WEBVTT - #727 Packers Unscripted: Bring on the Bears 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:10.959 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:10.960 --> 0:00:14.080 Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always 0:00:14.120 --> 0:00:16.599 by my trusted colleague West and Hodkowitz. We're coming to 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:19.760 you hear from our studios at lambeau Field and West. 0:00:20.079 --> 0:00:23.720 Week one has finally arrived. Are you ready for this? 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:25.720 I am. I know you can make a lot of 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:28.040 jokes here about how long the offseason was, and you know, 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:31.639 training camp and everything, But to me, this is almost 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:34.080 more like the Christmas Morning kind of thing that it's like, 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:37.120 we know how good this team can be. We've seen 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:39.720 the potential and all these things. But when you have 0:00:39.800 --> 0:00:42.120 one of the youngest rosters in the National Football League, 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:44.960 as much as you and I can pontificate about the 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:49.199 various different possibilities of this team, you want to see 0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:50.959 it on in the football field. And what better way 0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:52.640 from the Green Bay Packers and the Jordan love Ara 0:00:52.760 --> 0:00:55.040 to kick things off than going down to Soldier Field 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:57.360 to play their longest rival. Yeah. 0:00:57.400 --> 0:01:00.200 Absolutely, And I've done a little bit of research and 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:03.200 I'm gonna be writing about this later on in the week. 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:08.120 This is actually the twenty fifth time that the Packers 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:11.320 and Bears will open a season against one another. I 0:01:11.319 --> 0:01:14.440 believe the current count is the Packers have the lead 0:01:14.600 --> 0:01:19.160 thirteen wins, ten losses, one tie. Some of those have 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:23.240 been significant. You know, the Packers and Bears played the 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:25.679 first game at lambeau Field, The Packers and Bears were 0:01:25.720 --> 0:01:27.839 the first game of the Vince Lombardi era, the first 0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:30.479 game of the Mike McCarthy era, a lot of those, 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:34.920 and the first game of the Matt Lafleur era, and 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:38.840 now the first game of the Jordan Love era with 0:01:38.959 --> 0:01:44.760 him taking over for Aaron Rodgers. And now it'll be 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:48.760 interesting because you know, there's going to be all of 0:01:48.800 --> 0:01:51.240 the excitement, all the build up, all of the nerves 0:01:51.280 --> 0:01:54.080 and all that. But I think what one thing that 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:57.480 I think will really work to Jordan Love's advantage in 0:01:57.520 --> 0:02:01.240 this situation on Sunday at Soldier Field is that he 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:04.600 has actually started an NFL game before, and he did 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:07.160 it on the road at Arrowhead Stadium in a tough 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:10.600 place to play. So as much as there is so 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:13.920 much anticipation for this game and signaling the transition to 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:16.960 the new era at starting quarterback, at least from Jordan 0:02:17.040 --> 0:02:19.920 Love's perspective, everything about going through the pregame and the 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:22.040 preparation and knowing that you're going to go out there 0:02:22.080 --> 0:02:24.680 and play four quarters against an opponent with the crowd 0:02:24.720 --> 0:02:27.200 against you and all that kind of stuff. He's been 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:29.920 through it before, and I think that that is at 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:32.840 least a little bit of something that he can hang 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:36.200 his hat on as he makes this momentous start. 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:37.919 Yeah, I think it's a lot a bit of something, 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:39.919 to be honest with you, because when you're a young 0:02:40.000 --> 0:02:43.640 quarterback that has been the understudy for Aaron Rodgers for 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:48.160 three years, the opportunities to play were few and far between, 0:02:48.600 --> 0:02:51.160 especially early on in twenty twenty when there was not 0:02:51.240 --> 0:02:54.600 a preseason. But I thought that when you look at 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:58.200 every step of Jordan Love's journey from the first preseason 0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:01.639 to that game against Kansas City Spots start in twenty one, 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:05.000 playing a little bit against Detroit later that same season 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:07.440 in the second half when the Packers already had their 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:11.520 seed wrapped up, and then lastly last year against Philadelphia, 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:14.639 every single time I thought you saw progress from him, 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:16.360 not just in the stat books, but in how he 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:18.720 carried himself as a quarterback, in the way in which 0:03:18.720 --> 0:03:20.680 he played the position. This is going to be a 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:23.600 hostile environment because the Chicago Bears and their fans, they're 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:25.760 going to be energized. As much as you and I 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:28.160 think have talked about, you know, expectations on the Detroit 0:03:28.200 --> 0:03:30.760 Lions this year as they've continued to make this progress 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:34.200 underneath Dan Campbell. The Bears feel likewise. They feel like 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:36.440 with Justin Fields, they have their quarterback of the future. 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:39.800 They feel like they've drafted well, They've made the right signings. 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:41.280 Are they going to be a team that's going to 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:44.160 contend for a Super Bowl this year? I wouldn't think so, 0:03:44.720 --> 0:03:46.920 But they believe they should go into this game and 0:03:46.960 --> 0:03:49.160 be able to change the tide here in this rivalry 0:03:49.160 --> 0:03:53.160 against the Packers, and from the Packers' perspective, from Love's perspective, 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:56.280 what better way to put your stamp on things than 0:03:56.360 --> 0:03:58.480 going back down into Soldier Field and continue in this 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:01.120 winning streak that Matt Lafleur has been I'm sure he's 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:02.720 not going to want to talk about it this week, 0:04:03.120 --> 0:04:06.040 but eight tries against the Chicago Bears and eight victories 0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:09.160 so far, Green Bay has really controlled the tempo of 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:12.080 this thing, and obviously, now that's something that Jordan Love 0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:13.240 wants to continue to build upon. 0:04:13.520 --> 0:04:15.800 Yeah. Absolutely. And let's talk about this Bears team a 0:04:15.880 --> 0:04:20.120 little bit because it is the second year of the 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:23.400 Matt Eberflus era as the head coach. Luke Getzi, the 0:04:23.400 --> 0:04:27.200 former Packers assistant coach, as the offensive coordinator down there 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:29.960 in Chicago, working with Justin Fields. He is in his 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:32.760 third year as the starting quarterback, which is the second 0:04:32.839 --> 0:04:37.800 year with this regime on the coaching staff. So there 0:04:37.839 --> 0:04:40.920 are a lot of hopes and aspirations for Justin Fields 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:43.560 to make some major strides this year. Now, this is 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:45.640 a young man, he bleeve. He rushed for over a 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:48.520 thousand yards last year, which doesn't happen very often at 0:04:48.520 --> 0:04:53.479 the quarterback position. I think the word out of Chicago 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:56.600 is that they would like Justin Fields to not have 0:04:56.680 --> 0:04:59.720 to run as much, to not maybe run as much 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:01.560 as the did last year, to try to hang in 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:04.800 the pocket and make more plays with his arm, because 0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:07.840 he certainly does have the arm to do that. And 0:05:07.880 --> 0:05:11.080 one thing the Bears did to help him significantly in 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:13.359 that regards they went out and got DJ Moore, the 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:17.960 wide receiver from Carolina, who may not be a household 0:05:18.080 --> 0:05:20.560 name in terms of wide receivers, but you look at 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:23.360 what he accomplished in five seasons at Carolina over five 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:25.960 thousand receiving yards. Three of those years he was over 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:32.360 eleven hundred receiving yards. This is the most accomplished offensive 0:05:32.360 --> 0:05:35.680 perimeter weapon that the Bears have to go with Justin 0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:38.400 Fields now, and he's going to be a player to 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:39.719 keep an eye on come Sunday. 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:41.640 Well, and you can't really draw too much out of 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:43.960 the preseason, right, but I thought some of the early 0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:46.479 signs that we saw, you know, the catch and run, 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:48.440 the things that he's going to be able to do 0:05:48.520 --> 0:05:49.920 with the ball in his hands, if you can get 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:52.320 him free in space. I'm sure that's what they're going 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:54.039 to be scheming up. I'm sure that's what Luke Getz 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:56.240 He's going to be looking to achieve. But even the 0:05:56.240 --> 0:05:58.760 way they've built the rest of this roster out now, right, 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:03.040 Mercedes lewis up in Chicago, Robert Tunyan is in Chicago now, 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:05.960 Cole Kmet just got a you know, extension, got rewarded, 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:07.680 and they feel like he's going to be a big 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:10.520 part of this thing too. I think the Bears have 0:06:10.600 --> 0:06:13.279 tried to figure out this offseason. Okay, what does Justin 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:16.240 Fields do well? Where can we help him and in 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:18.520 what areas can we take what he's already done well 0:06:18.520 --> 0:06:21.640 and improve upon that. Having a guy like Mercedes does that. 0:06:22.120 --> 0:06:24.039 Having you know, an offensive line that I think is 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:26.520 trying to make steps forward here and trying to galvanize 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:28.840 itself is going to do that. But at the end 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:31.200 of the day, the Bears needed receivers, and as good 0:06:31.200 --> 0:06:33.800 of a story as Darnell Mooney was last year, they 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:36.120 just didn't really have a lot of guys that fields 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:38.480 could go to. So he did have to improvise a lot. 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:41.760 You're right, Mike. Last year he ran for eleven hundred yards. 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:44.240 You know, he threw for seventeen touchdowns. But at the 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:46.520 end of the day, the Bears still worth three and fourteen. 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:49.719 It didn't translate to wins. They needed to deepen out 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:52.080 this roster on both sides of the ball, and I 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:54.240 think when you see someone like more come in that 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:56.960 has the amount of energy that he has, there's a 0:06:57.000 --> 0:06:59.400 feeling that this is one of those number one receivers 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:01.600 that we've been missing and a guy that could potentially, 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:03.440 you know, kind of pick up for what they've lacked 0:07:03.480 --> 0:07:04.760 since Alan Robinson left. 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:08.799 Yeah, and in the backfield. The Bears have now seemingly 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:11.440 have turned things over to Khalil Herbert as their number 0:07:11.480 --> 0:07:15.200 one running back that David Montgomery is gone. He's now 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:20.040 actually with division rival Detroit, and Herbert as a guy, 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:23.440 you know, showed a lot of flashes, broke some big plays. 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:27.840 I don't have his exact statistics from last year in 0:07:27.840 --> 0:07:31.720 front of me, but this is a he's a got 0:07:32.200 --> 0:07:34.200 packs of punch, I guess is maybe the best way 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:38.320 to describe his running style. It's nothing that's overly dynamic, 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:40.960 but he's not exactly easy to bring down a lot 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:41.400 of times. 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:43.080 No, I mean he's a little powerhouse. I mean five 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:45.440 nine two ten pounds whatever he goes at. Yeah, you 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:47.040 were talking about last year with his stats. He ended 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:49.559 up finishing with seven hundred and thirty one rushing yards 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:52.160 four touchdowns. But the biggest thing of all for him 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:55.160 was the five point seven yards per clip on the attempts. 0:07:55.560 --> 0:07:57.840 That's one thing that I thought last year the Bears 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:00.640 sort of saw is Okay, David Montgomery's our guy for 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:03.320 a few seasons, you know, But you go back to 0:08:03.360 --> 0:08:07.240 the way that this offense was built originally. It's that 0:08:07.320 --> 0:08:10.960 Matt Forte type back right, and obviously Herbert is not 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:13.040 forte in terms of size, but a guy that could 0:08:13.040 --> 0:08:15.600 be in every down type of presence for you. I 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:17.400 think that's probably where they wanted to get back to 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:19.800 a little bit this offseason. Montgomery ends up with the 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:22.440 Detroit Lions, and the Bear said, you know what, we 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:24.480 like what we have in house. We're going to continue 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:27.640 to develop this guy. Now, what's always going to be 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:31.320 interesting is I looked at the pairing of fields in 0:08:31.360 --> 0:08:34.680 Montgomery almost as like a running back tandem, right, Yeah, 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:36.840 you know, not so much thunder and lightning, but just 0:08:36.880 --> 0:08:38.719 different guys that can do different things with their ball 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:41.440 in their hands. Herbert gets them back to probably more 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:43.559 of just the between the tackles type runner, and I'm 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:45.680 very curious to see how he can make, you know, 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:48.000 fields life a little bit easier too in that regard. 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:50.040 But at the end of the day, it comes down 0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:51.640 to being healthy. And I think when you look at 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:54.000 the Montgomery era in Chicago, that was one area where 0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:56.000 they just they had to keep turning to different running 0:08:56.040 --> 0:08:58.720 backs because Montgomery got banged up. If Herbert can be 0:08:58.760 --> 0:09:00.480 the guy and stay on the field him like he 0:09:00.520 --> 0:09:03.160 has the past two seasons for the most part, you know, 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:04.800 this is gonna be someone that I think they feel 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:06.400 like they can hang their hat on in this season 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:07.120 and years to come. 0:09:07.280 --> 0:09:09.320 Yeah. Well, on the defensive side of the ball for 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:13.160 the Bears, it's definitely been a I guess you'd almost 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:15.959 say an ongoing transition over the last couple of years 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:18.960 because the days of that defensive front of you know, 0:09:19.040 --> 0:09:21.640 a Keem Hicks and Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn and 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:25.760 those guys they're all gone. Ye, And it's not a 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:28.320 bunch of household names up front on the defensive line. 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:30.520 But what catches your eye when you look at this 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:34.320 Bears lineup on the defensive side is the three off 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:37.679 the ball linebackers in this four to three because they 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:41.880 have They got TJ. Edwards from the Philadelphia Eagles, they 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:46.080 got Tremaine Edmonds from the Buffalo Bills, and then Jack 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:51.240 Sanborn who they developed he was a rookie last season. 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:54.560 And of course I don't want my you know, Wisconsin 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:58.440 bias to shine through too much here, but TJ. Edwards 0:09:58.480 --> 0:10:01.640 and Jack Sanborn, former Wisconsin and Badgers who are are 0:10:01.720 --> 0:10:04.400 making their way here in the NFL. And then you 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:08.880 plug in a former, you know, very high draft pick 0:10:08.920 --> 0:10:13.520 in Tremaine Edmonds coming out coming out of Buffalo. That's 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:17.679 the that sort of seems to be what the core 0:10:17.760 --> 0:10:19.840 of the Bears defense is going to be. Now, not 0:10:19.920 --> 0:10:22.640 to say that they're completely hearkening back to you know, 0:10:22.720 --> 0:10:26.120 the Brian Erleck or Lance Briggs days of those off 0:10:26.160 --> 0:10:29.400 the ball linebackers, but in some senses that's that's going 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:32.959 to be the you know, where the targets are when 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:35.080 you try to go after the Chicago Bears defense. 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:36.880 Yeah, and I felt like, you know, in last year, 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:39.160 they did everything right. You know, they made trades, they 0:10:39.240 --> 0:10:41.520 kind of cleared house a little bit, and you know, 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:44.440 Sanborn sort of fell into that void, sort of came 0:10:44.480 --> 0:10:46.120 out of nowhere. Although I think there was a lot 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:47.800 of people when they signed him as a UFA and 0:10:47.840 --> 0:10:50.439 saw him early on, thought that this guy could actually 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:52.640 be a player for us. But Edmunds is a guy 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:54.600 I really like because I feel like you always have 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:58.240 to have an athletic, rangey type of linebacker that can 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:00.240 do all the grunt work but also can drop back 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:03.000 in the coverage. I thought TJ. Edwards is a great 0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:05.320 compliment to that as well. In a lot of ways 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:07.120 you hope for the Bears. You know, I'm sure the 0:11:07.120 --> 0:11:09.040 Bears are hoping it's more successful than what they did 0:11:09.080 --> 0:11:11.120 about what was that five six years ago when they 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:16.719 completely overhauled their linebacker situation when they signed Danny Travathian. 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:19.400 When they signed I think it was Darrell Freeman and 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:22.280 that inside backer do just didn't quite get them to 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:25.560 where they needed to be. You know, this to these 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:28.040 two guys a little bit more athletic, I think, a 0:11:28.080 --> 0:11:30.320 little bit younger in kind of looking to see what 0:11:30.320 --> 0:11:32.400 they have in front of them. But they need that 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:35.360 to be the nucleus because I don't know right now 0:11:35.640 --> 0:11:38.560 what that defensive front gives them in terms of pressing 0:11:38.600 --> 0:11:41.959 the quarterback. That is probably the biggest area they've transitioned here. 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:43.760 A lot of those household names that they had for 0:11:43.800 --> 0:11:45.800 so many years upfront that you could count on for, 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:48.760 you know, ten fifteen sacks, they're not there now. You know, 0:11:48.800 --> 0:11:51.720 there's no Khalil Mack, the Akeem Hickses of the world 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:54.000 in his prime, like those type of players set the 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:56.679 tone for that entire unit. That's gonna be one of 0:11:56.720 --> 0:11:59.360 the big transitions. But they still do have veterans too though. 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:01.720 I mean you look at the back end, Eddie Jackson 0:12:01.760 --> 0:12:04.600 is still doing his thing back there. They have depth, 0:12:04.880 --> 0:12:06.599 but it's now just gonna be a question of what 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:09.719 does that pass rush offer in behind it? How do 0:12:09.800 --> 0:12:11.679 they handle opposing offenses? Yeah? 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:15.319 Absolutely, I think when you look at Matt eber Matt 0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:20.240 Eberflus's background, coming from coaching the defense in Indianapolis and 0:12:20.240 --> 0:12:23.800 now transitioning to the head coach, the defenses with the 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:27.959 Indianapolis Colts were nothing flashy. They didn't put up a 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:30.640 whole bunch of great numbers or you know anything, you know, 0:12:30.679 --> 0:12:33.240 a whole bunch of big time highlights or anything. But 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:36.360 they were defenses that we that were just sound that 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:40.200 were difficult to solve that times because they didn't have 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:43.839 any you know, big weak spots that that stood out 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:45.920 to you. That's what Matt Eberflus is trying to build. 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:48.200 That's why he's trying to build the middle of that 0:12:48.240 --> 0:12:52.840 defense with those linebackers as as the core of things. 0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:56.480 And and we'll see how how it works out for 0:12:56.520 --> 0:13:01.440 them going into going into year two. Give me your 0:13:01.880 --> 0:13:04.800 sense of what you feel the atmosphere will be like 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:08.880 at Soldier Field, because there is so much anticipation for 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:13.440 this Bears team, but yet it only had three victories 0:13:13.520 --> 0:13:16.440 last year. You know, it's hard when we're not in 0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:18.520 Chicago every day to get a sense of, Okay, just 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:21.559 how patient are Bears fans going to be with this 0:13:21.600 --> 0:13:25.920 new regime and everything else, and certainly starting off against 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:28.600 the Packers, it's a big time opportunity for the Bears 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:32.679 to make a statement in week one, as you said earlier, 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:35.200 coming off of you know, kind of three decades of 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:39.600 dominance by Brett Farv and Aaron Rodgers as Packers quarterbacks. 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:42.040 And even different from that, like three decades with a 0:13:42.040 --> 0:13:44.720 few exceptions of the pressure always being on Green Bay. 0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:49.000 Heading into that atmosphere, I think the pressure in the 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:52.240 pendulum kind of swings back to the Bears now. I 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:53.760 think they're favored in this game at the time in 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:57.200 which they're taping this, And to me, it's funny, I 0:13:57.240 --> 0:13:59.520 feel like I'm almost echoing myself when you and I 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:03.480 talked to this game last year in that it's all 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:06.719 justin fields. Yeah, everything that the Bears have, all their 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:11.600 hopes are hanging on that young quarterback. Think about it, 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:14.520 This was a great year to be going into the 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:16.880 quarterback business. A lot of guys went off the board, 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:18.559 a lot of teams moving up to get guys, a 0:14:18.559 --> 0:14:21.680 lot of equity being traded around trying to find the 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:24.840 next franchise guy. The Bears fell into that number one 0:14:24.880 --> 0:14:26.760 spot and they said, you know what, We're good. We 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:29.800 got our guy. We're excited about this dude. And here 0:14:29.840 --> 0:14:31.960 they are now kind of going into another season, marching 0:14:31.960 --> 0:14:35.240 into another season. The part that always strikes me as 0:14:35.280 --> 0:14:38.360 interesting is it follows the same script. I don't know 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:40.000 if it's media driven, I don't know if it's just 0:14:40.040 --> 0:14:42.640 a response from coaches, but this script is always the same. 0:14:42.960 --> 0:14:45.680 When a young quarterback that is a scrambler, that's a runner, 0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:49.000 produces on the ground with his feet, the narrative always 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:52.000 changes in year two and three, sometimes four, to hey 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:54.000 can they throw more? Can they become more of a 0:14:54.000 --> 0:14:57.160 pocket passer. That's where the Chicago Bears are going to 0:14:57.200 --> 0:14:58.920 know better than you and I as far as what 0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:01.000 they feel like fields can be in the long run, 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:03.320 because you do need to keep them healthy, you do 0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:06.920 need to keep him out there. But he also utilizes 0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:09.160 his feet in a way a lot of quarterbacks haven't 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:11.360 been able to. I don't take it as just a 0:15:11.360 --> 0:15:13.600 flight or flight mechanism with him. I look at it 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:16.760 as he is a legitimate running threat, running back threat, 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:18.440 and I don't think I think there's been a dearth 0:15:18.440 --> 0:15:20.600 of those in the league. There's been guys who can 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:23.960 run like Patrick Mahomes that are natural passers, and there's 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:26.040 been guys that they just run for the sake of 0:15:26.120 --> 0:15:30.000 running because they're getting out of their progressions. Fields went 0:15:30.040 --> 0:15:32.040 through his progressions, but a lot of times it kind 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:34.360 of went to him having to scramble to make plays 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:37.040 with his feet last year with more weapons this season. 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:40.000 When you ask me the expectations, what the atmosphere is 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:41.160 going to be like, I think this one's going to 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:43.640 be really electric for the Bear standpoint, but I think 0:15:43.640 --> 0:15:45.640 it's also predicated on them being able to keep some 0:15:45.720 --> 0:15:47.800 wins going the first month of the season to keep 0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:49.840 that energy flowing in that direction. Yeah. 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:52.120 Absolutely, Well, I'll take care of a little bit of 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:56.000 sponsor business here. West Sirius XMNFL Radio delivers hard hitting 0:15:56.040 --> 0:15:58.840 analysis and up to the minute NFL news that true 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:02.320 football fanatics need twenty four to seven, three sixty five 0:16:02.360 --> 0:16:04.560 and at Cousin Subs, we have something for everyone, like 0:16:04.600 --> 0:16:07.560 our Wisconsin cheese curds, mac and cheese, golden fries, and 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:10.280 creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite sub or sub 0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:15.360 in a bowl. Cousin Subs fifty years of better. All right. So, 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:18.760 as much as the spotlight in this game is on 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:22.040 Jordan Love making his first start as the air parent 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:25.160 to Aaron Rodgers, there are a lot of guys. We 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:28.000 talked about our last couple of shows about how young 0:16:28.080 --> 0:16:31.200 this Packers roster is. A lot of a lot of 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:34.640 green Bay Packers will be making their NFL debuts. There 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:36.520 are a whole bunch of rookies on this roster. Now 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:40.920 we don't know who all necessarily is going to play, 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:45.040 but you talk about a way to sort of shake 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:47.960 off those first NFL jitters, Throw yourself into a Packers 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:51.160 Bears game in week one of your rookie season and 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:51.680 here we go. 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:54.320 It reminds me the old Don Hodkoitz go learn how 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:57.480 to ride a bike, which was, okay, we can do 0:16:57.520 --> 0:16:59.240 the training wheel thing, or I can just get you 0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:01.640 in the front yard and start taking some tumbles and 0:17:01.640 --> 0:17:02.280 figure it out. 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:02.560 Right. 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:05.000 That's probably what this is gonna be like for Green Bay. 0:17:05.080 --> 0:17:07.200 They're gonna take some bumps early on, Jordan Love is 0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:09.760 gonna take some bumps early on. But what I've been saying, 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:11.240 and you've had to edit it when I've written it 0:17:11.240 --> 0:17:15.159 an insider inbox congratulations to you, is the Packers have 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:17.760 veteran depth where accounts right. If you're gonna pick Okay, 0:17:17.800 --> 0:17:19.800 you're gonna have rookies here, You're gonna have veterans here, Mike, 0:17:19.840 --> 0:17:21.440 where do you want to make sure you have veteran help. 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:22.720 You want to have it on the blind side of 0:17:22.720 --> 0:17:25.600 your quarterback. The Packers have that in David Baktiari and 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:28.359 Elton Jenkins. They have guys in the backfield that know 0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:30.919 what they're doing and blood, you know, blitz protection and 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:33.359 being able to be a checkdown option in Aaron Jones 0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:36.440 and aj Dillon. Where they're young is the position where 0:17:36.680 --> 0:17:39.199 sometimes you want to be young, right. You want to 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:41.800 have young receivers like Jayden Reid come into your offense, 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:44.439 a guy like Malik Heath who's probably gonna see some 0:17:44.440 --> 0:17:46.000 snaps right out of the gate even though he was 0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:49.200 an undrafted rookie, and someone like Luke Musgrave who will 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:51.320 be ling learning on the job this year as a 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:54.520 tight end one. But I'll tell you what, Mike for 0:17:54.600 --> 0:17:57.240 being a rookie, really impressed me in camp in terms 0:17:57.280 --> 0:17:58.560 of what he was able to do out of the 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:01.480 gate at a very complicated position. This is going to 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:04.080 be a supreme challenge for this football team. They're going 0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:05.680 to have to hang their hat at times on their 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:07.480 defense and they're going to need the defense to play 0:18:07.480 --> 0:18:10.479 to that standard. But that being said, as you myself, 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:14.680 Larry mccaern, we've all talked about the Packers team, assuming 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:17.080 they can stay healthy, that takes the field, that soldier 0:18:17.080 --> 0:18:19.600 field in week one is not going to look anything 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:22.280 like the last one. In Week eighteen when the Bears 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:24.600 come to Green Bay to play the Packers, right, it 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:26.680 is going to be developed, It is going to be matured, 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:28.760 and you just hope through the course of that season, 0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:31.560 those eighteen weeks, those seventeen games, you can pick up 0:18:31.680 --> 0:18:33.800 enough wins along the way that keeps you hunting the 0:18:33.880 --> 0:18:35.200 hunt for playoffs. Yeah. 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:37.919 Absolutely, And the Packers are young as well. Obviously at 0:18:37.920 --> 0:18:40.679 the specialist position. You have the rookie kicker and Anders 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:43.560 Carlson six round pick out of Auburn. He'll make his 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:47.320 NFL debut and then Daniel Wheelan at Punter. He's taking 0:18:47.359 --> 0:18:51.240 over there for the veteran pat O'Donnell. And I use 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:54.480 that as a transition because I have to clarify something, 0:18:54.560 --> 0:18:56.439