WEBVTT - #443 Packers Unscripted: Down to the wire 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:20.200 Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:22.919 I am Mike Spofford sitting next to the one and 0:00:22.960 --> 0:00:25.360 only Wes Hodkowitz. Were coming to you here from our 0:00:25.400 --> 0:00:28.520 studios at lambeau Field and West. It was a tough 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:31.960 night Thursday night at lambeau Field for the Green Bay Packers. 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:36.159 The first loss of the season. It comes to the 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:39.360 Philadelphia Eagles by a final score of thirty four to seven. 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:42.040 And it's not just the loss. It's not just the 0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:46.000 final score, but it's the chances you had. And the 0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:50.120 Packers had their opportunities two gold to go situations in 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:53.240 the fourth quarter. They come up empty on both of them. 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:56.080 And that's uh, that's the NFL for you sometimes, Yeah, 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:58.640 especially on Thursday night football. Remember I was talking to 0:00:58.640 --> 0:01:01.560 you about just the randomness of these games and credit 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:04.360 where credit is due. I mean, I think Doug Peterson 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:08.720 called heck of a football game. Carson Wentz showed exactly 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:12.559 the type of franchise quarterback he is for Philadelphia's offense. 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:14.640 And you know, Jordan Howard was able to come up 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:16.520 and sort of break out a little bit in this game. 0:01:17.120 --> 0:01:19.000 All that being said, the Packers still had a chance 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:21.479 to win it late. The defense, you know, there were 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:24.280 issues there at times. Early on it was working with 0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:27.720 short fields after a couple of special teams breakdowns, and 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:30.520 then later on the run games sort of wearing them down. 0:01:31.000 --> 0:01:32.640 But they did get the stop when they need to 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:35.040 get it, and unfortunately for the Packers offense, two drives 0:01:35.040 --> 0:01:38.880 stalling deep inside Philadelphia's red zone. And you know, if 0:01:38.880 --> 0:01:40.959 you can't, as Matt Lafleur said, if you don't put 0:01:41.000 --> 0:01:43.479 points on the board in the red area, you either 0:01:43.520 --> 0:01:45.480 have to settle for field goals and or you know, 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:49.440 mistouchdowns that that's ultimately going to come back to haunt you. Yeah. 0:01:49.440 --> 0:01:52.520 The difference in the game, quite frankly, was the Philadelphia 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:55.400 Eagles four for four in the red zone five for five, 0:01:55.440 --> 0:01:57.880 I guess if you count the touchdown from the twenty 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:01.400 yard line where they weren't quite inside the twenty just yet, 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:05.600 but five scoring opportunities five touchdowns. The Packers were three 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:08.200 for seven in the red zone. They left eight points 0:02:08.240 --> 0:02:10.120 on the board in the first half when two red 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:12.919 zone possessions stalled out and you had to kick field goals. 0:02:13.400 --> 0:02:15.959 And then, as we mentioned, the two goal to ghost 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:21.320 situations in the fourth quarter, and um, you know, Aaron Rodgers, 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:24.600 he's obviously been through these situations before. He's not going 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:27.720 to beat himself up over it. But I'm sure it 0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:30.320 was a tough night going home knowing, as he said 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:32.960 in the post game, with everything that had happened up 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:36.239 to that point, and it shouldn't have come down necessarily 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:39.519 to the play that it did. But with the criss 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:42.680 cross by Darius Shepherd and Valdez Scantling, and Rodgers knows 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:44.880 that if he had just held the ball a second longer, 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:48.320 Shepherd's wide open in the corner because the Eagles completely 0:02:48.320 --> 0:02:51.880 converged their coverage on the slant with Valdez Scantling, and 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:54.519 he tries for the slant, the ball gets deflected and 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:57.520 it's intercepted, and and there you have it, and and 0:02:57.680 --> 0:02:59.519 you know, one of those it's like remember that game 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:01.560 where he took the tablet and like throw it on 0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:03.480 the ground. I mean, that's kind of I'm sure that's 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:06.080 what he felt like after the game because he knows 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:08.760 that Shepard was open, the Eagles dropped him in coverage, 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:11.600 it's not there, and uh, the Packers are three and 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:14.320 one at the quarter pole, but uh, um, you know, 0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:18.560 a strange game. Really. Based on the first three games 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:20.120 of the season compared to this one, it was like 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:23.800 everything flipped around. The Packers defense suddenly starts showing a 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:26.560 lot more leaks and a lot more holes and problems. 0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:29.400 The Packers offense gets a lot figured out. Aaron Rodgers 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:32.400 throws for over four hundred yards. Even with all the 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:34.720 points they left out there, they still scored twenty seven, 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:37.360 which isn't bad against a contending team like the Eagles. 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:40.560 But one of those things Thursday night football, I'm not 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:43.520 really sure how much you make out of it when 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:46.280 it's a Thursday night in September and we're still really 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:48.760 not into the meat of the season. Well, first and foremost, 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:50.760 you take nothing out of it. I don't care if 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:53.000 the Packers win this game or they lose it. I've 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:56.160 never drawn any conclusions from watching Thursday night football because 0:03:56.600 --> 0:03:59.400 it's just it's it's it's unnatural. I've always said it's 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:01.560 not true balls. One of the things I wrote an inbox. 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:04.400 You want to win the game, obviously, and it counts 0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:05.960 the same as all the rest, And it counts the 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:07.960 same as all the rest. But in terms of great 0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:10.360 you know, drawing any big conclusions from it when loser 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:13.119 draw I've never done that. Now. A couple of things 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:15.520 that you mentioned are interesting to this UM. I mentioned 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:17.840 this to Pete Doherty, my former colleague at the Press Becausette, 0:04:17.839 --> 0:04:20.240 when we were leaving. It is interesting how the NFL 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:23.719 ultimately does pull everything back to equilibrium, though, and the 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:26.480 Packers defense was flying high through those first three games. 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:28.919 You have a game like this where Whence kind of 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:31.599 slips through the grasp of Zadarius Smith, the Packers just 0:04:31.640 --> 0:04:33.919 weren't quite able to get home with them. They weren't 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:36.040 able to force that takeaway that had been so I 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:38.200 don't want to say easy, but they had been just 0:04:38.240 --> 0:04:41.240 seemed like they were coming so naturally for the defense 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:43.440 for the first three games. They didn't get that extra, 0:04:44.200 --> 0:04:45.919 you know, sort of boost that it had been looking 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:47.640 for when it gets into the red area where they 0:04:47.680 --> 0:04:50.520 defended two of those with interceptions in the end zone. Yeah, 0:04:50.520 --> 0:04:53.400 that shift of momentum that the defense had been providing 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:56.120 in all of these games, whether it was by a takeaway, 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:58.240 whether it was by a stop on a short field, 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:00.599 those were the things that were not happening for the 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:03.120 Packers on Thursday, exactly. And and you know, I still 0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:04.840 give a lot of credit to the defense though, man 0:05:04.880 --> 0:05:06.800 the fact that they only gave up seven points or 0:05:06.800 --> 0:05:08.600 whatever it was in the second half. They held their 0:05:08.640 --> 0:05:13.240 ground in some really unique situations I should say, I 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:15.200 think it was fourteen seven points in the fourth quarter. 0:05:15.240 --> 0:05:18.159 Be that as it may. Uh, they were able to 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:20.279 kind of pull together when they needed to to keep 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:23.360 the Packers within one score. The biggest I don't want 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:25.520 to say tragedy, but you know, sort of travesty and 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:28.440 this is it was a phenomenal performance from Aaron Rodgers. 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:31.839 I mean, he was every bit the m v P 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:34.400 quarterback that Packers fans have grown a custom to see 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:36.560 and over the last decade in this game, and unfortunately, 0:05:36.600 --> 0:05:38.680 it just wasn't able to be sort of stamped with 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:41.480 that victory. I mean, you think about the touchdown pass 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:43.880 to Jimmy Graham and the way he was evading some 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:47.040 of the uh you know, the pass rush um and 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:49.400 you know, much have been made about his scrambling ability 0:05:49.480 --> 0:05:51.520 ended up having you know, a few big scrambles in 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:53.640 this game for forty five yards too, And and some 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:56.080 of his throws on the run, those those were the 0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:59.640 darts you know on the move that that we've grown 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:02.400 a cuss him to seeing from Rogers over the years. 0:06:02.440 --> 0:06:04.680 I thought, I agreed, you thought. I thought the way 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:07.000 he moved his feet, both when he scrambled and when 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:10.080 he made plays out of the pocket, this was this 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:12.039 was a little bit of a turn back the clock 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:15.279 to the to the Aaron Rodgers we've seen in other years, 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:17.720 and hopefully that's a good sign for the Packers moving forward. 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:20.840 He was exceptional, I mean, spreading the ball around. Eight 0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:24.000 different receivers caught a pass. Davante Adams had a major 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:27.520 game ten catches for eight yards, a career high. Unfortunate 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:29.760 for him, ends up suffering that toe injury late in 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:32.039 the ball game. So the Packers have to go on 0:06:32.080 --> 0:06:35.120 both of those deep red zone trips, uh those goal 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:38.240 to ghost situations without their two time Pro Bowl receiver 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:41.479 Um but just Rogers being able to sort of keep 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:44.520 the offense moving. And they knew at some point that 0:06:44.520 --> 0:06:46.800 if you play enough football games, there's gonna be a 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:49.240 day where the defense needs to you to pick them up, 0:06:49.760 --> 0:06:51.320 even though they've been off to such a great start, 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:53.160 And I thought Rogers really did that to keep them 0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:56.320 in this one. Yeah, well, Davante Adams. We had heard 0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:59.160 a lot during the week about the Packers wanting to 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:01.640 get the ball to add him is more. Rogers talked 0:07:01.640 --> 0:07:04.560 about it. Adams certainly talked about it as well. Ten 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:08.480 catches for a hundred and eighty yards. Unfortunately, he leaves 0:07:08.480 --> 0:07:11.200 midway through the fourth quarter with a toe injury, and 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:14.040 he's not on the field for the four goal to 0:07:14.080 --> 0:07:16.280 go place from the one yard line and for the 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:19.760 final drive when the Packers once again got down inside 0:07:19.760 --> 0:07:24.280 the five. Obviously, you lament that situation because if you 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:27.560 have your best pass catcher, your best offensive weapon on 0:07:27.600 --> 0:07:29.559 the field there, you gotta think you're at least getting 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:33.640 that game tied on one of those possessions. But uh um, 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:36.480 But just the way the game went, Hopefully this injury, 0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:39.880 this toe injury to Davante Adams is not a serious thing. 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:42.600 Hopefully it's something he can uh um, he can play 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:44.720 through and isn't going to miss any time. But we'll 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:46.679 just have to find out next week war things stand 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:48.640 with that. Yeah, he gets ten days to get right 0:07:48.640 --> 0:07:50.960 here before this Dallas game, and he mentioned they're gonna 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:53.120 take a look at it today after the game. You know, 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:55.200 he didn't have a he wasn't wearing a shoe on there, 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:57.080 so I didn't even want to try it, you know, 0:07:57.160 --> 0:08:00.520 just just being safe and being smart, and certainly, you know, 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:02.960 felt disappointed he wasn't able to be out there for them, 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:05.320 because even if it isn't him catching the touchdown pass, 0:08:05.360 --> 0:08:07.800 you talk about the Darius Shepherd play. With all due 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:09.920 respect to Darius Shepherd, he's been a really nice player 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:13.440 early on here. If that's Davante Adams coming free, they're 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:15.000 not going to let them go there. They're not gonna 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:17.680 send two guys at mvs. They're gonna have, you know, 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:20.360 somebody or a safety somebody you know, had with their 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:24.600 attention on Adams. Philadelphia, you know, to their defensive credit, 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:26.440 I mean, they were working through a ton of injuries 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:29.040 in the secondary. I mean they were down to third, fourth, 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:30.960 and fifth stringers by the end of that game, and 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:33.679 they had practice squad guys on the field in goal 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:36.360 to go there in the in the fourth quarter, and 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:38.920 to their credit, they held up. Yeah, And the thing 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:40.880 that was interesting about this in so many ways, it 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:43.040 was the game I think you and I both expected. 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:45.680 It was very difficult to run against that front, but 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:48.320 Aaron Rodgers in the passing game was able to get 0:08:48.360 --> 0:08:51.640 their momentum moving and you know, able to you know, 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:53.240 extend the ball. I think it ended up being four 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:55.800 hundred and forty one and four and sixty total yards 0:08:55.800 --> 0:09:01.560 no fo this game fourner and forty two ye or 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:04.240 four and twenty two yards passing excuse me for Rogers. 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:06.320 He only had the one sack, which I thought was 0:09:06.679 --> 0:09:09.600 a real testament that offensive line. With Brian Bulaga going 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:13.080 out before halftime, Alex Light had to finish up there. 0:09:13.120 --> 0:09:15.280 You know, a lot of adversity for both sides, and 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:18.319 you know, for the Packers perspective, um just not quite 0:09:18.440 --> 0:09:20.560 enough to you know, put those final points on the 0:09:20.559 --> 0:09:22.800 board to extend this thing into overtime. Yeah. Well, the 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:25.080 Packers defense, we had talked about it the last couple 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:27.440 of weeks. Teams have been running the ball and the Packers, 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:30.640 but the great equalizer had been the takeaways. And I 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:32.640 think one of the things that we saw in this game. 0:09:33.040 --> 0:09:35.520 A couple of things that I'll that I'll point out 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:38.440 here at least what's been going through my mind. One 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:43.560 is that Carson Wentz, without question, the best quarterback the 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:46.160 Packers have faced so far this year. And guess what, 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:49.280 Elite quarterbacks don't give the ball away as much as 0:09:49.720 --> 0:09:52.800 lesser quarterbacks in this league do. So you lost that 0:09:52.920 --> 0:09:55.920 great equalizer with the takeaway. Like we talked about before. 0:09:56.360 --> 0:10:00.240 The other thing, obviously, in any quarterback, whether you're Arson 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:02.080 Wentz or anybody else, when you have a running game 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:05.040 that's doing what the Philadelphia Eagles running game was doing, 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:08.360 that's going to help a quarterback stay in complete command 0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:10.400 of what's going on in the field. But the other 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:13.240 thing I'll say is defensively, this just felt like a 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:18.360 game that it started out poorly, not necessarily the defense's fault, 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:20.720 but then it's snowballed. And what I mean by that 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:24.120 is special teams gave up a long kickoff return, the 0:10:24.160 --> 0:10:27.200 Eagles take advantage of the short field to get a touchdown. 0:10:27.440 --> 0:10:29.320 Then you have a kickoff that goes out of bounds. 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:31.120 They get the ball in the forty yard line, they 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:33.520 only have to go sixty yards for a touchdown. Then 0:10:33.559 --> 0:10:35.760 they get the strip sack of Rogers back in the 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:39.040 red zone only seventeen yards. They get a touchdown there. 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:42.240 Three touchdowns are given up. The Eagles have twenty points 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:45.120 on the board, yet those three touchdown drives barely covered 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:48.360 a hundred yards because of field position. But then, but 0:10:48.480 --> 0:10:51.079 then the snowball effect happens in the second half, where 0:10:51.120 --> 0:10:54.520 then suddenly the Eagles are putting together the seventy five 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:56.760 yard touched on drives. They do that twice in the 0:10:56.800 --> 0:11:00.800 second half and um and then when the Packers defense 0:11:00.880 --> 0:11:03.760 has that opportunity with the Eagles on the one yard 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:07.120 line after the failed fourth and goal, yes they got 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:09.360 the stop, but the Eagles drove fifty yards and got 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:11.719 out to midfield before that stop occurred. And that was 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:14.400 another another big factor in this game, even though the 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:16.440 Eagles didn't get points on that drive. So it just 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:19.400 felt like it felt like a snowball type of game 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:23.000 for the defense. That you just wonder if the field 0:11:23.000 --> 0:11:26.120 position is not such a big factor in the first half, 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:29.000 if ultimately at the end of the day that point 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:32.080 total the Eagles end up with is a little bit different. Yeah, 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:34.080 And you know, ultimately to Mike, I mean, no one 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:35.920 in the locker room is going to say this. Everybody's 0:11:35.920 --> 0:11:37.560 going to say that they were well prepared for this, 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:39.199 and you know, I think mentally in a lot of 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:41.880 cases they were. But you also have to recognize the 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:44.640 fact of how this defense is structure right now. The rotations, 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:47.480 you know, they haven't gone incredibly deep yet. You know, 0:11:47.520 --> 0:11:49.520 they've been asking a lot of these guys to play, 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:51.880 you know, a significant amount of snaps. Even in this game. 0:11:51.920 --> 0:11:54.200 I think there was what eight guys with over fifty 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:57.559 of the sixty two defensive snaps. When you have that, 0:11:57.679 --> 0:12:00.160 you're on short rest, it's difficult to keep gas the 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:02.080 tank um And I don't want to try to make 0:12:02.080 --> 0:12:04.000 I'm not trying to make excuses, but I just think 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:06.560 that this was not for this particular defense and the 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:08.440 way the Packers are playing it right now, it was 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:10.840 not advantageous to go up against an opponent like Carson 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:14.480 Wentz in that running game after what they saw on 0:12:14.520 --> 0:12:18.560 Sunday from the Broncos. Be that as it may, Uh yeah, 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:21.160 I mean there were opportunities there, you know, four big 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:23.200 plays and they just weren't able quite able to get it. 0:12:23.360 --> 0:12:25.240 Some of that is due to Carson Wentz being six 0:12:25.280 --> 0:12:27.640 five and two thirty pounds or two aren't forty pounds 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:30.400 whatever he is, and you know, some of it, you 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:32.880 know is some you know opportunities down field too that 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:36.480 they just weren't able to capitalize on. The biggest issue 0:12:37.080 --> 0:12:38.600 um at the end of the day is just as 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:40.200 you know, if you're not able to stop the run 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:43.240 consistently on those first two downs, the third downs become 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:45.599 more of a situation, more of a problem. There was 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:49.080 only two technical explosive plays for the Philadelphia in this 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:51.280 game of more than twenty yards, but they were just 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:53.520 able to gash them in the teens. And you know, 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:55.839 they did what they needed to do to capitalize on 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:57.959 the opportunities that they had. Yeah, well, those a lot 0:12:58.000 --> 0:13:00.480 of third down situations, a lot of third and shorts 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:02.280 for the Eagles because of the way they were running 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:04.640 the ball. Carson Wentz converted a couple of third and 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:08.000 ones with just simple quarterback sneaks and and uh, you know, 0:13:08.040 --> 0:13:10.280 they were able to keep the ball in those cities. 0:13:10.320 --> 0:13:12.400 And that's a heck of a quarterback sneak. I mean, 0:13:12.440 --> 0:13:15.480 I challenge any defensive front in the NFL with the 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:17.600 with how long he is and how big he is. 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:20.880 I thought Packers did about just about anything they could, 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:24.120 including almost forcing a fumble with your Alexander running to 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:26.440 the end zone. But it's just I mean, with the 0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:28.680 way that that offensive structured, and again it's a credit 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:31.640 to Doug Peterson to having those guys ready. They know 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:33.800 how to win when Carson Wentz is their quarterback, and 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:37.280 when he's healthy, it's a real dangerous combination. Yeah. Well, 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:39.280 on the offensive side of the ball for the Packers, 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:42.560 as frustrating as those last two fourth quarter drives were 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:46.120 and everything like that, and again it is Thursday night football. 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:48.560 The Eagles were dealing with plenty of stuff on defense, 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:53.720 but at least the Packers got Aaron Rodgers into a rhythm. 0:13:53.880 --> 0:13:56.680 He was looking comfortable out there doing his thing, looking 0:13:56.720 --> 0:13:59.160 like the old Aaron Rodgers. And at least, if there's 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:02.240 something you're gonna take away from this game that you 0:14:02.280 --> 0:14:05.439 can really hone in on, it's that the Packers know 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:09.280 the red zone and the gold to ghost stuff is 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:11.040 really what you have to work on. Now. I mean 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:13.360 they've they've at least they've at least gotten to wear 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:16.079 in a game like this against a pretty darn good team. 0:14:16.280 --> 0:14:18.080 They were able to move the ball up and down 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:20.040 the field without a problem. Now it's just a matter 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:21.720 how many points are you going to get out of 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:24.600 those opportunities, because that's where they fell short on Thursday. 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:26.360 And one thing I want to throw back on you 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:29.080 very quickly here, and not to throw you on the spot, 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:31.400 but there was something that a lot of people made, 0:14:31.640 --> 0:14:33.800 you know, a lot of noise about on Twitter after 0:14:33.840 --> 0:14:36.200 the game, and it was the fact, as you mentioned, 0:14:36.240 --> 0:14:38.920 the double conversion onto MBS and you know, maybe the 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:42.680 contact earlier not this. The reason I want to bring 0:14:42.680 --> 0:14:45.640 this up quickly is because I think I've been I 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:48.400 was thinking about this all night long. There is an 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:52.720 invasive species aspect to this change that they've made with 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:56.680 defensive past infer question about inference, and I don't feel 0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:59.120 like the NFL at this point in time is capable 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:01.280 of handling it. I know that sounds kind of weird, 0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:03.840 but I agree with you. I agree with you there, 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:06.360 you know. And and it was interesting that before he 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:08.160 even said, because he was asked about did you consider 0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:09.640 taking one of the time out skim a little bit 0:15:09.680 --> 0:15:11.000 more time, he mentioned all that. I mean, they had 0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:14.280 their their mind made up. There seems to me that they, Okay, 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:16.360 they opened up this can of worms because of the 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:18.720 Saints play, and you know, they want to be able 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:21.120 to eliminate that stuff. But it's almost like anything else 0:15:21.160 --> 0:15:22.680 they don't want to hear about it. We saw with 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:26.120 the NBS well and and the point I'll make west 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:29.360 not to interrupt you, but this is what I said 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:32.480 in Insider inbox for the column this morning that went 0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:35.640 up on the website. The language of the past interference 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:40.120 replay review clear and obvious is the standard, okay, now 0:15:41.120 --> 0:15:44.920 to me, the past play down the sideline to m 0:15:44.960 --> 0:15:47.880 VS that Matt Lafleur challenged, that looked like pretty clear 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:50.880 and obvious past interference, but they don't call it. The 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:54.280 one that the Eagles challenged looks pretty clear and obvious. 0:15:54.320 --> 0:15:58.800 That Kevin King's hand knox el Shan Jeffrey's arm out 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:00.680 of the way before the ball gets there, and he 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:02.920 can't catch the ball because he gets an arm taken away. 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:05.200 That looks pretty clear and obvious. They don't call that one. 0:16:06.000 --> 0:16:09.960 The it looks like Valde's scantling basically gets bear hugged 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:13.040 as he's running the slant and he has enough he 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:15.600 can't move his arms, so the ball bounces off of 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:17.520 the pile of people and goes up in the air. 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:21.160 So to me, what what I feel, And this is 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:23.440 what I said in the column. It was it's as 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:27.200 though the standard being applied is a word more like 0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:33.120 flagrant or blatant and clear and obvious, it was not 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:36.120 what was being applied when looking at in my opinion, 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:39.000 that's not what was being applied and looking at the replays. 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:41.640 So if you're not if clear and obvious is not 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:44.320 what's being applied, then you need to change the language 0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:48.080 of the rule because those plays when when we have 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:51.000 the technology as we do today to slow things down 0:16:51.080 --> 0:16:53.960 frame by frame, whether you're talking bang bang plays at 0:16:54.000 --> 0:16:56.720 first base in baseball which get overturned all the time 0:16:56.720 --> 0:16:58.680 now because they're missed, and when you can look at 0:16:58.680 --> 0:17:01.840 it frame by frame, it is obvious you stop it 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:04.280 at a certain frame whether that guy is out or safe. 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:07.320 You can do the same thing now with past interference. 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:09.399 If you want to look at it frame by frame 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:13.360 and freeze it, you can tell if that contact is 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:17.960 clear and obviously clearly and obviously preventing the player from 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:23.520 catching the ball. And but it doesn't seem like that's 0:17:23.560 --> 0:17:26.119 the standard that's being applied. So I agree with your 0:17:26.119 --> 0:17:30.040 original point. The NFL has has opened this can of worms. 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:32.679 They've come up with this language of this rule, but 0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:36.200 they don't they don't seem to be capable of handling 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:38.680 it and applying it in a way that the rest 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:41.320 of us can understand. And then just I think my 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:43.560 biggest issue. I know there's some people make comments about 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:46.159 this too if you actually just follow, and I'm not 0:17:46.200 --> 0:17:47.919 just talking about the Packers, you follow it really the 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:50.399 NFL and how they've been officiating these things and how 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:53.440 they're reviewing these Everything seems like it's a case by 0:17:53.440 --> 0:17:57.199 case basis. There isn't a standard for what they're looking for. 0:17:57.280 --> 0:17:59.800 It's like, okay, what do you look at on this play? 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:02.960 And to their defense, I mean, there is some subjectiveness 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:05.080 to this. No past, no play is going to look 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:07.760 just like another play, but there also doesn't seem to 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:11.440 be any consistency either. And be honest with you, Mike, 0:18:11.720 --> 0:18:15.159 I feel like, even though they made these changes to 0:18:15.200 --> 0:18:17.920 try to make things more clear and obvious, I think 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:19.560 the only thing and and this is a this is 0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:21.280 a judgment by the way that's coming from the New 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:25.000 York office. It seems to me like the real call 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:28.879 now is it's just it's lent more credence in weight 0:18:28.920 --> 0:18:31.520 to what the original call was on the field, So 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:34.240 it's it's almost like Okay, the referees technically don't have 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:36.520 a say in it anymore in terms of what the 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:39.800 final decision will be. But boy, that initial you know 0:18:39.880 --> 0:18:42.000 call on the field is going to be what you know, 0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:44.600 New York isn't gonna do much to overturn that. Yeah, 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:46.919 I mean, and that's that's what I've been saying for years, 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:49.760