Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my partner in crime, West Hodkowitz. Were coming to
Speaker 1: you here from our studios at lambeau Field and unfortunately
Speaker 1: West to talk about another loss, this one one at
Speaker 1: Washington against the Commanders. And uh, this one started out
Speaker 1: in good shape for green Bay, a touchdown, a pick six,
Speaker 1: a fourteen to three lead, but then twenty straight points
Speaker 1: by the Commanders over a stretch of about two and
Speaker 1: a half quarters that nothing really went right on either
Speaker 1: side of the ball for the Packers, and then a
Speaker 1: late comeback just came up short. Yeah. I mean, if
Speaker 1: they want to start playing these games for thirty minutes,
Speaker 1: that's what everybody was asking after London, and uh, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's not how it's played. However, No, it isn't. And
Speaker 1: it's the stretches of like scoring that are that have
Speaker 1: been the most concerning. I think when you look at
Speaker 1: what the Giants did to rally back from ten point
Speaker 1: deficit at halftime this game, the Packers are up to
Speaker 1: fourteen to three again and by and large, Mike, the
Speaker 1: main things that you and I hit on last week,
Speaker 1: we're kind of ringing true. I mean, the Packers were
Speaker 1: controlling the line of scrimmage defensively, uh, Taylor. Heineke started
Speaker 1: off with more passes batted down than he had actual completions,
Speaker 1: and it just seemed like from the moment that he
Speaker 1: started to be able to scramble a little bit and
Speaker 1: start making some plays with his feet and moving the chains.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's been the biggest um common thread through
Speaker 1: all this is Green Bay starts off really strong with
Speaker 1: their third down defense over three, over four, did it
Speaker 1: against the Giants too, and then they struggle whether it's
Speaker 1: third and short or third and long to find an answer.
Speaker 1: And it just seemed like once Heineke started being able
Speaker 1: to extend plays a little bit, Terry McLaurin made some
Speaker 1: adjustments to be able to himself up from Gerry Alexander's
Speaker 1: coverage and the attention the Packers were giving him, it
Speaker 1: all kind of started to boil down from there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was one of those things the way I looked
Speaker 1: at it, and I didn't necessarily realize that as much
Speaker 1: watching the game, but then going back and watching rewatching
Speaker 1: the film on Monday, Heineck making his first start of
Speaker 1: the year, and quite frankly, he wasn't very good in
Speaker 1: the first half, but the Packers simply didn't take advantage
Speaker 1: of the plays that were there. Campbell did have the
Speaker 1: pick six. Unfortunately, the Packers had the fumble return for
Speaker 1: a touchdown called back on a penalty, which was a
Speaker 1: Heineke fumble when he got hit on a scramble by
Speaker 1: Rashawn Gary. But aside from those two plays, the Packers
Speaker 1: had you could argue four other pretty legitimate chances for
Speaker 1: interceptions in that first half, um when Heineke was simply
Speaker 1: not really throwing the ball all that well. But the
Speaker 1: Packers didn't make those grabs. In the second half, Washington,
Speaker 1: in particular Terry mclauren did. And then when you look
Speaker 1: at the way the comeback unfolded, the Packers get or
Speaker 1: down ten, you get a touchdown, it's one. You need
Speaker 1: to get a stop. Washington is still in its own territory.
Speaker 1: Third and nine, there's plenty of time on the clock
Speaker 1: and Heineke, under pressure kind of throws up a prayer
Speaker 1: quite frankly, towards the sideline, but throwing it towards his
Speaker 1: best receiver, and Terry McLaren And you know you talked
Speaker 1: about the third down conversions, This was probably the biggest
Speaker 1: one of the game. Third nine. McLaurin happened to see
Speaker 1: the ball before Alexander did, was able to go and
Speaker 1: attack it by the sideline and got it um and
Speaker 1: converted the third nine with a twelve yard pickup and
Speaker 1: uh and that was essentially the ball game. Packers defense
Speaker 1: couldn't get off the field on third down in the
Speaker 1: second half, and a lot of that, as we'll talk
Speaker 1: about here in a minute, also had to do with
Speaker 1: the fact that they were just on the field too
Speaker 1: much throughout the game, even in the first half when
Speaker 1: the Packers were winning. I thought the third and nine
Speaker 1: play was actually a really good embodiment of really that
Speaker 1: entire game for Green Bay's defense, because I saw that
Speaker 1: stat about how Green Bay had like twenty nine pressures
Speaker 1: from Pro Football Focus but only one sack, and you know,
Speaker 1: short of being actually physically shot out of a cannon,
Speaker 1: I don't know what Kenny Clark could have done to
Speaker 1: get to the quarterback any faster than he did. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Clark was all over Heineke on that on that third nine,
Speaker 1: but you know, Heineke got rid of the ball. Give
Speaker 1: him credit in nine times out of ten. Those are
Speaker 1: the type of plays. I'm not saying this would have
Speaker 1: turned into a pick six or anything, but when a
Speaker 1: quarterback is under that much duress and a defender of
Speaker 1: Calark's caliber is in his face like that, those are
Speaker 1: typically the plays that you end up seeing the guy
Speaker 1: throw a terrible ball that ends up being an interception.
Speaker 1: And McLaurin just made the plays that needed to be
Speaker 1: made in this game. I just felt like, you know,
Speaker 1: for the Packers, it goes back to that first half defensively.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about the offense here in a second, but
Speaker 1: when you get your hands on passes. My headline for
Speaker 1: Saritay's inboxes, they just have to capitalize, and I get it.
Speaker 1: It's easier said than done. But you know, Rasul Douglas
Speaker 1: has three passes defense in this game. Jr. Alexander came
Speaker 1: incredibly close to a pick on the first target that
Speaker 1: McClaren got. Um. Yeah, that was that was flat out
Speaker 1: of bad throw over the middle behind his receiver. Wasn't
Speaker 1: even catchable for me. It wasn't it wasn't catchable for McLaurin.
Speaker 1: Was very catchable for Alexander and he just couldn't quite
Speaker 1: come up with it. You have to make those plays.
Speaker 1: And then I mean, I want to not get too
Speaker 1: much in the officiating because it can be a slippery
Speaker 1: slope there for everybody involved. And there's really nothing you
Speaker 1: can gain out of getting upset about anything. But you know,
Speaker 1: if they do finally force to turn over, Rasul Douglass
Speaker 1: picks up the ball, appears to run it back for
Speaker 1: the touchdown, and then there's the illegal contact penalty over
Speaker 1: on Washington sideline. It is what it is. The Packers
Speaker 1: have to play above those things. You can't have thirty
Speaker 1: eight rushing yards, two hundred sixty six rushing yards. You
Speaker 1: can't be over six and third downs when the opposition
Speaker 1: has converted more third downs than you've even attempted, and
Speaker 1: that this is the end result. Yeah, And we've we've
Speaker 1: talked about how in the during this three game losing
Speaker 1: streak now that's dropped the Packers to three and four,
Speaker 1: how the defense has started out pretty well in all
Speaker 1: the games but then has faded as the game has
Speaker 1: gone on this one in particular, when you look when
Speaker 1: you look back at it, the Packers defense was just
Speaker 1: on the field too much in the first half, and
Speaker 1: I think that's what contributed to wearing down in the
Speaker 1: second half. Now, there was a back to back possessions,
Speaker 1: obviously because of the pick six by Devandre Campbell. So
Speaker 1: you take that right, that's a touchdown. Your defense put
Speaker 1: seven points on the board, but they have to be
Speaker 1: out there for back to back possessions. But before that,
Speaker 1: there's another back to back possessions because Amari Rodgers muff
Speaker 1: to punt. The defense gets to stop, but then the
Speaker 1: punk gets muffed, so Washington's offense is right back on
Speaker 1: the field and the defense gets the stop in the
Speaker 1: red zone forces the field goal, which is a big
Speaker 1: win after a turnover like that. But yet again, those
Speaker 1: are the those are the snaps, the plays that that
Speaker 1: add up to a defense not being necessarily at full
Speaker 1: strength or having enough in the tank down the stretch
Speaker 1: to stop a third nine. When if you get that
Speaker 1: stop and get the ball back to Aaron Rodgers, maybe
Speaker 1: you escape Washington with a winning field goal three. But
Speaker 1: my point is that everything from the early stages of
Speaker 1: the game, even when the Packers are winning, it's adding
Speaker 1: up to the problems that they're seeing later on when
Speaker 1: they can't figure out how to come away with a victor,
Speaker 1: and you know, you lose Rashan Gary at the end
Speaker 1: of that game to the concussion, and you know, Gary
Speaker 1: and Preston Smith I make, I think, make up such
Speaker 1: a good combination because Gary is more of the hair
Speaker 1: on fire get after the quarterback guy where pressing is
Speaker 1: the traditional out three or four outside linebacker in this
Speaker 1: defense where he's going to give you some whish, she's
Speaker 1: gonna give me some pressure. But he's also incredibly assignment
Speaker 1: sure against the run. And when you lose Gary like
Speaker 1: that in a situation, in those two minute situations where
Speaker 1: you haven't you want to have a guy that is
Speaker 1: going to be able to get after the quarterback when
Speaker 1: you know Washington, you know, especially if they get shut
Speaker 1: down in first down, isn't necessarily gonna be looking to
Speaker 1: run the ball a lot um and you don't have
Speaker 1: him available. And I mean, you give Taylor Heineke a
Speaker 1: lot of a lot of credit, Mike last week, you
Speaker 1: and I said it over and over and over again.
Speaker 1: I mean, this young man may not end up being
Speaker 1: a starting quarterback for a team that you know week
Speaker 1: one that's gonna be our guy. But this is what
Speaker 1: you do to be a productive back up in this
Speaker 1: league is that when Carson Wentz breaks his finger and
Speaker 1: it's gonna be out for a month, you get called upon.
Speaker 1: And he won his eighth game for Ron Rivera in
Speaker 1: Washington and for Green Bay. I think it goes back
Speaker 1: to the takeaways. It goes back to too many turnovers
Speaker 1: and not enough takeaways, and in this game in particular,
Speaker 1: not to lay it all at Marie's feet, but when
Speaker 1: they had that fumble, and give credit to the defense
Speaker 1: Dom Caper's the old adversity defense phrase, it stepped up.
Speaker 1: They held him to a field goal there. But realistically,
Speaker 1: that was the only real charge that Washington mounted in
Speaker 1: the first half, and it came off a turnover. And
Speaker 1: when you have turnovers and you don't get enough takeaways,
Speaker 1: that the hill gets taller and taller in terms of
Speaker 1: what you're trying to climb. Yeah, the Packers just they
Speaker 1: weren't able to take advantage of Heineke's poor throws in
Speaker 1: the first half. And then Heineke kind of settled in
Speaker 1: and started to make the throws he needed to make
Speaker 1: in the second half, which is why Washington converted so
Speaker 1: many third downs in in the second half, he got
Speaker 1: going when the Packers could have made his life absolutely
Speaker 1: miserable by being able to snag some of those really
Speaker 1: poor throws early on. Yeah. Absolutely, And you saw why
Speaker 1: Curtis Samuel too is gonna end up having a ten
Speaker 1: year career in this league. I mean, I don't know
Speaker 1: how many thousand yards seasons he's gonna have, but those
Speaker 1: gadget type players, it almost kind of reminds me in
Speaker 1: a way what Ted Gin became later in his career
Speaker 1: in terms of the guy that is going to be
Speaker 1: a acountable. They're gonna use them in different ways, and
Speaker 1: he's going to be able to help them move the
Speaker 1: chains and stay in third and favor rolls. Washington had
Speaker 1: an excellent game plan for how they attacked Green Bay.
Speaker 1: It took while to get into it, but once they
Speaker 1: did get into their rhythm in the second half, it
Speaker 1: was a winnable formula for them to not only be
Speaker 1: able to extend the lead, get the twenty unanswered, but
Speaker 1: then also it's four minute defense wise, being able to
Speaker 1: really step up. Yeah. The other the other thing too,
Speaker 1: that I wanted to say with regard to and this
Speaker 1: just speaks to This speaks to the offensive struggles Um
Speaker 1: with regard to with regard to the Packers defense being
Speaker 1: on the field so much in the first half after
Speaker 1: after the back to back where Um Campbell gets the
Speaker 1: pick six, the defense has to go right back out there.
Speaker 1: Washington does march down and get a touchdown. A couple
Speaker 1: of missed interception opportunities on that drive, but Washington gets
Speaker 1: the touchdown. So the defense has been on the field
Speaker 1: a heck of a lot over the over that stretch
Speaker 1: of the game. But then the Packers get the ball
Speaker 1: back on off fense, they lose six yards on a
Speaker 1: first down running play, they get called for holding on
Speaker 1: a second down running play when they're just trying to
Speaker 1: get back on track and give themselves a chance on
Speaker 1: third down. So then you're in third and forever and
Speaker 1: it ends up being ends up being a three and
Speaker 1: out and the defense has to go right back out
Speaker 1: there again. I mean it was. It was practically a
Speaker 1: back to back to back in the sense of in
Speaker 1: the sense of how much the defense had to had
Speaker 1: to play, and the Packers are just the Packers are
Speaker 1: in a rut offensively. Um there were once again much
Speaker 1: like the Jets game, there were penalties that put them
Speaker 1: in long yardage situations that were negative negative yardage plays.
Speaker 1: Not the sacks this time, because the game plan was
Speaker 1: get the ball out of Aaron Rodgers hands quickly, which
Speaker 1: for the most part was accomplished. But too many dropped passes,
Speaker 1: some passes that were off target, um and uh, and
Speaker 1: just breakdowns fundamentally on offense, illegal formations, guys not lining
Speaker 1: up properly, you know, breakdowns in the in the fundamental
Speaker 1: all aspect that just that just made it impossible to
Speaker 1: get any kind of a flow or rhythm going on
Speaker 1: offense at all. And it wasn't until you know, Rogers
Speaker 1: makes the great, really the great off schedule play, the
Speaker 1: late touchdown to Aaron Jones on on an extended play
Speaker 1: kind of a scramble drill that that the offense showed
Speaker 1: any kinds of life from the second quarter on. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and Rodgers making just an incredible throw on that play
Speaker 1: with Aaron Jones being able to take his route from
Speaker 1: the flat up the sideline on a wheel option. They've
Speaker 1: done that time and time again. It's becoming one of
Speaker 1: the the real go twos and must have situations for
Speaker 1: Green Bay. But to get to that point again, it
Speaker 1: goes back to the consistency piece, and um, you go
Speaker 1: over six. I think that was the first time they
Speaker 1: did not convert a third down since if I remember
Speaker 1: that right. Yeah, the only third down conversions for the
Speaker 1: Packers were due to some penalties by Washington and getting
Speaker 1: behind the sticks early I think was the main culprit
Speaker 1: for that. Certainly there were some third and mandable that
Speaker 1: Green Bay didn't convert on, but there were too many
Speaker 1: times where it was thirty third and nine plus that
Speaker 1: they're trying to convert. And it's just not a winnable formula,
Speaker 1: especially when you're playing two high safeties, especially when you're
Speaker 1: rushing for Washington wasn't taking a lot of chances. They
Speaker 1: were going to keep the ball in front of them
Speaker 1: and trust their defensive backs and their guys at the
Speaker 1: second level to tackle for green Bay. It's such a
Speaker 1: difficult thing because I know so many people, especially from
Speaker 1: a national level, we're trying to dog on the fact
Speaker 1: the Packers I think, and only had what was a
Speaker 1: twelve carries. Yeah, that was that. That was kind of
Speaker 1: a statistical thing based on the way the you know,
Speaker 1: we can kind of just so fans understand. Where we're
Speaker 1: sitting in the press box at FedEx Field, we're actually
Speaker 1: sort of near where the official statisticians are, and so
Speaker 1: as every play is happening, we're sort of hearing them
Speaker 1: kind of talking and barking to each other as they're
Speaker 1: punching things into their computers. And and you know these
Speaker 1: sideways pitches to Aaron Jone, which which are running plays
Speaker 1: in every sense of the word, the way the packers
Speaker 1: are blocking the flow of the play and everything. And
Speaker 1: they were saying that those pitches were forwards, so they
Speaker 1: were calling those forward passes. There were at least three
Speaker 1: or four of those. So the run pass ratio, if
Speaker 1: you just look at the final statistics, it was it
Speaker 1: was out of whack and I think quite frankly inaccurate. Um.
Speaker 1: But that's just the way that particular statistical couldn't decided
Speaker 1: to chart the game. We're gonna sorry for the side no,
Speaker 1: but on Wednesday, depending on when you're we're going to
Speaker 1: get the NFL's updated statistics too. So the NFL take
Speaker 1: a look at and see if there's any modifications there
Speaker 1: be that as it may, as Matt Lafleur said, it
Speaker 1: as podium and his press conference on Monday. It wasn't
Speaker 1: necessarily a problem they didn't run the ball enough, or
Speaker 1: they didn't get the ball there and Jones enough. It
Speaker 1: was just they didn't run enough plays. There wasn't enough
Speaker 1: synergy tote was I mean, what was of offensive? I mean,
Speaker 1: that's a that's a discrepancy that's really really hard to
Speaker 1: overcomet seven oh seven to fifty three. If you talked
Speaker 1: about those time of possession since for the last three years,
Speaker 1: you are and you have to bet your savings on it.
Speaker 1: You're taking the Packers as being the ones with thirty seven.
Speaker 1: That's just the way they've offensively played under Matt Lafleur.
Speaker 1: This was not Matt Lafleur football. And for the Packers
Speaker 1: it's a difficult position they're in because al Lazard now
Speaker 1: has a shoulder injury. We saw him in the locker
Speaker 1: room with the with the sling on his arm. We're
Speaker 1: gonna see exactly what this week holds for him. Um,
Speaker 1: he is the guy in this offense and you hate
Speaker 1: to see that happen with him. I give him a
Speaker 1: lot of credit. He came out of the game, he
Speaker 1: tried to go back in the game had to come
Speaker 1: out again. They don't have Randall Cobb right now. Christian Watson,
Speaker 1: you know you would hope it's gonna be back here.
Speaker 1: He has never placed on injured reserve, so he makes
Speaker 1: that makes you think they felt he was on the
Speaker 1: early side of the four week um. You know limited
Speaker 1: would have ben if you would have went on the
Speaker 1: injured list. Green Bay needs playmakers to step up. It's
Speaker 1: not just about getting the ball to Aaron Jones and
Speaker 1: a J. Dillon, although that is two of their big
Speaker 1: primary playmakers. It's about guys taking care of their opportunities
Speaker 1: on the perimeter. Once again, too many drop passes. Aaron
Speaker 1: Jones even put that on himself. There was a screen
Speaker 1: pass that he had that he wasn't able to bring in.
Speaker 1: It was a third and long. But still it's those
Speaker 1: plays where guys know they can catch the ball. It's
Speaker 1: it's it isn't like they're trying to catch a hundred
Speaker 1: fifty fastball from Aaron Rodgers. It's being out in the
Speaker 1: space and trying to look up field and not securing
Speaker 1: that ball. It comes back to fundamentals. People don't want
Speaker 1: to hear about it. It gets tiring. I know, but
Speaker 1: as you wrote an inbox on Monday, then I reiterated
Speaker 1: on Tuesday, it's a game of basic execution. The Packers
Speaker 1: are not getting enough of that right now. Yeah, you
Speaker 1: mentioned the injuries. The Packers are dealing with a wide
Speaker 1: receiver Lazard. Lazard goes out his status right now certainly
Speaker 1: very much in doubt. Randall Cobb is currently on injury reserve.
Speaker 1: The Packers got Sammy Watkins back, but Christian Watson is
Speaker 1: not back yet from uh from his hamstring injury. So
Speaker 1: a lot of things in flux with regard to what
Speaker 1: exactly the wide receiver corps will be for this week's
Speaker 1: upcoming road trip to Buffalo. And then the Packers are
Speaker 1: also trying to figure some things out on the offensive line.
Speaker 1: They spent the week with a with a reconfigured line
Speaker 1: that had Josh and i'man taking over at right tackle.
Speaker 1: Elton Jenkins was moved from right tackle to his more
Speaker 1: traditional position of left guard, where he was a pro
Speaker 1: bowler a couple of years ago. John Runyon was flipped
Speaker 1: from left guard over to right guard. Josh Myers obviously
Speaker 1: stayed at center, but then at the eleventh hour, David
Speaker 1: Baktiers knee was not feeling up to par, and a
Speaker 1: pregame workout um at the stadium a couple hours before
Speaker 1: the game wasn't good enough for bok tr to be
Speaker 1: able to go. So rookie fourth round pick from Wake Forest,
Speaker 1: Zach Tom ended up starting at left tackle, getting his
Speaker 1: his first NFL start on the road. Difficult situation, obviously,
Speaker 1: and the Packers went with it that way because rather
Speaker 1: than you know, flip Josh and Iiman back to left
Speaker 1: tackle and and ad just because that was the way
Speaker 1: they had practiced all week as far as those first
Speaker 1: three guys that I had mentioned, So they plugged in
Speaker 1: Zack Tom at left tackle. Now, certainly the performance of
Speaker 1: the offensive line was better than it was against the Jets.
Speaker 1: The game plan in terms of a lot of quick throws,
Speaker 1: three step drop, get rid of the ball, not a
Speaker 1: lot of not a lot of uh um, you know,
Speaker 1: seven step drop and and extended route concepts and all
Speaker 1: of that. Not a whole lot of that in the
Speaker 1: game plan. So that helped from a past protection standpoint,
Speaker 1: and there certainly was some some production in the ground game.
Speaker 1: But yet there you know, they're still this is this
Speaker 1: is a group and whether or not box Tr is
Speaker 1: going to be back next week or if they're they're
Speaker 1: gonna have to ride with Tom for a while. This
Speaker 1: is the group that the Packers are gonna go with. Here,
Speaker 1: this this alignment, health permitting and uh and try to
Speaker 1: make it work. It wasn't. It wasn't at its best,
Speaker 1: I don't think in the first outing. But there were
Speaker 1: some encouraging signs and we'll see if this group can
Speaker 1: sort of come together and develop the cohesion that you
Speaker 1: hope for. Yeah, and and that was the big idea
Speaker 1: with all this is that you're getting you know, John
Speaker 1: Running who's worked for the basically a bulk of the
Speaker 1: past year with yosh Naim, and you move both of
Speaker 1: them over the right side. You allow Elton to go
Speaker 1: back to the position he was a pro bowler at
Speaker 1: josh Meyer's in the middle as your stationary, and then
Speaker 1: bok Tr is at left tackle. The one interesting thing
Speaker 1: about all this is bok Tr even before there was
Speaker 1: the he was added with the game designation on Saturday.
Speaker 1: He was always on the injury report with the name,
Speaker 1: but the he got added with the game designation, it's questionable.
Speaker 1: He was still limited during practice so Zach Tom was
Speaker 1: the one spelling him. So the idea being is that
Speaker 1: not only is it about letting elk or I should
Speaker 1: say Yosh get comfortable at the right tackle spot, it's
Speaker 1: the fact that if you did push Josh over to
Speaker 1: left tackle, well now you don't have anyone that's really
Speaker 1: taken reps at right tackle this week. So that's the
Speaker 1: perplection that they were kind of presented. With that being said,
Speaker 1: I like the adjustments they made. They used a little
Speaker 1: bit more, you know, they shaded you know, Mercedes Lewis
Speaker 1: over to that side with Tom, which he appreciated being
Speaker 1: able to work with Jenkins. He felt comfortable in that role.
Speaker 1: And Mike I've said it time and time again. I
Speaker 1: mean everybody the more recent media, which is cool. Everyone
Speaker 1: has their own proclivities. But they talked a lot about
Speaker 1: him and Elton. You know all that Tom moves around
Speaker 1: like Elton. My big thing for the bulk of the
Speaker 1: last few months has been he reminds me a lot
Speaker 1: more of J. C. Treader and that he's a guy
Speaker 1: that was, you know, a left tackle at in college.
Speaker 1: You know, maybe not the biggest guy at that spot.
Speaker 1: Maybe you project him to be inside, whether it be
Speaker 1: a center spot or a guard spot. But he can
Speaker 1: hold his own out there. And I thought, you know,
Speaker 1: Tom showed incredible footwork during training camp. I think he's
Speaker 1: a really smart kid and and he survived just fine.
Speaker 1: The big question for the Packers is, as Matt Lafleur
Speaker 1: reiterated on Monday, this line is better when David bak
Speaker 1: tr is better. The run offense is better when David
Speaker 1: Bakti is out there. That's where we have to monitor
Speaker 1: this thing because it isn't just about David Bakti being
Speaker 1: on the field. It's about David Botr, the five time
Speaker 1: All Pro, the guy we're talking about being a potential
Speaker 1: Pro Football Hall of Famer. That's the guy you need back.
Speaker 1: And whether it's they're gonna have to do some adjustments
Speaker 1: with his practice, scheduling practice all last week, whatever it is.
Speaker 1: Um if the Packers are going to get this thing
Speaker 1: turned around, offensively is a big part of that. So
Speaker 1: they're gonna allow the rest that line to settle in.
Speaker 1: If Dave isn't able to go, I would imagine you're
Speaker 1: gonna see more Zack Tom at left tackle. They want
Speaker 1: to give Yash that opportunity at right tackle. Now that's
Speaker 1: how that's how I see it unfolded. And now if
Speaker 1: now the real question becomes if Botr is back, but
Speaker 1: you gotta do the rotation, then what do you do.
Speaker 1: They'll figure that out on a different day. But ultimately
Speaker 1: this was the path forward for Green Bay. And as
Speaker 1: first impressions go, considering all of the adjustments they made
Speaker 1: without the benefit of a bye week or any huge,
Speaker 1: you know, time off, and then a major change at
Speaker 1: the eleventh hour, I felt like it went pretty well
Speaker 1: for them. And yeah, it went it. Uh, it certainly
Speaker 1: was um, it certainly was an improvement over where the
Speaker 1: offensive line was against the Jets, and I think I
Speaker 1: think there's at least some comfort level with the changes
Speaker 1: that have been made. But as you said, they would
Speaker 1: love to get David Batieri back at left tackle as
Speaker 1: as that anchor, because because the offense just you know,
Speaker 1: it functions better with a player like that on the field.
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Speaker 1: sub or sub in a bowl. Cousin Subs fifty years
Speaker 1: of better. All right, I want to throw out a
Speaker 1: whole bunch of stuff at you with regard to what
Speaker 1: happened in Week seven in the NFL, and I'll let
Speaker 1: you comment on what you what you think is worth
Speaker 1: comment and see what I take care. The New York
Speaker 1: Giants are six and one after yet another fourth quarter comeback.
Speaker 1: The Dallas Cowboys are five and two, and that defense
Speaker 1: looks every bit as real as it was potentially as
Speaker 1: it was projected to be. In the a f c
Speaker 1: Um Joe Burrow and the Bengals might have found something
Speaker 1: and hit their stride. Meanwhile, there's a quarterback change going
Speaker 1: on in Indianapolis, Um. And then back in the NFC,
Speaker 1: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco forty Niners, and now
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears are all three and four, just like the
Speaker 1: Packers are. That's sort of my laundry list of Week
Speaker 1: seven in the NFL, So go ahead. I think it's
Speaker 1: another reminder again that you can't just take a look
Speaker 1: at what the schedule is. You can't look at, oh, well,
Speaker 1: how's the strength of schedule gonna line up? You know,
Speaker 1: because so much changes. And you look at a team
Speaker 1: like Carolina that they start a fire sale there on
Speaker 1: what their third string quarterback. I doubt anybody gave them
Speaker 1: a chance. And in a lot of ways, I think
Speaker 1: people viewed that game for the Buccaneers a lot like
Speaker 1: they viewed this game for the Packers against the Commanders.
Speaker 1: It's an interim interim head coach in Carolina, interim head coach, um,
Speaker 1: and they handed it to him. Uh, you know it's
Speaker 1: this is gonna be one of those years, Mike, and
Speaker 1: I think we're learning something about Daniel Jones and the Giants. Um.
Speaker 1: I think we've learned something about that defense too with
Speaker 1: New York. I mean, when you when you are the
Speaker 1: when you are the best team, when you are the
Speaker 1: best team in the fourth quarter every single week, you're
Speaker 1: gonna win a lot of games. What the Giants are doing,
Speaker 1: quite frankly, and this is this kind of just occurred
Speaker 1: to me. What the Giants are doing, quite frankly, reminds
Speaker 1: me a lot of the Packers under Matt Lafleur. In
Speaker 1: nineteens first year as head coach, they were not a
Speaker 1: dominant team. They had a lot of attractive pieces, a
Speaker 1: lot of things that looked really interesting. They were in
Speaker 1: every game, just about every game. There were a couple
Speaker 1: of hiccups, but they were in just about every game,
Speaker 1: and every game they were in they were more likely
Speaker 1: than not the better team in the fourth quarter making
Speaker 1: the plays late in the game. And that's how that's
Speaker 1: how a not impressive statistically, you know, team like the
Speaker 1: Packers in nineteen ended up with thirteen victories. The New
Speaker 1: York Giants are looking very much, in my opinion, like
Speaker 1: that kind of team. Very different personnel, very different style
Speaker 1: of play, but in terms of those parameters, that's what
Speaker 1: it feels like to me. And there's so much good
Speaker 1: coaching going on, not just in New York but throughout
Speaker 1: the league. I mean, you look at what Brian Dabbles
Speaker 1: has put together for Daniel Jones. I mean, there's a
Speaker 1: reason why the Giants have been so devoted to him
Speaker 1: the last three years is because they felt like talent
Speaker 1: was there. He maybe is going to have to do
Speaker 1: it in kind of a gamer, you know, kind of
Speaker 1: man's mindset. But whether it's the the ability to scrambles,
Speaker 1: just making plays and clutch moments. I mean, he's proven
Speaker 1: to have the mental toughness for it. I mean Geno
Speaker 1: Smith is doing very similar stuff in Seattle right now.
Speaker 1: But Seattle Seahawks are four and three. Who would have
Speaker 1: Who would have thought? Nobody the supposed rebuild that Pete
Speaker 1: Carroll and that crew was was going through. Everybody was
Speaker 1: signing them up for you know, one A, one B
Speaker 1: with the Texans as far as the first pick for
Speaker 1: next year, and it just shows you all these different
Speaker 1: directions things can go for Green Bay. I think it's
Speaker 1: another reminder. You look at Chicago UM and what teams
Speaker 1: in the National Football League was saying about the Bears
Speaker 1: after those first few weeks, and you know, I I
Speaker 1: commend Luke Getsy and the offensive coaching staff and with
Speaker 1: the Bears to be able to it seemed like develop
Speaker 1: a little bit more friendly game plan for their young
Speaker 1: quarterback in that game and allowed him to do use
Speaker 1: his feet a little bit more. It can all turn
Speaker 1: around in one week, is the moral of the story here.
Speaker 1: I feel like you kind of create your own narrative
Speaker 1: in these mount moments, and that's why this week for
Speaker 1: the Packers. You and I are going to talk about
Speaker 1: it on Thursday. It's gonna be a challenging week. We
Speaker 1: already know what the point spread looks like. It's going
Speaker 1: to be an underdog type mentality. But if you're going
Speaker 1: to drop one to the Commanders, I mean, you could
Speaker 1: say what you want about the Giants at six and one,
Speaker 1: you can say what you want about the Jets. So
Speaker 1: now they lose Breeese Hall. Now, yeah, Jets are Jets
Speaker 1: are five and two, but yeah they lost. They lost
Speaker 1: their biggest playmaker on offense. Both of those teams I
Speaker 1: think are a lot better than everybody, myself included gave
Speaker 1: them credit for me to Washington was a little bit
Speaker 1: more that one where you get that feeling that it's
Speaker 1: like you lose two close games, you lose a game
Speaker 1: at LAMB, but you do not expect to lose to
Speaker 1: the Jets. You kind of have that quote unquote letdown,
Speaker 1: and everybody was guarding against that when last week, but
Speaker 1: it happened. Well, if you want to be able to
Speaker 1: get yourself back in this thing, if you want to
Speaker 1: put yourself back in that quote unquote play off hunt,
Speaker 1: when people start talking about that stuff. It has to
Speaker 1: start against the New York excuse me, A Buffalo Bills
Speaker 1: team that not a lot of people are giving you
Speaker 1: a chance against. Yeah, and a Buffalo Bills team that
Speaker 1: will be coming off of by they have just one
Speaker 1: loss on the season, a team that that has been
Speaker 1: thinking nothing but super Bowl since uh since you know,
Speaker 1: really um disappointing playoff endings for them the last couple
Speaker 1: of years, especially last year the way they let the
Speaker 1: game at the at Arrowhead against the Chiefs get away
Speaker 1: so um. As Aaron Rodgers said after the game, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe this is the best thing for the Packers because
Speaker 1: all they're going to hear, whether they want to listen
Speaker 1: to it or not, all they're going to hear is
Speaker 1: how they have no chance going into Buffalo in primetime
Speaker 1: on Sunday night football. Everybody that has watched the success
Speaker 1: of this team over the last however many years, you
Speaker 1: want to say, the organization has been successful. People, what
Speaker 1: people want to put a nail in the coffin on
Speaker 1: the season for the Green Bay Packers if if they
Speaker 1: get their fifth loss in in Buffalo on Sunday night
Speaker 1: and uh, and it's up to the it's up to
Speaker 1: the Packers to see how they respond to this situation.
Speaker 1: You know. The crazy thing about this will preview the
Speaker 1: game on Thursday. We'll get to it then. But what
Speaker 1: an incredibly lazy narrative that's going to be. We haven't
Speaker 1: even heard it yet, but you can see it coming
Speaker 1: down the Yeah, that's that's that's why I said it.
Speaker 1: You know, you know that that's with this game being
Speaker 1: in prime time, you know, Sunday night football, all the
Speaker 1: all the talk all week is going to be is
Speaker 1: going to be that that this is, you know, is
Speaker 1: going to be some sort of this is the end
Speaker 1: of you know, this Packers era and the passing of
Speaker 1: the torch and all this kind of stuff, and you know,
Speaker 1: it's like it's like, hey, you know, regardless of what
Speaker 1: happens in Buffalo on Sunday night, there's still gonna be
Speaker 1: nine more games left in the regular season. And the
Speaker 1: other thing that's kind of weird about this is if, okay,
Speaker 1: if the Packers were five and two, Green may matches
Speaker 1: up really well with Buffalo, Like if you think about it, like, yes,
Speaker 1: the Bills are incredibly explosive, they have an incredible quarterback,
Speaker 1: they have weapons on the perimeter. They don't run the ball,
Speaker 1: and that's been one of the things that have hurt
Speaker 1: the Packers at this point. Now, maybe they'll switch their
Speaker 1: colors and Devin single Terry, I'll get a bunch of carries,
Speaker 1: but they don't this This Bill's team is a lot
Speaker 1: like the Packers in two thousand eleven and how they
Speaker 1: operate offensively. So it's funny that people aren't giving them
Speaker 1: a chance because Green Bay, despite their record, with their
Speaker 1: past defense and in some of the options they actually
Speaker 1: do match up with them, all right, But you know,
Speaker 1: because of where they are and losing three straight, that's
Speaker 1: the reason everybody is going to be doubting them. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's the three straight, there's the injuries, there's there's just
Speaker 1: and and it's not just losing three straight, but it's
Speaker 1: it's playing a level of football that's just that the
Speaker 1: Packers are not accustomed to. And uh and and they've
Speaker 1: got they've got to get things straightened out and turned
Speaker 1: around and and we'll see if they can do it.
Speaker 1: But we will talk more about the Buffalo Bills on
Speaker 1: our next show. For now, we'll call it a wrap
Speaker 1: on this edition of Packers Own Script, And be sure
Speaker 1: to follow all of our coverage of the team West,
Speaker 1: and I have all kinds of content for you on
Speaker 1: packers dot com. For West, I'm Mike. Thank you for
Speaker 1: tuning in, everybody, See you next time.