WEBVTT - #546 Packers Unscripted: Strong start 0:00:00.880 --> 0:00:14.680 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted social 0:00:14.720 --> 0:00:18.200 distancing Style from Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spoffer, 0:00:18.320 --> 0:00:22.880 joined as always by my trusted colleague West Hodkowits West. 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:26.680 The Packers chalked up a big Week one victory on 0:00:26.720 --> 0:00:29.960 the road against NFC North rival Minnesota forty three to 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:34.120 thirty four Sunday at US Bank Stadium and a lot 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:36.519 of places we could start with this one, but I 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:39.840 think you have to start with quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Yeah, 0:00:39.840 --> 0:00:43.000 he was magnificent. And this is one of these deals 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:45.479 where you and I talked to all training camp about 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:48.000 how good he looked in practice, how sharp he was, 0:00:48.680 --> 0:00:51.920 his downfield accuracy. I thought all of those things translated 0:00:51.920 --> 0:00:55.400 to the football field at US Bank Stadium, And then, honestly, 0:00:55.440 --> 0:00:58.280 the third play of the game, he draws Minnesota offsides 0:00:58.960 --> 0:01:01.680 and gets I mean, their own facility to convert a 0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:05.399 third down situation. Uh, you know we're gonna go through 0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:08.240 these motions up and down throughout the course of this season. 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:11.240 No season, you're not gonna put up five total yards 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:13.480 and forty three points and thirty plus first downs every 0:01:13.480 --> 0:01:16.120 single week. But one of the things you and I 0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:19.160 talked a lot about was the Packers virtual offseason program, 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:22.480 that preparation, and how that might help them get started 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:26.480 in this new unconventional season, and at least for one game, 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:28.920 at least for one week, I thought whether it was Rogers, 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:32.280 whether it was Davante Adams career performance out of him. 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:34.839 You know, Aaron Jones was really efficient in the second 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:38.000 half particularly. They used all these different tight ends, more 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:40.280 tight ends than they've ever used underneath math the floor 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:42.920 in a game. So many different things clicked for them, 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:44.080 and at the end of the day it end up 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:48.120 coming out with a really powerful offensive performance. Yeah, it's interesting. 0:01:48.160 --> 0:01:51.120 We talked a lot obviously during training camp about Aaron 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:54.600 Rodgers looking back at old practice fill from and then 0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:57.440 he talked about looking back at old film game film 0:01:57.480 --> 0:01:59.760 of when he was in his hot stretches, things like that. 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:02.680 But he emphasized after the game and you know, three 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:05.600 and or sixty four yards, four touchdowns, a passer rating north. 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:09.400 He emphasized after the game that it really just comes 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:12.680 down to comfort in the offense. He was sort of 0:02:12.680 --> 0:02:15.359 in a flow state, as he likes to say, right 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:17.720 from the beginning of the game. He had a handle 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:20.800 on the game plan and things other than you know, 0:02:20.919 --> 0:02:23.639 some red zone failures, the goal line failure. Things were 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:26.680 the Packers weren't finishing drives earlier in the game, but 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:29.640 then they were finishing those drives as the game went along. 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:32.480 And I believe it was a stretch of six possessions 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:35.600 spanning the second to the fourth quarter where the Packers 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:38.240 had five touchdowns and six possessions. It's tough to get 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:40.280 much better than that. And as Rogers said in his 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:43.320 postgame news conference, when J. K. Scott only punts one time, 0:02:43.400 --> 0:02:45.480 you know, he had a pretty good day. What I 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:48.160 did like though about the offense though, Mike, you mentioned 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:50.560 the two red zone appearances first, not being able to 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:53.720 punch those in, but they were so efficient and they 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:56.080 really set up their punches. I felt really well in 0:02:56.120 --> 0:02:59.480 this game. Early on, it was just about establishing momentum, 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:02.000 moving the chains, getting some of their stuff, you know, 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:04.160 their their end a rounds, working their pump, you know 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:07.240 those push passes that have become so popular, working the 0:03:07.280 --> 0:03:09.880 running game, trying to wear down the Minnesota Vikings a 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:12.480 little bit. And then as the game wore on, that's 0:03:12.480 --> 0:03:14.480 where you started to see the big plays happening. They 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:17.840 built off that they tied everything together, marrying the run 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:20.600 in the past, the big you know buzzwords we heard 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:23.640 all offseason. It really happened in this game. And it 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:25.519 was a comment that John Running made when he was 0:03:25.840 --> 0:03:28.160 speaking to the media on Monday that really I thought 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:31.799 was really salient. Yeah, the Minnesota Vikings running had to 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:33.720 come in. We'll talk about the injuries there in a second, 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:36.120 but he was out there. You could hear everything that 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:39.200 everybody is saying in the Minnesota defenders were talking about 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:41.280 how frustrated they were with some of these passes out 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:43.720 into the flat, some of the stuff, these concepts that 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:47.280 they're working underneath as that war on and that frustrations 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:49.920 mounted and not having a home crowd to get you 0:03:49.960 --> 0:03:52.280 back in it. I thought that that really played into 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:55.760 the Packers favor. Yeah. Absolutely. We saw the Packers using 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:59.480 a lot of misdirection early. The jet sweep action um 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:02.160 combined with some other play action where you're selling an 0:04:02.160 --> 0:04:05.440 outside zone run. Then you throw kind of back against 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:07.920 the grain, so to speak, you know, with a with 0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:10.440 a receiver. Usually it was Davante Adams cutting in from 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:13.320 the other side. A lot of a lot of moving 0:04:13.360 --> 0:04:16.920 parts here with the Packers offense, and ultimately from from 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:20.360 the passing game standpoint, it produced a record tying performance 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:25.839 from Davantae Adams fourteen receptions. He matches Don Hudson's franchise 0:04:25.920 --> 0:04:29.520 single game records set all the way back in ninety two, 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:33.760 seventy eight years ago, if my sports math is correct 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:39.280 there um. But interestingly, when Adams got to third team 0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:42.520 receptions on Sunday, it was actually the third game in 0:04:42.560 --> 0:04:46.159 his career that he's had thirteen receptions. Then he got 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:49.040 the fourteenth one on the big forty yard play down 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:51.440 the sideline to wipe out a holding penalty that had 0:04:51.480 --> 0:04:54.400 made it first and twenty sets up the Packers for 0:04:54.400 --> 0:04:56.400 for the clinching score there at the end of the game, 0:04:56.760 --> 0:05:00.520 and Davante Adams has another spot in the Packers record book. Yeah, 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:01.840 if you want to have a good comment on this, 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:04.400 go talk to Ryan Hartwig, our social media manager. He's 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:08.040 been creating those graphics for Devonte tying that record for 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:10.479 four years now. It started in two thousand sixteen, and 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:12.680 he's just been that one catch away from it being, 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:16.320 you know, and becoming a real reality. But the thing 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:19.200 I loved about Adams in this game, it encapsulated everything 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:20.920 that is great about him as a player. He's so 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:24.080 efficient with those out roads, especially on third downs, just 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:26.280 run into the sticks, cutting off when he needs to 0:05:26.360 --> 0:05:28.440 and making sure that they are able to keep, you know, 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:31.240 moving the drive. He was explosive down the field. When 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:33.040 he had to do the go route down the sideline, 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:35.440 he was able to beat Holton Hill. I think holding 0:05:35.520 --> 0:05:37.360 Hill that. I mean, you tip your cap to the 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:39.400 young man. It's not easy, you know, stepping in there 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:43.120 for Xavier Roads and Trey Wayne's but man, oh goodness, 0:05:43.240 --> 0:05:45.520 I mean both of those young cornerbacks, him and Mike 0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:48.200 Hughes just had a really rough day and the Packers, 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:50.760 to their credit, were largely able to take Harrison Smith 0:05:51.440 --> 0:05:53.520 and Anthony Harris out of this thing and really win 0:05:53.640 --> 0:05:57.520 underneath with some routes, some concepts there. Mark quez Belda 0:05:57.560 --> 0:06:01.080 is scantling two big catches in between them. He had 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:03.440 two drops. He had to come back and get that 0:06:03.520 --> 0:06:05.840 thirty nine yard one down the scene. He did that 0:06:06.000 --> 0:06:07.880 move the chains at a critical time in which the 0:06:07.880 --> 0:06:12.000 Packers really needed to put away the Minnesota Vikings. Alan Lazard, 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:13.960 you can't see enough about him. He's doing end a 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:17.440 rounds he's making critical you know, fifty fifty contested catches 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:20.599 down the stretch. You know, Josiah Deguara being able to 0:06:20.600 --> 0:06:22.600 be used in all these ways. You know a G. 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:25.240 Dylan as kind of a thud there in the second half. 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:29.080 Tyler Irvin and the things that they used him every 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:31.159 week isn't going to go according to plan. But in 0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:34.240 terms of this specific game plan, I don't really Other 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:36.400 than those early opportunities not being able to you know, 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:38.880 push that ball in the end zone, everything pretty much 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:43.599 went went went right for the Packers from a scheme perspective. Yeah, certainly, uh, 0:06:43.640 --> 0:06:46.520 certainly that when you can produce forty three points on 0:06:46.560 --> 0:06:49.240 the road against the division rival, obviously not having the 0:06:49.240 --> 0:06:51.880 fans and the stands, and the way Aaron Rodgers was 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:55.120 able to draw the Vikings offside multiple times, hit a 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:57.240 big free play on one of those. Those are the 0:06:57.279 --> 0:06:59.720 kinds of things you just don't see in road games 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:02.480 actually in indoor stadiums, and the Packers were able to 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:05.920 take advantage there. If there was uh some bad news 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:09.040 from Sunday, obviously it was the injuries and to the 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:12.320 to the Packers credit on the offensive line, they weathered 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:14.560 the storm there and you know, dealt with a lot 0:07:14.560 --> 0:07:17.040 of moving parts. He started the game with Elton Jenkins 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:20.240 at right tackle in place of Billy Turner who was injured. 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:24.560 That meant Lucas Patrick stepped in at left guard for Jenkins, 0:07:24.600 --> 0:07:28.520 his normal spot. But then Patrick ends up going out 0:07:28.560 --> 0:07:31.720 with a shoulder injury, so Jenkins moves back to left 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:34.680 guard and Rick Wagner comes in at right tackle. Then 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:38.120 later in the game, Lane Taylor unfortunately goes down with 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:41.680 what we learned on Monday was a season ending knee injury. 0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:44.800 So John Runyon, the rookie sixth round pick out of Michigan, 0:07:44.880 --> 0:07:46.960 has to come off the bench and step in and 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:50.800 play the fourth quarter at right guard for the Packers. 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:53.559 So a lot of adversity, a lot of moving parts 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:56.280 in this first game. But when you look at the results, 0:07:56.520 --> 0:07:59.240 no matter what was going on, the Packers didn't miss 0:07:59.240 --> 0:08:02.240 a beat up front. No penalties, four point nine yards 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:05.640 per carry, no penalties for the offensive line, just to clarify, 0:08:05.960 --> 0:08:08.600 four point nine per carry for the running game on 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:11.480 the whole, and then no sacks. When Aaron Rodgers drops 0:08:11.480 --> 0:08:13.800 back forty four times in a ballgame, that's a whale 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:18.120 of a performance. Certainly considering all the circumstances, well, multiple 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:20.800 things here, Mike, I have never been more convinced than 0:08:20.840 --> 0:08:23.440 I think Elton Jenkins could start anywhere on the offensive 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:25.920 line and be serviceable. I mean, you have to look 0:08:25.920 --> 0:08:28.440 at the Minnesota Vikings. They had to be really salivating 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:30.520 at the beginning of this game, not really sure who 0:08:30.560 --> 0:08:32.680 was gonna be at right tackle, but knowing that you 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:35.360 have Unique and got way to be able to, you know, 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:37.880 rush against that guy. It didn't matter if Unique was 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:40.640 going up against the right tackle or obviously David Batr. 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:43.199 He wasn't getting anywhere. Bak Tr had that one clip 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:45.120 that went viral that I commented on where he got 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:48.280 blocked for five, six, seven, eight seconds and he was 0:08:48.320 --> 0:08:51.079 still able to give Rogers the time he needed. Rick 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:53.840 Wagner has to come in after Lucas Patrick goes out. 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:57.559 He played well at that spot, especially with him coming 0:08:57.600 --> 0:09:00.640 off of his own share of injuries last season. John 0:09:00.720 --> 0:09:04.360 Runyon thrown into the fire for fifteen snaps after a 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:07.960 terrible injury for Lane Taylor, and Runyon holds down the 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:10.120 fort as a rookie sixth round pick who was playing 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:12.880 a new position. In mind, you didn't even rep that 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:16.080 position during training camp. He was only at left guard. 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:18.680 He never was lining up at right guard. Incredible job 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:21.480 by him, and that he didn't take any reps with 0:09:21.520 --> 0:09:24.880 the first unit. He wasn't with the number one offense 0:09:24.920 --> 0:09:27.800 all of training camps. He was with the reserve units. 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:30.000 He hadn't lined up next to Corey Lindsley, he hadn't 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:32.480 lined up with Aaron Rodgers in the huddle calling the 0:09:32.480 --> 0:09:34.840 place that had not happened for John running and he 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:37.480 gets thrown in there in week one as a roop. Yeah, 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:39.600 and running. The guys he actually was running with ended 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:41.040 up being most of the guys that ended up not 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:43.120 playing in this game because of injuries or what have you. 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:46.200 So a credit to him, if I may might just 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:49.400 to throw out one thing there on Lane Taylor. This 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:51.800 is just such a sad and tragic thing to see 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:54.800 happen to this guy. I mean, I think very quietly 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:57.440 people don't really realize that Lane Taylor is the fourth 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:00.320 longest tenured player on this roster right now, not the offense, 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:03.240 the entire team. Uh. He had to come back from 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:06.280 that biceps injury last year, and before that he's competing 0:10:06.280 --> 0:10:08.160 with Elton Jenkins, who might end up being a ten 0:10:08.240 --> 0:10:11.520 twelve fourteen yard fourteen year veteran in this league. He 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:13.520 has that kind of ability, probably a pro bowler here. 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:15.680 At some point he had to compete with him for 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:19.600 his starting spot. He didn't care even when he was rotating. 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:23.199 He didn't really raise this giant you know, tantrum about 0:10:23.240 --> 0:10:25.439 this situation, even though he'd been starting there for three 0:10:25.520 --> 0:10:27.960 years already at that point. This is a guy that 0:10:28.040 --> 0:10:31.160 was very professional. He restructured his contract, he came back 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:33.079 to Green Bay. He had something to prove. He and 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:36.640 his family had, you know, created roots here and for 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:39.120 him to be able to win the job back. People 0:10:39.160 --> 0:10:41.200 don't really realize what that means because you didn't really 0:10:41.200 --> 0:10:42.559 get a chance to see it in the preseason or 0:10:42.600 --> 0:10:45.440 training camp. Lane Taylor might have taken more one on 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:49.439 one reps than any other veteran player during camp. He 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:52.000 was doing stuff that first and second year players do 0:10:52.160 --> 0:10:54.640 to show not only was he deserving of a starting spot, 0:10:54.720 --> 0:10:56.920 he was trying to get a roster spot back. He 0:10:57.080 --> 0:11:00.600 did that. He made that competition at right guard now existent. 0:11:00.720 --> 0:11:03.600 It was his job at the end of camp, and 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:05.480 for him to go down with this knee injury. It 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:08.880 just feel terrible for him, and and you just hope that, 0:11:08.920 --> 0:11:10.640 you know, through this next year he's gonna be able 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:13.360 to get himself back up again. But I hope at 0:11:13.400 --> 0:11:16.080 the end of the day, when everything is over, he 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:17.720 can at least look at what he did over this 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:19.600 past year and have some pride in it and what 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:21.520 he was able to accomplish and being able to pull 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:24.320 himself back up by his bootstraps get back out on 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:26.640 the football field and really get back to playing a 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:29.760 really high level of football after a pretty difficult injury 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:32.720 to begin with with that biceps tear. Yeah, absolutely, Lane 0:11:32.760 --> 0:11:35.160 Taylor has plenty to be proud of. And the bottom 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:38.200 line is this is just a cruel game. And you know, 0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:41.199 and you hate to see what happened to him, but um, 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:44.440 but the game just isn't fair sometimes. And and you know, 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:47.000 a good man, a hard working man who has overcome 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:49.400 so much just to get into the NFL, then to 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:52.520 become a starter, then he deals with injuries for multiple 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:56.000 years actually even before the biceps injury, and gets the 0:11:56.040 --> 0:11:58.760 starting job back and now this happens, So your heart 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:00.920 really does go out to him, as Matt Lafleur said, 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:03.959 but switching gears to the defensive side of the ball, 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:06.240 we saw a lot of thumbs up and we saw 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:08.000 a lot of thumbs down, I guess you would say 0:12:08.040 --> 0:12:10.800 on the defense for the Packers. The thumbs up was 0:12:10.840 --> 0:12:14.120 that stretch in the second quarter west where a three 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:17.840 possession sequence for the Minnesota Vikings that starts when the 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:21.160 Packers get stuffed on goal to go, they can't punch 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:24.040 it into the end zone from the one yard line. 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:29.400 Jayra Alexander gets a sack and a safety. Next Vikings possessions, 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:31.959 Zadarius Smith gets a third down sack to force a 0:12:32.040 --> 0:12:35.079 quick punt, and then the next Viking possession with less 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:37.679 than a minute left in the first half, Alexander gets 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:40.800 an interception on a poorly thrown pass to Adam Feland, 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:43.760 and the Packers capitalize on that with the long touchdown 0:12:43.800 --> 0:12:47.760 forty five yard and Marquis Valdes scantling that sequence right there, 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:51.160 you get the safety. That's two points. Packers, I believe 0:12:51.240 --> 0:12:54.319 kicked a um then kicked a field goal after the possession. 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:57.920 On the free kick, they scored a touchdown after the 0:12:58.080 --> 0:13:00.960 Zadarius Smith sack, and then the touchdown after the interception. 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:04.120 That was the sequence that completely changed the game around 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:06.880 and put the Packers in command going into the locker 0:13:06.960 --> 0:13:09.000 room at halftime. Yeah. What I love too is if 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:10.599 you go back through my tweets the game, I was 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:13.200 just like praising Mike Petton for this play call and 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:17.320 sending Jiro Alexander on this corner bliss slot blitz, and 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:18.920 then we find out as soon as the game is 0:13:18.960 --> 0:13:21.319 over that well, the reason why Alexander did that was 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:23.880 because Adam Feeling was motioning in and if you watch 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:26.880 the play over, it does look like the traditional receiver 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:29.160 moving back towards the line and then here comes the run. 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:32.559 So Jire Alexander with his four point three six speed 0:13:32.600 --> 0:13:35.400 or whatever that is, just starts darting towards the quarterback. 0:13:35.880 --> 0:13:39.640 Feeling goes out after you know, uh, Kirk Cousins moves 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:42.360 into the play action and then there is Jaire Alexander 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:44.200 right up in his business. I wrote it an insider 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:47.160 in box. Sometimes those happy accidents, they you know, they 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:49.280 worked to your favor. Fortunately for the Packers in that 0:13:49.320 --> 0:13:52.480 case it did. But also the fact that Alexander came 0:13:52.559 --> 0:13:54.959 back and got that interception at the end of the 0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:57.040 second quarter, Minnesota was trying to find a way to 0:13:57.080 --> 0:13:59.600 get going a little bit thirty nine seconds left and 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:02.280 a half and they throw one up. Alexander comes down 0:14:02.320 --> 0:14:05.560 with it. Unfortunately for Green Bay, they weren't able to 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:09.040 get another stop when the Minnesota drove down again to 0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:12.000 put points on the board. But Ji Alexander a brilliant 0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:15.200 quarter of football by him, Zadarius Smith a big sack 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:17.400 in there as well to get a three and out. 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:20.800 That second quarter, the Packers dominated, but unfortunately, you know, 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:23.360 once Kenny Clark left that game with the groin injury 0:14:23.640 --> 0:14:27.240 didn't return, Minnesota moves to its two minute offense pretty 0:14:27.320 --> 0:14:29.520 much the entire second half, and the Packers just weren't 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:32.640 able to match that tempo. That's something I'm sure Mike Petton, 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:35.080 Jerry Gray, the defensive coaches are gonna look at this 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:37.040 week and figure out what they need to do, because, 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:39.560 especially if something is gonna happen here where you don't 0:14:39.600 --> 0:14:42.280 have Kenny Clark, you got to start making decisions on 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:45.040 how you're gonna handle the front in those decisions obviously 0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:48.120 have ramifications for the back end as well. Yeah, a 0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:50.520 few other points I want to make on Alexander before 0:14:50.560 --> 0:14:53.640 we move on to what you were just talking about. 0:14:54.040 --> 0:14:57.400 With regard to the improv play there to get to 0:14:57.480 --> 0:15:00.600 get the sack. Safety one, if you're gonna make something up, 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:04.280 do it fast and don't slow down right to make 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:06.800 sure it's on the quarterback's blind side so he can't 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:10.240 see what you're doing, because that definitely worked in his favor. 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:14.840 And then and then three with regard to his interception 0:15:15.000 --> 0:15:19.120 right before the half, what a display of concentration with 0:15:19.200 --> 0:15:21.960 the ball being deflected and coming down and feeling trying 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:25.120 to grab at it and Alexander, you know, trying to 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:27.280 making sure that it doesn't hit the ground. I thought 0:15:27.320 --> 0:15:30.240 it was. It was a really really athletic and and 0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:34.600 uh and you know, mentally mentally tough type of play 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:37.400 to be able to to to secure that ball and 0:15:37.400 --> 0:15:39.640 and not let it get away. But with regard to 0:15:39.680 --> 0:15:42.880 the Packers defense in the fourth quarter, I'm totally with us. 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:45.360 It felt like when the Vikings went hurry up and 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:48.160 when they went no huddle, cranked up the tempo, it 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:51.080 just felt like the Packers didn't match that didn't match 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:54.640 that speed, didn't match that urgency, didn't match that intensity, 0:15:54.720 --> 0:15:57.760 and they were on their heels the the entire fourth quarter. 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:00.040 You don't want to give up the big forty and 0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:03.480 fifty yard plays. That's the whole idea when you're up 0:16:03.560 --> 0:16:06.200 multiple scores in the fourth quarter. But if you're gonna 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:08.560 give up twenty yards at a time, well, to twenty 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:10.920 yard plays equals a forty yard play and it only 0:16:10.920 --> 0:16:12.920 takes an extra twenty seconds or so to do so. 0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:15.960 You can't play defense like that either. Those are the 0:16:16.000 --> 0:16:18.200 things the Packers are definitely going to be looking at 0:16:18.280 --> 0:16:21.240 here on the defensive side of the ball as they 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:24.120 get ready for a Week two against Detroit. Yeah, and 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:25.760 this is gonna be a big matchup, Mike. I don't 0:16:25.760 --> 0:16:27.080 know if how much you got a chance to watch 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:28.800 the lines last week or go back and look at 0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:31.400 that game other than you know, the disastrous way in 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:35.200 which it ended. But Adrian Peterson was still Adrian Peterson, 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:38.360 and the Packers have seen him a hundred times by now, 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:41.800 and this guy does not show any signs of slowing down, 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:44.560 especially in these matchups, in these NFC North, you know, 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:48.640 Black and Blue division kind of things. He's still right there. 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:51.160 So depending on what happens with Kenny Clark this week, 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:53.920 we're gonna have to see the Packers do have options. Um, 0:16:54.040 --> 0:16:56.680 certainly there there's movement you can make on the defensive line, 0:16:56.720 --> 0:16:59.120 depending on the severity of it. But they also they 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:01.800 showed that base, that hybrid base, that that we saw 0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:04.400 a lot during camp. I believe it's called Bronco where 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:07.240 you have the three outside linebackers on the field in 0:17:07.280 --> 0:17:10.760 a base formation. With Rashaan Geary joining the Smiths. They 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:13.719 were really successful with that in Spurts last week and 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:15.919 we saw it how dynamic it can be when you 0:17:15.960 --> 0:17:18.439 move around. Is it Darius Smith? That may be an 0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:21.199 option they have to make, But again, Kenny Clark is 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:24.400 such an huge integral part of what they do defensively. 0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:25.880 If he's not going to be here for a bit, 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:30.000 Dean Lowrie, Tyler, Lancaster, Kingsley, Kiki, whoever, it's gonna take 0:17:30.359 --> 0:17:32.200 stepping up there to hold down the fort. That would 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:35.480 be a huge challenge, especially with Peterson next week and 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:38.480 Alvin Kamar and what follows after that. Yeah, no question 0:17:38.520 --> 0:17:40.239 about it. Well, I do want to talk about that 0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:43.760 Bears Lions game because not only was it obviously a 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:46.119 big NFC North battle, but the Lions are the team 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:49.960 coming into lambeau Field in Week two, Detroit completely in 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:53.840 control west up by, you know, close to twenty points there, 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:56.000 I think, seven teen point lead in the fourth quarter. 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:59.080 The Bears have done nothing offensively all day long, and 0:17:59.119 --> 0:18:02.919 suddenly three touchdown drives out of quarterback Mr Trubisky. The 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:06.240 Bears grabbed the lead. Stafford takes the Lions down and 0:18:06.320 --> 0:18:08.600 has them in a position to win the game. Throws 0:18:08.640 --> 0:18:12.760 a perfect pass to rookie running back DeAndre Swift that 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:15.080 he just flat out drops it in the end zone 0:18:15.160 --> 0:18:18.600 with six seconds left, and the Bears escape Ford Field 0:18:18.600 --> 0:18:22.679 with a victory. And uh, the Lions mean that is 0:18:22.720 --> 0:18:25.040 a that's a gut punch of a loss to to 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:27.360 take in week one, and now they have to come 0:18:27.359 --> 0:18:30.359 into lambeu Field and face another division rival trying to 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:33.280 avoid and owing to start. Yeah, and Matt Lafleur talked 0:18:33.320 --> 0:18:35.880 about what I was kind of anticipating with this matchup there, 0:18:35.920 --> 0:18:38.040 They're going to get a really angry Lions team. You know, 0:18:38.040 --> 0:18:39.479 the way I wrote it was that I think it's 0:18:39.480 --> 0:18:41.639 gonna go one or two ways. It either could be 0:18:41.680 --> 0:18:43.920 really disappointed and that could be kind of a hangover 0:18:43.960 --> 0:18:46.119 going to this matchup, or They're gonna come in super 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:49.119 hungry and motivated. Given the expectations that I know they 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:51.040 have inside that building, I'm sure it's going to be 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:53.800 the ladder. But there is something to be said, Mike 0:18:53.840 --> 0:18:56.679 about knowing how to win games, and it's something the 0:18:56.720 --> 0:18:59.120 Detroit Lions just haven't done a lot the last three years. 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:01.880 I saw that stat on Twitter a couple of days ago. 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:03.840 I mean, they were nine and seven that last year 0:19:03.960 --> 0:19:06.720 under Jim Caldwell and so far they've only won nine 0:19:06.760 --> 0:19:09.760 games since they moved on from him. So I'm not 0:19:09.800 --> 0:19:12.080 saying you're a bad team and you find ways to lose, 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:14.679 but it just seemed like they weren't able to close 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:17.080