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. We're coming to you here from our studios at Lambeufield kind of a season wrap up show. I guess you would say this will be our last show for the time being. We will be back at some point before the draft, just not quite sure exactly when that'll be, but we will be taking a break
on Packers Unscripted. We'll start this final show of the season West with this.
Not long before.
We stepped into the studio here, we heard from Packers General manager Brian Gudukunst. He addressed the media for about thirty five minutes in his annual season wrap up news conference. And I'll just throw an open ended question out to you, what if anything stood out to you as your biggest takeaway from that media session.
Yeah, Mike, there was plenty of takeaways from it. I think the one where my ears perked up the most, and obviously a lot of the media outlets have kind of grabbed onto it the idea that you know, now is the time to start competing for championships and that not that Green Bay isn't always doing that, but they understand how good these recent draft classes have been in twenty two to twenty three, and then obviously you've already seen some production from the twenty four class in how
that translates to this team taking the next step. And I think my biggest takeaway beyond that was just Brian talking about the financial flexibility of these guys. They can make any move they want. Obviously, every dollar that you spend in free agency is also would come out of the kiddy, so to speak, for the dollars that you can spend on extensions, which Green Bay now also is
going to have coming up right. And I just think when you talk about Brian Guda Kuntz as the general manager and Russ Ball in this front office and how it's been constructed over the last six seven years, they like having their options and I think at this point
in time they have a lot of those. They've worked theirselves back from kind of that kicking the can down the road, you know, bowering against the future to win now back in twenty one and somewhat in twenty two, they've gotten back into the black, so to speak in terms of the financial aspect of it, and Green Bay's ready to compete. So disappointing ending to the season, but Brian definitely painted a and optimistic picture of what this future looks like in Green Bay.
Yeah, I heard much the same that you did in terms of what's top of mind for me the salary cap situation. The Packers are in as good a shape as they've been really since the COVID seasons, when you know, there was the big shift in the cap and lots of other decisions were made to try to stay at
the forefront and compete for a championship. As Aaron Rodgers career was in Green Bay was winding down, and what you said about the it's time to compete for championships, I thought it was right at the very very end of the last answer, the way he talked about a lot of the young players on this team, they've now
proven they can play in the NFL. They've established themselves as NFL players, and he sort of threw this question out there about, Okay, well, what's next in terms of what you can bring to this team to push this team.
Over the top.
It's not every player that comes into this league yes, you need to be a team player, but you need to establish yourself. And you know that's first and foremost for these guys because they're here to have a career, they're here to make money, they're here to do the best that they can.
There's a bunch of young guys.
Who have established themselves now, so now their personal attitude about success. And I'm not saying guys haven't been team players, don't get me wrong, but your personal attitude, your personal approach to success now needs to branch out and embrace the entire team. And what more can you do to help the team take the next step. That's sort of what I heard.
Yeah, ask not what your team can do for you, but what you can do for your team? Nice, very nice, Thank you. No, but listen, I love that message because you're talking beyond just guys being NFL players and being good NFL players. You're talking about can you make the next step to be a leader? Can you be the next step to be a consistent playmaker, a star?
That's I think exactly what he was getting at that. You're putting it better than I No.
Not at all. I thought you made a fine point as well, But I agree with you, I think we have so many great players on this team, but who's going to make that next jump? And by the way, not to say that you're behind on that. It took Jordy Nelson two three years, honestly the end of the ten season before his star really start to shine. No doubt,
it doesn't always happen overnight. But that being said, you have guys like Eddrian Cooper, and you know, you look at some of these offensive skill position players like you know, Tucker Kraft and the jump that he has made each year he's been in the league, and and those are the type of players that are also ultimately going to be foundational pieces for you. And that was sort of something that good it consoluded to as well as far as needing to extend guys here in these next couple drafts.
The twenty two draft now is going to be eligible for extensions. You get through next year, the twenty three draft will be eligible for extensions. And one of the reasons when you when you look at the Xavier McKinney's and Josh Sjacobs, that's a lot of fun. We all really enjoy that. But as Brian said, there isn't always those players available, right, and you have to be very pragmatic with how you use your your finances and the decisions that you make as you build your team up
for the future, and how that all ties together. The one thing that's been fun for me. You probably caught onto this earlier than I did, because one you're you're much smarter than I am. But two, you also have covered this for quite a while now in the National Football League. There was a time my first few years where I was doing this beat where it's like, okay, well you need to have your cornerback one and your cornerback two. These are your starting safeties, here's your offensive line,
and then this is it. You built your team. Well, the longer you cover this league, even under the most favorable situations, you're going to have injuries, You're going to have things that change. You're not going to have the same exact lineup the entire season. And that is honestly the way that Brian builds his team. That's how he does it. It's about, yeah, you're preferred starters, but also
you're young guys that you're going to develop. He mentioned Jordan Morgan, He's going to be coming back off that shoulder surgery. Where does he fit into the picture next year? For these guys. The only guy it sounds like that won't be available at the beginning of the year based on pre existing injuries right now is Christian Watson. What's the reaction to that this offseason. Whether it's a free agent or whether it's a draft pick, these are all
the decisions Brian Goodikuns has to make. But at the end of the day, Mike him and his personnel department, they're going to give themselves depth. They're going to give themselves options, so you're not just tied into one specific scenario.
Yeah, and I think this is something to keep in mind here as the Packers enter an off season with a lot of salary cut flexibility and the ability to really do whatever it is that they want to do in terms of augmenting and reshaping the roster. You mentioned
Xavier McKinney Josh Jacobs. Just because McKinney and Jacobs were guys the Packers were able to bring in last year, that doesn't mean, for example, that the top wide receiver who will be available on the market, or the top cornerback who will be available on the market, or the top pass Rusher will be available on the market.
Will be as good as those guys.
You know, there's going to be a top so and so available on the market. It doesn't mean it's the next Xavier McKinney or the next Josh Jacobs. And that's something for fans to keep in mind. Because the Packers went out and got those top guys last year doesn't mean that though, that the top guys available this year are necessarily going to fit the Packers' vision and the culture, and they may not be as good a players as the guys. You know, Gota Kuntz has said it so
many times and you just reiterated it. Guys like Xavier McKinnon and Josh Jacobs are not available on the free agent market every year. That's why Brian jumped in and was as aggressive as he was last year because he saw those as rare opportunities. Just something to keep in mind as a free agency eventually rolls around here in about six to eight weeks.
Yeah, and that's a great point. One thing I've always personally loved too. How many people, including myself would have said, Hey, the Minnesota Vikings last year had an A plus free agency. Andrew Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman were not household names, and they both ended up turning into two of their better.
Players an time.
Zadarius Smith when the Packers signed him in twenty nineteen, it was a rotational rusher in Baltimore, not a household name. It's projecting sometimes where these guys are going to. It's not always going to be an All Pro running back that was a rushing champion.
Yeah, they's gonna be exactly.
There's still some there's still some crystal ball business to free agency, just as there is with the draft. It's just you're at a different point in a player's career in terms of trying to look and to project. Well, some of the guys that you mentioned just a few minutes ago, I think are going to come up in the next conversation we're going to have, which is I'm going to throw out some awards, if you want to call it that, players that you would pick to fit
certain categories here. And I'm not going to say, you know, this isn't going to be like Team MVP, because if you say Josh Jacobs, then I'm gonna say Zaber McKinney or viceversa. I'm not even gonna go there. These are going to be a little bit, a little bit deferstmid guard. And if you and I have not tied him up for this, folks, if you end up picking a guy that I wanted to talk about, I will have to
pivot on the fly and talk about somebody else. So my first one the unsung hero of the twenty twenty four Green Bay Packers.
Oh, what a great question, Mike, the unsung hero. There's so many levels to this. Yeah, how far do we want to talk about?
You can take that, You can take this any direction. You can define unsung hero anyway.
You Okay, So I'm gonna do I'm going to define unsung hero as a guy that helped them get to where they got to at the end of the season. So for my unsung hero, I'll pick Carrington Valentine as a guy who started the year it looked like he was going to be the odd man out because he misses the beginning of training camp with the hamstring injury. He he kind of has some setbacks with that and then it, you know, it appears like Jay Air, Eric Stokes, you have Keshawn Nixon the slot, you have a lot
of depth at cornerback. It just seemed like, well, how is Carrington going to get on the field after starting slow out of the gates, And then you can make a case that he might have been one of their most important defensive players during the final month of the season. He ends up having his first two interceptions in a span of three games. He forces a fumble. In another context, Carrington is a guy that battles, and the more I watch him play, the more I'm impressed by him and
in what he brings to the table. And talking about how things align for next season, you know, good to Consett. I mean he really thought, in kind of echoing your comments from a couple of weeks ago as well, when they settled in on Valentine on one side and Nixon on the other, No, you're not getting Jay airback having Bullered in the slot that ended up being their optimal package there in the nickel, which is ultimately the one that most NFL teams end up running on a percentage basis.
Carrington is a happy, go lucky, gregarious guy, but he is serious about football. And you asked me the unsung hero of this team, I think he's definitely in the conversation there.
Yeah, And this is a tough one for me to narrow it down because I think there's actually a pretty long list of guys on this team in that regard. I'm gonna mention too, and I won't talk too long about either one because I want to I want to
get into some of these other topics as well. I don't want this category to go by without mentioning Malik Willis, because I mean, it's not just that a backup quarterback came in and won two games as a starter and won another game in relief and almost won a fourth
game in relief at the end of the season. It's that when Malik Willis had to When Malik Willis was called upon to start those two games, and even when he was called on in relief in Jacksonville, he hadn't been here very long, and that could have gone really south, really fast for the Packers. And the fact that all three of those games, yes, they were all against AFC South teams, and that was a very poor division this year, So the Packers were fortunate the timing and the schedule
in that regard. But what Malik Willis did cannot be forgotten in terms of where the twenty twenty four Packers went. The other one I want to mention, I think we talked about him on previous shows. In this category of
unsung hero is Eric Wilson, the veteran linebacker. Because when Edrin Cooper wasn't out there as much early in the season and kway Walker had to miss some games anytime the Packers needed some extra snaps and some and the the communication and the leadership at the inside linebacker position, they turned to Eric Wilson. And and for a guy who's a little bit undersized, he's not an overly dynamic player.
Not only did he hold the defense together, but he made some splash plays along the way too, whether it be a TfL here there, or a sack or an interception that he had against the Colts in that the Malik Willis's first games as the Packers starter. So that would be my guy there. Next category, emerging player, I.
Mean it's it's entering coop. Yeah, I mean that's the answer, right.
I threw that one to you because now I have to come up with some Yeah.
So now I will pontificate and whatnot.
O start, I'll be ready, I'll be ready.
Listen I've said this so many times, but I wrote this an insider inbox. I truly mean it. Going back to twenty twelve and so many people think about that playoff loss to the forty nine ers, when people often forget about as they were a top ten, top eleven defense that year, and a big reason for that was Casey Hayward coming in as a rookie second round pick, having six interceptions, finishing third in Defensive Rookie of the
Year voting that year. He was a huge part of what Green Bay did that season, and he did it right from the get go. Unfortunately, he had some hamstring issues and some other stuff that popped up in the subsequent years, but that season was a huge critical piece for them, especially with Charles Woodson getting injured midway through the season. So all that being said, Edger and Cooper kind of reminded me of that a little bit this season.
It didn't matter about the position, it didn't matter about the inexperience, and I understand there's some things he had to learn on the fly, but he was a difference maker and this defense was different when he was on the field. I would love to see the compare and contrast from the first half of the year to when Edgron really got going, especially after he came back from the hamstring injury. He catapulted this defense forward and was
one of their best players. And I think of us, including myself, talked about when you're looking at an off ball linebacker. Some of the things he was doing was so emblematic of what they did with Clay Matthews in the mid twenty tens, being able to rush him from different areas, him being able to have his coverage skills. He still has much to learn, but he definitely was
the gem so far of this draft class. And I think when you're looking at the optimism and the hope and the potential of this defense the years to come under Jeff Haffley, it starts with Cooper because his speed, his quickness, and it's not just about him blitzing or being incorporated in the pass rush. He incorporates that into how he defends the run as well, and I thought had a big reason for why Green Bay ended up having their best performance against the run in fifteen years.
Yeah, I'm going to give what probably will strike you as a little bit of a surprising answer to this quest.
Wes Hodwaks Verrging player? What's that?
Is?
It?
Me?
Yeah?
But I'm gonna say tight end Tucker Kraft.
Yeah.
And I say that because as big a jump as he made from his rookie season to his second season and becoming an all around tight end in terms of the blocking and the pass protection, the blocking in the run game, the pass protection, the receiving and the yards after the catch, and all of that evolution and growth in Tucker Craft's game that we saw, I think I still label him as an emerging player on this team.
Because Matt Lafleur hinted the other day Tucker Craft very well could go from that solid all around tight end that every team wants to being a major, major featured player in this offense in his third year. I think that might be what is coming down the road for number eighty five. And so that's why he's my answer to this one. And we were both there what he said at his locker on Monday on the final locker
cleanout day. He's already starting to become a leader on this team, obviously, and he announced essentially to everybody not only with what he said but how he said it, that he's going to continue to take steps to be a leader in that locker room. And I think the next step in that regard started on Monday. The way he assessed this team and how he feels about it and where he feels it can and should go.
I'm with you one hundred percent on that, and he is when you're listening to Matt Lafleure talk as well. I mean, he is a focal point of what Green Bay wants to build this offense around moving forward. He's consistent, he's durable, he's tenacious, he prides himself just as much on his blocking as he does his pass catching. He's looking like a complete all around tight end and seeing
him grow into that has been really encouraging. And then even more than that, too, the fact that the offense, when you're talking about the consistency of it, when he's a focal point, when he's going when things are right, that does seem to be one of the things that does sort of, you know, shoot the fuel into the engine,
so to speak. Yeah, big plays are huge, and certainly running the ball is huge, but when you can move the sticks with a tight end like him, sometimes he doesn't even have to run the route to the first down, he can break a tackle or two to get going. I did see a statistic I wish I could credit the right source. I think it's Pro Football Focus. If it's not, it's a next gen stats other than George Kittle. I think he was the best in the league as far as yards after contact and in his route depth.
For the amnt of yards he ended up having this season relative to his route depth, I think Tucker Craft is a third round pick two years ago is going to turn out to be one of the best that Brian Goodecons has made in terms of draft choices.
Yeah, and I'm totally with you in this category. As far as Edger and Cooper, and I think even though they don't play the same position, what you said about Clay Matthews and how we saw Clay Matthews emerge, I think I think edgerin Cooper is without a doubt on that same track.
It's very exciting.
Because it's about unpredictability, right, and why was Clay so effective there? You didn't know when they were going to throw a match you. As far as the quarterback and some things, he adds a different dimension to that double a gap. Look where you're you're doing those simulated pressures, you're not sure where it's coming from. With his quickness, and the dude is listed at only two twenty eight,
I have a hard time believe in that. Like he I've seen two hundred and twenty eight pound receivers and safeties and things like that. Edrin Cooper wears it well. Man. If I didn't know any better, I would say he was two forty one, just like Kway.
Yeah, he's it's a.
Good football player. I'm excited to see him grow.
Yeah, all right, next one surprise player?
Can I pick Brandon McManus here? Sure? So Brandon McManus comes off the street, and obviously you know all this stuff has been covered, but I was blown away by him. I know the season didn't end how he wanted to. I mean, missing a thirty eight yarder in his hometown. It's tough pill to swallow right at the end of this thing, but I think Brian even said it was kind of the journey they were on with the kicker situation. And you know, Brandon Narvisen, God bless him. I hope
it works out for him. A nice kid. But I think he was number six seven in the line of all these guys that they had signed throughout the course of the offseason, and since since April, McManus comes available, they sign him. He comes in here and he won them games. Man Like Bill James and baseball always had like the you know wins, you know gained and things like that, how much you contribute to it, And I would love to have a statistic like that for Brandon McManus.
I mean, I think you have to make a case he won the Packers a game or two this season just the way he performed, and you know, and he came up in some big clutch situations as well. And Brian talked about how you know that that is going to be a major emphasis here this offseason. They would like to get him back.
Yep.
They want to keep that nucleus together with the specialists. It's something they've really struggled to do here for for several years now, to have those same three that battery together, like Rich Bisacci always talks about. So yeah, certainly, I think McManus, for a guy that was not on the top of my head when the season started as a potential savior for this kicking situation, definitely came through for Green Bay.
Yeah, my guy for surprise player is Keishaan Nixon.
Yeah, that's a good one.
Uh, you know, And we talked about him on previous shows as well. I mean, with as much time as Jay Alexander missed and Nixon being asked not only to bump out and play outside corner, but to play essentially the CB one spot for as many games as he did, and to perform at the level that he did. I thought the player, the defensive player that Kishan Nixon has become over the last couple of years is nothing short of very impressive. And it's a lot of credit to him.
It's it's a credit to it's a credit to the coaches to give him the opportunity to see what he can do, and the credit to him to deliver when he's.
Called upon there. And you know, if.
I'll just say it this way, and we don't need to go off on the tangent, so I apologize if it sends us there. If the OPI is called at the end of the Detroit game, we're talking about Keishawn Nixon as maybe the hero of that football game.
That's all I'm saying.
You know what it is, It's it's like the Hey, don't poke me, Yeah, don't prod me here, Spofford, all right, we'll move on. Hey, let me say this, and that's a great you know what, you know what I mean though, I know exactly what Keishawn Nixon did in that game in Detroit was impressive as all get out.
And then and unfortunately, then you know, the discussion turns to, you know, to to that play right at the end where he's all over their number one receiver and just gets shoved out of the way, and it doesn't matter.
Doesn't matter. Yeah, there's too many of those situations this here, and obviously Green Bay talked about it too. You don't want to be in those situations where the refs are are changing stuff. But the one, the one credit I'll give to Kishawn. I've covered this team. This was year thirteen, season thirteen for me. The one thing I will say about him is Treman Williams is probably the only cornerback I can think of that has been able to play outside on the perimeter and slide into the slot and
perform as well as he did. That is not an advantageous situation to be And Keishan did a really good job in the locker room this year of kind of explaining the differences between the two positions, the instincts that are required outside and reading exactly how guys are lining up and what you're potentially facing, and then inside, where it's you're trying to be physical. You don't have as much time to read and react. It's a difficult juggling act.
And there were several times this year where because of injuries or certain situations, he had to handle both of those things at a fly, and he passed that test. For as much as I people just don't want to give him his flow. Some fans don't want to give him his flowers. Keishaw Nixon is a huge part of this thing and what Koreembia is going to build here in the years to come.
Yeah, I agree, and it's why I wanted to I want to continue to emphasize.
That, because why is an unsung hero, because.
Yeah, he could fit.
He could have fit in that category as well as whether you want to call it unsung hero a surprise player. I think I know what your answer is is already to this next one, but I'm gonna throw it out there anyway, And you kind of already hinted at it unless you've changed your mind.
Always changed my mind. Best moment of the season, Oh yeah, I love the McManus field goal against Houston. Against Houston, yeah yeah. And the only reason for that is first first game, the guy shows up.
I mean they sign him on what Tuesday? Yeah, and then on Sunday he's got to walk out in the Lambeau Field and and hit a walk off field goal. And not just a walk off field goal, but one that you lose if you missed it.
Because the Packers were down by a point.
And in what's the definition of best moment in the season, it's the It's the thing that you think of immediately. It's the image that you think of Aaron Rodgers a number of years ago doing that I still own you thing to the fans at Soldier Field and what ended up being his last start for Green Bay. There mcmannon and obviously McManus wasn't being wasn't doing that, but him jumping to the crowd, the way that guys reacted to it, the Packers wearing the winter Warning jerseys, it just and
it was a very big win. It was a win over a team that at the time in which we're shooting. This is still playing for a Super Bowl. I mean, I just I loved everything about it. It was the biggest headache Green Bay had had. They went through so many different kickers and situations, and it's a situation where it's not just about whether Brandon Narvson con made it. How many kickers in the National Football League are able
to come up in that situation. And mcmahonus proved that he is is a veteran, He's done this before, he has a process that works for him. And I think it was after that day everybody kind of felt like, Okay, the Packers are going to be okay.
Yeah.
For me, it's and part of this is, I mean, you know how things are for us at the end of games, Like I'm live blogging the game and I need to you know, you're doing the quarter by quarter updates on the website, and then I need to write kind of the summary, the quick recap right at the end of the game that goes on top of your quarter by quarter thing. That's how we kind of piece
this together. So when things are frantic at the end of game, like my mind is going like a gazillion different miles an hour, So for me, the best moment of the season is sort of related to all of that chaos, and it's in Jacksonville tie score, and Malik Willis hits Jaden Reid for fifty one yards. That sets up then another walk off, a chip shot in this case for McManus, because you know, Willis had come in, Hey, he'd done a great job. The Packers were up ten points.
Then the defense starts to falter, gives up ten points on two straight drives by Trevor Lawrence. The offense had been going nowhere, and so you know, I'm thinking, you know, oh my gosh, this looks like one that's going to get away. You know, it's it felt a lot like the Carolina Yeah, for sure last year one that was.
Going to get away.
That you're just like, how do you let this game get away? And then Willis hits Red and they get the big play fifty one yards down the field, and you know, we hop on the plane to come home from Jacksonville with another victory and a lot more exciting things to write about than if that game had gone the other way. And that, for me, that's the one that stands out with the Carl Brooks blockfield goal in
Chicago being right up there as well. But the Jacksonville one mentally is the one that sticks with me.
I'm with you on that too, because the only thing that kind of hurts about the Brooks one is that Santos gets it back at Lambeufield.
Right finalitey agreed, But what I.
Loved about willis Man is I mean, he can spin it, dude. I love watching him throw football.
Yeah, get no doubt it is it is.
He throws a nice, tight spiral. I just I can't get over the fact Green Bay got him for a seventh round pick, and especially in.
Nness, was in quarterback purgatory all year long after trading that guy for a seventh round pick.
Well, some things they won't be anymore. Yeah, some teams.
Some team's misfortune is yeah, another team's good fortune. So all right, this last one I'm gonna throw at you.
And this I've never asked you this question before, Okay, within this context, but it struck me as one to ask because of how we had talked on our last show about the big what if of the playoff game was obviously the opening kickoff and the replay review and all that, and it was sort of the what if about the game against Philly that was hanging out there like a Matza ball to steal a Jerry Seinfeld expression.
So I want to ask you, what do you feel, aside from that one from the playoff game, what was your biggest what if moment of this season for the Pack?
Before I turn it over that, I just want to say, what if the New York Office had access to the same skycam footage that Bob from Krivits had access to and how that might have affected this football game? That's that's my my what if. No, I think my big what if is ultimately going to end up being just with Christian Watson. And I don't want to put it all on Christian because, as I've talked about with you before, Green Bay didn't have him for most of the last
season and they were able to overcome it. They were without you know, Aaron Jones last season for most of last season in various intervals, and we're able to overcome it. So you always have to play above that. You need guys to step up. But but that being said, Christian is such a solid football player, good leader, will do anything you need him to do. If he's on the field for them down the stretch, and he's commanding. We're talking about the shelf and the ceiling that they built,
that roof that Philadelphia built. Well, running number seven against that changes then number nine, number nine as much as quite sure where that game. Number seven is on my mind right now, but let's stick to name.
Thought i'd correct you before that.
Yeah, thanks for doing that, by the way, yeah scream, but even have a number seven right now?
Yeah, it's kuay Walker.
Oh kay Walker. Yeah, because he's on defense. I'm yeah, I'm going to retire. Uh, it's been a log season. There's a reason this is our last. Shit. This reminds me of the time that somebody who will remain nameless asked you in the press box, Mike, who's number eighteen? Yeah,
when it was Randall Cobb. Listen, I'm taken away from the point here, but Christian Watson is a really good football player, and to lose him in that sense and not have him on the field and now we'll see exactly what the future holds here as they try to navigate this offseason without him. I just I just wonder if Christian Watson is out there for this playoff run. How that changes Green Bay's offense and maybe the way that the Philadelphia Eagles and potentially the opponent after that.
Would have had to send him. Yeah. For me, the what if moment is.
It'll it'd be pinpointed to somewhere around give or take a few minutes, but three pm on Week eighteen, because the Washington Commanders threw a touchdown pass with five seconds sure right the Dallas Cowboys and the Packers lost to the Chicago Bears on a walk off field goal. Those two things happened within moments of each other.
Yeah, And if both of.
Those games go the other way, the Packers are the sixth seed and not the seventh seed, and they are going to Tampa Bay, which is just a ten win football team in the winner of a poor division, instead of a fourteen win team in Philadelphia. Playing the three seed versus the two seed, I think was a huge difference in terms of the wild card round in the
NFC playoffs. So for me, that's my what if because I think if the Packers go to Tampa instead of going to Philly, I think we've been spending this show talking about a rematch with Detroit. Yeah, and game number three against the Lions. But that's the what if. That's the what if.
I really wanted that one too. I just again, you know me, the pro wrestling fan in me, the narratives and all that stuff that goes into it. I just think the build of that game would have been so much fun. It didn't happen. Yeah, Washington goes to Detroit, obviously, the Los Angeles Amselill go to Philadelphia, and the NFC representative will be one of those four teams in the Super Bowl.
And I want to get your thoughts quickly. This took a little longer than I thought, but it's the last show.
Oh you're talking to me, But I'm a long winded.
I've been a little long winded today too. But for some sponsor business.
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Any thoughts to share as the weekend approach.
Washington versus Detroit's is more specifically, Washington's offense versus Detroit's defense will be really interesting. Aaron Glenn, rightfully, so, getting
a lot of attention for potential head coaching opportunities. I think sometimes and I really lies Alex Azeloni, like they were dealing with some injuries this year that affected, but I mean they are the twentieth ranked defense in the league, and seeing if Washington can have some success against it is going to be I think, ultimately the storyline of this game, certainly Dan Quinn's defense. It's going to be
a supreme challenge trying to defend Detroit. It sounded like before we hopped in here that David Montgomery is going to be back or potentially could be back here.
It sounds like it.
Yeah, So, I mean, they're they're coming back to full force here for this stretch run in a situation in which a couple of weeks ago at least it was put out there that he wasn't going to be back. Although there's part of me the contrary and sort of skeptic in me always wondered if that really was true or not. But be that as it may, David Montgomery is still in the cards here for the Lions, So
that's gonna be a really good matchup. I mean, Houston's gonna see I mean you talk about like Green Bay last year, kind of playing with house money and going into San Francisco and seeing if something can happen. That's kind of where the Texans are right now. I don't think anybody really expected them to handle you know how they did, you know, kind of running through the Chargers last week. Yeah, and we'll see, man, I mean it's it's you have nothing to lose in that scenarios. Yeah.
I mean, for me, the team, the team that's playing with the most house money right now is Washington. Just yeah, for sure, with them being on this run of all of these last second, last play of the game victories and stuff like that, it doesn't get more more house money than that.
Houston.
I'm just very interested. I fully expect Kansas City to win, but I'm really interested in what Houston's defense does against a Kansas City offense that has not been a typical Patrick Mahomes offense. Yeah, right, route this year, they haven't really gotten to where you know, they've been expected to be offensively, and this Houston defense is no joke, So that that intrigues me in that respect. Sunday's games Rams at Eagles, Ravens at Bills. What are your thoughts there?
Baltimore and Buffalo is maybe the biggest game of this entire postseason. Yeah, honestly, yeah, I understand the super Bowl. Everybody wants to win the Super Bowl, but Lamar and Josh Allen can't both get there. They can't both get to the AFC Championship game, and one of those two
stories is going to have a very disappointing ending. You have Lamar, who, as good as he's been and multiple time MVP now has not been able to take that next step in the playoffs, and unfortunately Josh Allen has been on the losing ends so many times of these
losses against Kansas City. One of them gets to advance here, and honestly, I think I potentially could favor either one of them to end up being the super Bowl champion, whoever wins that, depending on how they do so that is, and then also can Baltimore's defense, the issues that they've had over the course of this year, some of the ups and downs they've had. Can they contend with everything
that Buffalo presents? Very good football game, And again you and I have talked about several times now, Kansas City, this is why you want the number one seed, especially in that conference. If you can take care of business against Houston, you get to face the team that actually gets through that gauntlet. Here between Baltimore and Buffalo, huge, huge implications in that one.
Yeah, it's interesting because I mentioned the whole thing about Buffalo being an underdog and a home playoff game for the first time in franchise history.
I mentioned that on our last show.
But if there's a game, if there's a January playoff game in Buffalo where the Bills actually want really really good weather, yeah it's this one. This was because not only Baltimore's running game with Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson, but Baltimore's pass defense is the biggest weakness of that team. And Buffalo needs to be able to throw the ball all over the yard, and Buffalo doesn't run the ball well anyway, except for their quarterbacks. So Buffalo doesn't want
a ten degrees. I haven't even looked at what the forecast is. They don't want ten degrees next to Lake Erie on Sunday night. That's not what they want for this game against against the Ravens Rams at Eagles. I'll just say, if Philadelphia can handle LA's pass rush, I think the Eagles win this game.
I think that.
I think that's really the biggest thing that it comes down to two quarterbacks. They both won their share of playoff games. You know, the best running game is obviously Philadelphia's and the Rams I think are going to have a hard time stopping Philadelphia's offense regardless of how they do against Barkley. But if that defensive front can't, you know, repeat what they did against the Vikings, I think the Rams are in trouble.
Well in two weeks a row An offense with the Lafleur attached to it is going to try to find an answer here for the for the Philadelphia Eagles passing defense and everything that they present. The Rams are the
wild card in all of this. I feel like like as much as you're talking about and I agree with you, Washington playing with house money, the Rams are the one that are sort of the unknown elements of this postseason run because we didn't get to see them at full strength for basically the entire season up until this stretch run.
We're gonna find out how legitimate they are. If you can beat the Minnesota Vikings the way that they beat them and then go on the road into Philadelphia and hand it to the Eagles, there may not be a hotter team even if Washington finds a way to upset Detroit heading into that championship AFC and NFC weekend. So Matthew Stafford's been there, He's done that. You're talking about
experienced quarterbacks in this league. There's nothing that Vic Fangio is going to show him that Stafford hasn't seen before. Do they have the weapons and everything around that to take advantage of it? And we'll find out on Sunday afternoon.
Yeah, we will find out.
And we've run a little bit long again, but that's okay, it's our last show of the year. I'm just gonna do this one more time, folks, because the countdown to the twenty twenty five NFL Draft has begun. Green Bay is hosting this year. If you didn't already know that, and you won't want to miss it, so mark your calendars for April twenty four through April twenty six of twenty twenty five and it visit green Bay dot com
slash Draft twenty five for more information. And before we go, I will turn it over to you for a couple of last times.
Yeah, thank you. Michael us Here Packer's Digital and Broadcast and Social Department. Everybody attached with us lost somebody very close to us this week, and Mike Vandersnick. I just want to say a couple of words about Snick, and these last couple of days have been really hard for me personally. I've known Mike basically since I was a teenager and I worked with them at Spectrum what was previously Time Warner Cable. Got to know him there twenty thirteen,
JP cadoran love you, JP, wherever you're at. Him and his lovely wife Welcome to the birth of a child, and Spectrum sent me. I was covering the games for the Press gazette. They decided, Hey, we're gonna have you be our stand up guy. You're gonna do the live stand up or not lives, but the look live, and Snick was my videographer and god, I was terrible. I was so bad, Mike, Like, I'm not saying I've ever been good on camera. I have to ask thee if
Dennis Crowsey has those videos for me. I was so bad. And Nick Snick was so encouraging to me. This guy has worked in the field forever. He was with us as a videographer. He basically worked for every TV station in this area. A total professional. You'll never find anybody better at what he did. And he was so encouraging to me. And I was so bad at what I was doing. I went back and looked at it and it was so terrible. But that's just the type of
guy he was. And there's a million stories we could share. I've had great time talking to people the last few days, you know, sort of bringing through some of our favorite moments of him. And I just want to say this. In twenty fifteen, Mike was the first person that came up to me and told me that VIC was going to be retiring. And he was the first guy that said to me, Hey, you know, maybe this is something
that you should consider. Not that the packers would have even wanted me, but to keep your eyes and your ears open to.
Oh, we wanted you, We wanted you.
But I'll give a shout out and thank you to Snick for planning the seed.
And I actually at first said, no, I'm not interested in that. I'm a newspaper man. I'm a tough guy. And Snick and I always had a relationship. I never got into a fight with him once, never had to disagree with him once. But he looked at me kind of like the way a young older brother would look at a younger brother, like you're being stupid, Like what
are you talking about? And because Mike had seen what the news industry was looking like, he knew what my situation looked like at the newspaper when Gannett had bought the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and there's gonna be a merger between the Prescazette and the JS and and who knows what that could mean for jobs. And I ended up reconsidering and I texted Ryan Hartwig. I texted Duke Bobber, who's my direct boss, our our direct supervisor. And six
months later I got a job with the packers. And I will never forget the look that Mike gave me the day that I started here. And I love you Mike, I appreciate everything you did for me. I'm so heartbroken and sad for the people that know you even better than I did. His wife, Shelley is wonderful wife. Shelley's beautiful wife, Shelley, and everybody that he touched and everybody that he did so much good with, And I will forever cherish all the memories, the road trips, everything we
did and the bond that we formed. And the last two days have been two of the rougher days that I've had in a very long time. And what's kind of getting me through it right now, spot is the fact that there are so many good memories of things that we did together and times that we shared, and
laughs and photos and and everything. So I appreciate the packers and you and everybody given me an opportunity to kind of express that, because Mike, for as long as I live, buddy, I am going to be living for you. I love you, and I am never ever ever going to forget you, And I'm looking forward very someday have a reconciliation with you there and be able to.
Meet up again. Yeah. Well I couldn't say it any better.
So I'm not gonna try, and with that we're going to call it a rap on the edition of Packers Unscripted and this season of Packers Unscripted. A thank you to all of our viewers and listeners and everybody who enjoys what we do here, and also a shout out to our producer Zach. Thanks for hanging with us all season, buddy.
And as I said.
We will be back at some point before the draft, which is in Green Bay in case you haven't been paying attention, But until then, for Wes, I am Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody, and we will see you next time.