WEBVTT - #734 Packers Unscripted: Detroit disappointment 0:00:06.960 --> 0:00:07.720 Hi, everybody. 0:00:07.800 --> 0:00:11.520 Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. 0:00:11.560 --> 0:00:14.680 I am Mike Spoffor, joined as always by my trusted 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:17.640 colleague West and Hodkoitz. We're coming to you here from 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:20.840 our studios at lambeau Field, Wes. A few days removed 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:24.400 from Thursday Night Football at lambeau Field, and it was 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:27.639 not an enjoyable evening for the Packers. The final score 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:30.760 thirty four to twenty. The Detroit Lions come in and 0:00:30.840 --> 0:00:35.159 take over first place in the NFC North, and quite frankly, 0:00:35.200 --> 0:00:37.120 there was not a lot that went right for the 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:40.199 Packers in this game. It got off to a rough start, 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:43.600 and other than a brief interlude in the third quarter 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:48.360 with a potential comeback being mounted, this was a game 0:00:48.400 --> 0:00:51.600 that the Packers just got beat by a better team. 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:54.960 Yeah, and it happened quick and fast. One of the 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:57.360 things you and I talked about a lot, a lot 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:01.440 last week at Nauseum is the fact that Packers need 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:04.040 to set the tone early. Now they kind of did that. 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:05.959 You know, you come out and they get the TfL 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:08.959 on the first play, the stop on the first play, 0:01:09.200 --> 0:01:11.640 you get him into third and passing and Rudy Ford 0:01:11.680 --> 0:01:16.119 picks off Jared Goff, Right, everything's looking really solid. Unfortunately 0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:18.480 Green Bay's offense not able to do anything with the opportunity. 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:20.400 You still bang in the field goal, but you don't 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:21.960 get as many points out of that as you would 0:01:21.959 --> 0:01:25.040 have liked off a turnover in their territory, and then 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:28.240 after that, the Lions offense just got rolling in time 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:30.559 and time again, Mike, I talked about it. I don't 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:32.880 care what Jared Goff stats look like. I don't care 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:35.080 what the passer rating reads. If you allow him to 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:37.320 get comfortable in a game and allow them to run 0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:39.680 their offense the run to set up the play action, 0:01:40.240 --> 0:01:42.240 it is going to be a long afternoon for you. 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:45.119 Green Bay, as you mentioned, kind of rallied again coming 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:48.240 out of the halftime break, but going down twenty four 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:51.080 on answer to end the first half, it's not a 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:52.160 recipe for success. 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:52.600 Yeah. 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:53.240 Absolutely. 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:58.080 The Packers' offense just really struggled for the duration of 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:00.160 the first half. Quite frankly, in this game, they want 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:03.560 five consecutive possessions without getting a first down. One of 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:06.040 those was a I believe it was first play of 0:02:06.080 --> 0:02:08.920 the drive interception that set up the Lions for a 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:13.600 short field and a touchdown, and a Packers defense that 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:16.520 was struggling just kept getting sent back out on the 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:19.680 field right away with no break, with no chance to regroup, 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:25.200 with no real opportunity to figure out how to turn 0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:28.760 the tide in this game. And neither side for the 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:31.519 Packers was able to turn the tide. And you know, 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:33.880 as Matt Lafleur likes to say, you have to give 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:37.840 the opponent credit. The Lions. The Lions were better up 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:40.680 front on both sides of the ball, the Lions defensive 0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:45.640 line and the Lions offensive line. That's where Detroit took 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:47.960 command of this game and then for the most part 0:02:48.080 --> 0:02:51.480 kept command of it. I think what was kind of 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:53.560 funny when you think about it, and funny is not 0:02:53.600 --> 0:02:56.280 the right word, but the fact that when the Packers 0:02:56.280 --> 0:02:59.720 did rally in the third quarter, they got early in 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:01.800 the four fourth quarter, they get a second touchdown, It's 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:04.639 twenty seven to seventeen, there's about fourteen minutes left in 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:07.560 the game, you're down by ten points. The Packers were 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:11.120 actually in a better position than they were against the 0:03:11.120 --> 0:03:14.200 Saints the previous week, when they were down seventeen with 0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:18.480 well under fourteen minutes to go. But the difference in 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:23.800 this one was two major differences. One, the Lions, as 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:26.680 I said, were just so stout upfront on both Lions 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:30.079 that they kept command of the game. And the Lions, 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:33.200 unlike the Saints, did not lose their starting quarterback to injury. 0:03:33.320 --> 0:03:37.480 And when the Lions needed to have a drive to 0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:41.360 put the game away, they came up with it. And now, yes, 0:03:41.680 --> 0:03:43.120 it was going to be a field goal and it 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:45.400 turned into a touchdown because of the penalty on kay 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:48.520 Walker and all that, but the Lions still they took 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:50.400 a ton of time off the clock in the fourth quarter. 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:52.080 They were going to add points to the drive. That 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:55.040 was something that the Saints were unable to do. And 0:03:55.120 --> 0:03:58.480 the Packers kept the momentum all the way throughout the 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:03.080 Lions just the Lions proved in many many ways in 0:04:03.120 --> 0:04:05.520 this game that they are the team to beat in 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:06.440 the NFC North. 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:07.440 Moving forward for. 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:10.560 Now, the Detroit Lions, all five of their longest plays 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:14.080 in this game happened in the first fifteen minutes. That 0:04:14.240 --> 0:04:16.080 was the biggest thing that stood out to me on paper. 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:19.440 Jared Goff was incredibly effective in the first half and 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:21.400 they were able to generate points off that they didn't 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:24.240 just get field goals, they scored touchdowns. Then you go 0:04:24.279 --> 0:04:27.479 to the second half and they effectively ran the four 0:04:27.520 --> 0:04:31.080 minute offense for the better part of thirty minutes. Yeah, 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:35.120 and David Montgomery gave you the quintessential like Eddie George 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:38.480 type game where it's thirty two carries, one hundred and 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:41.839 twenty one yards, three point eight yards per carry. And 0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:44.560 while those numbers might not pop off the screen at 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:46.880 you in terms of what is average yards per carry were, 0:04:47.040 --> 0:04:51.039 they continually moved the chains. They kept themselves into second 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:53.599 and third in manageables and Green Bay just was not 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:55.479 able to stop it from there. And actually some of 0:04:55.839 --> 0:04:58.880 Montgomery's better runs than happened in that fourth quarter when 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:01.159 Green Bay's defense started to tire out a little bit. 0:05:02.080 --> 0:05:04.560 This is gonna be an issue here for green Bay 0:05:04.600 --> 0:05:08.080 in that they need to find ways to start faster, 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:11.440 because what happens is, as we talked about last week, 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:14.159 when you start that slowly, it's not that you just 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:16.080 fall behind and now you have to play catch up. 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:19.200 You're allowing the opponent to dictate the pace of the game. 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:22.520 Dan Campbell's teams, Mike, even when they were a three 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:25.280 win ball club, they did a good job of kind 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:30.120 of pulling the opposition into the mud and making them 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:33.040 play a hard nosed football game. They did it in 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:36.720 this one. I was so incredibly impressed by Aiden Hutchinson. 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:38.440 You know, there's a lot of issues Green Bay was 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:40.640 dealing with, you know, injuries were a big part of 0:05:40.640 --> 0:05:43.719 this game on the short week, But Aiden Hutchinson, for 0:05:43.760 --> 0:05:45.720 as much as we watched him, and him coming off 0:05:45.760 --> 0:05:49.000 of a Defensive Player of the Week award, the guy 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:55.240 is versatile but impactful at multiple positions. I don't know 0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:58.080 if I've ever seen a guy that goes what six ' 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:01.080 five two in the seventies to and you can put 0:06:01.160 --> 0:06:05.159 him at a three nose tech and he looks like 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:08.599 he's a you know, Aaron Donald inside. How he's able 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:10.760 to move guys a lot of edge rushers. You got 0:06:10.760 --> 0:06:12.760 to kind of pick your poison there. Zadarius did it 0:06:13.160 --> 0:06:15.120 to an extent, although a lot of it was kind 0:06:15.120 --> 0:06:17.480 of selling out for the to get after the quarterback. 0:06:18.080 --> 0:06:19.919 Hutchinson can do it all. And I just feel like 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:23.240 since he's been infused in this Detroit defense and as 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:27.600 he's emerged over the last year calendar year, that Detroit's 0:06:27.640 --> 0:06:28.960 defense has gone along with him. 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:33.440 Yeah, they're building They're building that defense around Hutchinson, and 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:36.279 it's not as though they don't have other good players. 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:41.039 But you know, the Aaron Donald comparison isn't totally out 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:43.280 of bounds here. I mean, no, they're not the same player, 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:47.000 and Aaron Donald does not I would even say Donald 0:06:47.000 --> 0:06:50.000 maybe doesn't move around quite as much as as Hutchinson does. 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:53.440 Right now with the Lions. Now, they did Hutchinson's two sixty, 0:06:53.480 --> 0:06:57.160 by the way, they didn't do that with Hutchinson as 0:06:57.279 --> 0:06:59.520 much as a rookie. But you can see as he's 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:03.880 as he's getting his NFL legs under him and you know, 0:07:03.960 --> 0:07:06.920 becoming the dominant player that he's expected to be as 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:08.960 one of the top picks in the draft of the 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:13.840 year he comes out. The Lions are using him. The 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:17.720 Lions are using him in ways that dictate to try 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:20.600 to dictate what the opposing offense is going to do. 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:25.880 You mentioned the Packers need needing to start faster, and 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:29.320 I totally agree with you. I mean, with where the 0:07:29.360 --> 0:07:33.040 Packers offense has been these last two games in terms 0:07:33.040 --> 0:07:36.160 of how the first half, the first three quarters went 0:07:36.240 --> 0:07:39.160 against the Saints, the first two quarters went against the Lions. 0:07:39.880 --> 0:07:43.440 It's not a recipe for success. It can't it can't continue. 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:47.080 But I'll say this too, even if you're not going 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:50.720 to be able to find a rhythm offensively, like really 0:07:50.720 --> 0:07:53.120 early in the game, you have to at least be 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:55.720 able to have an answer, to have something that's going 0:07:55.800 --> 0:07:58.560 to stem the tide sooner before you get into these 0:07:58.640 --> 0:08:02.760 massive deficits. Be down seventeen against the Saints that proved 0:08:02.760 --> 0:08:05.440 to be surmountable. The Packers were able to come back 0:08:05.480 --> 0:08:08.480 from that, but down by twenty four against the Lions 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:13.840 before your offense can can find itself. You're just you know, 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:16.080 it's going to take a miracle to be able to 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:19.160 be able to do that. And there are going to 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:21.520 be fits and starts and everything with the first year 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:24.360 starting quarterback and all the youth the Packers have on offense. 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:28.640 Everybody understands that, but boy, you've got to be able 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:30.840 to put something together. You have to have an answer. 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:31.640 You have to have a. 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:34.679 Response to the adversity sooner, even if it doesn't mean 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:36.560 you've got it figured out and okay, here we go 0:08:36.600 --> 0:08:38.680 into a rhythm, but you've got to have some kind 0:08:38.679 --> 0:08:41.360 of an answer to stem the tide. Before the snowball 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:42.920 starts rolling too far down the hill. 0:08:43.000 --> 0:08:45.360 Well, and it goes back to the complimentary football thing. 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:47.200 And I know some people in inbox kind of push 0:08:47.240 --> 0:08:49.920 back on that. Well, they said, that's team football. It's true. 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:53.960 Whatever you can throw any kind of you know, definition 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:57.680 descriptor on it that you want. It's about all three 0:08:57.720 --> 0:09:00.319 phases kind of picking themselves up and if if one 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:03.360 isn't quite hitting all the notes, somebody else, for at 0:09:03.400 --> 0:09:06.320 least the time, being able to set the tone. Green 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:08.720 Bay just struggled in this thing because what happened was 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:12.240 even when they were defending the run well early, you 0:09:12.280 --> 0:09:15.240 give up the forty yard er to Khalif Raymond, you 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:18.000 have some of these downfield opportunities come to fruition for 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:20.040 the Lions. And then when you do get in the 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:21.959 red area, when you do end up having these ends 0:09:21.960 --> 0:09:24.760 of the drive scenarios, they weren't able to get off 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:27.160 the field. You weren't able to contain those to three points. 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:30.360 So where a situations where you could have been nine 0:09:30.400 --> 0:09:37.040 to three, twelve to three, whatever, it suddenly becomes twenty 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:39.240 seven to three, and now you're kind of having to 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:40.480 figure out where you're going to be at in the 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:42.920 second half. I give Jordan Love a lot of credit 0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:47.760 the fact that Green Bay again showed the mental fortitude 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:50.160 and toughness to come out in the second half in 0:09:50.240 --> 0:09:53.840 battle and not just kind of curl up. They kept swinging. 0:09:54.400 --> 0:09:57.360 But as John Runyan was talking about in the locker 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:00.480 room with all of us afterwards, that's just you can't 0:10:00.520 --> 0:10:03.040 do that to yourself. You can't put yourself in those spots. 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:07.520 You can't expect to have a monumental comeback every single week. 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:11.199 They did against the Saints, but you're probably facing a 0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:13.480 better team in the Detroit Lions, and they're gonna make 0:10:13.480 --> 0:10:14.040 you pay for it. 0:10:14.120 --> 0:10:15.800 I think that's what stood out to me is just 0:10:15.840 --> 0:10:18.800 the Lions showed, even though they hit a lull in 0:10:18.840 --> 0:10:22.200 the third quarter, the Lions just showed they're a much 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:24.720 better team than the Saints. I mean, yes, it would 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:27.400 it would have been very interesting and very exciting if 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:30.480 Jordan Love had gotten the ball back again in the 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:32.680 fourth quarter and the Packers were only down by ten, 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:35.040 where then you have a chance to get it to 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:37.480 a one score game and maybe there's still enough time 0:10:37.520 --> 0:10:40.400 on the clock, because as we know, anything can happen. 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:43.880 But the Lions were just too good. They built, they 0:10:43.880 --> 0:10:47.000 built a big lead, the Packers never got within one score, 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:51.480 and the Lions put the game away when they needed to. 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:54.800 The big topic of discussion, of course, probably the biggest 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:57.920 topic of discussion right now with regard to the Packers 0:10:58.000 --> 0:11:00.720 is what are they going to do about the run defense. 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:03.200 The Lions rushed for two hundred and eleven yards, the 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:06.560 exact same total that the Atlanta Falcons had rushed for 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:12.240 two games prior. The Packers are really struggling. 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:12.440 In that area. 0:11:12.880 --> 0:11:17.240 Matt Lafleur had suggested after the game on Thursday night 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:20.720 and again on Friday, They're going to look at some 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:24.160 schematic changes. They're going to look at, you know, roles 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:28.680 and responsibilities for certain players and whatnot. I'm not sure 0:11:28.720 --> 0:11:34.400 exactly what that means. We'll have to see. I personally, 0:11:34.440 --> 0:11:36.480 and I wrote this an insider inbox, I don't think 0:11:36.520 --> 0:11:38.720 it's going to be some sort of a wholesale change. 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:42.520 I think it comes down to being more mindful of 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:45.560 trying to take away the run in certain situations where 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:48.040 you try to dictate to the offense. Okay, we're not 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:50.200 going to line up in a way that's going to 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:53.440 invite you to run the ball, So I think it 0:11:53.480 --> 0:11:55.680 could end up being more situational, but that's just a 0:11:55.720 --> 0:11:59.960 guess on my part. Whatever, whatever it is, the Packers 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:03.320 have to start defending the run better because all they've 0:12:03.360 --> 0:12:06.959 done through defensively through the first four games of this 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:11.120 season is with thirteen games to go, they're inviting teams 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:13.920 to continue to pound the run at them because they 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:16.440 haven't proven that they can stop it on a consistent base. 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:20.040 Yeah, and where Atlanta did a lot of the stretch stuff. 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:23.400 You know, now you saw David Montgomery hitting him a 0:12:23.440 --> 0:12:25.920 little bit up the middle. I mean, I was really 0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:28.319 super impressed by Montgomery, the fact that this guy was 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:30.800 coming off the thigh injury. He was actually questionable to 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:33.960 play in this game, and not only does he play, 0:12:34.000 --> 0:12:36.040 they just continually feed him. I don't know if that 0:12:36.200 --> 0:12:38.920 was the smartest approach to handle a guy that's had 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:40.400 some injury history. 0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:43.559 But they're thirty two carries coming off of a coming 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:44.720 off of a thigh injury. 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:46.680 He was a workhorse nine game, like. 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:49.080 You and I talked about. I mean, Gibbs is super talented, 0:12:49.200 --> 0:12:51.160 but you really don't know if you can trust him 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:53.000 as much with the pass pro stuff and that's going 0:12:53.040 --> 0:12:55.080 to be big with the play action game and whatnot. 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:57.480 So they felt like they needed to run Montgomery. You 0:12:57.559 --> 0:12:59.559 saw what happened when he wasn't out there for them 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:02.120 change the complexion of their offense. There was a reason 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:03.960 why they went out and got him and felt like 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:06.199 he'd be a better fit for this thing than when 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:10.480 they had Jamal Williams and DeAndre Swift. That being said, 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:15.680 for green Bay's standpoint, they have to find ways to 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:20.640 consistently get the guy down on first contact. You can't 0:13:20.679 --> 0:13:24.640 get them either running into the second level free. You 0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:26.679 have to be able to have guys coming to the ball. 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:30.280 Joe Berry is right. It's not just on one player 0:13:30.400 --> 0:13:33.319 or one position or one phase. It is about everybody 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:37.040 collectively coming together. But the thing that, as I wrote 0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:42.040 an insider inbox, that's the most disconcerting Montgomery, Gibbs, and 0:13:42.160 --> 0:13:45.640 Robinson they didn't have these performances against Green Bay because 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:48.360 they knocked off an eighty yard touchdown run. They didn't 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:51.280 even really have a run past twenty yards. It was 0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:55.320 just consistent needling that sort of worked green Bay down. 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:57.280 You have to find a way early on in these 0:13:57.280 --> 0:14:00.720 football games to have that answer. 0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:03.160 And I think that's the biggest challenge for the Packers 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:06.440 defense moving forward, is trying to trying to come up 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:11.280 with a way to change the opponent's mentality because you 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:13.600 look at this game now, as Joe Berry said, you're 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:16.800 not gonna necessarily be defending forty plus runs on a 0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:19.320 weekly basis. The Lions ended up running the ball forty 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:24.440 two times. But watch when you watch the film is 0:14:24.880 --> 0:14:30.400 it is maddeningly frustrating to see how many times the 0:14:30.400 --> 0:14:35.040 Packers do play the run well, but they can't do 0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:37.880 it on a consistent enough basis. I mean, I've put 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:40.400 this statistic in a couple of stories that I've written. 0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:43.400 You look at those forty two runs for the Detroit Lions. 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:47.240 Take out the three short touchdown runs which were all 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:49.920 three yards or less. Take out the kneel down at 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:54.720 the end of the game. There were fifteen standard running 0:14:54.760 --> 0:14:58.360 plays in that game where the Packers held the Lions 0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:01.520 to two yards or less, teen times two yards or less, 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:04.800 and another six that were three yard runs. So that's 0:15:05.040 --> 0:15:08.200 twenty one of the runs are three yards or less. 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:11.200 But what is happening on so many of the other 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:15.320 ones is six yards, eight yards twelve or thirteen yards, 0:15:15.520 --> 0:15:18.360 you start getting into the explosive run category even though 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:22.000 it's not fifty or sixty yards down the field, and 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:26.920 it's because the Packers are giving those up so often. 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:30.040 To me, it goes back to you're just inviting the 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:32.880 opponent to continue to run the ball against you and 0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:35.960 to try to pound you into submission to the extent 0:15:36.040 --> 0:15:38.880 that the defense gets worn out and then when you're 0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:41.240 looking for though you're looking for that stop in the 0:15:41.280 --> 0:15:45.520 fourth quarter, it's really hard to come by because they've 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:47.880 pounded away at you and warn you down with the 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:50.360 running game, because it's a lot harder to defend the run. 0:15:50.400 --> 0:15:53.160 It's a lot more physically exhausting to defend the run 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:55.080 than it is to defend the pass. 0:15:55.200 --> 0:15:56.960 Well, and the other thing too, Mike, you have to 0:15:57.040 --> 0:15:59.440 keep this in mind when you're factoring all this stuff together. 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:05.400 David Montgomery Gibbs, these type of players, they are born 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:07.880 into them that they want to be able to find 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:10.680 a way to work the ball down field. It is 0:16:10.760 --> 0:16:13.920 the if a guy gets two yards three yards. You 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:16.240 can hear it from Aaron Jones and aj Dillon too. 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:18.600 They want to come back the next play and finally 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:21.520 break that one right, because it really that's all it takes. 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:24.520 It just takes that one sort of backbreaking moment to 0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:26.960 turn it ahead a day completely on its head. We've 0:16:26.960 --> 0:16:30.000 seen those performances with Aaron Jones over the years where hey, 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:32.040 maybe a team's doing a decent job against him, then 0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:35.480 he breaks a sixty yard touchdown and everything changes. That 0:16:35.680 --> 0:16:37.840 is where I think green Bay needs to figure this 0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:40.440 thing out. The analogy I keep using, and you're the 0:16:40.440 --> 0:16:43.240 big baseball guy. I'm not, but it reminds me of 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:45.760 fielding percentage. You can go out there and catch all 0:16:45.800 --> 0:16:48.440 the routine pop flies over and over again. Mike, I'm 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:50.240 telling you right now, you're not winning the goal glove 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:52.480 for one hundred and sixty two games for an entire season. 0:16:52.520 --> 0:16:54.720 If you go out there and misplay a ball and 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:57.400 it hits your gloves and falls down, it changes everything. 0:16:57.680 --> 0:16:59.320 Not that you have to be one hundred percent all 0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:02.120 the time, but it shows you how little the margin 0:17:02.160 --> 0:17:05.240 for ERA is and for green Bay's standpoint, As you said, 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:07.199 that is the maddening thing because if you would not 0:17:07.280 --> 0:17:10.280 have just shown me the numbers, By and large, I 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:12.359 think green Bay did do a good job of defending 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:15.080 a run in this game. But it's about what those 0:17:15.119 --> 0:17:17.399 teams are able to do when they string plays together, 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:20.639 back and forth, back and forth. Aaron Jones, AJ Dillon. 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:23.360 The Packers offense only twelve carries for twenty seven yards 0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:25.280 in this game. Why did that happen? A lot of 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:26.920 people say, well, you have to run the ball more. 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:29.040 But the thing is, if you don't get those yards 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:31.000 right away and you go three and out, you don't 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:33.560 get the plays to produce the yards. Yeah, and that's 0:17:33.560 --> 0:17:34.720 where the Lions won this game. 0:17:34.840 --> 0:17:37.120 Yeah, and again you look at you know, we talked 0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:41.119 about it in you know, after the Atlanta game, the 0:17:41.200 --> 0:17:43.840 number of plays. You know, there's a difference of there 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:45.800 was a difference to twenty in this game. The Lions 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:49.560 ran seventy three, the Packers ran fifty three. That's not 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:52.840 a recipe to develop any kind of balance or rhythm 0:17:52.840 --> 0:17:55.800 on offense. And it's not a recipe to be able 0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:59.760 to win games because you're putting you're putting too much 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:03.040 on one side of the ball to try to keep 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:05.280 you in the game. As opposed to getting back to 0:18:05.320 --> 0:18:08.080 your point about complimentary football, team football, it has to 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:11.480 be it has to be a team effort on both 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:16.320 sides to get yourself to the fourth quarter with a 0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:17.000 chance to win. 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:17.800 It worked out. 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:20.200 It didn't work out against the Falcons, it did work 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:22.880 out against the Saints, and they never really gave themselves 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:25.040 that chance against the Detroit Lions. 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:26.600 The one thing I will say, so we're not just 0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:30.639 sitting here talking about all the sad, depressing stuff, is 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:33.840 the fact that what I did enjoy about this game 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:37.679 in the second half especially, was you started to see 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:41.159 what is going to be the safety valves, the plays 0:18:41.160 --> 0:18:43.400 that you can always have in your back pocket. And 0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:46.880 Jordan Love and Romeo Dobbs. I mean, you're seeing all 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:49.800 that reps, that timing, all that stuff that's built up. 0:18:50.480 --> 0:18:53.119 It's taken them places. Now, it wasn't flawless. We know 0:18:53.160 --> 0:18:56.320 what happened with the interception late, but the fourth and 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:59.320 nine play fifteen yards. How many times did Romeo Dobbs 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:02.200 complete a first down with a quick out in these things, 0:19:02.240 --> 0:19:05.520 the plays that Aaron Rodgers would turn to for DeVante Adams. Yeah, 0:19:05.560 --> 0:19:08.920 you're seeing the roots of that right now between Dobbs 0:19:09.160 --> 0:19:12.280 and also with Jordan Love in the fact they finally 0:19:12.320 --> 0:19:14.879 got Christian Watson back in this game. He was on 0:19:14.920 --> 0:19:17.960 the snapcount. He did get another touchdown. The guy's a 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:21.439 magnet for the end zone. It happened again. And my goodness, 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:23.800 I know Rob Damowski from ESPN dot com has written 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:26.520 these stories already, But if you can just get Dobbs 0:19:26.520 --> 0:19:29.639 and Watson on the field together, both of these guys 0:19:29.680 --> 0:19:34.320 have flashed individually together collectively, my goodness, what the possibilities 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:36.000 are for the passing game if they can both be 0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:36.639 with the Packers. 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:40.199 Yeah, this last game, you got Watson back on a snapcount. 0:19:40.240 --> 0:19:44.000 You got Aaron Jones back on a snapcount. Hopefully maybe 0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:48.120 those snapcounts will either rise or perhaps be lifted entirely. 0:19:48.560 --> 0:19:50.600 With a little bit of the extra break before the 0:19:50.600 --> 0:19:53.880 Monday night game coming up against the Raiders, Packer's still 0:19:53.880 --> 0:19:56.399 trying to figure out exactly how things are going to 0:19:56.400 --> 0:19:59.119 be pieced together. On the offensive line. David Baktiari is 0:19:59.119 --> 0:20:02.800 now on injured reserve, so he is out somewhat indefinitely 0:20:03.359 --> 0:20:05.760