.
Jy R Alexander did not fold. He rallied back. Guys responded, and that goes a long way, And I think That's one of the reasons too, when you try to figure out how this thing could look in twenty twenty four. The locker room will be different, the chemistry will be different, but I think the right pieces are in play there to ensure you're going to have the best to try to build on all this momentum.
Yeah, I think, And it's somewhat goes without saying, but we probably should still say it. What's really in place? Maybe the most important thing, aside from you know, the on the field part with the quarterback and having the franchise quarterback, the most important thing that Matt Lafleur I believe has put in place here is the culture. And that's when you talk about the bouncing back, the resiliency, the sticking together, you know, powering through the tough times.
That's about the culture that's around the team. It's within the locker room, it's within every meeting room. You know, when the players are with their position coaches, when they're with the coordinators. You know, all of that and that's what got this team through things. And that culture, you know, it'll be a challenge to it's always a challenge to make to maintain, to keep a really good culture like
that in place over a long period of time. But that same kind of culture is what I think is going to fuel the Packers in twenty twenty four because whatever setbacks they know they encounter are going to be with those higher expectations. So there's gonna be a different dynamic to things, but you still have to have that culture to power through it and get yourself through to
the other side. I think that's in place here and I think that's something that that's another real bright spot for twenty twenty four.
And we'll have to see exactly how this roster shapes up, which veterans will be back. Obviously there's a lot of business that has to get taken care of between now and the beginning of the off season program. But I think it says a lot about Aaron Jones and Preston Smith for Sean Gary Kenny Clark, guys that maybe weren't the most vocal in the past. I shouldn't say that
about Preston. I think he's pretty much been vocal since he's been here, but guys that maybe felt that they need to take a step up with their vocal leadership. It had to be more of guys stepping in front of the room. There wasn't a Mercedes Lewis there this season that was breaking down the huddle right or talking to the team after games. You don't have someone like Aaron Rodgers who's been there and done that and seen it all. You had to have guys step into that void.
There wasn't any permanent captains this season. The Green Bay didn't even do it in the playoffs. But what happened was I thought you saw individuals stepping up in their own phase of the game and taking the bowl by the horns. And by doing that, it's what is allowed now guys like Romeo Dobbs and some of these younger players on this roster to understand, you know what I can be those people too.
Yeah, I want to ask you a couple of big picture questions here and then we'll move on to just looking at you know, where things stand with the rest of the playoffs here moving forward. Since this is our last show for a while, I would expect we'll be back for those wondering, we'll be back at some point before the draft, but this will be our last show for a while, and actually our last show physically in this studio because we're also moving within the building to
another location. I think the g behind us is maybe coming along.
No, actually, no, I have my dad's truck outside. I'm taking that home.
Oh you're taking that home.
Let's go on, all right?
All right, well, maybe maybe we'll start doing the show in your garage. Then we'll stick.
We'll stick that as soon as we're done shooting. We're just gonna start breaking this thing down ourselves. Right.
Well, here a couple of big, big picture questions for you Wes. Aside from the quarterback situation and everything the Packers learned there and how that has been established moving forward, what was your most pleasant surprise from what you saw from this team and its development, whether it be a player, a position, or whatever the case. What was your most pleasant surprise for twenty twenty Aaron Jones.
You can talk about being the youngest team in the National Football League and the youngest team to win a playoff game and all these different things, and it was impressive, But when you go back and look at how scary that situation got after the Chargers game and not sure if you're going to get Aaron Jones back again, and seeing how emotional he was to be able to be in a position where this guy at twenty nine years old, at a position where everybody's just waiting. They're just just plea.
You know, teams in the NFL, the way they look at running backs in this league, they aren't given the benefit of the doubt on the back.
Half of their career.
That's very true.
Not saying Green baying that, I'm just saying, look at every running back in the National Football League, right unless, for whatever reason, your name is Raheem Moster for some reason. But the fact is is that with five games to go in the season, as it turned out, with the two playoff games, Aaron Jones was as good as he's ever been, and he was as important as he's ever been. He had the most rushing yards in the NFL during
the divisional round of the playoffs. This guy cannot be judged by his position, He cannot be judged by his age. He is one of the most important players on this team. And Michael, when you asked me what my biggest surprise was, it was that we went through this roller coaster this year where you and I were saying all summer long, he is going to be the catalyst for Jordan love. He is going to be his best friend. This guy is going to be able to help this offense transition
to his news phase. He did it against Chicago, but they largely missed him for the next two.
Months, at least on a consistent basis.
But you know what, Michael, when the time came for the playoffs, when the time came for this team to rally, he was right there, and I thought it made all the difference.
Yeah, his hundred play yards against San Francisco, first one hundred yard rusher against the forty nine ers in like fifty game fifty something like that. And I actually look this up as well, first Packers running actually only the second running back in Packers' history to have one hundred plus rushing yards in back to back playoff games in the same postseason. The only other one to do it was Dorsey Levens back in nineteen ninety seven when the
Packers went to the Super Bowl. So what you said about Aaron Jones, I agree with everything one hundred percent. For me, what I would consider my most pleasant surprise is where the Packers got to at the tight end position this year. Because you and I have sat here, whether we're talking pre draft, post draft, you know, OTA's training camp, we've talked about how the transition at the tight end position from the college level to the NFL
level is significant. There there are so many more responsibilities that are placed on guys in terms of, you know, the duties at the line of scrimmage when they line up, you know, split out, the pass protection, the run game, the route adjustments. Everything. There is a it's a tremendous
learning learning curve at the tight end position. And Brian Gudokunz took a chance because he went into this season with three rookie tight ends in Luke Musgrave, Tucker Craft and Ben Simms claimed off waivers at the end of training camp, and the only veteran tight end in the room was a guy who really hadn't been in every down player, Josiah Daguara. Important guy and important piece, but a role player, yep, throughout the course of his time here in Green Bay. And even with the time that
Musgrave miss due to injury. You know what we saw,
what we saw from his development. You know, early on, you know, guys are running the wrong routes and you see two guys in the same spot and whatever, and you look at Tucker Craft coming from a school like South Dakota State and you know, struggling at times early on with his blocking, and then by mid season and on you're watching the game film going, Tucker Craft is blocking some of the best pass rushers in this one on one and protecting Jordan Love based on certain schemes
and certain calls. Where where the Packers got to in one year with these with these rookie tight ends, where you expect there to be a much you know, steeper learning curve and a longer transition. I think that sets up tremendously well for this offense because we know how much Matt Lafleur loves to use tight ends in different ways within his system and within his scheme. And I was really impressed with what the young tight ends did.
Yeah, and you saw tons of twenty one personnel, uh in that game, I should say twelve personal excuse me, dyslikes it in that game, you know, with the amount of tight ends that they end up having incorporated in that I was most impressed with those guys in terms of the When Brian Gudikun's draft players, right, it's one thing to be like, oh, these are their measurables or
these are their statistics. Then you go and find someone like Tucker Craft, and it's always interesting to me and fascinating to me when you can project out the way the guy's going to develop. They saw shades of what could make him special at South Dakota State, and it took time. I think he played maybe three offensive snaps in the opener, but the way his blocking came around his yards after catch. You know, he talked all off season about how, you know, I was a yak machine
in college. That's kind of my game and that actually manifested and developed. And then you have a guy like Luke Musgrave who unfortunately suffers just a gruesome, god awful injury that he misses a month with but then finds his way back, and you could see how this guy at six foot six can be a real vertical threat against opposing defenses. It's an exciting time, man, I thought, and it's really the entire tight end position. Sam Laporter
was just incredible for Detroit this year. Dalton Kincaid had some good snaps for Buffalo, but I was the guy that was always saying, yeah, that's the position that takes the longest to develop. You gotta be patient with it. And now you're seeing these guys, you're seeing Trey McBride that the position is almost kind of shifting where guys are starting to make instant impacts again. And you saw the statistics, Michael. First time the Packers had three rookies have a tight end have a touchdown.
Three rookie tight.
Ends have a touchdown in the same season, right, and first time I believe that happened in NFL history. There's going to be markers like that that are you're going to see probably more and more in the good news for green Bay now they solve their tight end future. I mean, these guys, this is what you're going to build around for years to come.
Yeah, they are. It's there's no doubt about it. Another big picture question I have for you and Justin our producer. We're going to go a little bit long.
Today because yeah, sorry, Justin. I hope you didn't need to get.
To lunch hanging there with us, Justin, so we're going to make the most of this. My other big picture picture question for you, what is your and I hope I can phrased this properly, what is your biggest hope for where or how this team improves moving forward into twenty twenty four. What are you looking at?
You know, I think defensively is probably where it's going to start. For me. There's going to be regardless of how they're going to shape things and the decisions they have to make in the months ahead. But that group had such astronomical expectations this year, and we all wrote about it. I wrote about it, and then you sometimes forget they're still Again, going back to what Matt Lafleur said, just because something ends a certain way doesn't.
Mean it begins the next way.
Yeah, for as good as things ended last year for the Defense, it took time for them to find their groove again, And honestly, it took almost thirteen weeks until they started to sort of really hold things down and shut things down. That side of the ball is going to be very interesting to see how everything works itself out. It sounds like the Jyr Alexander situation is in a much better spot. Matt laflor mentioned again on Monday, the
communication is much improved. They feel like they're going to be in a good position to continue that relationship for years to come. You saw how important jaw was in those last three games after he came back. How he toughed it out through the ankle injury to be out there for his team. But a lot of the unrestricted free agents, and that's for the Packers have are on that side of the ball. You know, Darnell Savage, Rudy Ford, Jonathan Owens are all going to be going into free agency.
Keishawn Nixon again is going to be coming up. They have some big decisions to make there in the secondary. Seeing where things are at again with Eric Stokes. So I look for the defense to sort of galvanize and crystallize and develop around the way they played down the final stretch. Yeah, because I'm not saying you have to always hang your hat on the defense, but there's gonna be times reader and to need them to help set
the pace with you. And I thought that was one area where Greenbaya at times really did sort of struggle.
Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna pair it a word that Matt Lafleur used, but it's also one that I have talked about, you know, in Insider Inbox, on this show, other platforms with regard to the defense. And I know it's a buzzword, but the word is consistency, and I know that there is There is no such things as full consistency, as we like to joke about. Because this is the NFL, You're gonna have bad days at the office.
Like I get that. You know, you can't just say, you know, you have to build a defense that's gonna hold everybody to you know, eighteen points or less or whatever. It doesn't work that way. But the issue with this defense, in my opinion, over the past two seasons, has been not just that it's been up and down, but that, you know, the swings have been wildly up and then wildly down to where you just don't really know what
you're gonna get. I mean, for this for this defense to play like it did in the victories over the Lions and the Chiefs that got the Packers kind of back in the hunt and back in the picture. To then follow that up with the three games against the Giants, the Buccaneers and the Panthers defensively before then you can turn it back around again and get things going back
the other direction. It's like I said, it's one thing to have a bad day at the office, but you can't have this level of inconsistency where when things start to go wrong, it goes wrong for three weeks.
You know.
That's where that and I don't know, I don't know what Matt Lafluir is going to decide big picture wise with how he wants to go forward. I don't know if it's I don't know, if it's the style of defense, something with the scheme, if it has to do with with the leadership, whatever the case might be. He's going
to make his decisions on that. But Matt Leffleuur, as the head coach and the offensive play caller and the guy running this thing with Jordan Love and the new franchise quarterback, he's got to have something you can rely on on that other side and not get into a situation where Baker Mayfield comes into lambeau Field and puts up one fifty eight point three, or you go to Carolina, the worst team in the league, and they put up thirty point on you, and you barely get out of
there with a victory to keep your playoff hopes alive. That's the kind of thing that as this defense played really really well the last four games Minnesota, Chicago, Dallas,
San Francisco. On balance, the defense played really well, but then what was the previous three weeks when for three weeks we're waiting for the you know, waiting and wondering what's going on with the defense, And that's when you know, kind of it feels like this crisis mode as to what the future of the defense is going to be. The other thing I'll say with regard to consistency, of course, is the kicking game. Because Andras Carlson missed too many kicks.
There's no there's no two ways about that. I don't know what the Packers are going to do moving forward. I would expect potentially some competition for that job in twenty twenty four, But the lack of consistency in the kicking game obviously bit the Packers in a really big moment. And you have to you have to get to a situation where you can be a little bit more sure of yourself as much as we believe will be on the line from this team moving forward.
Yeah, and I'm a big proponent for competition. Matt Lafleur talks about it all the time. I always go back to what Mason Crosby talked about of twenty thirteen twenty twelve did not go well at all, I mean sixty one percent whatever it ended up being on.
His field goals.
Green Bay doesn't make a major move, they don't sign anybody, they don't draft anybody, but they brought in Giorgio Tavacchio, and so many times Mason talked about how that competition kind of brought out the best in him. Again, it sort of allowed him to right himself along with some of his own structural and procedural ways that he went about his kicking process. But I think that can do a world of good. I thought it did a world
good this offseason with the punting competition. Yes, Green Bay didn't necessarily need to replace Pat O'Donnell, but they found Daniel Wheeland and they felt really good about this guy, and I thought, on average was one of the highlights of special teams for them this season. In addition to what he did as a punter, also as a holder. I just thought, again brought a lot of consistency in that facet. I think a lot of good can come
out of that. The one thing I feel pretty good about with Anders is that he is not a guy that frets. You can tell he kind of has that calmness and that composure to him, much like Jordan Love. We just got to figure out the process and exactly what the hitch has been there, because with some of these kicks, you're trying to look for the common denominator, the parallel between them, and I really personally wasn't able
to do that. I'm also not a special teams coach. Yeah, but if you can figure that out and allow him the latitude that they did this year to try to right the ship, so to speak, I think there's a lot there too, because with the sixth round pick, you are making a heavy investment into a player and you want to see the thing through as opposed to what the Vikings went through in twenty eighteen.
With his brother.
Yeah. Absolutely, Well, before we go, I want to get your thoughts on the rest of the playoff picture. At this point, we saw Baltimore beat Houston. We saw Kansas City win at Buffalo in really another playoff classic and yet another heartbreaker for Buffalo Bills fans. Troit wins its second playoff game, knocking off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to get that shot out in San Francisco. So Kansas City is at Baltimore at the Lions are at the forty
nine ers. What are your thoughts on what's gonna happen here?
Lions protect the football, They absolutely win that game. I fully believe it.
Really I do.
I think if they if Jared Goff can go in there and keep a go sag in that interception's calm, I think they win that game against forty nine ers.
See I'm I'm I'm gonna I'm the opposite here.
Do you think if he throws an interception they'll win?
No? What I was what I was gonna say is, while I do believe that that the forty nine ers, as has been proven this year, they've they've had their struggles without Deebo Samuel on offense, and I don't know if they're going to have Deebo Samuel for this game.
But I also feel, because I watched enough of the forty nine ers this year, I also feel that maybe the forty nine ers might have gotten away with their like off game in the playoffs, in escaping last week and being able to beat the Packers and move on. And I think even without Deebo Samuel, I think the forty nine ers are going to play much much better. And I think I'm not counting out the Lions, but I think the Lions are going to have a really tough time winning that game.
Yeah. I really think San Francisco is a different team based on whether or not Samuel is out there. And I know Kyle Shanahan put it as fifty to fifty of whether or not he'll be able to play through that shoulder injury, but they that passing game is different when he's not available. Ye, And I'm very interested to see which route they take. The thing I like about the Lions is I feel like they're kind of like a They're like a an NFL plus version of where
the Packers were at this season. They had to go through their own crucibles too, but they passed it, yep, and they were able to find their path into the postseason. They won that close game against the Rams, they made some mistakes against the Bucks, but still were able to pull this thing out.
The Lions might have been the number one seed. Now, granted the forty nine ers wouldn't have rested their guys in Week eighteen, but the Niners, I mean, the Lions might have been the number one seed if they win that game in Dallas. Yeah, in what tam right, Now.
What's wild about that is you're right, they wouldn't have rested Purty, but they may have had to rest McCaffrey in that game regardless with the calf, So it would have been very interesting to see how that would have played out. Yeah. But to make my quick point here on all of this, whether it's the forty nine ers, whether it's the Lions, somebody needs to prove to me or the or the Ravens have to have a really poor game, that the Baltimore Ravens are not the best
team in the National Football League. The best team doesn't always win the Super Bowl, right right, That's the way this thing goes. Sometimes somebody gets hot, it's a best of one tournament. That's the end of it. But Baltimore, the way that d deconstructed Houston, and that's the only other game I watched this weekend, the way they deconstructed them and just completely defanged everything they were trying to
do offensively while picking up part their defense. Who Kansas City, either Patrick Mahomes gonna have to play extraordinarily well or Kansas City's going to be in long afternoon.
Yeah, I'm with you that I think Baltimore has proven that the Ravens are the best team in the NFL this season. And it's it's there. It's their championship chase to finish, right that that that's really where this is as far as Baltimore is concerned. What I will say with regard to the Kansas City Chiefs going into Baltimore is for all to talk about, Patrick Mahomes is gonna have to finally gonna have to play a road game
in the playoffs, have to go to Buffalo. You know. Now, obviously the Chiefs have played in you know, the week before, they played in the freezing cold at Arrowheads, So the conditions in Buffalo aren't going to be an issue for the Kansas City Chiefs. But Mahomes is on the road in the playoffs. This is not This Kansas City team is not the offensive juggernaut that we have seen in in you know, past past versions with this Andy Reid
Patrick Mahomes partnership. But what Patrick Mahomes did going into Buffalo. You take out the Neil forty three offensive snaps, twenty seven points on the board, twenty one first downs, they were only in third down four times in the game. I mean the offensive efficiency that they put together on the road against a hot team, a good team, a team had that was playing for everything because they were tired of losing to the Chiefs, right, I mean all
the past results there. I do think Baltimore is the best team in football. But man, what I saw on Sunday, and I know you told me you didn't watch the game, what I saw from the Chiefs going into Buffalo, I absolutely cannot count them out. It would As much as I believe Baltimore is the best team in football, it would not shock me in the slightest if Patrick Mahomes goes in there.
Oh for sure.
I mean, this guy is he's one of the goats, now right, I mean.
He's I mean, if you put it this, if he with what that Chiefs team was up against this year, if he wins the Super Bowl again this year, all the talk is gonna be about is he going to ultimately surpass Tom Brady down the road as the goat with the championships, the rings and all the accolades. Like, if he does it this year with the team that the Chiefs had, you can't do anything but tip.
Your cap and the one thing I will say, because I didn't watch the games on Sunday, I had a very important appointment with my son for Guy's Grocery Games. There was a lot of miss time with the Sun the last couple of week.
Absolutely, yeah, so I've been there in years past.
So the Sun was all about Guy's Grocery Games on Discovery Plus this week, so that was fun. But what I did do though, on Sunday night and on Monday was watching those highlights on Twitter of that game.
And you can.
Spout off all the stats about Patrick Mahomes and every single one of them is spot on, But watching how that guy navigated the pocket on the All twenty two film on several of those throws, Patrick Mahomes is on a different level. Yeah, And it's gonna be a great test seeing how he matches up with Baltimore's defense and seeing how Steve Spagnola's defense actually tries to contain Lamar Jackson.
Yes, because that's a different challenge, a different.
Challenge too, and it's kind of an oil and water proposition because they're going to take chances defensively to try to contain Jackson, and Jackson can really hurt you if you don't have the containment on himself. It'll be a fun weekend of games. I'm excited to see how the final four plays out. Just obviously, as Matt lafore said, you just wish the Packers were also part of the party in the preparation right now for Detroit. Yeah.
And if there's one thing, even if it might be a little bit painful to hear as a Packers fan, but these are the facts. There are four teams left playing for a championship. The Packers beat two of them this season and back to back weeks, and they took a third one all the way to the wire and probably outplayed them most of the game and just came up short. And those of those four teams that are left,
that's how the Packers fared, yep, against those squads. And that's something to maybe just maybe hang your hat on moving forward here. But with that we will call it a wrap.
I got to catch a plane on this edition.
Of Packers Unscripted. And for the season of Packers Unscripted. Thank you all out there for watching, for listening following along. We really appreciate it. We will be back at some point before the draft. I don't know exactly when that's going to be. It will be in a new room somewhere in this building, or on Zoom or on Zoom, or in Wes's garage with the Big G on us. We will see what happens there. But in all seriousness, thank you for following along. We will continue with all
of our off season coverage on Packers dot com. Have it all for you as there so for Wes. I am Mike, Thank you for tuning in everybody, and we will at some point see
You next time.