Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford. He is the one and only
Speaker 1: West Hodkoits were coming to you here from our studios
Speaker 1: at lambeau Field West. It's the middle of the week.
Speaker 1: I know we spent yesterday's show talking about the big
Speaker 1: change with the head coaching position here with the Green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers. We're going to try to turn the page
Speaker 1: forward here and get back into our routine, which is
Speaker 1: to talk about the upcoming opponent, and that's the Atlanta Falcons.
Speaker 1: And I tell you what, West, all you have to
Speaker 1: do is look at this team as an illustration of
Speaker 1: just how I guess unpredictable and fleeting success can be
Speaker 1: in the NFL. Because I was thinking about this the
Speaker 1: other day. Two months ago, the Atlanta Falcons were leading
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl twenty nine to three, and about eleven
Speaker 1: months ago, they were gold to go at Lincoln Financial
Speaker 1: Field in Philadelphia with a chance to return to the
Speaker 1: NFC Championship game if they could get it in the
Speaker 1: end zone in a goal to ghost situation. They did
Speaker 1: not get that. They did not get the title from
Speaker 1: that Super Bowl against the Patriots, and now they're sitting
Speaker 1: at four and eight and they are playing out the string,
Speaker 1: just like the Green Bay Packers are. Yeah, and the
Speaker 1: the real tough situation here for the Falcons as you
Speaker 1: look at them going into this game. Now. They had
Speaker 1: a big emotional win over Washington thirty eight to fourteen.
Speaker 1: That was on November four, and since then they've dropped
Speaker 1: games to Cleveland, Dallas, New Orleans in Baltimore to bring
Speaker 1: a four game losing straight. Yeah, four losses in a
Speaker 1: row after a four and four record at the midway point,
Speaker 1: So sitting at four and eight. My biggest takeaway from
Speaker 1: this mic, and I said it the night of that
Speaker 1: Super Bowl, is that it is so difficult. The road
Speaker 1: is so hard, and so many things have to fall
Speaker 1: your way for you to not only win a Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: but make it there. This is why it's gut wrenching,
Speaker 1: I think because there is no guarantees. It doesn't Just
Speaker 1: because you're the best team one year doesn't mean everything's
Speaker 1: gonna line up and you're gonna be the best team
Speaker 1: the next Look at the Packers in two thousand ten
Speaker 1: to two thousand eleven. Just because you have an m
Speaker 1: v P quarterback doesn't mean it's always going to fall
Speaker 1: into place. What's really peculiar about this particular team, though,
Speaker 1: is they've had some terrible injuries this year. They lose
Speaker 1: Devonte Freeman. I think when you look at Kian O'Neil,
Speaker 1: one of the top hybrid type linebacker safety types in
Speaker 1: the league and do a multitude of different things. So
Speaker 1: injuries have you know, wage their ugly head there. But
Speaker 1: on the other side of it, you look at the
Speaker 1: defense in the primary playmakers, your Vic Beasley's of the world. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, you look at Desmond Truffont, They've had a
Speaker 1: lot of those guys there. The defense just hasn't responded
Speaker 1: and offensively they haven't consistent enough to be able to
Speaker 1: get past it. So I think you look at where
Speaker 1: the Packers are at and where the Falcons are at,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of parallels between those two teams that
Speaker 1: are going to meet at Lambeufield at New and Central
Speaker 1: time on Sunday. Yeah. When I look at this Falcons offense,
Speaker 1: you look at the statistics Matt Ryan is completing around
Speaker 1: his passes, Julio Jones statistically having a monster season. They
Speaker 1: added the rookie Calvin Ridley out of Alabama to the
Speaker 1: receiving corps he's got I believe eight touchdown receptions. I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't know how this team has scored less than
Speaker 1: twenty points four games in a row, in this four
Speaker 1: game losing streak with this offense, it's it's and yes,
Speaker 1: the loss of DeVante Freeman, I don't want to diminish that,
Speaker 1: but you still have Tevin Coleman in the backfield and
Speaker 1: all of these weapons, Mohammed Sanu, Austin Hooper, all of
Speaker 1: these other guys to go with Jones and Ridley in
Speaker 1: the passing game. With a quarterback who just won an
Speaker 1: m v P and deservedly so in two thousand and sixteen,
Speaker 1: it's it's a head scratcher in a sense. West as
Speaker 1: to out early in the season, they lost a couple
Speaker 1: of shootouts. They lost a shootout to the Bengals, they
Speaker 1: lost an overtime shootout to the Saints that was part
Speaker 1: of the four and four start. But now in the
Speaker 1: four game losing streak that's dropped him to four and eight,
Speaker 1: they can't even get to twenty points. It's it's it's amazing,
Speaker 1: quite frankly. Yeah, And then also to mention their offensive line.
Speaker 1: I mean Jake Matthews, Uh, you know, Alex Mack and
Speaker 1: Ryan Schrader are all there this year as well, So
Speaker 1: I mean Andy Leavitri has been out for the year,
Speaker 1: but they still have most of those big components are
Speaker 1: offensive line. So it has been a head scratcher. But
Speaker 1: when I was going and doing my research before we
Speaker 1: hopped in here to talk about the Falcons, I couldn't
Speaker 1: help but look at their record, look at their schedule,
Speaker 1: and not draw some of those those comparisons in my
Speaker 1: head that Joe Philbin had talked about at the podium
Speaker 1: on Monday about sometimes that self fulfilling prophecy a little
Speaker 1: bit when the winds aren't going your way, when the
Speaker 1: production isn't going your way, when the wind just isn't
Speaker 1: quite blowing in the direction you needed to blow, you
Speaker 1: start to fall into a rut. And then that rut
Speaker 1: ends up leading a fewer big plays and fewer you know,
Speaker 1: capitalized opportunities, and then you start getting in a losing streak.
Speaker 1: So yeah, that's where the Falcons are at. This is
Speaker 1: a fascinating match up on a number of levels, though,
Speaker 1: because I think when both of these two teams are
Speaker 1: playing at their absolute best. Yeah, they're they're playoff contending teams.
Speaker 1: They have that kind of ability, they have that kind
Speaker 1: of talent on both sides of the ball. But I
Speaker 1: think it's been an issue of just not getting enough
Speaker 1: big plays out of your playmakers. Looking specifically at Atlanta
Speaker 1: twenty six right now. In total defense, when they have
Speaker 1: the resources that they've invested into that defense, you need
Speaker 1: more production that you need more pressure on the quarterback
Speaker 1: than they've been getting, and it just hasn't been there
Speaker 1: this season. Yeah. Now this is the rematch obviously of
Speaker 1: the two thousand and sixteen NFC title game that was
Speaker 1: down in Atlanta, which the Falcons won, but I believe
Speaker 1: it was three touchdowns or so. They clearly were the
Speaker 1: class of the NFC that year and as we know,
Speaker 1: they should have won the Super Bowl. But when you
Speaker 1: look at this Packers team, certainly on the defensive side
Speaker 1: of the ball, this is a very different Packers team
Speaker 1: than the one that went to Atlanta for that NFC
Speaker 1: championship game. But the Falcons personnel wise offense and defense,
Speaker 1: aside from you know, the addition of Ridley from the
Speaker 1: draft and maybe one or two others, it kind of
Speaker 1: still looks like the same team, you know, yet the Packers,
Speaker 1: at least on the defensive side of the ball, are
Speaker 1: very different. Yeah, no, it is. I mean, like I said,
Speaker 1: they lost two of their big playmakers offensively and defensively
Speaker 1: with DeVonta Freeman going down. But before Devonte Freeman became
Speaker 1: a thing in the NFL, Tevin Coleman was there starting
Speaker 1: running backs. Injuries that sort of pushed Freeman to the
Speaker 1: lineup and let him become the kind of difference maker
Speaker 1: every down back that he became. And I think when
Speaker 1: you look at what Neil had done, and especially in
Speaker 1: that NFC Championship game, what he and and some of
Speaker 1: the players that they had in that defense, the way
Speaker 1: that they were able to really gel and galvanize themselves
Speaker 1: during the final stretch of that season propelled the Falcons
Speaker 1: to being, you know, a Super Bowl contending team. And
Speaker 1: then you said you mentioned Austin Hooper earlier. I've been
Speaker 1: following Hooper all season, just a young and that has
Speaker 1: really come into his own the last two seasons, has
Speaker 1: become more in each week, it seems like more and
Speaker 1: more of a primary target for Matt Ryan and Kelvin Ridley. Well,
Speaker 1: he did have a kind of a lull there mid season,
Speaker 1: has had a resurgence here the last couple of weeks
Speaker 1: has been a big end zone target, as you mentioned,
Speaker 1: with a touchdown. So there's a lot of weapons the
Speaker 1: Packers are going to have to take into account defensively
Speaker 1: to be able to hold Matt Ryan and check because
Speaker 1: like many of these other top flight quarterbacks they've seen
Speaker 1: this season, Ryan gets the ball out quickly, he lets
Speaker 1: things develop down field, but isn't afraid to work underneath.
Speaker 1: And with having Ridley Sanu who had a big game
Speaker 1: against the Packers two years ago, uh, Jones and and
Speaker 1: Hooper certainly don't have to keep in mind the the
Speaker 1: receiving aspect that Freeman provides. But still, that's a lot
Speaker 1: of weapons to shut down. Yeah, and I've always felt
Speaker 1: that Mohammed Sanu is one of the more underrated and
Speaker 1: under the radar type of receivers in this league. Yes,
Speaker 1: he benefits from the attention that Julio Jones gets and
Speaker 1: now that Calvin Ridley is getting. But Mohammed Sanu is
Speaker 1: a guy who can he he can do some damage
Speaker 1: in his own right, and he can win his one
Speaker 1: on one matchups so I mean if if they're giving
Speaker 1: extra attention to Jones Freeman, uh those other weapons. He's
Speaker 1: a guy, as we saw in the NFC title game
Speaker 1: two years ago. When you give him one on one look,
Speaker 1: he's going to take advantage of it. Yeah, alright, well
Speaker 1: quickly was before I forget because I have a tendency
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Speaker 1: I'm certain almost create this like West overtime period when
Speaker 1: you're coming out of it is now where I jumped
Speaker 1: back in. I just wanted to point this out because
Speaker 1: we'll get in on Friday. Two keys to victory, but
Speaker 1: a very quirky stat that worked out, and I'd be
Speaker 1: very interested if like Alias or somebody else could figure
Speaker 1: this out. The Packers last week face the thirty two
Speaker 1: ranked rushing offense in the league right right this week now,
Speaker 1: Atlanta is now last ranked in rushing offense in the NFL. Now,
Speaker 1: to make a point in terms of the key to victory,
Speaker 1: the Packers for the most part, Blake Martinez. I was
Speaker 1: talking with him about this after the game. They did
Speaker 1: a good job of being able to shut down David
Speaker 1: Johnson consistently, but that third quarter kind of got away
Speaker 1: from them. They're going to need to put that kind
Speaker 1: of complete performance together against Atlanta because we know, unlike
Speaker 1: with Josh Rosen, who was kind of you know, in
Speaker 1: you know, inaccurate, you could say, you know, Matt Ryan's
Speaker 1: gonna be able to cut you up there if you
Speaker 1: if you'd let them be two dimensional. Well, it was
Speaker 1: interesting with the Packers run defense against the Cardinals, as
Speaker 1: good a job, I thought as they did against David Johnson.
Speaker 1: It was when the Cardinals turned to Edmonds, that's suddenly
Speaker 1: the explosive plays were happening, and and the Packers really
Speaker 1: didn't adjust to that very well. And Edmonds became a
Speaker 1: huge part of that offense in Arizona pulling out that victory. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was. I mean, he was the difference baker for them,
Speaker 1: and I don't think you and I said his name
Speaker 1: once in the lead up to that game. So from
Speaker 1: this perspective that I'd be really interested to see the
Speaker 1: last time the Packers have faced back to back rushing
Speaker 1: offenses that we're dead last in the league, and then
Speaker 1: three weeks ago it was Minnesota who was thirty one.
Speaker 1: So kind of a weird stretch that they've kind of
Speaker 1: underwentire in this final half of the season. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: on the defensive side of the ball, that's really where
Speaker 1: the Falcons have had the majority of their injuries. As
Speaker 1: you said, some of their key guys have certainly been
Speaker 1: there throughout the season, but they do have a guy
Speaker 1: with a half dozen interceptions in the secondary here. He's
Speaker 1: a playmaker year. You have to pay attention to tell
Speaker 1: us about him. Yeah, So Demonte CAZy, second year player
Speaker 1: for them fifth round draft pick a year ago. It's
Speaker 1: really coincidental the way this works out. He has six
Speaker 1: picks on the year, the Falcons in general only have nine. Uh,
Speaker 1: So he's stepped up in that way and has sort
Speaker 1: of been become a big playmaker for them. They don't
Speaker 1: have Ricardo Lamas this year, so it's been basically him
Speaker 1: and obviously with Neil being out, so he's been kind
Speaker 1: of the big playmaker for them on the back end
Speaker 1: so far this season out of San Diego State. UM
Speaker 1: from San Bernardino, California, So I'd be curious. I have
Speaker 1: to ask Kenny Clark if he has a background with
Speaker 1: him at all. Um, But it's been a big play
Speaker 1: target for them this year. It's been kind of interesting
Speaker 1: how that's worked out. Only has fifty to receive like
Speaker 1: interception return yards, but as you and I have both
Speaker 1: seen Mike over the years, when you have a player
Speaker 1: that gets over five six interceptions, the kind of difference
Speaker 1: it makes for a secondary Yeah. Absolutely. Um. Interestingly, with
Speaker 1: the Falcons we saw you know again, we keep referring
Speaker 1: to that two thousand sixteen NFC Championship game because that's
Speaker 1: really our reference point with the Falcons. Vick Beasley was
Speaker 1: was kind of tough to handle that day, But um,
Speaker 1: he's not having the type of season at this point
Speaker 1: that that the Falcons were counting on. He's not, I said,
Speaker 1: Ricardo Amas, not Ricardo Allen. Who's who I meant to say.
Speaker 1: Ricardo Lamas is a UFC fighter, So I apologize. I
Speaker 1: knew her, I knew who you meant, but Allen, I
Speaker 1: missed the miss miss speaking. I'm glad I caught myself
Speaker 1: on that. Ricardo Allen has been a big presence there
Speaker 1: was in that NFC Championship game, a starter for them
Speaker 1: for many season. He's been out for the year. So
Speaker 1: I was just making the point here out since Week
Speaker 1: four whatever it is that that Casey has kind of
Speaker 1: been thrown in the lineup because of that. Your question again, Sorry,
Speaker 1: I was distracted. No, I was just talking about Vick
Speaker 1: Beasley and that when when the type of postseason that
Speaker 1: he had when the Falcons made that run to the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl a couple of years ago, he was he
Speaker 1: was a big time player on that defense and they've
Speaker 1: been looking for a lot out of him, and so
Speaker 1: far this year they haven't really gotten what they were
Speaker 1: hoping for Yeah, so I don't I can't give you
Speaker 1: a full scouting report on what Vic Beasley's two thousand
Speaker 1: eighteen season has been like, but I will say this,
Speaker 1: I was really taken aback when I brought up the
Speaker 1: statistics and saw that, Okay, he was there an injury
Speaker 1: or something. No, He's played in twelve games for them,
Speaker 1: he started eight thirteen tackles, three sacks. In the past deflection,
Speaker 1: you go back to the NFC Championship game when he
Speaker 1: was on the tail end of his Pro Bowl season
Speaker 1: fifteen and a half sacks, six force fumbles in the
Speaker 1: regular season, the place he made during the postseason. It
Speaker 1: looked like this young man was going to become the
Speaker 1: next you know, Khalil Mack like that, that type of
Speaker 1: difference maker in this league. And over the last two seasons,
Speaker 1: five sacks for him last year in fourteen games, three
Speaker 1: in twelve this year. Two of those came against Dallas
Speaker 1: two weeks ago. So it's been really interesting how this
Speaker 1: has worked out. And I think one of the issues
Speaker 1: so far this year for the Falcons with their twenty
Speaker 1: six ranked defense, they only have twenty three sacks tack McKinley,
Speaker 1: who is a former teammate of of some of these
Speaker 1: used former u c l A players on the Packers roster.
Speaker 1: He currently leads them right now with five and a
Speaker 1: half sacks, but just getting after the quarterback has been
Speaker 1: kind of a problem for them this year and something
Speaker 1: the Packers are gonna have to keep in mind in
Speaker 1: this matchup. Yeah, well, the Falcons. Falcons looking to snap
Speaker 1: a four game losing streak. As we mentioned, the Packers
Speaker 1: been on the skids as we know since the bye week,
Speaker 1: losing five out of six. Looking to turn things around
Speaker 1: under interim head coach Joe philbin Um. Dan Quinn, the
Speaker 1: head coach of the Falcons. You know, it's inevitable that
Speaker 1: they're always gonna be discussions of job security and whatnot.
Speaker 1: It's it's it's astounding to me that, as I said,
Speaker 1: even last year, coming off the Super Bowl loss, they
Speaker 1: were goal to go against Philadelphia on the road in
Speaker 1: the Divisional playoffs with a chance to get a touchdown
Speaker 1: and get back to the NFC Championship game. And now
Speaker 1: suddenly they're they're even rumblings about how secure dan Quinn
Speaker 1: is in is that land? I don't know how seriously
Speaker 1: to take those when it's just one down year. But
Speaker 1: we've been talking about the personnel and everything on the team.
Speaker 1: They are. They are a hard team to figure out
Speaker 1: this year, and hopefully, for the Packer's sake, they can
Speaker 1: the Packers can keep them on the the downside of
Speaker 1: things at least for another week, because Green Bay needs
Speaker 1: a victory just as badly as these guys. They really do, Mike,
Speaker 1: and I'm really interested to see. You know, dan Quinn
Speaker 1: is a defensive mastermind, right. I mean that's how he
Speaker 1: cut his teeth in this league where he didn't built
Speaker 1: that Seattle defense and then and then that's how he
Speaker 1: got the head coaching job in at Lane. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: I'm sure there is that aspect that he really does
Speaker 1: want to get this defense back on track. I think
Speaker 1: one thing that is going to help them, I you know,
Speaker 1: last week Dion Jones. They finally got him back. He
Speaker 1: had fifteen tackles in that game against Baltimore, and again
Speaker 1: not to keep referencing two thousand and sixteen, but you
Speaker 1: saw him in that game and as a hybrid type
Speaker 1: player what he provides that defense. So there was a
Speaker 1: little bit of a uh, you know, comeback there from
Speaker 1: one of their top guys. But that being said, the
Speaker 1: statistics still are what they are. And I'm sure we
Speaker 1: haven't had a chance to talk to him at this
Speaker 1: point in time, but I'm sure that's something that's that's
Speaker 1: kind of grinding at him a little bit, is that
Speaker 1: the defense hasn't been what I think they thought they
Speaker 1: were going to be in terms of having Matt Ryan,
Speaker 1: having that offense and having the explosiveness there, but also
Speaker 1: a defense to compliment that. It's been a little in
Speaker 1: balance for the Falcons so far this season, and then
Speaker 1: in the times in which the offense isn't able to
Speaker 1: point put points up. You've seen teams like Cleveland, You've
Speaker 1: seen teams like Baltimore be able to have the success
Speaker 1: that they've had. Yeah, all right, well I've got a
Speaker 1: run and I know you do too, So we're going
Speaker 1: to call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the
Speaker 1: team on Packers dot com on Twitter. You can still
Speaker 1: find him at west Hot I'm at Mike Spofford at
Speaker 1: Packers for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody,
Speaker 1: We'll see you next time.