Speaker 1: Hi everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford. He is the one that only
Speaker 1: Wes Hodkowits were coming to you here from our studios
Speaker 1: at lambeau Field and West. It's Thursday Night football this
Speaker 1: week Packers and Eagles squaring off at lambeau Field in
Speaker 1: a couple of days. So we need to take a
Speaker 1: look at this Philadelphia Eagles team. And the first thing
Speaker 1: that I see is a one and two record, But
Speaker 1: when you look at the games, this is a team
Speaker 1: that very easily could be three and oh, just like
Speaker 1: Green Bay absolutely in a very uneven statistical breakdown of
Speaker 1: them if you really look at it. I alluded to
Speaker 1: this and some of the other content we've done. I mean,
Speaker 1: when you look at how they're defending the run, but
Speaker 1: they're giving up the yards against the past. You know,
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz and the offense have been kind of beat up,
Speaker 1: but then he's leading these comebacks to make things interesting. Um,
Speaker 1: their run game hasn't been what they wanted to be.
Speaker 1: They've been injured at receiver, but yet they still feel
Speaker 1: dangerous right there, and Sprowls came back. There's just so
Speaker 1: many different little sectors of this offense and defense that
Speaker 1: make them really truly dangerous. And the other thing too,
Speaker 1: that always stands out to me about these Thursday games
Speaker 1: this is about is random in terms of what you're
Speaker 1: gonna get of any other time you're going to see
Speaker 1: on a schedule. Game plans are important, philosophies, momentum is important,
Speaker 1: but a lot of times, as Tremont Williams and some
Speaker 1: of these guys said in the locker room, this week
Speaker 1: comes down who's just a fresher team. That's the battle
Speaker 1: both of these teams are waging right now with the
Speaker 1: way they're approaching their practice schedule both last week and
Speaker 1: into this week. And you know, to some extent there's
Speaker 1: some randomness to this, but the Packers are trying to
Speaker 1: dot their eyes and cross their teas and hope that,
Speaker 1: you know, they can be the healthier, more productive team
Speaker 1: on Thursday night. Yeah. Well, the Ells all season long,
Speaker 1: through these first three games, they've had a hard time
Speaker 1: getting out of the gates, so to speak. You look
Speaker 1: at their score by quarters, they've been outscored fifty to
Speaker 1: twenty three in the first half of games, but they've
Speaker 1: outscored their opponents to seven in the third quarters. So
Speaker 1: they've been a team that comes out of the locker
Speaker 1: room at halftime. I think they've been down in every
Speaker 1: game at half time. If I'm not mistakes, they've been
Speaker 1: down in every game, but they come out of the
Speaker 1: locker room at halftime and make their charge at you.
Speaker 1: And it was enough to beat Washington in Week one
Speaker 1: with the big second half comeback. They fell short against
Speaker 1: the Atlanta Falcons and the Detroit Lions, but had opportunities
Speaker 1: right in the final moments of both of those games
Speaker 1: with big pass plays from Carson Wentz and the ball
Speaker 1: slipping through the receiver's hands. And that's why I say
Speaker 1: this team, this team is so close to being three
Speaker 1: and oh. And this is where this is where I
Speaker 1: consider a team dangerous. And I know the Philadelphia Eagles
Speaker 1: are banged up on defense, They're dealing with a lot
Speaker 1: more injuries than even the Packers are. But this is
Speaker 1: a team that a lot of people predicted would be
Speaker 1: right in the mix all season long in the NFC
Speaker 1: playoff picture. They do have a lot of talent on
Speaker 1: the roster, and they have players obviously who just a
Speaker 1: couple of years ago went through a Super Bowl run
Speaker 1: when a team like that is is one and two
Speaker 1: and looking to avoid being one and three at the
Speaker 1: quarter pole, which would be a tough spot to come
Speaker 1: back from. This is a team you gotta watch out for,
Speaker 1: no doubt about it. And it's funny too you're mentioning
Speaker 1: those games where they could have been three. No, you
Speaker 1: could probably argue that the worst game they've had this
Speaker 1: year is the one that they won against Washington right
Speaker 1: out of the gates, with how slow they started in
Speaker 1: the comeback they had to mount. I thought they played
Speaker 1: Atlanta really tough, especially given the circumstances with their personnel.
Speaker 1: Wentz had to go out Josh McCown, who was retired
Speaker 1: like a month ago. Well he's in that quarterback and
Speaker 1: that was on the road in a primetime exactly. We
Speaker 1: know what that's like in that stadium with how difficult
Speaker 1: it can be there. But to Sean Jackson has been
Speaker 1: beat up. They lose Ronald Darby to the hamstring this
Speaker 1: past weekend. So you know, Doug Peterson, we haven't had
Speaker 1: a chance to talk to him yet, but I'm really
Speaker 1: interested to hear his thoughts on exactly how they're approaching
Speaker 1: this week and and just trying to get them as
Speaker 1: themselves as healthy as possible. Because the other thing that's
Speaker 1: very interesting about them defensively, as I mentioned their second
Speaker 1: A league against the run, but they've given up the
Speaker 1: fourth most amount of yardage and you know they've been
Speaker 1: beat up in the secondary. So exactly how they're able
Speaker 1: to respond to those conditions, it's gonna be really you know,
Speaker 1: I think that's gonna be the biggest thing with who's
Speaker 1: gonna end up prevailing in this contest, And for the
Speaker 1: Packers perspective, it's going to be defending the run. You know,
Speaker 1: they've they've given up some yards the last two weeks
Speaker 1: to their credit, outside of the seventy five yard or
Speaker 1: to Delvin Cook. They haven't given up a lot of
Speaker 1: game breakers, but guys have consistently moved the ball against them.
Speaker 1: Now you're gonna see Miles Sanders, You're gonna see Jordan
Speaker 1: Howard who has a history against Green Bay, and then
Speaker 1: you got the scat back there and Darren Sproles who
Speaker 1: has been doing it for twelve thirteen years now. So
Speaker 1: even though they are banged up, the point I'm trying
Speaker 1: to illustrate his Carson Wentz is enough of a magician.
Speaker 1: Easy for me to say magician that there's still sometimes
Speaker 1: able to pull a rabbed of their hat. And Doug
Speaker 1: Peterson's as creative as they come in terms of offensive
Speaker 1: play callers. Yeah. Well, a couple of years ago when
Speaker 1: Wentz really came into his own, I guess I would say.
Speaker 1: And unfortunately for him, he wasn't able to lead the
Speaker 1: Eagles on that playoff run, but he was potentially headed
Speaker 1: to an m v P Award that year. If he
Speaker 1: hadn't blown out his knee, he might have he might
Speaker 1: have won the m v P. But the thing that's
Speaker 1: always struck me about him is he has he has
Speaker 1: the mobility to get away from the past rush and
Speaker 1: make plays on the run, but when he is in
Speaker 1: the pocket, he's almost like a Ben Roethlisberg, and that
Speaker 1: he's tough to bring down. I mean this this this
Speaker 1: is a quarterback, you know, a young guy. Obviously it
Speaker 1: helps to be in his early twenties like he is
Speaker 1: to be able to play like this. But uh um,
Speaker 1: but this is just a tough stimmer at quarterback, and
Speaker 1: and they are dealing with injuries. That receiver you mentioned,
Speaker 1: DeShawn Jackson, Alshon Jeffrey has been out, so they've been
Speaker 1: relying on Nelson Agailor and the tight end Zach Ertz
Speaker 1: and Arts as a guy, I think you could be
Speaker 1: a tough matchup here. But Carson Wentz I tell you,
Speaker 1: I've oh, I've been impressed with him since he came
Speaker 1: into the league, and he's just a guy that strikes me.
Speaker 1: I don't care what defense he's going against, and the
Speaker 1: Packers are playing really good defense right now, but he's
Speaker 1: the kind of guy who's capable of a three and
Speaker 1: fifty yard, three touchdown game anytime because he's just got
Speaker 1: that kind of talent. Yeah, and that I think that's
Speaker 1: really the truest sign of an elite quarterback in this
Speaker 1: league is if you can win when maybe your weapons
Speaker 1: aren't what they need to be. You think of two
Speaker 1: thousand and fifteen with Aaron Rodgers and the run they
Speaker 1: got on, and you're playing a playoff game with James Jones,
Speaker 1: Jeff Janis and Jared Aberdare the top three that you
Speaker 1: were thinking you were gonna have at the top the
Speaker 1: beginning of the two thousand fifteen season. You know, Wentz
Speaker 1: is in a pretty predictive similar spot right now. You
Speaker 1: look at the injury report, they estimated that Elshan Jeffrey
Speaker 1: to be limited with the calf. Deshaun Jackson still a
Speaker 1: d MP, looks like he might be a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks away. Zach Ertz is the guy. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: he hasn't been off to that that fire you know,
Speaker 1: fast start that he was last year when he had
Speaker 1: over a thousand yards or whatever the final stats were.
Speaker 1: But he's a guy that they are going to threaten
Speaker 1: in the middle of the field with Nelson. Aghilar has
Speaker 1: been up and down throughout his career these four seasons.
Speaker 1: We saw it in two thousand and sixteen. I think
Speaker 1: he was kind of in the doghouse a little bit
Speaker 1: going into that game in Philadelphia, but he's re emerged.
Speaker 1: He he was able to kind of bring his game
Speaker 1: back together and be the player they thought he could
Speaker 1: be when I believe he was a first round pick
Speaker 1: for them a number of years ago. So for once
Speaker 1: his perspective, you need you need to have guys you're
Speaker 1: throwing too, you need to be able to find playmakers
Speaker 1: on the field. But his ability to work off script
Speaker 1: and make things happen, it's one of the reasons why
Speaker 1: Philadelphia has been able to play these close games the
Speaker 1: last few weeks when maybe personnel wise, everything wasn't really
Speaker 1: working in their favor. Yeah, And what jumps out to
Speaker 1: me on the defensive side of the ball for the
Speaker 1: Eagles when I think about you think about that defense
Speaker 1: they had when Nick Foles took over at quarterback and
Speaker 1: they made the Super Bowl run. To see that this defense,
Speaker 1: if I was reading the stat sheet right, they only
Speaker 1: have two sacks and I believe three takeaways, yes, three three,
Speaker 1: three takeaways through the first three games. That's that's almost stunning.
Speaker 1: Much like we're talking about the Vic Fangio defense last
Speaker 1: week with the Broncos, and that defense still doesn't have
Speaker 1: any sacks or takeaways because Packers did an outstanding job
Speaker 1: protecting Aaron Rodgers, and Aaron Rodgers did an outstanding job
Speaker 1: protecting the football. But this is this is an Eagles defense.
Speaker 1: When you're talking about Fletcher Cox and some of these
Speaker 1: pass rushers, Brandon Graham, guys like that that they have, Boy,
Speaker 1: you would think you would think they're ready to bust
Speaker 1: out in some way. Two sacks and three takeaways in
Speaker 1: three weeks is not what they're expecting out of this unit.
Speaker 1: Fletcher Cox, his quiet start is probably I don't want
Speaker 1: to see the most concerning but alarming for this defense.
Speaker 1: I mean they need at that position. It's gonna happen
Speaker 1: that you're gonna go through laws. They just can't expect,
Speaker 1: you know, defensive tackles to just routinely put up a
Speaker 1: sack every game. He's a big player though, but three tackles,
Speaker 1: no sacks here through the first three for them, they
Speaker 1: need more from that spot because if you really look
Speaker 1: at it, kind of like the Packers were last year,
Speaker 1: little bit, that's where their pressure actually kind of starts
Speaker 1: is inside and then they work to their to their ends.
Speaker 1: But yeah, trying to get more pressure there is going
Speaker 1: to be a big thing. And as I said before,
Speaker 1: I mean with the secondary they only have three picks.
Speaker 1: They're sort of working through some new things. You know,
Speaker 1: Andrewson Dajo now plays in that secondary. To get back
Speaker 1: to the defensive tackles, Tim Journ again has been out
Speaker 1: with the foot, so again working through some stuff early
Speaker 1: on here, and then also trying to see you know,
Speaker 1: Brandon Graham now in this tenth season, you know where
Speaker 1: is he at at this point of things. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of questions that they have to answer. But as
Speaker 1: you and I both know, the defensive coordinator there, Jim Schwartz,
Speaker 1: has been entrenched there for a number of years, incredibly
Speaker 1: creative with what he brings to the table rest of
Speaker 1: play caller on defense, no question about it. Yeah, So
Speaker 1: all those things kind of work in their favorite and
Speaker 1: they're always you know, there is randomness to these matchups.
Speaker 1: So this is a situation where if you don't really
Speaker 1: stay up on your keys, you know, that's where Fletcher
Speaker 1: Cox starts to make that impact. So the Packers aren't
Speaker 1: taking these guys lightly, regardless of what the records are. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I want to make one or refer to one element
Speaker 1: on special teams here too as well, because you made
Speaker 1: reference yesterday to the fact that the Packers really weren't
Speaker 1: able to show anything with the kickoff return game and
Speaker 1: the new guy Traymont Smith because of Brandon McManus's leg.
Speaker 1: But the Detroit Lions ran a kickoff back a hundred
Speaker 1: yards for a touchdown against these guys. And this is
Speaker 1: what's always interesting to me because when something like this happens,
Speaker 1: it's like, Okay, you know, how how much is Sean Meninge,
Speaker 1: the Packers special teams coordinator, what's he looking at on
Speaker 1: the film and maybe what they can take advantage of
Speaker 1: or is it the fact that because they gave up
Speaker 1: a hundred yard kickoff or turn, they're going to get
Speaker 1: it short up. Now, whatever the weakness was, it cost him.
Speaker 1: It essentially cost him a game and giving up a
Speaker 1: special teams touched on when you end up losing by
Speaker 1: three points and uh, you know so I don't know.
Speaker 1: I do know that that if Traymont Smith gets an
Speaker 1: opportunity here, um, I think Menea will probably let him
Speaker 1: take a shot, you know, not if he catches one,
Speaker 1: you know, say two yards three yards in the end zone,
Speaker 1: it's like, okay, let's let's see if these guys can
Speaker 1: cover or not. And I think, honestly, Mike, it usually
Speaker 1: goes one way or the other. It isn't just okay,
Speaker 1: you know, they you're just routine, your average, you're on
Speaker 1: the line. If you give up a return like that,
Speaker 1: typically it ends up being okay, you really get everybody
Speaker 1: together and pull that unit and re emphasize some things,
Speaker 1: or it's sometimes a red herring for what is going
Speaker 1: to happen with it. I think back, honestly too, when
Speaker 1: the Packers gave up that kickoff return against Indianapolis a
Speaker 1: number of years ago. I'm not trying to paint that
Speaker 1: is that was sort of the you know well, I mean,
Speaker 1: in some extent it was sort of the the beginning
Speaker 1: of the end for that in it that season, they
Speaker 1: just never were really able to be consistent enough, and
Speaker 1: then it kind of leaked over into a couple more seasons.
Speaker 1: So kickoff returns are so important right now in this
Speaker 1: version of the NFL because you don't get as many
Speaker 1: attempts as you used to, as many bites at the apple, right,
Speaker 1: the opportunities are rare because of the touch back. And
Speaker 1: it's on both sides, Mike. It's the kickoff returners making
Speaker 1: the most of those chances, and it's the coverage units
Speaker 1: when you don't have all of those reps making sure
Speaker 1: that you stay in your lanes and you find ways
Speaker 1: to contain the returner when the ball does come out. Yeah,
Speaker 1: interesting story there, It's like, and why I've always remembered this,
Speaker 1: I don't know. But back in the nineties, the Wisconsin
Speaker 1: Badgers had a kicker, John Hall, who just for four
Speaker 1: years he booted every single kickoff, like into the stands.
Speaker 1: You know, for four years the Wisconsin Badgers kickoff return
Speaker 1: team almost never had to tackle or cover anybody. First
Speaker 1: game after John Hall had graduated and moved on to
Speaker 1: the NFL, the opening kickoff of the season, and I
Speaker 1: believe it was Syracuse runs it back for a touchdown
Speaker 1: against Wisconsin. I mean, that's but you know, that's an
Speaker 1: old story. But it's the example of when you don't
Speaker 1: when you're not getting the reps in game, sometimes you
Speaker 1: just never know what's going to happen. And and kickoff returns,
Speaker 1: especially early in the season, are really sporadic because when
Speaker 1: the weather is good, the ball is flying and there
Speaker 1: are a lot more touchbacks. And then you get later
Speaker 1: in the season and perhaps there will be more chances
Speaker 1: down the road. And honestly, I'm really intrigued to watch
Speaker 1: Trey Smith's philosophy with what he likes to do, because
Speaker 1: he brought out thirty three kickoffs last year and that
Speaker 1: that's a pretty big number for two thousand and eighteen
Speaker 1: in the NFL, averaging two per game over if you
Speaker 1: if you count that, what is he looking for? What
Speaker 1: is Sean manningat comfortable with because even though we're three
Speaker 1: games into this yet, we've really yet to see anything
Speaker 1: from the returners. Um. And I don't mean that in
Speaker 1: terms of like being disparaging to you know, the capabilities
Speaker 1: of them, just we just haven't seen it yet. There
Speaker 1: haven't been many kickoff returns that have come out, there
Speaker 1: haven't been very many punt returns yet. All things that
Speaker 1: are going to be you know, maybe potentially on display
Speaker 1: lambou Field on third. Yeah. Well, I want to get
Speaker 1: back to a couple of things with regards to the
Speaker 1: Week three results in the NFL, because there was one
Speaker 1: development that can be very important to the NFC as
Speaker 1: a whole and to how things will potentially impact the
Speaker 1: packers down the road. And what I'm talking about is
Speaker 1: the New Orleans Saints, with Teddy Bridgewater as their backup
Speaker 1: quarterback now their starter for the next five to six
Speaker 1: weeks whatever it's going to be, going into Century Link
Speaker 1: Field and beating a two and oh Seahawks team. Um,
Speaker 1: this is this is potentially a really key development here
Speaker 1: in the NFC playoff picture because if if Teddy Bridgewater
Speaker 1: can do what the Saints are hoping and play like
Speaker 1: he did against Seattle on the road. This New Orleans
Speaker 1: Saints team could really be something when it gets Drew
Speaker 1: Brees back well. And here's the thing that really stood
Speaker 1: out about that game is that Russell Wilson didn't make
Speaker 1: many mistakes. They did lose a fumble from Chris Carson,
Speaker 1: but you know, he played pretty relatively flawless football to
Speaker 1: keep his team in that game and you know, try
Speaker 1: to get a big victory at home. Teddy Bridgewater didn't
Speaker 1: blank he you know, as a backup quarterback, I don't
Speaker 1: care who you are. You could have been Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: in two thousand six or you could be Teddy Bridgewater.
Speaker 1: Now that is a difficult spot to be thrown into.
Speaker 1: You look at Mason Rudolph in his first start with Pittsburgh,
Speaker 1: has a pick, they lose the football game, I mean
Speaker 1: just didn't go their way that day. Bridgewater did exactly
Speaker 1: what he needed to do to steer that offense. Because
Speaker 1: there are a lot of playmakers there. When you look
Speaker 1: at Alvin Kamara and certainly Michael Thomas, that the multitude
Speaker 1: of weapons he has to work with our ample. So
Speaker 1: his ability to step back into that saddle. He's played
Speaker 1: a lot of football He started a lot of games
Speaker 1: in this league already, but he's gone through a lot
Speaker 1: over the last two and a half years. And this
Speaker 1: is a guy. Not to interrupt you, sorry, but this
Speaker 1: is a guy who would have a playoff victory or
Speaker 1: at least one playoff victory on his resume if not
Speaker 1: for Blair all. You know, duck hooking the twenty seven
Speaker 1: yard or on the frozen University of Minnesota field there
Speaker 1: against ironically Seattle, but uh but yeah, Bridgewater. Before everything
Speaker 1: happened with his knee, this was a guy whose arrow
Speaker 1: was clearly pointing up in this league. And you gotta
Speaker 1: remember to Mike. New Orleans has invested a lot into
Speaker 1: him over the last two years. They traded I believe
Speaker 1: a third round pick to the Jets, who had signed
Speaker 1: him as an unrestricted free agent. You don't see that
Speaker 1: very often. Never played for the Jets in a regular
Speaker 1: season contest, he ends up coming over and then they
Speaker 1: go and resign him again this offseason. I don't know
Speaker 1: how many millions have been invested into him at this point,
Speaker 1: but New Orleans sees a lot in him. Sean Payton
Speaker 1: sees a lot in him, and the Saints do have
Speaker 1: a question whether it's tomorrow, next year, or in four
Speaker 1: years from now where they're going to have to replace
Speaker 1: Drew Brees. What a great audition for him these next
Speaker 1: couple of weeks with the weapons that they have in
Speaker 1: New Orleans, reminding everybody that, Okay, even if Drew Brees
Speaker 1: isn't on the field, this is a different team right now.
Speaker 1: We're a contending team and we feel cough in the
Speaker 1: backup quarterback that we have. Yeah. Well, in looking at
Speaker 1: what happened on Monday night football in the Nation's Capital,
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears went to Washington, jumped out to a
Speaker 1: twenty eight to nothing lead, and then held on from there.
Speaker 1: At the bottom line, West is the NFC North. Right
Speaker 1: now you have the three and o Packers, the two
Speaker 1: oh and one Lions, and then the Vikings and the
Speaker 1: Bears are both two and one and tied for last
Speaker 1: place with two and one records, and those two teams
Speaker 1: are playing each other. I believe this coming Sunday, So
Speaker 1: either the pack sorry, either the Vikings or the Bears
Speaker 1: will be two and two after this week. But but
Speaker 1: the NFC North showing up strong here in the month
Speaker 1: of September, I don't know how many times I've said
Speaker 1: it on scripted over the last three and a half years,
Speaker 1: it's still to me the most criminally underrated division in
Speaker 1: football because I think so many people see the turnover
Speaker 1: at times the last three years with it in terms
Speaker 1: of who's been the front runner in it. Certainly you
Speaker 1: haven't had a team since two thousand and ten win
Speaker 1: a championship about of it. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: I think people got to start paying attention to how
Speaker 1: many wild cards teams this division has produced over the
Speaker 1: last five or six years, and it's been every single one,
Speaker 1: every permutation that you have from this division in terms
Speaker 1: of the combinations that have went I truly believe, and
Speaker 1: again we're gonna see how all the shuffles out. The
Speaker 1: NFC East looks like it could be a real contender.
Speaker 1: But I think there is a chance that this division
Speaker 1: produces three playoff teams. I really do think there is
Speaker 1: that possibility. Because when you start a season like this, Mike,
Speaker 1: and you take care of business in your your you know,
Speaker 1: interconference games, your a f C games, you know there's
Speaker 1: a certain amount you're gonna have to lose within the
Speaker 1: division theoretically, but you know everybody's staying right on this
Speaker 1: and they've all responded. Chicago got punched in the face
Speaker 1: right away off the bat. They were at home. We
Speaker 1: saw what that atmosphere was like, people are flying high.
Speaker 1: They had to mount a rally after that. They have.
Speaker 1: Minnesota did what they had to do against a bad
Speaker 1: team to come back and win that football game in
Speaker 1: Detroit after what could have been just a total gut
Speaker 1: wrenching tie where they lose that lead against Detroit. Yeah,
Speaker 1: against Arizona has responded so in in all those regards,
Speaker 1: I just think you're seeing what you need to see
Speaker 1: from these teams at this juncture, the season of maturity
Speaker 1: inability to respond to some adversity. Yeah. I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: really interested to see how things are going to play
Speaker 1: out in this division as we go along. I'm already
Speaker 1: being asked in the Insider inbox with the Vikings and
Speaker 1: the Bears playing each other this week, Okay, as a
Speaker 1: Packers fan, like who do you who do you root for? Like,
Speaker 1: you know, who do you want to win? Who do
Speaker 1: you want to lose? I guess my take at this point,
Speaker 1: the way things look right now, only three weeks in,
Speaker 1: I have to believe the best scenario for the Packers
Speaker 1: is for the Vikings and the Bears to split their
Speaker 1: two games. So that's kind of the way I see
Speaker 1: it right now. So if that's the case, then you
Speaker 1: kind of just hope for the home team to win,
Speaker 1: because the best odds for a split is for just
Speaker 1: the home teams to hold serve and and there isn't
Speaker 1: as big of a chance for a sweep in that series.
Speaker 1: But in another five or six weeks we might be
Speaker 1: we might be singing a different tune. As far as
Speaker 1: how you want this to go, I have a completely
Speaker 1: different theory. I think you need the Minnesota Vikings to
Speaker 1: lose as many games as possible. It doesn't matter what
Speaker 1: happens with Chicago because Green Bay Packers have to go
Speaker 1: to U. S. Bank Stadium in Week sixteen. If that
Speaker 1: is a playoff atmosphere, if that's something that where division
Speaker 1: at ramifications, playoff implications are all out there, it's going
Speaker 1: to be rocking. The Packers control their own destinies some
Speaker 1: extent and that they welcome Chicago to Green Bay in
Speaker 1: Week fifteen. So for I hadn't thought about it from
Speaker 1: that perspective that the because I've seen these questions with
Speaker 1: the remaining games the Packers have. You're right, the one
Speaker 1: is at home, the other is on the road against
Speaker 1: those two teams. If I'm if I'm a Packers fan,
Speaker 1: if I'm following this thing, I want Minnesota be completely demoralized.
Speaker 1: I don't want them having any hope going in December, because, honestly, Mike,
Speaker 1: we know what it's like to play there when the
Speaker 1: games aren't with playoff implications, right, And the bottom bottom
Speaker 1: line is the Packers are oh and three in that building.
Speaker 1: And yes, that game is a long ways down the road.
Speaker 1: We're already talking about it too much, but we already
Speaker 1: get the sense that that's going to be a big
Speaker 1: game and the Packers haven't one there. The Packers one
Speaker 1: in Chicago they won against Minnesota and Green Bay. They
Speaker 1: get a chance to get that other one back against
Speaker 1: Chicago at home, that Minnesota game, Mike, you know what
Speaker 1: that's always like there. So that's my perspective on things. No,
Speaker 1: I think that's an interesting take, And certainly with the
Speaker 1: Packers playing on Thursday night and the Vikings and the
Speaker 1: Bears going ahead to head on Sunday, I think a
Speaker 1: lot of Packers fans are going to be watching that ballgame. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: that's the one to check out, all right. Well, with that,
Speaker 1: we'll call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the
Speaker 1: team on Packers dot com. On Twitter, He's at west
Speaker 1: Hod I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account.
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