Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spafford, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my partner in crime, Weston Hodkowitz. We're coming to
Speaker 1: you here from our studios at lambeau Field to review
Speaker 1: wes a twenty four to nineteen victory over the Los
Speaker 1: Angeles Rams at Sofi Stadium on Sunday. It was not
Speaker 1: pretty by any means, but there are no style points
Speaker 1: in the NFL. Nope, you get the victory, you move on,
Speaker 1: and the Packers are three and two, bottom line plenty
Speaker 1: to work on. Lots of good things to take out
Speaker 1: of this game, certainly when you post a victory on
Speaker 1: the road. I think this one starts quite frankly though,
Speaker 1: with the defense coming up up with the stop against
Speaker 1: a future Hall of Fame quarterback yep, the game on
Speaker 1: the line. The Packers defense got the stop it needed
Speaker 1: in the final two minutes to win this.
Speaker 2: Way in the players with which they got the stop with, right,
Speaker 2: That was the other part of this that stood out
Speaker 2: to me, and it was on my last tweets the game.
Speaker 2: As we were getting ready to head down the locker room,
Speaker 2: a lot of things went into that final drive, a
Speaker 2: lot of players stepped up, but the fact that it
Speaker 2: was Eddrin Cooper applying the quarterback hit in the fact
Speaker 2: that it was Evan Williams in coverage against Colby Parkinson.
Speaker 2: Now keep in mind he didn't get the PBu or
Speaker 2: whatever you call it statistically, but his coverage on him
Speaker 2: made that a very difficult catch and he's going up
Speaker 2: against a tight end and a slant put route there.
Speaker 2: But as Evan talked about afterwards, that was probably a
Speaker 2: case of the Rams going one too many times to
Speaker 2: the water well there and being able to sort of
Speaker 2: telegraph it a little bit.
Speaker 1: That's what I was going to say, because for those
Speaker 1: who like my what you might have missed piece with
Speaker 1: the film clips that I post on Tuesday, I went
Speaker 1: through the entire film looking at Evan Williams, the rookie
Speaker 1: safety's game. He had only played maybe three dozen snaps
Speaker 1: on defense through the first month of the regular season.
Speaker 1: He played every snap on defense all seventy eight in
Speaker 1: this game. And in reviewing his game, when you get
Speaker 1: down to the end, it's fascinating West and you said it,
Speaker 1: the Rams kind of went to the well one too
Speaker 1: many times because the water. Well, they but they actually
Speaker 1: they actually did it in the beginning of the game
Speaker 1: and in the end of the game at the end
Speaker 1: of the game because when the defense got the goal
Speaker 1: line stop on the fourth and goal early in the game,
Speaker 1: the third and fourth down plays were not exactly the same,
Speaker 1: but pretty darn close. They were almost identical, and there
Speaker 1: was a lot of communication going on between McKinney and
Speaker 1: Williams to get the coverage straightened out, and the Packers
Speaker 1: end up getting the stop. Well then at the end
Speaker 1: of the game on the final drive, and I break
Speaker 1: this down in the video clips, and it's really fascinating
Speaker 1: to stop the video and look at how things are
Speaker 1: played on the previous series of downs before the last
Speaker 1: one where the Packers get the fourth down stop, same drive,
Speaker 1: but previous series of downs, it's third and ten and
Speaker 1: the Rams run that bunch concept, the route concept with
Speaker 1: the bunch to the left and Parkinson the tight end,
Speaker 1: basically just runs a quick little curl and he makes
Speaker 1: the catch and Williams tackles him for a nine yard game.
Speaker 1: It sets up fourth and one. They convert the fourth
Speaker 1: and one and get the next set of down, and
Speaker 1: then on the fourth and five. On that next set
Speaker 1: of downs, they ran the exact same thing. And when
Speaker 1: you look at how Williams plays those two plays, the
Speaker 1: first one, at the snap of the ball, he's about
Speaker 1: eleven yards off of Parkinson and at the time that
Speaker 1: Parkinson sticks his foot in the ground to make the curl,
Speaker 1: Williams is about five yards off, and he's he kind
Speaker 1: of right before that kind of gets rubbed off a
Speaker 1: little bit by one of the other routes. When it
Speaker 1: comes at him again on fourth and five, he makes
Speaker 1: the adjustments. He sees what's coming. He knows what's coming.
Speaker 1: At the snap of the ball, his gap is closed
Speaker 1: to about eight yards instead of eleven. At the time
Speaker 1: of the curl. He's avoided the other rub route much
Speaker 1: better and he's only three yards off of Parkinson at
Speaker 1: the time of the curl, so he's right on him.
Speaker 1: It makes it a much tougher throw for Stafford. And
Speaker 1: you mentioned you mentioned Cooper with the pressure up the middle,
Speaker 1: and yeah, the first time the Rams ran it, they
Speaker 1: got nine yards. If they get nine yards on the
Speaker 1: fourth and five, of course that drive continues and who
Speaker 1: knows what happens. Williams made the adjustments incredible work for
Speaker 1: a rookie, you know, really playing his first full game
Speaker 1: in the National Football League. To make those adjustments and
Speaker 1: make the play in that coverage to get the stop
Speaker 1: and seal the game is tremendous work.
Speaker 2: It is incredible to watch and Matt Lafleur discuss it
Speaker 2: again on Monday, I mean, just how deep Green Bay
Speaker 2: is at the safety position. It allowed them to almost
Speaker 2: dial up a new nickel package, which which consisted of
Speaker 2: Evan Williams playing on the back end, Javon Bullard still
Speaker 2: playing in the slot of the nickel in, Keyshawn Nixon
Speaker 2: for the first time in a full game Basis playing
Speaker 2: outside on perimeter he'd been in their time to hear
Speaker 2: and there Packers used them outside in the base this
Speaker 2: season a couple injury things the past few years, but no,
Speaker 2: this time. He's out on an island and they rotated
Speaker 2: Eric Stokes and Carrington Valentine at the other post. A
Speaker 2: very innovative type scheme that Green Bay had, and they
Speaker 2: had to work through some things. There were two big,
Speaker 2: long touchdown drives that the Rams put together that sort
Speaker 2: of got them started and also had them kind of
Speaker 2: in control of the game at one point but Green
Speaker 2: Bay every time they needed a response offensively, defensively, even
Speaker 2: special teams, they rose to that occasion. So to get
Speaker 2: back to the initial thing that you came in with
Speaker 2: about how there's still mistakes, there's things they got to
Speaker 2: clean up. The encouraging thing to me about this year
Speaker 2: is they're winning these games. Last year they had to
Speaker 2: go through these early crucibles. They had to go and
Speaker 2: take their lumps early, and they had losses like they
Speaker 2: had in Pittsburgh, they had losses like they had in Atlanta,
Speaker 2: in Vegas and Vega, in Denver and Denver where it's
Speaker 2: like exactly, they had stretches and they showed some flashes,
Speaker 2: but then they something would happen, adversity would hit, and
Speaker 2: they would they'd fall on the other side of it.
Speaker 3: They're three and two. There's still a lot of work
Speaker 3: to be done.
Speaker 2: But I felt like this game, in particular, especially having
Speaker 2: to go cross country to la and then really having
Speaker 2: a gut check like they did at the end of
Speaker 2: the first half, it shows this maturity of this team
Speaker 2: and also the value of having a guy like Jordan
Speaker 2: Love back out on the field.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, and staying on the defensive side of things.
Speaker 1: I mean, what more can you say about Xavier and
Speaker 1: Kidnahing's point. You know, he he has a hand in
Speaker 1: both of the turnovers in the third quarter, recovers the
Speaker 1: fumble that's forced by kings Leannigbari on a great tackle
Speaker 1: punch out move by by Anigbari. By the way, McKinney
Speaker 1: gets that fumble recovery. Then he gets his fifth interception
Speaker 1: in five games as a member of the Packers on
Speaker 1: an overthrow, and as he's done on multiple multiple interceptions
Speaker 1: that he's had this season, he just read, he reads
Speaker 1: the play, reads the quarterback, you know, gets over there
Speaker 1: and puts himself in position to make the play. Almost
Speaker 1: got another interception later in the game, almost got number six.
Speaker 2: And that was and that's what he wanted to talk
Speaker 2: about after the game. Oh yeah, not the five in
Speaker 2: a row, right, it's the fact that I should have
Speaker 2: six or should have six exactly.
Speaker 3: It's just remarkable.
Speaker 1: But the but the other key of course to that
Speaker 1: third quarter is the Packers offense, which had struggled throughout
Speaker 1: a good chunk of the first half, I mean, quite
Speaker 1: frankly until the final drive of the first half, which
Speaker 1: wasn't important drive to get a field goal right before intermission.
Speaker 1: The offense had hit the big fifty three yard pass
Speaker 1: to Jayden Reid to set up an early touchdown, but
Speaker 1: other than that had not really done anything. There were
Speaker 1: three three and ounce in there in the first half.
Speaker 1: There was the pick six by Love when he's falling
Speaker 1: down in the back of the end zone and mistakenly
Speaker 1: tries to get rid of the ball to save the
Speaker 1: safety in instead of the safety, it ends up being
Speaker 1: six points for the Rams. So the offense had really
Speaker 1: been scuffling. But off of both of the turnovers in
Speaker 1: the third quarter, the Packers end up scoring touchdowns. You
Speaker 1: get the long catch and run by Tucker Craft and
Speaker 1: then Kraft finishes off the longer a little bit more
Speaker 1: methodical drive. There was a really nice, like twenty yard
Speaker 1: screen passing there to Josh Jacobs that got the Packers,
Speaker 1: you know, really knocking on the door in a scoring range.
Speaker 1: But Kraft finishes off that drive for another touchdown. The
Speaker 1: second year tight end getting his first two touchdown game
Speaker 1: career high eighty eight yards receiving. And I'm telling you
Speaker 1: Wes that that young man number eighty five is turning
Speaker 1: into a not just a major piece to this offense,
Speaker 1: but a major weapon in this offense. And we're seeing
Speaker 1: we're seeing this evolution that the more you put on
Speaker 1: Tucker Craft's plate, the more he proves he can handle.
Speaker 2: We all knew Xavier McKinney was going to be pretty special.
Speaker 2: You just see what he's doing in the Giants. In fact,
Speaker 2: he was twenty four years old. Josh Jacobs was an
Speaker 2: All Pro. You know, Jaden Reid was the Packers' leading
Speaker 2: receiver last year. The contributions they've gotten from Tucker Craft
Speaker 2: in the first five games of this season, I think
Speaker 2: constitutes at this point breakout player status. A guy that
Speaker 2: I think when you look at the maturation of a
Speaker 2: player in the idea of draft and development, he encapsulates
Speaker 2: that this is a guy that didn't really get his
Speaker 2: big opportunity until after Luke Musgraves unfortunate injury last season,
Speaker 2: and he responded. He responded when it's time to block,
Speaker 2: he responds when it's time to get the first down.
Speaker 2: And then, as you saw in that sixty six yard pass,
Speaker 2: when he gets the ball in the open field, his
Speaker 2: mantra is, I'm not going to let any defensive back
Speaker 2: tackle me, especially the first one, Yeah, and he is
Speaker 2: not going to to be denied. And I thought it
Speaker 2: was a good question and it was a good answer
Speaker 2: for Matt Lafleur on Monday discussing Craft in the idea
Speaker 2: of hey, you know he's taking some damage with the shoulder,
Speaker 2: he's wearing the red jersey during practices, we see the
Speaker 2: non contact jersey. Can he play this way? And as
Speaker 2: Matt Lafuur said, he say, yeah, I think he can.
Speaker 2: Because if you're smart about it, and you're pragmatic about
Speaker 2: how you use your body and at what points you
Speaker 2: sort of lay it on the line, it's going to
Speaker 2: allow you to have a long, sustainable career. It's just
Speaker 2: being able to know that boundary. And I think Kraft
Speaker 2: knows it well. And the fact that this guy as
Speaker 2: a third round pick, you know, from South Dakota State,
Speaker 2: and we all heard the stories of him coming out
Speaker 2: about how he could have taken more money, nil deals,
Speaker 2: he could have transferred, he could have become a more
Speaker 2: high profile player. This guy's a budding star man. The
Speaker 2: way he speaks, the way he acts, the way he plays,
Speaker 2: And the other thing Matt Lafuor said as well to
Speaker 2: that point about the way he uses his physicality. It
Speaker 2: reminds him in some ways of a George Kittle type
Speaker 2: tight end, where hey, he's going to get nicked up
Speaker 2: a couple times, what he's going to make a lot
Speaker 2: of plays for you too, that this is the most
Speaker 2: dynamic all around tight end that I can remember covering
Speaker 2: so far with the Green Bay Packers. And he's in
Speaker 2: the infancy of this thing. Yeah, I mean, he can
Speaker 2: do everything you need a tight end to do. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and he's doing at twenty three years old.
Speaker 1: And what I like best about this performance in particular,
Speaker 1: was that for as important as Tucker Craft has been
Speaker 1: to this offense all season long, and we've seen him
Speaker 1: make big time plays time after time, last week against Minnesota,
Speaker 1: he had a holding penalty and he had a fumble,
Speaker 1: probably the two biggest mistakes we've seen him make in
Speaker 1: a long time. And he went he goes out there
Speaker 1: the following week and it's just it's the previous week.
Speaker 1: The mistakes were done and over with, and he got
Speaker 1: back to being the guy that he's that he's been
Speaker 1: right and for a young player that's not easy, but
Speaker 1: that's how you prove that you're a pro right because
Speaker 1: bad stuff is going to happen. Nobody's perfect, and some
Speaker 1: mistakes are more noticeable than others. You know, when that
Speaker 1: yellow flag comes out, when that ball hits the ground,
Speaker 1: those are very noticeable mistakes. Other guys make mistakes too
Speaker 1: that aren't as noticeable. Those are the ones that jump
Speaker 1: out everybody starts talking about them. And Tucker Craft just
Speaker 1: you know, I asked him actually about it last week.
Speaker 1: I haven't been involved in too many scrums at his locker,
Speaker 1: but I was at the one last week and I
Speaker 1: asked him, Okay, you've made a bunch of big plays.
Speaker 1: He came out of the Vikings game with a couple
Speaker 1: of regrets, like, how you know, what's the line between
Speaker 1: learning from you mistakes but not dwelling on them so
Speaker 1: they affect you the next time, right, And he basically
Speaker 1: just said, you can't turn back the clock. You know,
Speaker 1: it's all it's all about you learn from mistakes and
Speaker 1: you move forward. And it's really that simple. And that's
Speaker 1: so that you're not you're not dwelling on him. You
Speaker 1: you process the mistakes, but you move forward. And I
Speaker 1: thought he you know, I thought he did that over
Speaker 1: the course of these last two weeks pretty impressive, and
Speaker 1: quite frankly, the Packers needed him. They were down Christian Watson.
Speaker 1: Also missing Romeo Dobbs, who was suspended for this game
Speaker 1: for conduct detrimental to the team when he missed practice,
Speaker 1: skipped out on practice last week Thursday and Friday. Signs
Speaker 1: are pointing to Romeo Dobbs being back at practice on Wednesday.
Speaker 1: That's what we heard from Matt Lafleur. So we'll see
Speaker 1: how that situation evolves this week. But Packers needed Tucker
Speaker 1: Craft and Jaden Reid to do their thing offensively in
Speaker 1: this game with Watson and Dobbs out, and those guys delivered.
Speaker 2: I felt like there's a lot of things I've played
Speaker 2: in the outcome of this game vary, some very peculiar statistics,
Speaker 2: the fact that Green Bay got I think into the
Speaker 2: third quarter without having a third down conversion at that point, certainly,
Speaker 2: the takeover, the takeaways. This streak that Xavier McKinney on
Speaker 2: is on right now is just unparalleled. But I felt, overall,
Speaker 2: as I was leaving that stadium, the difference in that
Speaker 2: game was which team overcame their setbacks better. Packer's probably
Speaker 2: a little bit deeper in terms of their skill positions
Speaker 2: than what the Rams are without Puka Nakua, without Cooper Cup.
Speaker 2: But I mean the fact was is that you saw
Speaker 2: a player like Craft step up. You saw the second
Speaker 2: effort yardage that a guy like Josh Shacobs provided in
Speaker 2: this you know, including getting that touchdown at the end
Speaker 2: of the first drive or the second drive, excuse me,
Speaker 2: in the first quarter. The Packers just sort of responded.
Speaker 2: I felt like the appropriate way they needed to respond.
Speaker 2: And the other thing I will do commending Matt Lafleur
Speaker 2: on this. Packers had a lot of adversity at the
Speaker 2: end of last season. They're in the middle of this run,
Speaker 2: they're trying to make the playoffs. That JayR Alexander situation
Speaker 2: happens in Carolina and they shut him down for a
Speaker 2: very very critical game against the Minnesota Viking.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the season was on the line. I mean New
Speaker 1: Year's Eve week seventeen, second to last game of the season.
Speaker 1: The Packers gotta have it, and they didn't have Alexander
Speaker 1: for that ballgame.
Speaker 2: And you know, in this game, Christian Watson was unlikely
Speaker 2: to play, had not practiced because of the ankle injury.
Speaker 2: And then you make the decision to to spend Romeo
Speaker 2: for the conduct detrimental to the team, and talking in
Speaker 2: the locker room with some of the players, I thought
Speaker 2: Dontavian Wicks had one of the best points of out
Speaker 2: of anybody. He's like, we only had four guys up
Speaker 2: at receiver, but we know they believe in us and
Speaker 2: we believe in each other. And Jayden Reid said he
Speaker 2: had good conversations with rome He's excited for him to
Speaker 2: be back here this week as well. The Packers will
Speaker 2: proceed and they will take that next step forward, just
Speaker 2: like they did last year without Jaira and in the
Speaker 2: aftermath of JayR and how JayR performed then in that
Speaker 2: game against Dallas in the playoffs. But more importantly, it
Speaker 2: is about the idea of team and I think these
Speaker 2: type of victories and how the Packers responded to that
Speaker 2: adversity once again, it shows you the culture that Matt
Speaker 2: Lafleur has built in that locker room and also the
Speaker 2: way in which players I think have responded to each
Speaker 2: other in understanding that when something comes up, expected unexpected injuries, setbacks,
Speaker 2: what have you, it's all about the next guy that
Speaker 2: could potentially make an impact for this football team, and
Speaker 2: there were several of them in this matchup.
Speaker 1: Yeah, when you talk about you talk about the resiliency,
Speaker 1: you talk about bouncing back and recovering. It is absolutely
Speaker 1: the culture that Matt Lafleur has built in that locker room.
Speaker 1: It's also what's embodied in his quarterback right in Jordan Love,
Speaker 1: because we saw it he made. I mean, considering the stakes. Obviously,
Speaker 1: the interception at the end of the San Francisco playoff
Speaker 1: game last year was the biggest mistake of his career.
Speaker 1: This one, I would say was probably the ugliest perhaps
Speaker 1: a mistake of his career with not taking the safety
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, he's in the back of the
Speaker 1: end zone. He's trying to go deep on third and long,
Speaker 1: and you know, as he sets his feet and then
Speaker 1: gets hit, ends up, ends up resulting in disaster, in
Speaker 1: just a gift of a pick six for the Rams.
Speaker 1: But then what does Jordan Love do? He comes back out,
Speaker 1: He drives the offense down the field to get a
Speaker 1: field goal before halftime, so the halftime score is thirteen
Speaker 1: to ten instead of thirteen to seven. And then he
Speaker 1: comes out in the second half and in taking advantage
Speaker 1: of the two takeaways, scores the two touchdowns, ultimately ends
Speaker 1: up putting together a streak of nine consecutive completions after
Speaker 1: the pick six and essentially putting seventeen points on the
Speaker 1: board after a pick six before he throws, before he
Speaker 1: misses on another pass, before he throws another incompletion. You
Speaker 1: can't you can't coach that kind of response. You can't
Speaker 1: teach the mentality, the mental fortitude it takes to respond
Speaker 1: that way to an absolutely disastrous play that happened in
Speaker 1: the game, which put the Packers behind a game that
Speaker 1: they felt they were kind of in control of, even
Speaker 1: though it was only seven to seven at the time.
Speaker 1: But the Packers were feeling okay about how things were going,
Speaker 1: and then suddenly that happens back by your own goal line,
Speaker 1: and you're losing the game seventeen straight points, nine straight
Speaker 1: completions after that disastrous play. That that is what is
Speaker 1: moving the Packers forward right now is Jordan Love as
Speaker 1: he's still figuring this out. He is not a finished product.
Speaker 1: He is still he is going to make mistakes out there.
Speaker 1: Things are not going to be perfect. But what we
Speaker 1: know about Jordan Love is he's going to shake it
Speaker 1: off and just play the next play. And that's invaluable
Speaker 1: not only for him at the quarterback position, but as
Speaker 1: an example to the team as a whole.
Speaker 2: In my opinion, it's one hundred percent right, Mike, And
Speaker 2: you know, Mattlelifuler talked about again after the game. I mean,
Speaker 2: that is Jordan's superpower. And the more I cover this league,
Speaker 2: there are so many intangibles you look for. You look
Speaker 2: for size, height, You know, obviously hand size is something
Speaker 2: people talk about forty times. You know what a guy's
Speaker 2: arm length is like in terms of just the passing.
Speaker 2: And then you look at the moxie side of it,
Speaker 2: and you can't time it. You can't put it on
Speaker 2: a stopwatch, you can't you know, throw it out there
Speaker 2: at the co and measure it. But it's a big
Speaker 2: part of how you play football and of how you
Speaker 2: play quarterback, and Jordan has it. It's it's something that
Speaker 2: people have talked about dating back to his time at
Speaker 2: Utah State. There is this cold, cerebral side to him
Speaker 2: that is going to weather whatever storms come in his path. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and a couple of things happen in that game. I
Speaker 2: got a kick out of. You know, a lot of
Speaker 2: the Monday Morning quarterbacking of the fifty three yard pass
Speaker 2: he had to Jden Reid early in that game too.
Speaker 2: I've had two things that floated through my mind because
Speaker 2: I saw Barstool put this up as like, oh, he
Speaker 2: might have some Brett favreblood in him.
Speaker 3: It's like, yeah, he does, always have that, he does.
Speaker 2: I was preparing people if you go back and bring
Speaker 2: up all the podcasts and all the appearances, I'm sure
Speaker 2: I said on these shows too. Going into the twenty
Speaker 2: twenty three season, I kept telling people just a reminder,
Speaker 2: there's a lot more Brett Favre to Jordan's game than
Speaker 2: they're probably is Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Now, I think Jordan has done a wonderful job of
Speaker 2: marrying those two things. I think Tom Clemens has built
Speaker 2: into him the importance of fundamentals and footwork and being
Speaker 2: on time with your throws. But at the same time,
Speaker 2: he has a cannon of an arm and he is
Speaker 2: not afraid to use it. And when you look at
Speaker 2: that pass to Read yet, yeah it's triple coverage, and
Speaker 2: you know, Read makes an incredible play.
Speaker 3: But you know what about that.
Speaker 2: The worst thing that happens there is somebody picks it
Speaker 2: off at the five yard line, right Like. That was
Speaker 2: kind of the thinking in my head with that. I'm like,
Speaker 2: if you want to pin him back at the five
Speaker 2: at that point, fine. But as Jaden Reid talked about
Speaker 2: afterwards too, he's like Fitt reads out there somewhere. That
Speaker 2: was the whole, you know, his mindset when he was
Speaker 2: at Michigan State and it played out there. Jordan is
Speaker 2: going to put his receivers in an opportunity to make
Speaker 2: plays in with whatever way you break it down, whether
Speaker 2: it's Farv, whether it's Rogers, That's what the great quarterbacks do.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I love the way that he started that thing.
Speaker 2: Now, as you said with the nine straight completions and
Speaker 2: the setback with the pick six, it's about consistency and
Speaker 2: being able to kind of, you know, not have the
Speaker 2: feast or famine approach this offense, be able to have
Speaker 2: some more consistency.
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, that's it there there, there has been a
Speaker 1: feast or famine nature to this offense. With in the
Speaker 1: three games that Jordan Love has played this year, I
Speaker 1: think we have to remember he's only played three games
Speaker 1: so far this year, and the last two games he
Speaker 1: has been dealing with a little bit of limitation with
Speaker 1: the knee and and all of that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1: Here's here's what I you know, another quality that I
Speaker 1: really like about Jordan Love and what I see out there.
Speaker 1: And sometimes, you know, yes, the you know, the the
Speaker 1: gun slinger Brett Favre sort of element to him, it's
Speaker 1: gonna need to be rained in a little bit at
Speaker 1: certain times. You know, you can't you can't just let
Speaker 1: that go. And so there's there's gonna be some coaching
Speaker 1: involved there. You don't want to completely take it away,
Speaker 1: but yet it's about learning, you know, maybe the right
Speaker 1: time to take those shots, et cetera. What I love
Speaker 1: about Jordan Love is that he trusts every single one
Speaker 1: of those receivers that out there. Dantavian Wicks has had
Speaker 1: some rough moments, had some big moments, and you know,
Speaker 1: Wiss has got to be able to shake some of
Speaker 1: this stuff off and and and start just letting his
Speaker 1: talent take over and let it shine through. But for
Speaker 1: whatever struggles Wix is having, that doesn't stop Jordan Love
Speaker 1: from giving him the opportunity one on one on the
Speaker 1: double move to put the game away down the sideline
Speaker 1: right and Jordan put that ball in a pretty good spot. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: Wis wasn't able to come up with it. But the
Speaker 1: fact that you know, Wicks had had dropped a ball
Speaker 1: earlier in the game, et cetera, and you know that
Speaker 1: that didn't matter. The game was on the line. Jordan
Speaker 1: Love sees Dan Tavian Wis out to his right. He
Speaker 1: knows it's going to be one on one coverage. It's like,
Speaker 1: all right, kid, let's you know, let's do this. Let's
Speaker 1: put this game away right here, right now. And it
Speaker 1: didn't work out. But those are the those are the
Speaker 1: kinds of things that are gonna that are gonna help
Speaker 1: a guy like Dontavian Wis get through this knowing that
Speaker 1: his quarterback has the trust in it. And for me,
Speaker 1: I mean whether it's you know, whether it's Malie Heath
Speaker 1: or bow Melton or when Romeo Dobbs comes back, when
Speaker 1: Christian Watson comes back from the injury, it doesn't matter
Speaker 1: which guys out there. Tucker Crafted, tight end, Luke Musgrave.
Speaker 1: Jordan Love trusts all these guys, and I think in
Speaker 1: the long run, you're going to go through the ups
Speaker 1: and downs, but in the long run, that's going to
Speaker 1: serve this offense well and and these guys are going
Speaker 1: to hit their stride at some point. I am one
Speaker 1: hundred percent sure of that. We've seen it. We saw
Speaker 1: it last year. It hasn't happened this year. It's okay.
Speaker 1: You know, their patience is involved. I understand some of
Speaker 1: the impatients. I get it. I think they're going to
Speaker 1: get there. And I think they're going to get there
Speaker 1: because of some of these qualities that we've seen, The
Speaker 1: internal qualities of the quarterback himself and his teammates is
Speaker 1: going to get them there.
Speaker 2: And then being the youngest team of the NFL again
Speaker 2: going into the season, I just you feel like whatever
Speaker 2: you see in week five is going to be different
Speaker 2: than what you see in week five. And there's gonna
Speaker 2: be this maturation, there's gonna be this progression. There's going
Speaker 2: to be this idea of Okay, we've done these certain concepts,
Speaker 2: we've built these concepts, and we're going to improve through
Speaker 2: this system. When you have that type of stability, same
Speaker 2: reason why I think there's a lot of reason for
Speaker 2: optimism and hope. With the defense, Yeah, the pass rush
Speaker 2: hasn't been as consistent as you want. The run defense's
Speaker 2: lapsed at times, but the ability to take away the
Speaker 2: football is something that is is that that's real and
Speaker 2: being able to build the confidence with that. I mean,
Speaker 2: I throw out that stat. It's a little bit affected now,
Speaker 2: but at the end of game day on Sunday, I mean,
Speaker 2: Xavier McKinney is like tied for fifth or six right
Speaker 2: now in terms of interceptions for the entire league as
Speaker 2: far as teams are concerned. Yeah, right, right, And then
Speaker 2: you see him bringing along like Evan Williams, a guy
Speaker 2: like Evan Williams alongside, and you see Javon Bullard getting
Speaker 2: more stop reps an opportunities. You see Eddrian Cooper, if
Speaker 2: he can put this hip injury behind him, potentially what
Speaker 2: he could add at this defense as well.
Speaker 1: That sack he had that Cooper had of I mean,
Speaker 1: that's that's one on one in the open field and
Speaker 1: Stafford's trying to dodge him, and I mean he just
Speaker 1: he grabs him by the shoulder pad and just yanks
Speaker 1: him to the ground like nobody's business.
Speaker 3: I mean, the freaking play started with him over the center.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, yeah, that's a stunt.
Speaker 3: He looped.
Speaker 1: He loops all the way around he has he has
Speaker 1: to run a long way to get that sack, and
Speaker 1: then and and he absolutely whip Stafford to the ground
Speaker 1: for a big loss. Knock the knock the Rams out
Speaker 1: of field goal. Right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, There's just.
Speaker 2: There aren't very many human beings that are gonna be
Speaker 2: able to do it with that, with that size, with
Speaker 2: that speed. And again, this is why you stick with it.
Speaker 2: You just try to corral as many of these wins
Speaker 2: as possible, and the Packers are gonna need them. We'll
Speaker 2: talk about in a second with how the NFC North
Speaker 2: did this weekend, but yeah, this is uh, the Packers
Speaker 2: are real and I think there's a lot more as
Speaker 2: dire as it sometimes felt last season when you're just like, Okay,
Speaker 2: when are they gonna catch their stride here? I just
Speaker 2: feel like if they can just get some of these
Speaker 2: wins together, if they can just start building that momentum,
Speaker 2: the talent is up there, man, I'd put this roster
Speaker 2: right now. As far as the construct of it up there,
Speaker 2: you know, with any team in the National Football.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's there's definitely some issues with regard to the
Speaker 1: drop passes, the penalties, the pass rush when not blitzing,
Speaker 1: you know, those kinds of things that those are those
Speaker 1: are the issues that are standing out that the packers
Speaker 1: need to work on. But there's a heck of a
Speaker 1: lot of good stuff that's going on out there, and
Speaker 1: if they can, if they can get some of that
Speaker 1: other stuff, you know, just you're never going to eliminate
Speaker 1: all the mistakes, but if you can start to reduce them,
Speaker 1: you start to bring them down, make fewer of them
Speaker 1: every game than this team is really going to find itself.
Speaker 1: I think a little bit of sponsor business here. West
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Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 1: Looking around the NFL, two undefeated teams left, Minnesota Vikings
Speaker 1: Kansas City Chiefs both five and oh. The Vikings get
Speaker 1: to five and OH with a victory in London, which
Speaker 1: suddenly became the last straw for Robert Sala as the
Speaker 1: head coach of the New York Jets. Shortly before we
Speaker 1: turn the cameras on here today, Sala was fired by
Speaker 1: Jets owner Woody Johnson. As far as the NFC is concerned,
Speaker 1: only two other teams aside from the Vikings in the
Speaker 1: entire conference have fewer than two loss Washington a surprising
Speaker 1: four and one with rooky quarterback Jaden Daniels doing his thing,
Speaker 1: and Detroit at three and one they had the early
Speaker 1: bye in week five, did not play this last week.
Speaker 1: Thirteen of sixteen teams in the NFC West have two
Speaker 1: or more losses. Hang on, buckle up, whatever you want
Speaker 1: to say. This is going to be a long and
Speaker 1: bumpy ride all the way to December and into January.
Speaker 1: But you know, the Packers are three and two up.
Speaker 1: They've chalked up a few wins, They've got plenty to
Speaker 1: work on, and it's going to take nobody's gonna have
Speaker 1: anything all that secure before December, you.
Speaker 3: Know, no.
Speaker 2: And it always does feel like this. There's seventeen game
Speaker 2: weeks and it feels like you just got to claim
Speaker 2: as many of these wins as possible, stack them in
Speaker 2: your pile and keep pushing forward. You mentioned all the
Speaker 2: teams that two wins, two losses, and I look at
Speaker 2: the Kansas City Chiefs, I look at the Minnesota Vikings,
Speaker 2: and you respect them both for being five and oh.
Speaker 2: But neither of these teams is you know, the two
Speaker 2: thousand and seven New England Patriots.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there game. Their games are hard fought. All of
Speaker 1: all of these are. And you tip your cap to
Speaker 1: the teams that find a way to win on a
Speaker 1: consistent basis and put up a record like five and
Speaker 1: oh by early October, because it's not easy to do.
Speaker 3: And you look at how close it could be for
Speaker 3: Kansas City.
Speaker 2: Now, I'm guessing they'd probably still be four and one
Speaker 2: if they lose that one to Baltimore in the opener.
Speaker 2: But Minnesota has been in some knockdown, drag out fights,
Speaker 2: and the Jets did not go away in that game. No,
Speaker 2: the offense struggled for Minnesota again in the second half
Speaker 2: to find some you know, when they needed the series,
Speaker 2: they got it, but for the most part, they really
Speaker 2: struggled to move the ball without Aaron Jones on the field.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and they and the Vikings needed a defensive touchdown
Speaker 1: early on Andrew Van Ginkl gets a pick six. They
Speaker 1: end up beating the Jets by six points. The early
Speaker 1: pick six was the difference in the ballgame as it turned.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know, you look at Kansas City. They
Speaker 2: had their leading rushers Kareem Hunt with one hundred and
Speaker 2: two yards as long of his longest carry was eight
Speaker 2: yards Juju Smith Schuster, who's been kind of bouncing around
Speaker 2: the league as one hundred and thirty yards. I mean,
Speaker 2: Patrick Mahomes is not doing this with the complimentary parts
Speaker 2: that we talk about here in Green Bay right now.
Speaker 3: He's having to.
Speaker 2: Now Travis Kelcey erases some of that, but again, you
Speaker 2: have to work out with the pieces that you have.
Speaker 2: This week was such an interesting week though. I mean,
Speaker 2: the Bears took care of business against the Panthers like
Speaker 2: they like they should. I mean, you look at how
Speaker 2: these these games played out with just the complete dumpster
Speaker 2: fire right now that's happening in Cleveland and Washington taking
Speaker 2: it to them. Yeah, a good Browns defense being able
Speaker 2: to not be able to stop the Jalen Daniels train.
Speaker 2: I mean, over and over again, and certainly we'll be
Speaker 2: talking later this week about the Cardinals and them being
Speaker 2: able to turn back and have an answer for the
Speaker 2: forty Niners. This league is so predicated on parody that
Speaker 2: when you see teams emerge, whether it's four wins five wins,
Speaker 2: you have to respect it while also acknowledging that it's
Speaker 2: like the Green Bay Packers are not that far away
Speaker 2: from it for all their flaws and all their warts
Speaker 2: in the early part of the season.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I know people get tired of me, you know,
Speaker 1: saying things like it's a week to week league and
Speaker 1: this league is bonkers, and you know, crazy stuff happens.
Speaker 1: Here's the thing, Wes. I mean, Week five in the NFL,
Speaker 1: there were three blocked field goals, two of them returned
Speaker 1: for touchdowns in the same week in the NFL. Right,
Speaker 1: and hats off Kolbe Wooden for the Green Bay Packers
Speaker 1: gets activated blocks an.
Speaker 3: Extra point YEP in the gaming.
Speaker 1: We didn't even talk about that, but that certainly had
Speaker 1: a factor on the scoreboard as things went, and then
Speaker 1: the Rams went for two later on they didn't get it,
Speaker 1: so it was a five point game instead of possibly
Speaker 1: a three point game with just two normal extra points
Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff. But my point is It's
Speaker 1: an example of the crazy stuff that happens. I mean,
Speaker 1: one second, Seattle is lining up for a field goal
Speaker 1: with a minute to go to tie the New York
Speaker 1: Giants at home, and the next thing they know, that
Speaker 1: ball is blocked and the guy's running the other way,
Speaker 1: and the New York Giants come out of Seattle, of
Speaker 1: all places, with a victory. And so you just, yes,
Speaker 1: there are there. As I said, there's some impatience with
Speaker 1: the Packers, there's some frustrations at how things look at times,
Speaker 1: et cetera, et cetera. You just have to keep plowing through.
Speaker 1: You do your best to try to chalk up as
Speaker 1: many wins as you can. And as Matt Lafair likes
Speaker 1: to say, all you can do is keep putting in
Speaker 1: the work week after week. You put in the work
Speaker 1: to get the team to where it needs to be.
Speaker 1: Because this is a long, long roup.
Speaker 2: And there's one division right now where everybody's above five
Speaker 2: hundred and that's the way it's going to go. And
Speaker 2: I said it in Insider inbex on Tuesday, Packers cannot
Speaker 2: do anything about the division right now. They got three
Speaker 2: more games before they worry about a division opponent. Again,
Speaker 2: you have to pick up as many of these wis
Speaker 2: as you can because they're going to be hard to
Speaker 2: come by within the NFC North. The Bears defense, the
Speaker 2: way they're taking the woot ball away, the way Minnesota
Speaker 2: is taking away the football. I mean, these are some
Speaker 2: difficult opponents that you're going to be facing within your division.
Speaker 2: For as much, you know, as people have wanted to
Speaker 2: rip on the North in the past, I've always said
Speaker 2: it that the amount of teams, yes, green Bay was
Speaker 2: the staple, but the amount of times the Lions, Bears,
Speaker 2: and Vikings all found their ways into the playoffs over
Speaker 2: the last twelve years, it's noteworthy. And right now all
Speaker 2: three of these teams, other than you know, with green
Speaker 2: Bay being here, all four of these teams, they have
Speaker 2: something to believe in right now, and I think that
Speaker 2: makes this division very dangerous.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: The somewhat big picture look for the Packers right now
Speaker 1: is you have four games before the bye week, and
Speaker 1: three of those four are at Lambeufield. This is an
Speaker 1: important stretch for green Bay because you don't you don't
Speaker 1: get stretches like this very often. Three out of four
Speaker 1: at Lambelfield before you get to that mid season by
Speaker 1: and it'll start this week against the Cardinals, a team
Speaker 1: that we will talk about on our next show, but
Speaker 1: for now, we're gonna call it a rap on this
Speaker 1: edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of
Speaker 1: our coverage of the team continuing with everything going on
Speaker 1: here at twelve sixty five, we'll have it for you
Speaker 1: on Packers dot com for West, I'm Miike. Thank you
Speaker 1: for tuning in. Everybody. We will see you next time.