WEBVTT - #754 Packers Unscripted: Damaging loss 0:00:07.440 --> 0:00:10.719 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:10.720 --> 0:00:13.760 Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always 0:00:13.760 --> 0:00:16.760 by my trusted colleague Weston Hodkowitz. We're coming to you 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:19.800 here from our studios at Lambeufield and Wes unfortunately to 0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:23.279 talk about another tough loss for the Green Bay Packers, 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:27.120 this one thirty four to twenty against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 0:00:27.640 --> 0:00:29.760 And we'll get into some of the specifics in a minute, 0:00:29.760 --> 0:00:32.760 but big picture, two weeks ago, the Packers were six 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:35.600 and six and things were looking pretty good in terms 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:39.400 of the teams that you had beaten, what was on 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:42.360 your schedule, and the opportunity you were going to have 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:45.600 to keep yourself in the middle of this playoff race. 0:00:46.240 --> 0:00:47.960 And not that the Packers are out of it, but 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:52.639 these last two games, two huge missed opportunities that now 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:55.400 have the Packers very much on the outside looking in well. 0:00:55.400 --> 0:00:57.639 And it's just such a difficult thing, Mike, because when 0:00:57.680 --> 0:01:00.560 you go into Detroit with in I understand the Lions, 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:02.480 they weren't playing their best ball at that point, but 0:01:03.240 --> 0:01:06.959 you go into Detroit and you impose your will on 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:09.320 the Lions the way you did and then you come 0:01:09.360 --> 0:01:11.919 home in a big Sunday night football matchup against Kansas 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:15.040 City and you're six and six. I think the enthusiasm 0:01:15.120 --> 0:01:17.360 and the optimism is there because of what a lot 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:20.040 of pundits called the easiest slate of games to finish 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:22.520 out a season. Packers at that point their oposing team 0:01:22.560 --> 0:01:25.759 records were twenty and forty. A lot of that having 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:29.360 to do with this upcoming opponent, the Carolina Panthers. But 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:33.200 things didn't go well this season for the Giants. Tampa Bay, 0:01:33.280 --> 0:01:35.800 much like Green Bay, has been up and down, and 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:38.800 for the Packers to kind of give back both of 0:01:38.840 --> 0:01:43.080 those victories that they had against Detroit and Kansas City disheartening. 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:46.640 And then obviously to have the defensive performance that they 0:01:46.680 --> 0:01:49.120 had against the Bucks, not being able to get off 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:52.160 the field too much production on third downs, Baker Mayfield 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:55.200 having a maximum passer rating, and the Green Bay Packers 0:01:55.240 --> 0:01:58.880 ultimately losing what became a shootout. It's tough and it's 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:02.640 tough to come shooting back down to earth after you 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:04.920 felt like you're really starting to build towards something. 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:07.640 Yeah, and that's what this most recent game will be 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:13.320 remembered for the defensive performance that just allowed Baker Mayfield 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:15.480 to do whatever he wanted to do. You mentioned a one 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:18.320 hundred and fifty eight point three passer rating, three hundred 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:21.240 and eighty one yards, four touchdowns. He came sixteen yard 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:23.840 shy of his career high for yardage in a game, 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:30.920 which is three ninety seven. And you know, Matt Lafleur, 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:33.799 he deferred the question on Sunday night. He then answered 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:36.400 the question on Monday. He's not making any coaching changes 0:02:36.400 --> 0:02:39.200 at this point. Obviously, all those kinds of things are 0:02:39.200 --> 0:02:43.000 going to be evaluated to a greater extent in due time. 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:48.320 But this Packers' defense has got to figure something out West, 0:02:48.400 --> 0:02:51.119 because no, the Packers are not out of it yet. 0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:53.799 You still have three games left to go. You want 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:57.080 to start playing better football. But the bottom line is 0:02:57.120 --> 0:03:00.679 for the last two seasons and there have been in reason, yes, 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:03.480 and every team deals with injuries, but throughout twenty twenty 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:06.639 two and twenty twenty three, I think the most maddening 0:03:06.720 --> 0:03:09.760 thing about this Packers defense is that it cannot get 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:13.799 off the roller coaster. It plays good football and then 0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:16.800 it swings the other way. And the distance of the 0:03:16.800 --> 0:03:21.600 swings between what this team's top performances are, and then 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:26.160 what this team's rock bottom performances are. We've seen it all, 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:29.120 We've seen it all, and then they can't seem to 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:32.800 smooth it out, and that just makes it really hard 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:34.880 to know what you're going to get from that side 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:36.680 of the ball every week when you take the field. 0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:38.120 That's the bottom line right now. 0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:40.080 And when you say we've seen it all, we saw 0:03:40.120 --> 0:03:42.040 it all. In the sixty minutes of that football game 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:45.600 on Sunday, the green Bay Packers defense goes on the 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:48.400 field after Green Bay turns over the ball at its 0:03:48.400 --> 0:03:51.839 own five yard line, and Kingsleyannigbari gets a strip sack 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:54.720 ess the type of adversity response you want to see, 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:57.800 taking advantage of that field position and allowing the Packers 0:03:57.840 --> 0:04:00.400 to score a touchdown right after that intake and early lead. 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:05.640 Kenny Clark gets the six yard sack, pushing and stopping 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:09.680 the Tampa Bay drive and making them settle for a 0:04:09.680 --> 0:04:12.640 field goal. That's the way Green Bay has been playing 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:16.520 when they've played well this season, but when they've played poorly. 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:21.200 It was another manifestation of really those last three quarters 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:24.320 of that game against Tampa Bay. Too much production in 0:04:24.360 --> 0:04:26.720 the middle of the field a week after giving up 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:29.840 the rushing yards to Tommy Devido. Some of the trickeration 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:32.880 that the Giants played in this one, it was Chris Godwin, 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:35.680 it was Baker from Mayfield, kind of dicing things up 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:40.359 a little bit. Green Bay got home five times to 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:43.520 have a season high five sacks and have such a 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:46.560 drastic swing where if it's gonna be kind of all 0:04:46.640 --> 0:04:50.440 or nothing, well, Mike, you only have five defensive plays 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:53.000 that result in sacks. There's a lot more defensive plays 0:04:53.080 --> 0:04:55.880 that resulted in production. And for the green Bay Packers, 0:04:55.880 --> 0:04:57.960 by the time it got into that third quarter, in 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:00.840 that fourth quarter, it just did not feel like they 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:01.960 were going to be able to find a way to 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:02.960 get the brakes on the thing. 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:05.240 Yeah, when you look at the five sacks you mentioned, 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:07.320 the first two had a huge impact on the game. 0:05:07.440 --> 0:05:10.120 The first sack forces the Buccaneers to kick a field goal, 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:12.880 and the second one becomes a turnover near the goal 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:15.400 line that the Packers turn into a touchdown. The other 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:20.080 three sacks had absolutely no effect on the Buccaneers offense 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:23.159 quite frankly. I mean, the Packers had him in second 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:25.279 and twenty nine and they still managed to get a 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:27.800 field goal before half. They had him in a second 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:31.800 second and eighteen. At one point the Buccaneers didn't even 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:34.120 need third down to move the chains. There was a 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:37.520 third and twelve. They throw a basic wide receiver screen, 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:41.520 which quite frankly in some ways look like they're going 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:43.679 to get whatever yards they can and kick the field 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:45.680 goal rather than take a big risk on third and 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:48.120 twelve shooting it down the field. Well, the third and 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:50.720 twelve wide receiver screen turns into sixteen yards in a 0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:53.960 first down and they get a touchdown. You mentioned the 0:05:53.960 --> 0:05:56.760 game kind of became a shootout, because yes, the Buccaneers 0:05:56.800 --> 0:06:00.240 they scored touchdowns on with long drives. I believe it 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:03.080 was sixty six, seventy five and seventy five yards on 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:05.640 the on their first three drives of the second half. 0:06:06.320 --> 0:06:09.200 And while the Packers they missed an opportunity going three 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:12.159 and out to start the second half, and then early 0:06:12.200 --> 0:06:13.960 in the fourth quarter they had to settle for a 0:06:14.000 --> 0:06:18.240 field goal. But you know, you get a touchdown in 0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:21.960 the third quarter on a great throw and catch Jordan 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:24.719 Love to Jaden Reid on a third and long to 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:27.280 get within twenty seventeen. But then the next time your 0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:30.200 offense gets the ball, you're down twenty seven to seventeen. 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:33.000 Then you drive, put together another nice drive, but you 0:06:33.040 --> 0:06:35.520 stall out, you kick a field goal, so you're within 0:06:35.560 --> 0:06:38.039 twenty seven to twenty. There's still ten minutes on the clock, 0:06:38.120 --> 0:06:40.800 plenty of ballgame left. But then the next time your 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:43.160 offense gets the ball back, it's thirty four to twenty 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:45.520 and the game is for all intents and purposes over. 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:51.279 You're in desperation mode at that point. It just became 0:06:51.600 --> 0:06:53.880 to the It got to the point where the Packers 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:57.440 offense was under too much pressure to be perfect because 0:06:57.480 --> 0:07:00.800 the Buccaneers offense was just unrelenting in the Packer's defense 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:02.440 was unable to do anything about it. 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:06.320 Yeah, and for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I think they 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:09.360 kind of came as advertised, to be honest with you, Mike. 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:12.000 Specifically on the defensive side of the ball, Jordan Love 0:07:12.040 --> 0:07:14.840 had a fine day. His statistics bared out well. One 0:07:14.920 --> 0:07:18.120 hundred and eleven passer writing whatever. It was a lot 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:20.119 of times that's going to be good enough to win games. 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:25.320 This game it was not. But defensively, Tampa Bay played 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:27.960 up to their billing. They gave up some yards, they 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:31.000 battened down the hatches in the red zone. They forced 0:07:31.000 --> 0:07:35.600 green Bay into a turnover late that kind of stimied everything, 0:07:35.640 --> 0:07:37.560 That kind of closed the door on any hopes of 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:41.680 a comeback, and ultimately they just did not blink when 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:45.360 green Bay did first offensively. And we'll talk about this 0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:47.560 in a second, but I mean there were positives. You're 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:50.480 seeing guys like Tucker Craft and Dontavian Wicks, you got 0:07:51.480 --> 0:07:54.160 Aaron Jones back in this thing. There's a lot of 0:07:54.200 --> 0:07:57.680 positives to draw from offensively, but in a season in 0:07:57.720 --> 0:07:59.640 which it's been difficult for green Bay to find the 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:04.040 perfect complimentary pieces to win these type of games, you know, 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:06.360 the defense came up short and this was the end result. 0:08:06.600 --> 0:08:10.240 Yeah, and I think I think that's you know, these 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:13.920 back to back losses are obviously very damaging to green 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:17.440 Bay season, but very very different losses. We were sitting 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:19.120 here a week ago, I guess it would have been 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:21.360 six days ago, coming off of the Monday night game 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:25.080 against the Giants, talking about a three phase failure. The 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:29.240 Packers failed pretty miserably, quite frankly, in all three phases 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:33.520 against the Giants. This one was primarily about one phase, 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:36.120 not saying the special teams were perfect, but there was 0:08:36.200 --> 0:08:38.920 kind of no harm done there. The offense certainly missed 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:41.319 a couple of opportunities, but Tampa Bay's got a pretty 0:08:41.320 --> 0:08:43.200 good defense. You're not gonna be able to cash in 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:45.720 every single time and to have twenty points on the 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:48.080 board with ten minutes left in the game against a 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:51.880 good defense. You'll take your chances there. This one was 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:54.880 about the defense not really giving the Packers a chance 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:57.080 to be able to win a really, really important home 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:00.679 game in December. I do want to talk about if 0:09:00.720 --> 0:09:02.880 I could just quickly, Yeah, absolutely. 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:05.080 The fact that Baker Mayfield threw four different touchdowns of 0:09:05.120 --> 0:09:07.200 four different players right, The fact that it was one 0:09:07.280 --> 0:09:09.439 hundred and forty yards I think of two touchdowns on 0:09:09.559 --> 0:09:13.040 third downs. The fact that they did this against Green 0:09:13.040 --> 0:09:16.600 Bay at Lambeufield in December. It points to the fact 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:19.880 it wasn't one specific player. It wasn't falling on one 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:22.880 guy's plate. It was the collective hole from the coaching 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:25.840 staff to the players. It wasn't where it needed to be. 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:30.000 Twelve plays solutions for twelve plays by the Buccaneers, an 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:33.640 even dozen of eighteen plus yards a dozen, that's three 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:36.800 per quarter. You like to maybe get through you know 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:40.600 a game like three per half or you know even 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:44.960 you know, three every few quarters. Three per quarter is 0:09:45.040 --> 0:09:47.800 essentially what the average was of plays of eighteen plus 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:50.160 yards in this game. And that's just not going to 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:53.800 cut it. I do want to talk about, though, what 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:57.400 you hinted at before, which is what we are seeing 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:02.240 happening with the Packers offense, particularly two players, Tucker Craft 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:07.600 and Doantavian Wicks, rookie rookie draft picks who have seen 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:11.719 their opportunities and their reps increase because of injuries. Luke 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:14.000 Musgrave has been out for a little while now and 0:10:14.080 --> 0:10:16.440 Christian Watson has missed the last couple of games. So 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:19.640 both Craft and Wicks are playing more snaps, getting the 0:10:19.679 --> 0:10:23.360 ball thrown their way a lot more often. And I 0:10:23.480 --> 0:10:27.160 tell you what these these young players have produced, Wes. 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:30.240 And when you talk about craft man, it's it's not 0:10:30.440 --> 0:10:33.240 just that he can, you know, get an explosive play 0:10:33.280 --> 0:10:35.240 down the field, or that he can be a threat 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:38.880 in the red zone. His blocking, you know, from a 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:41.640 guy coming from South Dakota State where you're making a 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:44.400 bigger leap than a lot of other players to the NFL. 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:46.760 In terms of the guy who's lined up across from you. 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:51.880 Tucker Craft is becoming an all around tight end in 0:10:51.920 --> 0:10:54.240 front of our eyes in a fairly short amount of time. 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:57.880 And it's interesting too, because he talked about coming to 0:10:57.920 --> 0:10:59.520 the Green Bay Packers. One of the things that got 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:02.480 him draft after the third round was his yards after catch. 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:03.800 It was some of the things he did in the 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:07.080 big plays two years ago that kind of give you 0:11:07.080 --> 0:11:08.800 that idea that a guy with this size and this 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:10.960 type of skill set could really do some damage in 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:13.600 the NFL. The area, as you mentioned, that was kind 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:16.160 of unproven was the blocking aspect of it. How he 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:17.720 was going to be able to hold up on that 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:22.120 end against now football's absolute elite. Coincidentally enough, I actually 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:23.880 feel like that was one area that sort of was 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:27.319 come together earlier in the season for him, and he's 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:30.480 been able to improve upon it throughout the year. Now 0:11:30.520 --> 0:11:32.440 we're starting to see some of the yards after catch 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:36.040 stuff happen too. And he's a gritty, hard nosed football player, man. 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:38.560 I mean you saw in that thirty six yard catch 0:11:38.600 --> 0:11:41.000 and run. He explained it afterwards. He wasn't just trying 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:43.199 to showboat when he elevated when he jumped to try 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:46.120 to get to the defender. His mind was defensive backs, 0:11:46.200 --> 0:11:48.240 especially when they're going up against a guy that could 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:51.120 be conceivably sixty pounds heavier than them, they have a 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:54.160 tendency to go for the legs. In that particular case, 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:56.600 they did not. They went right into his torso and 0:11:56.679 --> 0:12:00.280 unfortunate for him, right into the nether regions exactly to 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:02.720 go out a couple of plays. But thirty six yard 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:05.200 pick up there. You also had that little tiny it 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:07.960 was basically like a tight end screen on the touchdown pass. 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:11.520 Four catches, fifty seven yards a touchdown. I tweeted it 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:14.760 during the game, Mike, I cannot wait. You will see 0:12:14.760 --> 0:12:17.800 if it happens this year. But getting this version of 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:21.280 Tucker Kraft now on the field with Luke Musgrave, I mean, 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:23.280 the possibilities. This is what the Packers wanted when they 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:25.800 invested as much draft capital of the as they've put 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:29.320 into the tight end position since the seventy merger. Yeah, 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:31.680 you're starting to see exactly why they took these two 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:33.600 particular players and how they can kind of work off 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:34.200 of one another. 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:36.920 Yeah. Absolutely. And when you talk about don Tavian Wicks, 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:41.120 I tell you I've mentioned before how We've seen him 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:43.440 bounce back from his rough moments. He had the drop 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:46.400 of the slant pass by the goal line against the Vikings. 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:49.720 He lost the football on his own trying to fight 0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:52.080 for the first down or you know, try to get 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:54.240 to the first down marker against the Rams, where the 0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:56.720 ball popped out when it hit the ground ends up 0:12:56.760 --> 0:12:59.800 being a turnover. He's rebounded from that, but not only 0:12:59.840 --> 0:13:04.040 just making catches and moving the chains and getting yards. 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:08.240 This guy is fighting for every yard there is to get. 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:10.400 The one thing I didn't do when I went through 0:13:10.400 --> 0:13:14.080 the offensive film yesterday that I wish I would have done. 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:16.960 I wish I would have just charted it and counted 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:20.600 up what wicks yards after the catch were in this game. 0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:22.920 He ended with a career high to this point of 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:26.120 ninety seven yards on his six receptions. But man, a 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:29.960 bunch of those yards were after the catch, and he's 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:32.440 fighting for every yard he can get. He's protecting the 0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:35.360 ball while he's doing that, And I tell you what 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:39.160 that's You see that kind of play from a young man, 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:42.080 from a rookie out there with a team that's fighting 0:13:42.080 --> 0:13:44.360 for a playoff spot and everything. I'll take that guy 0:13:44.360 --> 0:13:45.280 on my team any day. 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:47.440 And here's the other aspect of this. You mentioned some 0:13:47.480 --> 0:13:50.680 of the things you know this season, times in which 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:53.079 you know plays you can improve upon, you can learn from. 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:57.679 I'm a big pound for pound guy. This is a 0:13:57.800 --> 0:14:02.360 rookie fifth round receiver. You do not get this type 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:05.440 of production that often from these type of players because 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:09.200 he's not just catching passes. Mike. That last touchdown scoring 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:12.640 drive that Green Bay put together, that was Dontavian Wicks. Yea. 0:14:12.880 --> 0:14:15.320 I even tweeted it during the game. He willed them 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:17.680 down the field on that drive. It wasn't the most 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:20.480 in rhythm, in sync drive you've ever seen. No, it 0:14:20.520 --> 0:14:26.480 was Dontavian Wicks making incredible football plays. Ninety seven receiving yards. Yeah, however, 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:29.320 much of that was built under the Yact. But the 0:14:29.360 --> 0:14:31.720 green Bay Packers found something here, man. They found something 0:14:31.720 --> 0:14:35.600 in twenty eighteen with Marquezveldez. Scantling fifth round has been 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:38.880 very productive for them as a whole. When you think about, 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:41.920 you know, an all Pro like Corey Linsley in twenty fourteen, 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:45.680 Dantavian Wicks man in a year in which the Packers 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:48.640 expected to build so much around Christian Watson and Romeo 0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:51.640 Dobbs and Jayden Reid and also Samori too y being 0:14:51.680 --> 0:14:55.480 in that conversation, here's Wis jumping right into the fold, 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:57.640 becoming that next man up, and when he's been given 0:14:57.680 --> 0:14:59.960 the opportunities, here's what he's doing with them. 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:02.280 Yeah, and a couple other things I want to say 0:15:02.280 --> 0:15:06.120 about the offense, because because something something getting a little 0:15:06.160 --> 0:15:08.880 bit lost because of all the attention on the defense 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:12.200 and everything that went wrong there. And I understand all that, 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:17.080 but a couple of things. Jordan Love, for one, bounced 0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:20.160 back from one of his one of his rougher games, 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:22.640 probably his roughest game of the second half of the season. 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:24.680 After you know, he kind of hit his stride and 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:27.480 everything and then a lot went wrong against the Giants. 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:31.040 Wasn't a good performance. He bounced back and quite frankly, Wes, 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:34.760 I think maybe maybe you have another one in mind. 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:38.040 I think that third and fourteen from the seventeen yard line, 0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:43.160 the improvise the breakdown play, sorry broken down play, and 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:45.880 then he hits Jayden Reid for the touchdown with the 0:15:46.160 --> 0:15:48.600 with the toe tap, the tow drag. I thought that 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:51.960 was the most impressive throw Jordan Love's made all season long, 0:15:52.040 --> 0:15:54.640 and kind of it's kind of gotten lost because the 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:57.560 Packers didn't win the game, and with everything that was 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:00.160 going wrong on the defensive side of the ball, was 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:04.120 an absolutely tremendous third and fourteen from the seventeen yard 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:07.440 line and the play breaks down and he beats you. 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:11.160 We've seen it happen at lambeau Field with the previous 0:16:11.240 --> 0:16:14.680 quarterbacks that have that have played in the Green and Gold. 0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:16.880 That was a heck of a moment, and I just 0:16:16.880 --> 0:16:18.840 don't want it to get too lost in what was 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:20.200 a very disappointing defeat. 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:22.560 I have a take on this. I have some opinions 0:16:22.600 --> 0:16:28.680 on this to expository, explain, expound, expound, Thank you sure, 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:30.960 But before I do that, I have a question for you. Yeah, 0:16:31.000 --> 0:16:33.440 how many twenty five year old quarterbacks, and they're first 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:35.400 either twenty five years old or is a first year 0:16:35.440 --> 0:16:38.440 as a starter, how many of the quarterbacks throw that 0:16:38.480 --> 0:16:40.400 pass to Jaden Reied and how many pull it down 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:41.960 and try to scramble for a first down. 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:44.600 The majority are going to pull it down to try 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:46.840 to scramble and see here and here's the thing. And 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:51.479 I we saw earlier in the season in that same situation. 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:54.240 It was it was a third and long yardage and 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:57.200 Love did take off to scramble, but there were way 0:16:57.200 --> 0:16:59.320 too many yards to have to gain for the first down. 0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:03.000 He's gotten chance in his field, and as soon as 0:17:03.000 --> 0:17:05.080 he crosses the line of scrimmage, he's a dead duck. 0:17:05.119 --> 0:17:06.880 He's not going to be able to get the first down. 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:11.959 We saw against the Giants a very similar play that 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:15.080 had broken down. He steps up in the pocket, he escapes, 0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:19.160 and he missed the throw to Samari Toure along the 0:17:19.200 --> 0:17:21.280 boundary in the end zone. That could have been a 0:17:21.359 --> 0:17:24.040 very much a game changing play against the Giants. He 0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:27.879 comes back the very next week and makes that play. 0:17:27.920 --> 0:17:29.720 I thought it was really really. 0:17:29.800 --> 0:17:32.280 So here's my take on the throw. The other thing 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:34.040 you'll see from a lot of young quarterbacks in this 0:17:34.119 --> 0:17:36.600 league is what I always refer to as as Madden 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:39.080 scramble drills. Yeah, because it's what I always used to 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:41.760 do during Madden, which is you just try to evade 0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:43.879 the pocket as quickly as possible. And it's usually not 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:46.280 taking a direct line. You're not pursuing the right eggs 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:48.920 at angle. It's just kind of running around the defensive 0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:50.879 end and getting over into the open field on the 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:53.520 right side and trying to find somebody. What impressed me 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:56.560 about Jordan Love on that play was he saw through 0:17:56.560 --> 0:17:59.359 the smoke there's a lot going on around him. His 0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:03.359 eggs at hole was probably what the size of a guard, 0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:06.520 and he kind of got his way through there. The 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:09.560 reason why I mentioned the piece about how many quarterbacks 0:18:09.600 --> 0:18:12.280 tucket and go there is because they wouldn't be able 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:14.639 to keep their eyes down field when they're trying to 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:18.560 get through that clutter. Jordan did that, stayed true to 0:18:18.600 --> 0:18:21.560 his fundamentals and his footwork, and then put an absolute 0:18:21.680 --> 0:18:24.159 dime on Jayden Reid and Jaden Reid Mike. For a 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:28.000 guy that is now one catch away from tying Sterling 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:34.240 Sharp single season receptions record by a rookie, it's as 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:36.080 extraordinary as of a catch as you're going to see 0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:38.440 from a rookie football player. His ability to get both 0:18:38.480 --> 0:18:41.560 feet down there and drag them there was not an 0:18:41.600 --> 0:18:44.080 inch to waste on that play, and he made the 0:18:44.119 --> 0:18:44.840 play regardless. 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:46.760 Yeah, and I'll be honest. I mean I said it 0:18:46.800 --> 0:18:49.920 in the live blog at the time. When I saw 0:18:49.960 --> 0:18:52.600 it live, I thought, there's no way Reid got his 0:18:52.680 --> 0:18:54.959 feet in. There's no way that that's a reception like 0:18:55.320 --> 0:18:59.120 replay is gonna reverse it. And sure enough he kept 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:01.320 his toes on the ground, you know, dragged it just 0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:05.800 right with a defender right on him there. And yeah, 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:08.000 I wanted to mention that as well. Jayden Reid now 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:11.960 with fifty four receptions, he leads the Packers. The Packers 0:19:12.080 --> 0:19:17.760 rookie record in this franchise's illustrious history for receptions by 0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:21.040 a rookie is fifty five by Sterling Sharp. That was 0:19:21.280 --> 0:19:24.919 thirty five years ago Wes nineteen eighty eight. That rookie 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:27.760 record has stood for a long time, and Jaden Reid 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:31.520 is just one catch from tying it and two from 0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:32.600 breaking it. 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:35.920 I don't have the officials yards after catch for don 0:19:35.960 --> 0:19:38.760 Tavian Wicks. It's twenty twenty three. I'm not paying for 0:19:38.800 --> 0:19:42.480 that anymore. But for the season, now this one goes. 0:19:42.520 --> 0:19:47.719 I'll give credit here to this is player profile dot Com. 0:19:47.920 --> 0:19:50.760 They have him down for one hundred and thirty nine 0:19:50.840 --> 0:19:53.600 yards after catch on the season out of his four 0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:57.040 hundred and ninety one, so just about a quarter of 0:19:57.080 --> 0:19:58.200 his receiving yards. 0:19:58.359 --> 0:20:01.840 Yeah, a little more, a little more than a quest Yeah, 0:20:01.960 --> 0:20:02.760 so pretty impressive. 0:20:02.760 --> 0:20:03.880 What the guy's done, right, out of the gate. 0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:07.840 Yeah. Absolutely, a little bit of sponsor business here west. 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:10.919 Then we'll move on to other topics. Serious XM NFL 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:13.480 Radio delivers hard hitting analysis and up to the minute 0:20:13.560 --> 0:20:17.040 NFL news that true football fanatics need. 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