WEBVTT - #773 Packers Unscripted: Schedule discussion 0:00:06.960 --> 0:00:10.520 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:14.320 Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spafford, joined as always 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:18.880 by the one the only Weston Hodkowitz. We're coming to 0:00:18.920 --> 0:00:21.880 you here from our studios at lambeau Field to talk 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:26.400 about the Packers' twenty twenty four schedule. Wes. The schedule 0:00:26.480 --> 0:00:30.840 is out. It has seventeen regular season games on it. 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:35.839 I was hoping for sixteen, nine at home, eight on 0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:39.040 the road. We knew all that beforehand. We knew who 0:00:39.080 --> 0:00:42.960 the opponents would be. Now we know the order, we 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:48.559 know the game times. Just your initial impression when you 0:00:48.600 --> 0:00:51.479 took a glance at the schedule, what jumped out at 0:00:51.520 --> 0:00:52.640 you first? 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:56.160 Nothing? Which is interesting because there were so many years 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:58.560 where there'd be like an early bye week or some 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:01.560 bizarre stretch of road, or you know, some things that 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:04.160 just catch right. This was the most, as I wrote 0:01:04.160 --> 0:01:07.000 in our Insider Inbox column, the most straightforward schedule I 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:08.800 think the Packers have had in all my years covering 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:12.080 the team. To answer your question truthfully, it is that 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:15.080 primetime slate of games. Four straight weeks of primetime games 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:19.160 late in the season, including that Thursday night Thanksgiving game. 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:22.600 Against the Miami Dolphins. But by and large, Mike, it 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:25.360 was a very balanced schedule. The Packers got the bye 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:27.320 week's smack dab in the middle of the season. There's 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:30.679 no week once for once, there's no Week four, there's 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:33.679 no Week fourteen, Week thirteen, Week five. No, it's right 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:37.080 there in Week ten. Some pivotal games sandwiched around that. 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:39.600 Being able to host the Detroit Lions. You want to 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:41.160 win that one going into the bye week. You and 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:43.440 I'll be talking about that leading into that game, sure, 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:45.600 and then on the other side of it, facing Caleb 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:47.920 Williams for the first time. I believe on that one. Yeah, 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:50.320 because they'll get them on the finale at Lambo. So 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:54.320 pretty straightforward schedule, and honestly, I think for the Green 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:57.320 Bay Packers, especially with that start in Brazil, as normal 0:01:57.320 --> 0:01:58.400 as you could hope for. Yeah. 0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:01.400 Absolutely. As you said, the bye week is in a 0:02:01.440 --> 0:02:03.880 normal spot for the first time in a long time. 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:06.960 It's after nine games and then eight games beyond that, 0:02:07.120 --> 0:02:09.800 So that's as close to the middle as you're going 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:13.480 to get with an odd number of regular season games. 0:02:14.720 --> 0:02:16.520 A couple other things that jumped out at me, and 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:19.240 we'll talk a little bit more about about the stretch 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:21.720 of primetime games late in the year, which which really 0:02:21.840 --> 0:02:26.880 is an anomaly. It's it's the one true, like quirky 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:31.240 thing about this schedule, quite frankly. But the other thing 0:02:31.280 --> 0:02:35.200 too is other than during that stretch of primetime games 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:41.000 late November and early December, the Packers don't have back 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:45.080 to back road games except for when they have the 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:48.079 Thursday night game at Detroit in early December and then 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:53.280 ten days later they have another night game at Seattle. Otherwise, 0:02:53.720 --> 0:02:55.880 you know, every time the Packers go on the road, 0:02:55.960 --> 0:02:59.639 they come back, you're not preparing to go right back 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:02.400 on the again for another game. I think that's something 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:05.320 that could really benefit this team because, as you said, 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:08.000 there every year there seems to be a stretch where it's, 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:11.400 you know, four road games in five weeks or you know, 0:03:11.520 --> 0:03:14.920 something like that. Obviously, this year, with the Packers having 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:19.480 the extra home game, nine home games versus eight road games, 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:21.600 and then one of the road games was already known 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:24.520 as the trip to Brazil early in the season, and 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:26.880 you kind of figured that the NFL would put a 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:29.640 home game in Week two after the Packers are coming 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:31.799 back from that long flight, and that's h and that's 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:37.640 exactly what happened. I think in that respect, the schedule, 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:40.440 the schedule sets up nicely because you don't look at 0:03:40.520 --> 0:03:45.040 it from a travel standpoints as saying like, oh, that's 0:03:45.080 --> 0:03:46.680 going to be you know that that's going to be 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:50.200 really tough on everybody. That that's sort of what what jumped. 0:03:49.920 --> 0:03:51.840 Out of It is the craziest thing, Mike, because the 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:54.880 most difficult challenge I'm talking just from a pure body 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:58.080 composition standpoint is going to Brazil and then coming back 0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:00.880 nine days later than you got the Indianapol. Yeah, making 0:04:00.920 --> 0:04:03.360 that type of time difference, trying to use the long 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:06.160 weekend to sort of reacclimate yourself to Central time zone 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:07.840 and all that type of stuff, and getting your sleep 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:10.880 cycle back. But overall, I mean, even when you look 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:13.120 at the back to back games that they have Sunday, 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:16.120 November twenty fourth against San Francisco at home, then they 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:19.000 come back and on Thursday play the Thanksgiving game against Miami, 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:22.200 Well that's two that starts two weeks after they're bye, 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:24.799 so it's not even like you've gone through this long, 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:27.160 arduous sort of stretch and then you get the two 0:04:27.240 --> 0:04:30.320 games in four days. Even then you're relatively rested, you 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:32.880 would hope, because it's just the game going down to Chicago. 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:35.560 That forty minute flight down to Chicago that runs before 0:04:35.600 --> 0:04:40.320 that the part that I love. And again you never 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:43.120 know how these things are gonna go flex scheduling and 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:47.240 everything that goes into that. But the season starts with 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:51.880 four straight home games at noon Central start times Indianapolis Colts, which, 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:54.600 by the way, I love that matchup because it gives 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:57.640 the Packers, you know, Anthony Richardson coming back hopefully healthy 0:04:57.640 --> 0:05:00.760 once again, and Jordan I mean, two of the more 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:03.279 recognizable young quarterbacks in this league. Could be very exciting 0:05:03.320 --> 0:05:06.400 from that standpoint. Then you get the Minnesota excuse me, 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:09.800 you get the Minnesota Vikings Aaron Jones coming back, and 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:11.479 then you get the back to back games with Arizona 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:12.960 and then the Houston Texans, which is a game that 0:05:13.000 --> 0:05:16.600 you pointed out seeing the reigning NFL offensive rookie of 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:20.000 the Year in CJ. Stroud. It's an exciting stretch to 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:22.200 begin the season, and then on the back half of 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:25.760 it you have some big games with some huge implications. 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:28.080 But in some ways it also lines up okay with 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:30.159 the way the home slate sort of works. Itself out. 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:33.840 Yeah. I think another thing that I like, because this 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:39.000 doesn't always happen, is that the one time the Packers 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:42.320 are on the short week with regard to the Thursday game, 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:46.120 not only is the Thursday game at home, which is 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:49.440 the Thanksgiving night against the Miami Dolphins. The Packers have 0:05:49.480 --> 0:05:53.320 another Thursday game the following week at Detroit. But obviously 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:55.360 you're not on a short week there because you're going 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:58.520 Thursday to Thursday. But when you're on the short week, 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:01.600 you have that game at home, there isn't the travel involved, 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:06.080 and the Sunday before you're at home, so you're not 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:09.719 coming back from a road game, and then suddenly you 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:11.919 know you're cramming in that short week where then you 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:15.200 know you're playing on a Thursday. Now, obviously that's a difficult, 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:18.200 you know, that's a difficult two steps, so to speak. 0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:21.080 Two games in five days both at Lambo is nice, 0:06:21.400 --> 0:06:25.960 but San Francisco forty nine ers the Sunday before Thanksgiving, 0:06:26.080 --> 0:06:28.919 which obviously is a rematch of the NFC Divisional Playoff 0:06:28.920 --> 0:06:32.840 from last year, and then the Miami Dolphins on Thanksgiving Night. 0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:35.960 That's back to back playoff teams. YEP from twenty twenty three, 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:38.240 that you're playing in a span of five days. 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:41.159 I do need someone from the league to actually explain 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:44.039 to me, like why the Packers keep getting matched against 0:06:44.080 --> 0:06:45.440 Miami for holiday games? 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:49.840 Yeah, that is really that is strange. Twenty twenty two, 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:53.320 it was Christmas Christmas in Miami and now this year 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:55.360 it's a Thanksgiving at Lambo. 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:58.240 As uncommon opponents go. That's pretty strange. Yes, I don't 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:00.360 know about you. I don't think about the dreen Bay 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:04.640 Packers playing on Christmas in Miami, nor do I think 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:07.719 of the Miami Dolphins being a Thanksgiving team. But be 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:09.920 that as it is. This is the schedule that you 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:15.200 have and the very unique swing of Miami Dolphins football, 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:19.320 and then basically a regular seven day recovery stretch before 0:07:19.320 --> 0:07:21.840 you travel to Detroit. You make that leap across like 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:26.600 Michigan overall again, even the back to back games, having 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:29.120 the ten days between the two of them before you 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:30.880 go to Seattle, which is a big stretch. I mean, 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:33.880 that's a big trip. But yeah, it's pretty laid out, 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:35.720 pretty good, Mike. It's pretty pretty wild that way. 0:07:35.760 --> 0:07:38.680 The other thing that's interesting, and this is what I 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:42.160 wrote about on our website with regard to with regard 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:45.720 to the four consecutive night games, and again just for 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:49.160 the rundown. It starts Thanksgiving night with Miami at Lambeau, 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:53.520 the following Thursday night at Detroit, then after the little 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:56.720 Mini Bie on the weekend, the following Sunday night, you're 0:07:56.760 --> 0:08:00.960 at Seattle, and then you come back with the consecutive 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:04.720 primetime game Monday Night Football, which is the Packers' only 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:08.440 appearance this season on Monday Night Football, Monday Night Football 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:13.080 against New Orleans. Here's the thing, though, if that Week 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:16.320 eighteen game, which the way the NFL does things now, 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:19.560 nothing is set in stone with red to Week eighteen, 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:21.480 could be Saturday, could be Sunday. You don't know what 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:23.640 time you're gonna kick off. A lot of that stuff 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:25.800 gets determined kind of at the last minute, based on 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:29.040 the playoff picture obviously, But that Week eighteen home game 0:08:29.040 --> 0:08:32.480 against the Bears, if the league decides to put that 0:08:32.520 --> 0:08:35.319 one in primetime, which you can't rule out, yep, No, 0:08:35.760 --> 0:08:39.240 then five of the last six regular season games will 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:43.320 be night games for Green Bay. After having a stretch 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:46.560 in the early part of the season where after the 0:08:46.600 --> 0:08:50.240 Packers come back from Brazil, they have six out of 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:55.640 seven noon Central time kickoffs, which is the type of 0:08:55.640 --> 0:08:58.760 stretch that we haven't really seen in a long time 0:08:59.120 --> 0:09:01.920 around here. Either have a stretch of seven games and 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:06.680 only one of them is not a noon Central time 0:09:06.800 --> 0:09:10.920 kick From a work standpoint for us, we love that, right. Yeah. 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:13.880 From a marriage standpoint, it's kind of nice. Yeah. I 0:09:13.960 --> 0:09:16.040 remember two years ago, I think it was the Packers 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:17.199 had one noon home game. 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:18.400 Yeah, that was it. 0:09:18.480 --> 0:09:20.440 That was it. Yeah, So to have four right off 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:22.839 the bat, like, that's pretty cool. I will say this too. 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:25.120 I threw this in my news and notes. There's always 0:09:25.160 --> 0:09:27.360 something quirky about these schedules. I remember a couple of 0:09:27.440 --> 0:09:28.800 years ago. It was actually when I was still at 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:31.040 the pres Gazette, I wrote about how the Packers, because 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:34.000 the Vikings want to open US Bank Stadium against green Bay, 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:36.320 green Bay ended up having back to back road games 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:37.960 to start the season. That was the first time they'd 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:40.960 done that in like ninety three years or something. Yeah, 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:44.320 this particular schedule very interesting. Note for as often as 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:46.760 the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears have played each other, 0:09:47.160 --> 0:09:49.680 this is the first time since nineteen thirty two and 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:52.760 thirty three that they've had back to back regular season 0:09:52.760 --> 0:09:54.800 finales against each other, and if you want to take 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:57.760 it even further, it's the first time Green Bay has 0:09:57.760 --> 0:10:01.680 ever hosted the Chicago Bears in back back regular season finales. 0:10:01.960 --> 0:10:04.560 Just wild when you think about how many different schedules, 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:07.560 how many different combinations, how many machinations of this NFL, 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:11.120 you know, seasons have been created that we're gonna kind 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:14.080 of see an opening first chapter here in a book 0:10:14.080 --> 0:10:15.240 that is pretty darn long. 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:19.719 Yeah, And it's interesting too because because in you know, 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:24.800 in sort of the recent Packers history, Packers Bears finales 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:27.559 in the regular season have ended up having a lot 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:31.480 of significance. You know, you look at obviously, twenty ten 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:33.960 got the Packers in the playoffs, started them on the run. 0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:37.520 Twenty thirteen at Soldier Field was the division title on 0:10:37.559 --> 0:10:40.200 the line, with Rogers and Cob both coming back from 0:10:40.240 --> 0:10:42.839 long injuries, and we all know the fourth and eight 0:10:42.880 --> 0:10:47.360 from the forty eight, and then last year the Packers 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:49.520 had to win that game to get into the playoffs 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:54.280 and launched what almost became a very extended playoff run 0:10:54.720 --> 0:10:57.720 and and might have been if if not for letting 0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:00.400 that game in San Francisco just get away and final 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:01.040 five minutes. 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:02.839 You and I last week we were talking about the 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:05.079 Detroit game. I had to laugh because I was rewatching 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:07.559 parts of that episode in our last one earlier this week. 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:10.439 I should say, you were talking about, Hey, maybe Detroit 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:12.280 in the finale. I was like, hey, maybe week two 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:15.280 versus Detroit, and they are gonna play a primetime game, 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:17.400 a Thursday night football game there on December fifth. But 0:11:17.440 --> 0:11:19.720 it was funny to me that, you know, the two 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:23.520 soothsayers over here kind of. I mean, we're all swinging 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:25.640 at pitch as we can see, but right, it's still 0:11:25.679 --> 0:11:28.560 pretty funny that, oh, yeah, well maybe it'll be the finale. Well, 0:11:28.600 --> 0:11:30.280 maybe it'll be the beginning. Maybe it'll be both. It's 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:32.680 actually neither. Yeah, so congratulations, Wes. 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:35.120 I'll take care of a little bit of sponsor business here. 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:38.880 Wes Sirius XMNFL Radio delivers hard hitting analysis and up 0:11:38.920 --> 0:11:41.760 to the minute NFL news that true football fanatics need 0:11:41.840 --> 0:11:45.280 twenty four to seven, three sixty five, and at Cousin Subs, 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:48.360 we have something for everyone, like our Wisconsin Cheese kurts, 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:51.680 mac and cheese, golden fries, and creamy shakes, all paired 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:54.000 with your favorite sub or sub and a Bowl cousin 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:59.760 subs fifty plus years of better. All right, we know 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:02.880 about you know, the Brazil game, and we know the 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:07.280 significance of the division games and all that. Is there 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:10.679 a game on this schedule that you know isn't really 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:13.040 being talked about all that much or whatever, but that 0:12:13.200 --> 0:12:17.200 you think when the time comes, it's going to have 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:20.800 maybe a bigger spotlight on it then we might predict 0:12:20.880 --> 0:12:21.400 at the moment. 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:23.960 It's a really good question, Mike, because the one that 0:12:24.000 --> 0:12:26.599 when we did our instant reacts, you know, pick a 0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:29.280 game out that really jumps off the page. Whew, I said, Detroit. 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:31.560 But it was for the exact opposite reason of what 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:34.400 you're describing, because it was a team that's the defending 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:37.320 NFC North champion that went to the NFC Championship game, 0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:40.200 came within a nail of getting to the Super Bowl, 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:43.079 and you're going to host them the week before the 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:46.120 bye week. So in terms of consequential games, I feel 0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:48.040 like that is the that is the close of the 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:50.640 first half of the season. That's that's right before halftime, 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:53.080 trying to run the two minute drill here, right, Yeah, 0:12:53.120 --> 0:12:57.000 But the game if you if you structured under that construct. 0:12:57.440 --> 0:13:00.920 It probably is week five at the Los Angeles because 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:04.480 that's where green Bay, you would hope, can build up, 0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:06.680 Like Mike McCarthy always used to talk about that quarter pole, 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:09.479 that first quarter of the season, build up some momentum 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:12.520 and take on a team that I thought, you know, 0:13:12.600 --> 0:13:15.240 green Bay made the big run and everybody was so 0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:18.520 excited about it. I thought that green Bay's run during 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:20.760 the final six seven weeks of this season, it's sort 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:24.360 of overshadowed everything the Rams were doing. Once Matthew Stafford 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:26.560 got healthy, right, yeah, you know this. The Rams had 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:29.080 quite the rally there too at the end of the season. 0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:31.200 And again, if there wasn't for the seventh game, they 0:13:31.200 --> 0:13:33.360 would have been able to close out that that last 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:37.120 playoff spot. So for green Bay to go off of 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:40.720 that start, get some early momentum hopefully, and then travel 0:13:40.760 --> 0:13:43.839 and play that first game out in Los Angeles against 0:13:43.880 --> 0:13:48.000 the Rams, I'm very interested, I should say at SOFI. 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:51.440 Obviously they played at the Coliseum in eighteen, but that's 0:13:52.160 --> 0:13:53.839 gonna be kind of a little bit of a meter 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:55.880 and you know, measuring stick moment because then you come 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:58.439 back and you know, you have Arizona and then we'll 0:13:58.440 --> 0:13:59.880 see where things go for the Cardinals, but then you 0:13:59.880 --> 0:14:01.679 have Houston, then you have Detroit, then things really start 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:02.200 to ramp up. 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:05.200 Yeah, and as I mentioned in the video that the 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:07.679 video that we shot with Larry, I kind of had 0:14:07.720 --> 0:14:10.160 my eye on this, you know, regardless of where it 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:13.600 was going to fall in the schedule. But this whole 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:19.800 matchup with Houston, which ends up in Week seven, it's 0:14:19.840 --> 0:14:23.560 a noon start at Lambeufield Sunday, October twentieth. You have 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:27.520 the Packers and the Texans, two teams that a year 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:30.520 ago at this time, nobody would have said they're going 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:33.160 to the playoffs. In twenty twenty three, they were the 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:35.920 two teams really the one team from each conference that 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:42.200 were the surprise playoff qualifiers. And then, as you mentioned before, 0:14:42.360 --> 0:14:46.160 it's c. J. Stroud, the reigning NFL Offensive Rookie of 0:14:46.200 --> 0:14:50.520 the Year, Jordan Love at quarterback. These two guys, you know, 0:14:50.840 --> 0:14:54.760 young up and coming quarterbacks who could be big time 0:14:54.800 --> 0:14:57.080 stars in this league for a long time to come, 0:14:57.080 --> 0:15:00.360 and this will be their first matchup. And it's a 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:04.040 matchup because of Houston being in the AFC, it's not 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:08.479 one that you're going to see all that often. Potentially 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:11.479 more than once every four years because of that seventeenth 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:16.360 game thing. Now, but still AFC versus NFC, these two 0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:18.800 young quarterbacks, they're not going to square off a whole 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:20.600 heck of a lot. And uh, and this is the 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:21.880 first one here in October. 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:24.200 Yeah, you won't hear me complaining either. I really want 0:15:24.200 --> 0:15:26.400 to go to Energy. I have not been to Energy yet, 0:15:26.960 --> 0:15:27.760 I miss. That's right. 0:15:27.800 --> 0:15:29.800 You had you had mentioned that that that's one. That's 0:15:29.840 --> 0:15:32.880 one one of three I haven't been to. I've I 0:15:33.000 --> 0:15:37.120 distinctly remember that the time I was there, that twenty 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:40.880 twelve Sunday night football game where the Texans were either 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:43.840 four and oh or five and o or whatever. There was, yeah, 0:15:43.880 --> 0:15:46.040 five and oh, and the Packers were kind of struggling 0:15:46.080 --> 0:15:49.320 because they had they had they had lost the Fail 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:53.240 Mary game in Seattle. They had lost on another kind 0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:59.480 of a tough controversial decision in Indianapolis because of a 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:01.840 because of a roughing the passer thing where it looked 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:04.320 like the Packers were gonna get a strip sack and 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:07.800 that got taken away. And then they go down they 0:16:07.800 --> 0:16:10.440 go down to Houston, and you know, Aaron Rodgers throws 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:13.760 for a gazillion touchdowns and they completely blow out the 0:16:14.240 --> 0:16:18.160 last undefeated team in the NFL. Still, that season. 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:21.160 To me the most one of the most bizarre seasons 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:24.680 that not the Packers. Well, I'll flip this both ways. 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:26.480 Let's start where I was gonna say about the Texans. 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:28.880 That was the Texans only lost in their first twelve games. 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:30.960 So not only did was they the last team undefeated 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:32.640 team to lose, they went on a six game winning 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:33.280 streak after that. 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:34.400 I didn't even realize that. 0:16:34.520 --> 0:16:36.200 Yeah, and then they kind of taint yeah at. 0:16:36.080 --> 0:16:38.000 The end of the sea. That's probably why I don't 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:40.920 really remember it, because they ended up they did end 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:43.280 up fading badly at the end of that season. 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:44.720 And then they ended up getting beat by the Patriots 0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:47.000 in the playoffs Green Bay. I've always maintained this is 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:48.560 not where I want this conversation to go, but we're 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:50.040 going there, so I'm just gonna drive and sit in 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:52.840 the seat and drive. I've always said the twenty twelve 0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:55.560 season is one of the most one of the best 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:58.440 Packers seasons that no one ever talks about, yep, because 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:01.000 that was actually a pretty good team was ranked eleventh 0:17:01.000 --> 0:17:03.360 that year. They actually krik Casey Hayward was a Rookie 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:05.440 of the Year finalist on the defensive side of the ball. 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:08.119 But then the Kaepernick game happened and you had the 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:10.320 fail Mary earlier in the season. There's so many things 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:12.320 that people remember about that year for the wrong reasons. 0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:15.720 But all that being said, yeah, the exciting thing to 0:17:15.760 --> 0:17:18.239 bring it back to this thing about Stroud is you 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:20.480 covered the early days of Aaron Rodgers. I did not. 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:23.600 I was covering Green Bay prebble track and field in Luxembourg, 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:25.360 Castle wrestling in all those times. 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:27.240 I did that for a long time myself as well. 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:30.399 During the Brett Favra, That's what I was doing. But 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:32.000 much of the Brett FAVERI. 0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:34.919 What you saw that I did not see unless I 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:38.320 was watching it on Sundays was Aaron Rodgers taken on 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:40.960 Drew Brees for the first time, Aaron Rodgers taken on 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:43.600 Tom Brady for the first time, Peyton Manning. The list 0:17:43.680 --> 0:17:47.080 goes on and on, and the exciting thing about Jordan 0:17:47.160 --> 0:17:49.840 at this at this part of it is you are 0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:52.679 going to see Anthony Richardson, you are going to see c. J. Stroud, 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:54.359 You're going to see some of these young up and comers. 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:57.240 We'll see what can happen here with Caleb Williams, Jared 0:17:57.280 --> 0:18:00.639 Goff's second highest paid quarterback in the NFL. Now that 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:02.920 Jordan has established himself and you still have to stay 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:05.840 on that track and you know, keep keep climbing, but 0:18:06.280 --> 0:18:08.359 now you aren't so much thinking about, Okay, well how 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:10.879 is Jordan gonna play against this particular defense. You start 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:14.200 to get sort of the celebrity, the off factor fact 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:16.760 going into these games, and that it was fun this 0:18:17.000 --> 0:18:18.960 compared to last year where there were so many questions 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:21.840 about the Packers and the players and the young, you know, 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:24.359 youth of this roster. Well, this year, when I was 0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:25.879 looking at the schedule and how it laid out, I'm 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:27.520 thinking a lot of times of like, oh, Jordan love 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:29.560 verus this team. You know, you look at you know 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:32.920 guy like, you know, Josh Jacobs, what's he going to 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:35.159 do against this defense? Yeah, that's cool, And that's what 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:36.440 happens when you're a contending team. 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:39.359 Yeah. I didn't realize this until until you know, we 0:18:39.440 --> 0:18:41.440 turned on the cameras and started diving into this a 0:18:41.480 --> 0:18:45.119 little bit more. But you know, the the whole AFC 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:48.760 NFC thing. This year, the NFC North is matched up 0:18:48.800 --> 0:18:51.880 with the AFC South, So everybody in the NFC North 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:55.000 is going to play every team in the AFC South 0:18:55.040 --> 0:18:57.840 over the course of the season. The Packers have those 0:18:57.880 --> 0:19:01.040 four games against the AFC Souths within the first eight 0:19:01.080 --> 0:19:03.800 weeks of the season. Yep, like those those four matchups. 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:06.919 So then after that, the only AFC matchup you have 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:11.000 left is the quote unquote seventeenth game, which which in 0:19:11.040 --> 0:19:16.240 this case becomes the Miami game on Thanksgiving Night at Lambo. 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:19.640 So just kind of interesting in a sense how that fell. 0:19:19.760 --> 0:19:24.639 The four games against the AFC South. It's back to 0:19:24.680 --> 0:19:28.240 back weeks two and three home against Indie road at Tennessee, 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:30.680 and then back to back weeks seven and eight home 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:34.520 against Houston on the road at Jacksonville. Just you know, 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:37.879 kind of fit those games in a nice, neat little 0:19:37.920 --> 0:19:40.240 packages early in the season instead of being in like 0:19:40.359 --> 0:19:45.080 weird spots or whatever. And again, as we started the 0:19:45.119 --> 0:19:48.240 whole conversation, the only thing about this schedule that feels 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:52.800 quirky to me is the run of four consecutive primetime 0:19:52.880 --> 0:19:57.440 games starting on Thanksgiving Night, which I can't ever remember 0:19:57.480 --> 0:20:00.320 four consecutive primetime games, and that could turn into five 0:20:00.400 --> 0:20:03.200 primetime games in a span of six in a span 0:20:03.240 --> 0:20:06.920 of six if the Week eighteen game against Chicago ends 0:20:07.000 --> 0:20:08.120