Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my trusted colleague Weston had Kowitz. Were coming to
Speaker 1: you here from our studios at lambeau Field and West.
Speaker 1: The Packers lose a tough one in Minneapolis, a walk
Speaker 1: off field goal thirty to thirty one. The Vikings emerged triumphant,
Speaker 1: And this one, for me just came down to the
Speaker 1: fact that, you know, it's very difficult in this league
Speaker 1: to play defense week after week after week at the
Speaker 1: level the Packers have been playing it, You're going to
Speaker 1: run into a hot offense at some point, and that's
Speaker 1: what happened to the Packers on Sunday. But they also
Speaker 1: had their opportunities on defense to stem the tide, to
Speaker 1: create those to get those turnovers that would have potentially
Speaker 1: changed the complexion of this game. And the bottom line
Speaker 1: is the defense just didn't take advantag into those opportunities. No.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is the perfect embodiment, Mike, of what
Speaker 1: we've talked about all season. When you know certain things
Speaker 1: weren't working well for the offense, the defense really picked
Speaker 1: them up. This was a game in which you know,
Speaker 1: first and foremost, before we talk about any miscuse, any problems,
Speaker 1: any issues there, at some point you also need to
Speaker 1: tip your cap to Kirk Cousins. I thought he played
Speaker 1: one of the best games I've seen him play in
Speaker 1: a Vikings uniform against Green Bay. He was surgical. They
Speaker 1: threw everything at him. He was facing a lot of
Speaker 1: heavy pressure throughout the game, and in those instances he
Speaker 1: found his hot read, he found some you know, the
Speaker 1: ways to keep the you know, the chains moving, and
Speaker 1: then when he did have time to throw, he really
Speaker 1: made the Packers pay for it. So you got to
Speaker 1: give him credit. But defensively for Green Bay, it was
Speaker 1: one of these games, Mike, where they did stop Delvin
Speaker 1: Cook for the most part, they did really keep them
Speaker 1: in third and manageable situations. But when they needed to convert,
Speaker 1: the Vikings did it. They were twenty six I think
Speaker 1: in the league on third downs coming into this game,
Speaker 1: and then converted like seven of the eleven justin Jefferson
Speaker 1: went off. There were some issues in the defensive secondary
Speaker 1: trying to get some of those things under wraps, and
Speaker 1: ultimately in this kind of shootout that it turned into
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings one the day. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was interesting because we talked a lot last week
Speaker 1: about how about the great season Cousins was having the
Speaker 1: fact that he'd only thrown two interceptions all year, and
Speaker 1: yet he gave the Packers opportunities for three, four, maybe five,
Speaker 1: depending on how you want to look at it, how
Speaker 1: you want to grade it. He gave the Packers chances
Speaker 1: with some very risky, questionable throws and the Packers just
Speaker 1: didn't come down with the ball unfortunately. And and you
Speaker 1: know the those are those are the moments. You know
Speaker 1: these games, these games are decided by those big plays
Speaker 1: in the clutch moments, right, And we talked about how
Speaker 1: in Arizona the Packers defense was on its heels in
Speaker 1: the second half and Kyler Murray was rolling and what happened.
Speaker 1: Russell Douglas caught the ball in the end zone for
Speaker 1: the interception. Packers had a similar opportunity, multiple opportunities against
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins and uh and simply weren't able to convert.
Speaker 1: And unfortunately, that rendered a tremendous performance by Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: on a sore, painful toe um an offense missing Aaron
Speaker 1: Jones Um a tremendous performance by the Packers offense in
Speaker 1: which they put up thirty one points despite a very
Speaker 1: slow start to the game. But boy, when Green Bay's
Speaker 1: offense got rolling in this one, Minnesota could not stop
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers. No. I mean, with the exception of Jordan's
Speaker 1: Love kneeling down before halftime, that was the only time
Speaker 1: there was really a stop past that Josiah Deguara twenty
Speaker 1: five yard touchdown. I mean, Rogers just got into a zone,
Speaker 1: and I thought that was really emblematic of what happens
Speaker 1: when while Alan Lazard wasn't playing, he did have a
Speaker 1: full array of his weapons. I mean, Marcas Velde scantling
Speaker 1: with a healthy hamstring against any NF fell secondary is
Speaker 1: a really dangerous proposition in Rogers got going with him late. Obviously,
Speaker 1: the seventy five yard is the one that we're gonna
Speaker 1: talk so much about, but there were some of those
Speaker 1: passes even early on where you could see that the spark.
Speaker 1: How this offense looks different when MVS is healthy and contributing.
Speaker 1: Davante Adams, despite seeing a lot of cover two, was
Speaker 1: able to have a successful day, was back to being
Speaker 1: a serious red zone end zone type threat in this game.
Speaker 1: And realistically, Mike, the way I look at this thing
Speaker 1: is green Bay put up four hundred and sixty seven
Speaker 1: total yards of offense. Minnesota put up foreigner and eight
Speaker 1: total yards of offense. Defensively, if that's how much you
Speaker 1: know production, you're gonna give up. Either need to take
Speaker 1: the ball away or you need to play clean, completely clean,
Speaker 1: three face football, and green Bay didn't do enough of that.
Speaker 1: There was the thirty two yard miss from Mason Crosby,
Speaker 1: as you mentioned, not being able to get those turnovers
Speaker 1: when you needed them. And when you play an even
Speaker 1: game like that and both sides are producing nine times
Speaker 1: out of ten, it's gonna end up favoring whoever that
Speaker 1: home team is, and in this case, the team that
Speaker 1: held the ball last. Yeah, Aaron Rodgers ends up with
Speaker 1: three eighty five passing yards, four touchdowns, a one forty
Speaker 1: eight point four passerrating. All of those are season highs
Speaker 1: for one. And if you're looking for some reasons for
Speaker 1: optimism coming out of the loss, I mean, that's what
Speaker 1: you hang your hat on here if you're the Packers,
Speaker 1: Because you mentioned that Lazard wasn't playing Aaron Jones wasn't playing,
Speaker 1: but yet this Packers offense found itself in high gear.
Speaker 1: The contributions from MVS, from Josiah Deguire, from e q
Speaker 1: st Brown in this game, those are the types of
Speaker 1: things that could really bode well here for the Packers
Speaker 1: down the stretch. If if Aaron Rodgers is able to
Speaker 1: create big, explosive plays using so many different guys, right, agree.
Speaker 1: I think the other thing gree me as to hang
Speaker 1: its hat on his consistency. Minnesota has been a wildly
Speaker 1: inconsistent team this year. That's why they're five and five.
Speaker 1: That's just the fact exactly. You know, Yes they've led
Speaker 1: in every game, yes they've only lost by more, but
Speaker 1: you're still five and five. So for green Bay standpoint,
Speaker 1: you're eight and three, and yes, we're gonna talk about
Speaker 1: some injuries here at a minute, unfortunately, but green Bay
Speaker 1: has been able to consistently produce throughout the course of
Speaker 1: the year and it's why they have this lead that
Speaker 1: they have right now in the NFC North. The big
Speaker 1: key for them, Mike, I think is going to be
Speaker 1: where they finished this game offensively. They still want to
Speaker 1: run the ball more. I would have liked to have
Speaker 1: seen a j Dillon get a few more than eleven
Speaker 1: carries in this I thought he was an impact player
Speaker 1: when he had the ball in his hands. But they
Speaker 1: were able to get the downfield passing game going again,
Speaker 1: and and must win situations not just hey, let's just
Speaker 1: see what happens here. I mean, they needed every single
Speaker 1: one of those four touchdown drives in order to compete,
Speaker 1: in order to be in this game. And I feel
Speaker 1: like going forward now, especially if MBS gets through this game, okay,
Speaker 1: especially if you get Lazard back, you're gonna start to
Speaker 1: see those perimeter weapons emerged for Green Bay and allow
Speaker 1: them to kind of start looking more like themselves off offensively. Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: And as much as we've talked about West over the
Speaker 1: course of this season, how the Packers seem to have
Speaker 1: had some costly victories in terms of players who got
Speaker 1: hurt when the Packers emerged victorious this one. The Packers
Speaker 1: lost much much more than just one game. With Pro
Speaker 1: Bowl offensive lineman Elton Jenkins unfortunately being down for the
Speaker 1: season now due to a knee injury, and uh once
Speaker 1: again this uh you know, this Green Bay offensive line
Speaker 1: is going to have to shuffle things around. You were
Speaker 1: hoping everybody was hoping that at some point this season
Speaker 1: that left side of the offensive line was going to
Speaker 1: be David Baktieri at left tackle and Elton Jenkins at
Speaker 1: left guard, and you were going to be able to
Speaker 1: re entrench those high level, elite level players at their
Speaker 1: positions for the stretch run. And unfortunately that's not going
Speaker 1: to happen now. Um, a really really unfortunate injury with
Speaker 1: Jenkins and and things with David baktr still up in
Speaker 1: the air. The Packers still believing he's going to be
Speaker 1: able to come back at some point this season and
Speaker 1: help out, but things are still on hold there as
Speaker 1: he is not on the practice field now. It sucks.
Speaker 1: It sucks for Elton and I don't know, man, it
Speaker 1: it hurts that for everything bok Tr and Jenkins accomplished together,
Speaker 1: the fact that that December thirty first practice is the
Speaker 1: last time we're going to see them on the field
Speaker 1: together now for at least another year probably or at
Speaker 1: least in their abouts. Um, if this is the type
Speaker 1: of injury that I think everybody fears, it is for Elton,
Speaker 1: and the guy has been so selfless this year, And
Speaker 1: what stands out to me the most Mike, we don't
Speaker 1: get to be in the locker room anymore, at least
Speaker 1: at this point. But him being up at the podium,
Speaker 1: just seeing Elton Jenkins personality come out there as a
Speaker 1: guy that's a third year VET now and seeing the
Speaker 1: playfulness and you know, the photos that I know he
Speaker 1: took with the with the portraits with bok Tr before
Speaker 1: the season. The definition of growing comfortable in your own skin, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's what we've seen. He's always been
Speaker 1: such a nice dude since day one he came in.
Speaker 1: But just listen to him talk and the way he
Speaker 1: speaks about his game, and that there just was so
Speaker 1: much more. I don't want to say charisma because that's
Speaker 1: not the right word, but just confidence with how he
Speaker 1: carried himself and to see him play it the way
Speaker 1: he did, Mike, as I've said time and time again,
Speaker 1: it should not have been this easy to go eleven
Speaker 1: games without David bok Tr and for eight of those,
Speaker 1: Elton Jenkins was the big reason why. So to see
Speaker 1: him go down with this in the scenario that it did,
Speaker 1: I know, it's a poluted mindset. I know Mike McCarthy
Speaker 1: would probably say, I'm a loser, but you almost just
Speaker 1: wish you could go back just forfeit the darn game
Speaker 1: and then just go on to the Los Angeles Rams
Speaker 1: with Jenkins still intact. I mean, it was that type
Speaker 1: of loss. So Green Bay has been really resilient on
Speaker 1: their offensive line. Yash Naiman, I think the Packers coaching
Speaker 1: staff has to feel a lot more confident right now
Speaker 1: than probably they were two months ago when he had
Speaker 1: to sub in there for three games. But but still
Speaker 1: they got to get back to your are back. I mean,
Speaker 1: if they want to make a big run here, you
Speaker 1: need to get the five time All Pro back, and
Speaker 1: now without Jenkins, that is becoming more and more evident. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's really remarkable here that we're talking about the Packers
Speaker 1: heading into Thanksgiving weekend and the starting five across the
Speaker 1: front going left to right is going to be Niman, Runyon, Patrick, Newman,
Speaker 1: and Turner. And take nothing away from those guys. This
Speaker 1: this is a unit that can get the job done.
Speaker 1: There's no question about that. These guys have all proven it.
Speaker 1: But when you look at what the Packers were hoping
Speaker 1: they were going to have at this point of the season,
Speaker 1: where you're talking about, you know, obviously Jenkins, but Josh
Speaker 1: Meyer's your rookie center who was so promising and and
Speaker 1: getting box tri back at some point. Suddenly now that
Speaker 1: offensive line you envisioned three fifths of it is is
Speaker 1: not available here for what is going to be a
Speaker 1: really significant game against the Los Angeles Rams. The Packers
Speaker 1: at eight and three, the Rams at seven and three,
Speaker 1: the Rams coming off there by week and a two
Speaker 1: game losing streak, and they're looking to reassert themselves as
Speaker 1: a top NFC contender. Yeah, And and the point I
Speaker 1: think that you're kind of alluding to too, is the
Speaker 1: fact that when the Packers were turned back for the
Speaker 1: off season program at the end of April. There I
Speaker 1: think basically we can all agree one of those guys
Speaker 1: that you just mentioned, Billy Turner, was considered a starter. Runyan,
Speaker 1: Patrick and Newman we're going to get an opportunity to
Speaker 1: compete for a starting spot, but Turner was the only
Speaker 1: one that you kind of had written and Sharpie, So
Speaker 1: to be in a position now where they've been very
Speaker 1: blessed with depth, I mean, how many times have we
Speaker 1: talked about depth and versatility with this group and it's
Speaker 1: still a really good offensive line but now it's like,
Speaker 1: this is where you start to remember why they signed
Speaker 1: Dennis Kelly, this is where you start to remember about
Speaker 1: how they've developed Jake Hanson over the last year. Because
Speaker 1: now the next men up behind the next men, it's
Speaker 1: starting to become more of a real probability possibility of
Speaker 1: them potentially having to step in at some point. You
Speaker 1: just hope that at some juncture of this season the
Speaker 1: injury thing is just going to calm down and hopefully
Speaker 1: maybe week thirteen and that buy is going to be
Speaker 1: the beginning of that. Yeah, that would sure be nice.
Speaker 1: This this Packers team has been waiting for that bye
Speaker 1: week to get here, to to have to play, To
Speaker 1: have to play twelve games in this league without a
Speaker 1: bye week is a really tough task. And I know
Speaker 1: the Packers in a sense did it. I forget if
Speaker 1: it was last year the year before where they had
Speaker 1: the early buy and then you know, you go all
Speaker 1: the way through that and into the postseason. Um, although
Speaker 1: the Packers then would you know, had to buy in
Speaker 1: the playoffs, so it was like they got to buy
Speaker 1: there in um in early January. But it's a but
Speaker 1: it's tough, it's a brutal game and uh um, you know, unfortunately,
Speaker 1: the this uh, this injury epidemic so to speak of
Speaker 1: the season for the Packers just doesn't seem to uh
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Speaker 1: in better all right. Taking a look at the big
Speaker 1: picture here, the Minnesota Vikings have climbed within two and
Speaker 1: a half games of the Packers in the NFC North
Speaker 1: Green Bay at eight and three, Minnesota at five and five.
Speaker 1: In the NFC as a whole, Arizona has jumped back
Speaker 1: on top into that number one spot at nine and two.
Speaker 1: Hats off to the Cardinals. They've lost their quarterback for
Speaker 1: three games and Colt McCoy has won two of those
Speaker 1: as Kyler Murray's backup. So that is why Arizona is
Speaker 1: nine and two. Despite plenty of injuries of their own
Speaker 1: significant ones, and then right behind the Packers at eight
Speaker 1: and three, you have three teams that are seven and three.
Speaker 1: And I'm talking about, of course the Rams who are
Speaker 1: coming into Lambeau on Sunday, as well as the Dallas
Speaker 1: Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This is five teams west, Uh,
Speaker 1: any one of whom quite frankly could end up with
Speaker 1: that coveted number one seed in first round by in
Speaker 1: the NFC. This is six or seven games to go,
Speaker 1: depending on, um, you know, the bye week situation, but
Speaker 1: six or seven games left and this is wide open
Speaker 1: for that top spot in the conference. Yeah, because I
Speaker 1: think all those teams you mentioned have been fallible, they've
Speaker 1: been human. Uh. Dallas, the fervor out of Dallas right
Speaker 1: now isn't great. After Kansas City, who is much maligned
Speaker 1: for some time, is sort of reignited. You look at
Speaker 1: suddenly Kansas City is winning with defense, by the way.
Speaker 1: I mean, yes, they had one big game from Patrick
Speaker 1: Mahomes out of these last three or four, but Kansas
Speaker 1: City Chiefs are playing some really, really good defensive football.
Speaker 1: And that's what looks like is going to catapult the
Speaker 1: Chiefs into the a F C playoffs could have played
Speaker 1: eight quarters. You don't know if Dallas is going to
Speaker 1: be able to find the end zone that I mean,
Speaker 1: that's the way that that's how dominant they were. It
Speaker 1: felt a lot like that Seattle game for Bay. But
Speaker 1: you know, you look at the Los Angeles Rams. They
Speaker 1: got Odell Beckham and they're feeling really good about themselves,
Speaker 1: and then they had some lightdowns. The real, big interesting
Speaker 1: thing about the way that's lined up though for Green
Speaker 1: Bay this week is they're going to be facing arrested
Speaker 1: Rams team and they're really hurting. So you know, I
Speaker 1: think this is really going to be incumbent on Matt
Speaker 1: la Fleur keeping these guys up for one more week
Speaker 1: and saying we have one more focus here to try
Speaker 1: to get that ninth win here before the bye week
Speaker 1: and be able to give ourselves a little bit of
Speaker 1: a break, because you have to imagine Sean McVeigh is
Speaker 1: going to be sending the same the opposite message to
Speaker 1: his guys out in Los Angeles. If you guys are arrested,
Speaker 1: you're going up against a beaten and battered kind of
Speaker 1: Green Bay crew here and seeing those two things to
Speaker 1: come together is gonna be really interesting to watch. But
Speaker 1: it is both conferences right now, Mike, it is going
Speaker 1: to be a sprint to the finish with the way
Speaker 1: that this thing is lined up. Yeah, you look at
Speaker 1: the Rams season. I know we'll talk more about them
Speaker 1: on our next show later this week, but you look
Speaker 1: at their season and the way they just seemed to
Speaker 1: be absolute we rolling offensively, and then suddenly against the
Speaker 1: Titans and against the forty Niners, they score sixteen and
Speaker 1: ten points respectively in those two games heading into their
Speaker 1: bye week, and you wonder was that was was this
Speaker 1: a team that was also sort of dying to get
Speaker 1: to their by to get to they lost Robert you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: they lost Robert Woods and Beckham came in but hadn't
Speaker 1: practiced much obviously, so you know, the it's just it's
Speaker 1: just the way this league works sometimes, right, And I
Speaker 1: don't want to over dramatize it, but when you look
Speaker 1: at the fact that you have this big game against
Speaker 1: the Rams on Sunday at lambeau Field, and then the
Speaker 1: Packers are finally going to get to their bye week,
Speaker 1: and the Packers will either be nine and three or
Speaker 1: eight and four, those two records just look will look
Speaker 1: and feel so different, right, depending on depending on which
Speaker 1: one the Packers fall into well, and the fact you
Speaker 1: have to think about it, you know, for that extra
Speaker 1: seven days, you don't get a chance to turn the
Speaker 1: page like you usually do. Um. And that's the interesting
Speaker 1: part with the Rams though, to the fact that they
Speaker 1: were seven and one and then suddenly lost too straight
Speaker 1: and then had this whole extra week to stew over,
Speaker 1: you know, losses that really really frustrated. And the landscapes
Speaker 1: a lot different in that conference and that division where
Speaker 1: you got the Arizona Cardinals kind of just keeping their
Speaker 1: heads above water here hoping they can get Kyler Murray back.
Speaker 1: Will still being at the top of the conference. So again,
Speaker 1: every season has it's built in challenges. I'm really eager
Speaker 1: to watch how this team adapts to it. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: you would hope if it's not this week, it'll be
Speaker 1: after the boy you get Aaron Jones back, you know,
Speaker 1: same situation with Alan Lazard. If you get box tr
Speaker 1: back in the fold and then obviously the two biggest
Speaker 1: carrots the gold at the end of the rainbow here,
Speaker 1: if they can get them back as Gire Alexander and
Speaker 1: Zadarius Smith, that I think can be uplifting for them
Speaker 1: if they can find a way to get healthy, if
Speaker 1: they can turn off the faucet with these injuries. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you talk about a potential infusion of energy, you know,
Speaker 1: for a stretch run when you're in this highly highly
Speaker 1: competitive and contested no matter what happens in the NFC North,
Speaker 1: but looking at the conference as a whole, how highly contested.
Speaker 1: This is that type of infusion of energy from big
Speaker 1: time players potentially coming back and rejoining your lineup, that
Speaker 1: that's promised. I think back to thirteen with Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: and Randall Cobb coming back. I mean you get you
Speaker 1: start to get that type of ability back in your
Speaker 1: locker room, back on the field. Uh. It can't help
Speaker 1: but be a galvanizing moment. But again, you have to
Speaker 1: earn it. You have to earn it with a gut
Speaker 1: bunch of guys here this upcoming week that probably weren't
Speaker 1: viewed as main contributors at the beginning of the season.
Speaker 1: So it's gonna be a challenge. It's gonna be one
Speaker 1: of the biggest they faced all season. Yeah. Absolutely, Well,
Speaker 1: we will talk more about the rams. As I said
Speaker 1: on our next show. For now, we'll call it a
Speaker 1: wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to
Speaker 1: follow all of our coverage of the team all week long.
Speaker 1: We'll have it for you on packers dot com for West,
Speaker 1: I'm Mike. Thanks for tuning in, everybody. We'll see you
Speaker 1: next time.