Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined by the
Speaker 1: birthday boy, Western hod Kuits. Happy birthday, my friend. Thank you, buddy.
Speaker 1: These things creep up on you quickly. It's uh, it's
Speaker 1: a it's funny every single year. Faster and faster it's coming.
Speaker 1: And I can't sit here and believe that I'm already
Speaker 1: forty eight. But it happened quickly than I could have
Speaker 1: ever imagined. So here we are. Well, you're your household
Speaker 1: is full of birthdays this week, right, your son is
Speaker 1: coming up in just a few days. Well, and that's
Speaker 1: the other thing too. You know, we're any of your
Speaker 1: kids within your birthday range. Okay, I'll tell you this.
Speaker 1: When your son is born about three days within the
Speaker 1: range of your birthday, you've now had your last birthday,
Speaker 1: so which is perfectly fine. The emphasis is in the
Speaker 1: right place. But yeah, me and me and the kid,
Speaker 1: I'll share the same week. Yeah, well, a fun weekend,
Speaker 1: a fun week should say, in the hod Kowitz household.
Speaker 1: But with that, we have a Packers victory to talk about.
Speaker 1: And it was a forty five to thirty triumph over
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears, improving the Packers record on the season
Speaker 1: to ten and three. And I'll just start with this West.
Speaker 1: I don't know if I've ever seen a second quarter
Speaker 1: of football like that one that we saw Sunday night
Speaker 1: at Lambelfield. That was crazy. I watched three different games
Speaker 1: that night. The first quarter, it's this three to nothing
Speaker 1: kind of like you know, barnstormer a little bit, and
Speaker 1: then uh forty eight points or whatever it ended up being,
Speaker 1: I believe, in the second quarter, in the second quarter,
Speaker 1: and then you finish off the game with the Packers
Speaker 1: having this huge defensive stand you know they don't they
Speaker 1: allow seven total yards in the third quarter or whatever
Speaker 1: it was. And then by the time I got done,
Speaker 1: like I was just stunned. But here's the thing is
Speaker 1: that total points scored seventy two of them in the
Speaker 1: final three quarters. You have to find a way to win.
Speaker 1: And to the Green Bay, you know, Packer's credit, they
Speaker 1: were able to get the job done. Well, that's the thing.
Speaker 1: As wild as that second quarter was, which was big
Speaker 1: plays back and forth, there were five touchdowns in that quarter,
Speaker 1: scored on a play of longer than thirty five yards,
Speaker 1: which was actually an NFL record for one quarter of
Speaker 1: football based on statistics going all the way back to
Speaker 1: the nine twenties according to NFL research. But after that,
Speaker 1: after all that back and forth, and the Packers entered
Speaker 1: the second half down one, it was domination by Green Bay.
Speaker 1: Quite frankly, the Packers offense was rolling. The defense did
Speaker 1: not allow the Bears to get a first down until
Speaker 1: I believe, like four minutes left in the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: somewhere in that range. The Packers, once the game kind
Speaker 1: of settled down, and this is what I wrote about
Speaker 1: Sunday night, after We're all trying to calm down watching
Speaker 1: everything that happened. Once the game itself had actually settled down,
Speaker 1: the Packers were in complete command. Yeah, it was a
Speaker 1: very decisive win in that regard. I mean, I think
Speaker 1: it was pretty clear to anybody by the time the
Speaker 1: game was over, the green Bay Packers were a much
Speaker 1: better football team and much more complete football team, and
Speaker 1: ultimately made fewer mistakes. And I know that saying something
Speaker 1: considering some of the misques on special teams, but you know,
Speaker 1: when you look at the Chicago Bears, whether it be
Speaker 1: the interceptions from justin fields, the fact that they went
Speaker 1: into that that lull in the third quarter, they had
Speaker 1: some huge opportunities potentially on special teams that got taken
Speaker 1: away by penalties. A lot of times, Mike, this game
Speaker 1: comes down to execution and discipline. For the Green Bay Packers,
Speaker 1: both of those things swung in their favor. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: what we saw Sunday night was really the Packers in
Speaker 1: a lot of ways, overcoming a lot of different things,
Speaker 1: and starting with the offense. The offense overcame a really
Speaker 1: really sluggish start in the first quarter where there were
Speaker 1: a couple of sacks, there was a botched handoff exchange.
Speaker 1: But then in the second quarter, the Packers started to
Speaker 1: get their groove on offense. They were taking you know,
Speaker 1: underneath throws, moving the chains, you know, they weren't necessarily
Speaker 1: going for the for the big play. And once that
Speaker 1: offense got rolling, the Packers were in a really good
Speaker 1: rhythm offensively the rest of the ball game. You Know,
Speaker 1: what I thought was kind of the one of the
Speaker 1: bigger plays. I would not call it the biggest because
Speaker 1: it did the drive didn't produce points. But one of
Speaker 1: the moments that I thought actually was really important for
Speaker 1: the Packers early on was that thirty two yard completion
Speaker 1: to Alan Lazard. Yeah, when they were backed up it
Speaker 1: was a third and eighteen and the drive ended up
Speaker 1: stalling out, and obviously, you know, some stilling still went
Speaker 1: wrong for the Packers after that. But to me, it
Speaker 1: seemed like the moment after that the offense really started
Speaker 1: to find itself. Lazar became a big focal point. You know,
Speaker 1: they don't have Randall Cobbs, so they basically moved down
Speaker 1: Lazard into that slot role. Everybody moved around, but La
Speaker 1: Fleur said afterwards that was kind of the next guy
Speaker 1: up there, And I thought Lazard gave them, while incredibly
Speaker 1: different type of body type than Randall Cobb, gave them
Speaker 1: a similar presence in terms of somebody that Rogers can
Speaker 1: go to, somebody that he trusts and ultimately ends up
Speaker 1: scoring that touchdown that I think to really get these,
Speaker 1: you know, the offense kind of clicking once the ball
Speaker 1: started rolling in Green Bay's direction. After at that, you know,
Speaker 1: with the offense at that point, it wouldn't stop. I mean,
Speaker 1: the Packers really the four and twenty some yards whatever
Speaker 1: it was that they put together a bulk of that
Speaker 1: happened after Lizard's catches and in the offense catching fire. Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: On the on the defensive side of the ball, we
Speaker 1: saw the Packers give up two big plays for touchdowns
Speaker 1: in this one. There was the jet sweep touch passed
Speaker 1: to Jachim Grant and then the third down slant pass
Speaker 1: to Demir Bird, and those speedy guys just just took
Speaker 1: off and dashed the Packers for those long touchdowns. But
Speaker 1: I'll say this one, I thought the Packers defense responded
Speaker 1: to allowing those big plays in really really strong fashion.
Speaker 1: And by the same token, the Packers defense made two
Speaker 1: big plays with its own that helps to wipe out
Speaker 1: some of those big ones you allow. And of course
Speaker 1: I'm talking about Rasul Douglass getting a pick six, his
Speaker 1: second pick six in as many games. And then the
Speaker 1: opening Bears possession of the third quarter, Preston Smith getting
Speaker 1: the strip sack where Shawn Gary recovers, the Packers offense
Speaker 1: turns that into a touchdown on a on a single play,
Speaker 1: and that was the moment where suddenly, with the third
Speaker 1: quarter starting touchdown, turnover touchdown for the Packers, they went
Speaker 1: from down to up. My point is, you don't want
Speaker 1: to give up those big plays. Obviously, on defense. But
Speaker 1: if defensively you can make some big plays along the
Speaker 1: way yourselves, it definitely helps to to mitigate the damage
Speaker 1: when the other team does get absolutely and and really,
Speaker 1: to me, this kind of almost reminded me a little
Speaker 1: bit of a boxing match where you had an opponent
Speaker 1: that's gonna throw some pretty heavy haymakers. You're gonna take
Speaker 1: a few on the chin. You kind of have to
Speaker 1: bite down on the mouthpiece and keep moving forward. Though
Speaker 1: a hundred yards and two touchdowns off of those two plays,
Speaker 1: justin fields only through for two and twenty four the
Speaker 1: entire game, a bulk of his production were on those
Speaker 1: two plays. And give credit where credit is due. I actually,
Speaker 1: you know everyone rips on Matt and Aggie and the
Speaker 1: Bears coaching staff. Actually, they have a really good coaching staff.
Speaker 1: I think there's probably not enough talent there. But they
Speaker 1: get those guys open in space, they scheme things up,
Speaker 1: those guys made plays. They put their players in a
Speaker 1: position to make plays. I think the bigger issue for
Speaker 1: them was they didn't get David Montgomery going in this
Speaker 1: game the way they were able to do it the
Speaker 1: week earlier, even though they lost David Montgomery was really
Speaker 1: the catalyst for them sort of finding themselves offensively. Justin
Speaker 1: Fields had to do less. Justin Fields felt he had
Speaker 1: to do more in this game. He scrambled a little
Speaker 1: bit more, but he also made some ill advised passes
Speaker 1: as well. Some he paid for, some he didn't. But
Speaker 1: the Greeny Packers were just so much more consistent. When
Speaker 1: you have Aaron Rodgers throwing for three d what was it,
Speaker 1: forty one yards hundred forty passer rating Justin Fields, you
Speaker 1: know he's sitting there over on the other side of
Speaker 1: things with the seventy. When there's that type of differential
Speaker 1: between the two, it's gonna favorite Green Bay. But more importantly, defensively,
Speaker 1: it's that speech. I don't want to make it out
Speaker 1: to be like this. This you know, win one for
Speaker 1: the Gipper thing when one for the Preston But you
Speaker 1: know Preston Smith going in there and telling the guys,
Speaker 1: this is not up to our standard. We are losing
Speaker 1: to a four win team, a four and eight team
Speaker 1: that's starting to think of it's offseason. We gotta play better.
Speaker 1: It's not just good enough to say that. You have
Speaker 1: to come out and perform yourself. And Justin I should
Speaker 1: say Preston Smith. Did that set the tone for that
Speaker 1: second half and what Green Bay's defense was able to accomplish. Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: when I got when a guy speaks up in the
Speaker 1: locker room like that at halftime and says, hey, this
Speaker 1: is not who we are and then goes out there
Speaker 1: on the second snap for the Bears and makes that play,
Speaker 1: gets the strip sack and and completely turns things around.
Speaker 1: That says something about about leadership, but also a leader
Speaker 1: pointing to himself and saying and saying, you know, hey,
Speaker 1: maybe I wasn't who I was in the first half.
Speaker 1: Either this is this is who I am, this is
Speaker 1: who we are and uh. And the Packers defense really
Speaker 1: did turn things around. And is there anything more demoralizing
Speaker 1: in the sport of football then when a guy gets
Speaker 1: a strip sack fumble and Rashawon Garry recovers it and
Speaker 1: they also draw the holding penalty on the play they
Speaker 1: played through the hold. An incredible for performance by Preston Smith.
Speaker 1: And I mean five sacks now in his last four games.
Speaker 1: I saw one stat I think from Pro Football Focus
Speaker 1: he has as many pressures over the past month as
Speaker 1: he did all of last season. Preston Smith since coming
Speaker 1: off that one game absence from the oblique, the guy's
Speaker 1: been playing with his hair absolutely on fire. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: and you mentioned too how the Packers didn't allow David
Speaker 1: Montgomery to get going. But the other statistic that really
Speaker 1: jumped out at me, and that speaks to even if
Speaker 1: you even if you put the pick six aside for
Speaker 1: just a second, but you look at what Russeul Douglas
Speaker 1: and Eric Stokes did as the starting boundary corners in
Speaker 1: this game. Alan Robinson was back for the Bears and
Speaker 1: he's a big time performer. Darnell Mooney's their number two receiver.
Speaker 1: Those two guys in this game eleven targets, three catches
Speaker 1: thirty three yards. That speaks to what Stokes and Douglas
Speaker 1: are doing and holding down their responsibilit at east against
Speaker 1: the top receivers for the opponent. And uh, as much
Speaker 1: as the Bears were in the game and obviously had
Speaker 1: a ten point lead at two different times in the
Speaker 1: first half of this game, justin fields never really got
Speaker 1: going so to speak. I mean, yes, it was it
Speaker 1: was the two big place for touchdowns. There was the
Speaker 1: punt return for a touchdown, but justin fields never really
Speaker 1: got going. Because the guys he needed to rely on, Montgomery, Robinson, Mooney,
Speaker 1: those guys weren't doing the type of damage that that
Speaker 1: can set a tone for an offense. And uh, and
Speaker 1: that's why the Packers defense eventually prevailed. And I want
Speaker 1: to give a shout out here. It's gonna sound like
Speaker 1: somewhat of a weird shoutout, but I want to give
Speaker 1: a shout out to Kevin King. Is Kevin King only
Speaker 1: played three defensive snaps in this game. I imagine that
Speaker 1: that was tough for him. Yeah, but this defense is
Speaker 1: going to need him, This secondary is going to need him.
Speaker 1: We've seen how these things go. The first question in
Speaker 1: Credit to Match nine minutes a question every journalist should
Speaker 1: be asking to Matt Lafleur. You know, what are you
Speaker 1: gonna do when Jayer comes back? And you know, and
Speaker 1: Matt and have an answer for that right now? I
Speaker 1: don't think anyone does, because for so long the Packers defense,
Speaker 1: and really on both sides of the ball, has been
Speaker 1: just under this this abundance over abundance of injuries where
Speaker 1: it's been next man up, next man up, next man up. Well,
Speaker 1: what do you do when you start to get guys back?
Speaker 1: What do you do when you guys start to get healthy.
Speaker 1: Unfortunately for King it resulted in him not being in
Speaker 1: the starting lineup in this game. But when you see
Speaker 1: Russeul Douglas making the plays that he's made over the
Speaker 1: past two months, when you see Channon Sullivan making a
Speaker 1: huge play at the end of the game in the slot,
Speaker 1: Eric Stokes I think is on the precipice and becoming
Speaker 1: a really good player in this league, and he's been
Speaker 1: their most consistent, healthy, viable corner throughout the season. It's
Speaker 1: gonna lead to some tough decisions, but we all have
Speaker 1: all seen how one hamstring injury here, one head injury,
Speaker 1: one foot injury, it changes the complexion of the season.
Speaker 1: And especially when you look at Jaire Alexander and his shoulder.
Speaker 1: Jaire Alexander doesn't hurt his shoulder. You might not have
Speaker 1: her Soul Douglass in Green Bay right now, but the
Speaker 1: Green Bay Packer are gonna need that secondary to be
Speaker 1: able to make a championship run. And I think even
Speaker 1: if it isn't this game, it could be the next one.
Speaker 1: It's about making sure that you are ready when you're
Speaker 1: called upon, and it was Soil Douglas credit man I have.
Speaker 1: I can't remember Mike. I wasn't here for the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl run, But I can't remember a veteran player that
Speaker 1: came in at the juncture that he did, with the
Speaker 1: low expectations that were cast upon this young man coming
Speaker 1: off at Arizona's practice squad that's made the kind of
Speaker 1: impact he has. This wasn't some undrafted free agent we
Speaker 1: didn't know about. This wasn't some guy that was playing
Speaker 1: a different position. This guy was a former third round
Speaker 1: draft pick who Jerry Gary gave him a couple of
Speaker 1: tips on how to watch film better, and he's playing
Speaker 1: out of his mind. Yeah, it's it's it's really been
Speaker 1: something to watch. Yeah, it's remarkable. I mean, you we
Speaker 1: we talked about from the Super Bowl season. You know,
Speaker 1: guys like Eric Walden, Howard Green, you know, veteran players
Speaker 1: who joined the defense midstream, so to speak, and became
Speaker 1: very solid players and solid contributors. But nobody's going to
Speaker 1: say that, you know, in two thousand and Howard Green
Speaker 1: or Eric Walden is doing what we're sewell Douglas is
Speaker 1: doing for this defense when when the defense absolutely needed
Speaker 1: him with Jaire Alexander being out for such a long stretch,
Speaker 1: you know, and Green he was such a great player
Speaker 1: for them. But they had Ryan Pickett, and they had b. J.
Speaker 1: Raggie who was coming into his own. B. G. Rodgers
Speaker 1: should have been a pro bowler that year. You you
Speaker 1: look at Eric Walden, well, it was still the Clay
Speaker 1: Matthews show. Bristil Douglas is one of the best players
Speaker 1: on this entire defense right now. Defense with a lot
Speaker 1: of good players. It's quite the fine. Hey, but they
Speaker 1: didn't get Stefan Gilmore. They don't know what they're doing,
Speaker 1: my goodness. All right, Well, serious x M NFL Radio
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Speaker 1: I want to get back to a couple of thoughts
Speaker 1: on the offense first, and then we do have to
Speaker 1: turn our attention to special teams. But offensively, there were
Speaker 1: there was a lot to like in this game. And
Speaker 1: I say that in the sense of in the sense
Speaker 1: of a lot to like in terms of you know
Speaker 1: your your staples, so to speak. But then also these emergencies,
Speaker 1: and what I'm talking about is Davante Adams had another
Speaker 1: double digit reception, a hundred yard game, and a couple
Speaker 1: of touchdowns. Davante Adams doing his thing right. We saw
Speaker 1: we saw a j Dillon grinding out the yards in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter that touched on driving the fourth quarter
Speaker 1: that took eight and a half minutes off the clock.
Speaker 1: Dylan I believe, had five or six carries for thirty
Speaker 1: six yards on that drive. That's the kind of stuff
Speaker 1: that that the Packers offense is built on. That's what
Speaker 1: you like to see. But you mentioned it before, Al
Speaker 1: Lazard stepping up and having a really really productive game
Speaker 1: and then also Josiah Deguara, Marcedes Lewis. This is probably
Speaker 1: the most productive I think almost certainly the most productive
Speaker 1: tight end performance the Packers have had in the passing game,
Speaker 1: uh since Robert Tonyan went down with his season ending injury.
Speaker 1: And when you start to see those types of those
Speaker 1: types of things, you just wonder how many more doors
Speaker 1: is that going to open for this offense down the stretch,
Speaker 1: and as you head into January and whatnot, when some
Speaker 1: of these guys who have been a little quiet, you
Speaker 1: might say, in terms of the passing production, suddenly they have.
Speaker 1: You know, Marcedes has four catches for fifty yards. Josiah
Speaker 1: Deguire gets a few catches as well. And and when
Speaker 1: those guys are always doing what they're doing in the
Speaker 1: run game on topic, well, and this was the Josiah
Speaker 1: Deguire that I remembered from the opener in Minnesota. A
Speaker 1: guy that's gonna be able to catch passes for you
Speaker 1: and a number of different positions. He's going to be
Speaker 1: able to throw some lead blocks, He's going to be
Speaker 1: able to be used as that Swiss Army knife he
Speaker 1: was in some eye formation looks in this game, as
Speaker 1: as that f position. The thing I loved about Louis, though,
Speaker 1: is we've seen it time and time again, Mike. You
Speaker 1: know how like DeVante Adams draws all this attention, you
Speaker 1: got four or five six, some teams just put all
Speaker 1: eleven guys on him on the Mercedes. Lewis lulls people
Speaker 1: to sleep. It is remarkable how he goes uncovered in
Speaker 1: this league, in the National Football League, a guy that's
Speaker 1: been doing this for sixteen years that has made the
Speaker 1: production that he has, a former pro bowler himself. And
Speaker 1: it happens where they'll give him these cushions. He sneaks
Speaker 1: out into the flat and nobody's within six yards, I swear.
Speaker 1: Defenses see him lined up in his usual position, and
Speaker 1: they just they just mentally immediately go, Okay, he's blocking,
Speaker 1: and they just they don't think about the possibility that
Speaker 1: he's gonna leak out for a pass. And he and
Speaker 1: he makes Now he's not he's not gashing anybody for
Speaker 1: thirty forty yards, but he's making these eleven, twelve, fifteen
Speaker 1: yard catches that are moving the chains and getting things done. Well,
Speaker 1: that's the best part about If he has this twenty
Speaker 1: yard catch where he's just getting down failed right, And
Speaker 1: could you imagine Aaron Rodgers mentioned that the twenty three
Speaker 1: yard touchdown play to Aaron Jones, that wasn't the design.
Speaker 1: The design that it was to follow Mercedes Lewis down
Speaker 1: the scene. Could you imagine if he would have called,
Speaker 1: if Mercedes Lewis would have caught a twenty three yard
Speaker 1: touch down down the scene. What would have happened in
Speaker 1: lambeau Field. There would have been popcorn flying everywhere with chance,
Speaker 1: you know, and in howling and embarking and everything. But
Speaker 1: four catches fifty one yards for Lewis. That's his most
Speaker 1: offensive production in terms of catches and receptions in his
Speaker 1: three plus years with the Packers, his most overall going
Speaker 1: back to that week through third week three season in
Speaker 1: two thousand seventeen where he had three touchdown catches for Jacksonville.
Speaker 1: The guy still can perform at this level. And for
Speaker 1: Josiah Deguire to be picking up some of that Robert
Speaker 1: Touny in load, uh, you have to see what happens
Speaker 1: with Dominick Dafty. He got pretty banged up in this game.
Speaker 1: But you know, the Packers made that investment in Deguara
Speaker 1: third round pick, a high draft pick, because they saw
Speaker 1: the Swiss Army knife tools and how those could be
Speaker 1: implemented in this offense with Matt Lafleur. And I thought
Speaker 1: that by far was his best game as a pro. Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: There were some regrets from this game, however, one of
Speaker 1: those being on the offensive side. Yet another injury on
Speaker 1: the offensive line. Billy turn goes down with the knee injury.
Speaker 1: Veteran Dennis Kelly stepped in at right tackle. By all accounts,
Speaker 1: held up just fine and whatnot. Matt Lafleur suggested that
Speaker 1: Billy Turner might not be out for the season, that
Speaker 1: this might not be a super serious type of injury,
Speaker 1: but evaluation still going on. We will just have to see.
Speaker 1: He's certainly going to be out at least for something.
Speaker 1: I mean, I would think but if the Packers, based
Speaker 1: on how that injury looked, if Billy Turner can actually
Speaker 1: come back at some point in this season, you'll be
Speaker 1: thrilled with that. Yeah, Billy probably set a record. I'm
Speaker 1: not saying this to make a joke. I mean, he
Speaker 1: was in that blue tent forever after that age. They
Speaker 1: were checking him out for a long time. Usually something happens,
Speaker 1: they get him on the cart, they get into the
Speaker 1: locker room, but they really took a look at it
Speaker 1: and Billy was able to actually walk back to the
Speaker 1: locker room on his own, very slowly, very gingerly. But
Speaker 1: the fact that he was able to do that, you
Speaker 1: hope that that bodes well. I'll tell you what, Mike.
Speaker 1: I remember Mike McCarthy used to talk about NFL teams
Speaker 1: average to a c L tears a year. Green Bay
Speaker 1: Packers are basically covered for the next three season on
Speaker 1: that metrics. So you hope that that you know, Turner,
Speaker 1: this thing turns out all right, you can get him
Speaker 1: back because him and Royce Newman, they were the only
Speaker 1: players on the offensive side of the ball to play
Speaker 1: every snap this season and he's done all of it
Speaker 1: at right tackle. Uh Now, Dennis Kelly, credit to him.
Speaker 1: He came in played really well for a dude that
Speaker 1: hasn't played in an actual game in a d and
Speaker 1: twenty one days. But still, I mean, there's a reason
Speaker 1: why Billy Turner has been that rock, as Matt Lafleur said,
Speaker 1: and Green Bay really needs him for a title run. Yeah. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: So hopefully the good news there will be some more
Speaker 1: good news regarding Turner as as this week unfolds special
Speaker 1: team side of things, though, a really really rough performance
Speaker 1: for the Packers. Um alarm bells kind of going off
Speaker 1: everywhere with regard to what was going on. I'm not
Speaker 1: going to go through the litany of mistakes it was.
Speaker 1: Um it was a long list of some bad happenings.
Speaker 1: On special teams for the Packers. And I thought the
Speaker 1: most poignant comment to me that Matt Lafleur made on
Speaker 1: Monday when he addressed addressed what was going on with
Speaker 1: special teams the day after, he said, Okay, it looks
Speaker 1: like the Packers are going to have to turn to
Speaker 1: some of their veteran regulars on offense and defense and
Speaker 1: asked them to play a certain phase of special teams,
Speaker 1: whether it's kickoff cover, whether it's punt cover, something, to
Speaker 1: take on some extra duties on special teams because because
Speaker 1: the personnel that's out there right now is not is
Speaker 1: not getting it done, and the Packers cannot afford, absolutely
Speaker 1: cannot afford another performance like that in the third phase
Speaker 1: of the game, not at all, because you know one
Speaker 1: of the one or two of those mistakes might happen.
Speaker 1: It can't be as widespread on a number of units
Speaker 1: as it was. And whether it be the punt return,
Speaker 1: whether it be the fun you know, the muff punt
Speaker 1: at first, whether it be what happened on the onside kick,
Speaker 1: you have to be more assignment sure than that. I
Speaker 1: think here's here's the biggest key is adding on Alan
Speaker 1: Lazard or a Seul Douglas or adding some of these
Speaker 1: guys these teams. Is it can improve everything overnight. No,
Speaker 1: but it would I think give them a much needed
Speaker 1: boost in confidence. And no, okay, there's a new variable here.
Speaker 1: Here's here's some actual help. Here's some guys that are
Speaker 1: proven on these teams that can really assist us in
Speaker 1: our goal. I think that's that's critical. I don't want
Speaker 1: to see you know, Adrian Amos being a gunner or
Speaker 1: anything like that, but you have to find ways to
Speaker 1: make things a little bit more palatable here for this unit.
Speaker 1: And realistically, I mean it's a tough situation that Green
Speaker 1: Bay has been put in because you just make that
Speaker 1: switch where you start toying with the idea of using
Speaker 1: Randall cob on punts. Then he gets hurt, right, you see,
Speaker 1: Equinimia st Brown has been a really strong gunner for
Speaker 1: them this year. He gets the concussion obviously on that
Speaker 1: that big return from Grant. You know the reason they
Speaker 1: actually as much as we talk about, you know what
Speaker 1: Douglas has given them defensively, what Isaac ye Adam gave him.
Speaker 1: Those guys were kind of brought in as special teams
Speaker 1: guys originally like that was sort of thing. We need
Speaker 1: some extra guys here because now you're gonna be using
Speaker 1: some of those corners already on the roster and more
Speaker 1: featured defensive positions. So to use a Douglas, to use
Speaker 1: a Lazard, if that's what you gotta do, I think
Speaker 1: you do it now. The only question I wonder about
Speaker 1: is the deployment of it. We have four regular season
Speaker 1: games left here. It's important, don't get me wrong, But
Speaker 1: you also want to make sure that those guys are
Speaker 1: around for the playoffs. You need to balance how many
Speaker 1: reps they need to get to be comfortable in those
Speaker 1: spots and key situations versus Okay, doing it too early
Speaker 1: and now you're you're having that risk of exposure. So
Speaker 1: a lot of decisions green Bay has to make. But certainly,
Speaker 1: you look at a performance like that, you have to
Speaker 1: make some structural changes in order to find a way forward.
Speaker 1: I belie. Yeah, it's it's going to be. Uh, it's
Speaker 1: going to be a difficult tight rope to walk in
Speaker 1: that respect, because of because of the exposure, because of
Speaker 1: the because of just the the extra snaps, the extra
Speaker 1: workload and everything like that. I mean, you need Rasul
Speaker 1: Douglas at his best at cornerback in the fourth quarter
Speaker 1: of a close game, and if he's taken an extra
Speaker 1: ten or twelve snaps on special teams throughout the course
Speaker 1: of a game. As we know, all it can take
Speaker 1: is is one play. Just like all it can take
Speaker 1: is one guy on special teams on a cover unit
Speaker 1: getting out of his lane or not doing his job properly,
Speaker 1: and suddenly a guy like Jachem Grant has a has
Speaker 1: a seam and boom has gone for ninety plus yards.
Speaker 1: That's the That's the kind of stuff you have to
Speaker 1: guard again. And the thing you got to recall to
Speaker 1: is that it's not just that punt return, right, It's
Speaker 1: that the defense has to go back on the field
Speaker 1: after uh that play. I remember talking to Divon House
Speaker 1: about this a number of years ago. Devon would be
Speaker 1: a jammer, uh you know with the with I should say,
Speaker 1: a gunner on the punt return unit, and then he
Speaker 1: would have to be out play in the perimeter. And
Speaker 1: you're now you're facing off against one of the NFL's
Speaker 1: fastest receivers and you've just gotten done, you know, basically
Speaker 1: running sixty yards down field. So there is that balance
Speaker 1: and it's something that Green Bay is gonna have to weigh. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: the good news for the Packers in the big picture
Speaker 1: of things, although there wasn't anything that went right in
Speaker 1: terms of the results to help green Bay throughout the
Speaker 1: weekend's games. On Sunday, Monday night, the Air's own the
Speaker 1: Cardinals lose at home to the Los Angeles Rams, which
Speaker 1: has now created a three way tie for the top
Speaker 1: record in the NFC. The Packers, the Buccaneers, and the
Speaker 1: Cardinals are all ten and three, and right now, the
Speaker 1: Packers are the team in the driver's seat with the
Speaker 1: number one spot because of those three teams, the Packers
Speaker 1: have the better conference record green Bay. Only two of
Speaker 1: green Bay's losses are in the NFC, the third one
Speaker 1: obviously being to Kansas City in the a f C.
Speaker 1: Both the Cardinals and the Buccaneers all three of their
Speaker 1: losses to NFC teams, so that conference record tiebreaker the
Speaker 1: Packers own it right now, which means if the green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers win out here and finished fourteen and three,
Speaker 1: they will be the number one seed with the first
Speaker 1: round by and with home field advantage, just as they
Speaker 1: had last season. And the big reason for that the
Speaker 1: big key to that, I think is really just being
Speaker 1: able to keep that advantage over Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay
Speaker 1: is getting hot. It's it's following a very similar trajectory
Speaker 1: of last se and maybe even more so because now
Speaker 1: the ball has really been in Tom Brady's hands this year. Uh.
Speaker 1: The thing about that game last night that I was
Speaker 1: so stunned by was, Okay, you hear all these COVID editions,
Speaker 1: COVID list editions, you know, Jalen Ramsey, Tyler Higbee, which
Speaker 1: cost me my fantasy game. Um, the fact that they
Speaker 1: still came out and did what they did to Arizona
Speaker 1: in that game was truly impressive. Cardinals, Man, I don't
Speaker 1: know if I've ever seen anything like this. They have
Speaker 1: a hard time winning at home. Yeah, it's crazy. They're
Speaker 1: seven and oh, they're seven and oh on the road,
Speaker 1: and they're three and three at home this season. It's
Speaker 1: it's a it's remarkable. Now. One of those one of
Speaker 1: their three losses was without Kyler Murray. It was when
Speaker 1: the you know, when Colt McCoy was in as the
Speaker 1: backup quarterback. But I'm with you, Wes, watching the watching
Speaker 1: the game against the Rams, the most surprising thing to
Speaker 1: me about that entire game was simply that the Arizona
Speaker 1: Cardinal The Rams held the Arizona Cardinals to just twenty points,
Speaker 1: and they did not have their number one cornerback in
Speaker 1: Jalen Ramsey out there to try to try to cover
Speaker 1: DeAndre Hopkins the um the Rams didn't let Hopkins go
Speaker 1: nuts and uh and as a result, and then once
Speaker 1: Matthew Stafford kind of got got going with his arm,
Speaker 1: he made some big time throws in that game and
Speaker 1: uh and, and the Rams got on a role putting
Speaker 1: up a bunch of points and they were able to
Speaker 1: hang on. We we talk a lot, and obviously it's
Speaker 1: where we are. We talked so much about Brian Goodkin's
Speaker 1: and you know in Matt Lafleur in that relationship and
Speaker 1: being able to find the talent and develop the talent
Speaker 1: and get the talent producing what less need. And you
Speaker 1: know Sean McVeigh have done in l A is impressive.
Speaker 1: You know they lose cam Akers earlier this season. You
Speaker 1: go into this game, it's sony Michelle and Michelle gave
Speaker 1: them a very capable performance, manageable down in distance. Matthew
Speaker 1: Stafford was as good was look solid um. You know,
Speaker 1: you saw Beckham have his best game probably so far
Speaker 1: with them. They looked dynamic and dangerous, and if they
Speaker 1: can put that together, they're gonna be a real problem
Speaker 1: for teams down the stretch. Arizona is just such an
Speaker 1: interesting thing. They're an interesting team to watch because you
Speaker 1: see a game like that where they can't run the
Speaker 1: ball at all. They don't have Chase Edmonds back yet
Speaker 1: and it's all in Kyler Murray's hands, and Kyler Murray
Speaker 1: is an exceptional player, but there were just elements of
Speaker 1: that game where, even when they were kind of making
Speaker 1: that run late, you're just like, I just think the
Speaker 1: Rams are too balanced. And here they are now three
Speaker 1: teams that ten and three the Packers with that conference advantage.
Speaker 1: To have the number one seed right now, you have
Speaker 1: to defend that territory. Yeah. Well, the Rams with two
Speaker 1: big interceptions of Murray in that game, one that took
Speaker 1: a potential touchdown off the board, another one that's set
Speaker 1: up a touchdown for Matthew Stafford, and that offense, those
Speaker 1: two turnovers were really the difference in the game. And now,
Speaker 1: even though the Cardinals still have a one game lead
Speaker 1: on the Rams in the NFC West, that division is
Speaker 1: completely up for grabs because the Cardinals still have to
Speaker 1: play the Cowboys, they still have to play the Colts,
Speaker 1: which is a team that's coming on strong. The Rams,
Speaker 1: by no means have an easy schedule or anything like that,
Speaker 1: but the fact that now they've gotten the split with
Speaker 1: the Cardinals, they've split their two games with them one
Speaker 1: on one, they're sitting one game back. I'm sure they
Speaker 1: feel pretty confident they could the Rams could catch could
Speaker 1: catch the Cardinals and then and then make a push
Speaker 1: for a for a high seed in the playoffs as well.
Speaker 1: And then you've got the forty Niners just kind of
Speaker 1: sitting in the back seat waiting for this thing to
Speaker 1: see how it all plays out. I mean, the playoffs
Speaker 1: start today, the forty Niners are the sixth seat. I
Speaker 1: mean that that division is really going to be interesting
Speaker 1: to watch, and from Green Bay. In Tampa Bay's perspective,
Speaker 1: Green Bay has a little bit more tough for competition
Speaker 1: based on those matchups with the a f C. But
Speaker 1: really those two teams just got to kind of take
Speaker 1: care of business within their division here, you know, and
Speaker 1: they're gonna be able to have a real significant chance
Speaker 1: at that by. I said this last night after the game, Mike,
Speaker 1: I mean, buckle up. You know. The NFC race here
Speaker 1: is gonna be down to the wire. It's gonna be
Speaker 1: fun to watch. Yeah, no question about it. One last
Speaker 1: thought here quickly before we go. Packers fans, if you're
Speaker 1: looking for holiday gift ideas, Team and Story and Cliff
Speaker 1: Crystals book, The Greatest Story in Sports, is now available
Speaker 1: at the Packers Pro Shop. The four volume hardcover book
Speaker 1: tells the book set excuse me. He tells the true
Speaker 1: complete story of the Packers first century, from humble beginnings
Speaker 1: to heartbreaks and triumph. Buy your copy online or in
Speaker 1: store today. I need I need him to sign my copy. Yet.
Speaker 1: I didn't get here on Saturday. I was out of town.
Speaker 1: My nephew had a state swimming meet. Congratulations Aiden, he's
Speaker 1: going to Nationals. All right. Yeah, he's a very talented
Speaker 1: young man. But I didn't get my book signed. I
Speaker 1: need to get my book signed. Cliff, I need you
Speaker 1: to sign my book please. All right, you heard him, Cliff,
Speaker 1: Get on that, all right. Cliff is a big listed
Speaker 1: of Packers. He's with the second day. Right with that,
Speaker 1: we do have to go. We'll sign off here on
Speaker 1: this edition of Packers Unscrewed, but be sure to follow
Speaker 1: all of our coverage of the team on Packers dot com.
Speaker 1: For West, I'm Mike. Thanks for tuning in, everybody. We'll
Speaker 1: see you next time.