WEBVTT - #911 Packers Unscripted: Rivalry week 0:00:07.030 --> 0:00:11.500 Hi everybody, welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from Packers.com. 0:00:11.619 --> 0:00:14.500 I am Mike Spofford, joined by my partner in everything, 0:00:14.580 --> 0:00:16.900 Packers Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming to you here from the 0:00:16.980 --> 0:00:21.160 Pottawatomie Sportsbook studio inside the walls of Lambeau Field to 0:00:21.239 --> 0:00:26.460 preview Wes Sunday at Lambeau. Noon Central Time kickoff, it 0:00:26.500 --> 0:00:29.610 will be the Chicago Bears visiting the Green Bay Packers. 0:00:29.910 --> 0:00:32.070 And let's talk a little bit about this Bears team. 0:00:32.150 --> 0:00:34.830 They are the defending NFC North champs. As we know, 0:00:34.890 --> 0:00:38.100 they are 3-1 defensively. This season and they are coming 0:00:38.200 --> 0:00:42.010 in with a backup quarterback in Tyson Bajent who has 0:00:42.530 --> 0:00:46.140 taken the reins in the absence of Caleb Williams. 0:00:46.580 --> 0:00:47.220 This is a team. 0:00:48.110 --> 0:00:50.290 They've dealt with their share of injuries already early in 0:00:50.310 --> 0:00:52.790 the season as well, but they're playing some pretty good football. 0:00:52.890 --> 0:00:53.710 Yeah, they sure are, Mike. 0:00:53.750 --> 0:00:56.180 And they're finding different ways to win too, right? Because 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:58.420 I think everybody kind of twists it right off the bat. 0:00:58.460 --> 0:01:02.180 They have that big shootout with Carolina, and we're hearing 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:03.279 the stuff about this is going to be the worst 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:05.810 game we play all season, and they score 59 points 0:01:05.830 --> 0:01:08.590 and all these other things. But I thought that kind 0:01:08.630 --> 0:01:11.870 of distracted the real narrative there, which is, the Bears 0:01:11.930 --> 0:01:15.590 are a three-phase football team. And as much notoriety and 0:01:15.630 --> 0:01:18.190 as much acclaim and as much attention as Caleb Williams 0:01:18.250 --> 0:01:20.330 gets because he's a number one overall pick and a 0:01:20.350 --> 0:01:23.830 franchise quarterback, you know, there's just so many different levels 0:01:23.910 --> 0:01:26.190 to this thing, right? The Kyle Mennon guys of the world, 0:01:26.209 --> 0:01:29.209 the way their defense is structured, how they've rebuilt their 0:01:29.270 --> 0:01:32.470 offensive line over the last three, four years. The Bears 0:01:32.530 --> 0:01:35.310 are a real mess there for a while. And You know, 0:01:35.330 --> 0:01:37.790 you give credit to their front office. You give credit 0:01:37.830 --> 0:01:39.990 to their ownership. I mean, they were patient with it 0:01:40.010 --> 0:01:41.590 because there were some times where it kind. 0:01:41.490 --> 0:01:42.389 Of looked a little bleak. 0:01:42.950 --> 0:01:45.709 Now, the cynic in me would say, well, when you 0:01:45.730 --> 0:01:47.770 swing that much on a quarterback and you finally get 0:01:47.790 --> 0:01:49.770 the number one overall pick, it makes sense that you 0:01:49.790 --> 0:01:50.730 finally hit on it. 0:01:50.830 --> 0:01:51.690 Yeah, exactly. 0:01:51.910 --> 0:01:54.570 But it is the way that they've found ways to 0:01:54.630 --> 0:01:57.490 build around Caleb Williams now that really impresses me. And 0:01:57.770 --> 0:02:00.950 certainly with Ben Johnson, everybody knows what he's been doing 0:02:00.970 --> 0:02:02.630 in the National Football League here the last four or 0:02:02.650 --> 0:02:05.510 five years from an offensive perspective. Yep. I think Dennis 0:02:05.590 --> 0:02:09.880 Allen is one of the most underrated defensive minds. Certainly 0:02:09.910 --> 0:02:11.130 been a head coach in the league, but I don't 0:02:11.160 --> 0:02:12.840 know if he's ever gotten his proper due in terms 0:02:12.880 --> 0:02:14.440 of what he brings in terms of his scheme. We 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:16.620 talk so much about the Brian Flores of the world. 0:02:16.960 --> 0:02:19.700 I don't think the conversation is there enough about Dennis Allen. 0:02:19.720 --> 0:02:21.680 It's a valid point. 0:02:22.280 --> 0:02:25.260 A big old answer from Wes Hodquist on this one. But, 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:28.600 I mean, the fact is that the Bears are exactly 0:02:28.620 --> 0:02:30.640 who everybody thinks they are right now, and the Packers 0:02:30.660 --> 0:02:32.019 have a big challenge in front of them. 0:02:32.250 --> 0:02:34.190 Yeah, I want to start on the offensive side of 0:02:34.210 --> 0:02:35.630 the ball. I want to talk about both sides of 0:02:35.650 --> 0:02:39.389 the ball. But offensively, I mean, I'll admit, I was surprised. 0:02:41.250 --> 0:02:43.590 I'm not at Hallis Hall every day. So I was 0:02:43.650 --> 0:02:46.489 surprised that as well as Case Keenum played in that 0:02:46.550 --> 0:02:50.209 Monday night victory at Soldier Field over the Eagles, I 0:02:50.250 --> 0:02:52.720 was surprised that then they went right back to Tyson 0:02:52.740 --> 0:02:57.240 Bajent when he got healthy. That being said, that move 0:02:57.720 --> 0:03:01.560 tells you what they think of Tyson Bajent, right? That 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:06.180 that they believe in this young man. Division II college 0:03:06.220 --> 0:03:09.639 quarterback out of Shepard University, undrafted. He's been there now 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:12.880 for four years. This is his fourth year in the league. 0:03:14.460 --> 0:03:17.810 And the fact that they would just toss Keenum aside 0:03:17.990 --> 0:03:20.890 as soon as Bajent was healthy. Because to me, it 0:03:20.930 --> 0:03:23.230 wasn't just that the Bears won that Monday night game 0:03:23.270 --> 0:03:26.109 against the Eagles. It was how well Keenum played on 0:03:26.150 --> 0:03:31.110 very short notice. But they believe in this young quarterback. 0:03:31.370 --> 0:03:34.920 And He's got two running backs behind him. I mean, 0:03:35.360 --> 0:03:38.680 it's a two-headed monster, right, with DeAndre Swift, Kyle Menungai. 0:03:38.740 --> 0:03:41.530 Both of these guys have over 300 yards rushing already. 0:03:41.890 --> 0:03:44.830 They're both on pace for essentially like a 1,200 or 0:03:44.850 --> 0:03:48.650 1,300-yard season each, right, if you do the math right now. 0:03:51.450 --> 0:03:54.030 They're going to come into Lambeau Field looking to just 0:03:54.390 --> 0:03:58.620 establish their game, which is the classic Ben Johnson offense, 0:03:58.660 --> 0:04:01.040 in my opinion. which is to run the ball, to 0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:05.160 set up play action, to give their quarterback clean throwing lanes, 0:04:05.340 --> 0:04:08.220 good looks, good protection, but it all starts with those 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:09.820 running backs and what they can do on the ground. 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:11.840 Yeah, and that kind of goes back to my original 0:04:11.900 --> 0:04:13.780 thesis of this whole thing, which is they've done a 0:04:13.820 --> 0:04:16.120 tremendous job of building around Caleb Williams, so then when 0:04:16.140 --> 0:04:20.349 Caleb Williams isn't available, naturally you have some talented but 0:04:20.390 --> 0:04:25.140 maybe not as acclaimed players quarterbacks behind him that still 0:04:25.180 --> 0:04:27.960 have a really good arsenal of weapons to utilize, a 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:30.640 good offensive line in front of them. And I'll be 0:04:30.690 --> 0:04:33.409 honest with you, Mike, I don't know how this season's 0:04:33.430 --> 0:04:35.450 going to go. I think based on the fact that 0:04:35.490 --> 0:04:38.150 Williams is missing this much time, I don't know if 0:04:38.210 --> 0:04:40.710 the 4,000-yard passer year thing is going to go by 0:04:40.730 --> 0:04:41.710 the wayside yet. 0:04:41.750 --> 0:04:43.060 I hadn't even thought of that. 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:46.960 Yeah, they've been searching for their franchise's first ever 4,000-yard passer. 0:04:48.060 --> 0:04:49.800 And yeah, it may not happen. He may not have 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:50.600 enough games to. 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:51.050 Get that in. 0:04:51.060 --> 0:04:53.560 But even if it doesn't, even if it wasn't a 0:04:53.620 --> 0:04:57.620 situation there with Williams and the injury, I just think 0:04:57.660 --> 0:04:59.740 when you look at Ben Johnson, and this goes back 0:04:59.760 --> 0:05:02.180 to when he was in Detroit, he wants to have 0:05:02.220 --> 0:05:05.620 a multifaceted rushing attack that is going to be able 0:05:05.690 --> 0:05:08.150 to beat defenses in different ways. We saw it for 0:05:08.190 --> 0:05:10.670 a few years with the Lions, and you're seeing it now. 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:13.380 We all know what DeAndre Swift can do. There were 0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:15.760 a couple injury concerns there with him early on. He's 0:05:15.820 --> 0:05:18.460 bounced around a little bit before he got back to Chicago. 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:20.640 But the fact is, I should say back to the 0:05:20.670 --> 0:05:23.909 NFC North, back to Chicago. But the fact is, is 0:05:23.950 --> 0:05:27.170 that Kyle Menungai is sort of this Aaron Jones type 0:05:27.230 --> 0:05:29.470 find in day three last year. Now he was a 0:05:29.510 --> 0:05:32.430 seventh rounder where Aaron was only a fifth, but he 0:05:32.470 --> 0:05:34.300 was like kind of like Bajent a little bit. He 0:05:34.310 --> 0:05:36.460 was this like kind of good story out of training 0:05:36.500 --> 0:05:39.680 camp a year ago, making some noise in the preseason. 0:05:39.700 --> 0:05:42.530 And then the regular season starts and he starts being 0:05:42.550 --> 0:05:46.950 the complimentary back. And no, this guy's super talented. So yeah, 0:05:46.990 --> 0:05:50.229 I think when you look at all the offensive things 0:05:50.270 --> 0:05:52.710 that the Bears have put together, a lot of it 0:05:52.750 --> 0:05:55.030 is built around the ground game. And for that reason, 0:05:55.430 --> 0:05:58.870 as Jonathan Gannon said at the podium on Tuesday, 93 0:05:58.870 --> 0:06:01.969 offensive plays, 42 minutes of time of possession against the Jets. 0:06:02.650 --> 0:06:07.169 That wasn't a surprise. This is how Chicago wants to 0:06:07.190 --> 0:06:11.550 go about sort of just drawing you out wearing you 0:06:11.589 --> 0:06:13.270 down in that marathon of a football game. 0:06:13.450 --> 0:06:15.230 Yeah, and those weapons are there no matter who the 0:06:15.290 --> 0:06:18.250 quarterback is, right? When you're talking about, you know, Roman Dunzay, 0:06:18.310 --> 0:06:21.320 Luther Burden, Colston Loveland at tight end, you said it, 0:06:21.310 --> 0:06:25.140 you know, they built around that number one overall pick 0:06:25.180 --> 0:06:25.820 at quarterback. 0:06:25.839 --> 0:06:26.800 So those guys are there. 0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:29.660 On the defensive side, a couple of things stand out 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:34.140 to me about this group. One is it's got six takeaways, 0:06:34.930 --> 0:06:37.490 which is off the pace of last season when they 0:06:37.529 --> 0:06:40.610 had 30 plus by the end of the year. But 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:44.470 six takeaways in four games is still nothing to sneeze at. 0:06:44.610 --> 0:06:47.529 I mean, that's still a lot of production in that department. 0:06:48.529 --> 0:06:51.630 And what stands out to me the most in sort 0:06:51.650 --> 0:06:54.690 of the traditional statistics defensively, and I wrote about this 0:06:54.790 --> 0:06:57.470 on Packers.com, there's a story that was posted. Unfortunately, it 0:06:57.490 --> 0:07:00.130 got posted kind of late on Wednesday. So, you know, 0:07:00.250 --> 0:07:01.670 you might have to hunt for it a little bit. 0:07:01.710 --> 0:07:03.670 It might have gotten already buried by an even better 0:07:03.710 --> 0:07:05.670 story by Wes that was posted this morning. 0:07:06.570 --> 0:07:10.050 But I digress. 24%. 0:07:10.710 --> 0:07:14.550 Third down conversion rate the Bears are allowing defensively, which 0:07:14.610 --> 0:07:16.670 ranks second in the league right now. And when you 0:07:16.710 --> 0:07:19.120 combine that with the fact that the Packers are coming 0:07:19.160 --> 0:07:23.100 into this game with the bottom of the league ranking 0:07:23.320 --> 0:07:28.040 at 26% offensive conversions on third down, it doesn't take 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:31.420 a genius to figure out that that is a statistic 0:07:31.460 --> 0:07:34.120 that needs to change for Green Bay in order for 0:07:34.170 --> 0:07:35.770 the Packers to have a shot to. 0:07:35.750 --> 0:07:36.930 Win this game. 0:07:37.070 --> 0:07:39.310 And again, not that we're getting into keys to victory yet, 0:07:39.350 --> 0:07:41.170 but for the Packers to have a shot at winning 0:07:41.210 --> 0:07:43.550 this game, they have to establish the run. Because I 0:07:43.590 --> 0:07:46.290 think you've seen the takeaways aren't there yet for the 0:07:46.310 --> 0:07:49.130 Bears in terms of the grandioso sort of way it 0:07:49.170 --> 0:07:51.420 was last season. I think there's plenty of teams that 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:53.980 probably would be very happy with six through four games 0:07:54.020 --> 0:07:57.150 just based on how things go. But That being said, 0:07:57.170 --> 0:07:59.030 I mean, they were on this pace last year where 0:07:59.050 --> 0:08:00.830 it did not matter. If you got them in third 0:08:00.870 --> 0:08:03.820 and pass, they were hunting the football. Packers have to 0:08:03.860 --> 0:08:06.380 avoid that in this one. There is the one area 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:08.580 of Allen's defense when you break it down that there 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:10.580 is a little bit of a let up there. A 0:08:10.640 --> 0:08:14.770 very respectable 13th against the run so far this season. Oh, 0:08:14.830 --> 0:08:16.750 and then, you know, you add in the fact that 0:08:17.870 --> 0:08:20.250 it's 29th in the league as far as 4.94 yards 0:08:20.290 --> 0:08:23.260 per carry. you have to be able to get some 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:25.500 rushing lanes there. You have to be able to get 0:08:25.520 --> 0:08:28.160 some production that side. Because if you do get to 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:31.080 third downs, if you do get to passing situations, third 0:08:31.110 --> 0:08:34.230 in the league right now in passing yards allowed, second 0:08:34.429 --> 0:08:37.770 in passing yards per attempt, and still a very respectable 0:08:37.850 --> 0:08:42.030 ninth in interceptions. This is still a very hungry defense 0:08:42.050 --> 0:08:43.870 that is going to put pressure on your quarterback and 0:08:43.910 --> 0:08:47.120 want to steal the football away from you. So that's 0:08:47.140 --> 0:08:48.800 going to be critical for Green Bay in this one. 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:51.500 And we've heard it all week long. We'll see exactly 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:54.830 what We saw on Wednesday's practice what that means for 0:08:54.870 --> 0:08:57.670 game day. We saw Kevin Zeitler now taking reps at 0:08:57.710 --> 0:09:00.480 right guard. He's getting more familiar. He's getting more comfortable. 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:03.540 Larry McCarron in our Three Things video took his cap 0:09:03.660 --> 0:09:06.179 off to Travis Glover. I think that was a big 0:09:06.220 --> 0:09:08.900 step forward for that young man. But Zeitler's a guy 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:11.120 that's a former Pro Bowler, a first-round pick. He's played 0:09:11.140 --> 0:09:13.120 over 200 games in this league and was still doing 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:15.220 it at a high level last year at Tennessee. There's 0:09:15.260 --> 0:09:17.480 a reason why they brought him in. So I really 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:19.199 wonder in this matchup if you're going to see Green 0:09:19.220 --> 0:09:21.990 Bay really trying to get that going because otherwise... You 0:09:22.010 --> 0:09:23.710 get the Montez sweats of the world. You get some 0:09:23.730 --> 0:09:26.730 of these edge rushers going. It's going to be a 0:09:26.750 --> 0:09:27.350 long afternoon. 0:09:27.670 --> 0:09:30.230 One thing that's really interesting about this Bears defense, and 0:09:30.250 --> 0:09:34.560 I don't have the statistics numbers in front of me, 0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:39.020 but I was reading about how last year, and it's 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:40.839 carried over to this year in the early part of 0:09:40.860 --> 0:09:44.120 the season, the Bears defense is a very different unit 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:47.960 at home versus on the road. And now this year, 0:09:47.980 --> 0:09:50.110 the Bears have only played one road game. It was 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:52.949 the season opener against Carolina. And we talked about how 0:09:52.990 --> 0:09:55.209 that game kind of turned into a shootout. And, you know, 0:09:55.290 --> 0:09:57.670 Bryce Young and the Panthers were able to do a lot, 0:09:57.710 --> 0:09:59.970 but they weren't able to keep up with Caleb Williams' income. 0:10:00.290 --> 0:10:04.170 and the Bears put up the 50-plus. But the Bears 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:06.100 have just had the three home games since then. They've 0:10:06.150 --> 0:10:08.760 racked up a lot of really, really good defensive statistics, 0:10:08.860 --> 0:10:12.740 and I've been impressed with what they've done. But is 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:15.660 this trend of a little bit of a Jekyll and 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:17.980 Hyde Bears defense in terms of whether they're playing at 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:20.459 home or whether they're playing on the road, which was 0:10:20.980 --> 0:10:22.860 one of the storylines last year. Is that going to 0:10:22.900 --> 0:10:23.699 continue this year? 0:10:24.059 --> 0:10:24.780 We'll find out. 0:10:25.059 --> 0:10:28.080 We know how the issues that the Packers are having 0:10:28.140 --> 0:10:30.730 on offense and what they've got to clean up. But 0:10:30.750 --> 0:10:33.490 that's something to watch here because the Bears now are 0:10:33.530 --> 0:10:35.450 going on the road for the first time since week one. 0:10:35.570 --> 0:10:37.810 Yeah, it's really interesting the way this worked out because 0:10:37.830 --> 0:10:40.690 from a Green Bay standpoint, we were here at the locker. 0:10:41.150 --> 0:10:42.910 It was funny. So I made these comments to you 0:10:42.950 --> 0:10:44.729 about how few times the Packers have been at home 0:10:44.790 --> 0:10:48.510 so far this season. We were talking to Evan Williams 0:10:48.530 --> 0:10:51.229 last And Steve McGarvey from the Associated Press brought up 0:10:51.270 --> 0:10:53.090 to him like, hey, you know, in your last two 0:10:53.230 --> 0:10:56.270 home games, you guys have really struggled to stop the run. 0:10:56.450 --> 0:10:58.090 And Evan kind of looked at him just in like 0:10:58.110 --> 0:11:00.970 a quizzical, confused manner. He's like, last two? And he's like, 0:11:01.190 --> 0:11:05.900 and then Steve goes, yeah, between Atlanta and Carolina last year. 0:11:06.179 --> 0:11:06.599 Tennessee. 0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:08.280 Tennessee. Tennessee late in the season. 0:11:08.300 --> 0:11:08.920 Tennessee late in the season. 0:11:08.980 --> 0:11:09.560 Right, right. 0:11:09.580 --> 0:11:12.760 And it's just like, wait, hold on a second. Like, wow, 0:11:12.880 --> 0:11:15.540 it really has been that few games at home. So like, 0:11:15.720 --> 0:11:19.530 it's been this contrast so far between... team like Chicago 0:11:19.570 --> 0:11:21.230 who's had a lot of home cooking and Green Bay 0:11:21.250 --> 0:11:23.670 has been kind of waiting for this opportunity so yeah 0:11:23.690 --> 0:11:25.310 you definitely don't want to put it to waste and 0:11:25.610 --> 0:11:28.290 it will be interesting to see exactly what what the 0:11:28.330 --> 0:11:30.720 Bears look like here when you don't have you know 0:11:30.740 --> 0:11:33.100 hopefully there's not a huge ton amount of Bears fans 0:11:33.179 --> 0:11:34.800 at Lambeau Field on Sunday I guess you can always 0:11:34.820 --> 0:11:36.240 wait and see it is a quick trip up here 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:38.440 but we will see if it is a favorable crowd 0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:40.640 for Green Bay how the Bears react to that and 0:11:40.750 --> 0:11:43.469 specifically you know Bajan too and the offensive side of 0:11:43.490 --> 0:11:45.610 things I mean he was fine. He did a nice 0:11:45.650 --> 0:11:47.709 job last week, but he, he was sort of the 0:11:47.730 --> 0:11:50.270 game manager in that instance. Whereas a week earlier, you know, 0:11:50.290 --> 0:11:53.480 Case Keenum was making some pretty big throws, uh, to, uh, 0:11:53.550 --> 0:11:56.520 to win that football game. So, um, really good scheme though, 0:11:56.540 --> 0:11:58.560 really smart team and, uh, it'll be fun to watch. 0:11:58.700 --> 0:12:00.740 I think it goes back to what you said right 0:12:00.760 --> 0:12:02.960 at the top of the show that the, the bears just, 0:12:03.020 --> 0:12:05.520 they will find different ways to win games. You know, the, 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:08.319 we talked about that Monday night game against Philadelphia with 0:12:08.380 --> 0:12:11.209 Case Keenum taking over a quarterback and, The Eagles got 0:12:11.309 --> 0:12:14.330 run all over by the Bears' ground game last season 0:12:14.470 --> 0:12:17.309 in Philadelphia, and Case Keenum came out and was chucking 0:12:17.330 --> 0:12:19.490 the ball over the yard, and the Eagles didn't really 0:12:19.550 --> 0:12:22.050 react to that very well. They were kind of shell-shocked. Well, 0:12:22.070 --> 0:12:24.250 then what do the Bears do against the New York 0:12:24.290 --> 0:12:27.820 Jets the following week? They just grind it out, ball control. 0:12:28.030 --> 0:12:30.700 We talked about the discrepancy in the time of possession 0:12:30.740 --> 0:12:33.660 and the offensive snaps and all that from that game, 0:12:33.840 --> 0:12:36.360 and that's another way that they can win games. 0:12:36.740 --> 0:12:37.420 They nearly. 0:12:38.380 --> 0:12:42.380 nearly won that defensive slugfest with the Minnesota Vikings in 0:12:42.400 --> 0:12:45.640 the rain in Chicago. Swift had the fumble inside the 0:12:45.679 --> 0:12:49.440 five-yard line. They had a field goal blocked. That was 0:12:49.500 --> 0:12:53.320 a game that they almost won in that 10-9, 12-10 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:56.829 type fashion or whatever, but ultimately didn't go their way. 0:12:56.880 --> 0:13:00.309 But this is a team that has different ways it 0:13:00.350 --> 0:13:00.870 can win games. 0:13:01.050 --> 0:13:03.170 Yeah, and I kind of messed myself up there earlier. 0:13:03.190 --> 0:13:04.650 I was talking about the Packers' last two home games, 0:13:04.750 --> 0:13:06.260 Atlanta and then Baltimore. 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:07.780 How could you forget about Baltimore? 0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:17.050 You're thinking Derrick Henry. he would love to have them back. 0:13:17.130 --> 0:13:20.490 Yeah, I would think that they probably would. My goodness. 0:13:20.530 --> 0:13:22.650 I just, this shows you where we are. I don't 0:13:22.700 --> 0:13:23.740 want somebody in the comments. 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:26.760 A little short on sleep thanks to the baseball playoffs, 0:13:26.900 --> 0:13:28.120 but we're all good with that too. 0:13:28.140 --> 0:13:28.860 We're good with it. 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:31.120 I was going to say, somebody in the YouTube comments 0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:32.520 section is going to be like, what are these guys 0:13:32.540 --> 0:13:33.140 talking about? 0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:33.859 That's funny. 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:35.479 But no, I mean, but to. 0:13:35.350 --> 0:13:37.190 The overall point of that, yeah, the Packers have not 0:13:37.210 --> 0:13:39.030 been home a lot and this is going to be 0:13:39.050 --> 0:13:41.589 a major one. This is a big one. And I 0:13:41.610 --> 0:13:43.430 think it was either you or I forget exactly, maybe 0:13:43.470 --> 0:13:45.780 it was Matt Schneidman that pointed out Packers haven't lost 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:47.610 three in a row in the series to the Bears 0:13:47.620 --> 0:13:51.250 since 2005-06. So, I mean, this is a lot on 0:13:51.270 --> 0:13:54.030 the line here. In addition to the fact that everybody 0:13:54.070 --> 0:13:56.970 talks so much about the Ben Johnson, Matt LaFleur thing and, 0:13:56.990 --> 0:13:59.580 you know, words and all this spoken. No, man. As 0:13:59.640 --> 0:14:02.100 I wrote in Insider Inbox... Like, if you don't have 0:14:02.140 --> 0:14:04.460 this game circled, you lost your pen. Like, I mean, 0:14:04.500 --> 0:14:07.110 this is a major football game. This is what everything 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:09.770 is all about. So I can't wait for it. I'm 0:14:09.790 --> 0:14:12.230 just excited to be back at Lambeau, too. Bum that 0:14:12.250 --> 0:14:14.229 it's a noon game. Like, I would have actually liked 0:14:14.250 --> 0:14:16.069 it to still be in a primetime type spot. It 0:14:16.090 --> 0:14:19.450 would be nice to be here and get home early. Yeah. 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:21.020 Can you tell I'm geeked for it? 0:14:21.020 --> 0:14:23.180 Like I'm legitimately pumped up for this. You're fired up. 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:25.360 Program's done now. So now I can actually look forward 0:14:25.380 --> 0:14:25.900 to the game. 0:14:25.940 --> 0:14:27.780 So you've got the game program off to the printer 0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:29.560 and you're good to go. Well, I want to dive 0:14:29.580 --> 0:14:31.340 a little bit more into keys to victory, but we 0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:33.490 do need to pay some bills and I need to 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:35.670 get my teams and running back straight. So I'm going 0:14:35.690 --> 0:14:38.150 to take a quick break to hear a quick word 0:14:38.190 --> 0:14:44.030 from our sponsors. Sirius XM NFL Radio delivers hard-hitting analysis 0:14:44.090 --> 0:14:50.570 and up-to-the-minute NFL news that true football fanatics need 24-7, 365. 0:14:50.570 --> 0:14:52.620 Did you know Lambeau Field is just one of our 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:57.160 state's many wonders? Start making unforgettable memories on your next vacation. 0:14:57.540 --> 0:15:02.750 Discover the Apostle Islands and more at TravelWisconsin.com slash wonders. 0:15:04.500 --> 0:15:07.250 Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. And if you doubted that 0:15:07.300 --> 0:15:10.350 this show was unscripted, just go back and watch the last. 0:15:10.290 --> 0:15:13.090 Two, two and a half minutes before the commercial break. 0:15:14.050 --> 0:15:14.830 We'll do it live. 0:15:14.870 --> 0:15:18.690 Yeah, we'll do it live. All right, keys to victory, Wes. 0:15:18.790 --> 0:15:20.750 We have already. 0:15:20.530 --> 0:15:23.840 Mentioned third downs, the statistics there. You brought up the 0:15:23.860 --> 0:15:26.660 Packers needing to establish the run game. And if there's 0:15:26.720 --> 0:15:29.560 maybe that little bit of weakness in this Bears defense, 0:15:29.620 --> 0:15:31.940 it's that average yards per carry on the ground where 0:15:31.980 --> 0:15:34.980 they rank near the bottom of the league. Anything else 0:15:35.060 --> 0:15:37.340 that jumps out to you as far as a key 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:38.980 to victory for the Packers in this one? 0:15:39.450 --> 0:15:41.729 I think if there's any game this season which Green 0:15:41.750 --> 0:15:43.630 Bay needs to win time of possession, this is it. 0:15:43.890 --> 0:15:45.130 It's not going to be easy to do. 0:15:45.330 --> 0:15:45.470 No. 0:15:45.510 --> 0:15:47.830 I mean, you know the way. But that number is 0:15:47.870 --> 0:15:52.190 reflected in two ways because Ben Johnson wants an explosive play. 0:15:52.250 --> 0:15:54.240 And you sure bet him going up against the Green 0:15:54.250 --> 0:15:56.000 Bay Packers, he wants as many of them as possible. 0:15:56.040 --> 0:15:59.060 But they are fully content with having 10-plus play drives. 0:15:59.460 --> 0:16:02.220 that eat five, six, seven, or in some cases like 0:16:02.260 --> 0:16:05.210 we saw this past Sunday, nine minutes off the clock. 0:16:05.310 --> 0:16:07.930 Green Bay, I thought, did some positive things. They had 0:16:07.990 --> 0:16:12.070 to sort of manufacture their 16 play drive where it 0:16:12.110 --> 0:16:14.470 was four fourth down conversions because they didn't get them 0:16:14.510 --> 0:16:17.110 on third down. But I'll tell you what, man, if 0:16:17.170 --> 0:16:20.600 Green Bay could come out here and get that one 0:16:20.630 --> 0:16:23.140 little aspect in their favor, I think there's so many 0:16:23.180 --> 0:16:26.000 things that branch off of that when it comes to turnovers, takeaways, 0:16:26.060 --> 0:16:29.330 ball control, protecting the football and ultimately trying to score 0:16:29.390 --> 0:16:32.770 points in the red zone. The Bears are going to 0:16:32.790 --> 0:16:34.070 want to take the air out of the ball, but 0:16:34.110 --> 0:16:36.230 you kind of forget that for many years here in 0:16:36.290 --> 0:16:38.390 Matt LaFleur's era in Green Bay, the Packers were one 0:16:38.410 --> 0:16:39.880 of the very best at doing that. Yeah. 0:16:40.500 --> 0:16:42.980 And the Packers absolutely have to play, in my mind, 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:46.440 they have to play their cleanest game on offense to 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:48.140 be able to win this game. And that's, you know, 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:51.520 you have to limit the penalties, you have to stop 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:53.490 with the drop passes, you have to be better with 0:16:53.500 --> 0:16:55.570 the ball security, stop putting the ball on the ground. 0:16:55.970 --> 0:17:01.490 All those things that quite frankly, have held this offense back. 0:17:01.910 --> 0:17:05.860 Last week, I think we all felt, leaving Raymond James Stadium, 0:17:05.900 --> 0:17:08.379 that the Packers should have had 30-plus points on the 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:10.960 board in that game. They walked out with only 17 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:16.620 because of all the self-inflicted mistakes. They have to eliminate 0:17:16.680 --> 0:17:20.580 those and play their cleanest game offensively in order to win. 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:23.219 The other thing, I'll go back to what we were 0:17:23.240 --> 0:17:26.670 talking about before with this Chicago ground game, the two-headed monster. 0:17:27.430 --> 0:17:29.990 you've got to contain this ground game to a certain 0:17:30.030 --> 0:17:33.000 extent and, quite frankly, put the game in Tyson Bajan's hands. 0:17:33.580 --> 0:17:37.240 I'm not saying that as an insult to him or 0:17:37.300 --> 0:17:42.520 anything like that, but we saw that Ben Johnson offense 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:45.290 with the Detroit Lions, they had the two-headed monster in 0:17:45.310 --> 0:17:48.090 the backfield of David Montgomery and Jameer Gibbs, and it's 0:17:48.150 --> 0:17:51.550 Montgomery between the tackles and then it's Gibbs outside. Ben 0:17:51.590 --> 0:17:55.320 Johnson's ground game, he makes you defend all 53 and 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:58.869 a third yards wide of the field on the ground 0:17:58.900 --> 0:18:00.929 because he will pound it between the tackles and he 0:18:00.950 --> 0:18:03.449 will also try to stretch you to either sideline. He 0:18:03.530 --> 0:18:06.830 does that with these two guys as well. The Packers 0:18:06.869 --> 0:18:10.129 have got to contain that, not let the Bears ground 0:18:10.150 --> 0:18:12.320 game control the game. I'm not saying they have to 0:18:12.359 --> 0:18:14.660 hold them to like 50 or 60 yards. That's not 0:18:14.700 --> 0:18:17.139 going to happen, but you have to contain the ground 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:19.580 game to an extent that it's not controlling the game 0:18:19.660 --> 0:18:22.159 against you. And I think that's what gives the Packers 0:18:22.180 --> 0:18:22.780