Speaker 1: Hi, everybody, Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined by my
Speaker 1: partner in crime, Weston Hodkowitz. Were coming to here from
Speaker 1: our studios at lambeau Field and West just when we
Speaker 1: thought the storyline of this week might be the Packers
Speaker 1: might get back to closer to full strength and have
Speaker 1: all their guys well no, sorry, Aaron Rodgers, as everyone
Speaker 1: knows by now, is on the COVID nineteen reserve list.
Speaker 1: Jordan's love will be making his first NFL start on
Speaker 1: Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium, and it's another week where the
Speaker 1: Packers just have to adjust and roll with the punches,
Speaker 1: you know. Matt Lafleur spoke to the media for fifteen
Speaker 1: sixteen minutes after um all this news happened on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: and I really appreciate a lot of what he said,
Speaker 1: but one thing that stood out to me in particular
Speaker 1: is this is just something you just have to learn
Speaker 1: to deal with. UM. We've always known about the injury
Speaker 1: side of things, and in the month of December. In
Speaker 1: the past, there's been the flu bug that has been
Speaker 1: passed around the locker room. Packers had a big boat
Speaker 1: of that back in two thousand nineteen. But you know,
Speaker 1: the realities of COVID now are that one week, you
Speaker 1: may not have your defensive coordinator, you may not have
Speaker 1: your you know, you're all pro receiver, and in this
Speaker 1: particular case, you're not gonna have your three time MVP quarterback.
Speaker 1: But the ability to adjust, I think, in my opinion,
Speaker 1: on top of Lafleur's offensive brilliance, on top of the
Speaker 1: creativity of this coaching staff, the way the Packers have
Speaker 1: been able to adapt and build winning game plans despite
Speaker 1: whatever they're missing, has been one of the hallmarks of
Speaker 1: his you know, two and a half year run now
Speaker 1: is the head coach of the Packers. I couldn't agree more.
Speaker 1: This is not an easy opponent, This is not easy circumstances.
Speaker 1: But in a lot of ways, Mike, we talked about
Speaker 1: it all the time with young quarterbacks throughout the National
Speaker 1: Football League. The Packers have invested a year and a
Speaker 1: half now into Jordan's love. This past summer he took
Speaker 1: all the reps, almost every single one of them, in
Speaker 1: meaningful team periods for the Packers. It's been on the
Speaker 1: back burner now. He's been the scout team quarterback for
Speaker 1: the last eight weeks. But this is the first round
Speaker 1: caliber talent that now is going to get his first
Speaker 1: opportunity to lead an NFL offense. Yeah, and I appreciate
Speaker 1: what you said about Matt Lafleur and his two and
Speaker 1: a half seasons. Here the challenges that he has dealt with,
Speaker 1: even as big a challenge as last week was without
Speaker 1: your top three receivers and all the news that was
Speaker 1: happening with those guys, and you're on a short week
Speaker 1: and you've got a two thousand mile flight and and
Speaker 1: all of that kind of stuff, This one, I think
Speaker 1: is is the biggest one that he's faced. And not
Speaker 1: only because it's Aaron Rodgers and you're having to put
Speaker 1: in a quarterback who has not started an NFL game
Speaker 1: in his place. But this news with Rogers did not
Speaker 1: come to light until Wednesday morning. And you know Monday afternoon,
Speaker 1: Tuesday's that that's the coaching staff's game planning time. The
Speaker 1: players are off on Tuesdays, the coaches are putting together
Speaker 1: the entire game plan. So you get all that ready
Speaker 1: to go to give to the players on Wednesday, and
Speaker 1: then the first thing you're telling the players in the
Speaker 1: in the Wednesday morning team meeting is that the starting
Speaker 1: quarterback is out and UH and the backup, Jordan's Love
Speaker 1: is going to take over. Now. Obviously it's not as
Speaker 1: though you take the entire game plan and throw it
Speaker 1: in the trash and you're starting over from scratch, but
Speaker 1: it does. It does speak to the challenge here that
Speaker 1: that the Packers have. And hopefully from a receive from
Speaker 1: a receiving standpoint, we've seen al Lazard, Marquis Velda scantling
Speaker 1: at practice thus far this week. Matt la Fleur is
Speaker 1: indicatd He's hoping that Davante Adams will be back um
Speaker 1: here as the week continues. So you hope that from
Speaker 1: an offensive perimeter group standpoint that that Jordan's Love will
Speaker 1: have everyone everyone at his disposal except for Robert Tunyan
Speaker 1: who's now out for the season. But um, but to
Speaker 1: have to adjust like this on the fly and UH
Speaker 1: and get ready to play. And yes, the Kansas City
Speaker 1: Chiefs have had their struggles, but this is still the
Speaker 1: team that's represented the a f C in the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl in back to back years and they still have
Speaker 1: plenty of time left to get their season back on track. Well, Mike,
Speaker 1: and let's be honest. I mean, Patrick Mahomes is the
Speaker 1: run that he's on right now that's not going to
Speaker 1: last forever. This guy is a quintessential m v P
Speaker 1: quarterback who's played this game at the highest level. He's
Speaker 1: won the biggest prize at one of the most youngest
Speaker 1: youngest ages for you know, a premier quarterback. I'm not
Speaker 1: anticipating the guy with the ten picks and in the
Speaker 1: you know, the issues this year. I'm expecting the best
Speaker 1: version of Patrick Mahomes in this matchup. I think, I
Speaker 1: think when you're the Packers, that's how you have to
Speaker 1: look at it. Absolutely now. The one thing that you
Speaker 1: have to look at though, being fair on both sides,
Speaker 1: is the way Kansas Cities defense has played this year.
Speaker 1: There's still plenty of weapons there. You know, Tyrone Matthews
Speaker 1: has Tyron Matthew excuse me, has two interceptions already this season.
Speaker 1: They have guys that can pressure the quarterback. But the
Speaker 1: stats are what they are right now, their twenty nine
Speaker 1: and total defense, you know, their second to last uh
Speaker 1: in sacks allowed. I mean, there's been a lot of
Speaker 1: things that we're not really common during their Super Bowl
Speaker 1: run that have sort of kind of bubbled up to
Speaker 1: the surface. So if I'm Jordan's Love and I'm Matt Lafleura,
Speaker 1: I look at this week in terms of being able
Speaker 1: to re establish the run game again. Aaron Jones, much
Speaker 1: like two years ago, could very easily be his best
Speaker 1: friend in this game. I mean, he had a big
Speaker 1: game at arrowhead back in yards, receiving two touchdowns. They
Speaker 1: need that version of Aaron Jones again, the guy that
Speaker 1: makes plays in space. A j. Dillon has been just
Speaker 1: an absolute wrecking ball in the middle of the field,
Speaker 1: breaking tackles, getting yards after contact. And also, Mike, I
Speaker 1: know Matt Lafleur said it this week, you don't really
Speaker 1: know what the West Coast offenses again, but I think
Speaker 1: it goes back to a lot of the real fundamental
Speaker 1: principles of that scheme, short passing games, winnable down and distance,
Speaker 1: and moving the ball down field. They need Jordan's Love
Speaker 1: to be able to manage this thing and then go
Speaker 1: from there once the plays emerge. It's about that that
Speaker 1: whole group of eleven me together and not just the
Speaker 1: number ten quarterback that that's taken the ball from Lucas Patrick. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, I had said shortly before we sat here
Speaker 1: at these tables and turn the cameras on. We were
Speaker 1: filming our weekly Three Things segment with Larry and I
Speaker 1: said in in that segment, and I'll say it here again,
Speaker 1: it feels like the formula for victory for the Packers
Speaker 1: here is really not any different than it was a
Speaker 1: week ago when you were missing your top three receivers
Speaker 1: and on a short weekend everything. How did they go
Speaker 1: into Arizona with those limitations and beat the previously undefeated Cardinals.
Speaker 1: They ran the heck out of the ball and which
Speaker 1: which not only was about yardage and moving the chains,
Speaker 1: but controlling the tempo of the entire game. It was
Speaker 1: about limiting the possessions that Kyler Murray was going to
Speaker 1: have on the other side. And then when Kyler Murray
Speaker 1: did have the ball, the Packers got some turnovers. They
Speaker 1: got a turnover on special teams, they got the one
Speaker 1: turnover on defense early in the second half, and then
Speaker 1: obviously the turnover at the end that sealed the victory.
Speaker 1: You're replacing Aaron Rodgers with Jordan's Love. You're hoping to
Speaker 1: get those receivers back, but it feels like the formula
Speaker 1: for victory is still the same. You've got to get
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones and a J. Dillon have to be the
Speaker 1: guys that control this football game for Green Bay and
Speaker 1: on the defensive side the Kansas City Chiefs. The stats
Speaker 1: are what they are. They lead the league in giveaways
Speaker 1: offensively this year, the Packers have to be able to
Speaker 1: take the ball away, steal some possessions from Patrick Mahomes
Speaker 1: and uh and use that ground game to control tempo. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I know we'll probably talk about the defense here
Speaker 1: in a second, but I do it is worth pointing
Speaker 1: out a lot of two shell looks this year for
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes in this Kansas City offense. In some ways,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of similarities between the way teams are
Speaker 1: wanting to defend him in what the Packers have seen
Speaker 1: over the years. Now with the two shell against Aaron Rodgers. Yeah,
Speaker 1: just go back to two thousand twelve when Rodgers was
Speaker 1: coming off of his first m v P season. The
Speaker 1: Packers were fifteen and one and all that, and then
Speaker 1: suddenly everybody just played two safeties deep and they're like,
Speaker 1: we're not going to let you. We're not gonna let
Speaker 1: you just smoke us with all these big plays. We're
Speaker 1: gonna make you grind out drives, We're gonna make you
Speaker 1: pound the ball with the run. And it took a
Speaker 1: while for the Packers to to adjust to that. And
Speaker 1: and here the Kansas City Chiefs are dealing with that
Speaker 1: and their four and four halfway through the year. And
Speaker 1: that's the point I was going to draw to, is
Speaker 1: the fact that the Packers have overcome that this season
Speaker 1: to be seven and one. You've seen a ton of production,
Speaker 1: whether it be running or catching the ball between a J.
Speaker 1: Dillon and Aaron Jones. Kansas City has had a real
Speaker 1: difficult time establishing that so far. You know, Clyde Edward
Speaker 1: Edwards h layer with the MCL. He's out right now.
Speaker 1: I don't think at this time that he's going to
Speaker 1: be back. We never get injury reports based on guys
Speaker 1: that are on injured reserve, so like that that's kind
Speaker 1: of out of the question. Yeah, when they're when they're
Speaker 1: on injured reserve and not on the active roster, there
Speaker 1: their practice status and how much they're working out and
Speaker 1: stuff is not is not officially reported. Yeah, so you know,
Speaker 1: Darryl Williams is the one that was kind of a
Speaker 1: bell call for them. Then obviously last week you saw
Speaker 1: Gore and being the next guy. Kansas City hasn't really
Speaker 1: been willing to commit to the run, and to be honest,
Speaker 1: that's sort of been something that's happened over the years
Speaker 1: with them. I know, Edwards Hilaire was his debut game,
Speaker 1: a lot of people got excited about it, but ultimately
Speaker 1: they kind of shifted back to Tyreek Hill, to Travis
Speaker 1: Kelsey being able to get the downfield passing game going.
Speaker 1: More teams are threatening Kansas City to run this season.
Speaker 1: I'm interested, from green based perspective, how they go about
Speaker 1: defending that. Yeah. Absolutely, And I think what part of
Speaker 1: part of what Kansas City is dealing with two, whether
Speaker 1: whether it's been injuries or other personnel turnover and whatnot.
Speaker 1: Everybody is sort of focusing their defensive game plans on
Speaker 1: Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelsey and the Chiefs haven't really
Speaker 1: found that next guy to to, you know, to step
Speaker 1: up and carry the mantle, so to speak. Now, I
Speaker 1: think McCole Hardman, who's a you know, I sort of
Speaker 1: liken him to a to an unaccomplished or less less
Speaker 1: accomplished Tyree Hill in terms of his size and his
Speaker 1: speed and what his potential is. But he hasn't become
Speaker 1: that player yet. He's he's a very dangerous guy with
Speaker 1: the ball in his hands, and the Packers are certainly
Speaker 1: going to be aware of him. But he's one to
Speaker 1: watch here as as the Chiefs try to figure this
Speaker 1: out with so much attention on on Kelsey and Hill
Speaker 1: as they try to run their offense. If you'd have
Speaker 1: told me a year ago, kind of like the Edwards
Speaker 1: Hilaire thing, I would have thought hard Been would have
Speaker 1: been a bigger household name. At this point. I just
Speaker 1: he's a shifty guy, he's explosive, and I can't sit
Speaker 1: here and tell you I watch a lot of you know,
Speaker 1: Kansas City football. I don't really know exactly everything that's
Speaker 1: played into that, but he's really been still more of
Speaker 1: a complimentary guy than a featured guy and and everything
Speaker 1: that plays into that. But from Green Bay's perspective, the
Speaker 1: other idea of this too is that they've faced all
Speaker 1: these guys that are mobile quarterbacks and it seems like
Speaker 1: they've been building towards the Patrick Mahomes game in terms
Speaker 1: of guys that have the athleticism, but maybe don't have
Speaker 1: the arm or have the athleticism and don't have the pedigree.
Speaker 1: Have the athleticism, but maybe they rely too much on it.
Speaker 1: They got Kyler Murray two weeks ago. Now you get
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes, Guys who can extend plays, Guys that can
Speaker 1: make plays outside of the pocket. That's going to be
Speaker 1: a big challenge too. But as Kenny Clark mentioned when
Speaker 1: he addressed the media on Wednesday, green Bay has been
Speaker 1: really apt at being able to take the ball away
Speaker 1: this season. That is something that has been sort of
Speaker 1: coming in stretches for them. They are coming off a
Speaker 1: big October and obviously got to see how everything works
Speaker 1: out with Dean Lowry and what the health of this
Speaker 1: team is going into Sunday. But this is seems to
Speaker 1: me like a really solid opportunity once again for green
Speaker 1: Bay to be able to come out, turn over the
Speaker 1: football and get it back to Jordan's love in the offense. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and when you talk about what's been going on defensively
Speaker 1: for the Packers through the month of October, uh, Deveandre Campbell,
Speaker 1: the inside linebacker. We've talked about him a lot on
Speaker 1: this show. Obviously he's been a revelation for the Packers defense.
Speaker 1: And he was just named the NFC's Defensive Player of
Speaker 1: the Month for the month of October. And there's only
Speaker 1: four of those guys. There's only four of those guys
Speaker 1: the entire season. I mean, yeah, you look at something else.
Speaker 1: You at what he You look at what he has done.
Speaker 1: It's it's not just the tackles where you expect an
Speaker 1: inside linebacker to be, you know, amongst your league leaders
Speaker 1: or your team leaders and whatnot in tackles, But throughout
Speaker 1: the course of the year, he's had multiple secks, He's
Speaker 1: had multiple interceptions, you know, other turnover plays regarding fumbles,
Speaker 1: tackles for loss, and just being that leader in the
Speaker 1: middle of Green Bay's defense, taking over the communication responsibilities
Speaker 1: and whatnot for a guy, as we've talked about, who
Speaker 1: did not show up until basically there was one week
Speaker 1: left in the off season program, so he had to
Speaker 1: learn as much of the defense as he could on
Speaker 1: his own time during that break between the office season
Speaker 1: program and the start of training camp, and then take
Speaker 1: over that leadership and all of the communication and everything
Speaker 1: throughout the course of training camp and then and then
Speaker 1: in the early weeks of the regular season. He's been
Speaker 1: a phenomenal player for this Green Bay defense, and and
Speaker 1: they're going to continue They're going to continue to lean
Speaker 1: on him because he's he's an impact player right in
Speaker 1: the middle of everything going on in an incredibly intelligent
Speaker 1: human being, not just about what he does on the
Speaker 1: football field. Like I wrote about two weeks ago, there
Speaker 1: was a plan. There was a method to this madness
Speaker 1: with how he approached this offseason. A lot of people
Speaker 1: look at him signing on June nine, is well, why
Speaker 1: didn't anybody sign this guy? No, this was a case
Speaker 1: in which the COVID restrictions with the cap, you know,
Speaker 1: the salary cap room is deflated across across the league.
Speaker 1: Inside linebackers like him, a guy that was coming off
Speaker 1: a one year, eight million dollar contract, That money wasn't
Speaker 1: there this time. So he looked for what was going
Speaker 1: to be the best opportunity for him, with the understanding
Speaker 1: that Okay, you play, you make some money this year,
Speaker 1: but you get back on the market in twenty nine
Speaker 1: next year and have a chance to really get that
Speaker 1: big deal. He signed with Green Bay. Yes, he had
Speaker 1: the relationship with Matt Laflour, but also there was that
Speaker 1: opportunity for him to actually be the featured guy, and
Speaker 1: and if he earned it, I mean, it wasn't gonna
Speaker 1: walk in and just be the MiCT right away. He
Speaker 1: had to actually, you know, claim that position. But since
Speaker 1: he has Mike. For a guy like me that's covered
Speaker 1: the team for ten years, I didn't get the Desmond
Speaker 1: Bishop era. I got the end of the A. J.
Speaker 1: Hawk era, and AJ had a phenomenal career here, But
Speaker 1: I haven't seen a sideline to sideline inside backer like Campbell.
Speaker 1: This guy is good against the run, he fills gaps well,
Speaker 1: he diagnosed as well, he knows his assignments fundamentally sound.
Speaker 1: But the athleticism factor with him is what really jumps
Speaker 1: off the page and Mike. With seventeen games, this guy
Speaker 1: is on pace for a hundred seventy five tackles this year.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's the type of season Devandre Campbell's having.
Speaker 1: So to see him get rewarded a really silent kind
Speaker 1: of you know, hunter out there on the field. It
Speaker 1: was a cool thing for him, and the Packers are
Speaker 1: going to need him in the second half of the season. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know for sure. The last time a Green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers defensive player earned a Defensive Player of the
Speaker 1: Month award. Again, this is that's what I heard Clay
Speaker 1: Matthews in two thousand and ten. This is obviously very
Speaker 1: different from defensive player of the week. And and I
Speaker 1: know in two thousand nine Charles Woodson somewhere along the way,
Speaker 1: if not multiple months, when he was on his way
Speaker 1: to Defensive Player of the Year, that he got Defensive
Speaker 1: Player of the month. But yes, it might have been
Speaker 1: Clay Matthews in in two thousand and ten. Since a
Speaker 1: Green Bay defensive player got an award like this, Campbell's
Speaker 1: on the like he's on a trajectory to make a
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl here and like all provo question, this is
Speaker 1: more than just the dude that walked in the door
Speaker 1: in June, signed a one year deal and then played
Speaker 1: out the season. Devonja Campbell is really doing himself a
Speaker 1: lot of favors this season. Yeah, well, we'll get a
Speaker 1: little bit of sponsor business here. West Serious x M
Speaker 1: NFL Radio delivers hard hitting analysis and up to the
Speaker 1: minute NFL news that true football fanatics need seven three, six,
Speaker 1: five and at Cousin subs, we have something for everyone,
Speaker 1: like our Wisconsin cheese curds, mac and cheese, golden fries,
Speaker 1: and creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite sub or
Speaker 1: sub in a bowl. Cousin subs. We believe in better.
Speaker 1: All right, let's crystallize it down. We've talked about it
Speaker 1: a little bit already. West, but the keys to victory
Speaker 1: here for Green Bay on Sunday going to Arrowhead, which
Speaker 1: it's right up there with Seattle in terms of the
Speaker 1: noise factor at an outdoor stadium in this league. Kansas
Speaker 1: City in Seattle, in my mind, is certainly as far
Speaker 1: as having been too pretty much everywhere in the league,
Speaker 1: this one. This is a tough place to play. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and they have less speakers. I mean, it's impressive with
Speaker 1: the with the crowd. Actually it's actually it's actually more
Speaker 1: natural crowd. They're not there's no auto tuning. They're singing
Speaker 1: with the real you know. No. But I mean you
Speaker 1: and I have been there, and I've talked to players
Speaker 1: over the years. I remember talking to like Justin McCrae
Speaker 1: and Brian Blog, an offensive lineman, about how difficult that
Speaker 1: environment is for an offensive lineman to play at. Packers
Speaker 1: have played really clean football from a false start perspective.
Speaker 1: From a penalty perspective, that's going to be challenged this week,
Speaker 1: especially with how energized this team is going to be
Speaker 1: in this type of matchup. Those fans are going to know, Okay,
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers is not out there, we get the backup.
Speaker 1: That's fresh meat for us. They're gonna be ready for
Speaker 1: this thing. For green Bay's perspective, though, I think it
Speaker 1: really comes down to shortening this ball game. I don't
Speaker 1: know the exact stats on thirty five or thirty four
Speaker 1: plus minutes in terms of time of possession, but when
Speaker 1: green Bay controls the football and finishes and executes, you
Speaker 1: gotta do all that eventually have to score points. But
Speaker 1: when they control the tempo of a game, the green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers win. That's how Matt Lafleur got more wins
Speaker 1: in the modern era than any other coach in his
Speaker 1: first forty games. They need to be able to do that. Again.
Speaker 1: That means running the football. That means whoever is available
Speaker 1: in that receiving corps, whether it is Davante Adams, Marquisvelda Scantling,
Speaker 1: you know you're gonna have Alan Lazar back. They have
Speaker 1: to be able to push the football down field. But
Speaker 1: it comes down to winning between the first down in
Speaker 1: the next first down, right, just moving the football. I
Speaker 1: think that's gonna be the main catalyst here and again,
Speaker 1: playing mistake free football and Jordan loves first start. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And on the defensive side of the ball, I've already
Speaker 1: talked about the turnovers. But the other thing, clearly when
Speaker 1: you're facing this Kansas City Chiefs defense and Patrick Mahomes,
Speaker 1: is you can't get gas for the big play, right,
Speaker 1: you have to make and and this is what Kansas
Speaker 1: City has struggled with. They're always looking for the big
Speaker 1: shot down field. They want they want to punch you
Speaker 1: in the mouth with that long fifty yard bomb to
Speaker 1: Tyreek Hill or the thirty yards scene passed down the
Speaker 1: middle to Travis Kelsey. You've got to be able to
Speaker 1: defend against those, because that's why the Chiefs have struggled offensively,
Speaker 1: is when they've been forced to grind it out, to
Speaker 1: grind out the long drives, they've made a mistake somewhere
Speaker 1: along the way. The opening drive last week Monday Night
Speaker 1: Football a few nights ago against the New York Giants
Speaker 1: was the perfect example. The Chiefs take the opening kickoff,
Speaker 1: double digit play drive, everything looking smoothly working well, they're
Speaker 1: taking more than seven minutes off the clock. And then
Speaker 1: they get in the red zone and a ball gets
Speaker 1: deflected and picked off and the Giants have the ball
Speaker 1: back and the Chief's got nothing out of that possession
Speaker 1: except to turn over. Why because the Giants didn't give
Speaker 1: up a fifty yard pass, right they made up you know,
Speaker 1: And that's what the Packers. That's what the Packers have
Speaker 1: to do, because that's what's going to give you the
Speaker 1: opportunities for the turnovers, is to make them grind out
Speaker 1: a drive. And it's it's the old Dom Caper's thing.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's because that was my first defensive coordinator that
Speaker 1: I covered, but I just remember all those times standing
Speaker 1: in the podium and Dom talking about the more plays
Speaker 1: that they have to play on a drive and the
Speaker 1: fewer you know, big penalties that you give up the
Speaker 1: fifteen yarders, the better statistically your opportunity is going to
Speaker 1: be to take away the football and also to stop them.
Speaker 1: That's where green Bay needs to get to now. Fortunately
Speaker 1: for green Bay, it would appear that Joe Barry could
Speaker 1: be back in the fold here for this game on Sunday.
Speaker 1: That's huge. I mean, Jerry Are, Jerry Gray, Kirk, Livadaddy.
Speaker 1: You give them all the credit in the world for
Speaker 1: the job they did with all Barry, but to have
Speaker 1: that whole group together in a defense that buy and
Speaker 1: Large again, we got to see what happens with this
Speaker 1: hamstring injury with with Dean Lowry, but Buying Large is
Speaker 1: getting healthier. Kevin King was a full participant in practice
Speaker 1: on Wednesday. This is a huge opportunity for them. Now
Speaker 1: you need to get the Darius back, You need to
Speaker 1: get You're back at some point, but to have the
Speaker 1: core there for them that this is they've They've played
Speaker 1: well all season. Now you get to start getting your
Speaker 1: heavy hitters back. What can you do from there? Yeah,
Speaker 1: a couple of thoughts to get from you with regard
Speaker 1: to the NFC North here before we go. It's interesting,
Speaker 1: it's the it's the cross conference week he has in
Speaker 1: a sense with the Packers. Packers are at Kansas City,
Speaker 1: Minnesota is at Baltimore, and the Chicago Bears are at
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh on Monday Night football. So um some rare matchups
Speaker 1: in in that respect. The Packers have the three and
Speaker 1: a half game lead but obviously right now you don't
Speaker 1: have Aaron Rodgers. You don't know how long necessarily Rogers
Speaker 1: is is going to be out given the COVID situation.
Speaker 1: So um, it'll be interesting to see here Minnesota. Minnesota
Speaker 1: coming off of that really really rough loss to the
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys at home with Cooper Rush making his first
Speaker 1: start at quarterback for the Cowboys. Now they have to
Speaker 1: go on the road and deal with Lamar Jackson and
Speaker 1: the Baltimore Ravens. This is uh, this is going. This
Speaker 1: is an opportunity here, quite frankly, for for the Packers
Speaker 1: to you know, tighten the stranglehold of sense on the
Speaker 1: NFC North. If you can go in and do do
Speaker 1: what you did in Arizona, run the ball, get some turnovers,
Speaker 1: maybe escape Arrowhead with a victory with Jordan Love at quarterback,
Speaker 1: then you sit back and see what what your other
Speaker 1: NFC North brethren are doing on the road against a
Speaker 1: f C teams as well. Chicago is a team that
Speaker 1: I think can probably play with most teams. It just
Speaker 1: comes down back to that takeaway sort of margin I
Speaker 1: think defensively, you know, they could very easily be in
Speaker 1: this matchup with Pittsburgh depending on you know, what happens
Speaker 1: on the other side of the ball. Minnesota, I really
Speaker 1: don't like this matchup for them. I feel like this
Speaker 1: is not only what happened last week, but Lamar Jackson
Speaker 1: is going to stress them. They have an older linebacker
Speaker 1: corps now you know you're gonna have some some and
Speaker 1: the Vikings have lost their best pass rusher for the
Speaker 1: season now da Neil Hunter is done for the year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and that's in Obviously Hunter has been a kind of
Speaker 1: a rough go for him now the last two and
Speaker 1: a half years. But I think this is the game
Speaker 1: where Minnesota's offense, as which is we've always talked about
Speaker 1: the Zimmers defense, Minnesota's offensive has to be able to
Speaker 1: generate some some opportunities here for them, because I don't
Speaker 1: think this is a game that you can win if
Speaker 1: you're not putting up twenty five plus points. So Green
Speaker 1: based perspective, you're sitting in a great position absent all
Speaker 1: the realities of that position. But in terms of the
Speaker 1: actual standings, the statistics this is, this could not have
Speaker 1: been a better scenario for Jordan's Love to move into.
Speaker 1: But seeing how the rest of this division kind of
Speaker 1: shakes out, here is going to be fascinating to watch
Speaker 1: because this is a massive month of November. Uh, four
Speaker 1: teams not only trying to stay in the division race,
Speaker 1: but you know, right now at four and four, Carolinas
Speaker 1: the wild card team. So you know, any win here
Speaker 1: for Minnesota and Chicago keeps them in that race as well. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that extra wild card team having that seventh playoff spot
Speaker 1: in the NFC, that's uh, as we knew. We saw
Speaker 1: it last year but then but I can't. Also this year,
Speaker 1: they're going to be a whole bunch of teams in
Speaker 1: the NFC down the stretch that may not have a
Speaker 1: shot at the division championship because of all these one
Speaker 1: lost teams that we're seeing right now in the NFC,
Speaker 1: but they're still going to be in the playoff hunt
Speaker 1: and and playing for their season, trying to get that
Speaker 1: coveted eighth victory to make the playoffs. I can't. I
Speaker 1: can't wait for that in years to come. All right, Well,
Speaker 1: with that, we'll call it a wrap on this edition
Speaker 1: of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our
Speaker 1: coverage of the team. Will have everything for you from
Speaker 1: Sunday's big game in Kansas City on packers dot com
Speaker 1: for West, I'm Mike. Thank you for tuning in. Everybody,
Speaker 1: We'll see you next time.