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, West Hodkowitz, were coming to you here
Speaker 1: from our studios at lambeau Field Weston. Week five is here.
Speaker 1: The Packers are three and one. They are traveling to
Speaker 1: Cincinnati to face another three and one squad in the Bengals.
Speaker 1: Your thoughts here on Cincinnati. You look at what that
Speaker 1: team has accomplished so far this season. The victory over
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh on the road at Hines Field probably the most notable,
Speaker 1: but also a couple of down to the wire walk
Speaker 1: off wins overtime against Minnesota and then last Thursday night
Speaker 1: against Jacksonville. This is a team that's gotten some things
Speaker 1: done in crunch time. I love the Cincinnati Bengals. They're
Speaker 1: one of my favorite teams to watch and and it's
Speaker 1: been that way for a number of years. Although they've
Speaker 1: been in kind of a depression for a few years
Speaker 1: after you know that the latter half of the Marvin
Speaker 1: Lewis era. But when the Cincinnative Bengals are playing good football,
Speaker 1: they're fun team, you know, and I enjoy that fan
Speaker 1: base I love everything about them, and Joe Burrow has
Speaker 1: infused I think a new enthusiasm that was badly needed.
Speaker 1: I mean, they needed to turn a corner. Things, no
Speaker 1: question about it, had kind of taken a dive at
Speaker 1: the end of the Andy Dalton Lewis era and they
Speaker 1: suffered a lot of losing for a couple of seasons.
Speaker 1: But Burrow, even though there was the knee injury last year,
Speaker 1: there was so much enthusiasm about the way he plays
Speaker 1: and what he was going to mean to this offense.
Speaker 1: And for him to come back and be off to
Speaker 1: the start that he is, I've said a time and
Speaker 1: time again. I mean he has the intangibles, Mike, he
Speaker 1: has good downfield accuracy, he has the poise in the pocket,
Speaker 1: he doesn't get jittery, he knows how to create plays.
Speaker 1: But what I like about him the most is he
Speaker 1: is a consummate winner. And I thought you saw that
Speaker 1: it was a very short sample size at l s U,
Speaker 1: but he can will teams to victory. And when you
Speaker 1: look at this three and one start for the Bengals,
Speaker 1: I think, in addition to some really create of play
Speaker 1: calling from Zach Taylor, I feel like it's a lot
Speaker 1: of us come down to Joe Burrow just kind of
Speaker 1: wanting it more in finding ways to get a victory.
Speaker 1: Hundred and thirteen pass rating completion percentage and still having
Speaker 1: four interceptions. The kid can play. Yeah, absolutely that. There
Speaker 1: are certain statistics that jump out. Obviously, one is Joe
Speaker 1: burrow se completions so far this year. Another one for
Speaker 1: me is seeing that Jamaar Chase, his star wide receiver
Speaker 1: from l s U. The two college stars reunited now
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati. Jamaar Chase averaging seventeen and a half yards
Speaker 1: per catch and has four of Joe Burrows touchdown passes
Speaker 1: already this season. And another thing that sticks out to
Speaker 1: me about this team third quarter West coming out of halftime.
Speaker 1: These guys have outscored their opponents thirty four to seven
Speaker 1: in the third quarter. This is something the Packers are
Speaker 1: going to have to be ready for, is that potential
Speaker 1: surge after the halftime break. Because this Bengals team, they're
Speaker 1: three and one. They're the only team in the a
Speaker 1: f C North that did not make the postseason last year,
Speaker 1: and they were the team that was sort of they
Speaker 1: were completely under the radar because everybody's talking about Okay,
Speaker 1: what's going on with Big Ben in Pittsburgh. And you
Speaker 1: have Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens, Baker Mayfield and
Speaker 1: the Cleveland Browns are a team on the rise. Well,
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Bengals are saying hello, here we are. We're three
Speaker 1: in one. And I think their motivation for this game
Speaker 1: the back to back thirteen win Green Bay Packers are
Speaker 1: coming into Cincinnati. This is the Cincinnati Bengals opportunity to
Speaker 1: make a little bit of a statement here and to say,
Speaker 1: you know, here we are NFL world, We're we're contenders.
Speaker 1: I think the motivation for the Bengals for this game
Speaker 1: is absolutely sky high. Well, and if you watch at
Speaker 1: all some of these games that the Bengals have played
Speaker 1: this so far this year, and I don't want to um,
Speaker 1: you know, there's strategy involved, no question about it. As
Speaker 1: I said, I really like the version of Taylor's offense
Speaker 1: that's kind of come out of that Shanahan, McVeigh, Lafleur,
Speaker 1: t E. I like some of the little changes he's
Speaker 1: made with that and kind of brought into his own
Speaker 1: he can tell it fits Joe Burrow really well. But
Speaker 1: they've also kind of played like they're operating with house
Speaker 1: money a little bit. I mean, some of the fourth
Speaker 1: downs that they've gone for, some of the plays that
Speaker 1: they've they've kind of drawn up, they're they're just loose.
Speaker 1: They're free, and I think there's a certain mindset there
Speaker 1: that certainly they want to compete and they are expecting
Speaker 1: to compete for a championship this year, but they're also
Speaker 1: I think Taylor has done a really excellent job of
Speaker 1: just letting these guys have fun. They they're they're playing
Speaker 1: stress free football right now, and I think that's allowing
Speaker 1: the talent to show up. The one thing we're gonna
Speaker 1: have to monitor throughout this week, though, is Joe Mixon,
Speaker 1: because when you talk about them coming out to the
Speaker 1: fast start that they've done in the second half, I
Speaker 1: think there's two things that play there, and necessarily neither
Speaker 1: one is you know, all about Joe Burrow and those receivers.
Speaker 1: I think it's Joe Mixon wearing teams down in the
Speaker 1: first half, and I think it's their defense playing really
Speaker 1: tight and concise football. Mix in who didn't practice on Wednesday.
Speaker 1: We don't know what is out looks going to be
Speaker 1: at the time in which we're taping this, But he's
Speaker 1: the bell cow right now. Joe Bonni Bernard is in
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay. They have some a G. P. Ryan, but
Speaker 1: Mixing is the guy. I mean, it's sort of old
Speaker 1: school smash mouth football. This is our running back. We're
Speaker 1: gonna keep hitting you with him. Yeah, you look at
Speaker 1: the statistics. I think he has about eight percent of
Speaker 1: Cincinnati's rushing attempts on the season. Yeah, so if he's
Speaker 1: not involved here, that does change the script a little bit.
Speaker 1: But I just feel like with what he's brought in
Speaker 1: the consistency that he's had these past few seasons, it
Speaker 1: starts with him and everything kind of grows off there
Speaker 1: for what the Bengals have done offensively. Yeah, and you
Speaker 1: alluded to the Cincinnati defense too. You're not talking about
Speaker 1: a whole bunch of household names or a whole bunch
Speaker 1: of guys that you know, have Pro Bowl accolades and
Speaker 1: all that. But just look at the numbers. This defense
Speaker 1: through four weeks of the regular season, seventh in the
Speaker 1: league in yards allowed, eighth in the league and points allowed.
Speaker 1: This is a very sound unit. Nobody's had any kind
Speaker 1: of a big monster breakout game against these guys, So
Speaker 1: far this year, and the Packers are going to have
Speaker 1: to be ready for it. We'll get to obviously some
Speaker 1: of the injuries and what's going on with the Packers
Speaker 1: on the defensive side of the ball. This Packers offense
Speaker 1: needs two needs to put together a really really efficient
Speaker 1: game against a tough unit to also compensate for for
Speaker 1: defensively Green Bay being shorthanded. Well, what I like about
Speaker 1: what Cincinnati did this offseason is for a long time
Speaker 1: people have talked about them is sort of being the
Speaker 1: team where guys aren't necessarily being paid, right, they aren't
Speaker 1: big you know, movers and free agency. This year, they
Speaker 1: were really smart about it. They knew they had to
Speaker 1: add talent to this team. There just wasn't enough of
Speaker 1: it last year, burrows knee injury notwithstanding. And they went
Speaker 1: and kind of invested sort of as I mentioned in
Speaker 1: our pre production meeting, kind of like in what the
Speaker 1: Packers did in two thousand nineteen in finding younger talent
Speaker 1: that's coming off of the rookie contracts that is still
Speaker 1: on the incline. And I think Trey hender Xon is
Speaker 1: the guy that perfectly embodies that. Again, kind of a
Speaker 1: one year guy with what New Orleans did last year,
Speaker 1: but what a season it was. Thirteen and a half sacks.
Speaker 1: Really felt his presence in that defense, and he's off
Speaker 1: to a good start. They go six seven defensive linemen
Speaker 1: deep with their front and you know b J. Hill
Speaker 1: is leading them in sacks. He's not even a listed starter.
Speaker 1: I mean, they are able to throw a lot of
Speaker 1: different looks at you. And as Matt Lafleur referenced on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: it's that kind of versatility and aggressiveness that I think
Speaker 1: has allowed them to sort of set the tone defensively
Speaker 1: with what they've done so far this season. Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: I think it's been a pretty uh, a pretty impressive unit.
Speaker 1: That is that's providing a really nice backbone to a
Speaker 1: to an up and coming young quarterback that that definitely
Speaker 1: has all the looks of a franchise guy. Uh. Shoutouts
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Speaker 1: On the defensive side for the Packers, no definitive update
Speaker 1: just yet on Jaire Alexander. The latest word from Matt
Speaker 1: Lafleur is the Packers are hoping that Alexander does not
Speaker 1: need surgery on his injured injured shoulder. They're looking at
Speaker 1: some you know, different opinions, different paths forward. If he
Speaker 1: ultimately does need surgery on the shoulder, his season is
Speaker 1: most likely over. The Packers have not made that determination yet,
Speaker 1: so still up in the air. I guess you say
Speaker 1: he's out indefinitely at this point. The Packers signing a
Speaker 1: veteran cornerback where Sul Douglas off of was it Arizona's
Speaker 1: practice squad. Um, So there's a piece of um reinforcement.
Speaker 1: They're coming into the Packers secondary as well as Kevin
Speaker 1: king back at practice and working his way through the
Speaker 1: concussion protocol. So hoping that um that the Packers will
Speaker 1: at least be a tad healthier even without Alexander in
Speaker 1: the in the defensive back. Yeah, the two big things, Mike,
Speaker 1: I mean, they can sign guys, they can claim, guys,
Speaker 1: we can have a lot of conversation about that, but
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, there are two big
Speaker 1: things here that have to happen, in which this time,
Speaker 1: whatever this is where Jr. Alexander is not available, it's
Speaker 1: going to be Kevin King outside, and it's going to
Speaker 1: be the versatility of Adrian Amos. I think that's what
Speaker 1: this ultimately boils down to, because you saw last week
Speaker 1: without King, without jaw. The next move was moving Amos
Speaker 1: back into the box and dime, which required second year
Speaker 1: safety Henry Black to be on the back end. That's
Speaker 1: sort of been the counter move for Green Band a
Speaker 1: lot of ways is utilizing that versatility with Amos because
Speaker 1: you know we can play inside outside. There's a reason
Speaker 1: why Mike, you and I have been talking for months
Speaker 1: now about this isn't Eric Stokes versus Kevin King. This
Speaker 1: isn't going to be okay. This is the set depth
Speaker 1: chart and it's not going to be changed. You've seen
Speaker 1: King play different spots, You've see Stokes being different predicaments.
Speaker 1: This point in time, the Green Bay Packers need both
Speaker 1: of those guys, and King coming back off with concussion,
Speaker 1: still working his way through the protocol, but was at
Speaker 1: practice on Wednesday. He's an important piece, man, He's been
Speaker 1: an important piece for four years and they need him
Speaker 1: healthy and for them to have King and Stokes on
Speaker 1: the outside, that's the recipe to get through this. Losing
Speaker 1: a guy like Joy Alexander is not a one player replacement.
Speaker 1: It was my lead for Insider Inbox. There's a reason
Speaker 1: why they talk about it taking all eleven. There are
Speaker 1: so many different adjustments that are gonna have to to be
Speaker 1: made without having John the field. But it really does
Speaker 1: start with King, and it starts with those cornerbacks stepping up.
Speaker 1: And this is a very tough task to come out
Speaker 1: of the gates against with what you know, the different
Speaker 1: variations and challenges that the Bengals can present. Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: I mean, you want to see Kevin King back healthy.
Speaker 1: You want to see the twenty nine team Kevin King
Speaker 1: that led this Packer's defense and interceptions. The spotlight gets
Speaker 1: even bigger and brighter on Eric Stokes, the first round
Speaker 1: draft pick whose role and responsibilities were already increasing before
Speaker 1: Alexander's injury. Well, now that that that role and responsibility
Speaker 1: goes up, you know yet another notch and uh and
Speaker 1: you know Shannon Sullivan, who has played a heck of
Speaker 1: a lot of football here for the Packers over the
Speaker 1: last few years. With the emergence of Stokes, some of
Speaker 1: his snaps being reduced, while Sullivan is going to be
Speaker 1: back on the field quite a bit. And uh and
Speaker 1: you know Jerry Gray, the defensive backs coach, Joe Barry,
Speaker 1: the defensive coordinat they're going to count on a veteran
Speaker 1: like Jannon Sullivan to to hold his own and come
Speaker 1: through here. In terms of the starting defense, I still
Speaker 1: think Green Bay is in a really good spot. It's
Speaker 1: just about okay. Now we're starting to see the reserves.
Speaker 1: We're starting to see some of these you know, rotational
Speaker 1: guys having to be in big moments, right and then
Speaker 1: you know, if anything else happens, that's where you need
Speaker 1: the Key Adams, you know, it's where you need Douglas
Speaker 1: and obviously you know someone like Schumar John Charles to
Speaker 1: really step up up. But that being said, I think
Speaker 1: Chandon is a very smart guy. He understands what his
Speaker 1: role is, he understands where he's come from. This wasn't
Speaker 1: a first round pick. This is a guy that really,
Speaker 1: you know, scratch and Claude to get that nickel spot
Speaker 1: last year, and if he's gonna want to step up
Speaker 1: and really prove himself again in that role. More than
Speaker 1: anything though, Mike, the one area where Green Bay set
Speaker 1: is those safeties, and I think with Amos and with
Speaker 1: darniell Savage playing the way he is right now, a
Speaker 1: lot is going to be on those guys as well too,
Speaker 1: not necessarily just from a matchup perspective, but just the
Speaker 1: leadership back there, the communication When Jr. Alexander's on the field,
Speaker 1: that is one spot that is probably thirty three percent
Speaker 1: of the field you really don't have to think about.
Speaker 1: He's out on an island. That's that's not the same
Speaker 1: situation because there's only about a handful of guys in
Speaker 1: the league that can give you that kind of you know,
Speaker 1: closure in your mind. So it's gonna be a difficult,
Speaker 1: difficult stretch here. But in terms of as far as
Speaker 1: his injury is concerned, Packers still holding out hope they
Speaker 1: can get them back and and ultimately seeing what they
Speaker 1: can do. In the past, there's Ben shoulder injuries. I
Speaker 1: think back to Devon House in two thousand twelve had
Speaker 1: the shoulder subplxation. I think he missed two or three
Speaker 1: weeks and he played the rest of the season with
Speaker 1: the harness. Charles Woodson has done it. We don't know.
Speaker 1: Every injury is different. Yeah, but that's why the Green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers are taking this time here talking to the
Speaker 1: specials figuring out what exactly the best course of action
Speaker 1: is going to be for Alexander in two thousand one
Speaker 1: and also beyond. Yeah. Absolutely well, another potential acquisition at
Speaker 1: the time we're taping this episode, it is not official.
Speaker 1: It could be official very soon, but media reports saying
Speaker 1: that Jalen Smith, the linebacker veteran linebacker released by the
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys, coming to Green Bay and will be interesting here.
Speaker 1: Obviously a depth signing for the Packers. But you wonder
Speaker 1: with you know, with Zadarius Smith being out, you know,
Speaker 1: long term here for a while and some other things
Speaker 1: that are going on, you know, are are the Packers
Speaker 1: gonna try to find a little nitt l for Jalen
Speaker 1: Smith to maybe help off the edge, not necessarily play
Speaker 1: you know, his traditional inside linebacker. I don't know. I
Speaker 1: think this is a this is a very curious I'm
Speaker 1: very curious to see exact where Joe Barry wants to
Speaker 1: use a guy like this. Yeah, and and that's the
Speaker 1: big question with him even coming about back, you know,
Speaker 1: in the draft five years ago, in addition to the
Speaker 1: fact he was coming back from that knee injury, a
Speaker 1: lot of people wondering, Okay, this guy can do it all.
Speaker 1: He can play in a three four or four three
Speaker 1: inside outside, where do you want to put him. He
Speaker 1: had a lot of success, you know in the four
Speaker 1: three defense that they were running in in Dallas for
Speaker 1: a number of years. And you know, I actually really like,
Speaker 1: you know, if this all ends up working out, what
Speaker 1: what this change could mean for him at twenty six
Speaker 1: years old getting a look at a new defense, A
Speaker 1: guy that, while he did have the knee injury, has
Speaker 1: played in sixty eight consecutive games since then, hasn't been
Speaker 1: an injury issue with him. So uh so many different
Speaker 1: things to figure out, But it was interesting listening to,
Speaker 1: you know, Aaron Rodgers talking about some of the positive
Speaker 1: interactions he's had with him in the past. Obviously left
Speaker 1: a positive impression on him in their three meetings. He
Speaker 1: did have a sack of Rogers two years ago in
Speaker 1: that game down in Dallas, and then also Matt Matt Lafleur.
Speaker 1: I mean this is he coached. He didn't coach him
Speaker 1: position for position, but he was in you know, North,
Speaker 1: he was at an Order Dame when Jalen Smith was
Speaker 1: just coming into his own there as a really big
Speaker 1: playmaker and got a chance to see exactly the physical
Speaker 1: specimen that he is. So it's a different time, it's
Speaker 1: a different opportunity. But but certainly if you can add anytime,
Speaker 1: you can add a player like that, in the middle
Speaker 1: of the run or in the middle of a season.
Speaker 1: Brian Goodkin said from day one, he wants to make
Speaker 1: sure that he turns those stones over and figures out
Speaker 1: if there's a fit. Yeah. Well, noon Central time, kickoff
Speaker 1: Packers Bengals on Sunday from Paul Brown Stadium. Keys to
Speaker 1: victory here for the Packers West, what stands out to you?
Speaker 1: What do the Packers have to do to come back
Speaker 1: to green Bay four and one? A couple of things. One, uh,
Speaker 1: if mix and plays you have to find an answer
Speaker 1: for him. Green Bay's held the last two teams under
Speaker 1: seventy total yards of rushing, which has been a big
Speaker 1: step forward after what we saw in Week one against
Speaker 1: New Orleans where it didn't matter if it was you know,
Speaker 1: Tony Jones Jr. Or Kamara, they were having trouble stopping
Speaker 1: either of them. They've really battened down the hatches in
Speaker 1: that regarding. They've done it despite you know, losing you know,
Speaker 1: Chris Barnes for the last one and a half game
Speaker 1: with the concussion, and Tyler Lancasters and the other aspect
Speaker 1: of this I think is important. As I mentioned, Earli
Speaker 1: on Burrow has thrown four picks this year, about a
Speaker 1: three point six percent interception ratio so far rate for
Speaker 1: the season. He's gonna throw for some yards. There's gonna
Speaker 1: be a couple of big plays. But when he gives
Speaker 1: you an opportunity to secondary or maybe even the linebackers
Speaker 1: have to be ready for because I think there's gonna
Speaker 1: be a chance or two for them to turn over
Speaker 1: this game. That's gonna be critical because if we've learned
Speaker 1: anything about the Bengals for the first month of this season,
Speaker 1: they're aggressive. They're gonna take chances, even if it is
Speaker 1: fourth down, even if they're at their own thirty seven.
Speaker 1: They're gonna make those you know, try to make those
Speaker 1: things happen. But They're also incredibly explosive, and Green May
Speaker 1: can't let that happen. It can't let it happen consistently
Speaker 1: for four quarters. Yeah, and I think, uh, for me.
Speaker 1: On the defensive side of the ball, you mentioned there
Speaker 1: are gonna be some big place but the Packers have
Speaker 1: to limit those. I mean, the reason Joe Burrow has
Speaker 1: a passer rating north of a hundred and ten despite
Speaker 1: having four inners options in four games is because of
Speaker 1: the chunk plays. It's because of the twenty and twenty
Speaker 1: five yard he's got, you know, a fifty yard touchdown.
Speaker 1: I believe to Chase, Packers have to be able to
Speaker 1: limit those explosive plays defensively and on offense. As I
Speaker 1: said before, I think I think this is about the
Speaker 1: Packers need to try to put together. They're their most
Speaker 1: really their most efficient, consistent offensive performance of the season.
Speaker 1: With the way the Cincinnati defense is playing, with the
Speaker 1: way the Packers are going to have to adjust things
Speaker 1: defensively now without Alexander, the fact that you're playing on
Speaker 1: the road against a good team, it's going to be
Speaker 1: a difficult environment. And as I said before, a fired
Speaker 1: up Cincinnati team and a fired up Cincinnati crowd considering um,
Speaker 1: you know, the attention that that they could get by
Speaker 1: knocking off a team like the Packers. This is where
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers, the running game, the passing game, all of
Speaker 1: the balance, the ball control, all of it really needs
Speaker 1: to come together. I think for the Packers to be
Speaker 1: able to win what I believe is going to be
Speaker 1: a four quarter fight all the way to the end. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And and the other thing to keep in mind, depending
Speaker 1: on what Cincinnati wants to do with those corners, depending
Speaker 1: on how they want to defend a Fonte Adams last week,
Speaker 1: it opened up opportunities for Randall cob and a J. Dillon.
Speaker 1: This week, it could be Robert Tonyan, It could be
Speaker 1: Alan Lazard, it could be Aaron Jones bouncing back with
Speaker 1: a big game. You just never know. But if that
Speaker 1: attention is going to be drawn to number seventeen, green
Speaker 1: Bay has to find a way consistently to make a
Speaker 1: defense pay for that. Yeah. Absolutely, Well quickly, before we
Speaker 1: go looking around at some other key games in the
Speaker 1: NFC North, you have Detroit at Minnesota, Detroit now at
Speaker 1: oh and four, Minnesota at one in three. Uh, you
Speaker 1: know the the vikings here, I was asked an insider
Speaker 1: inbox this week, who's the Packers biggest threat in the
Speaker 1: NFC North after you know, a quarter of the season here.
Speaker 1: I still think it's the Vikings because I you know,
Speaker 1: they've been playing pretty well defensively even without Anthony Barr
Speaker 1: and eventually they're going to get him back. And I
Speaker 1: think of the other teams in the NFC North, the
Speaker 1: Vikings have the most blosive offense potentially. But now here,
Speaker 1: this is this is where I mean Minnesota. If they
Speaker 1: lose this and fall to one and four, you really
Speaker 1: start to wonder what's going on there in Minneapolis. Whereas
Speaker 1: Dan Campbell and the Lions they're still looking for that
Speaker 1: that first victory. And they you know, they tried to
Speaker 1: have a big comeback against the Chicago Bears. They were
Speaker 1: down twenty one nothing, They got team, but they couldn't
Speaker 1: finish the deal with the big second half rally. Campbell
Speaker 1: still looking first first win for the Lions. I'm glad,
Speaker 1: you know, in terms of a Packers perspective, the Packers
Speaker 1: have the Lions in the rearview here until the season finale,
Speaker 1: because I think they're at one point here. I don't
Speaker 1: know if it's this week, it might be next week.
Speaker 1: At some point, Detroit's gonna come out and they're gonna
Speaker 1: be pushing the pace. They're just wired that way. I
Speaker 1: can't see them being an O N sixteen type or
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, O N seventeen type team. They're gonna give
Speaker 1: one of these teams and they've given some good run
Speaker 1: for the money already, but they're gonna come out and
Speaker 1: punch somebody in the face at some point. And that's
Speaker 1: why when I look at Minnesota's perspective, and you know
Speaker 1: what Mike Zimmer is looking at this week, they have
Speaker 1: to be up on themselves here. Yes, you got that
Speaker 1: one win against Seattle, but you've had some really tight
Speaker 1: letdowns as well. How are you going to respond against
Speaker 1: an O one four team that, if you are who
Speaker 1: you think you are, and if it is the team
Speaker 1: that is probably the next in contention to really challenge
Speaker 1: Green Bay for the top of the division. This is
Speaker 1: a team you have to beat. You just gotta get
Speaker 1: it done, absolutely, But I just don't think Detroit it's
Speaker 1: gonna be a team that's willing to roll over. Yeah,
Speaker 1: two other ones. I want to get your thoughts on
Speaker 1: quickly in the out in the NFC West San Francisco
Speaker 1: is at Arizona, the Arizona Cardinals four and oh coming
Speaker 1: off of a shellacking you might say, of the Los
Speaker 1: Angeles Rams and the San Francisco forty Niners here suddenly
Speaker 1: have lost a couple in a row after a two
Speaker 1: and oh start. They're looking to avoid going to two
Speaker 1: and three in a very very competitive division. I think
Speaker 1: that's an interesting one. And then the Sunday night game
Speaker 1: Buffalo at Kansas City, a rematch of last year's a
Speaker 1: f C championship and with the Packers kicking off at
Speaker 1: noon West. If we get our work done soon enough,
Speaker 1: we might actually get to watch Sunday night football, like
Speaker 1: might actually peacefully, you know, like you know, with a
Speaker 1: beverage and maybe something to eat. So so any I think,
Speaker 1: you know, obviously a rematch of the a f C
Speaker 1: title game from a year ago. A lot of eyeballs
Speaker 1: will be on that. One really fun slate of games
Speaker 1: this weekend. I just want to quickly touch on Arizona
Speaker 1: called them the little brother last week against Arizona or
Speaker 1: against the Rams. They most certainly are not that. I
Speaker 1: think what you've seen now is you you know, Cliff Kingsbury.
Speaker 1: Arizona has a defense now and they can control the
Speaker 1: tempo games and offensively, they're gonna be a really difficult
Speaker 1: team to stop. You talked about this upcoming stretch of
Speaker 1: games for green Bay, They're gonna be very difficult. You
Speaker 1: cannot look ahead, but that Thursday night game down in
Speaker 1: Arizona is looking more and more daunting by the week,
Speaker 1: just based on what the situation is going to be
Speaker 1: and how difficult that opponent is going to be. That's
Speaker 1: a really good, talented West Division and you're gonna have
Speaker 1: another great game, you know with with Seattle and the Rams.
Speaker 1: The Rams have been to bounce back going to Century
Speaker 1: Link whatever it's called now. Um that being said, this
Speaker 1: is going to be something where you want to see
Speaker 1: the West beat up on themselves because ultimately that's where
Speaker 1: the green Bay Packers could potentially gain some separation in
Speaker 1: that chase for the only buy in the NFC. This
Speaker 1: is why you got to win these games right now.
Speaker 1: That's really it's a long season, but that goal does
Speaker 1: not change. Green Bay got through that first quarter and
Speaker 1: as Aaron Rodgers said, with the changes to the new instential,
Speaker 1: time starts with the energy. You know, alterations that are
Speaker 1: gonna be made just by having an earlier game. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff that green Bay has to stay
Speaker 1: up on. And if you continue to take care of
Speaker 1: your own business. You've got Chicago going and facing Vegas.
Speaker 1: You've got these a NFC West matchups. Huge opportunity here
Speaker 1: for green Bay to get some separation. If you know
Speaker 1: you can, you can rile up some more wins. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Josh Allen and the Buffalo offense almost unstoppable since that
Speaker 1: Week one loss to the Steelers. Do they keep it
Speaker 1: rolling in Arrowhead? When? I think? I think they do
Speaker 1: because I think Kansas City is super talented yet, but
Speaker 1: they've shown that they have some flaws this year, particularly
Speaker 1: with that defense. I think there's gonna be an opportunity
Speaker 1: or two. And the other thing I like about Buffalo
Speaker 1: they're starting to realize more and more that as talented
Speaker 1: as Josh Allen is, they have a really good running
Speaker 1: back in Devin Singletary and they're starting to feed him
Speaker 1: a little bit more. Yeah. All right, Well, with that,
Speaker 1: we'll call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the
Speaker 1: team as well as all of the coverage of Sunday's
Speaker 1: game from Cincinnati. Will have it all for you on
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com for West, I'm Mike. Thank you for
Speaker 1: tuning in everybody. We'll see you next time, yeah,