1
00:00:01,639 --> 00:00:11,399
Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from

2
00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:14,960
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I and Mike Spofford, joined as always

3
00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:18,119
Speaker 1: by the one and only Weston Hodkowitz. We're coming to you,

4
00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:21,200
Speaker 1: hear from our studios at lambeau Field and West Let's

5
00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:25,240
Speaker 1: get right into it. The Green Bay Packers schedule is out.

6
00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:30,040
Speaker 1: It is available seventeen games for the first time in

7
00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:33,760
Speaker 1: league history, eighteen weeks with the bye week thrown in.

8
00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:36,080
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna ask you flat out when you first

9
00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:38,960
Speaker 1: saw this schedule, what jumped out at you the most?

10
00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:42,200
Speaker 1: Where's the bye week? Alright? I really, honest to god,

11
00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:44,560
Speaker 1: struggled to find where the bye week is supposed to be.

12
00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:48,920
Speaker 1: Were usually looking forward in, like you know, October, maybe

13
00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:54,240
Speaker 1: maybe early November. No, December, first week of December, honest

14
00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:56,200
Speaker 1: to goodness. So we got the schedule put in front

15
00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:58,120
Speaker 1: of me, and and usually, and for the most part,

16
00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:00,400
Speaker 1: it always is denoted where the where the bye week is.

17
00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:03,840
Speaker 1: But I just was kind of beside myself. I didn't

18
00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:06,720
Speaker 1: know the week thirteen by was a thing. I always

19
00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:08,920
Speaker 1: thought it ended in week twelve. You had to correct

20
00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:11,880
Speaker 1: me on that. But lo and behold, that's what's happened now.

21
00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:14,320
Speaker 1: The Green Bay Packers have been through gauntlets like this before.

22
00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:16,559
Speaker 1: I do want to make that a point. Twice during

23
00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:18,480
Speaker 1: my time on the beat, the last nine years they've

24
00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:20,920
Speaker 1: had the Week four by, which has required them to

25
00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:25,720
Speaker 1: then play thirteen games to close the season. Note so

26
00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:29,240
Speaker 1: they've been through stretches like this, but I've never seen

27
00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:30,880
Speaker 1: anything quite like this where you have to play the

28
00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:35,320
Speaker 1: month of September, October, and November before you finally get

29
00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:37,480
Speaker 1: that rest. There's two ways to look at this. You

30
00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:39,000
Speaker 1: can look at it like what Matt la Flour did,

31
00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:41,520
Speaker 1: which is you can't really worry about it. It's not

32
00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:43,759
Speaker 1: something we stress about. You play the games that are

33
00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:46,080
Speaker 1: on the schedule, and it is what it is. But

34
00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:49,400
Speaker 1: for a team that does have playoff hopes and aspirations

35
00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:51,920
Speaker 1: this year, they wouldn't have built this thing and kept

36
00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:53,880
Speaker 1: the guys that they did if they didn't feel like

37
00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:57,520
Speaker 1: they weren't close. I do wonder if you could stay healthy,

38
00:01:57,520 --> 00:01:59,760
Speaker 1: if you can take care of yourself, that could be

39
00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:02,320
Speaker 1: a really intriguing time to have a buy in that

40
00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:05,280
Speaker 1: first week of December, because then suddenly you got four

41
00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:07,280
Speaker 1: to end it, and then now you're looking at a

42
00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:09,919
Speaker 1: potential playoff push, but you have to be able to

43
00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:11,840
Speaker 1: get to that oasis, and there's a lot of miles

44
00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:14,200
Speaker 1: they have to cover before they get there. Yeah, exactly.

45
00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:17,680
Speaker 1: And this ties into the part that jumped out at me,

46
00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:20,760
Speaker 1: which is what I wrote about on our website, is

47
00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:24,360
Speaker 1: you look at the stretch of games from week five

48
00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:27,840
Speaker 1: to week nine, a five week stretch in which the

49
00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:30,000
Speaker 1: Packers are playing four games on the road. You have

50
00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:32,840
Speaker 1: back to back road games at Cincinnati, at Chicago, you

51
00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:35,239
Speaker 1: come home for Washington, then you have back to back

52
00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:38,400
Speaker 1: road games at Arizona and at Kansas City, the two

53
00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:41,800
Speaker 1: time defending a f C champions That's a that's a

54
00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:44,760
Speaker 1: heck of a stretch from you know, the whole travel weary,

55
00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:47,640
Speaker 1: getting road we're you know, jumping on airplanes, you know,

56
00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:50,480
Speaker 1: four out of five weekends and whatnot. I think that's

57
00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:53,000
Speaker 1: gonna be a really, really difficult stretch for the Packers

58
00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:54,760
Speaker 1: to get through. But I'll say a couple of things

59
00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:59,520
Speaker 1: about it. One, Matt Lafleur, as the head coach with

60
00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:03,200
Speaker 1: the Packers the last two seasons, has navigated similar stretches before,

61
00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:06,160
Speaker 1: not quite like this, but his first year in twenty nineteen,

62
00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:09,560
Speaker 1: the Packers had four road games in a span of

63
00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:12,400
Speaker 1: five games. The bye week was also mixed in there,

64
00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:16,320
Speaker 1: but it was, you know, four road games out of five,

65
00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:18,640
Speaker 1: and you know, the Packers had their ups and downs

66
00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:20,840
Speaker 1: through that stretch, but then they came out the other side.

67
00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:22,560
Speaker 1: They got hot at the end of the season. They

68
00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:26,799
Speaker 1: put it together right. Last year stretch of four road

69
00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:30,280
Speaker 1: games in a span of six and the Packers actually

70
00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:33,680
Speaker 1: lost all three of their regular season games during that stretch.

71
00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:36,880
Speaker 1: They lost the two road games at Tampa at Indianapolis

72
00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:39,600
Speaker 1: on either end, lost the home game to Minnesota in between.

73
00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:42,640
Speaker 1: So all three of the regular season losses occurred in

74
00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:45,120
Speaker 1: that stretch. But then the Packers came out of it,

75
00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:49,520
Speaker 1: you know, had more frequent home games and uh and

76
00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:53,800
Speaker 1: made their run and their playoff push. So there is

77
00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:57,480
Speaker 1: that kind of history, similar history, not exactly, but similar

78
00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:00,680
Speaker 1: history that he's that Matt Lafleur has now levigated this

79
00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:03,520
Speaker 1: team through. The other thing I will say is that

80
00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:06,880
Speaker 1: in the midst of that stretch this coming season, the

81
00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:09,480
Speaker 1: trip to Arizona, which is the third of the four

82
00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:13,280
Speaker 1: road games, is a Thursday night game, So at least

83
00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:17,200
Speaker 1: you have now flying to the West coast on a

84
00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:21,440
Speaker 1: short week not easy to do. Um, really condenses your

85
00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:26,080
Speaker 1: preparation and whatnot. But at least you get through that

86
00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:29,279
Speaker 1: Arizona game on a Thursday night, You get a weekend off,

87
00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:32,160
Speaker 1: You get a Friday, Saturday, Sunday. You know players might

88
00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:34,440
Speaker 1: even might even get Monday off. You know they're going

89
00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:36,640
Speaker 1: to be in need of a in need of a break.

90
00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:38,560
Speaker 1: There what a lot of the players referred to as

91
00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:41,480
Speaker 1: the mini by. So you're going to have that at

92
00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:44,240
Speaker 1: least before the trip to Kansas City, which then ends

93
00:04:44,279 --> 00:04:48,160
Speaker 1: this stretch of four road games in five weeks. So

94
00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:51,039
Speaker 1: with that being said, you look at the entire schedule.

95
00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:55,680
Speaker 1: You have this mini by after the Thursday game after

96
00:04:56,080 --> 00:05:01,000
Speaker 1: eight games, you have the full bye week after twelve games,

97
00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:03,760
Speaker 1: and then you have five games left in the regular

98
00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:06,400
Speaker 1: season to finish out your seventeen where you're hopefully in

99
00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:09,080
Speaker 1: position to to make a playoff push. So when you

100
00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:13,560
Speaker 1: look at it that way, UM, it is there will

101
00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:17,240
Speaker 1: be that opportunity. There will be those two opportunities to

102
00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:20,440
Speaker 1: get a little bit of arrest. But getting through that

103
00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:25,760
Speaker 1: short week Thursday night West Coast trip to Arizona to

104
00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:28,719
Speaker 1: get to that first little weekend off, I think that's

105
00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:31,080
Speaker 1: gonna be uh, that's gonna be kind of a crux

106
00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:33,400
Speaker 1: point here for the Packers season. And this is actually

107
00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:35,919
Speaker 1: probably where I'm even more interested to hear your opinion

108
00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:38,120
Speaker 1: on it than to give mine. Um. Some people might

109
00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:40,680
Speaker 1: not know this. The original title for Packerson Scripted was

110
00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:43,680
Speaker 1: Mike Spofford's Packer Around Packerson script This is your show,

111
00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:47,120
Speaker 1: But I am interested to hear what you think about

112
00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:49,000
Speaker 1: this because one of the big common questions that people

113
00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:52,080
Speaker 1: had an inbox after this was what do you think

114
00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:56,080
Speaker 1: of the schedule? And I usually have pretty strong opinions

115
00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:59,280
Speaker 1: either way. This time I really didn't, and in the

116
00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:01,159
Speaker 1: main reason for that is I don't really know what

117
00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:03,000
Speaker 1: to make of it. People say, Okay, well, you're going

118
00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:05,320
Speaker 1: on the road to start the season, three seasons in

119
00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:08,560
Speaker 1: a row, you're closing on the road again, you have

120
00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:11,440
Speaker 1: that that thing in the middle of the season. You

121
00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:13,960
Speaker 1: also have this deal where you only have two back

122
00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:16,040
Speaker 1: to back home games and one of them is separated

123
00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:19,520
Speaker 1: by the bye. So to me, on paper, I'm not

124
00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:22,719
Speaker 1: a player, it seems like a fairly balance schedule. But

125
00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:25,480
Speaker 1: I am. I'm curious what your take is on it. Yeah,

126
00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:29,560
Speaker 1: I mean personally when you look at it from the

127
00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:34,280
Speaker 1: Packers perspective, you know, I think having more road games

128
00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:36,880
Speaker 1: early and home games late is always going to be

129
00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:39,719
Speaker 1: to your advantage because of the weather situation. Now, as

130
00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:43,440
Speaker 1: it turns out, two of your December home games are

131
00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:45,880
Speaker 1: against Chicago and Cleveland, They're not going to be any

132
00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:50,400
Speaker 1: strangers to to the cold weather. But you know, Thanksgiving weekend,

133
00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:52,640
Speaker 1: it's the Rams coming in, the same team that came

134
00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:56,480
Speaker 1: in here in January, uh, last January for the playoffs.

135
00:06:56,560 --> 00:06:58,880
Speaker 1: They had some issues with with the cold. You don't

136
00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:00,960
Speaker 1: know how cold it's going to be on Thanksgiving weekend.

137
00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:04,679
Speaker 1: But then Week seventeen, second to last game and last

138
00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:07,800
Speaker 1: home game of the regular season, as Minnesota, your big

139
00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:11,600
Speaker 1: division rival coming in on January second, an indoor team,

140
00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:15,040
Speaker 1: those those are the kind of matchups that can that

141
00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:17,760
Speaker 1: can play to the Packers favor So in terms of

142
00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:20,360
Speaker 1: starting the season on the road, the Packers playing two

143
00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:23,160
Speaker 1: of their first three on the road this year, I say, hey,

144
00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:25,600
Speaker 1: that just means you're getting more home games later. I

145
00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:28,680
Speaker 1: think that works to Green Bay's advantage. So that's that's one.

146
00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:31,360
Speaker 1: That's one way I look at it, um you know.

147
00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:33,400
Speaker 1: The other I was just gonna mention to in the

148
00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:35,960
Speaker 1: last eight weeks of the season. I believe there's only

149
00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:38,520
Speaker 1: one trip out of the Midwest for Green Bay, right

150
00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:40,760
Speaker 1: that's to Baltimore, and which is not a long one,

151
00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:43,000
Speaker 1: which is that's a that's a pretty quick flight. Yeah,

152
00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:46,000
Speaker 1: I'm used to the San Francisco is in the Denver's

153
00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:48,760
Speaker 1: in the seattles, So it's not a big it's not

154
00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:51,800
Speaker 1: a big ask there. So I do feel like and

155
00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:54,080
Speaker 1: again it's on the Packers. It's incumbent on them to

156
00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:56,480
Speaker 1: be able to survive that initial stretch that that definitely

157
00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:59,840
Speaker 1: that middle portion of the season, but you can kind

158
00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:03,200
Speaker 1: of see the peak and then the hill and being

159
00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:04,720
Speaker 1: able to go down and on the other side to

160
00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:07,040
Speaker 1: really kind of speed up and ramp up going into

161
00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,560
Speaker 1: that final stretch of season if you're entitled contention. Yeah, absolutely,

162
00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:12,560
Speaker 1: And that that's the thing. As I mentioned, all these

163
00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:15,120
Speaker 1: road games week week five through nine, you have all

164
00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:18,680
Speaker 1: these road games. Nobody season is gonna is necessarily going

165
00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:21,080
Speaker 1: to be defined in the first half of the season,

166
00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:23,760
Speaker 1: good or bad. But if you can get if you're

167
00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:25,840
Speaker 1: the Packers and you can get through that stretch, and

168
00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:29,880
Speaker 1: you can be somewhere in the realm of contention. The

169
00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:32,720
Speaker 1: schedule on the back end with with all the home games,

170
00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:34,920
Speaker 1: you know, a mini by, then a full by in

171
00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,800
Speaker 1: early December. That that sets up to to give you

172
00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:40,960
Speaker 1: an opportunity to make a run um quickly. Though. West

173
00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:44,920
Speaker 1: Serious x M NFL Radio delivers hard hitting analysis and

174
00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,400
Speaker 1: up to the minute NFL news that true football fanatics need.

175
00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:53,079
Speaker 1: Seven three. The other thing I'll say about this schedule,

176
00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:57,240
Speaker 1: and I know, seventeen games is obviously new, and last

177
00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:01,000
Speaker 1: year we had the expanded playoff, you know, an extra

178
00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:05,400
Speaker 1: playoff team in each conference. But that being said, ten

179
00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:08,560
Speaker 1: of the Packers seventeen games are against teams that were

180
00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:12,520
Speaker 1: in the playoffs in I can't ever remember discussing a

181
00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:17,280
Speaker 1: schedule where there were ten games the following year against

182
00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:21,160
Speaker 1: teams that made the playoffs the previous year. That's obviously,

183
00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:24,640
Speaker 1: when you finish in first place, you have those two

184
00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:26,800
Speaker 1: other first place you know what I like to call

185
00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:29,760
Speaker 1: the placeholder games. You're always going to have those. Those

186
00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:32,239
Speaker 1: are gonna be against playoff teams. Now, with the seventeenth

187
00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:35,400
Speaker 1: game being another cross conference, you're gonna be matched up

188
00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:37,160
Speaker 1: with an a f C division and you play the

189
00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:39,679
Speaker 1: team that finished in first place, that's the Kansas City

190
00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:42,600
Speaker 1: game for Green Bay, so that's gonna be against another

191
00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:46,680
Speaker 1: playoff team. And then, as it turned out, the last

192
00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:50,400
Speaker 1: playoff team in the NFC last year was the Chicago Bears.

193
00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:53,160
Speaker 1: They got the extra spot, so that's a playoff team

194
00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:56,200
Speaker 1: that you're playing twice the following year. So that's sort

195
00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:58,400
Speaker 1: of how things all added up well, and the fact

196
00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:01,000
Speaker 1: that NFC No Earth is match with the a f

197
00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:05,000
Speaker 1: C North, and the a f C North had three

198
00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:06,880
Speaker 1: playoff teams last year. The only team in the a

199
00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:08,760
Speaker 1: f C North that did not make the playoffs was

200
00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:11,959
Speaker 1: the Cincinnati Bengals, So the Ravens, the Browns, and Steelers,

201
00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:14,760
Speaker 1: those are all playoff teams, and everybody in the NFC

202
00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:17,200
Speaker 1: North is going to be playing all of those playoff

203
00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:20,720
Speaker 1: teams from So from that standpoint, the schedule is really

204
00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:23,960
Speaker 1: intriguing to me because it's very different to be looking

205
00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:27,080
Speaker 1: at that many playoff teams from the previous year that

206
00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:30,120
Speaker 1: are all lined up to play you and the Mike Spofford,

207
00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:33,080
Speaker 1: let's be real moment of this episode. The Packers are

208
00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:36,160
Speaker 1: also matched up against the NFC West and being able

209
00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:38,560
Speaker 1: to have the West in the NFC and the North

210
00:10:38,559 --> 00:10:41,240
Speaker 1: in the f C. That is kind of a perfect storm.

211
00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:42,840
Speaker 1: Oh and then, by the way, we're gonna have a

212
00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:45,880
Speaker 1: se game and we're just gonna pick some divisions out

213
00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:47,920
Speaker 1: of our head. Oh and we're gonna get the North

214
00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:50,640
Speaker 1: versus the a f C West as well. Oh and

215
00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:53,320
Speaker 1: it's the Packers and Kansas City, Kansas City as the

216
00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:56,080
Speaker 1: defending champions. How funny all that worked out, and you're

217
00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:58,640
Speaker 1: gonna go to Kansas City. So be that as it may.

218
00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:02,960
Speaker 1: This is us and I was someone that really bit

219
00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:05,720
Speaker 1: back hard against the seventeenth game. I wrote about it.

220
00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:08,800
Speaker 1: We've talked about it. I understand the business of sports.

221
00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:13,280
Speaker 1: I understand why we're sitting here right now. I get it. Um,

222
00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:15,480
Speaker 1: it's gonna take some time for me to get through

223
00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:19,320
Speaker 1: all this. But what I will say, assuming we can,

224
00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:21,400
Speaker 1: we can figure some ways out to make these things

225
00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:23,480
Speaker 1: safer players or at least lessen the load on their

226
00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:25,280
Speaker 1: bodies a little bit. Things that the NFL and the

227
00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:29,080
Speaker 1: NFLP are gonna have to discuss moving forward. The entertainment

228
00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:31,760
Speaker 1: value of the game, you cannot argue with It's eighteen

229
00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:35,559
Speaker 1: weeks of football that's attractive to networks, that's attractive to fans,

230
00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:37,760
Speaker 1: they want to see these guys play. They want to

231
00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:41,040
Speaker 1: see them as often as they can, and ultimately, if

232
00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:43,400
Speaker 1: this is what allows the Green Bay Packers to play

233
00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:47,600
Speaker 1: overseas at some point, maybe next year. It does seem like,

234
00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:50,199
Speaker 1: you know, the juice is worth the squeeze, but it's

235
00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:52,079
Speaker 1: going to be a gauntlet, Mike, I'll be honest with you.

236
00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:54,079
Speaker 1: When I looked at that same schedule after I figure

237
00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:56,480
Speaker 1: out where the bye week was and I noticed that

238
00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:59,520
Speaker 1: it's January nine for the regular season finale against the

239
00:11:59,559 --> 00:12:02,599
Speaker 1: Try that that hit me kind of hard. That's a

240
00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:05,720
Speaker 1: big adjustment. But they want to keep everything, you know,

241
00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:09,559
Speaker 1: after Labor Day and all those things. Totally understand that, Um,

242
00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:12,040
Speaker 1: but it's it's gonna be uh, it's gonna be a

243
00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:14,199
Speaker 1: grind and it's gonna be a big adjustment. I think

244
00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:17,160
Speaker 1: a lot of players, coaches, and even people and you

245
00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:19,000
Speaker 1: know around the NFL are gonna have to make. That

246
00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:20,560
Speaker 1: was the point I was going to make. Two is

247
00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:24,040
Speaker 1: seeing that January nine is now the end of the

248
00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:27,480
Speaker 1: regular season when and these are the kinds of things

249
00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:31,160
Speaker 1: that just makes me feel old West. But um, knowing

250
00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:34,960
Speaker 1: that I believe if I'm not mistaken the famous Packers

251
00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:38,640
Speaker 1: Lions playoff game where Friz Schermer's defense held Barry Sanders

252
00:12:38,679 --> 00:12:41,400
Speaker 1: to minus one yard. That was a wild card game

253
00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:45,520
Speaker 1: on New Year's Eve, December December thirty one was a

254
00:12:45,559 --> 00:12:49,679
Speaker 1: wild card game back in the early to mid nineties.

255
00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:51,640
Speaker 1: And now here we are talking about the end of

256
00:12:51,679 --> 00:12:55,720
Speaker 1: the regular season being on January night. So it just

257
00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:59,280
Speaker 1: goes to show that that things don't always stay the same.

258
00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:02,480
Speaker 1: And that being said, the NFL had had a sixteen

259
00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:06,760
Speaker 1: game regular season schedule since nineteen seventy eight. They had

260
00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:10,920
Speaker 1: not changed it for over forty years. And uh, and

261
00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:14,079
Speaker 1: now we are going to seventeen games. But I'm with

262
00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:17,520
Speaker 1: you in from the standpoint that it looks like the

263
00:13:17,559 --> 00:13:20,920
Speaker 1: parameters they're putting in place and and sort of the

264
00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:24,560
Speaker 1: different machinations of this seven teen game schedule moving forward

265
00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:30,160
Speaker 1: is going to create the more opportunities for the international games,

266
00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:33,600
Speaker 1: and particularly four teams like the Packers. Um, the Packers

267
00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:36,160
Speaker 1: have not played any international games. There are other teams

268
00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:40,320
Speaker 1: that have hardly played any Canada. They played in Canada.

269
00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:43,360
Speaker 1: Sorry that was on an eight on an eight yard?

270
00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:45,440
Speaker 1: Who else? Who could forget about? We need to do

271
00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:47,160
Speaker 1: a whole another We need to do a whole another

272
00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:50,480
Speaker 1: show about playing NFL football forty years Mike. I'm writing

273
00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:53,640
Speaker 1: an oral history on that game. How Trevor Davis ended

274
00:13:53,679 --> 00:13:56,040
Speaker 1: up having a twenty three yard touchdown, which really was

275
00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:57,920
Speaker 1: only thirteen yards, but they gave me credit for the

276
00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:02,080
Speaker 1: other ten because well, that's just extra yardage, you know. Alright, Well,

277
00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:03,960
Speaker 1: I want to close on this. I just want to

278
00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:05,520
Speaker 1: make one more point, if you don't mind me making it.

279
00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:07,439
Speaker 1: In terms of how the schedule is gonna lay out

280
00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:09,880
Speaker 1: and where things are going to be, the NFL and

281
00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:11,520
Speaker 1: NFL p A still have a lot to work out

282
00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:13,400
Speaker 1: this offseason. They still have a lot to work out

283
00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:16,559
Speaker 1: this summer. Brian Goodikins has talked about this. I do

284
00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:20,520
Speaker 1: like the fact that the Packers, by having the ninth

285
00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:23,360
Speaker 1: game this year, the extra road game, they will also

286
00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:26,400
Speaker 1: have only three preseason games, and as we found out

287
00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:30,400
Speaker 1: that's Houston Buffalo in the New York Jets, that last

288
00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:32,840
Speaker 1: week now of August is kind of an open week

289
00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:35,280
Speaker 1: for them. I have to imagine that, as Matt, to

290
00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:37,760
Speaker 1: use Matt Lafleur's terminology, that's going to be an above

291
00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:40,280
Speaker 1: the shoulders week for a lot of veterans being able

292
00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:42,000
Speaker 1: to prepare for the start of the regular season and

293
00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:45,560
Speaker 1: understand where their bodies are. I like that, Mike, because

294
00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:48,520
Speaker 1: so often you've seen over the years the guys necessarily

295
00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:50,920
Speaker 1: that I'm not saying they're shoeing for the roster, but

296
00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:53,760
Speaker 1: you can't just play that last preseason game with just

297
00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:55,560
Speaker 1: a bunch of guys who are about to get cut.

298
00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:59,920
Speaker 1: You sometimes lose legitimate contributors on special teams are off

299
00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:02,600
Speaker 1: and defense in those games. I do like that it

300
00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:06,280
Speaker 1: potentially removes that away from you know, that that challenge

301
00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:08,480
Speaker 1: a little bit as you get ready for a regular season. Yeah,

302
00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:11,720
Speaker 1: and also with eliminating that fourth preseason game, which was

303
00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:16,440
Speaker 1: always just a couple of days before final roster cuts, Inevitably,

304
00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:18,640
Speaker 1: you know you're playing a lot of young players in

305
00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:22,120
Speaker 1: that game. Inevitably you would have guys get hurt in

306
00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:25,320
Speaker 1: that game, and it may not be a serious injury,

307
00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:28,160
Speaker 1: but a guy a guy turns an ankle or tweaks

308
00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:31,120
Speaker 1: a hamstring or something like that, and then something that's

309
00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:33,840
Speaker 1: not a major injury and you can't necessarily get a

310
00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:36,120
Speaker 1: handle on it in the first couple of days ends

311
00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:39,840
Speaker 1: up factoring into roster decisions and whatnot, Whereas now the

312
00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:43,160
Speaker 1: end of the preseason will be well in advance of

313
00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,160
Speaker 1: the actual final roster cutdown. So in terms of the

314
00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:49,280
Speaker 1: health of players and young players and their opportunity and

315
00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:51,440
Speaker 1: whether they should be on the active roster, you want

316
00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:53,280
Speaker 1: to try to bring them back to the practice squad.

317
00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:55,720
Speaker 1: I think it's going I think it's going to be

318
00:15:55,880 --> 00:15:58,680
Speaker 1: a little bit more fair and equitable, not quite as

319
00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:02,080
Speaker 1: not quite as random and chaotic a time in terms

320
00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:05,040
Speaker 1: of figuring out those final decisions. I think that's something

321
00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:08,720
Speaker 1: that in the long run, UH, front offices general managers

322
00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:12,440
Speaker 1: are are going to appreciate because and certainly young players

323
00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:15,560
Speaker 1: are going to appreciate even though they're losing one opportunity

324
00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:19,600
Speaker 1: to perform in the preseason and make that impression. UH,

325
00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:22,640
Speaker 1: the injury part of the equation maybe doesn't factor in it.

326
00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:26,640
Speaker 1: It's an excellent point and and seeing ultimately, here's the deal.

327
00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:29,400
Speaker 1: You want to have the most competitive fifty three man roster,

328
00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:31,800
Speaker 1: the most competitive practice squad. You want your team to

329
00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:34,280
Speaker 1: be at its healthiest point at the beginning of the season.

330
00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:36,680
Speaker 1: And I like that. That's where I think this thing

331
00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:38,640
Speaker 1: is trending for the league because Let's be honest, Mike,

332
00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:40,880
Speaker 1: that first month of the year, that's a really exciting

333
00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:43,640
Speaker 1: month of Packers football. They're gonna go down to New Orleans.

334
00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:45,520
Speaker 1: They're gonna play a you know, a Saints team that's

335
00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:47,480
Speaker 1: been one of the best here in the last fifteen years.

336
00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:50,000
Speaker 1: They get a home opener against the Detroit Lions on

337
00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:52,360
Speaker 1: Monday Night football under the lights. They're going in a

338
00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:55,480
Speaker 1: primetime matchup six days later to San Francisco, and then

339
00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:57,880
Speaker 1: you get the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers at

340
00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:00,440
Speaker 1: Lambo Field. That's such an underrated matchup. You're going to

341
00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:02,240
Speaker 1: see that a little bit more because of this new

342
00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:05,520
Speaker 1: rotation with that extra game. But that's something that only

343
00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:09,399
Speaker 1: happens once every eight years. So I love it. I

344
00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:11,200
Speaker 1: love the way that that side of it laid out

345
00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:14,280
Speaker 1: the Packers with all this consternation right now. But what's

346
00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:16,159
Speaker 1: going on in this offseason. You can tell with the

347
00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:19,560
Speaker 1: five priests, the five primetime games still a major brand

348
00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:21,480
Speaker 1: for the National Football League. They want to be able

349
00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:23,960
Speaker 1: to have those type of matchups. And you know, having

350
00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:26,080
Speaker 1: another primetime game for the twenty nine year in a

351
00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:28,800
Speaker 1: row or whatever it is against Chicago in December that's

352
00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:30,800
Speaker 1: the type of football you want to see. So my

353
00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:32,840
Speaker 1: hat does go off to the schedule makers for making

354
00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:35,720
Speaker 1: sure that that happens. Yeah, I think from the Packers

355
00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:37,880
Speaker 1: point of view, if you're looking at this and and

356
00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:40,480
Speaker 1: if there's something that is kind of annoying or to

357
00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:43,720
Speaker 1: be upset about Christmas, it's well, there is, there is

358
00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:46,600
Speaker 1: the there is at least it's at home. At least

359
00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:51,040
Speaker 1: it's not it might not be traveling though. What I

360
00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:54,280
Speaker 1: was going to say is that you have to West

361
00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:57,480
Speaker 1: Coast road trips here at San Francisco and at Arizona,

362
00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:01,679
Speaker 1: and the NFL schedule both of those long trips on

363
00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:04,760
Speaker 1: short week because the San Francisco is coming off of

364
00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:07,480
Speaker 1: a Monday night game, and then, as I mentioned before,

365
00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:11,159
Speaker 1: the Arizona road trip is a Thursday night game, so

366
00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:13,960
Speaker 1: that's an even shorter week. That's where I think the

367
00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:17,440
Speaker 1: schedule makers kind of, you know, put the screws to

368
00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:20,119
Speaker 1: the Packers a little bit um with with regard to that.

369
00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:22,480
Speaker 1: It is interesting though, because that did happen to Green Day.

370
00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:24,600
Speaker 1: Was that last year I think it was last year

371
00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:26,240
Speaker 1: where they end up having the Thursday night game in

372
00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:29,200
Speaker 1: San Francisco. Do I have that right. Yeah, last year

373
00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:31,719
Speaker 1: was was a Thursday in San Francisco. I thought that

374
00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:33,760
Speaker 1: was gonna be a huge deal breaker for them. I

375
00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:35,439
Speaker 1: thought that was gonna be a real challenge. Now, certainly

376
00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:37,560
Speaker 1: the fortys had a lot of health issues, but the

377
00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:39,720
Speaker 1: Packers actually end up playing really well if I if

378
00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:41,840
Speaker 1: I recall correctly in that game. So you never do know,

379
00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:44,320
Speaker 1: But you're right, that is a big challenge anytime you're

380
00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:47,120
Speaker 1: going to the West Coast on forties. Uh, notice that's

381
00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:49,200
Speaker 1: that's always gonna be something you're gonna have to really

382
00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:53,880
Speaker 1: work through. Yeah, absolutely, Well, September twelve will be the opener,

383
00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:56,159
Speaker 1: and I'm sure it's going to be here before we

384
00:18:56,240 --> 00:19:00,080
Speaker 1: know it. Um, but yeah, it's uh, the NFL has

385
00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:02,480
Speaker 1: made this whole schedule released thing like a like a

386
00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:06,080
Speaker 1: really big deal now, Like they leak out the everybody's

387
00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:08,280
Speaker 1: opener like early in the day and then you're waiting

388
00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:10,119
Speaker 1: till later in the day to get all the news

389
00:19:10,119 --> 00:19:12,440
Speaker 1: of the rest of the schedule. It's becoming that it's

390
00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:15,480
Speaker 1: becoming this, uh, this big day on the NFL calendar. Yeah,

391
00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:16,919
Speaker 1: there's not enough of them. They got to add in

392
00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:20,080
Speaker 1: a couple more. But what were you doing on on

393
00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:22,560
Speaker 1: in the morning when at seven o'clock or whatever, when

394
00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:24,159
Speaker 1: it was announced that the Green Bay Packers were going

395
00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:26,760
Speaker 1: to be playing the New Orleans Saints, and the opener

396
00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:29,840
Speaker 1: I was actually I was actually on the exercise bike

397
00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:32,479
Speaker 1: in my base and I see all of a sudden

398
00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:35,879
Speaker 1: the messages start popping up on my phone. I was like, WHOA, Okay,

399
00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:38,080
Speaker 1: I didn't know this was gonna happen. I didn't know

400
00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:40,200
Speaker 1: this was going to happen quite so early. But yes,

401
00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:43,560
Speaker 1: the um I was a little sweaty when I was

402
00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:47,640
Speaker 1: finishing up that bit of work. But hey, we all

403
00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:49,480
Speaker 1: roll with the poet. We'll be ready for that next

404
00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:51,439
Speaker 1: year when they have Yeah, I guess, so we'll be

405
00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:53,960
Speaker 1: prepared now for the new For the new timeline is

406
00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:57,680
Speaker 1: to lea the NFL has to start leaking at yeah

407
00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:00,560
Speaker 1: maybe Yeah, we're gonna find they're gonna leak something at

408
00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:02,240
Speaker 1: like three in the morning, and we're gonna have to

409
00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:05,240
Speaker 1: react and get it on the website, right because we

410
00:20:05,359 --> 00:20:08,400
Speaker 1: got to do right by London. Yeah, there we go. Yeah,

411
00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:10,199
Speaker 1: we're gonna find out our We're gonna find out our

412
00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:12,480
Speaker 1: London game on London time. That's probably what's going to

413
00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:15,760
Speaker 1: happen next. All right, we've gone completely off the rails,

414
00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:18,000
Speaker 1: so we're gonna call it a wrap on this edition

415
00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:20,680
Speaker 1: of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our

416
00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:23,320
Speaker 1: coverage of the team, all kinds of content with regard

417
00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:26,920
Speaker 1: to the schedule. Is there for you on packers dot com.

418
00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:29,640
Speaker 1: For West, I'm Mike. Thanks for tuning in, everybody. We'll

419
00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:30,440
Speaker 1: see you next time.