Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined by my
Speaker 1: partner in crime, Weston Hodkowitz. We're coming to you Hear
Speaker 1: from our studios at Lambellfield to preview Sunday's Green Bay
Speaker 1: Packers home game against the Houston Texans. It will be
Speaker 1: a noon Central Time kickoff. But before we dive into
Speaker 1: the Texans wes, there is a major piece of news
Speaker 1: with regard to this Green Bay Packers team. Rookie kicker
Speaker 1: Brandon Narvison is out. Veteran kicker Brandon McManus is in.
Speaker 1: Packers have gone basically a season and a third now
Speaker 1: with rookie kickers and it hasn't worked out, and so
Speaker 1: now the move is to go to a veteran, a
Speaker 1: proven guy, and Brandon McManus was Brian Gudukunk's choice.
Speaker 2: Brand McManus is Brian Kunt's choice. Brian talked be I
Speaker 2: Guess during practice on Wednesday about the decision to sign McManus,
Speaker 2: and certainly a lot of things go into that decision.
Speaker 2: There were some off the field issues, allegations that they
Speaker 2: have worked through. McManus said it as locker his new
Speaker 2: locker on Wednesday, that that situation and the allegations around
Speaker 2: it when it's during his time in Jacksonville has been
Speaker 2: resolved in the Packers, both he and the Packers looking
Speaker 2: to move forward here. One thing Guda Kunts did reiterate
Speaker 2: though the Packers did their due diligence, they leaned on
Speaker 2: the NFL and their investigation into the whole situation, and
Speaker 2: ultimately felt like this is with where this team is at,
Speaker 2: it was time to go back to the veteran route.
Speaker 2: And I've said this time and time again. It applies
Speaker 2: typically more to the courtition, but when a team struggles
Speaker 2: in the quarterback play is not where you want it
Speaker 2: to be. If the quarterback's a veteran, it tends to
Speaker 2: be that that's where they end up drafting somebody. If
Speaker 2: it's a if it's a draft pick or a recent
Speaker 2: young player, that's when typically they go the veteran round.
Speaker 2: It's one of the other, and Green Bay is swinging
Speaker 2: the pendulum back towards the veteran route. In McManus, a
Speaker 2: guy that is an eleventh year veteran out of Temple.
Speaker 2: I thought this was a really salient point that you
Speaker 2: raised them. Maybe you're going to get into it here
Speaker 2: in a second, but the fact of how efficient he's
Speaker 2: been within fifty yards and I as much as you
Speaker 2: want to have the big home run hitter, there's times
Speaker 2: where you just got to get you have to get
Speaker 2: the gotta have them kicks. And I think that's what
Speaker 2: the Packers, with where this team is ated for and
Speaker 2: too and where they think they can get to this season,
Speaker 2: they feel like McManus can be that guy. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean the reason I dove into the statistics a
Speaker 1: little bit with McManus is because when the signing was
Speaker 1: originally announced, the news was leaking out Tuesday night. Initially
Speaker 1: the Packers made it official on Wednesday, I saw a
Speaker 1: lot of people pointing to well, Brandon McManus, you know,
Speaker 1: his career percentage on field goals is eighty one point
Speaker 1: eight percent. That's roughly the same percentage that Anders Carlson
Speaker 1: had last year as a rookie for the Packers. And
Speaker 1: I was like, wait a minute, Brandon McManus kicked for
Speaker 1: nine years in Denver, and I just remember from watching
Speaker 1: games and whatnot, the Broncos had him try a bunch
Speaker 1: of long kicks fifty five, fifty six fifty eight yards.
Speaker 1: He was doing that all the time. So I dug
Speaker 1: into his statistics, and he's tried eighty five fifty plus
Speaker 1: yard field goals in his career. I believe it's eighty five.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's eighty two. Anyway, it's a number in the eighties.
Speaker 1: He's made more than half of them. He's made roughly
Speaker 1: fifty five percent of those. But if you take out
Speaker 1: the fifty five percent on fifty plus, which isn't bad
Speaker 1: by any means, I think that's still a pretty good
Speaker 1: clip for those difficult kicks. If you take out the
Speaker 1: fifty five percent on the fifty plus inside fifty yards
Speaker 1: in his career, which is ten years nine with Denver,
Speaker 1: one with Jacksonville inside fifty yards, this guy's been ninety
Speaker 1: one percent for his entire career. We have watched Brandon
Speaker 1: Narvison miss five field goals six if you count the
Speaker 1: one that was called back by the penalty in Tennessee
Speaker 1: in six weeks. All of those misses were under fifty yards.
Speaker 1: We watched last year Anders Carlson miss five extra points
Speaker 1: from thirty three yards away. Brandon McManus has missed nine
Speaker 1: thirty three yard extra points in his entire career. Carlson
Speaker 1: missed five of those last season. The upgrade here is obvious.
Speaker 1: Now there's never any guarantee things are gonna work out.
Speaker 1: Hopefully for McManus, all of this off the field stuff,
Speaker 1: as he said, the NFL investigation, the civil lawsuit, it's
Speaker 1: been resolved. He's moving forward. He's looking at this as
Speaker 1: a fresh start, a new opportunity. Is very thankful for
Speaker 1: the Packers. The Packers are thankful that a guy with
Speaker 1: his track record was available to be able to make
Speaker 1: this change. Some people are wondering, Okay, well, how come
Speaker 1: you know there was so much patience with Anders Carlson
Speaker 1: last year, not so much patience this year with Braden Narvison.
Speaker 1: You have to remember last year the Packers were three
Speaker 1: and six after nine games. They were trying to figure
Speaker 1: it out. They didn't get above five hundred until they
Speaker 1: got to nine to eight, winning the last regular season
Speaker 1: game just to get into the playoffs. This is a
Speaker 1: four and two team that is in right now the
Speaker 1: toughest division in football, and the Packers have expectations this
Speaker 1: year that are way beyond what they had a year ago.
Speaker 1: There's no wait in around here when this opportunity was
Speaker 1: available and the off the field stuff was looked at
Speaker 1: and the Packers were comfortable with it. This is a
Speaker 1: big time move to make to get a proven veteran
Speaker 1: kicker who's been through it all, including kicking in a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl.
Speaker 2: And keep in mind, too, Michael, as much as you
Speaker 2: know Anders and people asking that question, he started the
Speaker 2: year making his first fifteen kicks last season, he built
Speaker 2: up that basis that the Packers were kind of leaning
Speaker 2: on to get through the rest of the year.
Speaker 1: He had shown he could do it over the course
Speaker 1: of a number of weeks and then it just started
Speaker 1: to unravel and it never got put back together.
Speaker 2: And if you flip it, if Anders starts that way,
Speaker 2: you wonder how much patience you're going to have then.
Speaker 2: As far as how he finished the season very good.
Speaker 2: Point so in terms of McManus and one other thing,
Speaker 2: so you were this was like you and me, Pippin
Speaker 2: and Jordan here when you came up with all these
Speaker 2: statistics on McManus. I found it interesting diving into Mason
Speaker 2: Crosby statistics because I'd never really thought about it that
Speaker 2: way as far as what is a guy's efficiency within
Speaker 2: fifty yards. Mason's was eighty six percent within fifty and
Speaker 2: exactly the same fifty five percent beyond fifty as McManus.
Speaker 2: So thirty three years old, it's not been kicking for
Speaker 2: a while. He had the one year with Jacksonville, was
Speaker 2: working out on his own down in Florida. We'll have
Speaker 2: to see how it all fits together. But for the
Speaker 2: Green Bay Packers at four and two, with what it
Speaker 2: looks to be, there is not going to be much
Speaker 2: wiggle room within the NFC North Division. This was one
Speaker 2: of the big glaring weaknesses on this team and thirty
Speaker 2: first ranked in field goal efficiency this season. The Jets
Speaker 2: only the team behind them right now, and a lot
Speaker 2: of that was because of what happened on Monday night
Speaker 2: with Greg Zuerlin. This is their feeling that, Okay, we're
Speaker 2: going to get a guy again, feeling comfortable with the human,
Speaker 2: feeling comfortable with the person. We're going to get a
Speaker 2: guy that has done this at a high level for
Speaker 2: a long time and is going to have already developed
Speaker 2: some of that scar tissue that unfortunately, you know, Brady
Speaker 2: Narvison on the field is kind of working through right now.
Speaker 2: Despite having a really solid leg yeah.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, Well, this is quite the challenge coming into lambeau
Speaker 1: Field this weekend that Houston Texans. They are five to one,
Speaker 1: their only loss to the undefeated Minnesota Vikings, a blowout
Speaker 1: loss as it turned out in Minneapolis. I believe the
Speaker 1: final score was thirty four to seven. When you look
Speaker 1: at looking through the play by play of that game
Speaker 1: and looking at the highlights, it was just a game
Speaker 1: that started poorly for Houston and they were never able
Speaker 1: to dig themselves out of way. It started with an
Speaker 1: interception and the Vikings scored right away, then they got
Speaker 1: another touchdown. It was fourteen to nothing almost before you know,
Speaker 1: all those Minnesota fans were in their seats and so
Speaker 1: but that is Houston's only lost this season. They bring
Speaker 1: in the reigning offensive Rookie of the Year from last
Speaker 1: year and quarterback c J. Stroud, the reigning defensive Rookie
Speaker 1: of the Year from last year in will Anderson. This
Speaker 1: is an immensely talented team and head coach Demiko Ryans
Speaker 1: a former defensive Rookie of the Year himself for the
Speaker 1: Houston Texans. Demiko Ryans as the head coach. Along with
Speaker 1: this personnel, they've changed the fortunes of that franchise very
Speaker 1: very quickly. And this is a team was a surprise
Speaker 1: entry in the playoffs last year, much like the Packers were,
Speaker 1: and a team with a lot of high hopes and
Speaker 1: expectations here and off to a five and one start.
Speaker 2: And when you talk about rebuilding a franchise and bringing
Speaker 2: them back up from just the absolute sediment of the
Speaker 2: National Football League to a contender, in the quick turnaround
Speaker 2: that they've made, you can't say enough about the coaching staff,
Speaker 2: you can't say enough about these players. But ultimately it
Speaker 2: comes back to hitting on the quarterback, and they did.
Speaker 2: They had CJ. Stroud fall in their lap at number two,
Speaker 2: and he's been just everything and more you could have
Speaker 2: ever asked for in a young, developing quarterback, and certainly
Speaker 2: the year right now, it all signs point towards this
Speaker 2: is going to be a player in this league for
Speaker 2: years to come, no doubt, and a guy that brings
Speaker 2: you a lot of versatility as well. I know we
Speaker 2: usually break this down with offensive and defensive. It I'm
Speaker 2: going to do that in a minute, but I wrote
Speaker 2: this an insider indux and I have to say this
Speaker 2: again because I really feel like Will Anderson doesn't get
Speaker 2: the proper credit because of Stroud being drafted at number two.
Speaker 2: What a pragmatic decision for the Texans making a sizable investment,
Speaker 2: got their quarterback, but then decided, you know what, we
Speaker 2: want to get our anchor of our defense for years
Speaker 2: to come. They invest three first round picks and some
Speaker 2: other picks as well into this thing, and they get
Speaker 2: Will Anderson, who looks like as much of a game
Speaker 2: changer as it's been with Stroud on the offensive side
Speaker 2: of the ball. Anderson's providing that on the defensive side
Speaker 2: at the ball right now. And if you look at
Speaker 2: pass rushers, you look at quarterbacks, you can bring up
Speaker 2: all the window dressing and all the other players that
Speaker 2: factor into that. But that's how you very quickly change
Speaker 2: the fortunes of an offense and in a defense, a
Speaker 2: guy that can handle your offense and can lead your team,
Speaker 2: and defensively, a guy that is going to be absolutely
Speaker 2: ripped through the competition. Packers have a very significant challenge
Speaker 2: on their hands on Sunday.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, sticking with Anderson, he is the current AFC
Speaker 1: Defensive Player of the Week. He's coming off of a
Speaker 1: three SAT game against the New England Patriots offensive line. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and we'll get to that too, because I think the
Speaker 1: Packers offensive line is coming off of maybe its best
Speaker 1: game of the season against the Arizona Cardinals. That's another
Speaker 1: thing that makes this matchup so intriguing as far as
Speaker 1: the pass rush goes. The Tech since have Will Anderson
Speaker 1: and Daniel Hunter, the former Minnesota Viking. On the other side,
Speaker 1: they do not have Mario Edwards. He has now been suspended.
Speaker 1: But all you have to do is as far as
Speaker 1: what this defense is capable of is look at the
Speaker 1: statistics from Houston's victory, a down to the wire walk
Speaker 1: off long field goal victory over the Buffalo Bills from
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago. Josh Allen, Buffalo quarterback, no
Speaker 1: slouch of a quarterback. Last I checked, he was nine
Speaker 1: of thirty passing against that Houston defense. They made life really,
Speaker 1: really difficult for Josh Allen in that game. And this
Speaker 1: Minnesota Vikings certainly have a good defense. They've been doing
Speaker 1: They've been doing some pretty impressive things. I think this
Speaker 1: Houston defense is probably the best one the Packers will
Speaker 1: have faced so far this year.
Speaker 2: Josh Myers basically said the same exact thing at his
Speaker 2: locker on Wednesdays, especially their defensive front. No disrespect to
Speaker 2: the secondary, but as far as what Meyers is going
Speaker 2: to be looking at, what this Packers offensive line is
Speaker 2: going to be looking at. And while they do lose
Speaker 2: Mario Edwards, they're getting back Denico Autry, who is coming
Speaker 2: off a career year last year with Tennessee this suspension,
Speaker 2: he's missed these first few you know, first what five
Speaker 2: six games, But this is the guy the Packers are
Speaker 2: well familiar with. They almost signed him as an undrafted
Speaker 2: free agent when he came out of college back in
Speaker 2: twenty fourteen or whatever it was. I believe it was
Speaker 2: a medical issue that kind of negated that, but the
Speaker 2: dude has been a consistent guy. Reminds me a lot
Speaker 2: of like Lawrence Guy in terms of it took some
Speaker 2: time for him to develop, but I mean, coming off
Speaker 2: career high in sacks last year, what he brings to
Speaker 2: that rotation. It's a lot of things to worry themselves with.
Speaker 2: And at the end of the day, the Packers have
Speaker 2: to find a way forward. And another thing that's going
Speaker 2: to help them is the fact that this game is
Speaker 2: taking place at Lambeau field. It sounds like it's going
Speaker 2: to be a nice day at Lambeo. We're not going
Speaker 2: to have to probably have the benefit of some fall
Speaker 2: conditions like you did last week.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it sounds like it could hit seventy degrees in
Speaker 1: mid October in Green Bay, which is rather unusual.
Speaker 2: Rather unusual. But the fact is is, if this thing's
Speaker 2: at energy that I think Houston, it just allows them
Speaker 2: to play even more up tempo. Especially that defense with
Speaker 2: how they get off the ball, is gonn be a
Speaker 2: real challenge. The other aspect I have to mention too,
Speaker 2: and I know we've kind of blurred the lines here
Speaker 2: between offense and defense. Nico Collins is not available either
Speaker 2: with the hamstring injury. That was the next topic. I
Speaker 2: was going to my goodness to start that he was
Speaker 2: off to Now. They still have Stefan Diggs, they still
Speaker 2: have Tank, they still have all these guys, Joe Mixon
Speaker 2: his back, There's a lot of weapons still on that offense.
Speaker 2: But Nico Collins has been a game changer for them.
Speaker 2: I think he was already up over five hundred receiving
Speaker 2: yards on the season. I mean, just off to just
Speaker 2: a torrid paced start to this year and the hamstring
Speaker 2: injury keeping him out now landed him, I think on
Speaker 2: injury reserves.
Speaker 1: I think as far as individual players, I think Nico
Speaker 1: Collins has the most explosive pass receptions seventeen. I knew that, Okay,
Speaker 1: I mean that's and that's now with missing a game
Speaker 1: last week and having exited the previous game early because
Speaker 1: of that hamstring. But you said it's Stefan Diggs, Tank Dell.
Speaker 1: They've still got some some receivers that are legitimate weapons.
Speaker 1: I think a big key to this game just because
Speaker 1: of how Houston's offense looked last week when Joe Mixon
Speaker 1: returned to the backfield. Mixon missed a few games due
Speaker 1: to injury, including the Vikings game, which was the one
Speaker 1: game that that the Texans did lose, but boy he
Speaker 1: came back. And this this guy, this guy is a powerful,
Speaker 1: powerful running back and uh and he really provides. He
Speaker 1: provides the balance in the offense for CJ. Stroud, much
Speaker 1: in the same way that the Packers have been looking
Speaker 1: and working toward the balance with with Josh Jacobs a
Speaker 1: power back, and then and a guy like Emmanuel Wilson
Speaker 1: behind him to balance things out for Jordan Love Joe
Speaker 1: Mixon does that for C. J. Stroud and and the
Speaker 1: Packers are going to have their hands full with this
Speaker 1: running back.
Speaker 2: They really are a mix. And I was intimating this
Speaker 2: in the inbox. I mean they are a different offense
Speaker 2: when you look at now again, they've played different caliber competition.
Speaker 2: I'm not trying to put the Colts and the Patriots
Speaker 2: on the same pedestal as the other three opponents they've had,
Speaker 2: but you look at the points, you look at the
Speaker 2: production across the board, it's been better when Nixon has
Speaker 2: been out there. Their only lost came the first game
Speaker 2: they were without him, and they had to kind of
Speaker 2: find another way and grind out some victories there to
Speaker 2: keep things moving in the right direction. That has been
Speaker 2: a bit, you know, as much as we talk about
Speaker 2: Josh Jacobs here or Aaron Jones in Minnesota, them bringing
Speaker 2: in Joe Mixon has really kind of filled one of
Speaker 2: those very few holes on their offense and gives them
Speaker 2: a capable every down belcow back to kind of work
Speaker 2: off of the other one thing too, And maybe I
Speaker 2: can get into this too at the Keys to victory
Speaker 2: that that stands out to me when you look at
Speaker 2: their defense top five defense in a lot of different
Speaker 2: categories past they only have five interceptions, So Xavier McKinney
Speaker 2: has as many interceptions as the Houston Texans. Houston Texas
Speaker 2: have thirty passes defense this year, Packers have twenty six.
Speaker 2: I think with their nine, I mean they.
Speaker 1: Had interceptions count as passed defense. So with the Packers
Speaker 1: with twenty six, that's including the team total of interceptions
Speaker 1: in that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So it's like they just they bat down balls,
Speaker 2: they get after it, they're aggressive in that whatever. I
Speaker 2: don't even know. The tree has gone so far now
Speaker 2: I can't even tell you these branches in terms of,
Speaker 2: you know, what Demiico's doing compared to what Robert salid did,
Speaker 2: compared to what you know, Vic Fangio did. Right, But
Speaker 2: this tree that that sort of sprouted from San Francisco
Speaker 2: and has taken this league by storm. Everybody's had their
Speaker 2: own little wrinkles to it. And the Houston Texans, again,
Speaker 2: that was the hallmark even before CJ. Stroud became the
Speaker 2: offensive rookie of the year, the way that defense turned
Speaker 2: things around last year. It's again it's a formidable task.
Speaker 2: The Packers are going to be poised to try to
Speaker 2: take down.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, we've touched on a few things already as
Speaker 1: far as as far as the keys to victory, is
Speaker 1: there something for you that rises to the top of
Speaker 1: the list in order for the Packers to leave lambeau
Speaker 1: Field on with a five and two record.
Speaker 2: So Nico Collins excusing himself from this game is one
Speaker 2: thing that is going to help. I mean, five hundred
Speaker 2: and sixty seven receiving yards and four games or whatever
Speaker 2: cannot be wrong. Again, Stefan Diggs is the guy the
Speaker 2: Packers are well familiar with. I'm not going to disrespect
Speaker 2: anything that CJ. Stroud is doing. I'm not going to
Speaker 2: disrespect anything that that passing game is going is doing.
Speaker 2: Green Bay has to stop the run. When you look
Speaker 2: at how this defense has turned things around, Yes, it's
Speaker 2: very attractive. It's very awesome how many interceptions they have
Speaker 2: and the takeaway number seventeen four more takeaways than any
Speaker 2: other team right now, the NFL, what have you. But
Speaker 2: the fact is that Green Bay has also been much
Speaker 2: better against the run, with the exception of really one
Speaker 2: leaking out last week against the Cardinals, they've really contained
Speaker 2: the explosives there in this little turnaround that they've had
Speaker 2: since Jordan Love got back under center. If you can
Speaker 2: contain Joe Mixon, I think that sets you up to
Speaker 2: better defend what Houston is going to throw at you
Speaker 2: schematically down the field. It's not easy. Mixon is the
Speaker 2: guy that will grind you out. He's that sake Que Barkley,
Speaker 2: the type. Okay, we'll see what the first half looks
Speaker 2: like and then suddenly it's one hundred and twenty rushing
Speaker 2: yards in the fourth quarter and you don't know what happened, right,
Speaker 2: But that is the basis for everything and how it starts. Also,
Speaker 2: they traded Cam Acres too now, so I guess Damian
Speaker 2: Pierce would probably be the next guy up.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, cam Akers the Minnesota Vikings traded for
Speaker 1: him again.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think Acres now on his fourth tour, so.
Speaker 1: Like he's back, he's back in Minnesota. An UNANSWERU. The
Speaker 1: Vikings have to some concerns about Aaron Jones injury and whatnot,
Speaker 1: trying to build up some more depth there.
Speaker 2: But Damian Pierce being back is a big deal. That's
Speaker 2: that's another aspect of this thing that could really affect
Speaker 2: this game.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I'm one hundred percent with you on on
Speaker 1: stopping the run in this game, because nothing will be
Speaker 1: harder about stopping c. J. Stroud than if Joe Mixon
Speaker 1: gets going. And that running game for the Texans is
Speaker 1: controlling the line of scrimmage. It's just gonna make it's
Speaker 1: gonna make your life miserable defensively and h and that
Speaker 1: is a big challenge. The other one, and the other
Speaker 1: one for me that jumps out is really about offensively
Speaker 1: for the Packers is to is to keep doing what
Speaker 1: they're doing and really build on what we saw last week. Now,
Speaker 1: Houston's defense is much much better than Arizona, so this
Speaker 1: is a totally different ballgame in that regard. But I'm
Speaker 1: talking about the balance that the Packers had between the
Speaker 1: passing game and the running game and all of the
Speaker 1: variety that is part of the running game, whether it's
Speaker 1: the running backs, the wide receivers on the end to rounds,
Speaker 1: you know, stretching the defense laterally. And in line with
Speaker 1: that is also the offensive line, which I thought played
Speaker 1: its best game of the season collectively against the Arizona Cardinals.
Speaker 1: The offensive line rising to the challenge of a Houston
Speaker 1: defensive front that is probably as good as it gets
Speaker 1: in the league right now, Jordan Morgan got back into
Speaker 1: action from his shoulder injury. That rotation with Sean Ryan
Speaker 1: at right guard seems to be working. The Packers are
Speaker 1: getting production there. It looks like Josh Myers at center
Speaker 1: no worse for wear from, you know, coming out of
Speaker 1: the last game with an injury, but then going back
Speaker 1: in he seems to be okay. He is, he is practicing.
Speaker 1: We've seen, uh, We've seen Rashid Walker at left tackle
Speaker 1: the pack The penalties have settled down. He's really played
Speaker 1: some good football the last couple of weeks and looking
Speaker 1: a lot more like the Rashid Walker from the stretch
Speaker 1: run last year when he really took over that left
Speaker 1: tackle position and they ditched the rotation with yash Niemen
Speaker 1: and said, okay, Rashid, like that's your job. That's the
Speaker 1: guy we're seeing now at left tackle. We all know
Speaker 1: what Elton Jenkins is at left guard, and and Zach Tom,
Speaker 1: as we talked about before, you would never know that
Speaker 1: this guy missed almost basically the bulk of the offseason
Speaker 1: program and was very limited throughout training camp before the
Speaker 1: regular season started. Zach tom is playing like a Pro
Speaker 1: Bowl level right tack here very quietly, not getting a
Speaker 1: lot of attention for it, and he doesn't draw attention
Speaker 1: to himself and all that kind of stuff. This Packer's
Speaker 1: offensive line is coming together. We're seeing it come together
Speaker 1: faster earlier in the season than we did last year
Speaker 1: with some of the injuries and shuffling around and everything
Speaker 1: like that. Last week needs to be just a building
Speaker 1: block though, for that group. With what you've got coming
Speaker 1: in this week, I think I think this game falls
Speaker 1: a lot on those guys up front for.
Speaker 2: The Packer, I agree, and it will be a huge
Speaker 2: challenge for the guys on the edge. I mean, those
Speaker 2: are two big dudes, two talented, explosive pass rushers. They're
Speaker 2: gonna have to slow down. Even though Dannil Hunter only
Speaker 2: has two and a half sacks, he does have seven
Speaker 2: quarterback hits already this year. This is a big piece
Speaker 2: and a big puzzle for this offensive line to figure out.
Speaker 2: What you have to feel good about, though, is when
Speaker 2: you look at someone like Zach Tom who again another
Speaker 2: fourth round pick, Day three guy that has come in
Speaker 2: from everyone, does it different. Rashid Walker did it very different,
Speaker 2: but it came in day one and looked like he
Speaker 2: belonged so much, reminding you of of Elton Jenkins. But
Speaker 2: then green Bay really had to just sit there and
Speaker 2: figure out, Okay, so where do we want this guy
Speaker 2: to play? Because to this day, I still think no
Speaker 2: matter what position he's at, the guy can perform at
Speaker 2: a pro bowl level. He can perform it on all
Speaker 2: pro level. Yeah. And he's so freaking consistent at a
Speaker 2: position which is very difficult to be consistent at, especially
Speaker 2: when you miss your half your off season program with
Speaker 2: as an offensive lineman with a peck injury.
Speaker 1: Yeah, a surgically repaired PECTORUMO.
Speaker 2: And so for him to be doing what he's doing again,
Speaker 2: this is going to be a supreme test. It's gonna
Speaker 2: be something where they're gonna have to play four quarters
Speaker 2: and carry it out beginning, middle, and end. But for
Speaker 2: what green Bay was able to find in that twenty
Speaker 2: twenty three NFL Draft, twenty twenty two when he NFL
Speaker 2: Draft NFL Draft, the fact that they have two I
Speaker 2: guess you'd call it two and a half starters, you know,
Speaker 2: with Sean Ryan in that rotation. Yeah, it's impressive what
Speaker 2: Base been managing to do with it, basically all coming
Speaker 2: on day three.
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Speaker 1: Fifty plus years of better quick look around Week seven
Speaker 1: in the NFL, the one that everybody at home will
Speaker 1: sort of have half an eye on while watching the
Speaker 1: Packers and the Texans, the Detroit Lions at Minnesota against
Speaker 1: the Vikings. Detroit is four and one, the Vikings are
Speaker 1: five and zero. We're being asked in insider inbox like
Speaker 1: as Packers fans, like, you know, who are you supposed
Speaker 1: to root for here? My initial answer was, well, you know,
Speaker 1: one of them's got to lose, which is a good
Speaker 1: thing because they're both aheady in the standings. They both
Speaker 1: can't win this week, so that's a But you got
Speaker 1: a you got any kind of a gut feeling if
Speaker 1: you're a Packers fan on just who you're supposed to
Speaker 1: root for here?
Speaker 2: Okay, so one first and foremosts I could not possibly
Speaker 2: care less. That was what I hate answering that way
Speaker 2: when people ask me those questions at inbox, because then
Speaker 2: I feel like I'm being flippant, but I really don't
Speaker 2: care what I will say. Though. The more I marinated,
Speaker 2: the more I thought about it, the more I sat there,
Speaker 2: and I was like, I looked into my crystal ball
Speaker 2: and said, what should happen in this matchup? I think
Speaker 2: I want the Detroit Lions to win. Okay, I think
Speaker 2: it's time for the Minnesota Vikings. For as many adverse
Speaker 2: wins as they got, as much rallying as they've done,
Speaker 2: you need that first arrow to hit in the siege, right,
Speaker 2: and it's just they they're five and oh they're feeling themselves.
Speaker 2: If the Detroit Lions could go into US Bank Stadium
Speaker 2: and do what they did to the Dallas Cowboys, suddenly
Speaker 2: you start to get some questions in your mind. I'm
Speaker 2: not saying you got to beat them forty seven to nine, yeah,
Speaker 2: but then you say, everybody knew the Detroit Lions were
Speaker 2: going to be a very talented juggernaut this year. Coming
Speaker 2: off of what they did last season. Nobody expected this
Speaker 2: out of Minnesota. My question is, let's say there is
Speaker 2: a loss there, then how does Minnesota bounce back from it? Now?
Speaker 2: The contrast says the Packers have to play the Lions
Speaker 2: in two weeks anyway, do you want them having so
Speaker 2: much momentum? I don't know, but I do think there
Speaker 2: is something to be said for potentially the Lions taking
Speaker 2: that zero.
Speaker 1: I did see one suggestion I think I'm actually going
Speaker 1: to print it in Friday Mornings inside our Inbox column
Speaker 1: from a reader, and I think it's a good way
Speaker 1: to look at it if you're trying to really, you know,
Speaker 1: make an objective decision on this game. From a Packers
Speaker 1: fan perspective, it's that the Packers still have two games
Speaker 1: left with the Lions. They only have one left with
Speaker 1: the Vikings, so that in that circumstance, it probably is
Speaker 1: better for the Vikings to take that first loss, because
Speaker 1: because the Packers don't have as many opportunities to tag
Speaker 1: more losses on the Vikings themselves, whereas they do have
Speaker 1: two games left with the Lions. I thought I thought
Speaker 1: that was a worthwhile perspective.
Speaker 2: It's tough to catch the front runner if they're not
Speaker 2: going to pull back a.
Speaker 1: Little bit, right, Yeah, And from an injury this this
Speaker 1: game is really interesting also from an injury perspective, because
Speaker 1: now it's possible Aaron Jones is going to be able
Speaker 1: to come back and play for Minnesota. That's still very
Speaker 1: much in question though, and we saw when he exited
Speaker 1: the game in London against the Jets, the Vikings offense
Speaker 1: just kind of turtled up and couldn't do much without
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones. So they really really want him back. And
Speaker 1: as we mentioned then, they made the trade for Cam
Speaker 1: Akers for depth a running back because they obviously have
Speaker 1: concerns there. And this will be the first game for
Speaker 1: the Lions without Aiden Hutchinson, who suffered that that horrific
Speaker 1: broken leg you know, had to be rushed off for
Speaker 1: emergency surgery in Dallas. He's out for the rest of
Speaker 1: the season, and you know that Lion's defense now has
Speaker 1: to has to deal with not having not only the
Speaker 1: emotional leader and all that, but the guy who was
Speaker 1: you know, certainly already in the discussion for possibly NFL
Speaker 1: Defensive Player of the Year. And that's something that the
Speaker 1: Lions have to react to. One other game obviously that
Speaker 1: a lot of people will be watching on Sunday, the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl rematch Kansas City chiefs San Francisco forty nine
Speaker 1: ers and the Niners need to win in order to
Speaker 1: not be below five hundred after seven games, which is
Speaker 1: kind of hard to believe. Kansas City has taken on
Speaker 1: all comers. They haven't looked the prettiest in getting to
Speaker 1: five and zero. But Patrick Mahomes is proving that he's
Speaker 1: just a find a way to win guy with you know,
Speaker 1: with whatever the circumstances, whatever the stakes. This is a
Speaker 1: guy who finds a way. He's going to have to
Speaker 1: He's going to be working to find a way in
Speaker 1: San Francisco on late Sunday afternoon.
Speaker 2: Reminds me a lot of like the twenty fifteeners a
Speaker 2: little bit. I mean, obviously they didn't lose George, well
Speaker 2: actually they did, they lost for she Rice, but uh
Speaker 2: like they're just like they're winning, and they're just kind
Speaker 2: of like, Okay, how long is this going to go for? Right?
Speaker 2: How long is there gonna be a hiccup there at
Speaker 2: some point? Yeah? Uh, San Francisco is in there, and
Speaker 2: I don't want to call it dire straits. But they're
Speaker 2: they're feeling it right now. I mean, when your kicker
Speaker 2: gets hurt, you know, things are not going well for
Speaker 2: you right now, you know.
Speaker 1: And well when you're when your kicker gets hurt, and
Speaker 1: then your backup kicker gets hurt, yeah, and now you're
Speaker 1: possibly going to a third kicker might end up being
Speaker 1: Andre Carls. I mean they signed him to the practice
Speaker 1: squad this week because of this injury situation at kicker. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and they're h and at the same time, they've been
Speaker 1: still trying to figure out where they're at offensively without
Speaker 1: Christian McCaffrey, who you know, has his absence now has
Speaker 1: been extended quite a while.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Interesting, he was questionable in that week one game.
Speaker 2: Uh yeah, but yeah no, and then Jordan Mason's gotten
Speaker 2: banged up now too. Yeah. George Kittle has been fighting
Speaker 2: through some stuff. They're in a tough spot right now
Speaker 2: seeing where all that goes. May I throw on one
Speaker 2: more game for you, talking about Russell Wilson potentially making
Speaker 2: his twenty twenty four season debut after in my opinion,
Speaker 2: I thought justin Fields played really really well. Well.
Speaker 1: What are the Steelers fore and two.
Speaker 2: Foreign too, justin fields, I think has one interception this year.
Speaker 1: Your foreign you're foreign to your foreign two and you're
Speaker 1: and you're actually thinking of changing quarterbacks here. I don't
Speaker 1: I don't understand. I honestly don't understand it.
Speaker 2: But we are getting Aaron Rodgers versus Russell Wilson. One
Speaker 2: is wearing a Jets uniform, one's wearing a Steelers uniform. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean would have thunk it right. And also I
Speaker 2: threw this out there on Twitter. Uh. I forget who
Speaker 2: it was originally. Maybe it was Perry Goldstein that was
Speaker 2: the one that originally was talking about the Jets being
Speaker 2: in primetime Again, do you think they made the NFL
Speaker 2: made the Jets schedule and then after that just did
Speaker 2: the rest of the leading the way that this has
Speaker 2: worked out, they're either they've either been in primetime or
Speaker 2: they're in London.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Like there's like that's just like the way of the
Speaker 2: way of it this year. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well and now and it's like now they have a
Speaker 1: new head coach, they have a new wide receiver they
Speaker 1: brought in via trade from the Raiders, and they're all
Speaker 1: kinds of stuff going on.
Speaker 2: We gotta go, there's no time left. Yeah, we gotta leave.
Speaker 1: We do have to go.
Speaker 2: I am so sick of double Monday night football already too.
Speaker 2: By the way, we can save that for an off
Speaker 2: season unscripted potentially if we need to kill some time.
Speaker 2: At some point, I saw another double header or whatever
Speaker 2: you want to call these things, because they're not even
Speaker 2: double headers. They're like half a header's where it's like
Speaker 2: they had there's some like overlap between the two games.
Speaker 2: He just give me one Monday night game, maybe one
Speaker 2: Sunday night game. If we gotta do Thursday, we'll do Thursday.
Speaker 1: Sick of it that we're gonna We're gonna do a
Speaker 1: wes Hodkowitz Pet Peeves offseason episode.
Speaker 2: This this coming. We got a lot of problem with
Speaker 2: your people.
Speaker 1: I gotta start making I gotta start making some notes.
Speaker 2: But we do have to go. Will.
Speaker 1: I will leave you with this, however, The home of
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty five NFL Draft is right here in
Speaker 1: Green Bay April twenty four through April twenty six, twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five. Visit green Bay dot com slash Draft twenty
Speaker 1: five for more information.
Speaker 2: It's coming, Michael. It is getting closer.
Speaker 1: With that. We'll call it a wrap on this edition
Speaker 1: of Packers unscripted'd be sure to follow all of our
Speaker 1: coverage of the team and everything from Sunday's big matchup
Speaker 1: with the Houston Texas at Lambellfield. We will have it
Speaker 1: all for you on packers dot com for west Iimmike.
Speaker 1: Thank you for tuning in everybody. We will see you
Speaker 1: next time.