Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford sitting alongside the
Speaker 1: one and only Wes Hodkowitz. Were coming to you here
Speaker 1: from our studio at lambeau Field West Packers Vikings at
Speaker 1: lambeau Field Sunday. It'll be a noon Central Time kickoff
Speaker 1: five and one versus one and five. But as we say,
Speaker 1: certainly in division rivalries and in the border rivalry, as
Speaker 1: this one is often called, you can forget about those numbers.
Speaker 1: This is this is an interesting one because the Packers,
Speaker 1: it's a game, obviously they're going to be expected to win.
Speaker 1: The Vikings are coming off their bye week. There's been
Speaker 1: some turmoil and whatnot. They've you know, they traded away
Speaker 1: one of their best defensive players. Who who that defensive player?
Speaker 1: Yannick and go Unique. Sorry we had to worry about
Speaker 1: that for the all of one game for the record, Yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: you got a Gockway right though. Yeah, well that's the
Speaker 1: one I've been working but in Gockway no longer with
Speaker 1: the Vikings. He's been traded away. Danil Hunter, the other
Speaker 1: star pass rusher, is out for the season after next surgery.
Speaker 1: This Vikings defense West, it's not the Vikings defense that
Speaker 1: we've seen in the past, and they've got they've got
Speaker 1: a cornerback issue right now. Two of their top four corners,
Speaker 1: Holting the Hill and Mike Hughes are on the injury
Speaker 1: report right now, and a third cornerback, rookie Cameron Danceler,
Speaker 1: the third round pick, is on the COVID reserve list.
Speaker 1: This is this is going to This is going to
Speaker 1: be an interesting matchup to see just exactly what Vikings team,
Speaker 1: especially defensively, is on the field Sunday exactly, And you'd
Speaker 1: laid it out perfectly, particularly with the with the secondary
Speaker 1: issues they're having there. It's a young secondary to begin with,
Speaker 1: and now they have a litany of injuries that have
Speaker 1: followed this very much is about the Packers. I want
Speaker 1: to say, I don't want to say it's not, but
Speaker 1: I think it ultimately is going to be what Minnesota
Speaker 1: Vikings team do we see come into lambeau Field on
Speaker 1: Sunday afternoon. One, just from the physical standpoint, pretty banged
Speaker 1: up despite coming out of the bye week at at
Speaker 1: meaningful positions. But two, they had such a dichotomy of
Speaker 1: games before their bye week. They played Seattle so tough, right,
Speaker 1: went right down to the wire and came up short.
Speaker 1: They absolutely should have won that football game. And then
Speaker 1: they come back the next week thinking that, hey, maybe
Speaker 1: we should be able to knock off a previously winless
Speaker 1: Atlanta Falcons team. They're not able to do it. That's
Speaker 1: a really difficult way to go in the bye week.
Speaker 1: You and I always talk about, you know, there's probably
Speaker 1: one game a year where maybe we really are truly
Speaker 1: pulling for a big victory, and as a reporter, it's
Speaker 1: typically going into a bye week because those negative thoughts
Speaker 1: linger with the fan base, they linger with the locker room.
Speaker 1: It just it creates sort of this doubt factor, right,
Speaker 1: and I think that's something that the Minnesota Vikings are
Speaker 1: going to be really battling this week, in addition to
Speaker 1: the fact that their secondary, more specifically that cornerback position
Speaker 1: is really hurting here going into this matchup. Well, this
Speaker 1: is a tough Vikings team to figure out because, as
Speaker 1: you mentioned, they lost to the Atlanta Falcons when everybody thought, Okay,
Speaker 1: this will be there, get well game, you know, chalk
Speaker 1: up another victory that didn't happen. But yet two of
Speaker 1: the best teams in the NFL, the Seattle Seahawks and
Speaker 1: the Tennessee Titans, were both taken right to the wire
Speaker 1: by this Minnesota Vikings team. So, as you said, it's
Speaker 1: it's sort of which which team is going to show
Speaker 1: up On the injury front for the Packers, we're seeing
Speaker 1: the Packers starting to get a little bit healthier. Al
Speaker 1: Lazard Christian Kirksey are both back at practice. So the
Speaker 1: twenty one day window for them coming off of I
Speaker 1: R where there's now the window for them to be
Speaker 1: activated and activated to the fifty three man roster, that
Speaker 1: clock is now ticking. But I think for the the
Speaker 1: more immediate with regards to this week and the Vikings game,
Speaker 1: David Bakti is back at practice, Tyler Irvine is back
Speaker 1: at practice, Darnell Savage, who missed last week's game, is
Speaker 1: back at practice now, Kevin King and Aaron Jones are
Speaker 1: still not at practice, and suddenly Mason Crosby is on
Speaker 1: the injury report for the Packers as well. So we
Speaker 1: will see what happens as the rest of the week
Speaker 1: unfolds there. But for all of the injuries the Packers
Speaker 1: have been dealing with, it seems that the health trend
Speaker 1: is even though there are nineteen guys listed on the
Speaker 1: injury report, the overall health trend in terms of participation
Speaker 1: might be trending in the right direction. Well, this is
Speaker 1: why it's important, right because you and I don't know
Speaker 1: how many of these guys will legitimately be playing on Sunday.
Speaker 1: But the fact that David Boxer was able to practice
Speaker 1: on Wednesday, that's a pretty good sign. With the chess
Speaker 1: injury that I think everyone's sort of been no pun
Speaker 1: intended holding their breath over. And then you look over
Speaker 1: at at Tyler Irvin, I mean a risk injury like
Speaker 1: that that he dealt with early on and then it
Speaker 1: ends up sidelining him for two games. You really don't
Speaker 1: know what to make of that from the outside looking in.
Speaker 1: That's not a hamstring, that's not a quadricept that that's
Speaker 1: it's a risk. So it makes you kind of raise
Speaker 1: some questions in your mind of Okay, what's the forecast
Speaker 1: here for him? And then also the biggest thing is
Speaker 1: al Lazard being back. A core muscle injury is something
Speaker 1: that they went in and repaired. That can be a
Speaker 1: lot of different things, And I always go back to
Speaker 1: two thousand and twelve that injury kept out Greg Jennings
Speaker 1: for seven games. Now, again we have to see exactly
Speaker 1: what the forecast is going to be here for Lazard,
Speaker 1: how much of a rev up period they want to
Speaker 1: give him. But the fact that they did start that
Speaker 1: clock would indicate that they feel like he can get
Speaker 1: back here in the month of November. That is absolutely
Speaker 1: critical for this receiving corps and seeing exactly what this
Speaker 1: guy brings, because it's not just the number two receiver role.
Speaker 1: It's the fact that he can play in line. It's
Speaker 1: the fact that they can do reversals with him. Al
Speaker 1: Lazard is as much as we've talked about him this season,
Speaker 1: he's a really underrated part of this offense now in
Speaker 1: what they're able to use him and how they're able
Speaker 1: to utilize him, in addition to the fact that he
Speaker 1: can be a big play threat down field. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: and he's arguably the Packers best blocker amongst the wide
Speaker 1: receivers as well in terms of helping the run game.
Speaker 1: And if you don't think that's a big deal, just
Speaker 1: go watch the film of the Houston game and Brandon
Speaker 1: Cooks for the Houston Texans. The guy didn't throw a
Speaker 1: block on the edge, like the whole game in Houston's
Speaker 1: running game suffered because of it. So I'll just throw
Speaker 1: that out there as well. But it's at extra credit plays, right, Absolutely,
Speaker 1: It's not stuff that's gonna get you in anyone's fantasy.
Speaker 1: Are you a complete player when you step on the
Speaker 1: field and there are some guys who are and some
Speaker 1: guys who are And if you're gonna do bunch formations
Speaker 1: like the way that Matt Lafleur wants to do them,
Speaker 1: you've got to be able to block. It's critical, yeah,
Speaker 1: quickly before we get to our our keys to victory. Here.
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Speaker 1: bank dot com. Backslash Packers all right on the offensive
Speaker 1: side of the ball. If this if this Minnesota secondary
Speaker 1: is as banged up as it appears, and if they
Speaker 1: are dipping into their depth chart as far as they
Speaker 1: may need to. On Sunday. I know, we talk about
Speaker 1: the running game, and certainly Jamal Williams, if Aaron Jones
Speaker 1: is sitting out another game, Jamal Williams will handle whatever
Speaker 1: load you give him. But boy, with the state of
Speaker 1: this Vikings cornerback group, you wonder if do you not
Speaker 1: just turn the game over to Aaron Rodgers and say, go,
Speaker 1: I mean how they had all their guys granted, a
Speaker 1: couple of rookies, you know, making their NFL debuts without
Speaker 1: any preseason games back in Week one. But but this cornerback,
Speaker 1: this cornerback group is is not healthy for Minnesota. Well,
Speaker 1: and the fact is right now, Mike, to underscore exactly
Speaker 1: how banged up there. They have eight cornerbacks on their
Speaker 1: active roster right now. Um. When when you see a
Speaker 1: team over sort of inflate a position over the course
Speaker 1: of the year, that tells you there's some concerns there.
Speaker 1: It tells you that they're you know, whether the injuries,
Speaker 1: the inconsistency, what have you. Um, that's an uphill battle
Speaker 1: that they're going to have to climb. Mike Zimmer is
Speaker 1: as smart of a defensive coach as there is in
Speaker 1: this league head coach, defensive coordinator. He's he's there, right.
Speaker 1: I'm just really curious what that game plan is going
Speaker 1: to be because you know they're gonna want to take
Speaker 1: Davanta Adams and I wrote about it this week too,
Speaker 1: But if you try to take him away, what are
Speaker 1: you giving up elsewhere? And if you do live him
Speaker 1: in one on one situations, you see what happened last
Speaker 1: week with the Houston Texans. That's a huge, not necessarily
Speaker 1: a weak spot because again I'm I'm giving Zimmer the
Speaker 1: benefit of the doubt. He's concocted some magnificent game plans before.
Speaker 1: But that's just a major area concern for me going
Speaker 1: into this game as it relates to Minnesota. Other thing too,
Speaker 1: and this is no disrespect intended for the Vikings defense
Speaker 1: because in a few minutes here, I'm going to completely
Speaker 1: put their their offense over. But there are so many years,
Speaker 1: Mike where you look at the starting eleven, starting fifteen
Speaker 1: for Minnesota and there's just playmakers all over the place.
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter if it's the defensive line, that linebacking
Speaker 1: corps or in the secondary. The names have kind of
Speaker 1: waned here a little bit for them. You still have
Speaker 1: Harrison Smith, Anthony Harris, and obviously, um you look at
Speaker 1: their you know, Eric Kendricks and what they have at linebacker.
Speaker 1: But beyond that, it starts to get a little bit sparse. So, um, Minnesota,
Speaker 1: if they're going to turn this thing around, they're gonna
Speaker 1: have to do it unconventionally. They're gonna have to get
Speaker 1: away from their blueprint the last few years. And this
Speaker 1: is a tough opponent for them to have to do
Speaker 1: that against. Yeah, this is a group that doesn't have
Speaker 1: any big names right now on the defensive line in
Speaker 1: terms of being able to pressure quarterbacks. So then you wonder, okay,
Speaker 1: as zim are going to dial up all of these
Speaker 1: crazy blitz is with Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, Harrison Smith.
Speaker 1: But then if you do that, obviously you leaving that
Speaker 1: back end, which which not only is banged up but
Speaker 1: is also very young. As far as those cornerbacks, you're
Speaker 1: leaving them more vulnerable if you're selling out to get
Speaker 1: to the quarterback. So the Minnesota defense is in a
Speaker 1: tough spot. I will say this about that group though,
Speaker 1: for as much as it has struggled this year, as
Speaker 1: the Vikings have gone one in five, and I believe
Speaker 1: they're ranked in the league in total yards allowed to
Speaker 1: the thirtie in the league and points allowed. They are
Speaker 1: ranked third in the league in third down defense, and
Speaker 1: they are somewhere in the top ten in the league
Speaker 1: in red zone defense. So there are there are areas
Speaker 1: where this defense has risen up and made some plays. Now,
Speaker 1: you wonder, how can you be thirtieth in the league
Speaker 1: in points but third and third downs, It's like, well,
Speaker 1: it's because the defense hasn't gotten the opposing offense and
Speaker 1: enough third downs. So from the Packers point of view,
Speaker 1: you just you have to be on your p's and
Speaker 1: q's if it does get to third down. That's where
Speaker 1: that this defense has been at its best this year,
Speaker 1: and those are going to be the most challenging plays. Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: Mike in you know, not to correct you on this,
Speaker 1: but just to point out to I mean, they don't
Speaker 1: have Anthony Barr right now either, right like he's he's
Speaker 1: been on I R. So they have Eric wil No,
Speaker 1: then that's okay, but Eric Wilson has been the one
Speaker 1: that sort of stepped up. But that sort of illustrates
Speaker 1: what they've been up against to this point of the season.
Speaker 1: It's been a lot of that type of things. And
Speaker 1: you know what, Mike, when you look at it, you
Speaker 1: can go back to some of these Packers teams that
Speaker 1: we've covered when injuries have really depleted them. Two thousandten
Speaker 1: sort of jumps off to me right away. When that happens,
Speaker 1: that's where you start to see the third downs, Wayne,
Speaker 1: That's where you start to see the pass rush numbers. Wayne.
Speaker 1: It starts with the personnel and then it all sort
Speaker 1: of follows from there. So this has been a challenge
Speaker 1: for Minnesota. Again, I'm not saying they can't come out
Speaker 1: and play exceptionally well it's Mike Zimmer. They can do it.
Speaker 1: But for Green Bay, I just think so much of
Speaker 1: it is you built. You got your momentum back, right,
Speaker 1: you got your mojo back last week against Houston. If
Speaker 1: you can sustain that. On paper, this is a good
Speaker 1: opponent to be able to have success against. Well. On
Speaker 1: the defensive side of the ball for the Packers when
Speaker 1: you look when you look at this Vikings Off fense,
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook is expected to be back. Alexander Madison the
Speaker 1: number two running back. He filled in nicely at Seattle
Speaker 1: and cracked the hundred yard barrier there when Cook had
Speaker 1: gone out of the game. You've got Justin Jefferson, who
Speaker 1: is really coming on as a rookie receiver. He's got
Speaker 1: averaging nineteen yards a catch, wasn't much of a factor
Speaker 1: in Week one when he was making his NFL debut. Obviously,
Speaker 1: you have Adam thelan who's approven pro been there, done that.
Speaker 1: He's got seven touchdown catches. Kirk Cousins, though, ten interceptions
Speaker 1: through six games. That that is the biggest bugaboo for
Speaker 1: this Vikings offense has been taking care of the football,
Speaker 1: and that's that's the most important thing Minnesota has to
Speaker 1: get fixed. And if you're the Packers, you're looking to
Speaker 1: continue to disrupt Kirk Cousins, force him into some some inaccurate,
Speaker 1: uncomfortable throws that perhaps you can take advantage of and
Speaker 1: the Packers can maybe get the turnover thing going their
Speaker 1: way on defense. Well, and ultimately you and I can
Speaker 1: see here and talk forever about all the things that
Speaker 1: have kind of worked against Minnesota to this point. But
Speaker 1: when you look at the takeaway numbers, when you look
Speaker 1: at the actual turnover margin, and that's where they've really
Speaker 1: hurt this year because they have been given it up
Speaker 1: too much and they just haven't been taken it away
Speaker 1: enough right now, thirtieth in the league, I think minus
Speaker 1: seven overall and turnover differentials, So that's where those numbers
Speaker 1: show up. Kirk Cousins, when he was at his his
Speaker 1: optimal point in this offense, and even going back to
Speaker 1: his time with Washington when he was in a real groove,
Speaker 1: it was that he was being efficient, he was being
Speaker 1: high percentage with his throws and they're just weren't that
Speaker 1: the turnovers there, he was being safe, protective. You can
Speaker 1: call a game manager, you can call whatever you want,
Speaker 1: but he was given his defense a chance to help
Speaker 1: them win these ball games. That's what's worked against them
Speaker 1: this year. Now. Conversely, if you don't take the ball
Speaker 1: away from them, Minnesota really can still cause a lot
Speaker 1: of havoc, especially if you get Delvin cooked back. I
Speaker 1: think Madison also has shown he can be a bell
Speaker 1: call when they need him to be. But the big
Speaker 1: guy here for them, and it's going to be a
Speaker 1: problem here for the Packers in the next decade to come.
Speaker 1: As justin Jefferson Um, this young man has shown big
Speaker 1: play potential right off the bat, but He can also
Speaker 1: do possession stuff as well. He moves the chains, and
Speaker 1: he's been that compliment that they needed for Adam Feeland here,
Speaker 1: you know, since Stefon Digs has had his up town
Speaker 1: before the trade. And I just think that he's a
Speaker 1: really good compliment for this offense and the vision of
Speaker 1: where they want to get to. And if the Packers
Speaker 1: aren't mindful of where Jefferson is, this guy can really
Speaker 1: make you pay. Well. If Kevin King has to miss
Speaker 1: another game, what are your thoughts on how Mike Petton
Speaker 1: will match up as far as JayR, Alexander, Josh Jackson,
Speaker 1: Adam Feland, justin Jefferson. What are your thoughts there? You know?
Speaker 1: And one thing I'm gonna be interested to do that
Speaker 1: I haven't been able to do to this point of
Speaker 1: the season. Maybe I should have used the bye week
Speaker 1: for this was actually sit down and figure out how
Speaker 1: much they've actually matched him against guys. Uh. To me,
Speaker 1: it still feels like mostly they've played sides this year
Speaker 1: and and they just let him cover his island and
Speaker 1: take the rest from there. This is the type of
Speaker 1: game where you probably still want to do that because
Speaker 1: they can hurt you a number of different ways. But
Speaker 1: Jefferson is a guy that you need to know where
Speaker 1: he's at on the field at all times. If it's
Speaker 1: jayre and you want to go with that and just
Speaker 1: give him that assignment and play off the rest of it.
Speaker 1: I have full confidence in him at this point that
Speaker 1: he can handle that, no problem. If he's not covering him,
Speaker 1: that's where maybe you want to have the two shell.
Speaker 1: You might want to have a safety over top of
Speaker 1: the coverage and be aware of his whereabouts. But that's
Speaker 1: the other issue here is that the more attention you
Speaker 1: give a guy like Jefferson, the more that Adam Feeling
Speaker 1: can hurt you, because he has hurt the Packers in
Speaker 1: the past. The more that a guy like Delvin Cook
Speaker 1: can hurt you as a receiver as a runner if
Speaker 1: you're not minding where he's at on the field. Minnesota
Speaker 1: still has all the tools to be able to play
Speaker 1: with anybody. The game against Seattle showed that. But if
Speaker 1: you're that that's why to me, it's so imperative that
Speaker 1: you take the ball away, and you take the ball
Speaker 1: away early. They're gonna have doubts in their head coming
Speaker 1: off the bye week. You'd be inhuman not too. You've
Speaker 1: got to make sure that you keep those doubts rolling
Speaker 1: there because there is one team that's five and one
Speaker 1: and there's one team that's one in five. It's just
Speaker 1: what the statistics are. You have to go out and
Speaker 1: prove which one that you are. Yeah, I think I
Speaker 1: think Minnesota for as as good a rookie and a
Speaker 1: potential rising star in this league as Justin Jefferson is,
Speaker 1: and as reliable as Adam Thilan is, I think Minnesota
Speaker 1: is going to come into this game wanting to run
Speaker 1: the heck out of the football. You look, you look
Speaker 1: at the Seattle the game at Seattle, even losing Dalvin Cook,
Speaker 1: as I said, Madison ends up going over a hundred
Speaker 1: yards rushing. That's how they're going to protect Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 1: That's how they're gonna set up Kirk Cousins for success.
Speaker 1: Is to pound the ball in the run and try
Speaker 1: to establish that running game as much as possible against
Speaker 1: the Packers. And that's going to be a challenge for
Speaker 1: this Packers run defense, which has stood up pretty well
Speaker 1: again in the in the Atlanta game, in the Houston game,
Speaker 1: the run defense was was absolutely on top of things.
Speaker 1: But we've also seen some leakage in the run game
Speaker 1: in in other instances, and getting back to the injury situation,
Speaker 1: I should mention as well, Tyler Lancaster was back at
Speaker 1: practice from his shoulder injury on the defensive line for
Speaker 1: the Packers. But I I think Minnesota's game plan offensively
Speaker 1: is going to be to to run Dalvin Cook and
Speaker 1: Alexander Madison at this Packers defense as much as they can. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you go back and look Mike before that injury
Speaker 1: that that Cook dealt with there after the the Houston
Speaker 1: game or excuse the Seattle game before that against Houston,
Speaker 1: a hundred thirty rushing yards, two touchdowns. Then against Tennessee,
Speaker 1: who's considered one of the front runners in this in
Speaker 1: this league right now, he had one rushing yards in
Speaker 1: a touchdown. I mean, this guy was going off after
Speaker 1: he signed that extension. And he's a guy that obviously
Speaker 1: the Packers are well familiar with. You know, Adrian Peterson
Speaker 1: for a lot of years gave defensive coordinators and coaches
Speaker 1: a lot of you know, headaches in the NFC North
Speaker 1: and and Cook has all those same you know, you
Speaker 1: know potential as well at years old. Now again we're
Speaker 1: gonna have to see Obviously he's ready to go rip roaring,
Speaker 1: but first game back, you know, do you see him
Speaker 1: play a complimentary role with Madison. That's why they drafted Madison.
Speaker 1: I mean, they wanted to be able to go deep.
Speaker 1: They saw what happened when they lost Cook in the past,
Speaker 1: and now they have two reliable options to turn to,
Speaker 1: if you know, depending on what the workload is or
Speaker 1: what they're looking to get out of Cooking this matchup. Yeah, alright,
Speaker 1: well Week eight in the NFL. I want to get
Speaker 1: your thoughts before we go on some of the other
Speaker 1: games going on. I'll throw these out to you, and uh,
Speaker 1: you can start wherever you'd like. Indianapolis is at Detroit.
Speaker 1: I think that's a very interesting game, not only because
Speaker 1: obviously the Packers are going to be playing both of
Speaker 1: those teams here yet as the season rolls along, but
Speaker 1: it's that age old question with Detroit. Can the Lions
Speaker 1: build on a big victory and start getting something going
Speaker 1: against an indie team that is actually I believe the
Speaker 1: only team above five hundred that the Lions are gonna
Speaker 1: play over the next five weeks. So this is a
Speaker 1: I give credit to an inbox reader for throwing that
Speaker 1: one at me. I read I read that in the
Speaker 1: inbox when I was going through. UM, but I think
Speaker 1: that's an interesting one for Detroit, and obviously Indie is
Speaker 1: a team on the on the Packers schedule coming up.
Speaker 1: San Francisco is at Seattle, a big chip in the NFC.
Speaker 1: West New Orleans is at Chicago, a gut check game
Speaker 1: for the Bears after what happened to them on Monday
Speaker 1: Night football. Chicago's on a short week now after a
Speaker 1: game that did not go well at all for them
Speaker 1: against the Rams. And then the big one in the
Speaker 1: a f C is Pittsburgh at Baltimore in the a
Speaker 1: f C North. So many to talk about. I do
Speaker 1: want to get your thoughts, and I want to close
Speaker 1: on San Francisco in Seattle. So let's just put a
Speaker 1: little pin at one, okay, because there's some things I
Speaker 1: want to talk to you about that matchup. From a
Speaker 1: pure football perspective, if West Hotquitz wasn't going to be
Speaker 1: sitting in the press box covering a game on Sunday,
Speaker 1: I would be sitting in front of my television watching
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh and Baltimore. UM, that's just it's it's good. It's
Speaker 1: gritty football. I saw Adrian name Is tweet about this
Speaker 1: to a Baltimore native and he said, you know, when
Speaker 1: I was a kid, whenever that matchup was on, you
Speaker 1: just wanted to watch it. It's just the the cultures.
Speaker 1: There's something of that special, Mike, because it's getting lost
Speaker 1: in the NFL now because of just all the constant
Speaker 1: turnover with coaches. But when you actually have to established
Speaker 1: football programs, it does matter what er. It doesn't matter
Speaker 1: if you're and I are talking about two thousand and eight,
Speaker 1: we're talking about two thousand twenty. The way that these
Speaker 1: teams play and the mentality, the way that they come together,
Speaker 1: it's galvanized in them and that and it's like the
Speaker 1: perfect sort of dance partner. Uh, that that game is
Speaker 1: going to be exceptional to watch. Well, I believe I
Speaker 1: read somewhere and and don't hold me to this, but
Speaker 1: I thought I read that this is going to be
Speaker 1: the meeting between Mike Tomlin and johnah Harbor, which is
Speaker 1: which is like a new NFL record for two head
Speaker 1: coaches with the same teams going had to had twenty
Speaker 1: five meetings, and obviously number twenty six will be again
Speaker 1: later this season, and who knows, maybe it'll be twenty
Speaker 1: seven come January. Never know. But but let's get away
Speaker 1: from the FC. Let's talk about the Money Conference here
Speaker 1: as it relates to the Green Bay Packers. It's so
Speaker 1: funny seeing New Orleans traveling to Chicago. New Orleans at
Speaker 1: four and to Chicago at five and two. It just
Speaker 1: feels like two teams right now that are sort of
Speaker 1: shifting in different directions. But yet at the same time,
Speaker 1: I still feel like Chicago's are really good, Like they
Speaker 1: have a good matchup here with with the Saints. I
Speaker 1: feel like defensively, uh, them being able to play on
Speaker 1: their own turf, they have what it takes to be
Speaker 1: able to stop this offense. The question is gonna be,
Speaker 1: you know, the Saints now ranked seven in the league
Speaker 1: in total defense, how are they going to match up
Speaker 1: with this Bears offense? And who's going to be able
Speaker 1: to grind out these points? Because to me, this feels
Speaker 1: like one that's gonna just sort of be this knockdown,
Speaker 1: drag out war. Yeah, I get the feeling because you
Speaker 1: know how you know how the Chicago media is and
Speaker 1: how they cover the Bears, and I'm not saying that
Speaker 1: in a in a disparaging way. But it's not just
Speaker 1: the media, but it's the fan base. And you get
Speaker 1: the feeling that if Chicago loses this one at home,
Speaker 1: the five and one start becomes five and three, that
Speaker 1: there's going to be this element of panic in Chicago
Speaker 1: about just what is going on with this team and
Speaker 1: where is it going. This is a really big game,
Speaker 1: I think from a psyche standpoint for the Chicago Bears
Speaker 1: and the Chicago fans and UH and New Orleans, New
Speaker 1: Orleans in that NFC South, we've seen what Tampa Bay
Speaker 1: has done the past couple of weeks. In New Orleans
Speaker 1: has that one leg on Tampa Bay having beaten them
Speaker 1: in Week one, but there will be a rematch down
Speaker 1: the road. In New Orleans is saying, hey, if we
Speaker 1: if we want to win our division, Um, you know
Speaker 1: they've they've got to, you know, keep up with Mr Brady.
Speaker 1: Yeah they do. And in Chicago is we talked about
Speaker 1: with them having five wins and people questioned the vout
Speaker 1: you know the validity of those wins. They do have
Speaker 1: a win over Tampa Bay. I mean whatever you want
Speaker 1: to say. That game and how it ended the Bears
Speaker 1: earned that victory, so as much as it is if
Speaker 1: they lose this game they're five and three, there are
Speaker 1: also six and two. Then suddenly, with two wins over
Speaker 1: the NFC South what looks to be a very competitive
Speaker 1: NFC sell it, so it'll be great to watch. I
Speaker 1: gotta ask you about San Francisco Seattle though, because an
Speaker 1: insider in box somebody asked me, if you're a Packers fan, basically,
Speaker 1: who are you pulling for in this My answer, for
Speaker 1: those who don't read it or just want to hear
Speaker 1: me say it again, is that me personally, I've never
Speaker 1: believed really in momentum in the NFL. Uh. The reason
Speaker 1: I say that is because you can have the they're
Speaker 1: talking from a week to week week week standpoint within
Speaker 1: a particular And the reason I set this up is
Speaker 1: because the Packers are gonna be playing the forty Niners
Speaker 1: the next week. So if they win, are they really
Speaker 1: on a big street going into it? Things changed so
Speaker 1: quickly the Minnesota Vikings end up playing Seattle really tough.
Speaker 1: I just feel like there's so many things that go
Speaker 1: into whether or not a team plays well other than
Speaker 1: the fact what they've done the last few weeks. That
Speaker 1: being said, I feel like, yeah, this would be a
Speaker 1: game where if you're the Packers, you're okay with San
Speaker 1: Francisco beating Seattle because with their only being one spot
Speaker 1: now of one by you want as many teams picking
Speaker 1: up second and third losses here earlier in the season
Speaker 1: as you can. With the understanding that the Packers can
Speaker 1: do something about San Francisco, they can turn them back
Speaker 1: here in what would be seven days Seattle. You just
Speaker 1: got to kind of watch to see how all the
Speaker 1: other pieces fall. Yeah, Seattle is uh, Seattle's coming off.
Speaker 1: It's low and loss of the season, that crazy overtime
Speaker 1: game against Arizona San Francisco. After a rough start, They've
Speaker 1: been dealing with injuries. They're still dealing with some injuries,
Speaker 1: but the forty Niners have definitely righted the ship. They
Speaker 1: may be starting to put that Super Bowl hangover that
Speaker 1: we talked about on a previous episode. It might be
Speaker 1: starting to put that behind him. I this this is
Speaker 1: going I mean just look at remember the Week seventeen
Speaker 1: San Francisco Seattle game last year. I mean literally decided
Speaker 1: by an inch at the goal line on the That's
Speaker 1: that's how these teams play and this is this is
Speaker 1: what it comes down to. So am I wrong on
Speaker 1: that though? Or what do you how do you feel
Speaker 1: it's okay if I'm wrong? No, No, I I totally
Speaker 1: I totally agree with you. Because of the number one
Speaker 1: seed being the only playoff position that gets to buy
Speaker 1: I think you have to be rooting for the team
Speaker 1: that's behind in the standings to beat the team that's
Speaker 1: in front. If if you're a Packers fan, you want
Speaker 1: to see Seattle pick up a second loss, I just
Speaker 1: have taken more of an FBS sort of mentality to
Speaker 1: this now that you just want to see as many
Speaker 1: teams lose as possible and win out or as many
Speaker 1: as you can to be able to claim that one
Speaker 1: spot it's gonna be. I'm not looking forward to this
Speaker 1: playoff formatt, but if this is the way it's going
Speaker 1: to be, the way it's got to be, this is
Speaker 1: the way it is, we'll roll with it all right. Well,
Speaker 1: with that, we'll call it a wrap on this edition
Speaker 1: of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our
Speaker 1: coverage of the team and all of the coverage of
Speaker 1: Sunday's game Packers Vikings at lambeau Field. It'll all be
Speaker 1: for you on packers dot com for West I Am Mike,
Speaker 1: Thank you for tuning in, everybody. We'll see you next time.