WEBVTT - #483 Packers Unscripted: Challenge ahead 0:00:00.920 --> 0:00:15.000 Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. 0:00:15.000 --> 0:00:18.160 I am Mike Spofford sitting next to my partner in crime, 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:21.280 West Hodkowitz. Were coming to you here from our studios 0:00:21.320 --> 0:00:24.920 at lambeau Field and West. It is our midweek show Wednesday. 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:27.760 Here coming up on Sunday, the Packers are back at 0:00:27.800 --> 0:00:32.160 lambeau Field. Imagine that it's been a while. Green Bay 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:36.120 versus Washington a noon Central kickoff at lambeau Field for 0:00:36.320 --> 0:00:38.920 Week four team. So we will take a look here 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:44.760 at this upcoming opponent. The Washington Redskins are three and nine. 0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:48.159 But here's the thing. Wes there two and oh in 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:51.519 their last two games. And this is a team that 0:00:52.640 --> 0:00:55.279 two weeks ago they were one and nine with an 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:58.480 interim coach, Jay Gruden having been fired at midseason, Bill 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:01.800 Callahan takes over as an inner him coach one and nine, 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:04.760 six games to go with an interim coach. But they 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:07.759 have not just mailed it in there, not laying down. 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:11.280 This is a team that is fighting, and they've gotten 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:14.119 wins over the Detroit Lions and Carolina Panthers the last 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:17.000 two weeks, and they're coming into Green Bay feeling pretty 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:19.400 good about themselves. Yeah, and it's really interesting. I've been 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:21.520 reading all the clipping, the clippings and everything out of 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:25.080 the Washington newspapers and I'll tell you what, Mike, It's 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:28.679 crazy how a performance like Darius Guys and Adrian Peterson, 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:32.560 what they did last Sunday against Carolina quickly that can 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:34.319 change a narrative for a season. I'm sure there's a 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:36.840 lot of beat writers and media folks out there that 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:40.199 were starved for writing for something positive about Washington during 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:43.600 a really turbulent season on the field off the field, 0:01:44.000 --> 0:01:46.319 and here they are this one to punch that. You know, 0:01:46.440 --> 0:01:48.000 I wrote this an inbox this week. I mean, the 0:01:48.000 --> 0:01:50.600 Packers are still very familiar with what Adrian Peterson can 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:51.680 do to you. He did it to them in a 0:01:51.720 --> 0:01:54.480 Week three of last last last season a hundred plus 0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:57.360 yards a couple of touchdowns when the Packers lost out 0:01:57.400 --> 0:01:59.400 there at FedEx Field. And there's a certain amount of 0:01:59.440 --> 0:02:01.320 people out there too that would say that Darius Guys 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:04.280 was arguably the best running back in this year's draft class. 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:05.960 I mean, he was right up there with all of them. 0:02:05.960 --> 0:02:08.000 But he's been hurt for most of the season, so 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:10.520 they finally got him together and then the thing I 0:02:10.560 --> 0:02:13.520 thought was most impressive about that win over Carolina, they 0:02:13.520 --> 0:02:16.560 did it really without Terry McLaurin. They were able to 0:02:16.600 --> 0:02:18.760 you know, that's been their big playmaker this season. That's 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:21.000 been the real bright spot for this offense. Weekend and 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:23.200 week out. Well, they didn't really have the passing game. 0:02:23.240 --> 0:02:25.680 They went more of a game manager role with Haskins, 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:28.799 and here they leaned on their two running backs. Guys 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:31.880 had the sixty yard or Adrian Peterson just a bowl 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:35.360 not easy to get down within four yards, and Washington 0:02:35.360 --> 0:02:38.800 pulled out a victory. Well, certainly you have to believe 0:02:38.840 --> 0:02:41.600 that Washington's game plan coming into lambeau Field is going 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:43.720 to be to try to pound the ball with the run. 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:46.400 With Peterson and guys, they combined for what was a 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:51.560 two yards correct um combined totals three carries on that, 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:53.880 by the way. Yeah, so basically the two of them 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:57.640 together averaging about ten yards a carry against against Carolina 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:01.160 in a game that they fell behind for nothing, mind you. 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:04.440 So they decided, Okay, we're gonna stick with the run. 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:06.399 We're gonna try to limit and this is I think 0:03:06.440 --> 0:03:09.120 what their plan will be against the Packers as well. 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:12.720 Try to limit how much responsibility falls on the quarterback. 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:16.320 Get that running game going, keep trying to pound the 0:03:16.440 --> 0:03:19.440 run at Green Bay. And then you do have the 0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:22.840 speedy rookie wide receiver from Ohio State and Terry mclauren. 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:26.400 He's averaging I believe it's around fifteen yards of catch, 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:28.960 he's got five touchdown receptions on the Ears, having a 0:03:29.000 --> 0:03:32.160 really solid rookie season, and he is a game breaker 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:34.639 type with with his speed, he can he can make 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:36.960 some big plays out there. Yeah, give you some statistics here, 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:40.480 Michael mclauren right now, forty two catches. That's fourteen more 0:03:40.480 --> 0:03:43.520 than Chris Thompson, their their third down back. He has 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:46.920 sixty six receiving yards, which is more than three hundred 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:50.560 in front of Thompson for first on Washington's roster. Fifteen 0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:53.320 point four yards per catch in a team high five 0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:57.600 touchdown receptions. Let's put that in comparison. Mike Washington has 0:03:57.680 --> 0:04:00.720 the rest of their receivers together have six touchdown receptions, 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:04.040 so making up forty four point four percent of that production. 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:07.800 And he's a dynamic football player. And I think you 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:10.880 know Greg Bates who writes a column and our our 0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:13.160 program for us every week did a story kind of 0:04:13.200 --> 0:04:15.760 looking at the opponent, breaking it down, and I thought 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:17.880 he made a really good point. I mean, they've had 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:19.640 a lot ups and downs this year, and there are 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:23.440 a lot of questions about Washington's upper management where this 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:25.039 team is going to go in two thousand and twenty 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:27.640 and beyond. But the thing I like that Bill Callahan 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:31.279 has done is he's provided some sense of normalcy here. 0:04:31.760 --> 0:04:34.440 Dwayne Haskins is going to be our guy through thick 0:04:34.480 --> 0:04:37.000 and thin, hell and high water. Where that is going 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:39.360 to be who we're gonna roll with. And they're building 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:43.839 around their young pieces now Adrian Peterson thirty four years old. 0:04:43.839 --> 0:04:46.320 Now I mean obviously not you know more in the 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:49.080 autumn of his career. But I the one thing I 0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:51.880 never understood with the way all Washington approached this thing 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:54.599 was either had to be all Peterson or no, no Peterson. 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:57.960 They just never really could seem to understand or figure 0:04:57.960 --> 0:05:01.520 out a way to just use him in not a 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:04.440 limited fashion, but more in a platoon fashion. That's what 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:07.080 they did against Carolina. They got both of those backs, 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:10.240 going thirteen carries, ten carries. I don't know why it 0:05:10.240 --> 0:05:11.920 had to be all or nothing for so long for them. 0:05:11.960 --> 0:05:14.360 When Geis is healthy, I think you can see how 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:16.200 both of these two guys can really play off each other. 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:19.080 I think sometimes, just to be fair to the coaching 0:05:19.120 --> 0:05:21.679 staff there, I think there were times that Peterson wasn't 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:25.400 necessarily comfortable with the whole the type of role that 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:27.800 they wanted for him. Now that Darius guys a high 0:05:27.839 --> 0:05:30.320 draft pick, rookie running back who's shown a lot of promise, 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:35.000 he's gotten himself healthy, Um, you can see obviously the 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:37.200 potential that's there with that one to punch. I think 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:40.720 Haskins at quarterback as the rookie, As you said, Callahan 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:42.760 has made it clear, you know, this isn't gonna be 0:05:42.800 --> 0:05:46.400 some quarterback carousel here. This is their rookie quarterback. They 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:50.000 invested a high first round draft pick. He's the quarterback 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:52.200 of the future, so it's time for him to play. 0:05:52.440 --> 0:05:55.839 I think he's protected the football a little bit better, 0:05:55.960 --> 0:05:58.760 maybe than Daniel Jones from the Giants last week. But 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:02.800 haskins com Lesian percentage he's barely above. I think he's 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:07.000 only a completion so he has some things to uh 0:06:07.400 --> 0:06:11.560 to iron out there. But in looking at the other 0:06:11.600 --> 0:06:16.359 phases for Washington, as well, you look at their defense west, 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:20.560 there are a lot of numbers that don't look good. 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:24.040 They're ranked pretty low against the run, and they're right 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:25.760 in the middle of the pack against the past. They 0:06:26.080 --> 0:06:28.440 do have a fair number of sacks, so there are 0:06:28.440 --> 0:06:31.039 there are some stats that jump out at you. But 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:34.080 when you just look at they've been really bad against 0:06:34.080 --> 0:06:36.000 the run, and they've been really bad on third down. 0:06:36.040 --> 0:06:38.479 But then you look at the game at Carolina last week, 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:42.640 Christian McCaffrey only gets forty four rushing yards against what's 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:46.920 supposedly a bad run defense, and the worst third down 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:49.680 defense in the league actually stopped ten third downs in 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:53.200 a row, allowing them to come back from a fourteen 0:06:53.240 --> 0:06:57.159 nothing deficit to actually take a two touchdown lead before 0:06:57.240 --> 0:07:00.360 hanging on to beat the Panthers by by one top down. 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:02.560 So my point is, I think there are a lot 0:07:02.600 --> 0:07:07.279 of full season statistics and rankings and stuff that don't 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:10.560 really apply to what Washington looks like right now and 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:13.040 the way they've played these last two weeks. I mean, 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:15.960 against the Lions, they had a kickoff return for a 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:19.160 touchdown from a special teams unit that hadn't really done 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:22.000 much all season long, but suddenly they bust a kickoff return, 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:24.480 they end up beating the Lions by three points. Chocoling 0:07:24.600 --> 0:07:26.400 up in the wind. Call yeah, and it goes both ways, 0:07:26.480 --> 0:07:29.320 right because offensively, this is statistically the worst offense in 0:07:29.360 --> 0:07:32.000 the NFL. Right now, they're right around twenty two and rushing. 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:33.600 But then you see what they do in that game 0:07:33.600 --> 0:07:37.000 against Carolina, which the Packers were very familiar with the Panthers, 0:07:37.000 --> 0:07:39.600 seeing them a month ago and seeing how competitive they 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:42.520 were in that sense. But as you mentioned from the 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:44.760 very get go of this show, they've won two in 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:48.160 a row. Now, the feeling change, the temperament changes. One 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:49.960 of the reasons why I thought last week was such 0:07:49.960 --> 0:07:52.680 a critical game for Green Bays because the Giants had 0:07:52.680 --> 0:07:55.000 lost seven in a row. David Jones hasn't really tasted 0:07:55.080 --> 0:07:59.040 victory yet. You have to beat that team because that's 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:01.640 what everyone says you should. People are gonna go in 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:02.920 and Green Bay is gonna be favored in this and 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:04.840 then by all means should be. This is a team 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:08.200 that's going towards a playoff push. Washington's playing towards the future. 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:11.800 But the mandate is the same between them. You can't 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:15.160 take take either of them lightly defensively, They've worked through 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:17.600 some very strange things though this year. There's the questions 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:20.640 with Josh Norman uh and was he benched? Was he 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:22.280 not benched? And then you look at some of these 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:25.920 other facets of this defense and exactly what their identity is. 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:29.280 But as you said, last week, they pulled every everything together, 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:32.160 they played good ball, and now they sit right around 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:35.480 nine total defense. I mean, this is a respectable unit 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:37.800 that is going to still be able to find ways 0:08:37.840 --> 0:08:40.360 to stress this Packers offense. Yeah, I mean, I think 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:42.040 there are a lot of things. I mean it really 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:45.319 if Matt Lafleur has any concerns, and I don't think 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:48.800 he necessarily does, because the Packers went about things last 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:50.800 week the right way, I think they'll go about things 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:52.960 this week the right way. But if he has any 0:08:52.960 --> 0:08:56.800 concerns about trying to get his players attention with regards 0:08:56.840 --> 0:08:59.640 to this Washington team, all you have to do is 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:02.800 is put on the film from that Carolina game. They 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:07.480 outscored Carolina like twenty nine to nothing after the fourteen 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:10.120 nothing started. I mean, they they didn't just come back. 0:09:10.160 --> 0:09:13.280 They were dominating that game. Now Carolina obviously they just 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:16.240 fired their head coach, and and Ron Rivera is out 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:19.199 and they're gonna be looking for a new head coach 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:23.120 in the off season. And things really, quite frankly for 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:26.280 Carolina started to go south when Christian McCaffrey doesn't get 0:09:26.320 --> 0:09:28.520 in from the two yard line at lambeau Field, and 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:31.080 suddenly what looked like a promising season for them has 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:34.880 has gone the wrong way. But this, uh, this Washington team, 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:38.520 I think I think they're gonna pose a bigger challenge 0:09:38.600 --> 0:09:41.080 quite frankly to the Packers than the Giants did last week. 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:42.480 That's just my gun. Yeah, I would agree with that, 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:44.760 especially the way that they're trending. I mean, thirty six 0:09:44.840 --> 0:09:47.160 right now. As far as tackle or excuse me, sacks 0:09:47.200 --> 0:09:50.520 pretty spread across the board. Quentin Dunbar four interceptions they 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:53.920 brought in Landon Collins was a big signing for them. Uh, 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:56.160 these you know over the past year, and I just 0:09:56.240 --> 0:09:58.840 look at this team is still a way that you 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:01.920 know they're gonna be. It's tough to come back from 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:04.520 a mentality when you're three and nine like that is 0:10:04.559 --> 0:10:07.360 a difficult thing to do. There's going to be question marks. 0:10:07.400 --> 0:10:10.439 But I listened to Bill Calhan's postgame news conference. You 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:12.760 read the clips. As I said off the bat, this 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:14.760 is a team that does have confidence right now, and 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:16.880 they have confidence and they have nothing to lose. So 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:19.760 for green Bay to earn that number ten victory of 0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:22.400 the season, it's going to come through a very game 0:10:22.679 --> 0:10:26.959 Washington team. Yeah, I would agree with you. Um select 0:10:27.040 --> 0:10:31.079 Cousin Subs locations West are now offering delivery whether you're 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:33.840 ordering catering or your favorite sub they're delivering right to 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:37.280 you when you order online at Cousin Subs dot com. 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:41.199 Cousin Subs. We believe in better. Okay, As the Packers 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:43.920 get prepared here for this week four team game, I'm 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:46.240 interested in your take on this West because we've talked 0:10:46.240 --> 0:10:50.840 about We've talked about some issues the the Packers. They're 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:53.200 trying to show up some things on defense, they're trying 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:55.719 to get more impact from the return game. And we'll 0:10:55.720 --> 0:10:58.440 talk about the new returner of the Packers have acquired 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:02.520 in a minute. But here's here's the thing for me. 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:05.240 There are a lot of people out there saying, you know, okay, 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:07.920 it's December now, the Packers they are what they are, 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:12.280 you know, And to a certain extent I agree with that. 0:11:13.000 --> 0:11:16.960 But at the same time. I remember three years ago 0:11:17.679 --> 0:11:20.959 a Packers team that through the month of December started 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:24.160 looking better and better and better than where they were 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:27.960 at Thanksgiving and where they were just before Thanksgiving. And 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:31.320 the fact that now this Packers team has been on 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:33.400 the road for four of its last five games and 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:35.959 now gets to come home for back to back home games. 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:38.840 You know how this league works, west When you have issues, 0:11:39.440 --> 0:11:41.920 it is so much easier to try to fix your 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:44.480 issues when you're playing at home, no matter which side 0:11:44.480 --> 0:11:46.520 of the ball it is. Then when you're playing on 0:11:46.559 --> 0:11:49.400 the road. I think these next two games, and then 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:52.040 you obviously have the Monday nighter in Minnesota coming up 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:54.400 after it, but I think these next two home games 0:11:54.400 --> 0:11:57.240 for the Packers, this is this is your chance to 0:11:57.240 --> 0:11:59.680 to try to fix some things and and give the 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:03.480 team that one more step forward, that one more uptick 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:07.400 before the stretch run and hopefully I'll playoff run in January. Yeah, 0:12:07.400 --> 0:12:09.160 I think it was last week. I used my analogy 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:11.400 about the tuneup fight. If you're a fighter, if you're 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:15.760 a boxer, you lose a championship type matchup, you start 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:17.760 back down, you pull yourself back up, you try to 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:19.640 get some wins back together, you try to make another 0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:22.280 run at this thing. They started that last week against 0:12:22.320 --> 0:12:24.800 the Giants, and there was a there's a comment that 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:28.599 Adam hohl Heinrich because in Packer's Daily spoiler Alert, we 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:30.280 don't always write our own scripts on that, we have 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:32.679 people that do that for us. But at Triple H 0:12:32.760 --> 0:12:36.480 had written in there. You know, there was no real 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:39.120 hangover from what happened in San Francisco, and that's what 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:42.360 you wanted to see because as we discussed on Monday 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:45.560 show too, I mean, eighteen points, it was a possession game. 0:12:46.520 --> 0:12:48.800 There really weren't a whole lot of opportunities just blow 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:51.319 that thing open. But the Packers did what they needed 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:53.439 to do against an opponent that they needed to beat, 0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:57.040 and that earned you this opportunity against Washington. You beat Washington, 0:12:57.440 --> 0:13:00.080 that earns you an opportunity against Chicago. Because you and 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:02.320 I both watched the Monday night game with Minnesota, they're 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:04.680 not lying over for anybody. I mean, that is gonna 0:13:04.720 --> 0:13:08.880 be a tough, knockdown, drag out war in week sixteen. 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:10.760 That's just the way this thing is looking right now. 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:12.760 So Green Bay to have two back to back home 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:15.520 games to get people revved up again because we there 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:17.640 was a ton of them. You and I covered a 0:13:17.679 --> 0:13:19.480 ton of them at home here the first two months 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:21.840 of this season. And this is they were just in 0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:23.960 a stretch of one game in forty eight days or 0:13:24.000 --> 0:13:26.040 whatever it was at Lambeau so and I think the 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:29.240 home stretch early on when we saw the way the 0:13:29.240 --> 0:13:32.480 Packers came out sputtering on offense in Week one against 0:13:32.520 --> 0:13:35.559 a good Chicago defense. But after Week one to have 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:41.240 that stretch of five home games in six weeks, Matt Lafleur, 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:43.640 Aaron Rodgers, the offense, they were able to they were 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:45.720 able to work out the kinks. They were able to 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:48.520 really fix some things and work on some things. When 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:51.079 you had the stretch of home games, well, now you're 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:52.800 always going to have other issues that are going to 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:55.000 crop up throughout the season. When you're in a stretch 0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:57.480 of four road games out of five, it's tough to 0:13:57.520 --> 0:14:00.160 fix your issues. You're trying to just say, hey, we're 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:01.880 gonna try to find a way to survive. We're gonna 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:03.840 try to find a way to win games. They fell 0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:06.520 flat in l a, they fell flat in San Francisco. 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:09.680 They gotta win. They got a road win against the Giants. 0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:11.800 They got a road win against Kansas City and that 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:14.960 stretch of four road games in five weeks. Now they're 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:18.440 back home. It's a it's an opportunity to turn some 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:23.320 things around and and in looking for a spark on 0:14:23.440 --> 0:14:26.720 special teams in the return game, Packers are still trying. 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:32.520 Traymont Smith has been released. Tyler Irvin, a return specialist. 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:35.400 I guess you might say he's officially running mostly turned 0:14:35.440 --> 0:14:38.160 in his career, but yes, he's mostly mostly done returns 0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:42.960 in his career, most recently from Jacksonville claimed off waivers. 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:46.440 And it looks like they're just gonna plug him in 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:48.560 as the return man and say, all right, kid, you 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:50.320 know here you go, this is this is your shot 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:52.320 because we're looking for a spark here. Yeah, and they 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:54.000 needed the guy. I think that was natural at both 0:14:54.080 --> 0:14:56.080 of them. I mean when you look at tray Smith, 0:14:56.120 --> 0:14:57.960 I mean, certainly he has some pelts on the wall 0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:00.520 as it relates to the kickoff return, but not as 0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:02.400 many of them at the pro level on punt returns. 0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:04.280 In Irvin, you have a guy that has done it 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:07.400 both uh, and I just think, yeah, I mean, people 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:09.560 have been asking for they want things to be shaken 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:11.360 up a little bit, and the Packers have. You've been 0:15:11.360 --> 0:15:13.160 following them with what they've done over the last month 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:15.680 with special teams. They're doing everything they can and this 0:15:15.720 --> 0:15:18.000 is an important game to do it, Mike, because Washington 0:15:18.080 --> 0:15:21.040 special teams are legit. Dustin Hopkins I think, you know, 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:23.400 not having his best year, but you know Steven Sims 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:25.240 has one brought back for a touchdown this year in 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:28.600 the night or whatever that was. They are going to 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:30.840 push for field position in this game and the Packers 0:15:30.920 --> 0:15:33.120 need to start winning that. And here's the thing. You 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:36.360 have four games like I think Packers by no means 0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:38.160 are looking ahead, but I think at nine and three 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:40.080 they feel like they're a playoff team. They feel like 0:15:40.120 --> 0:15:42.840 they're a contender. This is you know, we talked about 0:15:42.880 --> 0:15:44.880 these two games at home. These next four weeks are 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:47.400 an audition for the playoffs to show exactly where you 0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:49.880 stack up and how far you could potentially bring this 0:15:49.960 --> 0:15:52.640 thing and to go where they need to go. The 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:55.600 special teams need to be better. J K. Scott put 0:15:55.640 --> 0:15:58.480 a huge foot forward, no pun intended last week in 0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:00.760 New York, especially in those can aditions where he's been 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:03.800 kind of struggling a little bit with colder weather. Mason Crosby. 0:16:03.880 --> 0:16:06.080 We've talked to nauseum about the performance that he had 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:08.440 and what he was able to do in those conditions 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:11.400 in the season, and he's had in general. Kickoff return, 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:13.480 punt return has been the one thing that has been 0:16:13.560 --> 0:16:15.520 left to be desired since Week one of the season. 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:17.840 So you bring in Irvin, now you see what he 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:21.520 has to offer. The great thing about this position and 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:23.600 the great thing about special teams this goes back to 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:26.360 something that Tim mass they told me in two thousand thirteen. 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:32.280 There's really no playbook for specialists in return positions. You 0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:34.920 can be replaced like that and the guy can go 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:36.720 in there and do the job just like that. He 0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:38.320 needs to know the block and patterns, he needs to 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:40.520 have a general feel for the scheme. But returning is 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:43.520 returning and kicking is kicking. Tyler. Irvin has a chance 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:45.440 now to come in here and show that he belongs. Yeah, 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:48.680 And with regards to the Packers special teams as a whole, Yes, 0:16:48.760 --> 0:16:52.560 the return game, they haven't gotten the spark there that 0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:56.160 they've been looking for. Coverage wise, they haven't allowed any 0:16:56.200 --> 0:16:59.480 real backbreaking returns. A couple of explosive returns here, and 0:16:59.480 --> 0:17:04.240 they're during the season, but nothing really backbreaking. And yeah, 0:17:04.320 --> 0:17:08.000 early earlier in the year than than more recently. Penalties 0:17:08.000 --> 0:17:11.040 are certainly way down on special teams compared to a 0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:14.800 year ago, which which was a huge problem. So it's 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:17.360 not as it's not as though the sky is completely 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:19.720 falling on special teams here. And certainly what j K. 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:22.280 Scott did against the Giants, he's been in a slump 0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:24.960 for about a month. Two of his three punts against 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:27.440 the Giants were really really good ones. I mean, penned 0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:30.959 them inside the twenty yard line um with you know, 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:34.200 high hangers that um that were either fair caught or 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:38.280 downed in difficult field position for the Giants. So that's 0:17:38.320 --> 0:17:40.680 that looks like it's you know, he looks like he's 0:17:40.680 --> 0:17:44.480 working his way out of that. Any kind of a spark, really, 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:46.720 it feels like that the Packers could get from their 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:50.320 return game could really make a difference here down the stretch. 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:54.120 If suddenly Aaron Rodgers is starting a few drives at 0:17:54.160 --> 0:17:56.439 the thirty five or the thirty eight yard line as 0:17:56.440 --> 0:17:59.000 opposed to the twenty two or the twenty five yard line, 0:17:59.280 --> 0:18:01.400 things could really start to look different. West and That's 0:18:01.400 --> 0:18:04.439 what Brian goodacombs to Matt Lafleur after here. That's why 0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:07.720 they keep changing things around. They're looking for their looking 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:10.720 for that spark. And and this is an opportunity with Irvin. 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:13.440 He was available on the waiver wire from Jacksonville. They're 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:15.440 going to give him a shot. Yeah. And the thing 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:18.040 that I thought this week really proved too is there 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:20.359 just aren't There isn't an answer just sitting on the 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:23.680 street corner right. For so many weeks, especially Insider in 0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:26.160 Box more so than this show, we would get question 0:18:26.240 --> 0:18:28.960 after question, why did they trade Trevor Davis? What was 0:18:29.000 --> 0:18:31.840 the reasoning that was behind this? Trevor Davis got released 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:33.919 this week from Oakland. You hate to see that for him. 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:36.480 He's a good guy, but it goes to show you, 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:40.280 I mean, everybody's always looking to get better, especially in 0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:43.080 the Special Team's phases where guys can be recycled so quickly. 0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:46.920 Davis has already ended up in Miami, for example. So 0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:49.320 the Packers, in addition now having a second round pick 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:52.080 for next year, I feel like they have a guy 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:53.879 that you know, we're gonna probably learn a little bit 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:56.080 more about him later in the day. But to to 0:18:56.160 --> 0:18:59.240 be able to find answers and be able to find uh, 0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:01.359 you know in potentially he find something that could push 0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:04.040 you and propel you into the postseason. All it takes, 0:19:04.040 --> 0:19:06.040 Sean Menega said it since the very beginning of the season. 0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:08.400 All it takes is that one big return. The Packers 0:19:08.400 --> 0:19:10.960 are still waiting on it, and Urvan's gonna be the 0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:13.760 chance it gets a chance to you know, potentially do it. Yeah. Well, 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:16.680 we will see if if they get that that little 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:18.919 extra juice that they're looking for in that phase. But 0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:20.640 for now, we are going to call it a wrap 0:19:20.640 --> 0:19:22.639 on this edition of Packers on Scripted. Be sure to 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:25.720