WEBVTT - #591 Packers Unscripted: Schedule small talk 0:00:01.639 --> 0:00:11.399 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:11.440 --> 0:00:14.960 Packers dot Com. I and Mike Spofford, joined as always 0:00:15.000 --> 0:00:18.119 by the one and only Weston Hodkowitz. We're coming to you, 0:00:18.160 --> 0:00:21.200 hear from our studios at lambeau Field and West Let's 0:00:21.200 --> 0:00:25.240 get right into it. The Green Bay Packers schedule is out. 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:30.040 It is available seventeen games for the first time in 0:00:30.840 --> 0:00:33.760 league history, eighteen weeks with the bye week thrown in. 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:36.080 I'm just gonna ask you flat out when you first 0:00:36.080 --> 0:00:38.960 saw this schedule, what jumped out at you the most? 0:00:39.040 --> 0:00:42.200 Where's the bye week? Alright? I really, honest to god, 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:44.560 struggled to find where the bye week is supposed to be. 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:48.920 Were usually looking forward in, like you know, October, maybe 0:00:49.000 --> 0:00:54.240 maybe early November. No, December, first week of December, honest 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:56.200 to goodness. So we got the schedule put in front 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:58.120 of me, and and usually, and for the most part, 0:00:58.200 --> 0:01:00.400 it always is denoted where the where the bye week is. 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:03.840 But I just was kind of beside myself. I didn't 0:01:03.840 --> 0:01:06.720 know the week thirteen by was a thing. I always 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:08.920 thought it ended in week twelve. You had to correct 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:11.880 me on that. But lo and behold, that's what's happened now. 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:14.320 The Green Bay Packers have been through gauntlets like this before. 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:16.559 I do want to make that a point. Twice during 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:18.480 my time on the beat, the last nine years they've 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:20.920 had the Week four by, which has required them to 0:01:21.080 --> 0:01:25.720 then play thirteen games to close the season. Note so 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:29.240 they've been through stretches like this, but I've never seen 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:30.880 anything quite like this where you have to play the 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:35.320 month of September, October, and November before you finally get 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:37.480 that rest. There's two ways to look at this. You 0:01:37.480 --> 0:01:39.000 can look at it like what Matt la Flour did, 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:41.520 which is you can't really worry about it. It's not 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:43.759 something we stress about. You play the games that are 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:46.080 on the schedule, and it is what it is. But 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:49.400 for a team that does have playoff hopes and aspirations 0:01:49.440 --> 0:01:51.920 this year, they wouldn't have built this thing and kept 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:53.880 the guys that they did if they didn't feel like 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:57.520 they weren't close. I do wonder if you could stay healthy, 0:01:57.520 --> 0:01:59.760 if you can take care of yourself, that could be 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:02.320 a really intriguing time to have a buy in that 0:02:02.400 --> 0:02:05.280 first week of December, because then suddenly you got four 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:07.280 to end it, and then now you're looking at a 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:09.919 potential playoff push, but you have to be able to 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:11.840 get to that oasis, and there's a lot of miles 0:02:11.840 --> 0:02:14.200 they have to cover before they get there. Yeah, exactly. 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:17.680 And this ties into the part that jumped out at me, 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:20.760 which is what I wrote about on our website, is 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:24.360 you look at the stretch of games from week five 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:27.840 to week nine, a five week stretch in which the 0:02:27.840 --> 0:02:30.000 Packers are playing four games on the road. You have 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:32.840 back to back road games at Cincinnati, at Chicago, you 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:35.239 come home for Washington, then you have back to back 0:02:35.360 --> 0:02:38.400 road games at Arizona and at Kansas City, the two 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:41.800 time defending a f C champions That's a that's a 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:44.760 heck of a stretch from you know, the whole travel weary, 0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:47.640 getting road we're you know, jumping on airplanes, you know, 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:50.480 four out of five weekends and whatnot. I think that's 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:53.000 gonna be a really, really difficult stretch for the Packers 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:54.760 to get through. But I'll say a couple of things 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:59.520 about it. One, Matt Lafleur, as the head coach with 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:03.200 the Packers the last two seasons, has navigated similar stretches before, 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:06.160 not quite like this, but his first year in twenty nineteen, 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:09.560 the Packers had four road games in a span of 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:12.400 five games. The bye week was also mixed in there, 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:16.320 but it was, you know, four road games out of five, 0:03:16.520 --> 0:03:18.640 and you know, the Packers had their ups and downs 0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:20.840 through that stretch, but then they came out the other side. 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:22.560 They got hot at the end of the season. They 0:03:22.560 --> 0:03:26.799 put it together right. Last year stretch of four road 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:30.280 games in a span of six and the Packers actually 0:03:30.320 --> 0:03:33.680 lost all three of their regular season games during that stretch. 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:36.880 They lost the two road games at Tampa at Indianapolis 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:39.600 on either end, lost the home game to Minnesota in between. 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:42.640 So all three of the regular season losses occurred in 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:45.120 that stretch. But then the Packers came out of it, 0:03:45.960 --> 0:03:49.520 you know, had more frequent home games and uh and 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:53.800 made their run and their playoff push. So there is 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:57.480 that kind of history, similar history, not exactly, but similar 0:03:57.520 --> 0:04:00.680 history that he's that Matt Lafleur has now levigated this 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:03.520 team through. The other thing I will say is that 0:04:03.680 --> 0:04:06.880 in the midst of that stretch this coming season, the 0:04:06.920 --> 0:04:09.480 trip to Arizona, which is the third of the four 0:04:09.600 --> 0:04:13.280 road games, is a Thursday night game, So at least 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:17.200 you have now flying to the West coast on a 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:21.440 short week not easy to do. Um, really condenses your 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:26.080 preparation and whatnot. But at least you get through that 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:29.279 Arizona game on a Thursday night, You get a weekend off, 0:04:29.320 --> 0:04:32.160 You get a Friday, Saturday, Sunday. You know players might 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:34.440 even might even get Monday off. You know they're going 0:04:34.480 --> 0:04:36.640 to be in need of a in need of a break. 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:38.560 There what a lot of the players referred to as 0:04:38.600 --> 0:04:41.480 the mini by. So you're going to have that at 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:44.240 least before the trip to Kansas City, which then ends 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:48.160 this stretch of four road games in five weeks. So 0:04:48.240 --> 0:04:51.039 with that being said, you look at the entire schedule. 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:55.680 You have this mini by after the Thursday game after 0:04:56.080 --> 0:05:01.000 eight games, you have the full bye week after twelve games, 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:03.760 and then you have five games left in the regular 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:06.400 season to finish out your seventeen where you're hopefully in 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:09.080 position to to make a playoff push. So when you 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:13.560 look at it that way, UM, it is there will 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:17.240 be that opportunity. There will be those two opportunities to 0:05:17.320 --> 0:05:20.440 get a little bit of arrest. But getting through that 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:25.760 short week Thursday night West Coast trip to Arizona to 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:28.719 get to that first little weekend off, I think that's 0:05:28.720 --> 0:05:31.080 gonna be uh, that's gonna be kind of a crux 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:33.400 point here for the Packers season. And this is actually 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:35.919 probably where I'm even more interested to hear your opinion 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:38.120 on it than to give mine. Um. Some people might 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:40.680 not know this. The original title for Packerson Scripted was 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:43.680 Mike Spofford's Packer Around Packerson script This is your show, 0:05:44.920 --> 0:05:47.120 But I am interested to hear what you think about 0:05:47.120 --> 0:05:49.000 this because one of the big common questions that people 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:52.080 had an inbox after this was what do you think 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:56.080 of the schedule? And I usually have pretty strong opinions 0:05:56.320 --> 0:05:59.280 either way. This time I really didn't, and in the 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:01.159 main reason for that is I don't really know what 0:06:01.240 --> 0:06:03.000 to make of it. People say, Okay, well, you're going 0:06:03.000 --> 0:06:05.320 on the road to start the season, three seasons in 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:08.560 a row, you're closing on the road again, you have 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:11.440 that that thing in the middle of the season. You 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:13.960 also have this deal where you only have two back 0:06:14.000 --> 0:06:16.040 to back home games and one of them is separated 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:19.520 by the bye. So to me, on paper, I'm not 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:22.719 a player, it seems like a fairly balance schedule. But 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:25.480 I am. I'm curious what your take is on it. Yeah, 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:29.560 I mean personally when you look at it from the 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:34.280 Packers perspective, you know, I think having more road games 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:36.880 early and home games late is always going to be 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:39.719 to your advantage because of the weather situation. Now, as 0:06:39.720 --> 0:06:43.440 it turns out, two of your December home games are 0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:45.880 against Chicago and Cleveland, They're not going to be any 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:50.400 strangers to to the cold weather. But you know, Thanksgiving weekend, 0:06:50.520 --> 0:06:52.640 it's the Rams coming in, the same team that came 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:56.480 in here in January, uh, last January for the playoffs. 0:06:56.560 --> 0:06:58.880 They had some issues with with the cold. You don't 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:00.960 know how cold it's going to be on Thanksgiving weekend. 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:04.679 But then Week seventeen, second to last game and last 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:07.800 home game of the regular season, as Minnesota, your big 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:11.600 division rival coming in on January second, an indoor team, 0:07:12.560 --> 0:07:15.040 those those are the kind of matchups that can that 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:17.760 can play to the Packers favor So in terms of 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:20.360 starting the season on the road, the Packers playing two 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:23.160 of their first three on the road this year, I say, hey, 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:25.600 that just means you're getting more home games later. I 0:07:25.680 --> 0:07:28.680 think that works to Green Bay's advantage. So that's that's one. 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:31.360 That's one way I look at it, um you know. 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:33.400 The other I was just gonna mention to in the 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:35.960 last eight weeks of the season. I believe there's only 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:38.520 one trip out of the Midwest for Green Bay, right 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:40.760 that's to Baltimore, and which is not a long one, 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:43.000 which is that's a that's a pretty quick flight. Yeah, 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:46.000 I'm used to the San Francisco is in the Denver's 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:48.760 in the seattles, So it's not a big it's not 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:51.800 a big ask there. So I do feel like and 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:54.080 again it's on the Packers. It's incumbent on them to 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:56.480 be able to survive that initial stretch that that definitely 0:07:56.520 --> 0:07:59.840 that middle portion of the season, but you can kind 0:07:59.840 --> 0:08:03.200 of see the peak and then the hill and being 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:04.720 able to go down and on the other side to 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:07.040 really kind of speed up and ramp up going into 0:08:07.040 --> 0:08:10.560 that final stretch of season if you're entitled contention. Yeah, absolutely, 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:12.560 And that that's the thing. As I mentioned, all these 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:15.120 road games week week five through nine, you have all 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:18.680 these road games. Nobody season is gonna is necessarily going 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:21.080 to be defined in the first half of the season, 0:08:21.160 --> 0:08:23.760 good or bad. But if you can get if you're 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:25.840 the Packers and you can get through that stretch, and 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:29.880 you can be somewhere in the realm of contention. The 0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:32.720 schedule on the back end with with all the home games, 0:08:33.000 --> 0:08:34.920 you know, a mini by, then a full by in 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:37.800 early December. That that sets up to to give you 0:08:37.800 --> 0:08:40.960 an opportunity to make a run um quickly. Though. West 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:44.920 Serious x M NFL Radio delivers hard hitting analysis and 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:48.400 up to the minute NFL news that true football fanatics need. 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:53.079 Seven three. The other thing I'll say about this schedule, 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:57.240 and I know, seventeen games is obviously new, and last 0:08:57.320 --> 0:09:01.000 year we had the expanded playoff, you know, an extra 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:05.400 playoff team in each conference. But that being said, ten 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:08.560 of the Packers seventeen games are against teams that were 0:09:08.559 --> 0:09:12.520 in the playoffs in I can't ever remember discussing a 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:17.280 schedule where there were ten games the following year against 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:21.160 teams that made the playoffs the previous year. That's obviously, 0:09:21.520 --> 0:09:24.640 when you finish in first place, you have those two 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:26.800 other first place you know what I like to call 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:29.760 the placeholder games. You're always going to have those. Those 0:09:29.760 --> 0:09:32.239 are gonna be against playoff teams. Now, with the seventeenth 0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:35.400 game being another cross conference, you're gonna be matched up 0:09:35.440 --> 0:09:37.160 with an a f C division and you play the 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:39.679 team that finished in first place, that's the Kansas City 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:42.600 game for Green Bay, so that's gonna be against another 0:09:42.640 --> 0:09:46.680 playoff team. And then, as it turned out, the last 0:09:46.880 --> 0:09:50.400 playoff team in the NFC last year was the Chicago Bears. 0:09:50.400 --> 0:09:53.160 They got the extra spot, so that's a playoff team 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:56.200 that you're playing twice the following year. So that's sort 0:09:56.200 --> 0:09:58.400 of how things all added up well, and the fact 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:01.000 that NFC No Earth is match with the a f 0:10:01.120 --> 0:10:05.000 C North, and the a f C North had three 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:06.880 playoff teams last year. The only team in the a 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:08.760 f C North that did not make the playoffs was 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:11.959 the Cincinnati Bengals, So the Ravens, the Browns, and Steelers, 0:10:11.960 --> 0:10:14.760 those are all playoff teams, and everybody in the NFC 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:17.200 North is going to be playing all of those playoff 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:20.720 teams from So from that standpoint, the schedule is really 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:23.960 intriguing to me because it's very different to be looking 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:27.080 at that many playoff teams from the previous year that 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:30.120 are all lined up to play you and the Mike Spofford, 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:33.080 let's be real moment of this episode. The Packers are 0:10:33.120 --> 0:10:36.160 also matched up against the NFC West and being able 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:38.560 to have the West in the NFC and the North 0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:41.240 in the f C. That is kind of a perfect storm. 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:42.840 Oh and then, by the way, we're gonna have a 0:10:42.880 --> 0:10:45.880 se game and we're just gonna pick some divisions out 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:47.920 of our head. Oh and we're gonna get the North 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:50.640 versus the a f C West as well. Oh and 0:10:50.679 --> 0:10:53.320 it's the Packers and Kansas City, Kansas City as the 0:10:53.360 --> 0:10:56.080 defending champions. How funny all that worked out, and you're 0:10:56.120 --> 0:10:58.640 gonna go to Kansas City. So be that as it may. 0:10:58.880 --> 0:11:02.960 This is us and I was someone that really bit 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:05.720 back hard against the seventeenth game. I wrote about it. 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:08.800 We've talked about it. I understand the business of sports. 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:13.280 I understand why we're sitting here right now. I get it. Um, 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:15.480 it's gonna take some time for me to get through 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:19.320 all this. But what I will say, assuming we can, 0:11:19.360 --> 0:11:21.400 we can figure some ways out to make these things 0:11:21.400 --> 0:11:23.480 safer players or at least lessen the load on their 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:25.280 bodies a little bit. Things that the NFL and the 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:29.080 NFLP are gonna have to discuss moving forward. The entertainment 0:11:29.160 --> 0:11:31.760 value of the game, you cannot argue with It's eighteen 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:35.559 weeks of football that's attractive to networks, that's attractive to fans, 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:37.760 they want to see these guys play. They want to 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:41.040 see them as often as they can, and ultimately, if 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:43.400 this is what allows the Green Bay Packers to play 0:11:43.440 --> 0:11:47.600 overseas at some point, maybe next year. It does seem like, 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:50.199 you know, the juice is worth the squeeze, but it's 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:52.079 going to be a gauntlet, Mike, I'll be honest with you. 0:11:52.120 --> 0:11:54.079 When I looked at that same schedule after I figure 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:56.480 out where the bye week was and I noticed that 0:11:56.640 --> 0:11:59.520 it's January nine for the regular season finale against the 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:02.599 Try that that hit me kind of hard. That's a 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:05.720 big adjustment. But they want to keep everything, you know, 0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:09.559 after Labor Day and all those things. Totally understand that, Um, 0:12:09.640 --> 0:12:12.040 but it's it's gonna be uh, it's gonna be a 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:14.199 grind and it's gonna be a big adjustment. I think 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:17.160 a lot of players, coaches, and even people and you 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:19.000 know around the NFL are gonna have to make. That 0:12:19.080 --> 0:12:20.560 was the point I was going to make. Two is 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:24.040 seeing that January nine is now the end of the 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:27.480 regular season when and these are the kinds of things 0:12:27.480 --> 0:12:31.160 that just makes me feel old West. But um, knowing 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:34.960 that I believe if I'm not mistaken the famous Packers 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:38.640 Lions playoff game where Friz Schermer's defense held Barry Sanders 0:12:38.679 --> 0:12:41.400 to minus one yard. That was a wild card game 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:45.520 on New Year's Eve, December December thirty one was a 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:49.679 wild card game back in the early to mid nineties. 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:51.640 And now here we are talking about the end of 0:12:51.679 --> 0:12:55.720 the regular season being on January night. So it just 0:12:55.760 --> 0:12:59.280 goes to show that that things don't always stay the same. 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:02.480 And that being said, the NFL had had a sixteen 0:13:02.480 --> 0:13:06.760 game regular season schedule since nineteen seventy eight. They had 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:10.920 not changed it for over forty years. And uh, and 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:14.079 now we are going to seventeen games. But I'm with 0:13:14.160 --> 0:13:17.520 you in from the standpoint that it looks like the 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:20.920 parameters they're putting in place and and sort of the 0:13:20.920 --> 0:13:24.560 different machinations of this seven teen game schedule moving forward 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:30.160 is going to create the more opportunities for the international games, 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:33.600 and particularly four teams like the Packers. Um, the Packers 0:13:33.760 --> 0:13:36.160 have not played any international games. There are other teams 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:40.320 that have hardly played any Canada. They played in Canada. 0:13:40.480 --> 0:13:43.360 Sorry that was on an eight on an eight yard? 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:45.440 Who else? Who could forget about? We need to do 0:13:45.480 --> 0:13:47.160 a whole another We need to do a whole another 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:50.480 show about playing NFL football forty years Mike. I'm writing 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:53.640 an oral history on that game. How Trevor Davis ended 0:13:53.679 --> 0:13:56.040 up having a twenty three yard touchdown, which really was 0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:57.920 only thirteen yards, but they gave me credit for the 0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:02.080 other ten because well, that's just extra yardage, you know. Alright, Well, 0:14:02.760 --> 0:14:03.960 I want to close on this. I just want to 0:14:03.960 --> 0:14:05.520 make one more point, if you don't mind me making it. 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:07.439 In terms of how the schedule is gonna lay out 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:09.880 and where things are going to be, the NFL and 0:14:10.000 --> 0:14:11.520 NFL p A still have a lot to work out 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:13.400 this offseason. They still have a lot to work out 0:14:13.440 --> 0:14:16.559 this summer. Brian Goodikins has talked about this. I do 0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:20.520 like the fact that the Packers, by having the ninth 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:23.360 game this year, the extra road game, they will also 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:26.400 have only three preseason games, and as we found out 0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:30.400 that's Houston Buffalo in the New York Jets, that last 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:32.840 week now of August is kind of an open week 0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:35.280 for them. I have to imagine that, as Matt, to 0:14:35.360 --> 0:14:37.760 use Matt Lafleur's terminology, that's going to be an above 0:14:37.800 --> 0:14:40.280 the shoulders week for a lot of veterans being able 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:42.000 to prepare for the start of the regular season and 0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:45.560 understand where their bodies are. I like that, Mike, because 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:48.520 so often you've seen over the years the guys necessarily 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:50.920 that I'm not saying they're shoeing for the roster, but 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:53.760 you can't just play that last preseason game with just 0:14:53.800 --> 0:14:55.560 a bunch of guys who are about to get cut. 0:14:55.960 --> 0:14:59.920 You sometimes lose legitimate contributors on special teams are off 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:02.600 and defense in those games. I do like that it 0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:06.280 potentially removes that away from you know, that that challenge 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:08.480 a little bit as you get ready for a regular season. Yeah, 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:11.720 and also with eliminating that fourth preseason game, which was 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:16.440 always just a couple of days before final roster cuts, Inevitably, 0:15:16.720 --> 0:15:18.640 you know you're playing a lot of young players in 0:15:18.640 --> 0:15:22.120 that game. Inevitably you would have guys get hurt in 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:25.320 that game, and it may not be a serious injury, 0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:28.160 but a guy a guy turns an ankle or tweaks 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:31.120 a hamstring or something like that, and then something that's 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:33.840 not a major injury and you can't necessarily get a 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:36.120 handle on it in the first couple of days ends 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:39.840 up factoring into roster decisions and whatnot, Whereas now the 0:15:39.960 --> 0:15:43.160 end of the preseason will be well in advance of 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:46.160 the actual final roster cutdown. So in terms of the 0:15:46.200 --> 0:15:49.280 health of players and young players and their opportunity and 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:51.440 whether they should be on the active roster, you want 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:53.280 to try to bring them back to the practice squad. 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:55.720 I think it's going I think it's going to be 0:15:55.880 --> 0:15:58.680 a little bit more fair and equitable, not quite as 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:02.080 not quite as random and chaotic a time in terms 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:05.040 of figuring out those final decisions. I think that's something 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:08.720 that in the long run, UH, front offices general managers 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:12.440 are are going to appreciate because and certainly young players 0:16:12.480 --> 0:16:15.560 are going to appreciate even though they're losing one opportunity 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:19.600 to perform in the preseason and make that impression. UH, 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:22.640 the injury part of the equation maybe doesn't factor in it. 0:16:22.920 --> 0:16:26.640 It's an excellent point and and seeing ultimately, here's the deal. 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:29.400 You want to have the most competitive fifty three man roster, 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:31.800 the most competitive practice squad. You want your team to 0:16:31.840 --> 0:16:34.280 be at its healthiest point at the beginning of the season. 0:16:34.600 --> 0:16:36.680 And I like that. That's where I think this thing 0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:38.640 is trending for the league because Let's be honest, Mike, 0:16:38.680 --> 0:16:40.880 that first month of the year, that's a really exciting 0:16:40.920 --> 0:16:43.640 month of Packers football. They're gonna go down to New Orleans. 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:45.520 They're gonna play a you know, a Saints team that's 0:16:45.520 --> 0:16:47.480 been one of the best here in the last fifteen years. 0:16:47.760 --> 0:16:50.000 They get a home opener against the Detroit Lions on 0:16:50.000 --> 0:16:52.360 Monday Night football under the lights. They're going in a 0:16:52.360 --> 0:16:55.480 primetime matchup six days later to San Francisco, and then 0:16:55.520 --> 0:16:57.880 you get the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers at 0:16:57.920 --> 0:17:00.440 Lambo Field. That's such an underrated matchup. You're going to 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:02.240 see that a little bit more because of this new 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:05.520 rotation with that extra game. But that's something that only 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:09.399 happens once every eight years. So I love it. I 0:17:09.480 --> 0:17:11.200 love the way that that side of it laid out 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:14.280 the Packers with all this consternation right now. But what's 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:16.159 going on in this offseason. You can tell with the 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:19.560 five priests, the five primetime games still a major brand 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:21.480 for the National Football League. They want to be able 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:23.960 to have those type of matchups. And you know, having 0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:26.080 another primetime game for the twenty nine year in a 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:28.800 row or whatever it is against Chicago in December that's 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:30.800 the type of football you want to see. So my 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:32.840 hat does go off to the schedule makers for making 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:35.720 sure that that happens. Yeah, I think from the Packers 0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:37.880 point of view, if you're looking at this and and 0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:40.480 if there's something that is kind of annoying or to 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:43.720 be upset about Christmas, it's well, there is, there is 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:46.600 the there is at least it's at home. At least 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:51.040 it's not it might not be traveling though. What I 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:54.280 was going to say is that you have to West 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:57.480 Coast road trips here at San Francisco and at Arizona, 0:17:57.840 --> 0:18:01.679 and the NFL schedule both of those long trips on 0:18:01.960 --> 0:18:04.760 short week because the San Francisco is coming off of 0:18:04.760 --> 0:18:07.480 a Monday night game, and then, as I mentioned before, 0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:11.159 the Arizona road trip is a Thursday night game, so 0:18:11.240 --> 0:18:13.960 that's an even shorter week. That's where I think the 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:17.440 schedule makers kind of, you know, put the screws to 0:18:17.480 --> 0:18:20.119 the Packers a little bit um with with regard to that. 0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:22.480 It is interesting though, because that did happen to Green Day. 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:24.600 Was that last year I think it was last year 0:18:24.600 --> 0:18:26.240 where they end up having the Thursday night game in 0:18:26.280 --> 0:18:29.200 San Francisco. Do I have that right. Yeah, last year 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:31.719 was was a Thursday in San Francisco. I thought that 0:18:31.800 --> 0:18:33.760 was gonna be a huge deal breaker for them. I 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:35.439 thought that was gonna be a real challenge. Now, certainly 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:37.560 the fortys had a lot of health issues, but the 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:39.720 Packers actually end up playing really well if I if 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:41.840 I recall correctly in that game. So you never do know, 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:44.320 But you're right, that is a big challenge anytime you're 0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:47.120 going to the West Coast on forties. Uh, notice that's 0:18:47.160 --> 0:18:49.200 that's always gonna be something you're gonna have to really 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:53.880 work through. Yeah, absolutely, Well, September twelve will be the opener, 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:56.159 and I'm sure it's going to be here before we 0:18:56.240 --> 0:19:00.080 know it. Um, but yeah, it's uh, the NFL has 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:02.480 made this whole schedule released thing like a like a 0:19:02.560 --> 0:19:06.080 really big deal now, Like they leak out the everybody's 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:08.280 opener like early in the day and then you're waiting 0:19:08.400 --> 0:19:10.119 till later in the day to get all the news 0:19:10.119 --> 0:19:12.440 of the rest of the schedule. It's becoming that it's 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:15.480 becoming this, uh, this big day on the NFL calendar. Yeah, 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:16.919 there's not enough of them. They got to add in 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:20.080 a couple more. But what were you doing on on 0:19:20.160 --> 0:19:22.560 in the morning when at seven o'clock or whatever, when 0:19:22.600 --> 0:19:24.159 it was announced that the Green Bay Packers were going 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:26.760 to be playing the New Orleans Saints, and the opener 0:19:26.920 --> 0:19:29.840 I was actually I was actually on the exercise bike 0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:32.479 in my base and I see all of a sudden 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:35.879 the messages start popping up on my phone. I was like, WHOA, Okay, 0:19:35.920 --> 0:19:38.080 I didn't know this was gonna happen. I didn't know 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:40.200 this was going to happen quite so early. But yes, 0:19:40.320 --> 0:19:43.560