WEBVTT - #916 Packers Unscripted: Lots to unpack 0:00:06.570 --> 0:00:10.570 Hi everybody, welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from Packers.com. 0:00:10.770 --> 0:00:13.630 I am Mike Spofford, joined, as always, by my partner 0:00:13.670 --> 0:00:16.530 in everything Packers, Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming to you here 0:00:16.570 --> 0:00:20.900 from the Pottawatomie Sportsbook studio inside the walls of Lambeau Field. 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:23.459 A lot to cover on this show, Wes, and I 0:00:23.500 --> 0:00:25.279 don't know if we're going to be able to touch 0:00:25.340 --> 0:00:27.320 on everything that we need to, but we have to 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:31.010 start with the 20-17 loss on a walk-off field goal 0:00:31.170 --> 0:00:35.390 at Ford Field on Sunday. And I'll let you start 0:00:35.409 --> 0:00:36.950 where you want to, whether you want to talk about 0:00:36.970 --> 0:00:38.790 the penalties, whether you want to talk about the Packers 0:00:38.830 --> 0:00:40.830 in the red zone or some of the other things 0:00:40.870 --> 0:00:43.850 that went on in that game. However you slice it, 0:00:43.890 --> 0:00:46.720 this was a really, really, really tough one to swallow. 0:00:46.800 --> 0:00:49.280 I just think it was the definition of a frustrating 0:00:49.320 --> 0:00:53.520 loss in so many different regards. Now, obviously, I want 0:00:53.540 --> 0:00:56.820 to start with this because, you know, I belabored penalties 0:00:56.880 --> 0:00:59.080 on social media. I did a video on it. We 0:00:59.100 --> 0:01:01.900 will happily talk about it on this show. But I 0:01:01.940 --> 0:01:04.300 think if you look at it just strictly from the Packers' 0:01:04.360 --> 0:01:08.380 point of view, just too many things that they've struggled 0:01:08.420 --> 0:01:10.840 with throughout the course of this season showed up again 0:01:10.860 --> 0:01:14.620 against the Detroit Lions, right? And for as much as 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:19.030 Alex Moore and his staff made life more difficult on 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:22.550 Green Bay, it was also the Packers making life difficult 0:01:22.610 --> 0:01:25.050 on themselves as well. When you talk about one for 0:01:25.110 --> 0:01:29.130 four inside the red zone, two missed field goals, Josh 0:01:29.170 --> 0:01:32.429 Jacobs with the drop, on third and five, third and six, 0:01:32.450 --> 0:01:34.510 that could have potentially put that game away or at 0:01:34.569 --> 0:01:38.569 least put the Lions in a position where they had 0:01:38.590 --> 0:01:40.880 to go down and score a touchdown. They were not 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:43.260 able to finish that opportunity. Jordan Love was hit way 0:01:43.280 --> 0:01:46.340 too often. I actually thought in the second half there 0:01:46.360 --> 0:01:48.120 were some bright spots with the run game. I thought 0:01:48.160 --> 0:01:50.620 it showed some signs of life there behind Josh Jacobs, 0:01:50.660 --> 0:01:55.380 but again, started very slowly. There were too many drops defensively, 0:01:55.480 --> 0:02:00.230 not enough pressure. on Jared Goff, and certainly Amon Ross St. 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:03.900 Brown just went to town. And for all the production 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:06.840 in this game, over 400 yards of total offense for Detroit, 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:10.959 300 and change for Green Bay, still only 37 total points. 0:02:11.100 --> 0:02:12.800 I thought this was a game where both teams might 0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:16.040 have potentially threatened over 30, but it wasn't the case. 0:02:16.100 --> 0:02:18.190 And for the Packers, I just think Again, we can 0:02:18.210 --> 0:02:21.050 talk about some of the penalty issues as well, but 0:02:21.790 --> 0:02:23.989 there's a reason why Green Bay's at 4-3 right now, 0:02:24.030 --> 0:02:26.510 and I thought this game sort of underscored a lot 0:02:26.560 --> 0:02:27.200 of those reasons. 0:02:27.300 --> 0:02:30.560 Yeah, I would agree with you there. The penalties are 0:02:30.580 --> 0:02:35.160 getting frustrating. There's no doubt about it. I don't want 0:02:35.180 --> 0:02:38.100 to belabor it too much, but the NFL is just 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:42.810 embarrassing itself with the refusal to do something to get 0:02:42.970 --> 0:02:46.510 the calls correct, and they are obviously wrong on the field. 0:02:47.710 --> 0:02:50.829 So I don't want to talk too much about that 0:02:50.889 --> 0:02:53.829 because what I wrote about for the most part after 0:02:53.850 --> 0:02:55.560 the game, and I know you had a really good 0:02:55.590 --> 0:02:58.700 piece on everything that Xavier McKinney had to say, and 0:02:58.740 --> 0:03:00.420 I give a lot of credit to Xavier McKinney for 0:03:00.460 --> 0:03:02.220 standing up and saying what needed to be said in 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:05.139 the locker room. I do understand why Matt LaFleur did 0:03:05.180 --> 0:03:08.079 not take that approach at the podium because I know 0:03:08.360 --> 0:03:10.930 what was more on Matt LaFleur's mind than the penalties 0:03:11.410 --> 0:03:14.710 was not just the one for four in the red zone, 0:03:14.810 --> 0:03:18.799 but that seven total points in the red zone in 0:03:18.900 --> 0:03:22.980 four trips. That's just awful. I mean, it was two 0:03:23.020 --> 0:03:25.660 missed field goals. It was an ill-advised fourth down that 0:03:25.700 --> 0:03:30.200 Matt LeFleur immediately regretted. You cannot get into the opposing 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:33.060 team's red zone four times and come away with only 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:35.740 seven points and expect to win the game, even if 0:03:35.780 --> 0:03:39.160 you get every single officiating call to go your way. 0:03:39.700 --> 0:03:43.150 That's where the Packers lost this game. And that's what's 0:03:43.190 --> 0:03:47.580 so frustrating because Yes, there's a lot of outside talk 0:03:47.700 --> 0:03:49.900 about the officials and all that. I'm not saying that 0:03:49.940 --> 0:03:53.420 it's not warranted. But for anybody who says, in my opinion, 0:03:53.540 --> 0:03:56.100 that the Packers lost this game because of the officiating, 0:03:56.400 --> 0:03:59.520 I think that's completely misguided because this game, what was 0:03:59.660 --> 0:04:02.440 in the Packers, you can't control the officiating. What was 0:04:02.540 --> 0:04:05.630 in the Packers' control was to get points. Yeah. And 0:04:05.650 --> 0:04:08.130 they didn't get enough and they had plenty of opportunity 0:04:08.170 --> 0:04:08.610 to do so. 0:04:09.110 --> 0:04:12.210 Tons of opportunities. And the other thing, Green Bay started 0:04:12.270 --> 0:04:14.860 very fast this season. Most of their first drives of 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:17.800 the game have produced some type of points. This was 0:04:17.860 --> 0:04:19.360 a case where they got all the way down deep 0:04:19.880 --> 0:04:22.359 inside the red zone there. They were converting fourth downs 0:04:22.540 --> 0:04:24.599 when they kept going for fourth downs. They converted the 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:27.450 first three of those. Kind of a chip shot field 0:04:27.470 --> 0:04:30.210 goal there that Trey Smack is unable to make, but 0:04:30.310 --> 0:04:32.870 the offense bounced back. I mean, that next series at 0:04:32.890 --> 0:04:36.170 the end of the first quarter, a nice, productive, efficient 0:04:36.210 --> 0:04:38.940 drive that ends with Jordan Love being able to maneuver 0:04:38.980 --> 0:04:41.060 the pocket, show his speed a little bit, show his 0:04:41.140 --> 0:04:43.580 legs a little bit, and buy enough time to open 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:45.479 up Tucker Kraft on kind of sort of a scramble 0:04:45.500 --> 0:04:48.260 drill on the back of the end zone. The Packers 0:04:48.300 --> 0:04:51.839 were put in another tough spot where injuries up front, 0:04:52.380 --> 0:04:55.680 Sean Ryan gets the high ankle sprain. Immediately after that, 0:04:55.740 --> 0:04:58.380 Jacob Monk gets the quad injury. And you're down to 0:04:58.420 --> 0:05:02.180 John Williams, who has sort of apprenticed a little bit 0:05:02.460 --> 0:05:04.560 at center, but that is not his natural position. 0:05:04.580 --> 0:05:06.719 That's putting it mildly, I think. 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:09.779 But if you go back to training camp, he was 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:11.850 mostly working at left tackle. He played a lot of 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:14.050 different positions, but it was left tackle where he kind 0:05:14.089 --> 0:05:15.770 of settled in as the Packers sort of projected out 0:05:15.810 --> 0:05:18.860 their offensive line. So what does that mean? That means 0:05:18.900 --> 0:05:21.260 that Jordan Love, once again, more was on his plate, 0:05:21.279 --> 0:05:24.920 more was on his shoulders to make plays, to extend plays, 0:05:25.020 --> 0:05:28.910 to absorb some hits and some contact. And again, we'll 0:05:28.930 --> 0:05:30.589 get into the roughing the passers and the fact that 0:05:30.610 --> 0:05:33.870 it's now 8-0 against Green Bay in that regard, despite 0:05:33.910 --> 0:05:36.770 the numerous times that Jordan's been hit this year. But 0:05:37.070 --> 0:05:39.770 I think when you, again, go back to the controllables, right, 0:05:40.710 --> 0:05:42.820 it's the players around Jordan Love that need to start 0:05:43.170 --> 0:05:45.310 you know, picking things up and being able to help 0:05:45.430 --> 0:05:47.610 out their quarterback, whether it be with the drops, whether 0:05:47.630 --> 0:05:49.790 it be with the production, whether it be with some 0:05:49.810 --> 0:05:51.950 of the things they're doing, running the ball, uh, there's 0:05:51.990 --> 0:05:54.880 just not been enough of that so far. So, um, yeah, 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:58.880 a very disappointing outcome in this one, in addition to, um, 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:02.620 a lot of penalties that, uh, I think everybody was 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:04.120 left scratching their head about afterwards. 0:06:04.279 --> 0:06:05.900 Yeah, no doubt. I mean, my hat is off to 0:06:05.940 --> 0:06:08.560 John Williams and the job that unbelievable, you know, to 0:06:08.600 --> 0:06:10.140 come in. I mean, that would have, that would have 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:13.380 been a tough assignment at Lambeau field and to, for 0:06:13.420 --> 0:06:16.520 him to be the number three center and get thrust 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:19.110 in there in the beginning, you're on the road, noisy environment, 0:06:19.170 --> 0:06:21.790 having to, you know, run the silent count and all 0:06:21.810 --> 0:06:25.349 the communication that's required that is so much more difficult, um, 0:06:25.710 --> 0:06:28.150 you know, in a dome on the road and all that. Um, 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:31.020 did really, really well. And, and we'll see, he may 0:06:31.260 --> 0:06:33.650 need to be called on again. There, there potentially are 0:06:33.690 --> 0:06:36.289 some other options if the Packers want to go that 0:06:36.370 --> 0:06:39.030 route on this short week, Thursday night in Carolina. But, um, 0:06:39.170 --> 0:06:42.320 but Williams certainly, uh, certainly gives them a viable option 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:43.180 there to keep going. 0:06:43.279 --> 0:06:45.730 He certainly does. And Mike, the thing that was most 0:06:45.790 --> 0:06:48.070 surprising to me, we always talk about the next man up. 0:06:48.130 --> 0:06:51.770 He was the last man up. If John Williams, something 0:06:51.810 --> 0:06:54.770 happens there, none of those other guys, to the best 0:06:54.810 --> 0:06:57.989 of my knowledge, snapped before. You mentioned the other options 0:06:58.010 --> 0:07:00.429 Green Bay has. Well, that's Jagger Burton and that's Donovan Jennings. 0:07:00.490 --> 0:07:03.310 Both of those guys were inactive. I don't know the 0:07:03.350 --> 0:07:05.690 path or the history of a Kevin Zeitler or a 0:07:05.710 --> 0:07:08.450 Lakin Tomlinson. Maybe Lakin did it at Duke. I'm not sure. 0:07:08.529 --> 0:07:11.170 Certainly hasn't done it in the NFL. And Travis Glover 0:07:11.230 --> 0:07:13.670 is a converted tackle that has been playing guard. And 0:07:13.690 --> 0:07:16.490 then we found out afterwards on the injury report on Monday, 0:07:17.350 --> 0:07:19.470 he actually has a knee injury that had him as 0:07:19.590 --> 0:07:22.770 did not participate estimation on Monday. So Green Bay is 0:07:22.830 --> 0:07:25.830 going through it right now. Jacob Monk has been placed 0:07:25.910 --> 0:07:28.850 on IR. Mekhi Becton is now up on the 53-man roster. 0:07:28.870 --> 0:07:32.670 So they have another option there. But especially if Sean's 0:07:32.690 --> 0:07:34.130 going to be down a little bit of time here too, 0:07:34.170 --> 0:07:35.710 and he's been one of the most durable pieces of 0:07:35.750 --> 0:07:38.050 this offensive line, the Packers are going to have to 0:07:38.090 --> 0:07:39.330 get even more flexible up front. 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:42.960 Yeah. And you mentioned before, you know, Jacobs, I think 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:45.000 he provided a little bit of a spark to the 0:07:45.060 --> 0:07:47.230 running game in the second half. It took a while 0:07:47.310 --> 0:07:49.570 for some of those holes to develop and for some 0:07:49.610 --> 0:07:52.730 things to work. He obviously had a great 25 yard 0:07:53.230 --> 0:07:55.750 catch and run tight roping the sideline, you know, that 0:07:55.810 --> 0:07:58.950 type of play from a Packers running back in the 0:07:58.990 --> 0:08:01.660 passing game. We haven't really seen too much of that 0:08:01.780 --> 0:08:04.580 so far this season. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to catch 0:08:04.660 --> 0:08:07.260 the third down pass in the red zone last in 0:08:07.290 --> 0:08:09.350 the last few minutes of the game that then led 0:08:09.410 --> 0:08:11.730 to the missed kick that kept the game tied there 0:08:11.790 --> 0:08:13.850 as Detroit got the ball back for the final possession. 0:08:14.990 --> 0:08:16.870 I do want to talk about the defense though here 0:08:16.950 --> 0:08:20.820 too because the Lions had a lot of production. They 0:08:20.860 --> 0:08:24.020 had a lot of explosive plays. I think the defense 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:28.520 caught a couple of breaks. I know, I guess I 0:08:28.550 --> 0:08:30.630 was going to ask you, end of the first half 0:08:31.270 --> 0:08:34.069 when the Lions fumble inside the 10 yard line. They're 0:08:34.090 --> 0:08:35.929 looking like they're going in to get seven. They're at 0:08:35.970 --> 0:08:38.240 a minimum going to get three points there. I think 0:08:38.260 --> 0:08:42.800 they credited Isaiah McDuffie with a forced fumble, but Was 0:08:42.820 --> 0:08:44.840 that kind of a friendly fire thing? Did the Packers 0:08:44.880 --> 0:08:48.940 just get lucky there, or did McDuffie really knock that 0:08:48.980 --> 0:08:49.679 ball out? Well, no. 0:08:49.700 --> 0:08:53.600 Isaiah, if you watch the play, he kind of gets 0:08:53.620 --> 0:08:56.000 knocked back. He's down on the ground. I never saw 0:08:56.020 --> 0:08:57.570 a good look at it, so I was curious how 0:08:57.590 --> 0:09:00.270 that turned out. Jameer Gibbs had just terrible ball security 0:09:00.330 --> 0:09:02.150 on the play. It was almost like if you run 0:09:02.210 --> 0:09:04.570 headfirst into a wall and you're not really paying attention 0:09:04.590 --> 0:09:07.270 to what is going on with the football anymore. Just 0:09:07.330 --> 0:09:10.780 a very lazy play on Gibbs' perspective. But I think 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:13.310 why they credit Isaiah is it's the nearest defender. It's 0:09:13.330 --> 0:09:16.590 the guy that was in there. I mean, the... Lions 0:09:16.650 --> 0:09:19.690 had numbers on that play. I mean, Isaiah was sort 0:09:19.710 --> 0:09:22.090 of the only one standing up. They had almost three 0:09:22.530 --> 0:09:25.530 offensive linemen getting into the second level there, but Gibbs 0:09:25.550 --> 0:09:27.790 just doesn't protect the ball. And yeah, there were so 0:09:27.830 --> 0:09:30.970 many small errors that Detroit made in this game. And honestly, 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:32.770 what it ended up coming down to, I went into 0:09:32.790 --> 0:09:34.240 the game thinking it was going to be all about 0:09:34.270 --> 0:09:36.360 the explosive plays. And to a certain extent it was, 0:09:36.940 --> 0:09:38.700 because that was really the biggest difference. Some of the 0:09:38.760 --> 0:09:41.320 downfield posts that they were able to run over the 0:09:41.340 --> 0:09:44.360 middle for big gains. But realistically, it just kind of 0:09:44.380 --> 0:09:46.460 came down to which team made fewer mistakes. Yeah. 0:09:46.860 --> 0:09:50.240 Yeah. And I thought the Lions were making their share 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:52.910 of mistakes along the way. The fumble at the end 0:09:52.929 --> 0:09:54.929 of the first half, the fumble at the beginning of 0:09:54.950 --> 0:09:57.229 the second half. I mean, the Lions essentially are in 0:09:57.270 --> 0:10:00.340 position to double up on Green Bay and they end 0:10:00.380 --> 0:10:02.739 up getting nothing out of those two possessions and the 0:10:02.780 --> 0:10:06.610 Packers get the recovery off the fumbled snap to start 0:10:06.650 --> 0:10:08.650 the third quarter and Green Bay goes in and gets 0:10:08.710 --> 0:10:12.030 a touchdown and the game kind of changed there. But 0:10:12.050 --> 0:10:16.020 then the one moment the Packers defensively didn't take advantage 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:19.209 of the break was Evan Williams missing the interception that 0:10:19.250 --> 0:10:21.570 hit him in the hands. He could have run that 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:24.330 one back a long way because he had his momentum. 0:10:24.350 --> 0:10:26.990 He broke on the ball perfectly. He would have had 0:10:27.010 --> 0:10:29.770 a shot to maybe take that one of the house. 0:10:30.390 --> 0:10:34.230 That's one of those that you really regret because overall 0:10:34.270 --> 0:10:38.089 what was a, I won't say great, but I guess 0:10:38.130 --> 0:10:41.150 I would say against that offense in that building and 0:10:41.230 --> 0:10:44.610 as explosive as they are, The Packers' defense was holding 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:47.790 its own. They were doing all right, and they needed 0:10:47.850 --> 0:10:50.910 that one more play, and unfortunately it was there for 0:10:50.950 --> 0:10:53.829 Williams to make, and he's made them all season long 0:10:53.950 --> 0:10:56.450 until that moment, and that was really a tough break. 0:10:56.550 --> 0:10:58.650 For sure, and those are the type of plays you've 0:10:58.670 --> 0:11:00.510 got to make. Those are the money plays. Those are 0:11:00.530 --> 0:11:02.709 the ones that get you paid. The one thing I 0:11:02.770 --> 0:11:04.829 will say and why I think ultimately Green Bay's defense 0:11:04.870 --> 0:11:07.120 is going to be pretty darn good this year The 0:11:07.150 --> 0:11:09.660 first half, they gave up way too many yards, but 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:12.760 they were opportunistic. They were good inside the red zone. 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:16.000 They found ways to keep Detroit off the board. In 0:11:16.020 --> 0:11:18.160 the second half, they made the adjustments. A lot of 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:20.740 quick three and outs and just Detroit not being able 0:11:20.760 --> 0:11:23.660 to move the football. They were, again, very good against 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:26.220 Jameer Gibbs. Jameer Gibbs did not have a big run. 0:11:26.260 --> 0:11:28.319 He made some plays, but I mean, it was a 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:32.120 24 for 99 type of game. The problem was it 0:11:32.160 --> 0:11:34.460 was some of those big gashes that they gave up, 0:11:34.500 --> 0:11:37.750 the Jamison William touchdowns, that type of things. Um, that, 0:11:38.020 --> 0:11:40.200 and then, and then obviously you can, again, go into 0:11:40.820 --> 0:11:43.060 roughing the passer on Brenton Cox Jr. Ends up leading 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:46.200 into a touchdown. Like there's these small things that end 0:11:46.260 --> 0:11:50.280 up happening throughout the course of this game. Um, but, uh, yeah, 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:53.160 certainly I think Green Bay, given the fact that Zyre Franklin, 0:11:53.179 --> 0:11:55.070 they found out on Thursday was not going to be available. 0:11:55.090 --> 0:11:57.170 I tipped my cap to McDuffie for the job he did. 0:11:57.330 --> 0:12:00.420 He was the Johnny on the spot player during the botched, uh, 0:12:00.470 --> 0:12:03.690 handoff exchange, uh, between Goff and Cade Mays, who was 0:12:03.730 --> 0:12:07.380 making his return in this game, their, their starting center. So, Yeah, 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:11.900 I thought by and large, I mean, 400 total yards 0:12:11.960 --> 0:12:15.360 is 412 yards. That's not a good day. But Green 0:12:15.380 --> 0:12:17.040 Bay's defense gave them a chance to win this game. 0:12:17.300 --> 0:12:19.500 Yeah, and a tip of the cap as well to 0:12:19.540 --> 0:12:23.609 Brandon Cisse because that one drive in the third quarter 0:12:23.850 --> 0:12:26.510 where there was at least a penalty or two on 0:12:26.550 --> 0:12:29.210 that drive that the Packers were kind of scratching their head. 0:12:29.350 --> 0:12:32.090 One of them was against Cisse where he gets called 0:12:32.110 --> 0:12:35.000 for DPI and it wipes out his own interception. and 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:37.599 then the Lions are in goal to go. They ultimately 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:40.680 decide to go for it after Cisse breaks up the 0:12:40.750 --> 0:12:42.730 third down pass in the end zone, and then he 0:12:42.750 --> 0:12:45.090 gets the push out of Jamison Williams in the back 0:12:45.110 --> 0:12:47.689 of the end zone on fourth down to prevent the 0:12:47.730 --> 0:12:50.050 Lions from getting any points on that drive. I mean, 0:12:50.070 --> 0:12:54.510 I thought that was, I mean, we've talked plenty about Cisse, 0:12:54.530 --> 0:12:57.810 of course, but I mean, for a young player and 0:12:57.910 --> 0:13:00.290 to have that moment taken away from him by a 0:13:00.350 --> 0:13:03.370 flag and then to come back just a few plays 0:13:03.450 --> 0:13:06.790 later and to make those back-to-back plays in the end 0:13:06.809 --> 0:13:10.130 zone to keep this game within reach for Green Bay 0:13:10.550 --> 0:13:13.270 and to give the offense a chance. You can't say 0:13:13.309 --> 0:13:18.400 enough about what that rookie has meant to this defense. 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:20.900 No, you can't at all, especially with all the questions 0:13:20.940 --> 0:13:24.380 at that position going into the season. He talks about 0:13:24.420 --> 0:13:26.920 his relationship with Stephon Gilmore, and the more I watch 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:29.740 his play style, the more I see parallels. The fact 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:31.850 that when this guy is not just 21 years old, 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:34.230 when he's 25, when he has some seasoning underneath his belt, 0:13:35.150 --> 0:13:38.729 if he stays healthy, what his ceiling and what the 0:13:38.790 --> 0:13:41.709 potential looks like for him in this defense. He's just 0:13:41.750 --> 0:13:44.220 such a heady player. He's such an athletic player, and 0:13:44.250 --> 0:13:47.020 he's not afraid of the fire. He just embraces it. Now, 0:13:47.059 --> 0:13:49.020 he wasn't perfect. There was a couple times that he 0:13:49.059 --> 0:13:52.200 got beat too, but those plays are going to come 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:54.819 together for him. He's smart enough, he's intelligent enough, and 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:58.150 he's athletic enough to be able to overcome some of 0:13:58.170 --> 0:14:01.530 that early adversity. And the Packers have desperately needed him. 0:14:01.970 --> 0:14:04.069 I will say here, just to correct myself, I don't 0:14:04.110 --> 0:14:07.320 need any more Lions fans in my mentions. There's already 0:14:07.340 --> 0:14:11.920 been so many of them. The roughing the passer on 0:14:12.300 --> 0:14:14.740 Brenton Cox Jr., that was on the series where Cissé 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:16.439 nearly got the pick. It was on the series where 0:14:16.460 --> 0:14:18.940 Cissé ended up getting the back-to-back. So the Packers did 0:14:18.980 --> 0:14:21.350 earn the stop there, the roughing the passer that continued 0:14:21.370 --> 0:14:24.730 the drive. was over on Carl Brooks later on. 0:14:24.810 --> 0:14:30.430 On the final drive of the game, yeah. Well, as 0:14:30.490 --> 0:14:32.750 I said, I'm not going to belabor the point, but 0:14:32.810 --> 0:14:37.160 before we turn the page to Carolina, with regard to 0:14:37.200 --> 0:14:38.940 the penalties, and I'm not going to go through chapter 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:41.020 and verse on every single one of them, but you 0:14:41.060 --> 0:14:44.310 know this, Wes. I have been saying, I mean, you 0:14:44.350 --> 0:14:46.950 and I have been writing Insider Inbox for, what, this 0:14:47.010 --> 0:14:48.170 is the 11th season? 0:14:48.290 --> 0:14:50.130 11th season for me. Obviously, you went back to the 0:14:50.190 --> 0:14:50.910 Aspen case. 0:14:50.930 --> 0:14:53.790 Yeah, and I only kind of filled in occasionally back then, 0:14:53.810 --> 0:14:56.010 so I don't consider myself a regular writer of the 0:14:56.030 --> 0:14:56.470 column then. 0:14:56.550 --> 0:14:58.430 You're like a supporting cast on SNL. 0:14:58.510 --> 0:15:03.480 Yeah, yeah. It's been a decade now that I can't 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:06.620 even count how many times I have written, I have 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:09.950 said you know, why doesn't the NFL just make the 0:15:09.990 --> 0:15:13.330 safety rules reviewable? Take the safety rules out of the 0:15:13.390 --> 0:15:15.910 hands of the officials on the field. Let the eye 0:15:15.950 --> 0:15:19.500 in the sky adjudicate the safety stuff and let the 0:15:19.540 --> 0:15:22.260 officials on the field figure out the rest. You know, 0:15:23.580 --> 0:15:26.040 it just, it seems, it seems so obvious. And you 0:15:26.080 --> 0:15:29.460 have a game like this where, where it just, it 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:32.120 just gets out of hand where these major calls, these 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:37.560 15 yard penalties are just flat out wrong. And, Here's 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:41.140 the thing. I understand the league does not want to 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:45.450 get into having replay reviews where flags are thrown from 0:15:45.610 --> 0:15:49.229 New York, so to speak, from the replay center. So 0:15:49.350 --> 0:15:51.250 if you want to have it where, okay, the replay 0:15:51.270 --> 0:15:54.130 center can review and pick up a flag, okay, fine. 0:15:54.610 --> 0:15:59.860 I can live with the missed helmet-to-helmet hit Branch and 0:15:59.880 --> 0:16:02.280 Tucker Craft early. I can live with that if they 0:16:02.300 --> 0:16:07.910 miss it. but what's really hard is when these 15 0:16:07.910 --> 0:16:12.260 yard penalties that you could very easily confirm or disprove 0:16:12.340 --> 0:16:16.940 by replay are just allowed to stand. Um, and, and 0:16:16.940 --> 0:16:20.930 15 yard penalties impact football games. And again, I will 0:16:20.970 --> 0:16:23.870 not say the Packers lost this game because the officials, 0:16:23.970 --> 0:16:26.450 because of the officials, because I simply don't believe that, 0:16:26.990 --> 0:16:32.010 but 15 yard penalties impact football games in a major way. And, uh, um, 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:35.720 For the NFL to continue to keep its head in 0:16:35.740 --> 0:16:38.520 the sand on this in terms of doing what is 0:16:38.590 --> 0:16:42.130 necessary to get these calls right, it's embarrassing for the league. 0:16:42.330 --> 0:16:45.470 It is, Michael. And unfortunately for the NFL, considering you 0:16:45.490 --> 0:16:47.790 and I have spent years talking about this now, they 0:16:47.810 --> 0:16:51.270 are so many years behind now. We've been saying since 2021, 2022, 0:16:51.270 --> 0:16:54.380 there's things that have to change. There's adjustments they have 0:16:54.410 --> 0:16:56.800 to make. They need to embrace technology. The league has 0:16:56.880 --> 0:16:59.920 not embraced technology. It has nothing to do with, okay, well, 0:16:59.940 --> 0:17:02.330 we're going to use the whatever the aerial thing to 0:17:02.370 --> 0:17:04.730 determine what's the first down, you're still subjectively putting the 0:17:04.750 --> 0:17:07.650 ball in a spot and then making a determination based 0:17:07.690 --> 0:17:09.250 on what the computer says and whether or not that's 0:17:09.290 --> 0:17:11.620 a first down rather than having two, you know, 55 0:17:11.619 --> 0:17:14.859 year old guys running out with chains. Uh, the fact is, 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:16.899 and I wrote this in insider inbox, you know, you 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:19.780 look at ABS in major league baseball, what that's done 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:22.360 and actually made the game better. Uh, it's it's, there's 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:24.199 a strategy to it. You know, how are you going 0:17:24.220 --> 0:17:26.760 to use your challenges? It's efficient. And by the way, 0:17:27.300 --> 0:17:30.850 umpires get over themselves. They're like, yeah, I missed that call. 0:17:31.270 --> 0:17:33.609 It was on the corner. Move on. 0:17:33.850 --> 0:17:35.590 I don't, I don't think, and I don't think anybody, 0:17:35.650 --> 0:17:37.409 when you look at baseball, I don't want to go 0:17:37.530 --> 0:17:40.189 too far on a tangent here. I don't think anybody 0:17:40.270 --> 0:17:44.210 blames the umpire when a sliver of the ball catches 0:17:44.290 --> 0:17:45.970 the strike zone and he calls it a ball or 0:17:46.030 --> 0:17:48.350 the ball barely misses the strike zone and he called 0:17:48.390 --> 0:17:51.370 it a strike and the ABS overturns it, whatever. Like, 0:17:51.869 --> 0:17:55.290 I don't think there's any animosity whatsoever with, with the umpire, 0:17:55.369 --> 0:17:57.280 the players. And, you know, it's like, Hey, it is 0:17:57.300 --> 0:17:59.649 what it is, but we're going to use technology to 0:17:59.670 --> 0:18:03.060 the best of our ability, I still think major league 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:06.060 baseball should just go fully automated and forget the challenges 0:18:06.100 --> 0:18:08.520 and the strategy because you can do it without slowing 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:10.380 down the game. So let's get every call right. But 0:18:10.420 --> 0:18:15.790 that's my opinion. The NFL can use replay and the 0:18:15.830 --> 0:18:19.310 closer looks at these plays for calls that have a major, 0:18:19.350 --> 0:18:24.070 major impact on the the flow of a game and, and, um, 0:18:24.150 --> 0:18:27.230 and how a game unfolds. Um, and they just, they, 0:18:27.270 --> 0:18:29.070 they refuse to do it. And I, I think it's, 0:18:29.710 --> 0:18:31.910 I think it's a, it's a disservice to the players 0:18:32.530 --> 0:18:33.930 and to the fans that watch this game. 0:18:34.030 --> 0:18:36.389 Well, and that's balls and strikes, right? Um, let's look 0:18:36.410 --> 0:18:40.480 at the NBA flagrant ones, flagrant twos are all upon review. Um, 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:42.840 and that isn't just college basketball too. I saw it 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:45.239 at a, a GB basketball game. You have to use this. 0:18:45.520 --> 0:18:48.409 And college football goes after the, helmet shots with the 0:18:48.450 --> 0:18:50.730 targeting thing. And they, they, they stop the game to 0:18:50.770 --> 0:18:53.320 look at it, to make sure that, you know, if somebody, 0:18:53.490 --> 0:18:56.020 if somebody makes helmet to helmet contact, obviously the rule 0:18:56.060 --> 0:18:59.100 is harsher where you get ejected from the game. But, uh, 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:01.840 but that's a sign that the safety part is taken 0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:02.959 pretty darn seriously. 0:19:03.080 --> 0:19:03.240 Yeah. 0:19:03.540 --> 0:19:06.560 And, uh, and, and, and the, and the NFL, as 0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:10.240 we talked about before, you have flags that aren't fined 0:19:10.350 --> 0:19:13.450 and fines that aren't flagged and, you know, everything else, the, the, 0:19:13.570 --> 0:19:17.420 the incongruity of it all. is embarrassing. Yeah. 0:19:17.460 --> 0:19:20.320 The, the flag thing, or at least the, the safety thing. I, 0:19:20.500 --> 0:19:22.640 I don't, I don't see a correlation with the national 0:19:22.660 --> 0:19:24.750 football league. I don't, I don't, I don't, I've covered 0:19:24.770 --> 0:19:27.650