Speaker 1: Hi, everyone. Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford. He is West Hot Couits. We're
Speaker 1: coming to you here from our studios at Lambeufield. I
Speaker 1: got the point that time, and you've got two points,
Speaker 1: two points instead of the camera. All right, Well, West,
Speaker 1: we are another day closer to Packers Vikings Sunday Night
Speaker 1: football from US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The Packers third
Speaker 1: consecutive road game that will be in prime time, which
Speaker 1: I don't know if that's ever happened before, but New England, Seattle,
Speaker 1: now Minneapolis. So let's take a closer look at this
Speaker 1: Vikings team. They're just one game ahead of the Packers
Speaker 1: at five four and one. Packers are four five and one,
Speaker 1: both teams right now trailing the Chicago Bears in the
Speaker 1: NFL See North, and the Vikings coming off of a
Speaker 1: primetime loss to those first place Bears at Soldier Field
Speaker 1: in Chicago last Sunday Night, a game in which Minnesota's
Speaker 1: offense really struggled to get anything going against that Chicago defense. Well,
Speaker 1: it goes back to what I've always said, Michael, with
Speaker 1: this game, you never know how it's going to play
Speaker 1: out at the beginning of the year. I think you
Speaker 1: and I could probably roll back, Marvin can bring up
Speaker 1: the past on scripted episodes. We thought it was gonna
Speaker 1: be the Packers and Vikings one too for the division
Speaker 1: and maybe the loser that being a wild card team. Uh.
Speaker 1: And you see how the season plays out. The Chicago
Speaker 1: Bears have really come on. I mean offensively, they're doing
Speaker 1: what they have to do to take care of business.
Speaker 1: The Vikings are different in that watching them sort of
Speaker 1: struggle a little bit with this Kirk Cousins era has
Speaker 1: kind of caught me off guard a little bit. Their
Speaker 1: thirty feet right now against the UH with the with
Speaker 1: the run. Offensively, Uh, you're getting the performances you want
Speaker 1: to get out of you know, Stefon Diggs and Adam Feeland.
Speaker 1: But offensively it's then you know, kind of hit or
Speaker 1: miss for them. Defensively, that's the same defense. They're still
Speaker 1: making plays. But I don't know if I don't want
Speaker 1: to say it's been a disappointment, because I wouldn't say that.
Speaker 1: We see how difficult it is to find solid quarterback
Speaker 1: play in the NFL. But I think if anything, this
Speaker 1: season has kind of showed that Kirk Cousins is human
Speaker 1: in that expectations for as sky high as they were
Speaker 1: going in the season, they always have to be adjusted. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I think the injury early in the season to
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook, I think really changed the outlook for this
Speaker 1: offense because I think you and I were both thinking,
Speaker 1: you know, Dalvin Cook coming back from the injury from
Speaker 1: a year ago, he was really going to be a
Speaker 1: centerpiece of this offense. And nothing against Lottavius Murray who
Speaker 1: filled in right very well, but Dalvin Cook is more
Speaker 1: of that game breaker textually in the in the running
Speaker 1: game that they haven't had. And I just I think
Speaker 1: if this Vikings offense gets Dalvin Cook going again like
Speaker 1: they had him going last year before he got hurt
Speaker 1: with case Keenum at quarterback, I think this Vikings offense
Speaker 1: could really take off. So you say, yes, their thirty
Speaker 1: one in the league against the run, It sounds kind
Speaker 1: of crazy, but I think one of the keys for
Speaker 1: the Packers is going to be to keep them there,
Speaker 1: to not let Dalvin Cook get going, because to me,
Speaker 1: that's just gonna make Kirk cousins life so much easier. Well,
Speaker 1: and that's what kind of surprises me about the offense
Speaker 1: this year from Minnesota. I think there's a lot of
Speaker 1: people that would agree. I would hope most would agree
Speaker 1: that Kirk Cousins is an upgrade over the kind of
Speaker 1: quarterback triangle that they had last year. There. Uh, and
Speaker 1: yet you look at what they did with case Keenum
Speaker 1: in Latavius Murray in the offense in some ways is
Speaker 1: a little more effective with basically the same offensive line.
Speaker 1: So it's weird how season to season there isn't always
Speaker 1: that consistency. There's still adjustments that happened in the game changes.
Speaker 1: That being said, Mike, if you would have told me
Speaker 1: at the beginning of the year, injuries, no injuries. Dalvin
Speaker 1: Cook has fifty carries for a hundred and ninety nine
Speaker 1: yards three point six yards per carry. Seventy of those
Speaker 1: came on one run, right, he had the one big
Speaker 1: seventy yards. Like, it's incredible that he did have that
Speaker 1: one breakthrough run. But yet the yards per carrey are
Speaker 1: that low. As you said, though, when you pointed out perfectly,
Speaker 1: the Packers can't rest on their laurels there. He's still
Speaker 1: going to be a supreme matchup for them, and Mary
Speaker 1: still gives them a really good change of pace, and
Speaker 1: it adds to a pretty on paper, a pretty balanced
Speaker 1: offense when they're taking care of the football. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: think was the Digs in their receiving corps who missed
Speaker 1: a game or two somewhere recently. I can't remember exactly
Speaker 1: which which games he missed. It was the Detroit game. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So I mean with him being back, I saw him
Speaker 1: catching a lot of underneath balls against the Bears in
Speaker 1: that game last Sunday night. He put up a pretty
Speaker 1: good game, but didn't have any of those game breaking
Speaker 1: type of plays, and I think a lot of that
Speaker 1: was because they just could not get the running game
Speaker 1: going against that Chicago front. The Bears. The Bears defensive line,
Speaker 1: really defensive front set the tone in that game. You
Speaker 1: mentioned Minnesota's offensive line. I think this is a unit
Speaker 1: that is going to be out for a little bit
Speaker 1: of redemption here against the Packers, because that's the unit
Speaker 1: that's taking a lot of he in the Minneapolis media
Speaker 1: right now for the let down at Soldier Field and
Speaker 1: and how it took the offense until the fourth quarter
Speaker 1: when they were kind of in desperation mode before they
Speaker 1: really started to move the ball with any consistency. So
Speaker 1: this Vikings offensive line, they're going to be back home,
Speaker 1: you know, in their own elements. And uh Packers. The
Speaker 1: Packers defensive front, yes, they're banged up. Mike Daniels is
Speaker 1: not in there. This isn't the same defensive front that
Speaker 1: the Bears have. But that's where the Packers have to
Speaker 1: try to control this ball game. You have to because
Speaker 1: I mean, you've seen in the past what what you
Speaker 1: know Cook can do when he's healthy and be effective
Speaker 1: against teams, And honestly, the Mattavious Murray has been doing
Speaker 1: it for the last five six years, whether it goes
Speaker 1: back to his time with the Raiders or now in
Speaker 1: the second part of his career with the Vikings. Both
Speaker 1: of those guys have the capabilities of breaking it and
Speaker 1: also moving the chains just down in distance and doing
Speaker 1: the small things to be effective out of the backfield.
Speaker 1: The biggest thing I think that plays into, though, the
Speaker 1: desire to need to stop them, is because it does
Speaker 1: somewhat limit the downfield passing game. Then of the Vikings,
Speaker 1: we've seen it against the Packers in the past two
Speaker 1: when they're able to move the ball and get those
Speaker 1: favorable second and third down situations. That's when you start
Speaker 1: to see digs go on, Margo routes, That's when you
Speaker 1: start to see at field having the deep crossers. So
Speaker 1: you have to be on your your game from that
Speaker 1: regard and and you know otherwise, you know, it kind
Speaker 1: of reminds me, Mike a little bit um your baseball guy.
Speaker 1: I used to be a baseball guy where you know,
Speaker 1: you'd play a certain team, let's just say the Cardinals,
Speaker 1: for example, and you could kind of visualize who's gonna
Speaker 1: be at first, who's gonna be at second, who's going
Speaker 1: to be the outfield. It's such a consistent group, and
Speaker 1: you know where they're going to be in the batting order.
Speaker 1: I look at the Vikings in the very similar light.
Speaker 1: Offensive and defensive. You know you're gonna have to deal
Speaker 1: with Kyle Rudolph and just the multitude of options they have. Now, again,
Speaker 1: is there you know that Tyreek Hill or just a
Speaker 1: guy that completely strikes fearing you. Maybe yes, maybe no.
Speaker 1: It's a lot of possession receivers in that offense. But
Speaker 1: that being said, you can't allow them to get go
Speaker 1: on because a feeling two has had some really big
Speaker 1: games against this team. Yeah, well, Theeland had was at
Speaker 1: eight consecutive games to start the year with one yards.
Speaker 1: He's cooled off a little bit. You know, obviously he
Speaker 1: can't keep that up forever. He's cooled off a little
Speaker 1: bit production wise, but as you said, he's had some
Speaker 1: big games against the Packers. You know, he and Diggs
Speaker 1: both made huge plays in the fourth quarter at lambeau
Speaker 1: Field when when the Vikings made that come back to
Speaker 1: get the game here in Week two into overtime, which
Speaker 1: which ultimately ended in a tie. UM Feeling is a
Speaker 1: feeling is a guy that that's earned a ton of respect, uh,
Speaker 1: not only around the league, but certainly within the NFC
Speaker 1: North and UH and the games he's had against Green Bay,
Speaker 1: the Packers are gonna have to They're gonna have to
Speaker 1: clamp down on him better than they have. The one
Speaker 1: thing I like about the Packers secondary this though, it's
Speaker 1: almost a different group than what they saw in that
Speaker 1: week too game. You know. You also, depending on if
Speaker 1: Bishop Brillan is available, he's now in their Devon Houses
Speaker 1: on injury reserve. I really really want to see that
Speaker 1: matchup between if it works out to e Gyr Alexander
Speaker 1: against Adam Feeland, because I mean, there had there's been
Speaker 1: some flexibility that they've had to do. You know, Alexander said,
Speaker 1: in a perfect world, he enjoys playing the slot more.
Speaker 1: He's fine doing either. He feels he can be a
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl type player at either spot, but he just
Speaker 1: enjoys being involved in the game. Weren't getting a chance
Speaker 1: to make some plays. As Tremont Williams always likes to say,
Speaker 1: we're near on a boundary, it kind of gets lonely
Speaker 1: out there. Alexander likes the action, and I just think
Speaker 1: seeing him in Cineland could be really I think it's
Speaker 1: gonna be a really good matchup for years to come.
Speaker 1: But if you could get that, if you get enough
Speaker 1: guys healthy to have that potentially play out in this game,
Speaker 1: I think that'd be really big for Mike Petten's defense. Well,
Speaker 1: we saw in the Week two game here at lambeau
Speaker 1: Field when the Packers had Kevin King on stefanigs how
Speaker 1: the Packers defense was really really tough that day for
Speaker 1: about three quarters. And then when Kevin King left the
Speaker 1: game and they had to start shuffling some things around
Speaker 1: in the secondary, suddenly Minnesota's offense took off. So we'll
Speaker 1: see as the week goes on. What what the word
Speaker 1: is with Kevin King in his ability to stay step
Speaker 1: for step with Digs in that game. I thought it
Speaker 1: was so key. I mean, it's still out of all,
Speaker 1: like if I took the top ten passes, defense or
Speaker 1: interceptions for the year so far, even though it wasn't
Speaker 1: a pick that that play where he goes stride for
Speaker 1: stride with him down the far sideline with no help
Speaker 1: whatsoever over the top, it's just go, there's your man,
Speaker 1: Go make a play and unfortunately end up pulling out
Speaker 1: of that with a groin injury shortly after that. But
Speaker 1: I've been saying it since day one. When you look
Speaker 1: at King's size and his speed MIC and the fact
Speaker 1: that he can play the boundary position against some really tall,
Speaker 1: lengthy athletic receivers, he is exactly what you need in
Speaker 1: two thousand and eighteen to to be able to defend
Speaker 1: against them. Yeah, alrighty, well quickly West a little sponsored
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Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers. Okay, defensive side of the ball
Speaker 1: for the Minnesota Vikings, they've had some guys in and out.
Speaker 1: Everson Griffin is back in now after are missing a
Speaker 1: lot of time for some personal reasons. Anthony Barr. It
Speaker 1: sounds like maybe he's coming back this week after missing
Speaker 1: um some games. You know, your mainstays in there, Kendrick's,
Speaker 1: Harrison Smith, Davier Rhodes. I mean this this is still
Speaker 1: a pretty darn good unit. And the guy who's really
Speaker 1: the kind of striking fear and everybody is that pass
Speaker 1: rusher Daniel Hunter. What's he up to now? Eleven and
Speaker 1: a hal half second most right now? Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: he's he's been racking him up this year. Um, interesting
Speaker 1: story behind him, just because he's a guy who came
Speaker 1: into the NFL without a whole lot of fanfare, but
Speaker 1: yet he's developed into quite the productive pass rusher. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And this is what I've always respected about Mike Patton's defense,
Speaker 1: whether excuse me, Mike Zimmer's defense, although I do respect
Speaker 1: Pattens too, going back to either whether it was with
Speaker 1: his time with Cincinnati or now these last four or
Speaker 1: five years with Minnesota, it's never just one guy. Certainly
Speaker 1: Everson Griffin's been on a good run and when everything's right,
Speaker 1: you know, he's a very effective player. But it's not
Speaker 1: just one guy. He always has somebody else that's EPs up,
Speaker 1: and Hunters really became that player over the last two
Speaker 1: and a half seasons. And as you mentioned, I don't
Speaker 1: know if there was a lot of fanfare with him.
Speaker 1: He wasn't one of these, you know, Harrison Smith, you know,
Speaker 1: first round all eyes on him type prospects. But what
Speaker 1: he's been able to do and the impact he's been
Speaker 1: able to make has been pretty incredible. And especially Mike
Speaker 1: when you say the eleven and a half sacks, much
Speaker 1: like Feeland, I mean he had this first six or
Speaker 1: seven games, seven games with at least one sack, and
Speaker 1: then had three and a half against Detroit in that day.
Speaker 1: I believe Matthew Stafford got taken down ten times. Ten times. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that was a new, a new Vikings record. They sack
Speaker 1: Stafford ten times. When you think about back to the
Speaker 1: days of the Purple People leaders and all that, I know,
Speaker 1: sacks maybe weren't an official statistic back then, but to
Speaker 1: think that this Vikings defense set the franchise record for
Speaker 1: sacks in one game with ten. That that's saying something.
Speaker 1: It was something else. And And like I said, to
Speaker 1: be able to a third round pick in two thousand fifteen,
Speaker 1: six ft five, two sixty pounds, be able to get
Speaker 1: that kind of impact a very really critical thing. And
Speaker 1: you know, because you're gonna get your first round picks.
Speaker 1: But being able to find these type of guys, being
Speaker 1: able to find the Adam feelings of the world, as
Speaker 1: we've seen with some of these Packer teams in the
Speaker 1: past that have really excelled. It's those type of players
Speaker 1: that can put a defense or an offense over the top. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and when you're talking pass rush, we all know that
Speaker 1: the pass rush for a team playing at home, when
Speaker 1: the defense is at home is always different than on
Speaker 1: the road. And U and the Packers offensive line obviously
Speaker 1: is going to have his hands full. You get the
Speaker 1: noise going, the offense has to go to the silent count.
Speaker 1: Those pass rushers just they have that I wouldn't even
Speaker 1: say it's a half a second, it's a it's a
Speaker 1: fraction of a half of a second that they get
Speaker 1: a little bit of a jump that you don't necessarily
Speaker 1: get when you're playing on the road as a pass rusher,
Speaker 1: and uh and it it makes it makes the task
Speaker 1: of protecting a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers that much tougher. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it's gonna be interesting to the thing. I'm looking
Speaker 1: forward to watching this matchup. So obviously Trey Wayne Xavior
Speaker 1: Rohads they're the one too. They've been that way for
Speaker 1: a number of years. But they lost my cues for
Speaker 1: this season. Yeah, so seen exactly how they match up there.
Speaker 1: I had to be honest with you, I'm not is
Speaker 1: it mostly been Mackenzie Alexander handling the slot. I'm not
Speaker 1: even entirely. I know he's been playing a lot more
Speaker 1: obviously since Hughes went out, but I don't know they
Speaker 1: handle that sub package. But anyway, Hughes, that was kind
Speaker 1: of seen as that was going to be his spot,
Speaker 1: and he was looking pretty good there early on this season,
Speaker 1: and he was drafted in the first round specifically to
Speaker 1: be that guy for them this season, to to add
Speaker 1: add that one extra top line you know, cover corner
Speaker 1: type guy. Yeah. So whereas in the past, you know,
Speaker 1: they've been so deep at so many positions, they still
Speaker 1: are relatively speaking, but they've had to really at at
Speaker 1: all three major spots, have had to dig a little
Speaker 1: bit deeper into that depth chart than they have the
Speaker 1: past few seasons, at least to the naked eye. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and for all the disappointment in some ways that is
Speaker 1: surrounding the Vikings because they did come in with Super
Speaker 1: Bowl hopes and yet here they are at five four
Speaker 1: and one, there in second place in their own division,
Speaker 1: Minnesota is still looking at this, at least I would
Speaker 1: imagine they are from Mike Zimmer's point of view as, Hey,
Speaker 1: we're right in this thing. You beat the Packers, get
Speaker 1: to six four and one, you have another shot at
Speaker 1: the Bears because the Bears are coming to your place
Speaker 1: in December, all that kind of stuff. The Vikings are
Speaker 1: looking at it is, Hey, we still have everything right
Speaker 1: in front of us. Who cares about these four losses
Speaker 1: in one tie. Let's let's take care of business at
Speaker 1: home and get rolling and get ourselves another shot in
Speaker 1: the playoffs like last year. So as much as they're
Speaker 1: disappointed with what happened on Sunday night at Soldier Field,
Speaker 1: this is a team that is going to be fired
Speaker 1: up and ready to go especially want to defend their
Speaker 1: home turf after losing two games. They're already this season.
Speaker 1: They only lost one last year up until obviously you know,
Speaker 1: the final stretch. But uh, that being said, I I
Speaker 1: just I look right now, Michael, at this thing. Uh
Speaker 1: you know, they had the inexcusable loss to Buffalo, but
Speaker 1: otherwise they're in a very similar boat to the Packers,
Speaker 1: and that you know, a close loss in l A.
Speaker 1: You lose a close one to Chicago. Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: they they They've had some very competitive games over the
Speaker 1: course the season, ten point lost to New Orleans. They
Speaker 1: just have not been able to get over the hump
Speaker 1: in those. So yeah, this is a I always am nervous,
Speaker 1: and I don't like saying must win games, but I
Speaker 1: think you can pretty much agree the Packers are in
Speaker 1: that scenario right now. Considering this as a division opponent,
Speaker 1: you're this close in the race. I think the win
Speaker 1: like this is really going to be able to cut
Speaker 1: catapult either team into that fourth quarter of the season. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're right, it is. It's kind of a potential launching pad,
Speaker 1: so to speak, for either team. Because from Minnesota's point
Speaker 1: of view, as I said, if they get to six
Speaker 1: four and one, and they know that Chicago is coming
Speaker 1: to their place later in the season. They'll feel like
Speaker 1: they're right where they want to be from the Packers
Speaker 1: point of view. Win and get to five five and one,
Speaker 1: and you have two home games coming up after all
Speaker 1: of these wrote, you know, four road games in five
Speaker 1: weeks and and all the struggles on the road. If
Speaker 1: you can snap those struggles on the road and get
Speaker 1: a win and you're coming back home for two games,
Speaker 1: then you feel like you can thrust yourself right back
Speaker 1: into the conversation. So, um, one other thing, Um, Actually
Speaker 1: I should take care of some sponsor business. Let's do that,
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Speaker 1: before we go today, I do want to preview a
Speaker 1: little bit the Turkey Day of Football Thanksgiving. The Thanksgiving
Speaker 1: Triple Header a really interesting slate of games in that
Speaker 1: all three games are not only NFC strictly NFC teams,
Speaker 1: but they're all division matchups. You have the Chicago Bears
Speaker 1: going to Detroit in the early game, you have the
Speaker 1: Washington Redskins going to Dallas for the late afternoon game.
Speaker 1: And then I forget the location, but it's Falcons and Saints.
Speaker 1: It's in New Orleans, Okay, Falcons at Saints in the
Speaker 1: NFC South for the night game. All these have really
Speaker 1: interesting narratives because the Bears obviously in first place in
Speaker 1: the North, but they just played a Sunday night football
Speaker 1: game and they have to kick it off at eleven
Speaker 1: thirties Central Time in Detroit on Thursday. Actually did the
Speaker 1: math there. Their turnaround time from end of game to
Speaker 1: start of next game is about twelve hours shorter than
Speaker 1: what the Packers had for the after the Miami from
Speaker 1: the Miami to Seattle. So they didn't have to take
Speaker 1: a cross country No, they don't have to take a
Speaker 1: cross they don't have to take a cross country flight,
Speaker 1: but twelve hours is twelve hours. And then you have
Speaker 1: the Redskins, who are down to their backup quarterback now
Speaker 1: with the horrible injury to Alex Smith unfortunately, and I'm
Speaker 1: not laughing about that. I'm laughing more about the Cowboys
Speaker 1: suddenly being in the middle of that division race. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: the Cowboys were two weeks ago, they were three and
Speaker 1: five and everybody was writing them off. And all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, they've won back to back games. The Redskins
Speaker 1: lose their quarterback and Dallas has a chance to uh
Speaker 1: to tie them for first and then uh the night
Speaker 1: game the Atlanta Falcons, if they pick up their seventh loss,
Speaker 1: it's I mean, it's pretty much all over for them
Speaker 1: in terms of trying to make the postseason if if
Speaker 1: the best they can do is is nine and seven
Speaker 1: the way things look so and the New Orleans Saints
Speaker 1: are the team that nobody can seem to stay with
Speaker 1: right now. Yeah, it's gonna be an exciting day of games.
Speaker 1: I am really you know, I'm hoping we'll break here
Speaker 1: early enough to get home and you know, throw down
Speaker 1: some turkey and check these games out, you know, personally.
Speaker 1: In addition, you know, the narrative for the North is
Speaker 1: going to be what it is in the the intrigue
Speaker 1: is going to be there because of the Packers and
Speaker 1: the implications of it. Was the main reason why I
Speaker 1: was saying last week, I think you're kind of hoping
Speaker 1: for a Vikings win just based on the Bears. You know,
Speaker 1: even his short rest, they're still taking on a Detroit
Speaker 1: team that's trying to find themselves. How much how much
Speaker 1: do you think Detroit's I mean, Detroit got a pretty
Speaker 1: big win over Carolina at home on Sunday, a game
Speaker 1: a lot of people needed it. A lot of people
Speaker 1: thought Carolina would walk into four field and just kind
Speaker 1: of keep rolling offensively, and that didn't happen. You know, Detroit,
Speaker 1: Detroit could really make life difficult for Chicago, and they
Speaker 1: could pull themselves back into it, because again, this thing
Speaker 1: isn't nobody's running away with it. A win over the
Speaker 1: Bears would put everybody within two games of each other
Speaker 1: with five to go. So there are a lot of
Speaker 1: implications for that. Me personally, though, Michael, the game I'm
Speaker 1: most excited about is Washington and Dallas because, to be
Speaker 1: quite honest with you and I could end up being
Speaker 1: completely wrong. These next five weeks six weeks could go terrible.
Speaker 1: I've always quietly been a Coult McCoy fan. I actually
Speaker 1: have always been impressed with him. I don't think he
Speaker 1: ever got a fair shake with Cleveland. If you go
Speaker 1: back and see and look at some of the issues
Speaker 1: that Cleveland has had, his stats actually bear out. Okay there,
Speaker 1: and he's been the backup in Washington for four seasons
Speaker 1: now and they paid him, you know, a significant amount
Speaker 1: of money to be there the last two years. So
Speaker 1: this is why you do it. I think a lot
Speaker 1: of people consider him one of the upper echelon backups
Speaker 1: in the league. Well, now, this is a chance to
Speaker 1: keep Washington in the playoff hunt. And conversely, you have
Speaker 1: a Dallas team that I think has given up the
Speaker 1: fewest points in the NFC right now. Defensively, Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: the thing, Dallas. Dallas's defense is what has helped them
Speaker 1: turn the surround and stay in it because, yeah, while
Speaker 1: their offenses smoothed some things out, their offense hasn't suddenly exploded.
Speaker 1: It's their defense that has changed the tenor of certain
Speaker 1: games and gotten them back in this So does that
Speaker 1: tenor continue on Thursday night, I'm or Thursday afternoon. I
Speaker 1: think that's gonna be an excellent football game, very much
Speaker 1: excited to watch it. And then New Orleans Atlanta's had
Speaker 1: to overcome a lot with their injuries on defense. This here,
Speaker 1: and now you've got this silver bullet train just heading
Speaker 1: right for you. Uh well, we'll see how they handle it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean New Orleans. I remember when in twenty fourteen,
Speaker 1: was that when the Packers played a primetime game in
Speaker 1: New Orleans. I remember doing research at that time, and
Speaker 1: I can't remember how exactly it shook out, But the
Speaker 1: New Orleans Saints have an absolutely ridiculous home winning streak
Speaker 1: in primetime games when it's nighttime down in the Big
Speaker 1: Easy and they fill that place with I mean, it's
Speaker 1: it's like a playoff game. Anytime they play at night
Speaker 1: down there, it is crazy noisy, the Packers of Packers
Speaker 1: only two trips to New Orleans in my thirteen seasons
Speaker 1: covering the team have been night games, and they've been nightmares,
Speaker 1: quite frankly for the Packers. So as much as the
Speaker 1: Falcons are struggling and they are desperate for a win,
Speaker 1: it's really hard to see, it's really hard to see
Speaker 1: them being the ones to stop this. New Land's trainer
Speaker 1: the deck is stacked against them, probably as hard as anyone.
Speaker 1: What's interesting is you and I will preview these games
Speaker 1: every single week, and it always seems like I don't
Speaker 1: just probably the way it worked out. It always seems
Speaker 1: like Atlanta is facing a really difficult opponent, whether it's
Speaker 1: at home or you know, facing a tough matchup on
Speaker 1: the road. And with New Orleans is at right now,
Speaker 1: I mean, I think pound for pound, you consider them
Speaker 1: the number one power ranking team in the league right now.
Speaker 1: It doesn't get much more difficult than that. Yeah, alright, Well,
Speaker 1: with that, we are going to sign off on this
Speaker 1: edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of
Speaker 1: our coverage of the team on Packers dot com on Twitter.
Speaker 1: He's at west Hot I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers
Speaker 1: for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, and happy
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving everybody. We'll see you next time.