WEBVTT - #676 Packers Unscripted: London lamentations 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:10.840 Hi, everybody, Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:14.160 Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford joint as always 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:18.040 by my trusted colleague Western Hotcoats. Were coming to you 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:20.959 here from our studios at lambeau Field, back from London 0:00:21.040 --> 0:00:25.680 West and unfortunately here to talk about a disappointing Packers 0:00:25.680 --> 0:00:29.240 lost twenty two to the New York Giants at Tottenham 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:34.320 Hotspur Stadium. And you know, I remember distinctly our first 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:37.640 episode after the New England game. We spent quite a 0:00:37.680 --> 0:00:40.600 bit of time in that episode talking about how the 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:43.960 Packers are. You know, their play both sides of the ball, 0:00:44.080 --> 0:00:47.120 up and down, lots of wild swings, lots of inconsistency. 0:00:47.560 --> 0:00:50.920 The bottom line is that inconsistency caught up with them 0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:53.280 overseas and it cost him a ball game that that 0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:55.880 everybody knows they should have won. Yeah, I mean, that 0:00:56.000 --> 0:00:58.880 was the message. Afterwards, Kenny Clark talked about it. A 0:00:58.920 --> 0:01:01.200 lot of guys, you know, put that that label on 0:01:01.240 --> 0:01:03.000 it. It It was a bad loss. It was an emotional 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:06.039 loss for the Green Bay Packers, not because they had 0:01:06.080 --> 0:01:07.920 so many fans there, the fact that this was the 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:11.199 international debut. It's how they controlled the tempo of the game, 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:14.360 especially in the first quarter, but even in the first 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:16.840 half when when the Giants were being able to move 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:19.440 the ball a little bit, it's still felt like a 0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:23.600 game that if green Bay limits the explosive plays and 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:26.800 offensively protects the football, they were going to be able 0:01:26.840 --> 0:01:30.160 to get back to North America four and one. But 0:01:31.680 --> 0:01:37.560 we saw so many things work against them that have 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:42.559 kind of been calling cards so far. The third down 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:46.000 defense kind of forsaking them a little bit. Green Bay 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:50.280 starting over three, forcing those you know, forcing the Giants 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:52.320 off the field on back to back drive to start 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:54.040 the game to be able to get out to that lead, 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:57.800 but then conversion after conversion, it didn't matter if it 0:01:57.840 --> 0:01:59.280 was third and short, it didn't matter if it was 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:02.040 third and long. The Giants were making them pay that. 0:02:02.040 --> 0:02:04.360 That was the first sign for me that something was 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:08.200 just a miss with the Packers defense in this game. 0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:12.799 Was the Giants first touchdown drive of the game. They 0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:16.520 converted on both a third and thirteen and a third 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:19.480 and nine on that same drive and then eventually scored 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:22.440 the touchdown that pulled them within seventeen ten. Then the 0:02:22.480 --> 0:02:24.160 Packers got a field goal right at the end of 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:26.560 the half to to get it to twenty ten at 0:02:26.560 --> 0:02:31.120 the intermission. But the Packers defense has been so good 0:02:31.160 --> 0:02:34.880 on third down, had been so good on third down, 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:38.240 and to see to see them give up seeming, you know, 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:40.560 somewhat easily in a way. Although the second one, the 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:42.840 third and nine, I give the Giants receiver credit. He 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:44.359 made a heck of a play with the with the 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:46.959 hit he took and the tackle attempt there by the Packers. 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:49.040 But to see the Packers give up a third and 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:51.320 thirteen and a third and nine on the same drive 0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:54.960 and the Giants score touchdown, I just started to wonder, 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:58.359 what's what's going on with the defense here in this ballgame? 0:02:58.400 --> 0:03:01.520 And then and and honestly, things just things just did 0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:05.000 not get better for green based defense too. But at 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:07.320 the end of the day, to me, when you talk 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:09.840 about the the ups and downs and and the wild 0:03:09.919 --> 0:03:12.160 swings in terms of the quality of play on both 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:15.520 sides of the ball, we saw it against Tampa Bay, 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:18.800 but the Packers stopped the two point conversion. We saw 0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:24.320 it against New England, but then the defense with the 0:03:24.320 --> 0:03:26.880 Packers losing in the fourth quarter to a rookie third 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:29.839 string quarterback, but the defense rises up and gets three 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:34.720 consecutive three and outs, including overtime and uh and the 0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:37.760 Packers offense gets the tie and puts together the drive 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:40.480 to win in overtime. It was the clutch moments, the 0:03:40.520 --> 0:03:43.200 crunch time moments that the Packers made the plays in 0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:47.560 those games to win. Despite the inconsistencies, those crunch time 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:50.280 plays were missing for the Packers. They didn't make them. 0:03:50.280 --> 0:03:52.400 They didn't they didn't make them inside the ten yard 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:55.560 line on offense at the end, they didn't make them 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:58.200 on defense when they had when they had the chances 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:01.560 to possibly hold the Giants to field goals on those 0:04:02.080 --> 0:04:04.320 second half drives. If you don't make the plays that 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:06.480 crunch time, you're not gonna win in this league. That's 0:04:06.480 --> 0:04:08.440 just how it works. Yeah, that's why this game was 0:04:08.480 --> 0:04:12.440 so peculiar to me because early on Green Bay was 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:15.760 making those plays, and my thought process going in is okay, 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:17.640 if anything is going to happen here, based on the 0:04:17.640 --> 0:04:20.040 track record and based on this weird trip that they're on, 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:23.559 maybe it's a slow start. Really wasn't a slow start. 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:26.279 They were able to move the ball efficiently, didn't have 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:28.840 any huge explosive runs. We're able to build enough off 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:31.039 of it. Early on, you were able to get the 0:04:31.040 --> 0:04:33.560 passing game going. The rhythm was there. I thought Alan 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:36.320 Lazard was blocking well. They did the the cool little 0:04:36.720 --> 0:04:39.719 uh play action past Mercedes Lewis. They had some of 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:43.760 the jet sweep motions going with Christian Watson and Randall 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:47.080 Cobb was doing some really impressive things again on money downs. 0:04:48.240 --> 0:04:51.880 In the second half, everything flipped where it was now 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:54.240 the Giants that were the ones converting. It was Sae Kwon. 0:04:54.320 --> 0:04:57.479 Barkley was the one hitting the explosives, the forty yards 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:00.719 off of the wildcat, the forty one yard hass after 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:04.039 he leaves the game momentarily with the shoulder he re enters, 0:05:04.160 --> 0:05:06.920 comes free in the secondary and is able to break 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:09.360 up a big gain on what ends up being the 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:13.000 go ahead scoring drive for New York and Green Bay 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:16.320 just didn't have any answers. You look at the long 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:19.920 consider the sustainable drives that New York had starting at 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:23.760 their own nine going yards. Twelve play series, fifteen play 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:28.760 series again, getting back to that that handbook for defensive play. 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:31.400 The reason you want to limit the explosive in addition 0:05:31.440 --> 0:05:33.919 to the fact that it gets the opposition closer to 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:36.760 the end zone. It's also about the more plays that 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:39.880 a team has to run, the better possibility and probability 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:42.040 you're going to have it a takeaway. Green Bay just 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:44.680 wasn't able to get any takeaways in this Again, they 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:47.360 weren't able to you know, keep them, you know, the 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:51.520 penalties mounted up. There just were so many different small 0:05:51.600 --> 0:05:53.680 things that early on in that game when they were 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:55.640 getting some pressure on Daniel Jones, they were doing a 0:05:55.680 --> 0:05:58.920 good job against a quan that was allowing them to 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:01.880 to kind of control the town bow. Once they lost that, 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:05.080 they just couldn't regain it. Yeah, here's here's what I 0:06:05.160 --> 0:06:06.840 want to do. I want to turn the show in 0:06:06.880 --> 0:06:10.240 a little bit different direction from normal because there's so 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:13.039 much out there about the you know, the three passes 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:15.400 for the three and out with the score twenty to twenty, 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:17.760 the plays on the third and short and fourth and 0:06:17.800 --> 0:06:21.800 short inside the ten yard line, all of that being discussed. 0:06:22.120 --> 0:06:25.240 Matt Lafleur talked about all of that at length in 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:28.080 his news conference. You talked about it in inbox that 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:32.279 I've got more in inbox on Wednesday morning. My story 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:34.960 Monday night after Matt la Fleur's press conference has a 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:37.760 lot of a lot of that stuff crystallized. So here's 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:40.720 what I want to ask you. It was seventeen to 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:43.560 three packers, it was twenty to ten packers at halftime. 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:47.240 What did you feel if you were to point to 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:49.480 one thing, because to me, there were a lot of moments, 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:51.839 But what did you feel was the turning point? For me? 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:54.520 And I wrote about this an inbox and I think 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:56.720 your point that you're going to make two is really good. 0:06:56.720 --> 0:06:59.760 But for me, it was the Rashan Gary sack and 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:01.720 it it was first of the second first play the 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:05.200 second half because my thought process there is, okay, even 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:07.880 if the offense is kind of stuttering, you know, struggling 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:11.480 a little bit, they're going to be able to find themselves. 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:13.640 There's going to I think they're gonna be able to 0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:16.080 run a for minute offense if they maintain this lead. 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:20.680 Gary gets an eleven yard sack, and everything that the 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:23.520 Giants were doing up until that point was sort of 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:27.120 out of the Green Bay Packers playbook. Manageable third downs, 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:30.840 high percentage throws, being able to move the chains with 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:33.880 your running back, and when they go back eleven yards 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:36.240 on first down. In addition to the fact the emotional 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:38.760 side of that at Rashaan Gary being able to actually 0:07:38.760 --> 0:07:40.880 get his fifth straight sack and his fifth straight game 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:43.880 of the season. It was going to be hard for 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:46.480 Jones in that offense with the back to the wall, 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:49.880 down three receivers to be able to I feel like 0:07:50.240 --> 0:07:53.040 convert to get second and twenty one to be third 0:07:53.040 --> 0:07:55.520 and manageable and to get the ball moving down field. 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:58.720 But the other reason I point to that play is 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:03.040 there's a subject active element to defensive holding. Russell Douglas 0:08:03.080 --> 0:08:05.920 was called for that on that play. It gave them 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:09.880 the automatic first down and wiped out the sack for Gary. 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:13.360 And when I look at the defense, they kept the 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:15.400 ball carry in front of them at times. But in 0:08:15.520 --> 0:08:17.920 terms of making a play, that was kind of the 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:21.320 last one for Green Band this matchup. Yeah, I don't 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:23.840 I don't discount that one at all. I do think 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:26.000 that was a big play at that time. You know, 0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:28.800 the Giants had had driven for a touchdown, as we 0:08:28.840 --> 0:08:31.239 talked about the third and thirteen third nine, they'd driven 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:33.480 for a touchdown in the second quarter, but they only 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:35.640 had ten points on the board. And if they're starting 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:38.040 out the second half, that opening possession of the second 0:08:38.040 --> 0:08:41.040 half and second and twenty one instead of, you know, 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:43.480 getting bailed out by the defensive holding call. I do 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:46.680 think that that could have changed things for me though. 0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:49.920 For me, though, the turning point was a little bit 0:08:50.000 --> 0:08:54.319 later than that, and it was after the Giants had 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:56.680 taken that opening possession of the second half and gone 0:08:56.679 --> 0:08:59.800 down and kicked a field goal, and it was thirteen. 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:03.840 The Packers came back the other way. They got inside 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:06.520 the New York forty yard line. I believe they're on 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:09.160 the thirty six yard line, and it was third and 0:09:09.200 --> 0:09:12.240 eight at right there, you're looking at a fifty four 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:15.520 yard Mason Crosby field goal. Certainly the way he was 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:18.880 kicking in that game, I think that's uh. I think 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:20.800 that's a reasonable one. And even if you can get 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:23.760 any positive yards there, even if you don't convert the 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:27.520 third and eight, make that a shorter field goal. Getting 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:30.360 three points there, you re established the two score lead, 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:32.080 just like you did at the end of the first half. 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:35.400 It's twenty three to thirteen. Then, with what was going 0:09:35.440 --> 0:09:37.440 wrong with the defense, If the Giants go down and 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:40.520 get a touchdown, the Packers are still winning. It's twenty 0:09:40.800 --> 0:09:43.360 to twenty. To me. The sack on third and eight 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:46.360 on that opening Green Bay possession of the second half 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:49.320 that took the Packers out of field goal range. That's 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:51.200 the one that felt like the turning point for me, 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:55.240 because then suddenly this game that the Packers felt in 0:09:55.360 --> 0:09:57.760 control of and they were on the verge of re 0:09:58.000 --> 0:10:02.520 establishing a two score lead, then suddenly that doesn't happen. 0:10:02.559 --> 0:10:04.280 The Giants go the other way and score, and it's 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:08.280 a tie game, and and everything just felt so so 0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:10.959 different after that. So it's it's just interesting. I think 0:10:11.000 --> 0:10:13.880 there there there are certainly many points and and that's 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:17.000 not the discount what the Giants did at crunch time 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:19.040 and what the Packers didn't do at crunch time, because 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:21.120 that's what the that's what this game came down to. 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:23.679 But um, if I made but but but there were 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:26.080 there were there were just those moments where you you felt, 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:28.920 you felt things turning, and to me, that was the 0:10:28.920 --> 0:10:31.000 most important one. You thought it was the Gary play. 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:32.800 I think that's a valid choice as well. But if 0:10:32.840 --> 0:10:34.680 I can add an amendment to yours too that I 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:37.880 think factors into this, it's that not only if you 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:40.600 get those three points there, how valuable could those three 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:42.880 points be in a game? Like this. It's also the 0:10:42.880 --> 0:10:45.960 fact that Green Bay Special teams came through. They down 0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:48.080 the punt at the nine yard line, and then the 0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:52.240 Giants come back with the fifteen plays and after that 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:55.240 that's where they tie the game. And now you're starting 0:10:55.280 --> 0:10:57.320 to look in the mirror a little bit like Okay, 0:10:57.480 --> 0:10:59.839 now it's not just close for comfort anymore. This is 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:03.319 jimate to sudden Suddenly it was anybody. It was anybody's ball. 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:05.640 It was anybody's ballgame there, and the Giants had all 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:09.000 the u had all the momentum on their side. Um, 0:11:09.040 --> 0:11:10.959 I'll take care of some sponsor business here West and 0:11:11.000 --> 0:11:13.920 then I want to ask you another question. Serious X 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:16.680 and NFL Radio delivers hard hitting analysis and up to 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:20.720 the NFL news that true football fanatics need seven three 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:23.480 six and ad Cousin Subs. We have something for everyone, 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:26.640 like our Wisconsin Cheese Kurds, mac and Cheese, golden fries, 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:28.840 and creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite sub or 0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:34.480 sub in a bowl. Cousin Subs fifty years of better. Alright, 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:39.160 My next question for you is you have to you 0:11:39.200 --> 0:11:41.560 have to learn something from losses. You have to you 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:44.360 have to use it. You have to use the negatives 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:48.760 in in some way, shape or form to uh to 0:11:48.840 --> 0:11:52.000 get yourself back on track, to get things headed back 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:55.200 in the right direction. I'm not asking you know you 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:57.679 and I are not XS and OS experts, were not 0:11:58.200 --> 0:12:02.480 NFL football coaches. But I'm interested in your opinion. What 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:05.719 do you think from this game, this London trip, the 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:10.680 tough loss, frustrating loss. What's the biggest lesson the Packers 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:12.560 have to learn from this game? What do they have 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:15.360 to take from it to move forward. It's an excellent 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:17.920 question because I think there are a lot of answers 0:12:18.000 --> 0:12:19.520 to it, and I don't think any of them are 0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:24.440 necessarily wrong. I look at the offense um, it just 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:27.240 it was so easy in that first quarter, especially to 0:12:27.280 --> 0:12:31.080 see again the longest carry that the Packers had was 0:12:31.080 --> 0:12:33.800 eleven yards. It wasn't like they were just running up 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:36.000 and down the field on the Giants. But there was 0:12:36.000 --> 0:12:40.880 that statistic afterwards about how neither Aaron Jones nor A J. 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:43.360 Dylan had been tackled within two yards of the line 0:12:43.360 --> 0:12:46.400 of scrimmage. They just consistently moved the ball. What does 0:12:46.400 --> 0:12:49.319 that tell you You're consistently ending up in those second 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:53.480 and favorable third and favorables and ultimately converting Green Bay 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:55.880 just got away from that and and I totally get it. 0:12:56.200 --> 0:12:59.240 Matt Lafleur for twenty six minutes did an exemplary job 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:03.360 of explaining, you know, basically the can plays the run 0:13:03.520 --> 0:13:08.240 solutions all that makes total sense. But we go back 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:11.560 to it, Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon are your two 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:16.120 top playmakers. Packers know this, the opponent knows this. And 0:13:16.160 --> 0:13:18.360 I was asked this question on the pregame radio show. 0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:21.360 But with Dennis Crousey asking about this version of the 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:24.480 Packers can they is this sustainable? Going back to last week, 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:27.120 I said it probably isn't because teams are going to 0:13:27.200 --> 0:13:28.680 load the box. They are going to do things to 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:31.200 take those running backs away. But as of right now, 0:13:31.440 --> 0:13:35.320 in week five and week six, that's the Packers as 0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:38.760 the crow flies, you know solution. I feel like to 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:42.080 winning ball games, they weren't able to do it. And 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:44.280 it isn't just about hey, put the ball in their hands. 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:46.560 It's that the Packers are really freaking good at it. 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:51.000 Mercedes Lewis had some exceptional blocks, especially on that last 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:53.440 drive trying to get down to tie the game up. 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:57.199 Al Lazard for my money, Mike is the best blocking 0:13:57.240 --> 0:14:00.240 receiver in this league. It's not just that well run 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:03.040 the ball or whatever. You know, Aaron Rodgers is great too, 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:05.360 but they are just they are built to do this 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:08.320 in a way that any other Packer of teams I've 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:11.800 covered have not been built for. Yeah, I'm with you, 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:15.240 I'm with you, and in that I think one needs 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:19.080 to be taken from this is that. And and I 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:21.880 understand with regard to with regard to the running backs 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:25.240 that you have your run at run alerts, your run solutions, 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:27.320 whatever term you want to use. Where Rogers, you know, 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:31.240 spits the ball out horizontally and and the that was 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:35.000 extremely efficient as the Packers racked up twenty points in 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:39.720 this game. Matt Lafleur is calling those plays, and those 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:42.800 plays are you know, the first option, so to speak, 0:14:42.960 --> 0:14:45.840 is the handoff to run the ball. Things get changed, 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:49.560 it goes somewhere else, and and and that's working. I 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:51.280 think at the end of the day, I think, I 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:53.560 think what the Packers need to take out of this though, 0:14:53.760 --> 0:14:56.120 is and this is the line I'm that that will 0:14:56.160 --> 0:14:59.520 be in Wednesday Mornings Insider inbox. I think they need 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:05.000 to be both stubborn as well as creative in getting 0:15:05.000 --> 0:15:08.480 the ball to Jones and Dylan. If if the run 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:12.120 solutions take those opportunities away from them, so be it. 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:15.960 But then you still need to find ways. And I 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:17.640 don't care if you hand it off. I don't care 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:19.480 if you pitch it, if you throw it, if you 0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:22.320 want to do push passes off of jet motion, whatever. 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:25.360 I just I think those, as you said at the 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:28.400 very beginning of your comment, Jones and Dillon are the 0:15:28.400 --> 0:15:31.400 Packers two best playmakers on offense. And I think you 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:35.040 have to you have to be stubborn and creative in 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:38.040 getting them in getting them the football, because to run 0:15:38.120 --> 0:15:40.960 sixty plays and for those two guys to only touch 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:43.920 the ball nineteen times, that's not going to be a 0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:46.640 winning formula for the Green Bay Packers in the long haul. 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:49.240 And and I think everybody knows that. I think the 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:51.120 coaches know it, and the players know it. It's a 0:15:51.120 --> 0:15:53.400 game that got away from him that they shouldn't have lost. 0:15:53.840 --> 0:15:55.880 But I think that on the offensive side of the ball, 0:15:55.920 --> 0:15:57.520 to me, that's the lesson. And I'm not going to 0:15:57.680 --> 0:16:00.320 keep beating you know that the horse here. But it 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:02.480 goes back to that twenty five touches thing. We talked 0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:05.200 about and the fact that they are still undefeated in 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:07.440 this regular season actual with Aaron Rodgers. When those two 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:10.600 guys are able to go over that mark, I also 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:12.560 just feel like, whatever you have to do, and I 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:16.080 think the stubborn word is perfect for it. A J. 0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:18.640 Dillon can't he just have six carries, especially when he 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:21.080 produces the way he did thirty or four yards. I mean, 0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:22.880 he was productive in this game and he only touched 0:16:22.920 --> 0:16:25.480 the ball six times. You have to you have to 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:27.800 find ways to feed those horses. There's a lot of 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:30.320 time left here at this offense is still finding itself. 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:33.560 Christian Watson leaves with a hamstring that required an adjustment. 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:36.720 And I don't want to completely crap on the run 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:39.440 solutions because you go back to the New England game. 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:42.320 They partially won that game because of the run solutions, 0:16:42.320 --> 0:16:44.520 because of those quick flares out to Dobbs. They put 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:46.800 up twenty points against the Giants in the first half 0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:49.520 in large part because of those run solutions. You can't 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:51.880 you can't just say you have to stop doing that. 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:54.520 That that's that That's my point is that you can't 0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:58.000 totally get away from that. But if though if those 0:16:58.040 --> 0:17:01.200 are taking opportunities away from thirty three and twenty eight, 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:04.000 then you have to make sure opportunities for them are 0:17:04.040 --> 0:17:06.360 being built back in so that they are still a 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:08.320 major part of what's going on. You have to make 0:17:08.320 --> 0:17:11.480 sure you're still making the same recipe. If the recipe 0:17:11.520 --> 0:17:14.720 calls for twelve cupcakes and you had to make some concessions, 0:17:14.720 --> 0:17:17.200 that's fine. But when Tommy and Susie go back into 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:18.919 the catch a kitchen, they still want to have their 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:20.760 twelve cupcakes. You have to find a way to make 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:23.439 it work. On the defensive side of the ball. What 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:26.480 do you think here? This This was we've we've seen 0:17:26.560 --> 0:17:29.160 as we talked about it was. It was. It's been 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:32.879 an up and down ride for the Packers defense. They 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:36.280 you know, they were great for a long stretch against Chicago, 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:38.760 then two drives get away from him. They were great 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:41.879 almost the entire game, fifty eight minutes against Tom Brady 0:17:41.920 --> 0:17:44.840 and the Buccaneers. Then Brady did what he did, you know, 0:17:45.040 --> 0:17:47.000 does what he does to almost anybody in a in 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:51.000 a two minute drive. The defense was very very solid 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:54.159 for what nine really for nine out of eleven possessions 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:59.160 against against New England. So I don't want I don't 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:02.080 want to completely dump on the defense, but but to 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:05.560 suddenly see this defense give up five consecutive scoring drives 0:18:05.560 --> 0:18:08.800 twenty seven points without being able to get off the 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:11.760 field on third down, force upon do something to change 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:14.840 the momentum. What does the defense have to take away 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:18.000 from this performance as it moves forward. Well, one, you 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:19.600 know what I'm gonna use this is too because I 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:21.240 think you're gonna want to talk about it, so I'll 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:23.960 bring it up. Secondly, first, and I don't know what 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:26.159 the answer is might because I am again not a 0:18:26.280 --> 0:18:29.000 next as an Ow's guy, But the crossers have become 0:18:29.000 --> 0:18:31.560 an issue. The production in the middle of the field 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:34.160 has become an issue. Question. Now, I can't sit here 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:37.320 and tell you, oh, you know, the nickel corner needs 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:39.600 to be doing this, the free safety needs to be 0:18:39.640 --> 0:18:41.399 pulling up. I don't know all that stuff that the 0:18:41.480 --> 0:18:44.520 mixing and matching of you know, quarters coverage and and 0:18:44.840 --> 0:18:47.840 you know man, all these different things that you can do. 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:52.040 But I think everybody agrees. And the stats are incredible 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:53.920 when you look at them. The fact that the Packers 0:18:53.960 --> 0:18:56.320 do have the number two ranked past defense in the 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:59.280 National Football League, but there's this amount of air traffic 0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:00.760 in the middle of the feet that they're giving up 0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:04.080 yards on the second part that that I'm guessing you're 0:19:04.080 --> 0:19:05.480 gonna want to branch off too, because you wrote a 0:19:05.560 --> 0:19:08.480 nice story about it. Is the fact that whether it's 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:12.040 the communication, whether it's the sense of urgency, whatever, it is, 0:19:12.440 --> 0:19:17.480 this defense getting set up, looking confident and also executing. 0:19:18.119 --> 0:19:20.280 That's the one thing these last two games. And maybe 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:23.040 I'm just you know, identifying it more because it's been 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:26.240 a topic of conversation, but you see a lot of 0:19:26.280 --> 0:19:30.399 snap like pre snap communications seconds before the ball is snap, 0:19:30.400 --> 0:19:33.959 where guys are trying to talk to each other. It 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:37.879 doesn't look like a unit right now that is I 0:19:37.880 --> 0:19:40.479 don't want to say confident, but there looks to be 0:19:40.560 --> 0:19:43.440 some uncertainty there that you have to get figured out. Yeah. 0:19:43.480 --> 0:19:47.280 I thought it was really interesting because with what la 0:19:47.359 --> 0:19:50.760 Fleur said, essentially what he opened his twenty six minute 0:19:50.800 --> 0:19:54.880 media session on Monday with regard to talking about the defense, 0:19:54.960 --> 0:19:58.320 because they're all there's all these things floating floating around 0:19:58.320 --> 0:20:00.560 out there about well do the new to play more 0:20:00.600 --> 0:20:03.240 man versus zone or or you know, what about the 0:20:03.400 --> 0:20:06.200 what about blitz is or you know, playing more aggressively 0:20:06.280 --> 0:20:08.440