Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always by my trust in colleague Weston Hodquits, and I'm glad you're here because when I saw your social media this morning, I wasn't sure if you were going to make it.
Yeah, I wasn't going to So for anybody that isn't aware, isn't on Twitter, I tweeted at the Packers account like any true professional does, telling them, Hey, I'm taking PTO it's too cold. Tell Anna from our social team. She has to step in with spoff which honestly would probably improve the quality of the show.
Well, I don't know about that. I am glad you're I'm Diana as a party star. But you aren't wrong that it was extremely tempting to stay home today when we woke up to the temperatures that we did. But that being said, it won't be quite this cold in Seattle on Sunday night, when the Packers take on the Seahawks in a big NFC game with lots of playoff implications.
So let's dive into breaking down the Seahawks a little bit. Wes, We've We've talked about various Packers opponents this season who have sort of ridden a roller coaster here and there through the course of the year. This one might be the most dramatic roller coaster of all.
Seahawks.
They hire Mike McDonald as a new head coach to take over for Pete Carroll, and they come out like gangbusters. They're three and oh, and everybody's like, all right, you know, the Seattle Seahawks are back, you know, et cetera, et cetera. Well, then they lose five out of six, they drop to four and five, and everybody's wondering just where the Seahawks are headed. But then in a big NFC West Division road game at San Francisco, final couple of minutes, Gino
Smith takes the Seahawks down the field. He scrambles with I believe it was twelve seconds left for a thirteen yard touchdown run to the front pylon and Seattle gets a big road win at San Francisco, and that come from behind victory has has catapulted them now to what is a four game winning streak this which has included two victories over division rival Arizona as well to put Seattle in command of the NFC West with an eight
and five record. Whatever was going on through that month and a half the middle portion of the season when they lost five of six, Seattle seems to have figured something out, because this is a team that is on a roll.
Yeah, they definitely are mic and this is almost there in so many ways, a very similar carbon copy what Green Bay has done obviously in a less competitive although still competitive but not a successful division. Yeah, in the NFC West, where this team goes into the by and there's a lot of questions there, a lot of questions about Geno Smith throwing a lot of interceptions. You know,
their run game is not really getting anywhere. They have a lot of passing yards, but they've been forced to be in a lot of shootouts too, and a lot of games that they kind of came up short in where they're having to try. You know, it was the Lions scored forty two, the Giants scored twenty nine, the forty nine Ers got thirty six on him, Buffalo had thirty one. Defensively, for McDonald's background, it was it was a tough.
Go of it.
Yeah, But then they get to the bye week, they edge past the forty nine ers. They don't run the ball particularly well against Arizona, but they win sixteen to six. They were able to get a win that they needed over the Jets, and then they run the ball incredibly well against the Cardinals during their rematch two games within three weeks. So the biggest thing that I boiled this down to is when they protect the football. I mean,
this team can play with anybody in the league. It's just a matter of whether or not they can overcome the turnover differentials. And if I may, I know I'm talking a lot here, but here at the bottom ten t teams in the National Football League in net differential, in turnover margin, Okay, Vegas, Tennessee, Jacksonville, Cleveland, Atlanta, New York Giants, Dallas, New England, Carolina, all those teams, there's quite a bit of parody there in terms of commonalities.
And then it's Kansas City in Seattle. So it shows you even though they're minus four on the season in turnover differential, tied with Kansas City for twenty second in that area, this team can still find ways to win and they are very dangerous.
Well, in what I wrote about yesterday after we talked with Jordan Love in the locker room of the usual Wednesday post practice media scrum at his locker. You look at this current four game winning streak for the Seahawks, and when you look at things on the turnover side, this defense has intercepted five passes during the four game streak.
They have eleven interceptions on the year, and five of those eleven have come in the last four games, and two of them one against the Cardinals and one against Aaron Rodgers and the Jets. Two of them run back for touchdown at huge moments, the one against the Cardinals. The first one, it was a close one score game. Arizona had a fourth and one at the Seattle forty yard line and Kyler Murray throws a pick six and
complete basically was the play that decided the game. And then the following week against the Jets, the Jets are actually up by fourteen points. It's twenty one to seven, and the Jets are headed in for more points to make it a three score game in the second quarter and the big defensive lineman, the Seahawks sack leader Leonard Williams, the former Jet or, picks off picks off a slant pass by Aaron Rodgers and ends up taking it ninety two yards to the house. Completely flips that game around.
So instead of the Jets being up three scores, the Seahawks suddenly cut it to one score and then they finished the comeback in the second half and ended up winning that game. What the Seahawks defense is doing with the takeaways right now has been has been a real catalyst, has been the real fuel in part for this four game winning.
Streak, and it definitely has and it's because of players like Williams too, who's kind of been a very consistent performer throughout the course of his career in some ways kind of a journeyman. It's been in a few different stops now, but you look at the stats last year he was okay fine, and then this year twenty quarterback hits leads them in that category seven and a half sacks, as you mentioned, a very impressive touchdown there as well. These guys they can get after it a little bit.
Julian Love on the back end is a safety I've always had a lot of admiration for. I think is sort of carried on that tradition of what's been with the Seattle secondary and that defense. Kobe Bryant has the other touchdown off the interception as well. So again, when you look at how they're fundamentally built and structured, it's a good scheme. It's a smart scheme and have guys
that can implement it. And certainly, even though we look at their relatively pedestrian and the statistics because of some of the things that happened during the first half of the season, it's a team that definitely has been on the come up here since the bye week.
Yeah, and when looking looking at things on the offensive side, you mentioned they got their running game going last week. In the rematch against Arizona, Zach Charbonay ends up rushing for one hundred and I believe it was one hundred and fifty yard.
Yeah, right around there he play.
Being a fifty one yard touchdown run where he broke free. He's also been used out of the backfield as a receiver, certainly a capable substitute for Kenneth Walker, the third.
Just ask my fantasy football team.
Walker has been kind of in and out of the lineup with injuries. His status seems to be if he yet again this week. But aside from maybe some of those fits and starts in the running game. This offense is built around Gino Smith as a quarterback who he's put up some press of numbers. He's completing almost seventy percent of his passes. But at the same time you look at the fact that he's been sacked forty times and he's thrown twelve interceptions. So it's sort of lived
by Geno, die by Gino, right. I mean, there's a lot that they rely on with regard to their quarterback, and if you can if you can get him uncomfortable, if you can disrupt him a little bit, you might be able to get the kind of mistake out of him that can turn the tide in the football game.
I don't do one last look. I don't do some of the overarching theme stories that you did. But when I was going through the statistics in preparation for this award winning show, one thing that really jumped off the page to me. So the Packers have been one way or another, they have been one of the best teams of protecting their quarterback.
This year.
The quarterbacks have done the best job of being able to evade sacks. Packers have had sixteen sacks this season. Okay, allowed for ninety three yards. The forty sacks jump off the page to you. Did you see how many yards Gino Smith has lost on those forty sacks?
No, actually I didn't.
I want to make sure I get this right, So I don't want to because it's it's over two hundred it's two hundred and seventy two yards.
Oh my god, I've been lost on those forty sacks.
So when you're talking about negative yardage plays, that's that's a lot of negative yardage that's coming.
That's an average of almost seven yards per sack.
Yeah, Like why he's getting deep in his hitch. Yeah, because Gino's not the most I mean, he can run a little bit, but it's like.
Yeah, you know that isn't there? There is a difference between those sacks that are just one or two yards behind the line of scrimmage, when the quarterback can kind of scramp, yeah, try to get out of it, and when you get sacked eight nine yards behind the line of scrimmage. Big difference there.
So why do I bring all this up? Mike? Ask me why I brought that all up?
Why did you bring this up with because last week he was not sacked last week. They ran the ball as well as they have all season. This is the twenty seventh ranked rushing offense in the NFL. Kenneth Walker was a big time investment for them. That was the guy they sort of were building things around. But it just seems like every time Zach Charbonau gets the opportunity,
he takes advantage of it. And they ran the ball as well as he did all season, one hundred and seventy six rushing yards, five point seven yards per carry, two touchdowns on thirty one attempts. I believe that was the first time they've had more rushing attempts in a game this year than Gino smith Is attempted passes. He was twenty four though, of thirty in that game, with a touchdown in one hundred and ten passer rating, no interceptions,
no sacks. Balance is the point I'm trying to make. Ye, It's something the Packers have been trying to get to as well with Jordan Love and being able to utilize the run game to sort of set things up with your passing offense. Gino Smith. As we've said time in time again, I don't know if there's been a better story in the last decade in the National Football League than Gino Smith. This is a guy that was left for dead. He things didn't work out with the Jets.
He basically moves across MetLife Stadium. He's a backup there with the Giants for a few seasons.
I believe he.
Ends up finally ending up in Seattle during COVID he backs up Russell Wilson, and then I don't know if you remember that, but when they made that trade with Wilson and Denver, everybody's like, Okay, well, Drew Locke is going to be the guy in.
Seattle, right right, that was the assumption.
Geno Smith beats him out during training camp. Yeah, and everybody's sort of laughing at the Seahawks, like what are you doing? This journeyman quarterback is going to be the guy. In credit to first off, John Schneider, but then also Pete Carroll for making that move. Yep, they stuck with this guy. And yeah, there's been some some inconsistencies, there's been some interceptions, but Gino Smith has proved he still is the player that everybody thought he was coming out
in twenty thirteen. And it sometimes development takes a little bit longer and in his case, obviously it's been paying off really well, especially if you ask their trio receivers. Yeah.
Well, And I wouldn't claim to have watched a ton of Seattle Seahawks football this season or even last season for that matter, But during this renaissance of Gino Smith's career, when I have watched the Seahawks, what I have seen from Gino Smith, for better for worse is a fearless quarterback one hundred percent. Well. He will push the ball down the field at any time in any situation. He
has Jackson Smith, Jigba, he has dk Metcalf. These are guys that will can and will threatened defensees down the field. And Gino Smith isn't afraid to test his arm and to test a defense with uh with trying to push the ball for those explosive plays. And yeah he does.
He does throw his share of interceptions. And that's partly where the sacks come from too, because the deep developing you know, downfield routes you gotta have, you gotta have time, you have to take a full seven step drop, and if those routes can't develop, if you can't get protected, then then that's where the sacks happen. But this this dude,
this dude's a fearless quarterback. He's and maybe it's just because of everything he went through earlier in his career that he just decided, well, if I get another chance, I'm just gonna let it rip. Yeah, you know, And and it's provided a fair on a success for the Seattle Seahawks, for a team that you know, wasn't really sure where it was going in terms of who's the next franchise quarterback going to be after Russell Wilson, Gino Smith has stepped in and won his share football game.
The whole idea, I think was basically, we got to get rid of this contract, We got to go in a different direction. It wasn't they were struggling, they were missing playoffs with Russell, and then they make this change, and I thought in a lot of ways, it breathes new life into this organization, being able to sort and it's a guy that you know, players have seemingly really rallied around during his time here. You mentioned JSN obviously DK Metcalf. I think Tyler Lockett has done some good
things this year. He's been kind of up and down throughout the course of his career. They have the weapons that you need to be able to move the football. So the challenge for Green Bay is one seeing exactly who's going to be out there on Sunday. We saw
on Wednesday's practice Jyr Alexander was a full participant. We'll see if you can continue to hit those markers to potentially be out there, that would be huge for them, especially with how banged up they are right now on the back end, which also affects their depth and the slot for the nickel. So, you know, a guy like Jaiere would be a great time to have him back. I thought Keyshawn Nixon for everything the Packers have asked him to do as of late. I thought he had
one of his better performances in Detroit as well. But just figuring out how to contain that plethora of weapons is going to be just absolutely critical for Green Bay's defense and going into a place that historically has been very difficult to play in. They're three and four there this year.
Yeah, they've lost four home games this year, so yeah, they've only lost once on the road, but they've lost four times at home, which is not a typical Seattle record.
No, I mean, they typically that has historically been one of the tougher places to play. But the thing that Green Bay's biggest challenge is it's going to be trying to kit Seahattle to fall back into some of those bad habits earlier the season and find ways to take advantage of it.
Well, before we get to our Keys to Victory, we should update where things are with the Packers on the health front, because on balance, it's been some pretty good news this week. Both Romeo Dobbs and Evan Williams, the receiver and the rookie safety. They are back in practice though as of right now, as of the taping of
this show, they are still in the concussion protocol. They have not been fully cleared yet from the concussion protocol, but they are practicing and Romeo Dobbs was a full participant in Wednesday's practice, so that's definitely definitely worth noting. As you said, JayR Alexander is actually not even on the injury report because he was a full participant. Did the Packers actually list him?
They did?
Oh, he is what happens as Mike saying, when Matt Lafleur goes up there, he will list the guys who are limited or the guys that were DMPs. It is not rare for them to still have guys who are full participation but are still listed with whatever injury that they might still be getting treatment for. But the fact that to your point, when MATTL. Fluer went up at the podium on Wednesday, the first thing I think Jason Wilde said is you.
Didn say JayR.
Yeah, you didn't mention JayR because Jay finally was a full guy. Yeah. So Alexander, Alexander is a full participant in practice. We'll see where things go with that. Another cornerback, Corey Ballantine, is back in practice after missing the game in Detroit and then tight end Luke Musgrave being designated to return from injured reserve. He has had a long layoff, a very very complicated or I guess I should say significant ankle injury from early in the season that required surgery.
But he is now back at practice, so he's been designated to return from injured perserve. I would not expect him at all to be playing in Seattle after this long of a layoff, but the ramp up now with Musgrave is starting to where the Packers can hopefully get him back. The one guy on the fifty three man roster not practicing on Wednesday was nickelback Javon Bullard, the
rookie out of Georgia. So if he's not able to come back this week, and Matt Lafleur had said I believe it was on Monday, he said they're considering Bullard week to week with his ankle injury from late in the Detroit game. So there's going to be some gonna probably have to be some shifting around in the secondary if if Bullard can't go this week. But as I said, on balance, the health news is looking pretty good for Green Bay here as the stretch run approaches.
In the name you, there's a lot of names to mention, so I'm not faulting you for this. Oh yes, and and edgerd Cooper is And that's where I was going to take this thing. Edger and Cooper being back at
practice is a big thing. One of the aspects of Insider Inbox I really concentrated on this earlier this week was somebody had asked me, you know, basically, out of this this rookie class, you know, who have you enjoyed or who's been the biggest surprise, whatever you want to call it, And I said, I don't think you can necessarily label a surprise because if you and I were standing in here, sitting in here with Larry Mccaer and doing our draft preview show, and I remember saying, I
was like this guy from Texas A and M. And again, I'm no scout, I'm nobody. But that's just how excited I was about edgren Crooper. We see him have eight sacks his senior year there, his last year in college, and now you're watching him play within this defense. Edrin Cooper is more than his listed position. The Packers have depth at inside linebacker. Edgren Cooper is proving to me he's a legitimate defensive weapon. The way that they can
blitz him, the way he can play coverage. We've seen him being able to trail guys down the seam as well. He has all the tools, and I think Green Bay has really missed him. Not to say the other inside linebackers haven't stepped up. I thought Kay Walker played some really good football. Obviously, isaamh McDuffie, what he did against Miami commendable, but Edrin Cooper is just a different type
of football player In some ways. It almost reminds me of that Clay Matthews type effect, where this guy not that he's rushing off the edge, but you can just utilize him in so many different ways. That would be absolutely huge if they could get him back for Seattle.
Yeah, you're right. Cooper has missed the last three games with a hamstring injury. I believe he injured the hamstring in Chicago in practice.
He heard it, that's right.
It was after the Chicago Yeah, it was. That's when practice the following week. He's missed the last three games. And I agree with what you said about Cooper in terms of uh.
I I look at it.
I look at a guy like Cooper because because with his injuries and being in and out of the lineup, he hasn't become a full time player yet as a rookie second round draft pick. But what he is and hopefully what he can be for the Packers and for defensive coordinator Jeff Haffley down the stretch is a chess piece. Yes, offensively because you can use him in certain roles you mentioned, whether it's whether it's as a blitzer, whether it's sort of as that that Tampa two linebacker. Who can you
know who can cover the middle of the field. He's got different roles that he can play, and he becomes a he becomes a potential chess piece for for Halflee in terms of how the Packers want to throw some change ups and do some different things defensively over the course of a game from start to filing.
And you don't know when he's going to be out there. That's the neat thing about being able to use him as a rookie. There's going to be a time here in the next couple seasons, maybe next year, where he's going to be an every down player.
Yeah, but right now that's coming at some point.
Opposing offenses, even on third downs, you don't know necessarily if you're going to see him or not. But when he's out there, man, he makes a difference. I also just want to quickly mention about Luke Musgrave before we
transition over to previewing next week. This upcoming week of games, I had a funny moment with Musgrave where I was asking him during our little group scrum when he's talking to the media on Wednesday about him playing through the ankle injury, because, as it turns out, that badly turned ankle that he had happened like at the beginning of the Minnesota game, and yet he finished out the rest of the game. He played twenty five snaps. And I had said to him, I was like, is that just
adrenaline carrying you through? And he said, well, it was like the most Luke Musgrave comment ever. He's like, well, you know, Payne really isn't a huge thing for me, Like that doesn't really bother me. And if you think back, well, yeah, he had the lacerated spleen that he played through against kidney charger kidney last year, ascerated kid kidney last year, and like the things that this guy has gone through.
What the issue was for him though, is there was too much instability because of the tendon that he injured the ankle. He probably could have found a way to deal with the pain, but it was just he wasn't going to be he wasn't gonna be able to build his base off of it. Yeah, that's why doctor Robert Anderson end up performing the surgery. He misses, you know, the last two and a half months. But you get him back down the stretch here and he said he's open to whatever role they have for him if it's
a limited role. He understands Ben Simm's been playing all year. Obviously, Tuckerkraft has been one of the best tight ends in the league this year, but even being able to sprinkle him into the offense here down the stretch with what he can provide in the middle of the field, I think that could be another chess piece as well.
That could also open up some.
Opportunities for Jaden Reid, you know, in some of those slot packages and crossers.
Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how this evolves now down the stretch, these last four regular season games and then hopefully into the playoffs, and just how how the Packers end up reincorporating some of these guys who have been been injured and on the shelf, so to speak, as they hopefully get healthy and get back to action. 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 at
Cousin Subs, we have something for everyone. Like our Wisconsin Cheese curds, mac and cheese, golden fries, and creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite sub or sub in a Bowl cousin subs fifty plus years of better. All right, real quickly, we talked a lot with regard to the Seahawks in this upcoming matchup. What is at the top of your list in terms of the key to victory for green Bay.
I'll tell you this, Mike.
I feel like the green Bay Packers run defense has really come on. And I don't want to keep parrotting myself, but I mean the fact that green Bay in these last three games have allowed three points zero yards per carry. You're going up against a run offense that has struggled this season. Again, charbonad that fifty one yard touchdown, that wasn't just the big play in that game. That's their
longest run of the season to this point. If you can take away the run, whether it's Walker, whether it's Charbonnay, whether it's Shawn Alexander out there, if you can take that away and put this thing in Gino Smith's hands. Not to say that Gino still can't throw for four hundred yards, but you saw last week what happens when they are balanced on offense and how that can dictate
the game. They overpowered the Arizona Cardinals, a team that three weeks ago was leading that division and was looking like a world beater itself. They have been able to take this thing back in the NFC West and what has been a wide open division all season long. Yep, they got off to a slow start, they rallied. I think the run offense has had a big reason to do for that. If you can take that away, be able to get off Gino Smith, get some sex, get
some turnovers, I think that's your paths to victory. Yeah.
And I think this one because I think the Packers are going to do just fine against the run with Seattle based on what they've done the last three weeks against Christian McCaffrey, against Devon A. Chann and Raheem Moster, and against David Montgomery and Jamier Gibbs. I think against some pretty darn good, dangerous running backs in this league, the Packers have have done pretty well against the run. So to me, this game just comes down to how
much can you disrupt Gino Smith? And you can. You just cannot let him get comfortable, because if he gets into a groove and he gets confident and he wants and he's feeling really good about challenging you down the field, he becomes a really, really dangerous quarterback I think, and I don't mean to ignore everything on the offensive side of the ball. For Green Bay, You're gonna have to deal with the crowd noise. This is gonna be you know,
it's gonna be a raucous environment. The Packers have talked about how they thought maybe the Lions were getting a little bit of a jump on the silent count last Thursday at Ford Field, so they might make some adjustments with regard to that to help out the offense a
little bit, particularly the offensive line. As far as getting off at the snap, I think I think the Packers offensively are going to be fine as long as they can break this interception streak that the Seahawks defense is on, as long as Jordan Love can keep his own interception free streak going. So for me, the focus is just on don't let Gino Smith get comfortable, disrupt him and create the mistake or two throughout the course of the game that could keep the momentum on your side.
Green Bay just and again this probably goes back to some of the silent calls, but they just run the ball better too, I mean, create holes for Josh Jacobs. I mean it is available there for him with the title,
the way that this guy is running right now. Not to say it needs to be one hundred and fifty yards again every game or anything like that, but like you know, if Josh Jacobs has one hundred yard game too, I mean the way that that can control the atmosphere and the tempo of a football game and allow Jordan Love to be in situations where he doesn't feel like he has to gun it as much in third and
long or some of those type of incidents. There is an inundation and there is an infinite amount of different variables that could play into the Green Bay Packers winning or losing this football game.
But at the end of the day, the more that you.
Control the pace of this thing in that environment, protect the football, and take away the football, you come up on the plus side of that.
I think the Packers are going to be okay.
Yeah, And I think there was I think there was a little bit of a lesson learned as far as the Packers offense. Going back to that Detroit game that we saw early in the game the Lions were the Lions were selling out to stop the run. They were not going to let Josh Jacobs establish what he wanted to establish. But then what happened when the Packers got down ten to nothing, the first touchdown drive, the first scoring drive the Packers put together. What did they do?
They pounded the ball at a team that was determined to stop the run, and they got the run going anyway. And I think that's something that's something you can hang your hat on a little bit to say, all right, you know, just because we were down ten to nothing and they, you know, and they were selling out to stop the run, that doesn't mean you just don't run
the football you still, I mean. And it was the combination of running backs, Jacob's being the leader, of course, but Emmanuel Wilson Chris Brooks were worked into that as well. And that first touchdown drive against Detroit that got the Packers back into things was almost entirely on the ground. So I think that's something that will be interesting to watch going forward. It is worth clarifying Wes, even though it is so highly unlikely.
But there is a.
Scenario I'll be watching tonight by which the Packers can actually clinch a playoff spot this week, and it involves three things happening One would be a win at Seattle, Another would be the Raiders defeating the Falcons on Monday
Night Football. And then the third piece, which is the most unlikely, is that the forty nine Ers and the Rams would tie on Thursday Night Football, which would be tonight, So not likely to happen, but it does illustrate how close the Packers are at this point two locking up their playoff spot. They're on the edge. It's almost there, but the Packers have some business take care.
The cynic and me wants to say what was more unlikely that the Rams and forty nine Ers playing to attire the Raiders feeding the Falcons right now?
And see, I think just about anybody could be Yeah, that's fair right now. That I mean the way they've played, the way they've played their last two games against the Chargers and the Vikings.
Yeah, and Kirk Cousins has been on a run here, basically been like the opposite of Geno Smith and some of these teams since the buy. But be that as it may. Yeah, I mean, let's be honest, Mike. And one of the points I made it inside our inbox was it's great to have a winning season. The Packers have achieved that. Now nine wins is not enough. You have to keep pushing. You have to keep pounding and then just see where the rest of the dominoes fall.
Last year was about trying to sneak in. This year is about positioning, and green Bay needs to defend its position that it's in right now, the advantage that it holds. Maybe not in the NFC North, but in the conference. There's a lot of teams in this conference that would do anything to be nine to four at this point. Green Bay has to be able to maximize that and
figure out what happens there. Clinch this spot. May not happen this weekend, likely won't, but clinch the spot here, get your ticket punched into January.
Yeah, and then from there then you.
Can start to figure out all these other variables that you want to figure out. Yeah.
And for those wondering, Okay, so if the forty nine ers and the Rams aren't gonna tie, like, what's the best result there for green Bay? The best result would be for the forty nine ers to win that game to get the Rams a seventh loss. So if you don't, if you don't want to sit there and try to root for a tie, root for the forty nine ers to beat the Rams. Two other games that have an impact that will have an impact on the Packers playoff pickture.
Chicago is at Minnesota on Monday Night football. We have one of these Monday night doubleheader things. I'll let you talk about that if.
You thank you.
The other one is Washington is at New Orleans. So Washington is the team right now in the seventh spot in the NFC. New Orleans is the team that is come to lambeau Field next week to play the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night football. So those two games also will have an impact on the playoff picture as it relates to the Packers in the NFC bear Down.
If there was ever a time where the Chicago Bears can.
Hope, hopefully, hopefully it's not a repeat of three hundred and nineteen yards to four at halftime, that would maybe that would that'd be nice.
I'm really worried for the Chicago Bears here. We'll see any given doubleheader on a Monday night. But Minnesota looked dominant last week in the Kirk Cousins Bowl, and Chicago is reeling right now. So hey, again, you never know what could happen. Certainly, the Packers, everybody in the state of Wisconsin, big Bears fans, there's really no detriment at all to the Bears winning that game. You want to see that come out the Raiders game. As much as
I was trying to make a funny there earlier. This is very interesting because Atlanta was the team this year that sort of was like, Okay, we want to try to win this year. And I've said this time and time again, Mike, if you're building your roster at the end of July and into August, like with veteran players that were still in the market, I don't think that's historically been a great key to success. That's sort of the dream team model, and very rarely does it work out.
And I think Atlanta has been solely figuring that out. I mean these Michael Pennix images of him on the sideline watching this team play, watching this offense play, I mean it's difficult. I mean he has the helmet on, he's sitting there. It's like the car's waiting. Just when do you want to finally see what it has to offer you. It may not be this season, but if the Raiders do find.
A way to win that game.
Not only it is Atlanta's wild card hopes take a significant, significant setback there. It's going to get harder and harder to keep pace with Tampa Bay in that division.
Yeah, absolutely, Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay is possibly in, you know, in a spot where they could they could you know, get a little bit more of a stranglehold on that NFC South and try to get try to get the division championship. There. Two big games to talk about real quickly before we go. Two matchups in the NFL this week that that feature all the teams with double digit victories at this stage. Buffalo is at Detroit and Pittsburgh
is at Philadelphia the Battle of Pennsylvania. So and both of those games I believe are in the three twenty five time slot. So we'll be kind of watching those wrap up in the press box in Seattle as we're getting ready for the Packers and the Seahawks to kick off. But just your thoughts on on where things go here with with Bill's Lions and Steelers Eagles.
Bill's got to get one back here.
Yeah, they do.
And because not that, I mean, we know they're going to be in the playoffs. We've won the division once again for what was it the fifth straight year?
Yeah, I believe it's five straight AFC East titles for Buffalo.
Now, this is a team that wants to win a Super Bowl, and I think in many ways needs to win a Super Bowl. They've been sort of circling the wagons here for a number of years, but just haven't been able to finish the job.
Well, now you're going to take.
On one of the true juggernauts of the NFL so and you have to go into their place to do it. So that is going to be an ultimate litmus test for Josh Allen, big test for that defense, seeing if they can meet that challenge.
That Detroit's very especially the way Buffalo's defense struggled against the Yeah, Matthew Stafford and Puka Nakua, those guys last week. That I mean, maybe that's the wake up call, so to speak, that the Buffalo defense needed. I'll be very interested to see how that defense responds against the Lions after what happened to him last week.
Yeah.
So, I mean, again, the Bills can come up there get one back. That certainly would be a beneficial to Green Bay. I am really interested to watch Pittsburgh. We won't really get that big of an opportunity to see the game, but Steelers have been one of the most impressive teams in terms of relative to what their expectations were this year, and if they were the Cleveland Brown, I feel like Mike Tomlin be the favorite for Coach of.
The Year right now.
Yeah.
But Philadelphia on the other side of this thing, is also thinking, Okay, we did not peak at the end of last season. We did falter down the stretch. I think that's a big game for both of these teams again with the idea of momentum in mind and seeing who can impose the will on their other fellow Pennsylvanian.
Yeah, and you know how I always like to talk about, as I just did with regard to Buffalo's defense, I like to talk about, Okay, how is a team going to respond to what just happened? Philadelphia last week went to Carolina and got taken into the fourth quorder by a Carolina team that is definitely improving, but a Carolina team that is out of it and not really going anywhere this year. They needed a touchdown in the fourth
quarter to be able to pull that game out. So was that just a bump in the road for Philadelphia that they survived after playing, you know, so strong for a couple of months there where they were looking as good as anybody in the league and with Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts and that whole offensive juggernaut or is you know, is there something to you know, have the Are the Eagles potentially starting to lose something like they did last year and they aren't going to be able
to finish as strong as they want to. Last last week's game, they survived it, they got the win. But now they've got a major test in the Pittsburgh Steelers and how do they how do they react respond to what happened to them last week?
Well, and it's all about playoff positioning for them and being able to build this thing up so you have some confidence. I don't know if I ever remember a team entering the playoffs that had less momentum than the Eagles did last year. Oh that was yeah, And that was they were as much of a team could be, as far as a dead man walking entering the postseason
play as I think I've seen in years. I mean, they lost the division and then they kind of lost their grip on everything, and they just sort of skirted by based on what they did the first twelve weeks and and they were dispatched relatively early and with ease. So yeah, again it's gonna be it's gonna be huge here.
And then the other side of it that the Eagles have to think about, much like what Green Bay was in last week when we were looking at the NFC North Race, the Eagles would still love to get that first round by as well, and they're one game behind Detroit.
Right if I mean, that's the thing. If the if the Eagles win and if the Lions lose at home to Buffalo, then suddenly, you know, the Eagles and the Lions are tied for the top spot in the NFC. But then if it goes the other way, if it goes the other way, then suddenly the Eagles are two games back. If they lose and the Lions win, the Eagles are two games back of the top spot with only three games to play, and they probably don't have
any realistic shot at getting the first rounds. Why there's there's a ton on the Lion.
Yeah, it's it's a really high stakes match up there for for both of those teams in their in their respective divisions, and to be honest with you, as much as we made a couple funnies about the Rams and the forty nine ers, yeah, both of those teams, depending on what the circumstances are, could find themselves clawing themselves into a wild card spot. But ultimately they have to try to heat pace here with Seattle, yeah, in trying to get that NFC West championship, and that I think
it's really an interesting week, Mike. You got the Thursday night game, you got the two big three twenty five games on Sunday. Obviously the Sunday Night football game has a lot of consequences with it. But other than that, there isn't a whole lot going on this week in the NFL unless you're really into the whole like Kansas City Jameis Winston thing. But I mean, yeah, there isn't much to really point to.
Yeah, those the big games at you know, starting at three twenty five Central time on Sunday, those couple of big games and culminating with Packers and Seahawks on Sunday Night Football, that should be a pretty good stretch of NFL action. But yeah, outside of that.
Oh and then if yeah, the Chargers could take our business against Tampa too, I mean again, teams trying to get their seventh loss that would help in the NFC.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely Well, folks, the countdown to the twenty twenty five NFL drafting green Bay has begun, So mark your calendars for April twenty four through April twenty six of twenty twenty five, and visit green Bay dot com slash Draft twenty five for more information. And with that we'll call a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. I'm sure to follow all of our coverage of the team and everything from Sunday nights big game in Seattle. Wes and I will be there and we'll have it
all for you on Packers dot com. For Wes, I'm Mike. Thank you for tuning in. Everybody. We wilcome see you next time.