Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I and Mike Spofford, joined as always
Speaker 1: by the one, the only, Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming to
Speaker 1: you here from our studios at Lambellfield to preview this
Speaker 1: Sunday's matchup, Wes. It will be the Packers against the
Speaker 1: Steelers on the road in Pittsburgh. It's a noon Central
Speaker 1: Time kickoff. And when you look at the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: three Pittsburgh Steelers, if you're trying to find a lot
Speaker 1: of statistics that explain the Steelers five and three record,
Speaker 1: you're going to have a hard time because, honestly, a
Speaker 1: lot of their numbers don't look good. It's hard to
Speaker 1: figure out in a lot of respects just on paper,
Speaker 1: like how this team is five and three. But the
Speaker 1: two things that stand out are the turnover margin and
Speaker 1: how they played in the fourth quarter the fourth quarters
Speaker 1: of most of their football games. It's a team that
Speaker 1: wins the turnover battle and they play crunch time football,
Speaker 1: and that's why they're two games over five hundred.
Speaker 2: It's a very unique team because, you know, statistically, diving
Speaker 2: into some of the defensive numbers, the fact that they're
Speaker 2: thirty first in total defense. I mean they're middle of
Speaker 2: the pack and scoring defense, they're fine there, but then
Speaker 2: you know, bottom of the third, bottom quarter of the
Speaker 2: league and running defense, but they're third and takeaways. It
Speaker 2: reminds me a lot of the twenty ten Packer or
Speaker 2: twenty eleven Packers excuse me, when the Packers were dead
Speaker 2: last to total yards but led the league in takeaways.
Speaker 2: The only difference, though, is the Green Bay had a
Speaker 2: prodigious year offensively. Pittsburgh is having this success without scoring
Speaker 2: more than I think twenty six points in any game
Speaker 2: this season so far. So yeah, when you point out
Speaker 2: the turnover margin and the way they finish games with
Speaker 2: Kenny Pickett, that has certainly been the difference. And you know,
Speaker 2: I've always said, and I wrote in our Insider Inbox
Speaker 2: column this week, you are what your record says you are.
Speaker 2: And the Pittsburgh Steelers have found ways to win five
Speaker 2: of their eight games. The Packers have only won three
Speaker 2: of their eight so far. You tip your cap to them.
Speaker 2: But at the same time, I think, if I'm the
Speaker 2: groom at Packers going into this thing, you understand fully
Speaker 2: well what must be accomplished in order to win this
Speaker 2: football game. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. I mean I wrote a story on late in
Speaker 1: the day on Wednesday. It's up on Packers dot com
Speaker 1: if you want to check it out, that that lays
Speaker 1: out some of these numbers with regard to Pittsburgh and
Speaker 1: you look at it and some of it, some of
Speaker 1: it is just head scratching. I mean, they've been out
Speaker 1: gained on the season by roughly eight hundred yards. They've
Speaker 1: they're minus roughly forty five minutes on the season in
Speaker 1: time of possession. That's three quarters. It's three quarters of
Speaker 1: football that the opponent has had the ball longer than
Speaker 1: they have. They've been outscored by thirty points overall in
Speaker 1: the season, mostly because two of their losses were by
Speaker 1: twenty plus points to the San Francisco forty nine Ers
Speaker 1: in Week one and then to the Houston Texans when
Speaker 1: they went down to Houston and everybody was like, WHOA,
Speaker 1: what happened there. Obviously they have rebounded and bounced back
Speaker 1: from that. But you mentioned you mentioned Kenny Pickett. You
Speaker 1: had pointed out this stat to me yesterday, actually that
Speaker 1: Kenny Pickett, the second year starter for the Steelers, his
Speaker 1: passer rating in the first three quarters of games is
Speaker 1: seventy five point three. His passer rating in the fourth
Speaker 1: quarter is one oh eight point two. I mean that
Speaker 1: is a dramatic difference in terms of how he performs
Speaker 1: late in games compared to the rest of the contest.
Speaker 1: And that turnover margin is plus eight. On the season,
Speaker 1: the defense has sixteen total takeaways and plus eight is
Speaker 1: only one off of the league lead, which is at
Speaker 1: plus nine right now. I believe it's the Bengals and
Speaker 1: the Chargers maybe that are plus nine on the season,
Speaker 1: and the Steelers are right behind at plus Say so, smart, Yes, okay,
Speaker 1: you're confirming.
Speaker 2: I am confirming it.
Speaker 1: I'm correct.
Speaker 2: That's the guy with the master's degree and this is the.
Speaker 1: Guy with it's just memory number.
Speaker 2: I don't remember stuff like that.
Speaker 1: Numbers stick in mind.
Speaker 2: I need to have the information in front of me.
Speaker 1: But yeah, this is but this is this is the number.
Speaker 1: And I mentioned this on our three Things video as
Speaker 1: well as in the story. The number that sticks out
Speaker 1: to me is when you look at the fact that
Speaker 1: four of Pittsburgh's five victories they have been trailing heading
Speaker 1: into the fourth quarter, and yet they came back in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter to beat the Browns and the Ravens,
Speaker 1: two teams to division rivals, teams in their own division,
Speaker 1: which are huge wins for them. Also coming back in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter to beat the Rams and the Titans,
Speaker 1: and not just the fact that they trailed going into
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter and won those games, but the collective
Speaker 1: fourth quarter score in those four games is forty two
Speaker 1: to zero. The defense has given up nothing, nothing in
Speaker 1: those four games. When they have come back to win
Speaker 1: in the four it's not it's not like they get
Speaker 1: into some sort of a fourth quarter shootout, I guess
Speaker 1: is my point, where suddenly the defenses get worn out
Speaker 1: and the offense is going, you know, back and forth
Speaker 1: up and down the field that happens in NFL games.
Speaker 1: Sometimes that's not what this is. This is a team
Speaker 1: that in the fourth quarter has shut down opponents and
Speaker 1: then their quarterback, as I just mentioned, with that that
Speaker 1: rating number, finds a way to elevate his game, and
Speaker 1: the offense finds a way to get the score or
Speaker 1: scores that they need to pull out victories. And you know,
Speaker 1: all sorts of other statistics get thrown out because these
Speaker 1: guys are five and three and they're right in the
Speaker 1: thick of it in the AFC North.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And Kenny Pickett is a guy that I feel like,
Speaker 2: for whatever reason, people have tried to kind of diminish
Speaker 2: him a little bit. And I think he's been underrated
Speaker 2: in some terms because if you're a second year quarterback
Speaker 2: that has also played in that city, it was a
Speaker 2: first round pick and had the expectations that he's had,
Speaker 2: but have been able to pull off six fourth quarter
Speaker 2: comebacks in this short of time, which I think we
Speaker 2: were saying is either first or second in the NFL
Speaker 2: right now. So in the beginning of last.
Speaker 1: Season, basically less than two seasons he's that's pretty darn impressive.
Speaker 2: And this offense does operate much differently when he's out
Speaker 2: there as opposed to you know, when Mitchell Trubisky had
Speaker 2: to sub in for him a little bit two weeks ago.
Speaker 2: But here's the thing that not enough people are talking
Speaker 2: about when we break down this matchup is what's going
Speaker 2: on offensively right now with the Steelers rushing offense has
Speaker 2: been sort of blase so far this year. Naja Harris.
Speaker 2: They they've been okay but not great. Well, then you
Speaker 2: have Jalen Warren pop up. Yeah, former undrafted free agent
Speaker 2: five foot eight, two hundred and fifteen pounds. This guy's
Speaker 2: a little battering ram. Yeah, in terms of what he
Speaker 2: can do with an opposing team. This isn't a five
Speaker 2: foot eight hundred and seventy pound kid. This kid packs
Speaker 2: a punch, and they've turned out to be a pretty
Speaker 2: good compliment. They're coming off their best running performance of
Speaker 2: the season against Tennessee. Deontay Johnson is back now off
Speaker 2: injured reserve. As much of a big play threat as
Speaker 2: George Pickens is, it's Deontay Johnson who's been sort of
Speaker 2: the the Romeo Dobbs of this offense, for a lack
Speaker 2: of a better term, the guy that can consistently move
Speaker 2: the chains for you. Kenny Pikett has developed a rapport
Speaker 2: with him. He did it last year, he's doing it
Speaker 2: again this year since he's been back. There are guys
Speaker 2: offensively that can hurt you. But where Green Bay must
Speaker 2: succeed in this game is in protecting the football and
Speaker 2: taking the football away. Pittsburgh's defense has as many fumble
Speaker 2: recoveries as they do interceptions. It's eight and eight, yeah,
Speaker 2: those sixteen so far this season.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: They get the ball out, yeah, and they get on
Speaker 2: the football. Green Bay has to be able to protect football.
Speaker 2: If you go back to last week, Yeah, it wasn't clean,
Speaker 2: it wasn't perfect, but when they did have the turnovers,
Speaker 2: they didn't allow any points off them defensively, and when
Speaker 2: they got them, they were able to generate them. A
Speaker 2: lot going on in this matchup, Michael, But certainly, you know,
Speaker 2: if you take away the team stats and all that
Speaker 2: sort of things, this is still a very dangerous Pittsburgh
Speaker 2: Steelers team coach by one of the best in the
Speaker 2: game in Mike Tomlin. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I mean Mike Tomlin. As many people know, he's
Speaker 1: in his seventeenth season as a head coach. He has
Speaker 1: never posted a losing record over the course. He's had
Speaker 1: some you know, eight nates in there before the switch
Speaker 1: to the seventeen game season, had some eight and eates
Speaker 1: in there. But in his first sixteen years in the league,
Speaker 1: ten playoff appearances. It's a lot to be said for that.
Speaker 1: The vast majority of that, well pretty much all of
Speaker 1: that actually for Tomlin was with Ben Roethlisberger, the future
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame quarterback. Now they've made the transition over
Speaker 1: the last couple of years to Kenny Pickett. George pick
Speaker 1: Ends is that big play guy four pickt He's averaging
Speaker 1: seventeen and a half yards a catch per season. I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: seventeen and a half yards per catch this season, which
Speaker 1: is a pretty standout number.
Speaker 2: And me lose my fantasy game though last week by
Speaker 2: not getting his feet down. I would have won otherwise.
Speaker 1: But you you mentioned though, and what is kind of
Speaker 1: striking is that this Pittsburgh defense from a yardage standpoint
Speaker 1: is ranked as low as it is because and I know,
Speaker 1: you know, Cam Hayward's been injured and he's back now,
Speaker 1: but I mean what TJ. Watt and Alex high Smith
Speaker 1: are doing off the edge. You know, those two guys
Speaker 1: have combined for fourteen of the dealers twenty six sacks.
Speaker 1: They have been missing Minka Fitzpatrick, who's been you know,
Speaker 1: one of their playmakers, probably probably their biggest playmaker in
Speaker 1: the secondary. But but it's a it's a defense that
Speaker 1: is that has you know, built its success on pressuring
Speaker 1: the quarterback and generating turnovers, whether that be the strip
Speaker 1: sacks or whether that be wayward throws that get that
Speaker 1: get intercepted. They like to they like to force quarterbacks
Speaker 1: into making mistakes. That's really what That's really what it
Speaker 1: comes down to, and absolutely protecting the football is paramount here.
Speaker 1: I should mention when we're talking about George Pickens, Deontay Johnson,
Speaker 1: jay r Alexander popped up on the injury report UH
Speaker 1: this week for the Packers with a different injury. It's
Speaker 1: not his back, but he is now dealing with the
Speaker 1: shoulder injury. He missed practice on Wednesday. At the time
Speaker 1: we are taping this, this is prior to Thursday's practice,
Speaker 1: so we don't know much about Alexander your status. But
Speaker 1: the fact that Rasull Douglas was traded last week and
Speaker 1: if Alexander is unable to go in this game, that
Speaker 1: really changes the look of things for the Packers defense.
Speaker 1: So that's definitely something to watch moving forward.
Speaker 2: It does because now you're not just talking about like
Speaker 2: a Carrington Valentine having to play. You're talking about, you know,
Speaker 2: Corey Valentine who's off injured reserve, not off injurieser, but
Speaker 2: off the practice squad, right, you know, in his gains
Speaker 2: played last week as an elevation, maybe he potentially has
Speaker 2: added That's where you're starting to dig a little bit
Speaker 2: into this depth. Depending on where things sort out, and
Speaker 2: certainly when you look at Pickens and the dangerous threat
Speaker 2: he provides over the top, you'd love to have a
Speaker 2: guy like Alexander, especially, you know, depending on what happens
Speaker 2: in the in the deep secondary there with Rudy Ford,
Speaker 2: who was back at practice on Wednesday. Right defensively, though,
Speaker 2: Pittsburgh has had to kind of weather some stuff here.
Speaker 2: You know when you look at you know, Cole Holcomb
Speaker 2: ends up having his injury, he's out now. He was
Speaker 2: one of their leading tacklers. They're two leading tacks didn't
Speaker 2: play last week with him and Fitzpatrick. So you know,
Speaker 2: Kean O'Neil has had a little bit of a resurgence
Speaker 2: there stepping in for Minca. But overall, the yards have
Speaker 2: been there. It's just been the bend but don't break
Speaker 2: mentality that has allowed Pittsburgh to survive that much like
Speaker 2: again drawing that comparison to the Packers in twenty eleven,
Speaker 2: but for the Packers it comes down to having that
Speaker 2: plan up front. And that's kind of the thing I
Speaker 2: want to bring it back full circle with is with TJ.
Speaker 2: Watt and alex Highsmith, you have two high energy, similarly
Speaker 2: built guys that are going to give your edge rusher
Speaker 2: or you're you know, on the edges, you're gonna give
Speaker 2: your tackle some issues. But also just the way that
Speaker 2: they can bowl themselves around inside too, if they need to.
Speaker 2: That's going to be a big point of emphasis in
Speaker 2: this game for Green Bay because if you allow them
Speaker 2: to start creating those pressures, that's where takeaways happen. And
Speaker 2: the fact that you know, when I mentioned those eight
Speaker 2: fumbles recoveries, three of those are TJ and I don't
Speaker 2: even know how many of those he generated himself. So
Speaker 2: it does show you the dangers that lie ahead with
Speaker 2: this Pittsburgh team. But at the same time, you would
Speaker 2: hope from the green Bay Packers perspective, especially with how
Speaker 2: progressively healthier they've been getting on the offensive side of
Speaker 2: the ball, this would be a matchup that lines up
Speaker 2: okay for green Bay, and in terms of the matchups
Speaker 2: they want to be able to develop well.
Speaker 1: One injury certainly the Packers are watching on the offensive
Speaker 1: side of the ball is at left tackle, because yash
Speaker 1: Niman had taken over for Rashid Walker, but then after
Speaker 1: the first half against the Rams last week, he was
Speaker 1: having a little bit of trouble with his back, so
Speaker 1: he went to the bench. Walker came in and finished
Speaker 1: the game. Nyman did not return to practice on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: so again that's another thing to watch because it seemed
Speaker 1: Nyman had certainly moved ahead of Walker on the depth
Speaker 1: chart and seemed to be taking that left tackle spot back.
Speaker 1: But now with the injury, that's a little bit uncertain.
Speaker 1: And whichever guy you know, whether it's Water or high Smith,
Speaker 1: that ends up on that side, I know sometimes they
Speaker 1: flip flop those guys back and forth. At least occasionally.
Speaker 1: We'll have to see how exactly how the Packers are
Speaker 1: going to match up there. But I want to get
Speaker 1: to our keys to victory. I think we've already said
Speaker 1: protect the football three or four times throughout this But
Speaker 1: aside from that obvious talking point of protecting the ball,
Speaker 1: what else do the Packers need to do to win
Speaker 1: this game?
Speaker 2: We'll probably protect the football, it's kidding. Two stats that
Speaker 2: really stand out to me defensively for Pittsburgh. A lot
Speaker 2: of things on the high end of things when you
Speaker 2: see the twenty nine's the thirties in terms of their rankings, well,
Speaker 2: two areas are really exceptional This year. Has been fourth
Speaker 2: downs and in the red zone. Both of those type
Speaker 2: of statistics I think speak to not only their ability
Speaker 2: to stop opposing teams, but also some turnovers they've generated
Speaker 2: in that side of the field. Again, I don't want
Speaker 2: to just keep belaboring the bend but don't break, but
Speaker 2: that's the way they've survived. So for Green Bay standpoint,
Speaker 2: a team that has been pretty proficient inside the red
Speaker 2: gold whatever you want to call it, z own this year.
Speaker 2: They need to be able to keep that going. I
Speaker 2: love the way and we talked about this on Tuesday's show.
Speaker 2: I love the way they finished last week. They turned
Speaker 2: turnovers into points, they turned opportunities into points, and they
Speaker 2: got the twenty points they needed to win that game handily.
Speaker 2: Maybe you do need more in this game, maybe you don't,
Speaker 2: but being able to actually convert when you get into
Speaker 2: Steelers territory is going to be huge, because Mike, it's
Speaker 2: just not about when you face the Steelers the points
Speaker 2: and the score on the scoreboard. It's also about the
Speaker 2: momentum meter. And I think when you follow Pittsburgh and
Speaker 2: you follow some of these things they've done in the
Speaker 2: fourth quarter, a lot of it is when momentum has
Speaker 2: turned drastically in their favor. Yeah, And I think that's
Speaker 2: one area where Green Bay has to come up big
Speaker 2: in this one. When you get the chances, you have
Speaker 2: to be able to turn it into points.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And this this game, to me, you know, I
Speaker 1: don't see I don't see either one of these offenses
Speaker 1: right now going up against these respective defenses. I don't
Speaker 1: see either one of these teams being able to salt
Speaker 1: this game away in the first three quarters. This is
Speaker 1: going to be a crunch time game. It's going to
Speaker 1: come down to the fourth quarter, and you have to
Speaker 1: be the better team in those moments. And that is
Speaker 1: that much harder to do when you're on the road
Speaker 1: versus at home. And all you have to do is
Speaker 1: look at the Packers twenty twenty three season. Right the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter against the Saints, the Packers have the big comeback.
Speaker 1: They have a really strong fourth quarter to beat the Rams.
Speaker 1: Those were at home. The fourth quarter in Atlanta, the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter in Vegas, the fourth quarter in Denver. The
Speaker 1: Packers had all the opportunities you could ask for, and
Speaker 1: they did not prove to be the better team in
Speaker 1: those instances. So this is going to be a game
Speaker 1: where the Packers are going to have to get done
Speaker 1: in crunch time on the road, hostile crowd, the terrible
Speaker 1: towels waving, all of that kind of stuff. The other
Speaker 1: statistic I'll point out that I think is pretty interesting
Speaker 1: is that veteran kicker Chris Boswell for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 1: He's been a big part of this because their offense
Speaker 1: does not light up the scoreboard, they do kick a
Speaker 1: fair amount of field goals. He's only missed one kick
Speaker 1: all season and it was actually from sixty one yards away,
Speaker 1: is his only miss of the year. So that's something
Speaker 1: to watch as well. In Pittsburgh, you know, outdoors, we'll
Speaker 1: see what the weather is like and everything. And if
Speaker 1: you're asking him, I trying to jinx him into missing
Speaker 1: some kicks on Sunday, Yes, I absolutely am. But you know,
Speaker 1: veteran kicker, the Packers are gonna have their rookie kicker,
Speaker 1: Anders Carlson, who's had his ups and downs lately too,
Speaker 1: so you know everything, you know, all three phases are
Speaker 1: gonna are gonna play a part in this. I thought,
Speaker 1: you know, I'll just mention too briefly before we move
Speaker 1: on Packers' special teams aside from Carlson missing the kick
Speaker 1: at the end of the first half, which was unfortunate,
Speaker 1: but in the return game, Packers might have started to
Speaker 1: find something against the Rams and not just you know
Speaker 1: the obvious, which was the fifty one yard kickoff return
Speaker 1: by Keishawn Nixon to open the second half, but Nixon
Speaker 1: also had a fifteen yard punt return and Jaden Reid
Speaker 1: had a twenty two yard punp return. When you're getting
Speaker 1: when you're getting those types of returns, it doesn't you know,
Speaker 1: it doesn't have to be the forty and fifty yard
Speaker 1: explosive returns. Like a fifteen yard punt return of twenty
Speaker 1: two yard punt return, those can be big in the
Speaker 1: field position game, and if the Packers are starting to
Speaker 1: find something with regard to their return game, I think
Speaker 1: that could play a huge factor on Sunday when when
Speaker 1: every you know, any yard here or there could be
Speaker 1: the difference between whether you're going to be in field
Speaker 1: goal range and be able to get points in a
Speaker 1: game where points may be at a premium, or you're
Speaker 1: going to be in a position where you have to
Speaker 1: go for it on fourth down, or you're going to
Speaker 1: try to pump them, you know, back inside the ten
Speaker 1: yard line. Every everything is really gonna I think be
Speaker 1: magnified in this game, just because of the way these
Speaker 1: two teams have played so far this season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I unfortunately didn't do my proper research on
Speaker 2: my Claire Tretder stat packet that she brings down our
Speaker 2: wonderful communications intern Yes, last week, I believe Green Bay
Speaker 2: was leading the league in was it opposing starting field
Speaker 2: position or that the discrepancy between the two Packers have
Speaker 2: actually done a really good job there when it comes
Speaker 2: down to where they've been starting as a post where
Speaker 2: the opponent's starting. I will throw this stat at you though,
Speaker 2: Michael Is, you're a big stack guy. Yeah, Green Bay
Speaker 2: Packers presently kickoff returns and punt returns. Do you know
Speaker 2: where they rank? Can pick either one first if you want.
Speaker 1: I do not. That is not one that I take
Speaker 1: a quick git. That is not one that I looked up.
Speaker 2: I did look this one up because I was curious
Speaker 2: after Keishawn's fifty one yard or where the kickoff return was,
Speaker 2: so I looked at both of them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it doesn't seem like the Packers have had a
Speaker 1: whole lot of opportunities this year, there have been a
Speaker 1: lot of touch.
Speaker 2: It's the National Football League, Yeah, and there's a lot
Speaker 2: of teams to play in warm weather. There's been a
Speaker 2: lot of touchbacks. But if you had to just get
Speaker 2: give me a guess, obviously it's good because I wouldn't
Speaker 2: be throwing it at you if it was like, oh,
Speaker 2: they're thirty first, kickoff returns, punt returns average, where do
Speaker 2: you think they rink?
Speaker 1: I'm gonna guess punt returns there around tenth in the league.
Speaker 1: And kickoff returns, I'll say.
Speaker 2: Twelve packers are third and kickoff return third yep average
Speaker 2: so far this season.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: I think a part of that's probably been a product
Speaker 2: too of Kishan taking a couple out.
Speaker 1: Yea from eight nine yards deep? Yeah, because get all
Speaker 1: those yards right.
Speaker 2: But I think it shows you one explosive, getting back
Speaker 2: to your original premise of this question. One explosive, how
Speaker 2: important that can be. I'll tell you what man I
Speaker 2: thought in that game. There were so many things that happened,
Speaker 2: especially the fumble after his kickoff return, that we weren't
Speaker 2: really able to put the proper light on Kishan's performance.
Speaker 2: But I thought he was a spark for them. I
Speaker 2: thought he's shown the signs there of seeing the field well,
Speaker 2: getting the blocks he needs, and being able to break
Speaker 2: a few eighth and punt return average too.
Speaker 1: By the way, Okay, I was a little closer on
Speaker 1: my game.
Speaker 2: You were closer there. But I like what I've seen
Speaker 2: from that group, and I think especially this is the
Speaker 2: time of the year, Michael. You know you're going to
Speaker 2: be in Pittsburgh, You're going to be back in Green Bay.
Speaker 2: You're going to be back in Green Bay two weeks
Speaker 2: after that New York. It's going to get colder. There's
Speaker 2: going to be more opportunities, and I think this is
Speaker 2: Keyshawn Nixon season in a lot of ways.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And you just you wonder if the fact that
Speaker 1: some of I mean, obviously the injuries don't entirely go away,
Speaker 1: but just some of the settling down in the injury
Speaker 1: department has maybe allowed those special teams units to to
Speaker 1: get more consistent with their personnel. And when the personnel
Speaker 1: is more consistent, perhaps the performance then becomes more consistent
Speaker 1: and more reliable for what rich Basaci and those guys
Speaker 1: are looking for.
Speaker 2: One hundred percent. Even look at last week with the flyers.
Speaker 2: I mean in his gains is on the practice squad.
Speaker 2: It was his third game that had been elevated, but
Speaker 2: in this has been around for a couple of years now.
Speaker 2: He was instituted, inserted right away on one of those
Speaker 2: flying you know, as one of the flyers at the
Speaker 2: first team, and he's getting down the field. These guys
Speaker 2: understand what the standard is. And while there have been
Speaker 2: a lot of injuries, you do have the guys you
Speaker 2: can hang your head on the down Levittz, the Eric Wilson's,
Speaker 2: the Isaam McDuffie's, guys that have been there, done that,
Speaker 2: and then some and I think overall, I mean, they
Speaker 2: had a big wake up call two weeks ago with
Speaker 2: that almost a kickoff return against Minnesota, but I thought
Speaker 2: they really came together with the strong performance in that
Speaker 2: win last week.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I thought so too. I'll take care of some
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Speaker 1: All right, a glance around the league, Another week of
Speaker 1: some intriguing matchups in the NFL. In Week ten, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna rattle these off you, the ones that jumped out
Speaker 1: to me when I glanced at the schedule, and I'll
Speaker 1: let you talk about whichever ones you want to thank you.
Speaker 1: Cleveland is at Baltimore. Interesting matchup in the AFC North
Speaker 1: with Baltimore has had its ups and downs. They've really
Speaker 1: manhandled some good teams and then they kind of they'll
Speaker 1: have a letdown, you know. So this is a big
Speaker 1: division matchup in the AFC North with Cleveland traveling to Baltimore.
Speaker 1: Houston is at Cincinnati. Was c J. Stroud coming off
Speaker 1: of that, you know, monstrous rookie performance and now going
Speaker 1: into Cincinnati where the Bengals seem to be finding themselves
Speaker 1: with Joe Burrow being fully healthy and although now Jamar
Speaker 1: Chase has hurt He's hurt his back in that Sunday
Speaker 1: night game against Buffalo, so that could be an impact there.
Speaker 1: San Francisco at Jacksonville two playoff teams from a year ago,
Speaker 1: one of those interesting AFC NFC matchups. And then as
Speaker 1: far as the NFC North goes, New Orleans is at Minnesota.
Speaker 1: You had brought this one up on our last show.
Speaker 1: Minnesota turning things over obviously to Josh Dobbs at quarterback,
Speaker 1: and the Saints despite you know what they obviously believe
Speaker 1: was a game at Lambell Field back in Week three,
Speaker 1: they should have been able to win up seventeen to
Speaker 1: nothing going into the fourth quarter. But the Saints have
Speaker 1: rebounded from that and put themselves in good position. And
Speaker 1: then the Detroit Lions are back from their bye week
Speaker 1: and they will face they will travel out west to
Speaker 1: face the Los Angeles Chargers, the Chargers and the Lions
Speaker 1: being the two Packers opponents in the next two games
Speaker 1: after the trip to Pittsburgh. Those two teams going ahead
Speaker 1: to head on Sunday.
Speaker 2: Well, first off, my older brother Pete Carmichael, I like
Speaker 2: some of the adjustments they've made in New Orleans. One
Speaker 2: of those brother you ever look at Pete Carmichael, Yes,
Speaker 2: I have, that's my older brother. I mean, I know
Speaker 2: some people like they'll be like, oh, there's a guy
Speaker 2: with glasses of dark hair that looks like you. No, Google,
Speaker 2: Pete Carmichael. We're the same person. Fifteen years difference in age,
Speaker 2: but otherwise the same person. But the Saints got back
Speaker 2: to doing the things that made them good a few
Speaker 2: years ago. Yeah, Taysom Hill's doing some really creative stuff.
Speaker 2: They're using him to the best of his capabilities. Again,
Speaker 2: Alvin Kamara has just been a major difference for this offense.
Speaker 2: It's just they are different when he's available. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Not having him earlier in the season definitely impacted where
Speaker 1: the Saints were going, and they seem to be They
Speaker 1: seem to be hitting their stride now offensively.
Speaker 2: But let's focus on what matters most for the Packers
Speaker 2: because I want, I just want your opinion on this,
Speaker 2: because I don't know if I have one. Maybe you
Speaker 2: don't either, But we'll try Detroit in the LA Chargers. Yeah,
Speaker 2: this is interesting because historically, yeah, you just want the
Speaker 2: Chargers to win this. I think you still do want
Speaker 2: the Chargers to win this, but then you got them
Speaker 2: on the other side of this thing. Yeah, and you
Speaker 2: also have Detroit. What probably two weeks from today, I think.
Speaker 1: Yes, two weeks from today would be Thanksgiving Day.
Speaker 2: That's actually right about right now, you and I will
Speaker 2: be getting ready to eat turkey together, So happy Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2: What do you make of this matchup? I watched most
Speaker 2: of that Chargers game on Monday, I mean they handled Jets. Yeah,
Speaker 2: very curious to see how they respond now against Yeah.
Speaker 1: I honestly, I don't know what to make of that
Speaker 1: Monday night game. I realized the Chargers were on the road.
Speaker 1: You're going all the way across the country to play
Speaker 1: a primetime game on the road, so nothing's easy about that.
Speaker 1: But man, the Jets offensively were just so bad. Like
Speaker 1: I don't you know, I don't even know. I don't
Speaker 1: really know what to make of that. I do think
Speaker 1: based on what I've seen, I think justin Herbert is
Speaker 1: playing a lot better now than he was earlier in
Speaker 1: the Sustin Night healthy, yeah, and with Eckler being healthy,
Speaker 1: But it seemed like Herbert was a little more erratic
Speaker 1: I think earlier in the season, and he's kind of
Speaker 1: getting his uh, you know, getting his legs and the
Speaker 1: fundamentals and everything underneath underneath him. As far as as
Speaker 1: far as who do you want to win? I mean,
Speaker 1: it's just it's it's always just natural to cheer for
Speaker 1: anybody that's playing, you know, an NFC North opponent, And hey,
Speaker 1: like if I guess I look at it this way,
Speaker 1: if the if the Chargers, if the Chargers knock off
Speaker 1: the Lions, and you know that'll be them stringing together
Speaker 1: a few victories, I think everybody's gonna suddenly start talking
Speaker 1: about the Chargers. And I think that works to the
Speaker 1: Packers advantage with the Chargers coming in here the following week.
Speaker 1: So but I do think that I do think that
Speaker 1: matchup is really intriguing. It's a it's a it's a
Speaker 1: big test for Detroit going all the way out to
Speaker 1: the West coast, playing a team that that seems to
Speaker 1: be finding itself. And uh, and you know the Lions,
Speaker 1: the Lions coming off there by week, and you know
Speaker 1: they're ready to make a charge and and take this
Speaker 1: NFC North Division and stay in control of it. Because
Speaker 1: here's the thing, Wes, I mean, who knows what's going
Speaker 1: to happen in Minnesota with with Josh Dobbs making his
Speaker 1: first actual start as the Vikings quarterback. But if the Chargers,
Speaker 1: if the Chargers knock off the Lions, and Minnesota with
Speaker 1: Dobbs can beat the Saints in Minneapolis, suddenly there are
Speaker 1: a lot you know, the NFC North feels a heck
Speaker 1: of a lot more wide open as opposed to the Lions,
Speaker 1: you know, kind of being the front runner and sitting
Speaker 1: in the caffards. They would still be in first place,
Speaker 1: but but that all that all changes if they were
Speaker 1: to lose and the Vikings were to win another one.
Speaker 1: So a lot of a lot of interesting things there.
Speaker 1: But but yeah, seeing those two the two teams, it's
Speaker 1: funny how that worked out because it wasn't that long
Speaker 1: ago that the the Rams and the Steelers were playing
Speaker 1: each other, and then they were back to back opponents
Speaker 1: for the Packers right after that, and now the Chargers
Speaker 1: and the Lions are playing each other and they're back
Speaker 1: to back opponents on the Packers schedule right after It's
Speaker 1: it's it's it's there's just been schedule quirks like that all.
Speaker 2: See, you might have just figured out the whole process here.
Speaker 1: Maybe, yeah, maybe something with one of those computer algorithms.
Speaker 1: Maybe that's what that's how they that's how they spit
Speaker 1: some of this stuff out. I don't know, but it
Speaker 1: isn't that isn't that weird? Though?
Speaker 2: It is very strange.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it feels.
Speaker 2: It feels there's a lot of interesting ques. We can
Speaker 2: do it entire episode on just all the weird quarks
Speaker 2: of this year's schedule. Like remember with Denver where it's like, hey,
Speaker 2: they're gonna play Kansas City and then they're gona play
Speaker 2: Green Bay and then they're gonna play then they're gonna
Speaker 2: play Kids the City or on a buy Yeah, what
Speaker 2: like how does that work?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Yeah, but certainly when you get there will be certain
Speaker 2: amount of patterns that develop like that when you're having
Speaker 2: these cross conference you know, divisional matchups. But uh, for
Speaker 2: Green Bay, I think you've laid that out perfectly. If
Speaker 2: the Chargers can take care of business against Detroit in
Speaker 2: addition to whatever happens with the Vikings and let's say
Speaker 2: the Packers not promising anything, Packers take care of business
Speaker 2: against the Steelers and then against the Chargers, well then
Speaker 2: Thanksgiving becomes really interesting.
Speaker 1: Yeah. We may have that opportunity, Yeah, no question about it.
Speaker 2: When you're at three wins, you have to find way
Speaker 2: to claw yourself back. And when you're looking out at
Speaker 2: a Lion's team that has two losses. You have to
Speaker 2: find a way for them to have setbacks. And right
Speaker 2: now Green Bay just has to worry about what's in
Speaker 2: front of them. It but I mean, it's still all
Speaker 2: right there for them on the other side of this thing.
Speaker 2: If you get the job done against Pittsburgh on Sunday.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, it's time. It's time for the Packers to
Speaker 1: start stacking something. Right. Packers have not had a winning streak.
Speaker 1: They have not won two games in a row this season.
Speaker 1: The last winning streak for this team was in December
Speaker 1: of last year. And you don't get anywhere in this
Speaker 1: league without stringing together victory. So it's got to start
Speaker 1: somewhere for green Back.
Speaker 2: So it's been fifty three years now since they've won
Speaker 2: an acupuncture stadium.
Speaker 1: Right in the city of Pittsburgh, in the city of Pittsburgh. Yes, okay, yes,
Speaker 1: nineteen seventy. I'll be writing about that over the weekend.
Speaker 1: Actually looking at this history of the Packers actually losing
Speaker 1: a lot of close games unfortunately in Pittsburgh, both at
Speaker 1: Three Rivers and at Heinz Slash Akrascher Stadium.
Speaker 2: Aqua filter.
Speaker 1: All you have to do is spell it right. On
Speaker 1: Sundays that's it, so I don't have to fix it.
Speaker 1: Your story all right? With that, we're gonna call it.
Speaker 2: If I put three rivers, we let it stay. If
Speaker 2: I put three rivers, I'll I'll just let that one
Speaker 2: stay in there old three Rivers Stadium.
Speaker 1: There we go.
Speaker 2: 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, and we
Speaker 1: will have everything for you from Sunday's game in Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: at whatever stadium you.
Speaker 2: Want to call it.
Speaker 1: It will be there for you on Packers dot com
Speaker 1: for Wes. I am Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody.
Speaker 1: We will see you next time.