WEBVTT - #556 Packers Unscripted: Back on their game 0:00:00.680 --> 0:00:14.920 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:14.960 --> 0:00:17.799 Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined by the 0:00:17.800 --> 0:00:21.279 one and only Western Hodkowitz. Were coming to you here 0:00:21.320 --> 0:00:26.240 from our new studio at lambeau Field Packers Texans West 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:31.080 noon Central Time, Sunday. Kickoff from down in Houston. Let's 0:00:31.120 --> 0:00:33.520 get right to it. Keys to victory for the Green 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:36.440 Bay Packers. What will it take. We can start on 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:39.360 the offensive side of the ball to right the ship 0:00:39.560 --> 0:00:42.760 and come back from Houston with the fifth victory of 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:46.040 the season. Remember who you are. That's something I've been 0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:48.320 preaching all week long, and it goes off and sort 0:00:48.320 --> 0:00:50.720 of dovetails from what we've heard in the locker room 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:54.280 this week with Aaron Rodgers, Mercedes Lewis, some of the 0:00:54.320 --> 0:00:56.080 people that have spoken to us at the time in 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:59.960 which we're taping the show, knowing that, yeah, it was disappointing, 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:03.080 but not that it even necessarily needs to be an anomaly. 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:05.720 It's something you have to learn from. But this team 0:01:05.760 --> 0:01:08.200 won four games right off the bat for a reason. 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:11.080 They were They put up a hundred and fifty plus 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:14.080 points in those first four games for a reason. And 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:16.520 you can't get too high and too low with this. 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:18.679 I mean, if you go back to those four victories, Mike, 0:01:18.760 --> 0:01:22.800 every time in those Wednesdays and Thursday's media availability that followed, 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:25.040 they were very even keeled about this thing. You have 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:27.880 to take that same approach now because they're going up 0:01:27.880 --> 0:01:29.640 against the Houston Texas team. As you and I have 0:01:29.680 --> 0:01:32.440 said time and time again, maybe have the hardest strength 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:34.200 of schedule through the first month and a half of 0:01:34.200 --> 0:01:37.640 the NFL season. I have playmakers on both sides of 0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:39.679 the ball that can change the momentum and turn a 0:01:39.720 --> 0:01:42.520 game at any moment. The Green Bay Packers have those 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:45.119 players too, and as difficult as it might be at 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:47.000 time to think about, Okay, what do we have to 0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:49.360 do to win this game, they need to get back 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:51.400 into their rhythm, whether it be the play calling, the 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:55.200 game plan, the execution. Now it looks like Tyler Irvin 0:01:55.400 --> 0:01:58.400 still dealing with that wrist injury. If they want to 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:00.600 revert to some of the motion stuff, that means Aaron 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:02.160 Jones is going to have to adapt to some of that. 0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:05.120 They're gonna have to get their receivers involved. This offense 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:08.640 has been multiple invariant for so long, and they've been 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:11.480 successful doing that. They need to get those wheels moving 0:02:11.520 --> 0:02:14.120 again here against the Texans. Yeah. I mean, we've certainly 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:16.679 heard the right things from the Packers thus far this week, 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:19.400 from the head coach and other players, as well as 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:21.640 far as that even keel approach, like you said, it 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:24.520 has worked here in Green Bay in the Matt Lafleur era. 0:02:25.919 --> 0:02:28.359 There hasn't been a losing streak under Matt Lafleur. That's 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:30.960 obviously a trend the Packers want to continue. He's, uh, 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:33.960 you know, I'm working on doing some research on this. 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:38.440 There hasn't been a Packers coach, probably since Curly Lambeau 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:41.120 that has gone this long into his tenure as a 0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:43.360 head coach of the Packers without a losing streak. So 0:02:43.400 --> 0:02:45.360 there's something to be said for that in terms of 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:49.000 what you do is working. And I think what you 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:52.320 said right off the bat, remember who you are. This 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:55.640 offense is at its best when Aaron Jones is the 0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:59.120 focal point and it doesn't have it, whether it's running 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:02.200 the ball, whether it's catching passes, maybe it's running the 0:03:02.280 --> 0:03:04.840 jet motion stuff to open up things for other guys, 0:03:04.880 --> 0:03:07.920 whatever the case might be. But when all the defensive 0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:12.519 attention is on Aaron Jones. That's when this offense seems 0:03:12.560 --> 0:03:16.239 to really flow and click and and and work. It's 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:18.480 best magic, so to speak. And I think that's what 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:20.959 the Packers have to get back to. That's where the 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:24.280 efficiency and the production is going to come from. Yeah, 0:03:24.320 --> 0:03:27.119 and if you go back and they aren't undefeated when 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:29.280 Aaron Jones goes over a hundred total yards or a 0:03:29.320 --> 0:03:32.560 hundred rushing yards, but they're pretty darn close, going back 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:35.120 all the way to his rookie season in two thousand seventeen. 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:37.040 This is the type of guy and the type of 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:39.920 playmaker that when he is right, everything else just seems 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:42.680 to go right with this offense. And you know last 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:45.440 week with him only having ten carries for fifteen yards, 0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:48.280 and certainly he had the rushing touchdown and did some 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:50.520 good things in the passing game, but the bread and 0:03:50.560 --> 0:03:53.119 butter of this offense is running the football and being 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:55.800 able to establish him early. Now, a credit goes to 0:03:55.880 --> 0:03:58.320 Jamal Williams. He stepped up the last few weeks and 0:03:58.360 --> 0:04:00.480 he's been the leading rusher here last week and then 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:03.920 a week before that was their leading receiver. But getting 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:07.160 Jones going and making defenses really think about what they're 0:04:07.200 --> 0:04:10.080 doing when he's in the backfield. That's where you really 0:04:10.080 --> 0:04:12.760 saw this offense get into its stride earlier this season. 0:04:13.040 --> 0:04:15.760 Davante Adams is back and he, hopefully here is going 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:17.680 to be a week healthier. Appears like he had no 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:21.200 subbax whatsoever with the hamstring. You don't know exactly what 0:04:21.240 --> 0:04:23.120 the situation is gonna be with Robert Tany, and he 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:26.640 missed practice on Wednesday with an ankle. But all that 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:29.680 being said, the more weapons that you can get kind 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:32.800 of working and getting that synergy back. I just think 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:34.440 when you look at the way they were able to 0:04:34.520 --> 0:04:37.680 attack defenses that first month of the season, the blueprints 0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:39.520 still very much there for Green Bay to get back 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:42.200 on track this Sunday. Yeah, I think the biggest question 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:44.800 for the Packers offensively heading into this game is what 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:47.320 is the offensive line going to look like? Because at 0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:49.800 the time we're taping this, the Packers have only practiced 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:53.400 once that was on Wednesday. David baktr was not on 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:56.720 the practice field. We will see how things evolve as 0:04:56.760 --> 0:05:00.120 the week goes along. But we saw earlier in the 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:02.919 season when there were injuries to the starters up front, 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:05.120 it wasn't just Okay, we're gonna pull one guy off 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:07.680 the bench and plug him into that spot. Matt la 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:11.800 Fleur not averse to moving guys around two different spots, 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:14.479 So who knows who might play left tackle and then 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:16.960 how what the trickle down effect of that could be 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:20.000 if bok T isn't able to go. Now that being said, 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:23.320 David Bactieri has missed only six games in his entire 0:05:23.480 --> 0:05:26.599 NFL career, four games one year, in two games another year. 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:29.000 That's been it. You know, he is going to do 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:32.320 everything it takes to get out there. But we'll just 0:05:32.360 --> 0:05:34.560 have to see if he is healthy enough to go 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:37.320 and if not, what the Packers response to that will 0:05:37.360 --> 0:05:40.160 be with the lineup. Yeah, and you also have to remember, too, 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:43.080 very quietly, out of this bye week, the Packers are 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:45.920 entering their most daunting part of the schedule here where 0:05:45.960 --> 0:05:49.600 you go to Houston, you come back to face Minnesota, 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:52.640 and then you're suddenly traveling again to San Francisco on 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:55.200 three days, not a short week, on a short week, 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:57.120 so there's a lot of football to be played here 0:05:57.120 --> 0:06:00.080 in the next one days or so. So you you 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:02.440 need to see the forest through the trees a little 0:06:02.440 --> 0:06:03.880 bit on what they need to do. Now what we'll 0:06:03.880 --> 0:06:06.120 see exactly what this game plan shuffles out to look 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:08.839 like for box tr The one thing I find very 0:06:08.880 --> 0:06:12.560 interesting with Matt lafleur Um there's there's basically two different 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:15.919 groups of psychology for how you handle offensive lines, and 0:06:15.960 --> 0:06:18.080 we saw both of them during the Mike McCarthy tenure. 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:20.360 Early on, it was that you want to get your 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:22.919 best five out There doesn't matter what position they're playing. 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:25.920 So if an injury happened to Brian Bulaga, you saw 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:28.200 t J laying bump out to right tackle a couple 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:31.000 of times. They had Evan Smith go into guard. Then 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:33.919 later on in McCarthy's tenure, they looked for more of 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:36.599 the one for one replacement. You know, you had a 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:38.880 guy go down, Well, there's Don Barclay is gonna play 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:41.440 right tackle now, and that's just what you're gonna ride with. 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:44.040 The Floor seems to be a little bit more inclined 0:06:44.080 --> 0:06:46.400 to the former, where it's if you want to just 0:06:46.440 --> 0:06:49.560 find your starting five, it doesn't matter what position they're 0:06:49.560 --> 0:06:53.040 playing at. You just gotta go with it. And honestly, 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:55.520 it worked great in that game against Minnesota with what 0:06:55.560 --> 0:06:57.760 Elton Jenkins was able to do when he bumped out 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:00.120 not only the right tackle, but he was moving on 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:02.760 a different side of the line of scrimmage. Uh. This 0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:06.320 is an exceptional athlete, a really special talent, and that 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:08.480 gives them a little bit more versatility with what they 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:11.160 want to do. Rick Wagner, I take my cap off 0:07:11.160 --> 0:07:13.440 to him. I mean, the guy had basically had gotten 0:07:13.480 --> 0:07:16.640 no reps whatsoever in practice. I can't imagine he took 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:19.800 a lot of left tackle when you have David Botr healthy, 0:07:19.840 --> 0:07:21.760 and he went in there and he held the fords. 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:23.880 So a lot of decisions they're going to have to 0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:26.080 make in which direction they want to go with this thing. Yeah, 0:07:26.120 --> 0:07:27.920 just to throw out some of the different options. If 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:30.240 box tr is unable to play, you could plug in 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:32.920 Rick Wagner, which would be sort of option too in 0:07:33.120 --> 0:07:35.960 those scenarios you're laying out other ways you could go. 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:39.720 You could flip Billy Turner from right tackle over to 0:07:39.800 --> 0:07:42.440 left tackle and have Wagner takeover at right tackle. You 0:07:42.440 --> 0:07:45.760 could slide Elton Jenkins from left guard out to left tackle. 0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:49.400 Then presumably that means John Runyon, the rookie comes off 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:51.960 the bench to play at guard. A lot of different 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:54.600 ways the Packers can go. What we do know is 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:58.800 not going to tell him. He's not interested in revealing 0:07:58.920 --> 0:08:02.800 what the plans are if box tr is unable to play, 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:05.480 and so again it's a wait and see until Sunday 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:08.280 kind of. And Rogers mentioned to on his appearance with 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:10.520 the Pat McAfee show. I mean he recalled back and 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:12.600 that was what now three or four years ago, the 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:15.440 game in which they had to start five guards on 0:08:15.520 --> 0:08:18.800 the offensive line where Lane Taylor started at left tackle, 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:21.080 and then I think you ended up having Justin mccraize 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:24.280 starting at right time tack in the late season matchup. 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:26.800 So they've they've dealt with all of this before the 0:08:27.040 --> 0:08:29.520 big question that's gonna be And and just you know, 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:33.080 when you have a guy like box tr Um, a 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:35.000 lot of teams, I think people take it for granted 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:36.720 a little bit. In Green Bay when you had a run, 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:38.400 you know, we talked so much about the quarterbacks. Well, 0:08:38.400 --> 0:08:40.320 when you have a run with Chad Clifton for a 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:43.240 decade and you've had this run now with box tr 0:08:43.440 --> 0:08:46.080 coming up on a decade, you sometimes forget about the 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:49.080 blind spot. You sometimes forget about that left tackle position. 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:52.160 It's not supposed to be that easy in this league. 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:54.880 But those two guys, credit to them, have have really 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:56.640 made it look a lot easier than it is. Yeah, 0:08:56.720 --> 0:08:59.320 offensive coaches love to not have to worry about that 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:02.240 left tackle spot when they go into game planning week 0:09:02.280 --> 0:09:05.400 after week for games. Quickly here West, before we shift 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:08.680 gears to the defensive side. Serious x m NFL Radio 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:12.360 channel is the only radio outlet dedicated to the National 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:15.679 Football League seven days a week, three d sixty five 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:19.200 days a year. And Packers fans gear up four game day, 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:22.560 open a Packers checking account from Associated Bank and score 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:25.559 a fifty dollar Packers Pro Shop gift card. Learn more 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:30.240 at Associated bank dot com. Backslash Packers. All Right, defensive 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:33.959 side of the ball. There are three things here West 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:39.000 that I think we're seeing a difference in this pers 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:42.840 defense compared to twenty nineteen, and the Packers aren't going 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:44.560 to be able to fix all three of these in 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:47.920 one week. But when we you know, I remember, just 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:50.920 to preface this a little bit, the years that Julius 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:53.920 Peppers was here, he used to talk all the time 0:09:53.960 --> 0:09:56.560 when he would speak with the media, especially early in 0:09:56.559 --> 0:09:58.680 the season the first half of the season, that everything 0:09:58.760 --> 0:10:01.280 about the defense was always a work in progress. It 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:04.720 was it was working fixing this, adjusting that to get 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:06.360 to where you needed to be at the end of 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:10.960 the season. He always took the long view. So I say, 0:10:11.000 --> 0:10:13.120 with these three things, I'm going to point out that 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:16.960 the Packers need to need to change as things go along. 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:19.439 It's not all going to happen at once, but this 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:21.600 is where they need to go. Obviously, the pass rush 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:24.960 needs to improve. The statistics on the pressures, the sacks 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:27.360 all that. It's not their same thing with the turnovers. 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:29.120 They need to turn the ball over where they've now 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:32.400 gone two straight games without one. That is uh, that's 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:35.960 not a sustainable formula for this defense. But the other 0:10:35.960 --> 0:10:37.760 one I think is the big one that we haven't 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:41.200 really talked about yet is the defense in the red zone. 0:10:42.040 --> 0:10:45.600 Last year, the Packers were tied for sixth in the 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:48.840 league and red zone defense. They allowed touchdowns only fifty 0:10:48.920 --> 0:10:51.360 percent of the time when opponents got in the red 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:54.800 zone twenty four out of tied for sixth in the league. 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:56.880 It was one of the best red zone defenses around. 0:10:57.000 --> 0:10:59.760 This year, Packers are twenty eight the red zone d 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:05.079 seventy six point five percent thirteen of seventeen times now. 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:07.280 Granted one of those, just like there was one last 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:09.680 year after turnover and the balls on the two yard line. 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:12.320 You don't really fault the defense for that. But over 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:15.160 the long haul, these are the numbers right to be 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:17.199 tied for six in the league and to be twenty 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:19.720 eight in the league in red zone defense, that's something 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:22.000 that's got to change because red zone stops are worth 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:25.720 four points, bottom line, and and the Packers defense is 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:27.959 not getting those red zone stops right now. Well, let's 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:29.680 be honest about something too. What was one of the 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:31.760 reasons the Packers were able to really eat out some 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:33.800 close victories last year. It was the fact that they 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:37.080 kept the opposing offense out of their end zone. So 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:39.600 that that is something that you definitely want to see change. 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:41.960 You Know, Pressures I've always kind of been a little 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:44.840 bit lukewarm with because again I've seen it time and 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:47.560 time again. Didn't matter if it was during the heyday 0:11:47.600 --> 0:11:51.120 with Dom Capers, in the middle of Caper's tenure, even 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:53.920 now with Petton. Is that, you know, numbers can look 0:11:53.960 --> 0:11:55.839 like one thing and then all it takes is a 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:58.360 three sack performance from you know, Pressett Smith and then 0:11:58.440 --> 0:12:00.360 numbers start to get thrown on their head a little bit. 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:02.960 But the big thing that gets to go back to 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:05.400 the red zone is that's a more consistent stat over 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:07.760 the course of a season. That really tells you the 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:10.400 true story of a defense. And you know, there's so 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:12.560 many things I think now, Mike, you got to take 0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:14.640 with a grain of salt. Total defense isn't what it 0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:16.679 used to be. Um you know when you look at 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:18.880 just yardage as a measurement, But you also can't look 0:12:18.880 --> 0:12:21.959 strictly at you know, points either, because a pick six 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:25.000 that counts is against the defense as well. But red 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:27.120 zone defense is one area where I think all your 0:12:27.200 --> 0:12:29.720 chips are down and you have you know, it's your 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:32.280 guys versus their guys, and you have the advantage of 0:12:32.320 --> 0:12:35.160 a shortened field. Green Bay was exceptional in that area 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:37.160 last year, not only just from the standpoint that they 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:39.080 held teams out of the end zone. They could pressure 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:41.120 the quarterback from that part of the field, they could 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:43.000 turn over the football from that part of the part 0:12:43.000 --> 0:12:46.040 of the field. So without knowing what the messages to 0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:49.440 Mike Petton that you you list out all the different options, 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:52.000 that's what looks like number one to me. That's primary 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:54.600 option a is trying to find a way to shore 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:57.280 that side of things up, because there is nothing more 0:12:57.320 --> 0:13:00.440 demoralizing you watch any NFL game on any given week. 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:02.520 It was when an offense can go sixty or seventy 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:05.559 yards and then they stall out at a fifteen yard line. 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:07.840 That's a tough thing to bounce back from. Make you 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:10.200 think a little bit about the points that you left 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:12.280 on the board. Yeah, I mean you and I talked 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:14.120 about it all the time. West. The way this league 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:17.000 is built. This league is built on offense. It's built 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:20.080 on explosive plays. Defenses are gonna get gashed for twenty 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:23.319 yard plays and twenty five yard place. It happens across 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:28.560 the board to every team every week. The differences. Can 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:32.520 you recover from that explosive play within that same possession 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:35.040 to potentially hold a team to a field goal, or 0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:37.960 even after an explosive play early on, can you get 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:40.720 the stop at midfield? Yes, maybe they're gonna punt you 0:13:40.760 --> 0:13:43.720 back to the five yard line, but they're punting and 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:46.520 they're not getting any points because you recovered from that 0:13:46.600 --> 0:13:51.000 explosive play. We saw the Packers defense last year recover 0:13:51.160 --> 0:13:54.240 very quickly from explosive plays and we're not seeing that 0:13:54.320 --> 0:13:57.000 this year, and that speaks a lot to the red 0:13:57.080 --> 0:13:59.840 zone statistics that we're seeing. Yeah, the bizarre thing is, 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:01.920 and again this is where I have to imagine that Petton, 0:14:02.000 --> 0:14:03.439 you know, kind of you know, scratching his head a 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:06.120 little bit. Is they kind of have made offenses go 0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:08.640 the long way. Now you talk about explosives. That's anything 0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:11.800 over yards, no doubt about it. But it's sort of 0:14:11.840 --> 0:14:13.920 been like death by a thousand cuts here where it 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:16.560 hasn't necessarily just been like a sixty yard run that 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:19.120 was allowed or a seventy five yard pass right off 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:21.480 the first play, but they haven't been able to either 0:14:21.520 --> 0:14:23.520 a find the stop when they needed or that big 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:26.160 takeaway when they needed. Three takeaways right now through these 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:29.320 first five games, they come in bunches, is what they say. 0:14:29.360 --> 0:14:31.720 And it's something that gets reiterated time and time again, 0:14:31.720 --> 0:14:33.600 and just when you're about to talk about how that's 0:14:33.600 --> 0:14:36.600 a cliche, it always seems to happen. So you wonder 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:38.440 if it can be this week or the week after 0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:41.440 against Minnesota, whatever that is. I think once you just 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:44.280 kind of get some of those big turnover type plays again, 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:47.080 just think about what the safety did for green Bay's 0:14:47.120 --> 0:14:50.880 defense in Minnesota, or the Shandon Sullivan pick six, those 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:52.840 things really can get in your head a little bit 0:14:52.840 --> 0:14:55.080 and make you think, Okay, this is how we get 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:58.920 back to dominating. Yeah. Absolutely, well, it's a it's a 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:01.320 bounce back week on both sides. The ball in a 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:03.640 lot of fashions for the Green Bay Packers and they 0:15:03.640 --> 0:15:05.720 need to they need to get that done. Take care 0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:08.040 of business down in Houston on Sunday. There are a 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:11.960 whole bunch of really really interesting games in Week seven 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:14.000 here in the NFL West. I'm gonna rattle off a 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:16.520 bunch of them to you and I'll let you start 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:20.080 wherever you want to. But Pittsburgh at Tennessee, a battle 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:23.080 of unbeatens in the a f C, Seattle at Arizona, 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:26.120 big matchup in the a f C West, Chicago at 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:28.840 the L A. Rams on Monday Night Football, a game 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:31.760 that Packers fans certainly will have their eye on. And 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:36.000 then a couple of really intriguing cross conference games. San 0:15:36.040 --> 0:15:39.720 Francisco is at New England after San Francisco kind of 0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:41.760 seems to have righted the ship with the win over 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:44.000 the Rams last week. That a game that not a 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:46.840 lot of people expected them to win with the way 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:49.480 their season was going. And then Tampa Bay, the team 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:52.000 that just beat Green Bay and is flying high right now. 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:55.000 At the Las Vegas Raiders, the team that not that 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:58.240 long ago just handed the Kansas City Chiefs they're only 0:15:58.320 --> 0:16:00.600 loss of the season. So I'll throw all that out 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:02.680 there for you can start wherever you want to. Well, 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:05.120 and just before I do, I mean, you can talk 0:16:05.160 --> 0:16:07.480 about matchups further down the charts too. I mean, you've 0:16:07.480 --> 0:16:10.200 got the NFC East teams playing each other this week, 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:13.760 somebody trying to you know, gain some stability in that division. 0:16:14.120 --> 0:16:17.240 And then the Panthers are traveling to New Orleans. That's 0:16:17.240 --> 0:16:21.560 a marquee matchup right now, and in Teddy Bridgewater obviously 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:23.760 going to face the team that kind of helped him, 0:16:23.800 --> 0:16:26.600 you know, resuscitate his NFL career. But the game I 0:16:26.680 --> 0:16:29.200 have to go to just because as long as we're 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:32.760 talking about one loss or no losses as Chicago, uh, 0:16:32.840 --> 0:16:34.760 they're taking on again back in the day when we 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:36.400 did this five days a week, we'll be talking about 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:38.960 this next Monday. But because of this is our our 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:42.000 last show until then. This is the this is the 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:45.080 real barometer here for the Bears. And I've said it 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:47.600 time and time again I will keep saying it. A 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:50.040 team wins five games in the National Football League and 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:53.000 its first six, that's a big deal. I don't want 0:16:53.000 --> 0:16:55.640 to hear about, oh, they're not legit, or they've done 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:58.960 this or that or this. They won five games. When 0:16:58.960 --> 0:17:01.640 we get down to weeks event teen and we're talking 0:17:01.640 --> 0:17:05.560 about division titles, in playoff appearances and all that other stuff, 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:08.680 we're not really talking about strength of schedule at all. 0:17:08.760 --> 0:17:10.920 Maybe it'll come into play with the seventh spot now 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:14.080 with wins and losses and whatnot, but that's it's not 0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:17.320 a it's not a hey, how attractive were your wins 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:19.679 to get into the playoffs? No, it was did you 0:17:19.720 --> 0:17:22.520 win the games or did you not? And for the Bears, 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:25.919 I mean Nick Foles settling in here, seems to have 0:17:25.960 --> 0:17:29.240 a good grasp of what Matt Nagy wants to do offensively. 0:17:29.960 --> 0:17:31.760 It's a big test for them now going on the 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:33.639 road scene. If they can knock off the Rams. Yea. 0:17:33.720 --> 0:17:35.840 And for those who are thinking, okay, this is where 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:37.639 the Bears are going to get there, come up and 0:17:37.680 --> 0:17:39.880 so to speak, and you know the Rams are gonna 0:17:39.960 --> 0:17:43.280 expose the Bears for who they are. It's exactly what 0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:45.959 a lot of people thought two years ago. Remember that 0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:48.480 primetime game the Rams went in to Soldier Field and 0:17:48.520 --> 0:17:52.359 that Chicago Bears defense completely stifled them, and then the 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:54.880 Bears were on their way to a division championship in 0:17:54.880 --> 0:17:59.200 in the NFC North. So UM certainly, uh certainly wanted 0:17:59.200 --> 0:18:03.399 to watch their see battle at Arizona. Seahawks undefeated in 0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:07.680 the NFC West and Arizona coming off of the big 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:10.680 Monday night victory down in Dallas. It's a short week 0:18:10.720 --> 0:18:13.280 for Arizona, so that makes it tough to be preparing 0:18:13.320 --> 0:18:15.679 for a team like the Seahawks. I gotta get your 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:17.840 thoughts though on the unbeaten in the a f C 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:22.520 Pittsburgh at Tennessee. Guy, you got anybody you like in 0:18:22.560 --> 0:18:25.560 this one? It's the It's gonna sound weird because Pittsburgh's 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:27.960 probably been one of the most consistently performing teams in 0:18:27.960 --> 0:18:30.760 the NFL the last two decades. But this to me 0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:34.240 kind of represents the New Guard a little bit. You know, 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:37.240 you had Kansas City, you have Baltimore. Certainly those teams 0:18:37.240 --> 0:18:39.639 are still up there. New England has always been up 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:42.200 in this thing. But Pittsburgh and Tennessee are the two 0:18:42.240 --> 0:18:43.879 teams that have kind of been wait in the wings 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:46.600 a little bit. Now. The Titans got some publicity last 0:18:46.600 --> 0:18:49.080 season with with the run that they got on and 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:53.600 seeing what Derrick Henry can do against that defense is 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:56.320