Speaker 1: Hi, everybody, Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford joint as always
Speaker 1: by my trusted colleague Western Hotcoats. Were coming to you
Speaker 1: here from our studios at lambeau Field, back from London
Speaker 1: West and unfortunately here to talk about a disappointing Packers
Speaker 1: lost twenty two to the New York Giants at Tottenham
Speaker 1: Hotspur Stadium. And you know, I remember distinctly our first
Speaker 1: episode after the New England game. We spent quite a
Speaker 1: bit of time in that episode talking about how the
Speaker 1: Packers are. You know, their play both sides of the ball,
Speaker 1: up and down, lots of wild swings, lots of inconsistency.
Speaker 1: The bottom line is that inconsistency caught up with them
Speaker 1: overseas and it cost him a ball game that that
Speaker 1: everybody knows they should have won. Yeah, I mean, that
Speaker 1: was the message. Afterwards, Kenny Clark talked about it. A
Speaker 1: lot of guys, you know, put that that label on
Speaker 1: it. It It was a bad loss. It was an emotional
Speaker 1: loss for the Green Bay Packers, not because they had
Speaker 1: so many fans there, the fact that this was the
Speaker 1: international debut. It's how they controlled the tempo of the game,
Speaker 1: especially in the first quarter, but even in the first
Speaker 1: half when when the Giants were being able to move
Speaker 1: the ball a little bit, it's still felt like a
Speaker 1: game that if green Bay limits the explosive plays and
Speaker 1: offensively protects the football, they were going to be able
Speaker 1: to get back to North America four and one. But
Speaker 1: we saw so many things work against them that have
Speaker 1: kind of been calling cards so far. The third down
Speaker 1: defense kind of forsaking them a little bit. Green Bay
Speaker 1: starting over three, forcing those you know, forcing the Giants
Speaker 1: off the field on back to back drive to start
Speaker 1: the game to be able to get out to that lead,
Speaker 1: but then conversion after conversion, it didn't matter if it
Speaker 1: was third and short, it didn't matter if it was
Speaker 1: third and long. The Giants were making them pay that.
Speaker 1: That was the first sign for me that something was
Speaker 1: just a miss with the Packers defense in this game.
Speaker 1: Was the Giants first touchdown drive of the game. They
Speaker 1: converted on both a third and thirteen and a third
Speaker 1: and nine on that same drive and then eventually scored
Speaker 1: the touchdown that pulled them within seventeen ten. Then the
Speaker 1: Packers got a field goal right at the end of
Speaker 1: the half to to get it to twenty ten at
Speaker 1: the intermission. But the Packers defense has been so good
Speaker 1: on third down, had been so good on third down,
Speaker 1: and to see to see them give up seeming, you know,
Speaker 1: somewhat easily in a way. Although the second one, the
Speaker 1: third and nine, I give the Giants receiver credit. He
Speaker 1: made a heck of a play with the with the
Speaker 1: hit he took and the tackle attempt there by the Packers.
Speaker 1: But to see the Packers give up a third and
Speaker 1: thirteen and a third and nine on the same drive
Speaker 1: and the Giants score touchdown, I just started to wonder,
Speaker 1: what's what's going on with the defense here in this ballgame?
Speaker 1: And then and and honestly, things just things just did
Speaker 1: not get better for green based defense too. But at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, to me, when you talk
Speaker 1: about the the ups and downs and and the wild
Speaker 1: swings in terms of the quality of play on both
Speaker 1: sides of the ball, we saw it against Tampa Bay,
Speaker 1: but the Packers stopped the two point conversion. We saw
Speaker 1: it against New England, but then the defense with the
Speaker 1: Packers losing in the fourth quarter to a rookie third
Speaker 1: string quarterback, but the defense rises up and gets three
Speaker 1: consecutive three and outs, including overtime and uh and the
Speaker 1: Packers offense gets the tie and puts together the drive
Speaker 1: to win in overtime. It was the clutch moments, the
Speaker 1: crunch time moments that the Packers made the plays in
Speaker 1: those games to win. Despite the inconsistencies, those crunch time
Speaker 1: plays were missing for the Packers. They didn't make them.
Speaker 1: They didn't they didn't make them inside the ten yard
Speaker 1: line on offense at the end, they didn't make them
Speaker 1: on defense when they had when they had the chances
Speaker 1: to possibly hold the Giants to field goals on those
Speaker 1: second half drives. If you don't make the plays that
Speaker 1: crunch time, you're not gonna win in this league. That's
Speaker 1: just how it works. Yeah, that's why this game was
Speaker 1: so peculiar to me because early on Green Bay was
Speaker 1: making those plays, and my thought process going in is okay,
Speaker 1: if anything is going to happen here, based on the
Speaker 1: track record and based on this weird trip that they're on,
Speaker 1: maybe it's a slow start. Really wasn't a slow start.
Speaker 1: They were able to move the ball efficiently, didn't have
Speaker 1: any huge explosive runs. We're able to build enough off
Speaker 1: of it. Early on, you were able to get the
Speaker 1: passing game going. The rhythm was there. I thought Alan
Speaker 1: Lazard was blocking well. They did the the cool little
Speaker 1: uh play action past Mercedes Lewis. They had some of
Speaker 1: the jet sweep motions going with Christian Watson and Randall
Speaker 1: Cobb was doing some really impressive things again on money downs.
Speaker 1: In the second half, everything flipped where it was now
Speaker 1: the Giants that were the ones converting. It was Sae Kwon.
Speaker 1: Barkley was the one hitting the explosives, the forty yards
Speaker 1: off of the wildcat, the forty one yard hass after
Speaker 1: he leaves the game momentarily with the shoulder he re enters,
Speaker 1: comes free in the secondary and is able to break
Speaker 1: up a big gain on what ends up being the
Speaker 1: go ahead scoring drive for New York and Green Bay
Speaker 1: just didn't have any answers. You look at the long
Speaker 1: consider the sustainable drives that New York had starting at
Speaker 1: their own nine going yards. Twelve play series, fifteen play
Speaker 1: series again, getting back to that that handbook for defensive play.
Speaker 1: The reason you want to limit the explosive in addition
Speaker 1: to the fact that it gets the opposition closer to
Speaker 1: the end zone. It's also about the more plays that
Speaker 1: a team has to run, the better possibility and probability
Speaker 1: you're going to have it a takeaway. Green Bay just
Speaker 1: wasn't able to get any takeaways in this Again, they
Speaker 1: weren't able to you know, keep them, you know, the
Speaker 1: penalties mounted up. There just were so many different small
Speaker 1: things that early on in that game when they were
Speaker 1: getting some pressure on Daniel Jones, they were doing a
Speaker 1: good job against a quan that was allowing them to
Speaker 1: to kind of control the town bow. Once they lost that,
Speaker 1: they just couldn't regain it. Yeah, here's here's what I
Speaker 1: want to do. I want to turn the show in
Speaker 1: a little bit different direction from normal because there's so
Speaker 1: much out there about the you know, the three passes
Speaker 1: for the three and out with the score twenty to twenty,
Speaker 1: the plays on the third and short and fourth and
Speaker 1: short inside the ten yard line, all of that being discussed.
Speaker 1: Matt Lafleur talked about all of that at length in
Speaker 1: his news conference. You talked about it in inbox that
Speaker 1: I've got more in inbox on Wednesday morning. My story
Speaker 1: Monday night after Matt la Fleur's press conference has a
Speaker 1: lot of a lot of that stuff crystallized. So here's
Speaker 1: what I want to ask you. It was seventeen to
Speaker 1: three packers, it was twenty to ten packers at halftime.
Speaker 1: What did you feel if you were to point to
Speaker 1: one thing, because to me, there were a lot of moments,
Speaker 1: But what did you feel was the turning point? For me?
Speaker 1: And I wrote about this an inbox and I think
Speaker 1: your point that you're going to make two is really good.
Speaker 1: But for me, it was the Rashan Gary sack and
Speaker 1: it it was first of the second first play the
Speaker 1: second half because my thought process there is, okay, even
Speaker 1: if the offense is kind of stuttering, you know, struggling
Speaker 1: a little bit, they're going to be able to find themselves.
Speaker 1: There's going to I think they're gonna be able to
Speaker 1: run a for minute offense if they maintain this lead.
Speaker 1: Gary gets an eleven yard sack, and everything that the
Speaker 1: Giants were doing up until that point was sort of
Speaker 1: out of the Green Bay Packers playbook. Manageable third downs,
Speaker 1: high percentage throws, being able to move the chains with
Speaker 1: your running back, and when they go back eleven yards
Speaker 1: on first down. In addition to the fact the emotional
Speaker 1: side of that at Rashaan Gary being able to actually
Speaker 1: get his fifth straight sack and his fifth straight game
Speaker 1: of the season. It was going to be hard for
Speaker 1: Jones in that offense with the back to the wall,
Speaker 1: down three receivers to be able to I feel like
Speaker 1: convert to get second and twenty one to be third
Speaker 1: and manageable and to get the ball moving down field.
Speaker 1: But the other reason I point to that play is
Speaker 1: there's a subject active element to defensive holding. Russell Douglas
Speaker 1: was called for that on that play. It gave them
Speaker 1: the automatic first down and wiped out the sack for Gary.
Speaker 1: And when I look at the defense, they kept the
Speaker 1: ball carry in front of them at times. But in
Speaker 1: terms of making a play, that was kind of the
Speaker 1: last one for Green Band this matchup. Yeah, I don't
Speaker 1: I don't discount that one at all. I do think
Speaker 1: that was a big play at that time. You know,
Speaker 1: the Giants had had driven for a touchdown, as we
Speaker 1: talked about the third and thirteen third nine, they'd driven
Speaker 1: for a touchdown in the second quarter, but they only
Speaker 1: had ten points on the board. And if they're starting
Speaker 1: out the second half, that opening possession of the second
Speaker 1: half and second and twenty one instead of, you know,
Speaker 1: getting bailed out by the defensive holding call. I do
Speaker 1: think that that could have changed things for me though.
Speaker 1: For me, though, the turning point was a little bit
Speaker 1: later than that, and it was after the Giants had
Speaker 1: taken that opening possession of the second half and gone
Speaker 1: down and kicked a field goal, and it was thirteen.
Speaker 1: The Packers came back the other way. They got inside
Speaker 1: the New York forty yard line. I believe they're on
Speaker 1: the thirty six yard line, and it was third and
Speaker 1: eight at right there, you're looking at a fifty four
Speaker 1: yard Mason Crosby field goal. Certainly the way he was
Speaker 1: kicking in that game, I think that's uh. I think
Speaker 1: that's a reasonable one. And even if you can get
Speaker 1: any positive yards there, even if you don't convert the
Speaker 1: third and eight, make that a shorter field goal. Getting
Speaker 1: three points there, you re established the two score lead,
Speaker 1: just like you did at the end of the first half.
Speaker 1: It's twenty three to thirteen. Then, with what was going
Speaker 1: wrong with the defense, If the Giants go down and
Speaker 1: get a touchdown, the Packers are still winning. It's twenty
Speaker 1: to twenty. To me. The sack on third and eight
Speaker 1: on that opening Green Bay possession of the second half
Speaker 1: that took the Packers out of field goal range. That's
Speaker 1: the one that felt like the turning point for me,
Speaker 1: because then suddenly this game that the Packers felt in
Speaker 1: control of and they were on the verge of re
Speaker 1: establishing a two score lead, then suddenly that doesn't happen.
Speaker 1: The Giants go the other way and score, and it's
Speaker 1: a tie game, and and everything just felt so so
Speaker 1: different after that. So it's it's just interesting. I think
Speaker 1: there there there are certainly many points and and that's
Speaker 1: not the discount what the Giants did at crunch time
Speaker 1: and what the Packers didn't do at crunch time, because
Speaker 1: that's what the that's what this game came down to.
Speaker 1: But um, if I made but but but there were
Speaker 1: there were there were just those moments where you you felt,
Speaker 1: you felt things turning, and to me, that was the
Speaker 1: most important one. You thought it was the Gary play.
Speaker 1: I think that's a valid choice as well. But if
Speaker 1: I can add an amendment to yours too that I
Speaker 1: think factors into this, it's that not only if you
Speaker 1: get those three points there, how valuable could those three
Speaker 1: points be in a game? Like this. It's also the
Speaker 1: fact that Green Bay Special teams came through. They down
Speaker 1: the punt at the nine yard line, and then the
Speaker 1: Giants come back with the fifteen plays and after that
Speaker 1: that's where they tie the game. And now you're starting
Speaker 1: to look in the mirror a little bit like Okay,
Speaker 1: now it's not just close for comfort anymore. This is
Speaker 1: jimate to sudden Suddenly it was anybody. It was anybody's ball.
Speaker 1: It was anybody's ballgame there, and the Giants had all
Speaker 1: the u had all the momentum on their side. Um,
Speaker 1: I'll take care of some sponsor business here West and
Speaker 1: then I want to ask you another question. Serious X
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Speaker 1: My next question for you is you have to you
Speaker 1: have to learn something from losses. You have to you
Speaker 1: have to use it. You have to use the negatives
Speaker 1: in in some way, shape or form to uh to
Speaker 1: get yourself back on track, to get things headed back
Speaker 1: in the right direction. I'm not asking you know you
Speaker 1: and I are not XS and OS experts, were not
Speaker 1: NFL football coaches. But I'm interested in your opinion. What
Speaker 1: do you think from this game, this London trip, the
Speaker 1: tough loss, frustrating loss. What's the biggest lesson the Packers
Speaker 1: have to learn from this game? What do they have
Speaker 1: to take from it to move forward. It's an excellent
Speaker 1: question because I think there are a lot of answers
Speaker 1: to it, and I don't think any of them are
Speaker 1: necessarily wrong. I look at the offense um, it just
Speaker 1: it was so easy in that first quarter, especially to
Speaker 1: see again the longest carry that the Packers had was
Speaker 1: eleven yards. It wasn't like they were just running up
Speaker 1: and down the field on the Giants. But there was
Speaker 1: that statistic afterwards about how neither Aaron Jones nor A J.
Speaker 1: Dylan had been tackled within two yards of the line
Speaker 1: of scrimmage. They just consistently moved the ball. What does
Speaker 1: that tell you You're consistently ending up in those second
Speaker 1: and favorable third and favorables and ultimately converting Green Bay
Speaker 1: just got away from that and and I totally get it.
Speaker 1: Matt Lafleur for twenty six minutes did an exemplary job
Speaker 1: of explaining, you know, basically the can plays the run
Speaker 1: solutions all that makes total sense. But we go back
Speaker 1: to it, Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon are your two
Speaker 1: top playmakers. Packers know this, the opponent knows this. And
Speaker 1: I was asked this question on the pregame radio show.
Speaker 1: But with Dennis Crousey asking about this version of the
Speaker 1: Packers can they is this sustainable? Going back to last week,
Speaker 1: I said it probably isn't because teams are going to
Speaker 1: load the box. They are going to do things to
Speaker 1: take those running backs away. But as of right now,
Speaker 1: in week five and week six, that's the Packers as
Speaker 1: the crow flies, you know solution. I feel like to
Speaker 1: winning ball games, they weren't able to do it. And
Speaker 1: it isn't just about hey, put the ball in their hands.
Speaker 1: It's that the Packers are really freaking good at it.
Speaker 1: Mercedes Lewis had some exceptional blocks, especially on that last
Speaker 1: drive trying to get down to tie the game up.
Speaker 1: Al Lazard for my money, Mike is the best blocking
Speaker 1: receiver in this league. It's not just that well run
Speaker 1: the ball or whatever. You know, Aaron Rodgers is great too,
Speaker 1: but they are just they are built to do this
Speaker 1: in a way that any other Packer of teams I've
Speaker 1: covered have not been built for. Yeah, I'm with you,
Speaker 1: I'm with you, and in that I think one needs
Speaker 1: to be taken from this is that. And and I
Speaker 1: understand with regard to with regard to the running backs
Speaker 1: that you have your run at run alerts, your run solutions,
Speaker 1: whatever term you want to use. Where Rogers, you know,
Speaker 1: spits the ball out horizontally and and the that was
Speaker 1: extremely efficient as the Packers racked up twenty points in
Speaker 1: this game. Matt Lafleur is calling those plays, and those
Speaker 1: plays are you know, the first option, so to speak,
Speaker 1: is the handoff to run the ball. Things get changed,
Speaker 1: it goes somewhere else, and and and that's working. I
Speaker 1: think at the end of the day, I think, I
Speaker 1: think what the Packers need to take out of this though,
Speaker 1: is and this is the line I'm that that will
Speaker 1: be in Wednesday Mornings Insider inbox. I think they need
Speaker 1: to be both stubborn as well as creative in getting
Speaker 1: the ball to Jones and Dylan. If if the run
Speaker 1: solutions take those opportunities away from them, so be it.
Speaker 1: But then you still need to find ways. And I
Speaker 1: don't care if you hand it off. I don't care
Speaker 1: if you pitch it, if you throw it, if you
Speaker 1: want to do push passes off of jet motion, whatever.
Speaker 1: I just I think those, as you said at the
Speaker 1: very beginning of your comment, Jones and Dillon are the
Speaker 1: Packers two best playmakers on offense. And I think you
Speaker 1: have to you have to be stubborn and creative in
Speaker 1: getting them in getting them the football, because to run
Speaker 1: sixty plays and for those two guys to only touch
Speaker 1: the ball nineteen times, that's not going to be a
Speaker 1: winning formula for the Green Bay Packers in the long haul.
Speaker 1: And and I think everybody knows that. I think the
Speaker 1: coaches know it, and the players know it. It's a
Speaker 1: game that got away from him that they shouldn't have lost.
Speaker 1: But I think that on the offensive side of the ball,
Speaker 1: to me, that's the lesson. And I'm not going to
Speaker 1: keep beating you know that the horse here. But it
Speaker 1: goes back to that twenty five touches thing. We talked
Speaker 1: about and the fact that they are still undefeated in
Speaker 1: this regular season actual with Aaron Rodgers. When those two
Speaker 1: guys are able to go over that mark, I also
Speaker 1: just feel like, whatever you have to do, and I
Speaker 1: think the stubborn word is perfect for it. A J.
Speaker 1: Dillon can't he just have six carries, especially when he
Speaker 1: produces the way he did thirty or four yards. I mean,
Speaker 1: he was productive in this game and he only touched
Speaker 1: the ball six times. You have to you have to
Speaker 1: find ways to feed those horses. There's a lot of
Speaker 1: time left here at this offense is still finding itself.
Speaker 1: Christian Watson leaves with a hamstring that required an adjustment.
Speaker 1: And I don't want to completely crap on the run
Speaker 1: solutions because you go back to the New England game.
Speaker 1: They partially won that game because of the run solutions,
Speaker 1: because of those quick flares out to Dobbs. They put
Speaker 1: up twenty points against the Giants in the first half
Speaker 1: in large part because of those run solutions. You can't
Speaker 1: you can't just say you have to stop doing that.
Speaker 1: That that's that That's my point is that you can't
Speaker 1: totally get away from that. But if though if those
Speaker 1: are taking opportunities away from thirty three and twenty eight,
Speaker 1: then you have to make sure opportunities for them are
Speaker 1: being built back in so that they are still a
Speaker 1: major part of what's going on. You have to make
Speaker 1: sure you're still making the same recipe. If the recipe
Speaker 1: calls for twelve cupcakes and you had to make some concessions,
Speaker 1: that's fine. But when Tommy and Susie go back into
Speaker 1: the catch a kitchen, they still want to have their
Speaker 1: twelve cupcakes. You have to find a way to make
Speaker 1: it work. On the defensive side of the ball. What
Speaker 1: do you think here? This This was we've we've seen
Speaker 1: as we talked about it was. It was. It's been
Speaker 1: an up and down ride for the Packers defense. They
Speaker 1: you know, they were great for a long stretch against Chicago,
Speaker 1: then two drives get away from him. They were great
Speaker 1: almost the entire game, fifty eight minutes against Tom Brady
Speaker 1: and the Buccaneers. Then Brady did what he did, you know,
Speaker 1: does what he does to almost anybody in a in
Speaker 1: a two minute drive. The defense was very very solid
Speaker 1: for what nine really for nine out of eleven possessions
Speaker 1: against against New England. So I don't want I don't
Speaker 1: want to completely dump on the defense, but but to
Speaker 1: suddenly see this defense give up five consecutive scoring drives
Speaker 1: twenty seven points without being able to get off the
Speaker 1: field on third down, force upon do something to change
Speaker 1: the momentum. What does the defense have to take away
Speaker 1: from this performance as it moves forward. Well, one, you
Speaker 1: know what I'm gonna use this is too because I
Speaker 1: think you're gonna want to talk about it, so I'll
Speaker 1: bring it up. Secondly, first, and I don't know what
Speaker 1: the answer is might because I am again not a
Speaker 1: next as an Ow's guy, But the crossers have become
Speaker 1: an issue. The production in the middle of the field
Speaker 1: has become an issue. Question. Now, I can't sit here
Speaker 1: and tell you, oh, you know, the nickel corner needs
Speaker 1: to be doing this, the free safety needs to be
Speaker 1: pulling up. I don't know all that stuff that the
Speaker 1: mixing and matching of you know, quarters coverage and and
Speaker 1: you know man, all these different things that you can do.
Speaker 1: But I think everybody agrees. And the stats are incredible
Speaker 1: when you look at them. The fact that the Packers
Speaker 1: do have the number two ranked past defense in the
Speaker 1: National Football League, but there's this amount of air traffic
Speaker 1: in the middle of the feet that they're giving up
Speaker 1: yards on the second part that that I'm guessing you're
Speaker 1: gonna want to branch off too, because you wrote a
Speaker 1: nice story about it. Is the fact that whether it's
Speaker 1: the communication, whether it's the sense of urgency, whatever, it is,
Speaker 1: this defense getting set up, looking confident and also executing.
Speaker 1: That's the one thing these last two games. And maybe
Speaker 1: I'm just you know, identifying it more because it's been
Speaker 1: a topic of conversation, but you see a lot of
Speaker 1: snap like pre snap communications seconds before the ball is snap,
Speaker 1: where guys are trying to talk to each other. It
Speaker 1: doesn't look like a unit right now that is I
Speaker 1: don't want to say confident, but there looks to be
Speaker 1: some uncertainty there that you have to get figured out. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I thought it was really interesting because with what la
Speaker 1: Fleur said, essentially what he opened his twenty six minute
Speaker 1: media session on Monday with regard to talking about the defense,
Speaker 1: because they're all there's all these things floating floating around
Speaker 1: out there about well do the new to play more
Speaker 1: man versus zone or or you know, what about the
Speaker 1: what about blitz is or you know, playing more aggressively
Speaker 1: in this and that, and and I think there there's
Speaker 1: certainly a time for those discussions. But it was very
Speaker 1: interesting to me that that what the head coach pointed
Speaker 1: to immediately after watching the film of the defense was
Speaker 1: seeing guys not in position quickly and efficiently prior to
Speaker 1: the snap to where then they can they can look
Speaker 1: for they can look for the tells, they can you know,
Speaker 1: diagnose the formation, reflect on their film study to potentially
Speaker 1: know what's coming and and be able to read. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know how this league works. I mean, if you're
Speaker 1: a half step slow in your reaction, that can be
Speaker 1: the difference between a third down stop and a first
Speaker 1: down or god forbid, a touchdown. Right. So the fact
Speaker 1: that la Fleur pointed to that I thought, I thought
Speaker 1: was very was very interesting because to me, that's a
Speaker 1: that's an easily fixable issue if getting you know, getting
Speaker 1: the call communicated and and he said, it's on the
Speaker 1: call getting in as well as the players then after
Speaker 1: the call is communicated to get out there to get
Speaker 1: to their spots. Because if they are, if they are
Speaker 1: at their spots and everybody's on their toes, then if
Speaker 1: you do have to make a last second adjustment before
Speaker 1: the snap. It becomes a lot easier, right because everybody's
Speaker 1: in tune, everybody's all set and ready to go, and
Speaker 1: then a switch like that isn't isn't quite as difficult
Speaker 1: or taxing to process. So I thought that was interesting
Speaker 1: and I'll be I'll be very interested to watch now
Speaker 1: that we will be um back up, you know, from
Speaker 1: the high perch at lambeau Field for this next game,
Speaker 1: to see what the defense looks like now that La
Speaker 1: Fleur has made this point, to see what it looks
Speaker 1: like coming out of the huddle, how do they get
Speaker 1: to their spots and what is and what is happening
Speaker 1: pre snap. I think that's definitely going to be a
Speaker 1: story with this defense, because we know the personnel is there.
Speaker 1: But by and large, it's not like you take the
Speaker 1: whole scheme and throw it out because you had one game.
Speaker 1: This is the same scheme that completely shut down the
Speaker 1: San Francisco forty niners, and you know, with the season
Speaker 1: on the line in a playoff game last January, it's
Speaker 1: not that you know, you don't take everything and throw
Speaker 1: it away, but there are things that need to there
Speaker 1: are things that need to be addressed and things that
Speaker 1: need to be fixed, and I and I'm curious to
Speaker 1: see how they how they respond after hearing what Matt
Speaker 1: la Fleur had to say about it. Yeah, and we'll
Speaker 1: talk about the Jets there this week. But I mean,
Speaker 1: the game is gonna be very similar, I think in
Speaker 1: a lot of ways with what they're going to see
Speaker 1: with the Jets. Do I mean, Zach Wilson is not
Speaker 1: throwing the ball all over the yard right now. When
Speaker 1: they've been on this two game winning streak, it's been
Speaker 1: for the most part, protecting it and being efficient and
Speaker 1: letting Bryce Hall create um some incredible opportunities. A hundred
Speaker 1: seventy nine total yards last week, seventy nine yard touchdown
Speaker 1: catch you know, catching run well and and and good
Speaker 1: luck figuring out who exactly the Jets are gonna throw
Speaker 1: the ball to. They've got six guys, six different guys
Speaker 1: with sixteen or more receptions through the first five games
Speaker 1: of the season. They spread the ball over the place.
Speaker 1: So I mean, like the challenges is still going to
Speaker 1: be the challenge here. I just feel like something's gonna turn.
Speaker 1: You needed to turn fast. But this Packers defense is
Speaker 1: better than a unit that just has one pick. They're
Speaker 1: they're they're better than the unit that showed on the
Speaker 1: field on Sunday. Um, And I feel like, whether it's
Speaker 1: Kenny Clark, whether it's Rashaun Gary, Um, you know, Jerry Alexander,
Speaker 1: the amount of Pro Bowl and all pro talent that
Speaker 1: they have littered throughout this defense that will still reveal itself.
Speaker 1: I feel like it's just the fact that the the
Speaker 1: unit that looked dominant and not just against the Packers
Speaker 1: defense or Packers offense. They did this against the Saints,
Speaker 1: they had stretches like this against Chicago Bears. The unit
Speaker 1: that looks like they can get off the field every
Speaker 1: single time they step foot on it, that unit needs
Speaker 1: to kind of think it's some of its swagger back. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I I think so too. Um. Before we go, just
Speaker 1: want to lay out the picture of where things stand
Speaker 1: in the NFC North, in particular that big game Minnesota
Speaker 1: and Chicago. The Vikings blew a big lead but then
Speaker 1: pulled it out at the end. So Minnesota is a
Speaker 1: top the NFC North at four and one, Packers right
Speaker 1: behind him at three, into Chicago now two and three,
Speaker 1: and Detroit. Heading into the week, the Lions were the
Speaker 1: number one scoring offense in the NFL, and they went
Speaker 1: to New England and got blanked twenty nine to nothing
Speaker 1: by the Patriots. So once again, I'm not just not
Speaker 1: really sure what. I'm not really sure what to think
Speaker 1: about the Lions. The Bears have to be frustrated coming
Speaker 1: back the way they did. They got the lead in Minnesota,
Speaker 1: then they let it get away, and then they had
Speaker 1: a turnover right at the end of the game when
Speaker 1: they were when they were trying to rally again to
Speaker 1: UH to tie that thing up late and UH and
Speaker 1: the turnover bid them. So UM, a long way to
Speaker 1: go here, obviously in the NFC North. But the Packers
Speaker 1: a game behind the Vikings, and and obviously the difference
Speaker 1: right now is is that Week one victory by Minnesota
Speaker 1: at US Bank, for sure, and in the other hallmark
Speaker 1: of them right now, you know, with Kevin o'cond I mean,
Speaker 1: they're winning close games. They're winning games that you know,
Speaker 1: teams they should beat now like the Bears. But even
Speaker 1: if it doesn't go according to plan, they still have
Speaker 1: showed the resolve and the ability to overcome adversity to
Speaker 1: get to They're having the they're having the same discussions
Speaker 1: that that Packers fans and and we've had with regard
Speaker 1: to the Packers over the last couple of years, when
Speaker 1: when you're winning games kind of ugly, right, I mean
Speaker 1: that that that Minnesota win they had over Detroit when
Speaker 1: they were basically losing the whole game and then they
Speaker 1: pulled it out at the end. Not a pretty victory,
Speaker 1: but guess what a victory is a victory? And uh
Speaker 1: and you can't take anything away from the Vikings being
Speaker 1: four and one right now. And I love that you
Speaker 1: said that because it leads me into my perfect transition
Speaker 1: into the Detroit Lions. Because not only are the Lions
Speaker 1: now one and four after you know, the Belichick, Tree
Speaker 1: and Matt Patricia everyone, they just put on a masterclass
Speaker 1: in coaching. They took away Amen ra st Brown. I
Speaker 1: understand am Andra was injured a little bit coming out
Speaker 1: of the last you know, missed a game, but they
Speaker 1: were physical with t J. Hockenson. They shut them. They
Speaker 1: played the way you expect them to play defensively when
Speaker 1: you have, you know, a rookie fourth round pick that's
Speaker 1: having to step up as your quarterback. But then you
Speaker 1: look at the Lions, they have to think about this
Speaker 1: now for two weeks, and yeah, they'll probably give a
Speaker 1: chance to get DeAndre Swift back and maybe get a
Speaker 1: little healthier here, but they have to kind of stew
Speaker 1: on it and they get out of the by here's
Speaker 1: what they gotta face, Mike. You get Dallas, you get Miami,
Speaker 1: you get the Green Bay Packers, you get the Bears
Speaker 1: in Chicago, and then you got to go to New
Speaker 1: York to face the Giants, who are suddenly a four
Speaker 1: win team. It's a gauntlet, man, And again it goes
Speaker 1: back to show you. And it's why I won't apologize
Speaker 1: for the Packers being three and two. No, it has
Speaker 1: been the first prettiest five games of the season for
Speaker 1: Green Bay. But it's not easy to win in this league.
Speaker 1: And there are teams every single year that play as
Speaker 1: a unit like the Giants did on Sunday, are not
Speaker 1: the most talented, but lean into their skill position players
Speaker 1: and guys play complimentary football. That's how you win. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Right now in the NFC, you've got the Philadelphia Eagles
Speaker 1: at five and oh, Dallas and the Giants both four
Speaker 1: and won the NFC. The NFC East is suddenly the um,
Speaker 1: suddenly the division to beat, with with those top three
Speaker 1: teams being a combined thirteen and two. I don't think
Speaker 1: anybody would have predicted that after the first five weeks
Speaker 1: of the season. But there's your five and oh to
Speaker 1: four in ones, Minnesota four and one, and then you
Speaker 1: have the Packers and others at at three and two. Um,
Speaker 1: it's ah, there's there's a long way to go here.
Speaker 1: And it's it's interesting because you you just rattle off
Speaker 1: some things with regard to Detrade schedule. You look at it,
Speaker 1: you look at every team schedule and and it's like where,
Speaker 1: you know where where where can you look at where
Speaker 1: can you look at things and go, oh, yeah, you
Speaker 1: ought to be able to win, you know, three or
Speaker 1: four in a row right there. Not in two thousand
Speaker 1: and twenty two in the NFL. Man, that's just that's
Speaker 1: just not how this goes. You've gotta you've gotta you've
Speaker 1: gotta strap it on, buckle up every single week, and
Speaker 1: then uh and and take your chances and and if
Speaker 1: you don't play dynam night football for four quarters, then
Speaker 1: make the plays in the fourth quarter and maybe you're
Speaker 1: gonna come out with a win. That's what this season
Speaker 1: has been so far. No doubt. And it's funny this
Speaker 1: is the year that, of course the North ends up
Speaker 1: rotating here against the NFC East. So it just shows
Speaker 1: you you're never quite sure. Everyone at the beginning of
Speaker 1: the year, those schedules come on, it's like, okay, well
Speaker 1: they get Packers get you know, four wins there, you know,
Speaker 1: five or six wins in the division? Hey there thirteen four.
Speaker 1: You just you never can be too quite sure, unless,
Speaker 1: of course, maybe you're facing Carolina. Yeah, looking for a
Speaker 1: new head coach for But with that, we'll call it
Speaker 1: a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscript, and be
Speaker 1: sure to follow all of our coverage of the team
Speaker 1: all the time. We've got it all for you on
Speaker 1: Packers dot com. For West, I'm Mike. Thank you for
Speaker 1: tuning in everybody. We'll see you next time.