Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford sitting next to the one and
Speaker 1: only West Hodkowitz. Were coming to you here from our
Speaker 1: studios at lambeau Field West. It's Wednesday, our midweek show,
Speaker 1: and that is when we take a look at the
Speaker 1: Packers upcoming opponent, and it's a tough one. The Carolina
Speaker 1: Panthers will be coming into lambeau Field on Sunday, a
Speaker 1: three kickoff that was shifted a week or so ago
Speaker 1: from originally a noon kickoffs, so it will be a
Speaker 1: late afternoon and a chili one. It sounds like this
Speaker 1: weekend at lambeau Field. Um, the sun is gonna be
Speaker 1: gone by a halftime the way with the whole clock
Speaker 1: change things, So it's gonna be pretty cold in the
Speaker 1: second half with the in the dark. You know. It's
Speaker 1: how It's how I know it's a cold game. We're
Speaker 1: getting into the cold weather season. When I go home
Speaker 1: to eat dinner with my parents on Tuesday and my
Speaker 1: mom says, I'm not interested, you can give your tickets
Speaker 1: away or were something else. She's mahat's out. So that's
Speaker 1: how you know the season changes when Mahat is at
Speaker 1: the games and when she decides not to start attending
Speaker 1: the games, and you got that difference. That's the true
Speaker 1: midpoint of the season. Yeah. Well, the Carolina Panthers are
Speaker 1: coming in. They are five and three. They are right
Speaker 1: in the thick of the postseason chase in the NFC.
Speaker 1: Not just five and three West, but five and one
Speaker 1: in their last six games after an O and to
Speaker 1: start unknown, to start with Cam Newton, then Cam Newton
Speaker 1: who is now on injured reserve, replaced by Kyle Allen
Speaker 1: and five wins in the last six games. But for
Speaker 1: a solid job as Kyle Allen has done. This offense
Speaker 1: is powered by one guy right now, and that's Christian McCaffrey. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean that's what they needed. And I wrote this
Speaker 1: an Insider inbox this week. Kyle and Allen needed to
Speaker 1: be a game manager. That's what they're asking him to do.
Speaker 1: And certainly, if you know anything about his story, this
Speaker 1: is a guy has a massive chip on his shoulder,
Speaker 1: feels like he was underrated, undervalued, and you know it
Speaker 1: was transferred from Texas A and m went to Houston
Speaker 1: got bench there. So he has a lot to play
Speaker 1: for in this league. But let's be honest, Mike, they
Speaker 1: want him to pay play as mistake free football as
Speaker 1: possible because Christian McCaffrey is just different. And you know,
Speaker 1: we had a feeling about this, and I think you
Speaker 1: and I probably tracked Christian McCaffrey a little bit more
Speaker 1: than maybe other beat writers around the NFL because Max
Speaker 1: was here for a while. His older brother, Blake Martinez
Speaker 1: played with him at Stanford UM this. But when you
Speaker 1: look at his skill set, his makeup and the player
Speaker 1: he's become in this league, his dad had a phenomenal
Speaker 1: career in the NFL, and Christian McCaffrey has a chance
Speaker 1: to surpass that at an early age when you look
Speaker 1: at not only what he offers as a running back
Speaker 1: or what he offers as a receiver, just an all
Speaker 1: around threat in the one thing, when you look at
Speaker 1: this stretch of winds that they've been on, ABS sent
Speaker 1: a couple of games against Tampa Bay which were sort
Speaker 1: of some anomalies in this whole equation. He's been unstoppable.
Speaker 1: When you get the ball in his hands, he's going
Speaker 1: to make plays. So to be at five and three
Speaker 1: right now, to rally the way they have behind the
Speaker 1: backup quarterback says a lot about this team it's makeup.
Speaker 1: But Christian McCaffrey is in the chase right now to
Speaker 1: be a legitimate m VP candidate, and he's personally changed
Speaker 1: my opinion on it. Three weeks ago, I would not
Speaker 1: have told you that a a running back on a
Speaker 1: three and two team would have been a real contender
Speaker 1: for this. But as you start to realize how he's
Speaker 1: affected these football games for the Panthers, you have to
Speaker 1: tip your cap to him and acknowledge this is arguably
Speaker 1: the best playmaker in the league right now. Yeah, he
Speaker 1: is the best playmaker in the league right now. I
Speaker 1: totally agree with you. He leads the NFL with thirteen
Speaker 1: touchdowns combined rushing and receiving scores. And you know me, West,
Speaker 1: I don't like to do comparables very often, but when
Speaker 1: I see Christian McCaffrey and I look at the highlights
Speaker 1: of what's going on with him and how much this
Speaker 1: Panther's offense is revolving around him. I'm not trying to
Speaker 1: put Christian McCaffrey in the Hall of Fame at the
Speaker 1: tender age of twenty whatever three, but I see a
Speaker 1: lot of Marshall Falk. You know, I agree that this guy,
Speaker 1: this guy is he is. He is so dynamic and
Speaker 1: is given the ball in so many different ways and
Speaker 1: lines up everywhere. Now, the Panthers don't have the offensive
Speaker 1: cast around McCaffrey that that Rams and The Greatest Show
Speaker 1: on Turf had with Isaac Bruce and Kurt Warner and
Speaker 1: all those guys. But what McCaffrey means to the offense
Speaker 1: is and how he's used just reminds me of how
Speaker 1: the Rams and and that Dick Vermeil Mike Martin's era,
Speaker 1: the way they used Marshall Falk and and he's just
Speaker 1: a tough matchup for any defense. He's hard to get
Speaker 1: a handle lot. Yeah, he's kind of a mesh between
Speaker 1: I would say the Colds, Marshall Falk and the Rams
Speaker 1: Marshall Faults somewhere in there, because they do have some
Speaker 1: nice pieces. Like It's not to say they're just completely
Speaker 1: void of right, No, And I don't I don't mean,
Speaker 1: I don't say that, but I get what you're saying.
Speaker 1: That was a legendary group of offensive players that they
Speaker 1: had with the Rams. But what I like about where
Speaker 1: Caroline is at is Curtis Samuels as a tweener type player,
Speaker 1: he's been really effective for them. D J. Moore doesn't
Speaker 1: have all the touchdowns, but as a guy well on
Speaker 1: his way to a thousand yard season. And then oh,
Speaker 1: by the way, you have your Greg Olsen's, you have
Speaker 1: you know, these different guys that kind of fit into
Speaker 1: this vision of what the Panthers offense has become. But
Speaker 1: make no mistake, the centerpiece of this whole equation is
Speaker 1: Christian McCaffrey. And in two thousand nineteen, with the way
Speaker 1: that the running back position has played, he offers you
Speaker 1: the best of all worlds right now. He can pass block,
Speaker 1: he can catch out of the backfield, he can catch
Speaker 1: and run. He's good between the tackles, he's good open
Speaker 1: in space. These are things we knew about him the
Speaker 1: last two years. But seeing him become an every down
Speaker 1: threat now in the dimension he adds as just a
Speaker 1: running back, not a playmaker, but as an actual running back,
Speaker 1: I think is what is really well rounded out his
Speaker 1: game and allowed him to be off to this start
Speaker 1: that he has been off to. Yeah, well, with Kyle
Speaker 1: Allen when he first stepped in back in September for
Speaker 1: Cam Newton. First couple of games, he was lighting the
Speaker 1: world on fire, hundred plus passer ratings, and everybody was like, wow,
Speaker 1: you know, where did this guy come from? Where he
Speaker 1: is right now passer rating of eighty seven point eight
Speaker 1: in his six starts. So he's fallen off the pace
Speaker 1: that he started. Obviously, nobody expected him to just put
Speaker 1: up hundred passer ratings, you know, all the time. His
Speaker 1: last I guess I'd say three or four games, the
Speaker 1: numbers have been a bit more pedestrian. Obviously, he had
Speaker 1: a rough game against San Francisco. Who hasn't had a
Speaker 1: rough game offensively against that San Francisco defense so far
Speaker 1: this year. To the Panthers, credit, to Allen's credit as
Speaker 1: a team, they bounced. They bounced back from getting you know,
Speaker 1: really kicked pretty hard by that San Francisco team fifty
Speaker 1: one to thirteen I believe was the final score. But
Speaker 1: they shook it off. They bounced back. They had a
Speaker 1: home game against a pretty tough Tennessee team last week.
Speaker 1: They took care business, got things back on track. They're right,
Speaker 1: they did exactly what the Packers and to do now, um,
Speaker 1: bouncing back from a rough loss, just a bad outing.
Speaker 1: It was clearly that game in San Francisco was Carolina's
Speaker 1: worst game of the season, I think, even worse than
Speaker 1: the other two they lost earlier with Newton. And obviously
Speaker 1: the Packers are coming off of their worst games, so
Speaker 1: it can be done. But this is this is a
Speaker 1: Carolina team that that doesn't just have its site set
Speaker 1: on bouncing back from the San Francisco loss. They have
Speaker 1: their sights set on getting into the postseason and making
Speaker 1: a run with what they're building around McCaffrey. Yeah. So
Speaker 1: Allen's last three weeks are really interesting, right because you
Speaker 1: go to that game against Tampa Bay, he helped them
Speaker 1: win that game because for whatever reason, and I don't
Speaker 1: know what it was, I didn't have the time nor
Speaker 1: the inclination actually go back and watch those Buccaneers games,
Speaker 1: But the Buccaneers both times they were able to whatever
Speaker 1: Todd Bowls is doing. They shut down McCaffrey and both
Speaker 1: of those ball games, and when it needed to be
Speaker 1: on Allen's shoulders, he and the complimentary parts were able
Speaker 1: to get them that victory that they didn't get when
Speaker 1: Cam Newton was first getting injured in that first match up.
Speaker 1: But then you go back the next week and you
Speaker 1: get San Francisco and you get tossed back down to reality.
Speaker 1: You see the dimensions, the challenges that that that defense
Speaker 1: presents to a young quarterback that hadn't had any turnovers,
Speaker 1: hadn't had any interceptions, I should say, and then they
Speaker 1: all just come at the same time. Last week. Though
Speaker 1: that's a really good Tennessee defense. I think that's a
Speaker 1: group that plays together, plays well, and verybel has a
Speaker 1: vision for them that has allowed them to be able
Speaker 1: to stay in some of these games even despite some
Speaker 1: of the quarterback issues, and Alan played pretty well considering that.
Speaker 1: So I don't look at this as a layup at
Speaker 1: all for Green Bay. I look at this guy as
Speaker 1: someone who knows where Christian McCaffrey is at all times,
Speaker 1: but he also has the the outlets to be able
Speaker 1: to diversify that offense when he needs to. That's what
Speaker 1: makes them dangerous. I got to mention this too, because
Speaker 1: it's not going to get brought up organically. Starting guard
Speaker 1: right now for the Carolina Panthers, one of them is
Speaker 1: Greg Van Roten. I don't know if you remember Greg Van,
Speaker 1: but on the day at the pack, Ivy leaguer I
Speaker 1: believe out of pen pen the year that the day
Speaker 1: that they cut Charlie pepp bro This is how far
Speaker 1: this goes back. They signed Greg Van Roten. He ended
Speaker 1: up being on the practice squad, made the roster, made
Speaker 1: the roster the next year, and eventually was like, go
Speaker 1: this is a guy that bounced around the Canadian Football League.
Speaker 1: He resurfaced last year or two years ago with Carolina,
Speaker 1: played every single snap for their offensive line last year.
Speaker 1: Some questions about whether or not he get replaced this offseason.
Speaker 1: He's still there, He's still contributing. A nice guy. I
Speaker 1: really enjoyed talking to him back in the day. I
Speaker 1: doubt he would ever remember me at this point. I'm
Speaker 1: sure he wouldn't remember me either, But I mean just
Speaker 1: the career that he's carved out for himself in a
Speaker 1: league that very easily spits you out, and he never
Speaker 1: remembers you. Greg then wrote in part of that offensive
Speaker 1: line that the Panthers have put together pave in the
Speaker 1: way right now for Christian McCaffrey. Yeah, all right, Well,
Speaker 1: I want to talk a little bit about the Panthers
Speaker 1: defense as well. But first, select cousin subs locations are
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Speaker 1: in better all right, well West for all the focus
Speaker 1: on Christian McCaffrey, and rightly so, with what he has
Speaker 1: done for the Carolina Panthers. You look at what this
Speaker 1: defense is doing for Carolina. Thirty four sacks lead leading
Speaker 1: the league, twelve interceptions, which is second in the league.
Speaker 1: And this is what jumps out to me. I was
Speaker 1: looking at these numbers earlier today. Nine players with two
Speaker 1: or more sacks for Panthers and seven players with three
Speaker 1: or more sacks. And in the interception category, you're talking
Speaker 1: four different guys with multiple interceptions on the season. This defense.
Speaker 1: Luke Keikley, the middle linebacker, he's the centerpiece of it all.
Speaker 1: He's been the centerpiece of Carolina's defense, of this Ron
Speaker 1: Rivera defense for a number of years now. But this
Speaker 1: defense is getting plays from a lot of different guys,
Speaker 1: and the way they're racking up the sacks and the
Speaker 1: interceptions and everything, they're helping out a backup quarterback. And
Speaker 1: it's a big reason along with McCaffrey that the Panthers
Speaker 1: are chalking up wins. So I know you didn't play Madden.
Speaker 1: I'm not trying to bring up anything about how you
Speaker 1: played Madden. I did, but they had a feature in
Speaker 1: the Madden Games, especially when I was a kid, where
Speaker 1: it was like you did a fantasy draft where you
Speaker 1: didn't really start with all the teams as they were constructed.
Speaker 1: You draft them and you build your own team. So
Speaker 1: if you're Mike Spoffer and the Green Bay Packers, you
Speaker 1: draft Aaron Rodgers and then maybe you draft Khalil Mack.
Speaker 1: You do all these different things. Right. That's kind of
Speaker 1: what the Carolina Panthers defense reminds me. It's been a
Speaker 1: handful of everything here. I mean, they bring in Gerald McCoy,
Speaker 1: you steal him away from a division rival, right, Um
Speaker 1: you have I mean just the different names that have
Speaker 1: joined keek Lely in those trenches. Um, that really stand
Speaker 1: out to me at this point in time. But the
Speaker 1: thing that sticks, you know, don Terry po I mean
Speaker 1: you look at Bruce Irvan came in. There's a number
Speaker 1: of different guys, but what stands out to me the
Speaker 1: most eric read among them, uh, is the fact that
Speaker 1: they've gotten contributions from across the board at young positions
Speaker 1: to uh, you know, a guy like Brian Burns was
Speaker 1: someone I was really high on coming out of the draft.
Speaker 1: He you know, he was sort of a late riser.
Speaker 1: We were looking at him a lot at the combine
Speaker 1: and everything, wondering because he was he was one of
Speaker 1: these guys that was being talked about as you know,
Speaker 1: high second, maybe late first, and then as the pre
Speaker 1: draft process went along, it was like, oh, this guy
Speaker 1: could be top twenty, this guy could be top ten,
Speaker 1: and the Panthers got him, I believe it was it
Speaker 1: at sixteen sixteenth overall picks. So, yeah, one of these
Speaker 1: guys that um and and what does he have four
Speaker 1: and a half a rotational defensive end right now. I
Speaker 1: mean he's not an every down player. I mean Mario
Speaker 1: Addison is still the guy. Six and a half sacks
Speaker 1: for him on the season. But as you were saying,
Speaker 1: Mike Bruce serving three and a half, uh, Don Terry
Speaker 1: po has three, Eric Reid has three. Shack Thompson has three.
Speaker 1: Shack Thompson I remember, yeah, he from out of Washington. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so just to be able to get those many contributions
Speaker 1: from players and as you mentioned, also twelve tame takaways.
Speaker 1: I would be remiss though, if I did not talk
Speaker 1: about Luke Keickley because what I love the most about
Speaker 1: his game, And it's easy to say a five times
Speaker 1: six time Pro Bowler All Pro is a is a
Speaker 1: good player, and to expound on why he's a good player,
Speaker 1: but Luke Kickley has evolved his game. It's not just
Speaker 1: based on athleticism anymore, and yet he is still one
Speaker 1: of the best athletes at that position, the inside linebacker,
Speaker 1: mike middle linebacker. Let's just be honest. The way this
Speaker 1: league has trended, they're trying to wash those type of
Speaker 1: players out a little bit. You're putting more in you're
Speaker 1: putting more safeties into the box, and tweeter players trying
Speaker 1: to defend. Keikley is the total package. He's what everyone
Speaker 1: aspires to be at that spot, and he's continued to
Speaker 1: be incredibly effective and durable here for the Carolina Panthers.
Speaker 1: You don't replace a player like that. So yeah, they
Speaker 1: might sign some guys, they might draft some guys, but
Speaker 1: as long as he's kind of patrolling that middle of
Speaker 1: the field, that's a problem. For opposing offenses. And Keickley,
Speaker 1: now what seven eight years into his career, still playing
Speaker 1: at an incredibly high level. It's amazing what he's been
Speaker 1: able to turn himself into. Yeah, I think I think
Speaker 1: what we've seen with Keik Lee over the years. When
Speaker 1: he first came on the scene, it's an old cliche,
Speaker 1: but he was as good a sideline to sideline linebacker
Speaker 1: with that speed as you would find. He was so
Speaker 1: fast that he could cover so much ground. And he's
Speaker 1: still I'm not trying to say he's slowed down. I
Speaker 1: don't think he's maybe quite he's twenty eight, you know,
Speaker 1: I don't think he's quite as fast as he was
Speaker 1: when he was twenty one or twenty two, but he
Speaker 1: still has plenty of speed. And now what he has
Speaker 1: with all of the experience and the smarts and everything,
Speaker 1: is he diagnoses plays and he knows what is coming instantly.
Speaker 1: He just he knows what's coming before anybody else on
Speaker 1: the defense does. And so the combination of that speed
Speaker 1: and the quick diagnosis and everything, he's he's always he's
Speaker 1: just he's always in the right place, and he's always
Speaker 1: impacting plays. You can't you can't scheme for this guy
Speaker 1: because it's always it's it's almost like he's always a
Speaker 1: step ahead. I guess that's what I'm trying to shack.
Speaker 1: Thompson is a great player. He's leading them in tackles
Speaker 1: right now. We talked about his sacks a minute ago,
Speaker 1: and he is going to be in this league for
Speaker 1: a long long time. Just that combination when you have
Speaker 1: someone like keek Lee playing next to you and where
Speaker 1: he can stress an offense, that's just such a that
Speaker 1: is such a field tilter for a defensive unit. And
Speaker 1: I gotta give a lot of credit to the Panthers
Speaker 1: in their front office and what they've done. I mean,
Speaker 1: they went out and they got Eric Read. He's been
Speaker 1: sort of a revelation for that secondary. They have guys
Speaker 1: when you look at the way that they're structured, you know,
Speaker 1: young draft picks. You know, Thompson was a first rounder,
Speaker 1: Vernon Butler was a first rounder. U Dante Jackson was
Speaker 1: a second rounder. They've gotten production from their recent drafts
Speaker 1: and they've also augmented the spots where they need help
Speaker 1: with free agency. I think that's set kind of the
Speaker 1: template here for how you want to build a defense.
Speaker 1: And it's the reason why. I think they've been able
Speaker 1: to find a way back to five and three even
Speaker 1: though they got off to that and two start. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they've been a franchise over the years that seems to
Speaker 1: go back and forth between making the playoffs and then
Speaker 1: maybe falling short the next year, and then they get
Speaker 1: back into the playoff picture. You know, they've been kind
Speaker 1: of one of these back and fourth teams. My question
Speaker 1: for you before we go here, getting back to McCaffrey
Speaker 1: and what the Panthers are doing on offense. I know
Speaker 1: you're not a defensive coordinator. Neither am I we're not
Speaker 1: XS and ose experts description I thought so, but what
Speaker 1: do you think? How do you how do the Packers
Speaker 1: go about dealing with McCaffrey because there isn't you mentioned
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay. They've done a good job on him both times,
Speaker 1: but really nobody else in the league has been able
Speaker 1: to put the clamps on this guy. So how do
Speaker 1: you go about it? Yeah, and you know, for no
Speaker 1: Mike Patton has done everything. I mean you look a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago, they ran a base defense where
Speaker 1: they had za Darius Smith playing an edgepot as a
Speaker 1: defensive end with his hand down in the dirt. They've
Speaker 1: mixed and matched their personnel. The one thing, I'm very
Speaker 1: curious to see what happens this week, and I'm not
Speaker 1: guaranteeing anything. For all I know, he could end up
Speaker 1: being a game day inactive. But Abrahim Campbell was returned
Speaker 1: to the fifty three man roster on Tuesday. Tim Williams
Speaker 1: was released. Here's the thing about Campbell, we don't really
Speaker 1: truly know a lot about the guy. He only played
Speaker 1: three games, but there was a lot of trust there
Speaker 1: with Mike Petton, and he played pretty darn well for
Speaker 1: being a guy that was signed off the street and
Speaker 1: had to play that box safety role. I really would Again,
Speaker 1: I'm not a defensive coordinator. I still think this defense
Speaker 1: is at its best when Adrian Amos has been the
Speaker 1: back end, when he's playing the safety spot and they
Speaker 1: try to do some different things in the box next
Speaker 1: to Blake Martinez. We saw will Redman in there a
Speaker 1: little bit. But I think, man, if if you could
Speaker 1: get Campbell back in that role and get him playing
Speaker 1: the way he did last year, that would be such
Speaker 1: a big boost for this defense right now. There's a
Speaker 1: reason the Packers went out and signed him in August.
Speaker 1: He didn't come back until November. Mike Packers could have
Speaker 1: waited and bided their time. They went and got that guy.
Speaker 1: They put him back in the house. They oversaw his
Speaker 1: development in his turn from that a c l injury
Speaker 1: just you know, suffered last December. So I don't know
Speaker 1: how they defended, whether it's Amos, whether it's maybe Traumont Williams,
Speaker 1: you know, if they try to do some things with
Speaker 1: the inside linebackers, Martinez in Goodsin. I just think the
Speaker 1: little wrinkle here this week and moving forward is Abrahem Campbell,
Speaker 1: and he gives you the guy that I think Raven
Speaker 1: Green could have been for this defense had he not
Speaker 1: suffered that ankle injury in week two. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: that's definitely a possibility here, and we'll just have to
Speaker 1: see how things evolve and how quickly Campbell potentially is
Speaker 1: active on game day, whether it's this Sunday or whether
Speaker 1: it's another Sunday down the road. I do think though,
Speaker 1: as I said an insider inbox, Mike Patton is going
Speaker 1: to have a plan for Christian McCaffrey, but I think
Speaker 1: he's going to stress and those players in the locker
Speaker 1: room are going to be aware of the plan. The
Speaker 1: scheming is not going to get the job done. You
Speaker 1: still have to diagnose plays, you have to get off blocks,
Speaker 1: and you have to make tackles. You can't let this
Speaker 1: guy break tackles and turn four and five yard runs
Speaker 1: into two all in fifteen yard runs. So whatever plan
Speaker 1: Petton comes up comes up with, it's still on the
Speaker 1: players and and this Packers defense, Let's be honest, Wes,
Speaker 1: it needs to start playing better because yes, holding them,
Speaker 1: holding the Chargers to field goals for a while last
Speaker 1: week certainly kept the team in the game, but they
Speaker 1: were still giving up a lot of yards. The charges
Speaker 1: were dominating time of possession. This Packers defense needs to
Speaker 1: needs to write the ship a little bit, and it's
Speaker 1: gonna be a tough task to do it against a
Speaker 1: guy like McCaffrey, But that's the task in front of them,
Speaker 1: because you want to be able to go into the
Speaker 1: bye week feeling a lot better about where you are
Speaker 1: on the defensive side of the ball than how the
Speaker 1: Packers have looked in the last couple of years. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they need a breather. You and I have talked about that.
Speaker 1: I think the bye week is going to give that
Speaker 1: to them, but you're not getting any help right now.
Speaker 1: You need to be able to step up to this challenge,
Speaker 1: and it's gonna be a difficult challenge at that. There
Speaker 1: is one other thing I want to throw out there,
Speaker 1: and it's not really a version. I mean, we've seen
Speaker 1: different versions of defenses that Mike Petton used and I
Speaker 1: don't offer this. This is just speculation. It's just a
Speaker 1: thought in my head, but I wonder if this is
Speaker 1: a game where you could see more base defense, and
Speaker 1: that kind of goes against a lot of things when
Speaker 1: you think of Samuel's and in in McCaffrey and how
Speaker 1: they can hurt you in open space. But there was
Speaker 1: a package that Dom Caper's used for a bit. I
Speaker 1: called it the thirty, even though that was not the
Speaker 1: given name, but that's how I wrote down in my notes,
Speaker 1: which is instead of having a second cornerback, they used
Speaker 1: to use Sean Richardson as that who was number twenty eight,
Speaker 1: as a third safety, and that gave them some flexibility that, okay,
Speaker 1: you can sell out to try stopping the run between
Speaker 1: the tackles, but you have a safety there instead of
Speaker 1: an inside linebacker or a cornerback. Matching up with the
Speaker 1: potential receiving threat or a potential, you know, out of
Speaker 1: the backfield running back that can do things. I don't
Speaker 1: offer that as anything they're gonna do, but I wonder
Speaker 1: if you can use some of those principles, because I
Speaker 1: do think one of the things that hurt them in
Speaker 1: that game against Carolina they just went light a lot.
Speaker 1: There was a lot of hybrid nickel, and you just
Speaker 1: weren't able to kind of stack the box maybe the
Speaker 1: way you needed to against the guy like Melvin Gordon.
Speaker 1: This is an entirely different running back, but I think
Speaker 1: there is personnel here you have to stop a guy
Speaker 1: like Christian McCaffrey. It's just gonna be a matter of
Speaker 1: how you utilize it and what you're willing to give up,
Speaker 1: you know, and maybe the passing game in other areas
Speaker 1: with the receivers to defend a guy like this. But
Speaker 1: first and foremost, Mike, this is what your attention has
Speaker 1: to be on. Yeah, well, we will see over the
Speaker 1: next couple of days what the players say about Christian
Speaker 1: McCaffrey in the locker room after practice these next few days,
Speaker 1: because they're gonna be asked a lot of questions abottom
Speaker 1: and we'll just see where it goes from here. But
Speaker 1: for now we will sign off on this edition of
Speaker 1: Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage
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