WEBVTT - #341 Packers Unscripted: Up next

0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:21.079
<v Speaker 1>Hi, everybody. Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.

0:00:21.079 --> 0:00:24.200
<v Speaker 1>I am Mike Spofford, joined as always by the one

0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:26.320
<v Speaker 1>and only West Hodkowitz. Were coming to you here from

0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:29.480
<v Speaker 1>our studios at lambeau Field West. It is Wednesday, and

0:00:29.560 --> 0:00:33.320
<v Speaker 1>that means turn the page day and coming up Monday

0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:36.840
<v Speaker 1>night football at lambeau Field. Next week is the Packers

0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:40.440
<v Speaker 1>hosting the San Francisco forty Niners. So let's break down

0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:42.600
<v Speaker 1>this San Francisco team a little bit. I know, when

0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:45.600
<v Speaker 1>the schedule came out in April, I was really looking

0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:47.760
<v Speaker 1>forward to this game because I thought it would be

0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:51.880
<v Speaker 1>Aaron Rodgers against Jimmy Garoppolo. Obviously that is not the case.

0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:55.520
<v Speaker 1>Jimmy Garoppolo out for the season with a knee injury unfortunately,

0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:59.040
<v Speaker 1>and C. J. Bethard, the former Iowa quarterback, has stepped in.

0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:02.480
<v Speaker 1>What are your impressions at this point as far as

0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:05.440
<v Speaker 1>Bethard running that offense? Yeah, I mean he could throw

0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:07.360
<v Speaker 1>the ball. I think that's the one thing he's really

0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:09.920
<v Speaker 1>shown in three games, two starts this season. Last week

0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:12.800
<v Speaker 1>and that lost to Arizona three nine yards through the air.

0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:15.920
<v Speaker 1>Uh he I actually be honest with you, Mike Um.

0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:19.080
<v Speaker 1>I thought he did some good things for them last season. Ultimately,

0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:21.160
<v Speaker 1>especially after Garoppolo had been in the scheme for a

0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:23.440
<v Speaker 1>little bit, You're like, it needs to be Garoppolo. You

0:01:23.480 --> 0:01:25.360
<v Speaker 1>need to see what you have here before he becomes

0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:28.440
<v Speaker 1>a free agent. But I actually thought it went okay.

0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:31.160
<v Speaker 1>Six ft two fifteen pounds and he's not the biggest

0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:34.880
<v Speaker 1>quarterback you've ever seen, not the most elusive in terms of,

0:01:34.920 --> 0:01:37.480
<v Speaker 1>you know, what he can do outside the pocket. But

0:01:37.560 --> 0:01:39.759
<v Speaker 1>that being said, I mean he has a live arm,

0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:41.760
<v Speaker 1>and he can move the offense, and when you're dealing

0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:44.120
<v Speaker 1>with a backup quarterback, I think those are ultimately the

0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:47.960
<v Speaker 1>intangibles you're looking for, because really there there's a reason

0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:50.880
<v Speaker 1>why those type of guys are not starters. So um,

0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:53.240
<v Speaker 1>he knows Shanahan and the scheme that he runs, he's

0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:55.600
<v Speaker 1>familiar with it, and they they're rolling with him right

0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:57.920
<v Speaker 1>now at quarterback. The big thing is going to be

0:01:57.920 --> 0:01:59.920
<v Speaker 1>that backfield and and if they're gonna have breed to

0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:02.720
<v Speaker 1>available or not. Yeah, the the I was gonna say

0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:05.640
<v Speaker 1>rookie is actually not a rookie. Second year running back

0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:09.320
<v Speaker 1>Matt Brita, Georgia Southern. I believe where he came from.

0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:16.720
<v Speaker 1>Undrafted player, really lively, dynamic looking running back, but sprained

0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:20.320
<v Speaker 1>his ankle against Arizona last week, and the initial reports

0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:23.520
<v Speaker 1>are the ankle sprain is not as bad maybe as

0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:26.799
<v Speaker 1>they initially feared it would be, but his status for

0:02:26.880 --> 0:02:30.120
<v Speaker 1>Monday night's game at lambeau Field very much in question.

0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:32.720
<v Speaker 1>If he can't go, it looks like it would be

0:02:32.800 --> 0:02:37.040
<v Speaker 1>Alfred Morris, the veteran who formerly of Washington, of Dallas,

0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:39.160
<v Speaker 1>and I'm probably missing some other Yeah, you're missing a

0:02:39.160 --> 0:02:42.200
<v Speaker 1>big one, Mike Florida Atlantic. Oh okay, I could do

0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:45.639
<v Speaker 1>a whole show on Alfred Morris. I knew everything about him,

0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:48.760
<v Speaker 1>followed him every single game he played at Florida Atlantic.

0:02:49.200 --> 0:02:52.280
<v Speaker 1>Would ended up being I believe Howard Shellenberger's last season there.

0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:56.360
<v Speaker 1>We don't talk much about. I forgot about that. But

0:02:56.520 --> 0:02:59.560
<v Speaker 1>here's the thing. In all kidding aside, Alfred Morris is

0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:01.920
<v Speaker 1>a guy that remember the first week of August being like,

0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:04.160
<v Speaker 1>how is this guy still a free agent? And I

0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:08.040
<v Speaker 1>get Dallas and there's certainly kind of a stigma attached

0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:09.720
<v Speaker 1>to those running backs. Well, how much is at the

0:03:09.800 --> 0:03:12.280
<v Speaker 1>running back? How much is at the offensive line? At

0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:14.679
<v Speaker 1>least that's how it's been historically. I thought he was

0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:17.080
<v Speaker 1>really effective last year. With all the issues that they

0:03:17.120 --> 0:03:20.320
<v Speaker 1>had and and certainly the suspension and and you know,

0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:22.880
<v Speaker 1>all the off the field stuff trying to swirling around

0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:26.040
<v Speaker 1>with Zeke Elliott, he stepped in and did his job.

0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:28.799
<v Speaker 1>And I when they lost um, I believe it was

0:03:28.880 --> 0:03:31.239
<v Speaker 1>Jerick mckinning right at the beginning of the season. Yeah,

0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:34.160
<v Speaker 1>McKinnon was kind of their big free agent signing coming

0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:37.360
<v Speaker 1>from Minnesota. He was he was the running back receiver

0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:39.760
<v Speaker 1>out of the backfield, all that that they wanted in

0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:42.560
<v Speaker 1>the Shanahan offense. And then they lost him in the preseason.

0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:44.760
<v Speaker 1>He goes down and they go and sign Alfred Morris.

0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:46.440
<v Speaker 1>I thought that was a really smart signing for him.

0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:48.680
<v Speaker 1>It's a good veteran that they can build that running

0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:51.440
<v Speaker 1>back tandem off of. Actually they're leading Russia right now

0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:54.600
<v Speaker 1>with sixty two attempts now. Doesn't have the explosiveness that

0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:57.840
<v Speaker 1>Brida has, but is still a really down in distance

0:03:58.080 --> 0:03:59.880
<v Speaker 1>type of guy that can help you move the chains.

0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:03.320
<v Speaker 1>They have weapons there for me personally, I think in

0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:06.720
<v Speaker 1>two thousand eighteen, their biggest weapon is George Kittle, a

0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:09.120
<v Speaker 1>good solid tight end and I think people are finally

0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:11.560
<v Speaker 1>starting to catch up with and understand that this guy

0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:13.880
<v Speaker 1>not only was a guy that came on late last

0:04:13.880 --> 0:04:16.600
<v Speaker 1>season with Jimmy Garoppolo, but he's had a rapport there

0:04:16.600 --> 0:04:20.520
<v Speaker 1>with Bethre too. So U don't take the lightly. I

0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:23.400
<v Speaker 1>know they lost to Arizona and it certainly raises some

0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:25.760
<v Speaker 1>red flags there because of you know, the slow start

0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:28.479
<v Speaker 1>that the Cardinals have been off too, But they have

0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:31.279
<v Speaker 1>tools to be able to move the football in this offense. Yeah.

0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:33.640
<v Speaker 1>I've watched highlights of a few of their games this

0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:37.680
<v Speaker 1>season against Minnesota, against Detroit, and then this past week

0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:40.560
<v Speaker 1>against Arizona, and if there's one thing that has stood

0:04:40.560 --> 0:04:43.440
<v Speaker 1>out about their offense, it's been that tight end George Kittle. Now,

0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:47.400
<v Speaker 1>the interesting thing, he's not only a downfield threat, but

0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:51.640
<v Speaker 1>he'll he'll take screen passes as well. Bethard Bethard, particularly

0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:54.800
<v Speaker 1>against Arizona, the screen pass for him was really effective,

0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:58.000
<v Speaker 1>throwing to the fullbacks and to the tight ends on screens.

0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:01.680
<v Speaker 1>And Kittle and Bethard were a a pass throwing catching

0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:05.640
<v Speaker 1>combination at Iowa together. They've played together a ton, so

0:05:06.000 --> 0:05:10.320
<v Speaker 1>that's something that becomes He's not only a threat for

0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:13.760
<v Speaker 1>Bethard in this offense, but a security blanket type of

0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:17.119
<v Speaker 1>guy too for a backup quarterback. Now, the biggest problem

0:05:17.160 --> 0:05:20.440
<v Speaker 1>with Bethard has been the turnovers. He's had ball security

0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:25.600
<v Speaker 1>problems in the pocket, He's thrown some interceptions. If Shanahan

0:05:25.680 --> 0:05:28.719
<v Speaker 1>can get him to clean things up in the turnover department,

0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:31.200
<v Speaker 1>I think this offense starts to function a little bit

0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:34.159
<v Speaker 1>more smoothly. But that being said, this Packers defense is

0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:37.040
<v Speaker 1>looking for some turnovers. They've got to take advantage if

0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:39.520
<v Speaker 1>Bethard gives them some opportunities. Monday night. Yeah, you look

0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:42.279
<v Speaker 1>at him right now. Attempts, he has four interceptions. He

0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:46.320
<v Speaker 1>also had two lost fumbles last week and three total

0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:49.400
<v Speaker 1>fumbles on the season. That pairs with last season when

0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:53.479
<v Speaker 1>six and five stars he had six interceptions and two

0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:56.720
<v Speaker 1>fumbles lost. So protecting the football's paramount. We talked about

0:05:56.760 --> 0:05:59.560
<v Speaker 1>it on yesterday's show with Mike McCarthy and the emphasis

0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:02.000
<v Speaker 1>their play sing on it. The interesting thing is, though,

0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:04.480
<v Speaker 1>going back to his connection with Kittle, Kittle was sort

0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:07.000
<v Speaker 1>of a late riser at Iowa. I mean, I don't

0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:08.920
<v Speaker 1>think people really caught onto him. He end up being

0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:10.720
<v Speaker 1>a fifth round pick. I don't even think people from

0:06:10.760 --> 0:06:13.400
<v Speaker 1>Wisconsin realized that this kid was actually born in Madison,

0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:15.600
<v Speaker 1>spent most of his life, I believe in Iowa, but

0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:18.840
<v Speaker 1>actually was born in Madison. Six ft four, two seven pounds.

0:06:19.279 --> 0:06:21.840
<v Speaker 1>He has everything you look for. So as far as

0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:24.400
<v Speaker 1>beth are getting back comfortable in the offense, that's been

0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:27.479
<v Speaker 1>his security blanket. He also has pr Garzon. The Packers

0:06:27.480 --> 0:06:29.520
<v Speaker 1>are familiar with him and what he brings to the

0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:32.480
<v Speaker 1>table certainly, so yeah, he can move the football, but

0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:34.359
<v Speaker 1>ultimately this is the I think the big thing for

0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:36.760
<v Speaker 1>the Packers in this contest is going to be trying

0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:39.679
<v Speaker 1>to take it away and get those momentum changing plays

0:06:39.880 --> 0:06:43.320
<v Speaker 1>well the forts with or without Garoppolo. They've had their

0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:45.960
<v Speaker 1>share of games this year where they've put up some points,

0:06:46.000 --> 0:06:48.680
<v Speaker 1>but they've also given up a ton of points. Now,

0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:52.880
<v Speaker 1>it's interesting West because from a yardage standpoint, their defensive

0:06:53.120 --> 0:06:56.040
<v Speaker 1>rankings are not all that bad. They're kind of middle

0:06:56.080 --> 0:07:00.040
<v Speaker 1>of the road. But as far as points allowed, I

0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:03.000
<v Speaker 1>believe every opponent has scored at least twenty four points

0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:05.960
<v Speaker 1>and and four of their five opponents have scored twenty

0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:09.120
<v Speaker 1>seven or more. So they've had a problem keeping teams

0:07:09.120 --> 0:07:10.920
<v Speaker 1>off the board. And I know, I think they've had

0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:13.680
<v Speaker 1>some of the turnovers they've had offensively have led to

0:07:14.040 --> 0:07:16.760
<v Speaker 1>either immediate scores or short fields and those kinds of

0:07:16.800 --> 0:07:20.360
<v Speaker 1>things that that all teams deal with. But they did

0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:24.240
<v Speaker 1>get Richard Sherman back at corner from his injury. He

0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:27.360
<v Speaker 1>was back on the field against Arizona, and uh, I

0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:30.280
<v Speaker 1>tell you what. By all accounts, Richard Sherman has come

0:07:30.280 --> 0:07:33.920
<v Speaker 1>back from that achilles injury that many people last year

0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:37.080
<v Speaker 1>thought that might be the end of Richard Sherman, and

0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:39.720
<v Speaker 1>he's come back and proven to be a pretty darn

0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:42.600
<v Speaker 1>effective cornerback at age thirties, and he's needed to be

0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:46.000
<v Speaker 1>for the San Francisco secretary for the San Francisco defense.

0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:48.640
<v Speaker 1>I mean, the one reality is and it's inescapable. This

0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:53.520
<v Speaker 1>isn't the Vic Fangio defense from six five, six years ago.

0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:56.920
<v Speaker 1>They don't have that kind of veteran sort of tilt

0:07:56.920 --> 0:07:59.320
<v Speaker 1>to it. They don't have the the linebackers that they

0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:02.040
<v Speaker 1>had at that time, more the pass rushers that they had,

0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:04.880
<v Speaker 1>so they've had to kind of stitch things together. Fortner's

0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:06.960
<v Speaker 1>only have one interception this year, and I think when

0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:10.040
<v Speaker 1>you look at the the giveaways that they've had. That's

0:08:10.040 --> 0:08:12.239
<v Speaker 1>where it's hurting them in terms of the takeaway margin.

0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:14.760
<v Speaker 1>But Richard Sherman is still one of the best shutdown

0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:17.000
<v Speaker 1>corners in this league. You have to be mindful of

0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:19.080
<v Speaker 1>where he's at. Certainly him and Aaron Rodgers have had

0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:21.800
<v Speaker 1>some really good battles over the year. Over the years,

0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:23.880
<v Speaker 1>and and seeing exactly how they use him in this

0:08:23.920 --> 0:08:27.000
<v Speaker 1>matchup with a really young secondary overall is going to

0:08:27.040 --> 0:08:28.600
<v Speaker 1>be one of the big telltale signs of who comes

0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:31.040
<v Speaker 1>up victorious. Yeah, one thing I haven't had a chance

0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:34.160
<v Speaker 1>to really zone in on with regards to Sherman because

0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:37.120
<v Speaker 1>he did miss some time already this year with an injury.

0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:39.880
<v Speaker 1>Is he still playing one side of the field like

0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:42.200
<v Speaker 1>he did in Seattle or is he flopping back or

0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:44.720
<v Speaker 1>do you have any sense of how they're employing him. No,

0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:48.080
<v Speaker 1>I don't, And I think that goes along with you know,

0:08:48.320 --> 0:08:51.040
<v Speaker 1>my guess would be and this is just pure speculation.

0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:52.680
<v Speaker 1>People watching this are probably like, I mean, you're gonna

0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:55.440
<v Speaker 1>be kidding me, But I would probably still think his

0:08:55.520 --> 0:08:57.200
<v Speaker 1>home is going to be on the left side. And

0:08:57.600 --> 0:09:00.360
<v Speaker 1>I don't know at age thirty, and maybe he still

0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:02.840
<v Speaker 1>can be that shutdown type corner that that you know,

0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:05.240
<v Speaker 1>you could potentially move around. It seems like Seattle did

0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:07.040
<v Speaker 1>a little bit more of that towards the end, or

0:09:07.040 --> 0:09:09.480
<v Speaker 1>maybe out of necessity, but yeah, later later on. But

0:09:09.520 --> 0:09:12.080
<v Speaker 1>when remember when that legion of Boom was in was

0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:14.400
<v Speaker 1>in its heyday, he was he was lined up on

0:09:14.440 --> 0:09:16.640
<v Speaker 1>that left side and that was that was his spot.

0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:17.880
<v Speaker 1>And you remember that. I think it was what it

0:09:17.920 --> 0:09:19.840
<v Speaker 1>was at the beginning of the fourteen season where the

0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:23.360
<v Speaker 1>package they parked Jordy Nelson on one side, they've had

0:09:23.440 --> 0:09:25.240
<v Speaker 1>Richard Sherman on the other, and it was kind of

0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:28.000
<v Speaker 1>who was going to blink first. The Seahawks just ended

0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:29.719
<v Speaker 1>up basically taking away that side of the field with

0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:32.480
<v Speaker 1>Jared Boykan and obviously ultimately came out on the winning

0:09:32.520 --> 0:09:34.880
<v Speaker 1>side of it. So uh, yeah, he's still is a

0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:36.600
<v Speaker 1>guy that you're gonna to be mindful of. Personally. I'd

0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:38.720
<v Speaker 1>love to see him get some snaps against Davante Adams.

0:09:38.760 --> 0:09:40.840
<v Speaker 1>I think that would be a fun matchup with Adams

0:09:40.880 --> 0:09:43.319
<v Speaker 1>sort of coming on in his career, uh and seeing

0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:45.480
<v Speaker 1>exactly what happens with Sherman now at age thirty. As

0:09:45.520 --> 0:09:47.839
<v Speaker 1>you said, but the biggest thing for this defense now

0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:49.719
<v Speaker 1>Mike is going to be seeing exactly what they can

0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:51.520
<v Speaker 1>offer in terms of the takeaway numbers. I was trying

0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:53.559
<v Speaker 1>to look it up quickly and not having a lot

0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:55.720
<v Speaker 1>of success with it at this time being in terms

0:09:55.720 --> 0:10:00.000
<v Speaker 1>of what they've looked like in with their takeaways. But overall,

0:09:59.880 --> 0:10:01.880
<v Speaker 1>I think ultimately that's what this thing comes down to,

0:10:02.040 --> 0:10:04.000
<v Speaker 1>is who's going to take away the football, Who's gonna

0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:06.839
<v Speaker 1>move the football and win that field position battle. Yeah, well,

0:10:06.880 --> 0:10:12.480
<v Speaker 1>certainly not not the stakes that people expected maybe in

0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:14.559
<v Speaker 1>this game when it first came out on the schedule,

0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:18.400
<v Speaker 1>but it is worth remembering a mid October Monday night

0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:22.320
<v Speaker 1>game back in Packers forty niners at lambeau Field. I

0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:25.240
<v Speaker 1>still remember watching it on TV at the time. Chris

0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:27.760
<v Speaker 1>Jackie ends up winning the game for the Packers with

0:10:27.800 --> 0:10:30.240
<v Speaker 1>a fifty three yard I believe it was fifty three

0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:34.040
<v Speaker 1>yard field goal in overtime to pull out a huge

0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:36.600
<v Speaker 1>Monday night win for Green Bay. Obviously, in ninety six,

0:10:36.640 --> 0:10:39.920
<v Speaker 1>they were on their way to a Super Bowl championship

0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:42.840
<v Speaker 1>that year. Some folks thought if this was gonna be

0:10:42.880 --> 0:10:45.880
<v Speaker 1>Aaron Rodgers and Jimmy Garoppolo and Monday Night in mid October,

0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:48.360
<v Speaker 1>you know, I'm not sure how much we'll we'll see

0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:51.040
<v Speaker 1>the old highlights from that from that ninety six game,

0:10:51.120 --> 0:10:54.439
<v Speaker 1>but it's an important game for the Packers West to

0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:57.000
<v Speaker 1>two and one. You got the bye week coming up

0:10:57.040 --> 0:10:59.600
<v Speaker 1>after that. You absolutely do not want to be below

0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:02.000
<v Speaker 1>five HUD at the bye week. With having four road

0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:05.320
<v Speaker 1>games in five weeks coming up after the bye, Packers

0:11:05.320 --> 0:11:07.440
<v Speaker 1>have to get this one, get on the plus side

0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:10.559
<v Speaker 1>of five as far as the win loss column goes,

0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:13.240
<v Speaker 1>and go from there they do. I mean, it's huge.

0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:15.280
<v Speaker 1>I mean, this is a critical game because not only

0:11:15.360 --> 0:11:17.240
<v Speaker 1>is it important to win your home games, we talked

0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:19.720
<v Speaker 1>about that until we're blue in the face, but it's

0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:21.400
<v Speaker 1>the bye week, so I mean, you're gonna have a

0:11:21.400 --> 0:11:23.080
<v Speaker 1>lot of time to think about it, and you need

0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:25.439
<v Speaker 1>to have some momentum going into that game against the Rams.

0:11:25.480 --> 0:11:27.920
<v Speaker 1>You just do. That's just the reality of this league

0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:30.400
<v Speaker 1>and a team like that what you could potentially do

0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:33.640
<v Speaker 1>to kind of even leap frog yourself into those situations.

0:11:33.880 --> 0:11:35.720
<v Speaker 1>Getting back to the point I was trying to make earlier,

0:11:35.720 --> 0:11:37.080
<v Speaker 1>and I was I was trying to find the regular

0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:40.360
<v Speaker 1>season standings are dead last right now and turn over

0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:43.880
<v Speaker 1>margin minus eight on the season so yeah, trying to

0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:45.800
<v Speaker 1>find a way to take advantage of that because they

0:11:45.800 --> 0:11:49.320
<v Speaker 1>have moved the football their fifteenth and total offense their eleventh,

0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:52.360
<v Speaker 1>and total defense their seventh against the run. They've done

0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:54.480
<v Speaker 1>good things this year. But as we saw last week

0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:57.440
<v Speaker 1>and against Detroit, you can have twice as many offensive

0:11:57.480 --> 0:11:59.280
<v Speaker 1>yards as the other team, but if you don't take

0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:02.120
<v Speaker 1>care of the football and you put them in advantageous situations,

0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:04.120
<v Speaker 1>that's gonna be what changes the tide of the entire

0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:07.160
<v Speaker 1>football game. That is the ultimate thing that you're trying

0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:09.319
<v Speaker 1>to go for. And yeah, if they've been putting the

0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:11.280
<v Speaker 1>ball on the ground, if they've been exposing the football,

0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:15.000
<v Speaker 1>the Packers defense has to take advantage of it. It's imperative. Yeah, this, uh,

0:12:15.080 --> 0:12:19.000
<v Speaker 1>this Packers team needs to get that turnover margin flipped

0:12:19.040 --> 0:12:21.000
<v Speaker 1>the other way. And it's on both sides of the ball.

0:12:21.040 --> 0:12:23.840
<v Speaker 1>It's about the offense protecting it better, special teams for

0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:26.520
<v Speaker 1>that matter, protecting it better. After the the incident with

0:12:26.600 --> 0:12:29.959
<v Speaker 1>the with the punt in Detroit and uh, the defense

0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:33.520
<v Speaker 1>getting some more takeaways. We've seen how Clinton dis obviously

0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:38.040
<v Speaker 1>has three interceptions, but you're always waiting for that moment

0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:40.680
<v Speaker 1>when the turnovers start to come in bunches, because that's

0:12:40.760 --> 0:12:43.040
<v Speaker 1>usually the way it happens in this league. And the

0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:46.800
<v Speaker 1>Packers haven't hit one of those stretches defensively yet, and uh,

0:12:46.880 --> 0:12:49.360
<v Speaker 1>you know they're going to need let's face it, West,

0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:51.480
<v Speaker 1>I mean, with the schedule coming up after the by

0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:54.560
<v Speaker 1>the road games, the opponents that are in those road games,

0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:57.360
<v Speaker 1>the Packers are going to need to start winning the

0:12:57.400 --> 0:13:00.839
<v Speaker 1>turnover battle consistently in order to be able to win

0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:03.560
<v Speaker 1>these games because because quite frankly, the some of the

0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:05.960
<v Speaker 1>expectations on the outside are going to be that the

0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:08.719
<v Speaker 1>Packers are underdogs in some of these road And I'm

0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:10.480
<v Speaker 1>gonna ask you this question, Mike. If I would have

0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:12.600
<v Speaker 1>told you going into week six that the Packers are

0:13:12.600 --> 0:13:16.240
<v Speaker 1>tenth and total offense their fourth and total defense in

0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:19.240
<v Speaker 1>second against the past, you would think that that has

0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:21.240
<v Speaker 1>them in the division lead, right where they want to

0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:23.040
<v Speaker 1>be in the driver's seat, because it shows you that

0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:26.160
<v Speaker 1>defensively you've been able to have some stops and offensively

0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:28.480
<v Speaker 1>you're moving the ball. But the thing is they're tied

0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:30.120
<v Speaker 1>for twenty three right now if minus two in the

0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:32.480
<v Speaker 1>turnover margin. So again, I think this really does come back.

0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:34.520
<v Speaker 1>This is the perfect week for Mike McCarthy to stress

0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:37.000
<v Speaker 1>the fundamentals because it comes back to who's going to

0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:39.520
<v Speaker 1>make less mistakes and you have to be able to

0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:41.959
<v Speaker 1>take advantage of that. And you're back at lambeau Field.

0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:45.280
<v Speaker 1>The Packers, other than maybe what the last fifteen minutes

0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:47.960
<v Speaker 1>of that game against the Vikings, the first twenty of that,

0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:50.880
<v Speaker 1>you know, you know, thirty minutes against Chicago, they've had

0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:55.160
<v Speaker 1>really dominant stretches at home against opposition. So forty Niners

0:13:55.160 --> 0:13:57.520
<v Speaker 1>are coming in there reeling. They lost to potentially the

0:13:57.520 --> 0:13:59.120
<v Speaker 1>worst team in the league if you look at the

0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:02.120
<v Speaker 1>NFL Power Kings, if you will, Packers need to take

0:14:02.120 --> 0:14:04.920
<v Speaker 1>advantage of this. Yeah, well, as we as we move

0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:08.400
<v Speaker 1>ahead here during the week, the Packers, because the Monday

0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:12.079
<v Speaker 1>night game, they've shifted their on field preparation schedule. Normally

0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:15.720
<v Speaker 1>the three practices during the week are Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

0:14:15.720 --> 0:14:19.320
<v Speaker 1>That's been shifted to Thursday, Friday and Sunday. If I

0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:22.600
<v Speaker 1>get my days all straight there um. But what that

0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:25.240
<v Speaker 1>means for us in terms of information is that when

0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:28.960
<v Speaker 1>it comes to Jairo, Alexander Randall, Cobb, Geronimo Alice and

0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:30.960
<v Speaker 1>these players who have been on the injury report and

0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:34.720
<v Speaker 1>missing some time. We won't really know until very late

0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:36.960
<v Speaker 1>in the week just what the status is because of

0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:39.520
<v Speaker 1>everything with the preparation being pushed back. It's a good

0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:42.480
<v Speaker 1>thing that Packers have an extra day here maybe to

0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:44.800
<v Speaker 1>get some of these guys back. Aaron Rodgers, he took

0:14:44.840 --> 0:14:48.600
<v Speaker 1>that that kind of ugly tackle on that scramble early

0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:51.240
<v Speaker 1>in the first quarter against Detroit. Didn't look good. He

0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:53.280
<v Speaker 1>came out of it okay, but he did say, you know,

0:14:53.600 --> 0:14:55.840
<v Speaker 1>he's probably gonna have to continue to wear that knee brace,

0:14:56.240 --> 0:14:58.560
<v Speaker 1>you know, not gonna be able to shake that. So

0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:01.000
<v Speaker 1>an extra day here concern helped the Packers, and then

0:15:01.000 --> 0:15:03.280
<v Speaker 1>you have the bye week afterward. But we'll find out

0:15:03.840 --> 0:15:07.040
<v Speaker 1>as this week wraps up later on just just where

0:15:07.080 --> 0:15:09.000
<v Speaker 1>the Packers are with their injury situation. And there's a

0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:11.760
<v Speaker 1>lot to figure out. The biggest thing I took away

0:15:11.760 --> 0:15:14.680
<v Speaker 1>from Mike McCarthy's uh you know what at the beginning

0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:18.160
<v Speaker 1>of the week um was him mentioning that jayro Alexander

0:15:18.680 --> 0:15:20.560
<v Speaker 1>uh probably does have a good chance to play in

0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:24.320
<v Speaker 1>this game. It appears like Kevin King came out okay

0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:26.680
<v Speaker 1>from the chin injury. There was no uh you know,

0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:29.120
<v Speaker 1>setback with the growing It just strictly was him getting

0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:31.960
<v Speaker 1>stepped on with the space, which is just devastating. I

0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:34.960
<v Speaker 1>know you've had some pretty gnarly baseball injuries in the past.

0:15:35.280 --> 0:15:37.680
<v Speaker 1>I haven't had in a situation where someone stepped on

0:15:37.720 --> 0:15:40.200
<v Speaker 1>me with a cleat before, let alone my face, so

0:15:40.480 --> 0:15:43.080
<v Speaker 1>you can only imagine how that felt. But Packers in

0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:45.280
<v Speaker 1>that regard are getting healthier. The big question is going

0:15:45.360 --> 0:15:47.400
<v Speaker 1>to be where they are they're at with their receiving corp.

0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:50.280
<v Speaker 1>Can Randall Cobb potentially be back? Where's Geroni Wayles and

0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:53.160
<v Speaker 1>the concussion protocol? They saw what their young receivers can do.

0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:55.720
<v Speaker 1>But the Packers, I mean, where they want to go

0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:58.120
<v Speaker 1>with this offense is those veterans that have been working

0:15:58.120 --> 0:15:59.720
<v Speaker 1>with Aaron Rodgers here for the last three or four

0:15:59.760 --> 0:16:02.240
<v Speaker 1>or five six seasons. All right, well, we're real quickly

0:16:02.320 --> 0:16:04.760
<v Speaker 1>west before we go some sponsor business here at home

0:16:04.840 --> 0:16:06.560
<v Speaker 1>or here in the stands. We all know that Green

0:16:06.600 --> 0:16:08.680
<v Speaker 1>Bay fans give it their all and that takes a

0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:11.240
<v Speaker 1>lot of energy. So grab a warm bowl of Campbell's

0:16:11.280 --> 0:16:13.960
<v Speaker 1>Chunky soup. It's meaty goodness fuels the greatness of Packers

0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:17.400
<v Speaker 1>fans everywhere. Try the delicious classic chicken noodle soup. Just

0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:20.440
<v Speaker 1>visit your local supermarket and ask for Campbell's Chunky Soup,

0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:23.720
<v Speaker 1>official sup partner of the Green Bay Packers. With that,

0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:25.400
<v Speaker 1>I think we'll call it a wrap on this edition

0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:27.440
<v Speaker 1>of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our

0:16:27.480 --> 0:16:30.280
<v Speaker 1>coverage of the team on Packers dot com on Twitter,

0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:32.680
<v Speaker 1>He's at west Hot, I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers

0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:35.320
<v Speaker 1>for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody, See

0:16:35.360 --> 0:16:35.920
<v Speaker 1>you next time.