WEBVTT - #552 Packers Unscripted: Unsung heroes 0:00:00.800 --> 0:00:14.600 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted social 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:18.080 distancing style for Packers dot Com. I and Mike Spofford, 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:22.880 joined as always by my trusted colleague Wes Hankou. It's 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:25.639 who has now removed his mask and is ready to 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:29.720 chat with us today Western it is the bye week 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:33.239 for the Green Bay Packers. They enter this by at 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:36.240 four and oh sitting on top of the NFC North. 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:38.760 I know we talked a lot in our last episode 0:00:38.800 --> 0:00:42.000 about how the offense has been rolling the defense seems 0:00:42.040 --> 0:00:46.080 to be showing some signs of progress. So here at 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:50.360 the break, I want to get your thoughts on what 0:00:50.440 --> 0:00:54.000 we might refer to as the unsung heroes on this team. 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:56.640 Let's start on the offensive side. Is there somebody that 0:00:57.000 --> 0:00:59.080 maybe we haven't talked about a whole heck of a 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:01.480 lot on this show, on the offensive side of the ball, 0:01:01.800 --> 0:01:04.760 that you would consider an unsung hero in this four 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:07.720 no start, Yeah, Mike, I'm gonna go with Lucas Patrick 0:01:08.120 --> 0:01:10.240 as the answer to that question. Now. For for a 0:01:10.319 --> 0:01:13.520 number of reasons. One, Lucas started this season. I remember, 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:15.200 if you go back to August, we were having a 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:18.000 conversation with him about how he was making sure that 0:01:18.040 --> 0:01:21.560 he was staying ready. He was wearing a COVID type 0:01:21.680 --> 0:01:24.720 I think oakally face mask to make sure that you know, 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:27.520 he stayed healthy and was accountable in case they ended 0:01:27.560 --> 0:01:30.280 up needing him as a sort of that inside backup 0:01:30.319 --> 0:01:33.600 at the top three interior positions. Well, then, as it 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:36.120 turns out, because of the injuries at right tackle, he 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:39.880 starts the opener against Minnesota and then unfortunately the injury 0:01:39.959 --> 0:01:42.959 to Lane Taylor and Lucas Patrick has become a starting 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:45.520 offensive lineman for the Green Bay Packers. And what I 0:01:45.560 --> 0:01:47.600 really like about him is is he has a lot 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:49.760 of the same intangibles I think as t J. Lang 0:01:49.840 --> 0:01:53.720 had during his running Green Bay. He's a very nice guy. 0:01:53.840 --> 0:01:56.000 I mean, you can sit down and have a really intelligent, 0:01:56.080 --> 0:01:59.280 thoughtful conversation with Lucas Patrick. Obviously not right now, but 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:02.920 in general you can do that. And but once he's 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:05.040 on the field, man, there is just a mean streak 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:07.360 in him. And there's a couple of offensive line I 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:09.480 think Corey Lindsley was the one who mentioned it last week, 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:14.200 the way that he finishes plays. Uh, some defensive lineman 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:16.840 don't necessarily like it. It's caused him pushing and shoving 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:19.040 and practices the past few years of training camp, even 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:21.799 in Green Bay. But I think it just shows you 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:24.880 the type of approach that Lucas has and where he's 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:27.320 come from. He's a very humbled beginnings kind of kid. 0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:29.240 He's self made through and through, whether it was his 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:31.840 education or now being in the National Football League, and 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:34.920 he plays with that edge to him. Uh, nobody is 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:37.040 his friend on the opposite side of the field. He 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:39.800 needs to, you know, continue to show that he deserves 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:43.120 this opportunity, and very quietly, Mike, in the first month, 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:45.480 this first month of the season, Lucas has become a 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:48.200 starting offensive lineman and that isn't gonna be changing anytime soon. 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:50.840 He looks like he's the starting right guard. Yeah, and 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:52.840 I am totally with you here. In terms of the 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:55.400 unsung heroes, I guess it's natural to look at the 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:57.919 offensive line, and I'm gonna go there as well. First, 0:02:57.960 --> 0:03:00.600 I want to say, definitely a shout out to Addam Stenovich, 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:04.360 the offensive line coach, for all of the injuries that 0:03:04.440 --> 0:03:06.519 the Packers have dealt with on the offensive line, the 0:03:06.560 --> 0:03:09.560 shuffling around and everything that you mentioned, this unit has 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:13.160 held together. It is it has executed, it hasn't been 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:15.680 noticed who's playing in what spot, and that's a credit 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:18.720 to Stenovich and to assistant offensive line coach Luke Butkus. 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:21.320 So I definitely want to get that out there. But 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:23.360 I am with you as far as the offensive line. 0:03:23.440 --> 0:03:26.400 And I'm going to mention the name of Corey Linsley, 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:28.120 and I know we have talked about him a little 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:29.959 bit on the show, so I'm probably breaking my own 0:03:30.040 --> 0:03:32.919 rule a little bit in that respect, but I'll say this, 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:36.000 If Corey Lindsley is going to get to a Pro 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:39.200 Bowl at some point here in his career, man, you 0:03:39.240 --> 0:03:40.920 would think it would be this year. The way this 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:43.880 has started, the way the Packers, the way the Packers 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:46.040 offense has gotten off to this start. It's ranked at 0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:48.960 the top of the league, and so many categories. Corey 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:52.120 Linsley and Aaron Rodgers have been completely on the same page, 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:54.320 and Rogers has talked about it. With regards to the 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:58.440 protection calls, the adjustments that are made up front, all 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:02.080 of that communication falls on Corey Lindsley, and you know, 0:04:02.200 --> 0:04:04.280 Rogers has talked about it. He's only been sacked three 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:06.920 times in four games, and he blames himself for for 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:09.960 two of those. So um, I think you know number 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:11.880 sixty three in the middle of it all here for 0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:14.360 the Packers on the offensive line, and I totally agree 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:17.120 with you going with number sixty two. Lucas Patrick is 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:20.200 another guy in this discussion. What the Packers have done 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:24.080 up front, especially on the the interior, that offensive line 0:04:24.320 --> 0:04:26.800 has been pretty impressive. Yeah, and and just a touch 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:28.920 on your your pick of Lindsley as well. Yeah, he's 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:31.200 a starter. Yeah, he's been entrenched, and certainly we have 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:32.719 talked about him. But I think this is a guy 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:34.880 that over the course of his six seven years has 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:38.360 really gone unappreciated, underappreciate, I should say in Green Bay. 0:04:38.480 --> 0:04:40.480 You know, I go back to two thousand and fourteen, Mike, 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:42.839 and I kind of wrote about this last week in 0:04:42.839 --> 0:04:45.200 the feature I did on him. You know, I remember 0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:47.080 being at the Prescazette and this was the guy the 0:04:47.200 --> 0:04:50.400 very modest expectations as a fifth round pick. JC Treder suffered. 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:52.159 I believe it was that knee injury right before the 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:54.919 start of the season, and and Corey had to start 0:04:55.120 --> 0:04:58.279 that first game against Seattle without having taken any preseason 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:01.320 snaps with Aaron Rodgers very minimal, uh snaps with him 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:03.839 in practice during training camp, and here he is low 0:05:03.920 --> 0:05:07.120 and behold as the starting week one center for Green Bay. 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:09.600 And he got a lot of praise those first two years, 0:05:09.600 --> 0:05:11.159 and there was a lot of you know, pushing for 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:12.920 him to be and make a Pro Bowl and then 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:15.920 for whatever reason in sixteen seventeen eighteen, it got quiet again. 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:17.720 Now he has been a Pro Bowl alternate the past 0:05:17.720 --> 0:05:20.080 two years. But I do think when you talk about 0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:22.919 a guy that has really shown his stripes as a 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:26.760 leader and also just a really darn good offensive lineman, 0:05:27.320 --> 0:05:28.840 a guy like Corey Lindsley, I don't think you can 0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:32.039 really say enough about him. Yeah, I totally agree. Alright, 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:35.000 defensive side of the ball, who's your unsung hero through 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:37.760 this four game winning streak? West, Yeah, there's a lot 0:05:37.760 --> 0:05:40.760 of guys you could say here. Um, I'm gonna actually 0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:42.800 kind of split this award a little bit. I'm gonna 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:46.440 give it to Tyler Lancaster and Kingsley Kikey and and 0:05:46.480 --> 0:05:48.159 the reason I want to do that is because on 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:49.840 the other side of this, and obviously you were a 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:53.039 part of Kenny Clark's conference call on Saturday, and I 0:05:53.080 --> 0:05:56.119 had asked Kenny about this. One thing the Packers needed 0:05:56.120 --> 0:05:58.800 to learn here earlier in the year is who are 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:00.680 they going to be able to count to make sure 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:03.440 that Kenny doesn't have to play of the snaps this year, 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:06.000 in this last three weeks. It is not the way 0:06:06.000 --> 0:06:07.320 you want to do it. You do want to not 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:09.920 have you know, Kenny Clark available for you know, it 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:12.880 would be the last what fourteen quarters now he needs 0:06:12.880 --> 0:06:14.760 to be on the field. He's a pro bowler and 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:16.440 he's a He's a guy that really does make that 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:19.719 defensive front work. He makes everybody's life easier. But the 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:22.160 one thing that this challenge the Green Bay Packers to 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:24.599 do was to find other guys on the defensive line 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:25.800 that are gonna be able to take some of the 0:06:25.839 --> 0:06:28.720 pressure off Kenny when he does return. I think Lancaster 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:32.160 and Kiki have done that in entirely different ways. Lancaster 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:35.280 has basically been the nose tackle that one technique right 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:37.520 over the center here in the base packages, and he's 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:40.440 gotten better every single week. It hasn't always been perfect, 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:42.440 but I thought he's really put together two of his 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:46.039 better performances, maybe the best performances he's had in two 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:48.760 plus seasons with Green Bay. In back to back weeks here, 0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:52.080 certainly the way he stood, he showed out and really 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:54.359 clogged up the middle of the field there for Todd 0:06:54.400 --> 0:06:57.000 Gurley in that game against Atlanta. But then you look 0:06:57.000 --> 0:06:59.880 at Kiki too. You know, there are a lot of 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:02.360 years here the last few seasons since Mike Daniels has 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:04.520 been gone, where it has to be Kenny Clark is 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:08.039 that one defensive lineman in the dime package. I think 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:10.480 Key has shown that he's up for that duty as well. 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:13.240 He obviously had a sack there two weeks ago and 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:16.320 then also contributed another out of the base package. He's 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:18.320 made a big jump this year in year two, and 0:07:18.640 --> 0:07:21.120 he has sort of some of those Mike Daniels type qualities. 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:23.720 He's not the biggest defensive lineman in the world, but 0:07:23.840 --> 0:07:26.560 he's powerful and he's playing with more power this year. 0:07:26.800 --> 0:07:29.200 I think Kiki and Lancaster two unsung guys that are 0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:31.360 gonna make the packer's job a lot easier here as 0:07:31.360 --> 0:07:33.560 a season wears on on the d line. Yeah, I 0:07:33.600 --> 0:07:36.000 couldn't agree more. And in fact, you stole my thunder 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:38.160 a little bit with regards to Tyler Lancaster. But you 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:40.960 knew your western I should have anticipated that you knew 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:43.240 you were doing that. Anyway, I'll say this though, too, 0:07:43.280 --> 0:07:46.840 just to follow up on that, Mike Petton. It wasn't. 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:49.560 It wasn't a big blown up comment by any means. 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:52.920 But last week after the New Orleans game, when Mike 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:55.560 Petton met with the media, he slipped a line into 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:58.520 one of his answers about the defensive line and he said, 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:02.000 Tyler Lancaster did like right around a hundred percent when 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:04.840 they when they graded the snaps from the Saints game. 0:08:05.120 --> 0:08:07.360 So that prompted me like, huh, I wonder what that's 0:08:07.360 --> 0:08:10.800 all about. So now after the Falcons game, I've taken 0:08:10.800 --> 0:08:14.200 a look at the the defensive film. After I did 0:08:14.280 --> 0:08:16.520 my what you might have Missed on za Darius Smith, 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:19.320 which is posted on Packers dot Com, I went back 0:08:19.360 --> 0:08:22.920 and looked at everything from Tyler Lancaster in the Falcons game. 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:25.760 So I'm actually gonna put together another What you Might 0:08:25.760 --> 0:08:27.560 Have Missed next week since we don't have a new 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:31.120 game to look at. But I'm telling you, Tyler Lancaster's 0:08:31.160 --> 0:08:34.960 film from the Atlanta game really really is impressive and 0:08:35.120 --> 0:08:37.040 uh and I'm excited to put that together, So keep 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:39.839 an eye out for that early next week to throw 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:42.760 another name out there West in this unsung hero category. 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:46.480 On the defensive side, I'm going to say Adrian Amos 0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:48.800 and I know on our last show I talked about 0:08:48.960 --> 0:08:51.800 that great play he made coming over knocking the ball 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:54.160 out of Calvin Ridley's hands, you know, at the goal 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:56.560 line when the Falcons are trying to score on that 0:08:56.640 --> 0:08:59.600 fourth and tent play. But here's the here's the thing 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:02.400 with with Amos, It's it's not so much the splash 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:06.120 plays like that that that really get noticed. How often 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:08.640 have you seen in these four games, even with the 0:09:08.679 --> 0:09:11.480 times the defense has had its struggles, how often have 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:15.280 you seen a miscommunication on an assignment on who's covering 0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:19.160 who and who's supposed to be where. That hasn't really 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:22.880 happened on defense thus far. And I credit Adrian Amos 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:25.960 a lot for that. He's the communicator in the back end. 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:29.040 He's the one who's you know, relaying the checks and 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:31.840 calls to the corners and and the other defensive backs 0:09:31.840 --> 0:09:34.840 who are out there. I think Amos has done a 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:37.960 really really solid job now that he's in his second 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:40.880 year of of Mike Patton's defense, and I know, hey, 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:43.439 everybody on this defense has missed a tackle here and there. 0:09:43.440 --> 0:09:45.640 I know we saw Amos took a bad angle on 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:48.520 the one run by Kamara in New Orleans that got 0:09:48.520 --> 0:09:51.280 out of the gate, you know, Okay, so that happens. 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:54.360 From a communication standpoint, I really think Adrian Amos has 0:09:54.400 --> 0:09:57.640 been a very, very valuable player in Patton's defense. Yeah, 0:09:57.720 --> 0:09:59.560 to throw one more out there too, Mike, almost as 0:09:59.559 --> 0:10:01.960 an honorable mentioned And I probably should have done this, 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:07.640 gentleman instead, So you could have still had Tyler Lancaster upted. 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:10.920 It's unscripted. There's no preproduction meeting anymore, especially during the 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:13.520 COVID era, So right, we don't we can't get together 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:17.400 and do that kind of You can always text, I guess, 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:20.600 but I mean you know that that is no. Hey, 0:10:20.679 --> 0:10:22.959 let's throw this one out there to Chris Barnes. Now, Now, 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:25.200 Barnes did suffer a shoulder injury. You hope for his 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:27.199 sake he's gonna be okay coming out of this. But 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:29.440 you know, Barnes is a guy, Mike. You know, for 0:10:29.480 --> 0:10:31.960 a number of years here, the Packers have really struggled 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:34.440 to fill that rung linebacker spot. It was a spot 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:36.959 that you know, really Jake Ryan held down pretty well 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:39.240 for the better part of four seasons, and Ryan was 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:42.160 kind of an underrated player in that regard. People's you know, 0:10:42.320 --> 0:10:44.719 sometimes there isn't that appreciation if you're not a three 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:47.400 down linebacker. There's not that appreciation for what those guys 0:10:47.440 --> 0:10:49.920 do on the early downs. I think Chris Barnes is 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:52.320 reminding everyone so far with what he's done through the 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:55.920 first month of the season exactly how effective that position 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:59.320 can be when played properly. And he came relatively out 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:01.640 of nowhere. This is a guy that I wrote a 0:11:01.679 --> 0:11:04.720 story on him during the offseason program, and and certainly 0:11:04.960 --> 0:11:07.080 he had his credentials he played at u c l A. 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:09.040 But I'd be lying if I told you that one 0:11:09.080 --> 0:11:11.320 of the main reasons I pursued it was because he 0:11:11.440 --> 0:11:14.760 was Jordan's Love's teammate in high school. And here he comes. 0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:17.560 He was a credential four star athlete when he went 0:11:17.840 --> 0:11:20.440 to U c l A. For whatever reason, kind of 0:11:20.440 --> 0:11:22.720 flew under the radar in the draft process, hurt by 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:24.720 the fact he didn't have a pro day. The Green 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:27.000 Bay Packers snatch him up, and here he is Week 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:29.760 one ends up playing with the defense this past week 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:33.400 ends up sharing the communication helmet duties with Ty Summers 0:11:33.400 --> 0:11:36.160 when Christian Kirksey now is on injured reserve. This is 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:38.240 a guy, Mike, that he isn't just a thumper. He's 0:11:38.240 --> 0:11:39.960 not just a guy that's gonna get down the ball here. 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:42.559 He can make open field tackles. He's showing some stuff 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:45.640 in coverage Green Bay Packers, Mike. Over the years, obviously 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:48.280 you and I have talked at nauseum about the undrafted 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:50.400 free agent process and the college free agency and how 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:52.720 important that is to building a fifty three man roster. 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:55.640 Chris Barnes, very quietly, for a guy that did start 0:11:55.679 --> 0:11:58.160 the season on the practice squad, has been a really 0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:01.560 sharp addition for this defense here in the early going. Yeah, 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:04.079 and we've actually heard from a few of our insider 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:07.080 inbox readers out on the West Coast to have mentioned 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:11.720 that Barnes wasn't necessarily a totally healthy linebacker as he 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:13.880 finished up his career at U c l A. And 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:15.640 that may have been part of the reason he did 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:18.640 fly under the radar and go undrafted, not just because 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:20.600 you know, he didn't have a Pro day and whatnot. 0:12:20.679 --> 0:12:23.280 He might not have had, you know, all that the 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:26.160 best of his film might not have been what um, 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:28.679 you know, scouts and and and other folks were looking at. 0:12:28.800 --> 0:12:31.520 So the Packers look like they um, you know, they 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:35.199 scored another undrafted gem there with regard to Barnes um quickly, 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:38.320 a little bit of sponsored business here. West Serious x 0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:42.920 M NFL radio channel is the only radio outlet dedicated 0:12:42.960 --> 0:12:46.160 to the National Football League seventies a week, three hundred 0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:50.000 and sixty five days a year. And everyone also needs 0:12:50.040 --> 0:12:52.679 to gear up for game day. Open a Packers checking 0:12:52.720 --> 0:12:56.600 account from Associated Bank and score a fifty dollar Packers 0:12:56.600 --> 0:13:00.280 Pro Shop gift card. Learn more at Associated bank dot com. 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:04.040 Backslash Packers. All right, we was before we take a 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:07.600 break here for the bye weekend. The Packers will not 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:10.280 be playing in Week five obviously in the NFL, but 0:13:10.880 --> 0:13:13.280 there are some other interesting games to keep an eye on. 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:18.760 First and foremost Thursday Night Football, the Chicago Bears against 0:13:18.800 --> 0:13:22.440 the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So here you're talking about the team. 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:25.400 The Packers are going to play Tampa Bay coming right 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:27.800 out of the by and the team that as of 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:30.960 now looks like the Packers biggest challenger for the NFC 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:34.400 North title in the three and one Chicago Bears. How 0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:37.560 do you see this one shaping up on Thursday Night football? Yeah, 0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:39.320 if the Packers had their druthers here, I think they'd 0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:43.600 be hoping for a tie, really demoralizing, depressing, uh tie 0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:46.760 in which neither team plays particularly well. Uh No, I 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:48.640 mean this is gonna be a good little battle, and 0:13:48.760 --> 0:13:51.199 really seeing how the Bears bounce back is going to 0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:54.199 be the biggest really indicator I think of where their 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:57.120 season is heading Tampa Bay. It's really funny, Mike, for 0:13:57.160 --> 0:13:59.000 as many issues as they had a year ago, and 0:13:59.040 --> 0:14:01.760 certainly Jay Ms Winston's interception streak at the end of 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:04.079 the year got a lot of attention, kind of overshadowed 0:14:04.120 --> 0:14:06.400 the fact they had a pretty darn good defense and 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:08.280 a lot of playmakers on that side of the ball. 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:11.160 How exactly does Nick Foles bounce back from kind of 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:14.760 a downtrodden performance. That's gonna be huge. And then also, Mike, 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:19.840 father time still cannot locate Tom Brady, and there were 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:23.000 some you know, ups and downs early on and people 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:25.960 are wondering what he's gonna look like at age forty three. Well, 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:28.280 last week he looked like Tom Brady and he looked 0:14:28.280 --> 0:14:30.000 like he's having a lot of fun doing it. So 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:32.840 I'm I've said it from the beginning, Mike. If you 0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:34.920 go back and play back, the unscripted is that you 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:37.640 and I did. I think in early August the Packers 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:39.760 Buccaneers game, that's the one I had circled on my 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:42.680 schedule all along, just because you don't get these type 0:14:42.680 --> 0:14:45.200 of matchups very often. And and it added a new 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:48.840 layer with seeing Tom Brady once again for Green Bay. 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:52.360 But Bears started off, they won the games they're supposed 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:55.960 to win. Now they're seeing some real tough competition. Are 0:14:56.000 --> 0:15:00.120 they the team that they felt they were? Well, what 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:03.480 you said about Brady is really interesting because after Week one, 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:06.640 the Buccaneers have a big NFC South matchup against the 0:15:06.640 --> 0:15:08.880 New Orleans Saints. That's how they start their season. The 0:15:08.920 --> 0:15:11.920 Saints get to win. Not that anybody was super surprised 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:15.479 by that, but in this age of the instant analysis 0:15:15.520 --> 0:15:18.920 and the snap judgment, everybody wants to write off Tom Brady. Oh, 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:21.760 it's not gonna work in Tampa Bay. You know Brady 0:15:21.840 --> 0:15:24.240 is on the decline. Well, then what's he doing Less 0:15:24.240 --> 0:15:27.200 than a month later, Yes, he throws a pick six 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:29.280 against the Chargers. That helps put his team in a 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:32.880 to seven hole. But he brings his team back from 0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:36.840 that to seven hole with a vengeance against a pretty 0:15:36.920 --> 0:15:40.080 darn good Chargers team that looks like they've got a 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:42.680 rookie quarterback who's gonna be their guy of the future. 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:45.800 And uh and the Buccaneers end up winning that winning 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:47.760 that game against the Chargers, coming back from a seven 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:50.320 team point deficit. They're sitting at three and one, and 0:15:50.400 --> 0:15:52.720 guess what, They're in first place in the NFC South 0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:56.160 despite losing Week one to their division rival, the New 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:59.160 Orleans Saints. So and you said it with regard to 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:01.400 the Bears, this is all about Nick Foles and how 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:04.680 does he bounce back. He comes off the bench, leads 0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:08.040 the big comeback against the Atlanta Falcons. Everybody in Chicago 0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:10.520 is all fired up, all right, now they've got their quarterback. 0:16:11.120 --> 0:16:14.120 And then the Indianapolis Colts completely shut down that Chicago 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:17.560 Bears offense and they lose at home. They're sitting at 0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:19.560 three and one, and now they've they've got a big 0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:22.920 game here with with Tampa Bay on a national stage 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:26.680 heading into Sunday. We talked on our last show about 0:16:26.960 --> 0:16:29.400 Sunday Night football will be the Vikings and the Seahawks, 0:16:29.400 --> 0:16:31.600 and that's obviously going to be a big game that 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:33.320 a lot of Packers fans will have their eye on. 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:36.280 So with the Bears playing on Thursday night, with the 0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:39.040 Vikings playing on Sunday night, and with the Lions being 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:41.520 on the bye week along with the Packers, what do 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:44.280 you watch on Sunday afternoon? West Let's see something. Well, 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:46.960 depending on where exactly you are right now in our country, 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:50.000 the two big matchups. I have my eye on one 0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:54.240 just because of following what has been going on in Atlanta. 0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:58.120 How do they do against Carolina? Uh, you know these 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:00.800 things doesn't really have huge playoff implication Asians right now, 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:04.000 but this is probably the game where they have to 0:17:04.000 --> 0:17:05.800 be able to find a way to win it, and 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:08.080 or there could be you know, maybe you're looking at 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:10.960 the type of changes that that Houston went through, but 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:15.000 also the Oakland Oh man, I caught myself there the 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:20.800 veas Mike my goodness against Kansas City, and obviously there's 0:17:20.800 --> 0:17:22.240 been a lot of stuff in the media here about 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:24.959 Kansas City. We'll see how the week plays out, but 0:17:25.240 --> 0:17:27.120 you know, the Raiders are a team that they've done 0:17:27.160 --> 0:17:30.240 good things, and they've had moments. Are they able to 0:17:30.280 --> 0:17:33.199 sustain them? Because this is the biggest test for a 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:35.120 lot of time, a lot of years. They talked about 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:36.960 the rebuild, they talked about all these things. The moves 0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:39.480 that they made this offseason weren't the type of moves 0:17:39.480 --> 0:17:42.080 of rebuilding team makes. They were making a push here 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:45.359 two and two. They've had some eyes, they've had some lows, 0:17:45.800 --> 0:17:48.320 and then Kansas City's Kansas City. This is a measuring 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:50.440 stick game, and especially in that division, these are the 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:51.919 type of matchups that you have to win if you're 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:54.240 really gonna compete for a playoff spot. Yeah, that will 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:56.040 be a big game out there in the f C West. 0:17:56.080 --> 0:17:58.239 I will throw another one at you, and it is 0:17:58.280 --> 0:18:00.919 the Giants against the Cowboy Ways. And I bring that 0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:03.160 one up for a couple of reasons, not only because 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:05.560 it's just interesting to follow what's going to be happening 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:08.320 here in Dallas with Mike McCarthy taking over there being 0:18:08.359 --> 0:18:10.960 in his first season as head coach of the Cowboys. 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:14.800 But here's the thing, West, if the Giants beat the Cowboys, 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:18.280 and if the Steelers beat the Eagles, which they would 0:18:18.280 --> 0:18:20.920 be favored to do. And if the Rams beat Washington, 0:18:21.040 --> 0:18:24.880 which they should be favored to do, through five weeks, 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:29.080 there will be every team in the NFC East will 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:33.320 only have one victory apiece. Like it's actually it's it's 0:18:33.320 --> 0:18:36.520 not just possible, it's it's you know, there's there's a 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:40.680 legitimate chance of this happening here that after five weeks 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:43.720 every team, no, no, team in the NFC East will 0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:46.720 have two victories. Now the Cowboys are the Cowboys have 0:18:46.760 --> 0:18:49.439 the best chance to uh to change that narrative, get 0:18:49.480 --> 0:18:52.520 their second victory against the Giants team that is struggling, 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:56.439 dealing with injuries and all that. But this, this story 0:18:56.560 --> 0:19:00.320 with regard to the NFC East is not going away. Well. 0:19:00.320 --> 0:19:02.879 And let's be honest about something here. I mean, for 0:19:02.920 --> 0:19:05.480 whatever reason, I don't watch the Eagles enough week to 0:19:05.520 --> 0:19:07.520