WEBVTT - #802 Packers Unscripted: Razing Arizona 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:19.439 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:22.320 Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:25.119 by my trusted colleague Weston Hodkoitz. We're coming to you 0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:29.400 here from our studios at lambeau Field to review the 0:00:29.440 --> 0:00:33.720 Packers thirty four to thirteen triumph over the Arizona Cardinals 0:00:33.800 --> 0:00:36.760 on Sunday at lambeau Field. It improved Green Bay to 0:00:36.880 --> 0:00:39.519 four and two. A lot of ground to cover as 0:00:39.560 --> 0:00:41.600 far as this game is concerned, West, But I think 0:00:41.640 --> 0:00:46.080 it starts with the fact that in his third game 0:00:46.159 --> 0:00:49.559 back from the knee injury that cost him two games 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:54.920 earlier in the season, Jordan Love is starting once again 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:58.480 to look like the Jordan Love of late twenty twenty three. 0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:00.680 Jordan Love look like Jordan Love on Sunday. 0:01:00.760 --> 0:01:05.800 Yeah, and that cerebral accurate so much on his footballs. 0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:09.640 I mean, the play that just continually has been in 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:12.760 my memory bank since Sunday is the fourth down conversion 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:15.440 across the middle of the Christian Walk. Yeah, and it's 0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:18.720 just there are just so few humans on planet Earth 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:22.560 that could make that throw, and Jordan Love did it 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:24.760 on a line and put it the only way that 0:01:24.800 --> 0:01:29.080 is six foot four, you know, uber athletic receiver could 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:31.560 get the football, and for him to have I thought 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:33.759 this was such an interesting stat that Tom Fanning came 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:38.440 up with that back to back consecutive home games with 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:41.320 four plus touchdowns at lambeau Field, the first time that's 0:01:41.440 --> 0:01:44.759 happened since nineteen ninety five with Brett Fahr, For him 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:46.960 to be to come out and be this dialed in 0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:50.080 both with explosive plays and also with executing deep down 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:53.680 the field and scoring territory, I just felt like this game. 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:56.200 You could feel it in the locker room afterwards. 0:01:56.200 --> 0:01:56.840 I'm sure you could. 0:01:56.880 --> 0:01:59.360 You could feel it with Jordan too talking afterwards. It 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:02.320 just felt like the most complete game. Yes, they kind 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:05.280 of beat up the Tennessee Titans, but in terms of 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:07.680 just beginning, middle, and end with a few glimpse on 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:10.000 the radar in between, I thought the Packers in all 0:02:10.040 --> 0:02:13.119 three phases and then basically every position group really showed out. 0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:16.440 Yeah, well, you mentioned Love now back to back home 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:19.079 games with four touchdown passes. The other one was in 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:21.640 the loss to the Minnesota Vikings. But we saw in 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:24.560 the comeback in the second half there where where Love 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:27.000 was really starting to crank it up in this game, 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:31.320 completions to nine different receivers as the Packers kind of 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:34.280 got the band back together. At receiver. Watson was back 0:02:34.280 --> 0:02:38.040 from his ankle injury, fortunately only missed only ended up 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:41.919 missing the one game Romeo Dobbs back from the one 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:45.800 game suspension, Watson not only catches the fourth and one 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:48.760 throw over the middle, but also a forty four yard 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:51.240 touchdown that was right on the heels of a long 0:02:51.280 --> 0:02:55.160 punt return by Keishawn Nixon, and Romeo Dobbs in his return, 0:02:55.240 --> 0:03:01.280 catches two touchdowns. And I tell you, when Jordan Love 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:03.560 is spreading the ball around like this, I believe he 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:07.839 targeted ten different pass catchers correct, nine different guys who 0:03:07.880 --> 0:03:12.120 caught a pass in this game. It's it's when this 0:03:12.240 --> 0:03:14.760 Packers offense is at its best. I don't you know, 0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:17.359 there may not be there may not be the one 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:19.839 guy we're talking about, you know, where it's like, oh, 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:22.200 somebody had one hundred and twenty five yards or somebody 0:03:22.240 --> 0:03:26.320 has twelve catches. That problem. That's going to happen, and 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:29.359 it has happened this year. But when this Packers offense 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:32.240 is at its best, that's not happening because the ball 0:03:32.320 --> 0:03:34.440 is going to so many different people. 0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:35.080 In this game. 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:38.880 I thought reiterated once again the importance of both Watson 0:03:39.000 --> 0:03:41.440 and Dobbs on the field for the Packers. That's what 0:03:41.480 --> 0:03:44.920 they do in how they add that recipe. Right, Let's 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:47.080 quickly just start back on Watson for a second. To 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:50.000 have three catches sixty eight yards, the forty four yard 0:03:50.000 --> 0:03:52.960 touchdown passes you mentioned that came after the Keyshawn Nixon 0:03:53.040 --> 0:03:57.040 punt return. That's going up against Buddha Baker. That's them 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:00.800 finding something that they felt that they could exploit against 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:04.440 the Arizona secondary. And I've watched that play as well 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:07.840 several times over and just the amount of velocity that 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:12.000 Aaron excuse me that Jordan loved and Aaron Rodgers, but 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:14.640 how much velocity Jordan put on that ball and then 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:17.680 Christian to come down with it, that is the number 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:21.000 nine X factor when he is on the field. Defenses 0:04:21.160 --> 0:04:24.599 have to defend the Green Bay Packers differently. Turn it 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:27.839 over to Romeo Dobbs. Packers trying to move forward, Dobs 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:30.000 trying to move forward, what's the perfect way to do that? 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:33.240 Him coming up with three clutch catches at all at 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:35.920 different intervals in all at different points in the game. 0:04:36.240 --> 0:04:39.320 The nineteen yard completion over the middle going up against 0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:42.320 Max Melton being able to extend the pocket is just 0:04:42.440 --> 0:04:45.120 there for days and days and days, and Jordan Love 0:04:45.160 --> 0:04:46.560 is able to look for him downfield. 0:04:46.640 --> 0:04:49.480 That was a full five seconds from snap to throw. 0:04:49.640 --> 0:04:53.719 Five seconds and Love was absolutely perfectly protected to allow 0:04:53.760 --> 0:04:55.760 that nineteen yard throw over the middle of Romeo. 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:59.280 And then you look at the first touchdown play, Love 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:01.680 sees something he likes over there, throws the out to 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:04.599 rome Rome finds his way inside the pylon the way 0:05:04.600 --> 0:05:09.120 that everybody gravitated towards him, the hugs, the celebrations. You know, 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:11.320 some people had asked an insider inbox like, well, Rome 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:14.320 didn't show a lot of emotion. That's Romeo Dobbs, folks. Yeah, 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:15.880 that's the way he's been the last two and a 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:17.760 half years. It has nothing to do with what happened 0:05:17.800 --> 0:05:20.000 last week. And then him also finding the way in 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:23.400 the end zone late hun. It just a remarkable play 0:05:23.480 --> 0:05:26.080 from Jordan Love against a terrible look for a quarterback 0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:28.359 where you're seeing in all out blitz out of cover zero. 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:31.640 He hoists that ball up for his receiver in one 0:05:31.680 --> 0:05:34.880 on one matchup, trusting Dobbs to make a player at 0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:37.320 least make sure the ball doesn't get picked off. Dobbs 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:39.000 does more than that. He spins the end zone, gets 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:42.120 two touchdowns, his second two touchdown game of his career, 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:44.680 and as we learned afterwards, Jyry Alexander actually told him 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:47.359 beforehand that it was going to happen, and it manifested 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:48.479 itself on Schame Day. 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:51.080 Yeah, that second Dobbs touchdown, that was a seven man 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:54.440 pressure that the Cardinals sent. Packers only had six into block, 0:05:54.560 --> 0:05:58.000 so somebody was going to be free. But then in 0:05:58.040 --> 0:06:00.800 the back end it's four on four because football is 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:02.520 a numbers game at the end of the day. So 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:05.719 you know, Love knew that Dobbs would be one on 0:06:05.720 --> 0:06:08.800 one on the outside. The defender Sean Murphy Bunning, who 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:11.520 had an interception earlier when bow Melton had slipped on 0:06:11.560 --> 0:06:15.039 that route. Murphy Bunning just he had his back turn 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:16.760 the whole time. He never found the football. I'm not 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:18.920 even sure he really knew it was coming, which is 0:06:18.960 --> 0:06:20.880 a credit to Dobbs because he didn't give away the 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:23.600 fact that he was that the ball was coming his way. 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:29.680 A really good play there on the ground Packers rack 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:32.800 up one hundred and seventy nine rushing yards in this game. Now, 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:36.040 through six games, the Green Bay Packers have over one 0:06:36.040 --> 0:06:38.960 thousand rushing yards. Do you know the last time that happened? 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:41.400 The Packers were over a thousand rushing yards in six games? 0:06:41.440 --> 0:06:43.880 I do, because I rode that I read the notes. Okay, 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:46.320 by all means, feel free to tell because it is impressive. 0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:50.200 Yeah, in nineteen sixty three. Yeah, back in the Lombardi era. 0:06:50.279 --> 0:06:53.200 In nineteen sixty three was the year Paul Horning was suspended. 0:06:53.800 --> 0:06:57.200 So but anyway, that's the last time the Packers had 0:06:57.240 --> 0:07:01.680 over a thousand rushing yards through six games. But what 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:05.159 I liked the most about this one, and it's similar 0:07:05.200 --> 0:07:07.080 to what was going on in the passing game, the 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:12.360 Packers are showing the variety of ways in which they 0:07:12.560 --> 0:07:14.960 want to and like to run the football. You have 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:18.160 the one two punch in the backfield with Jacobs and Wilson, 0:07:18.200 --> 0:07:21.520 and both guys were certainly very productive in this game. 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:24.840 But then you mix in, you mix in the end rounds, 0:07:24.840 --> 0:07:27.800 whether it's Jaden Reed or Bo Melton, and you know, 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:31.560 stretching the defense laterally to then also be able to 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:34.680 hit them up the middle with runs the mixture that's 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:37.480 going on, and then to you know, ultimately pile up 0:07:37.480 --> 0:07:39.480 one hundred and seventy nine rushing yards. A lot of 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:41.440 those late in the game. You're just you know, you 0:07:41.560 --> 0:07:43.400 got the lead, you've got the ball, you're trying to 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:45.880 kill the clock. The Cardinals know you're running the ball, 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:47.560 and the Packers were able to just were able to 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:52.640 run it and grind the clock down. This type of 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:57.520 balanced offense. Again, it's against the Cardinals team that you know, 0:07:57.560 --> 0:08:00.800 they lost some players mid game to injuries, and you know, 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:04.840 things really didn't go their way. But I'd liked the 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:07.880 way the Packers just they were balanced in this game, 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:11.120 running and passing, and they just they stayed in control. 0:08:11.200 --> 0:08:13.280 It felt like, other than the one play where bow 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:16.680 Melton slips and the ball ends up getting intercepted by 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:20.000 the defender wasn't even guarding bow Melton on that play 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:23.320 in particular. Other than that, it just felt like when 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:25.760 the Packers offense was on the field in this game, 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:27.559 it was in control of the game. 0:08:27.680 --> 0:08:30.920 And as you point out there, you know Cardinals are 0:08:30.960 --> 0:08:33.240 going through some stuff right now, but the Packers beat 0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:36.560 them by twenty one points. Yeah, they controlled this game. 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:38.800 They got out to that twenty four to nothing lead, 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:41.720 the defense once again shut the door in the second half. 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:44.240 That's what you want to see to bring it back 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:47.559 to the ground game really quickly. This was a vintage 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:51.480 Matt Lafleur performance. It almost reminded me of the Tyler 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:54.800 Irvin days in terms of how many different guys got 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:56.920 involved in the run game and being able to use 0:08:56.920 --> 0:08:59.280 some of the misdirection, use some of the prestat Motion 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:02.600 tweeted it during the game too. Yeah, Bow unfortunately had 0:09:02.600 --> 0:09:05.360 the one slip on the slant. But I thought this 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:07.280 game for all as much as we talked about Bow 0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:09.880 and Max Melton all last week, and rightfully so, this 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:12.440 game really did illustrate the value of Bow Melton to 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:15.520 this offense because he not only is the next guy 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:19.560 up in some ways as the downfield speedy option to 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:25.240 Christian Watson, his shiftiness in his versatility is also a 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:28.160 compliment to Jayden Reid and being able to orbit and 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:29.760 being able to do some of the pre snap stuff, 0:09:29.760 --> 0:09:32.000 being able to take a hand off and make some 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:34.600 yards out of it. That's a very useful tool to 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:36.679 have in your toolbox, especially as you wade through the 0:09:36.720 --> 0:09:39.760 course of a season. Unfortunately, Dantavian Wis goes down with 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:42.200 the shoulder injury. But we've seen this time and time 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:44.840 again how there always is another receiver available, just like 0:09:44.840 --> 0:09:47.720 how Wicks was available when Watson and Dobbs were not there. 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:51.080 So this is going to be I think another reminder 0:09:51.160 --> 0:09:54.240 to everybody that you can't defend the Green Bay Packers 0:09:54.280 --> 0:09:57.440 one specific way, not with this many weapons. Yeah. 0:09:57.440 --> 0:09:59.840 Absolutely well, and on the defensive side of the ball, 0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:03.719 it's also worth talking about a pretty solid game there 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:06.320 as well. The defense got off to a really strong start. 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:10.760 I believe on Arizona's first four possessions they had one 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:11.400 first down. 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:13.439 Yep, they went three and out three three. 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:15.360 And out three times and the and the other was 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:19.400 just one first down and they punted. So a really 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:23.240 strong start there, and that helped the Packers build that 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:26.120 twenty four to nothing lead. Kind of the you know, 0:10:26.280 --> 0:10:28.679 that forty four yard touchdown to Watson was kind of 0:10:28.720 --> 0:10:31.080 the go for the throat call, but yep, Matt Lafleur, 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:33.280 it's seventeen to nothing. You get the long punt return 0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:36.319 after the offsetting penalties and nullified the fumble, you get 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:38.640 the long punt return from Nixon and it's bang, take 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:41.040 the shot play, you know, touchdown in the end zone. 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:44.560 Am again twenty four to nothing. The Cardinals did rally. 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:49.160 They got a touchdown, the interception off of the slant 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:52.600 slip then set up a field goal, and then on 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:55.800 the other side of halftime, the Cardinals got another field goal, 0:10:55.800 --> 0:10:57.640 so they got it to twenty four to thirteen. But 0:10:57.679 --> 0:11:00.800 I think it's worth pointing out that both after the 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:03.320 interception at the end of the first half and on 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:07.600 the opening drive of the third quarter, the Packers defense 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:10.520 stood tall when it had to and didn't let either 0:11:10.559 --> 0:11:13.200 of those drives reach the end zone, right, Because if this, 0:11:13.600 --> 0:11:17.600 if this game gets to, you know, twenty four to 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:20.400 seventeen or twenty four to twenty one as opposed to 0:11:20.400 --> 0:11:22.680 twenty four to thirteen, it looks a heck of a 0:11:22.720 --> 0:11:25.800 lot different, correct, And I thought I thought on those 0:11:25.960 --> 0:11:28.240 on those back to back drives the end of the 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:30.679 end of the second quarter start of the third quarter, 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:33.839 where the Packers defense held the Cardinals to a field goal. 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:36.400 During that stretch when when they were starting to find 0:11:36.400 --> 0:11:39.440 something moving the ball trade McBride was doing some things 0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:42.400 in the passing game with Murray over the middle. That 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:44.800 was a key stretch in this game for the Packers 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:45.840 to stay in control. 0:11:46.360 --> 0:11:47.360 This is nuts to me. 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:49.800 I don't think I've ever seen this much symmetry in 0:11:49.840 --> 0:11:52.760 a Packers game before. In terms of just looking at 0:11:52.760 --> 0:11:58.160 the possession chart. This is for the Arizona Cardinals punt, punt, punt, punt, touchdown, 0:11:58.200 --> 0:12:00.679 field goal, field goal, fumble, fumblefo fumble. 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:04.440 That's how they lost the ball. Incredible. 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:08.319 Yeah, And if there was one thing too, this applies 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:11.760 to both sides of the ball. For Matt Lafleur, his coordinators, 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:13.520 his coaches to go into the meeting room this week. 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:16.000 This was also another example of what happens when you're 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:18.840 plus sixty yards on the penalty side of things. Packers 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:21.600 went from minus two thirty to twenty excuse me, minus 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:23.720 one twenty six on the season to minus sixty six 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:25.280 based on this game alone. It's the only game this 0:12:25.320 --> 0:12:26.920 year where the Packers have been on the favorable sides 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:27.800 of the penalties, and. 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:29.640 The Cardinals had come in as one of the least 0:12:29.720 --> 0:12:32.280 if not the least penalized team in the league. Maybe 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:34.199 kind of on the opposite end of things as far 0:12:34.200 --> 0:12:36.800 as the Packers, but this one, this one did not 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:39.679 go their way. It started with Jordan Love drawing, drawing 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:43.520 several offside calls with the hard count and whatnot and 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:47.080 uh and yeah. Other than you know, a couple of instances, 0:12:47.160 --> 0:12:50.720 you know, the personal fall on JayR Alexander obviously you'd 0:12:50.760 --> 0:12:53.560 like to have back. But other than those couple of moments, 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:55.520 the Packers played a pretty clean game. 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:57.000 Which we still don't know what happened on. Yeah, we 0:12:57.000 --> 0:12:59.120 don't know exactly what happened TV copy that to pick 0:12:59.120 --> 0:12:59.360 it up. 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:03.080 There was no re played, no explanations, but there was 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:05.280 a flag thrown. All we know is that it was 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:07.920 announced is after the play was over. Oh yeah, so 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:10.280 it was not something that occurred. It was something that 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:11.319 occurred after the whistle. 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:12.080 But that's all we know. 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:14.080 But look at how this game ended too. I Mean, 0:13:14.120 --> 0:13:17.840 this is what's been impressive about the Jeff Halfley defense 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:19.960 to this point, because yeah, there's gonna be moments where 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:22.000 you give up some yards, but the constant threat of 0:13:22.040 --> 0:13:25.079 the takeaway is so important. And for them to have 0:13:25.200 --> 0:13:29.440 Carl Brooks a force fumble and a fumble recovery, Evan Williams, 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:32.000 who by the week continues to show why he should 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:33.720 be in the lineup, why he is in the lineup, 0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:37.240 punches a ball out Jyry Alexander recovers it, and then 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:40.400 you know, you finished that game with Kenny Clark diving 0:13:40.480 --> 0:13:43.840 on a ball after a botched handoff. As cool as 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:46.960 it is to have fancy interceptions and forcing the ball 0:13:47.000 --> 0:13:50.040 out and strip sacks, football is a hard game. Sometimes 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:52.000 guys just drop the football and you need to pick 0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:54.760 it up. Yeah, and Kenny had the awareness to get 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:56.720 that one there, and they were able to shut the 0:13:56.760 --> 0:13:59.959 door on this thing. The Xavier McKinney interception streak ended 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:07.320 at five, but it was so awesome, cool, mature listening 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:09.520 to him speak in the locker room afterwards about, Yeah, 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:12.199 that was a lot of fun. It sucks that it's over, 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:14.440 but the fact is is we want to win games. 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:16.439 We're here to win games. And he's like, if we win, 0:14:16.520 --> 0:14:18.679 I'm the happiest man on earth. And not only did 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:22.560 they win, the defense continued this multiple game streak, now 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:26.520 up to six with multiple takeaways, the first time they've 0:14:26.520 --> 0:14:29.200 started a season in that fashion since nineteen ninety six. 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:31.360 And everyone else knows how that went. 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:37.560 Seventeen takeaways for the defense through six games. Last year, 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:42.520 through seventeen regular season games, the Packers had eighteen takeaways. 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:44.720 You were six games into the season and you have 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:48.840 almost matched your takeaway total from a year ago. It 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:54.480 goes back to the old coaching adage, which Mike McCarthy 0:14:54.560 --> 0:14:56.000 was the first one I heard it from, and he 0:14:56.040 --> 0:14:59.320 said it quite a bit. In coaching, you get what 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:07.280 you emphasis, and this particular defensive staff defensive approach, it's 0:15:07.320 --> 0:15:10.880 not just paying lip service to how important turnovers are. 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:14.840 They are coached to go after the ball. They try 0:15:14.880 --> 0:15:16.960 to punch it out. I mean the punch out by 0:15:16.960 --> 0:15:21.040 Evan Williams is the perfect example. That is not just 0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:24.080 rallying to the ball to help your teammates. That is 0:15:24.240 --> 0:15:27.240 rallying to the ball, seeing that your teammates have the 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:30.520 play under control, find the ball and go after it. 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:33.600 That's what these guys are being coached to do so. 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:37.400 And then you combine that with the vision based play 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:41.040 of the secondary led by McKinney with all of his interceptions. 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:44.360 That's how you keep taking the football away. Now, there's 0:15:44.400 --> 0:15:46.240 probably going to be a dry spell here at some 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:49.920 point because teams are going to teams are going to 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:53.800 go into a game with the Green Bay Packers saying, hey, 0:15:53.920 --> 0:15:56.760 we have to protect the football costs because that's how 0:15:56.800 --> 0:15:59.160 these guys are winning games. They're winning games by taking 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:01.280 it away. So then the Packers will have to have 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:03.840 their answers and have to have their counters when when 0:16:03.880 --> 0:16:07.920 teams do that. But if you get teams that focused 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:11.920 on having to protect the football, it's probably going to 0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:15.560 take something else away from their aggression or their dynamism 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:17.800 or whatever it is that they're trying to bring to 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:21.640 the table that day. So my point is this defense 0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:24.880 is being coached to play this way, they emphasize it 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:27.840 every single day, and they're getting the results on the field. 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:30.480 Yeah, and in those instances too, Mike, where you know 0:16:30.560 --> 0:16:33.280 Xavier McKinney, I don't think he had very many opportunities 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:35.640 for an interception in this game. There were not many 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:38.000 times where Kyler Murray was really testing the top of 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:41.040 this defense, trying to make something happen big playwise with them. 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:43.880 And that's the other thing too, Right, Xavier McKinney gets 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:47.160 an interception in five straight games, all of them essentially 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:49.760 playing a center feel, a deep center field type of thing. 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:52.800 That's giving court, that's going to give quarterbacks things to 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:55.240 think about and whether they really want to test this guy. 0:16:55.480 --> 0:16:58.440 And that's where for all those plays that happened in 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:00.360 that game, the one that was the most encourage to 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:02.520 me was the Kenny Clark fumble recovery at the end, 0:17:02.560 --> 0:17:04.119 because one, it shut the door on it. We could 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:06.280 just all go home and have our pizza and write 0:17:06.320 --> 0:17:11.359 our stories and gets it slate. But two, when the 0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:13.800 opportunities aren't there, when the emphasis for the opposing team 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:15.119 is there, and if you have a team that just 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:19.480 does protect the ball very well, when there are chances 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:21.919 to get a takeaway when someone puts it in your 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:26.000 lap in that moment, in that millisecond, being able to execute, 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:28.280 and that's where I think last year the Packers came 0:17:28.359 --> 0:17:30.400 up short a lot of the times. It's just it's 0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:32.320 not easy. They're not trying to throw you the ball, 0:17:32.359 --> 0:17:33.960 they're not trying to fumble the football. 0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:35.480 But when those. 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:39.560 Opportunities are there in that millisecond of your life, you 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:41.120 have to find a way to come up with it. 0:17:41.160 --> 0:17:43.000 This team has to this point. I think it does 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:45.760 go back to the emphasis and more than anything, Mike, 0:17:46.240 --> 0:17:49.160 watch that game last night between Buffalo and New York. 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:52.359 How a sack that gets changed to a roughing the 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:55.119 passer call can change the landscape of things. How the 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:58.639 defense the game it's so tilted towards the offense. The 0:17:58.680 --> 0:18:01.600 one thing that the defense can that in most cases 0:18:01.640 --> 0:18:04.240 cannot be taken away from them is taking away the football, 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:05.520 and the Greemit Packers. 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:05.639 Have done that. 0:18:05.800 --> 0:18:06.000 Yeah. 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:09.240 Absolutely a little bit of sponsor business here. West Sirius 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:12.359 XMNFL Radio delivers hard hitting analysis and up to the 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:15.840 NFL news that true football fanatics need twenty four to seven, 0:18:16.320 --> 0:18:18.720 three sixty five. And at Cousin Subs we have something 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:21.760 for everyone like car Wisconsin, cheese curds, mac and cheese, 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:24.240 golden fries, and creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite 0:18:24.280 --> 0:18:27.439 sub or sub in a bowl. Cousin Subs fifty plus 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:31.560 years of better. A few different things to talk about 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:35.600 as far as around the league through six weeks, but 0:18:35.680 --> 0:18:37.439 we have to start with just where things are in 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:40.200 the NFC. North Minnesota was on its bye week. They're 0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:42.639 sitting on top of the division at five and zero. 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:46.280 The Detroit Lions go into Dallas and put a whooping 0:18:46.400 --> 0:18:49.160 on the Cowboys. The Lions are now four and one, 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:52.800 although they lost arguably their best defensive player for the 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:56.320 rest of the year to a horrific injury, and then 0:18:56.359 --> 0:18:58.800 the Packers and the Bears both sitting at four and two. 0:18:59.080 --> 0:19:05.600 So for the first time since the current divisional alignment 0:19:05.760 --> 0:19:08.399 was established back in two thousand and two, with four 0:19:08.400 --> 0:19:13.320 teams per division and eight divisions across the league, one 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:17.520 division has every team with at least four victories through 0:19:17.600 --> 0:19:20.400 six weeks of the season. This has never happened before. 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:24.520 The NFC North is looking like it is loaded and 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:27.240 this is going to be This is going to be 0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:31.760 some race for the division title because it goes it's 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:35.480 almost without argument at this point that the NFC North 0:19:35.560 --> 0:19:36.960 is the best division in football. 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:37.439 I think so. 0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:40.840 I think the proof is there with the strength of 0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:43.840 victories that they've had so far. Yeah, the Chicago Bears 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:46.639 beat up on a very bad Jacksonville Jaguars team, But 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:48.800 if Bears are actually going to be decent, you need 0:19:48.840 --> 0:19:50.400 to put up forty two points on that team. 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:50.919 You just have to. 0:19:50.960 --> 0:19:53.879 Your quarterback needs to play with a four touchdown, one 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:56.240 hundred and thirty passer rating against. 0:19:55.960 --> 0:19:56.840