Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted social
Speaker 1: distancing Style from Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford
Speaker 1: joint as always by the one and only Wes Hodkowits.
Speaker 1: We are coming to you from twelve Lombardi Avenue West.
Speaker 1: The first game of the Packers season is just a
Speaker 1: few days away, and I want to start today's show
Speaker 1: by tossing a phrase out at you because it's a
Speaker 1: phrase we've heard a few different times through the off
Speaker 1: season and again this week from Aaron Rodgers that he
Speaker 1: thinks this Packers team, despite thirteen and three a year ago,
Speaker 1: one game away from the Super Bowl, he believes this
Speaker 1: Packers team is flying under the radar a little bit
Speaker 1: as far as the national pundits are concerned. Do you
Speaker 1: think that is the case. Well, it's funny that he
Speaker 1: feels this way, Mike, because the Packers did win thirteen
Speaker 1: games last year, they did make the NFC Championship game,
Speaker 1: and they are flying underneath the radar of the National
Speaker 1: Football League once again. The thing I love about this
Speaker 1: analytics era of this um, you know, this proliferation of
Speaker 1: just you know, analysis everywhere, video guy that and analytics
Speaker 1: here talking head. There is that when you need talking points,
Speaker 1: you typically will grab onto things that you don't understand,
Speaker 1: and I think there are a lot of things that
Speaker 1: people couldn't comprehend. If you didn't watch this team every
Speaker 1: single week last year, why were they as successful as
Speaker 1: they were? How were they able to overcome some of
Speaker 1: the typical Well, they weren't a top ten offense or
Speaker 1: a top ten defense, or they still made plays and
Speaker 1: they still found ways to win. If you can't fit
Speaker 1: all of that into a nice, tight, tiny, concise, understandable bubble,
Speaker 1: well then everybody just disregards it. And for that reason,
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people are again counting against
Speaker 1: this team going into two thousand and twenty, and I
Speaker 1: think that's unfortunate, Mike, because if you look at the
Speaker 1: way the Packers are built in a lot of ways,
Speaker 1: there are a much better team on paper than they
Speaker 1: were a year ago at this time. Don't get me wrong.
Speaker 1: Losing Brian Bulaga, that's a big loss, especially with the
Speaker 1: questions at right tackle going into Sunday's game. They had to,
Speaker 1: you know, shed a few parts to gain a few
Speaker 1: and now you have the running game is more established,
Speaker 1: you have Aaron Rodgers looking more comfortable. You have Davonte
Speaker 1: Adams being the type of receiver that I think also
Speaker 1: is really flying underneath the radar of the NFL. I
Speaker 1: think it's finally starting to feel some of that that
Speaker 1: real appreciation for his game. The Smith's Adrian Ames. The
Speaker 1: list goes on and on. Mike, the Greenbay Packers are
Speaker 1: a better team than they were last year at this time,
Speaker 1: and if they can find the progress that they want
Speaker 1: from those second and third year players, there's a reason
Speaker 1: to believe this team is once again Super Bowl contender. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's interesting to me that you brought up analytics because
Speaker 1: to me, there's To me, there's been a big analytical
Speaker 1: narrative surrounding this Packers team, and not just the Packers,
Speaker 1: but I think the Seahawks are another team that falls
Speaker 1: into this category because those were the two teams last
Speaker 1: year that won the most close games, the most one
Speaker 1: score games, you know, eight points are less, and all
Speaker 1: the analytics say you can't have that type of record
Speaker 1: in close games again. And while there is certainly a
Speaker 1: law of averages to a funny game with a funny
Speaker 1: shaped ball that can bounce weird ways, I get that,
Speaker 1: but There's also something to be said in this league
Speaker 1: for being the better team in the clutch moments when
Speaker 1: it really matters, and I think that's what the Packers
Speaker 1: were in twenty nineteen. You look at three of their
Speaker 1: wins in December Washington, Chicago, Detroit, the Packers were better
Speaker 1: than all three of those teams. They did not play
Speaker 1: very well in either in any of those three games,
Speaker 1: but in the fourth quarter when it mattered, when they
Speaker 1: had to find a way to win the game, they did,
Speaker 1: and they were the better team when it counted, And
Speaker 1: I think that sort of became the identity of the
Speaker 1: two thousand nineteen Packers. So I think if you're talking
Speaker 1: about regression to the means, so to speak, with some
Speaker 1: of these analytics, the one thing that could certainly catch
Speaker 1: up to the Packers is the health issue. Because Green
Speaker 1: Bay was extremely healthy last year. Did you know, other
Speaker 1: than losing Davante Adams for four games to the turf
Speaker 1: toe injury at mid season, there wasn't any other, you know,
Speaker 1: really high level significant injury that the Packers had to
Speaker 1: deal with in twenty nineteen, and they took advantage of
Speaker 1: that certainly. But when you know, and as I said,
Speaker 1: The Seahawks are kind of another team now. The Packers
Speaker 1: and Seahawks bet in the playoffs, and obviously it was
Speaker 1: a very close game of five point difference came down
Speaker 1: to the way or so something had to give there.
Speaker 1: But the Seahawks are another team that a lot of
Speaker 1: the nash Old pundits are kind of discounting them a
Speaker 1: little bit because of all the close games they won
Speaker 1: last year, and I just I don't think that's necessarily
Speaker 1: the right reason to to count somebody out. Now. The
Speaker 1: Seahawks certainly are are in a tough division that NFC
Speaker 1: West is going to be really really fun and entertaining
Speaker 1: to watch, certainly, But when it comes to the Packers
Speaker 1: flying under the radar, I do think they are. I
Speaker 1: just don't necessarily agree with the reasons that are being
Speaker 1: put out there for why they are well. And the
Speaker 1: thing I think would have been really interesting if, as
Speaker 1: if everyone would have been as hot on the Packers
Speaker 1: last August as they were the Cleveland Browns. The pundits,
Speaker 1: this is another thing they love to do. These these
Speaker 1: analysts love to do they want They like picking out
Speaker 1: their attractive dark horse, and they do it to the
Speaker 1: point that they beat that dark horse to death, and
Speaker 1: you you end up getting these stories where you know,
Speaker 1: the Cleveland Browns don't end up being the team everybody
Speaker 1: expects them to be, and now everybody's disappointed in them.
Speaker 1: Everybody thinks that they're needs to be this type of
Speaker 1: change over. The Browns were still a team that was
Speaker 1: up and coming, but they weren't by any means, a
Speaker 1: finished product. I think you're seeing it now with the
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and they may have a fantastic season,
Speaker 1: but they're competing against a really difficult New Orleans Saints
Speaker 1: team in that same division, and they're having to really
Speaker 1: rebuild an entire offense now around Tom Brady. There are
Speaker 1: question marks there, but yet nobody wants to talk about that.
Speaker 1: They just want to talk about the fact that Tom
Speaker 1: Terrific's there. The Buccaneers are fantastic and they're gonna have
Speaker 1: a phenomenal season. It doesn't work like that. The Green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers last year were a testament to the people
Speaker 1: that do all the analysis early on and they do
Speaker 1: their rankings and they try to figure out who the
Speaker 1: division champions are gonna be and who's gonna make the playoffs.
Speaker 1: You can't play that game in the National Football League
Speaker 1: because there is so much turnover. All you have to
Speaker 1: do is look at the playoffs scenarios from the last
Speaker 1: ten years. There's always gonna be a Packers team. There's
Speaker 1: always gonna be a Titans team that kind of comes
Speaker 1: out of relative obscurity relative to where they were the
Speaker 1: last season and really surprise people enjoy that ride, be
Speaker 1: able to appreciate that ride, and then realistically, yeah, you
Speaker 1: want to have all these discussions about where did the
Speaker 1: stats bear out? You can have them until you're blue
Speaker 1: in the face. But the fact of the matter is
Speaker 1: there's one metric that the NFL uses to determine who
Speaker 1: gets to go to the playoffs. It's wins. It's division titles.
Speaker 1: The Packers did that and they won a game in
Speaker 1: the playoffs and they got to the NFC Championship game.
Speaker 1: Another they want to try to make that next step. Yeah,
Speaker 1: another point to throw out there as well, because this
Speaker 1: is a long season and we're certainly hoping that we're
Speaker 1: going to have a full long season once again here
Speaker 1: in the NFL. Thanksgiving last year, nobody thought the Tennessee
Speaker 1: Titans would be one of the last four teams standing
Speaker 1: right go back to at Thanksgiving, did anybody think the
Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers were gonna be one of the last
Speaker 1: four teams standing? So even with all this talk through
Speaker 1: August and early September about where teams are, it comes
Speaker 1: down to where are you in November and December and
Speaker 1: heading in January? And we are so far away from
Speaker 1: getting to that point. So, yes, it's fun to talk
Speaker 1: about who's gonna win the divis Asi and who's going
Speaker 1: to make the playoffs, who were the super Bowl contenders,
Speaker 1: But quite quite frankly, it's it's a it's a discussion
Speaker 1: that that you can't even really get serious about until
Speaker 1: you get about ten eleven games into this thing. Well,
Speaker 1: and what I love about Matt Lafore's perspective to Mike
Speaker 1: is that even if the Packers were getting the proper
Speaker 1: credit for being a thirteen and three team, for being
Speaker 1: amongst those final four, he wouldn't want to hear about
Speaker 1: two thousand nineteen because if you look at many of
Speaker 1: those same examples of teams that made it to championship games,
Speaker 1: heck that even made it to Super Bowls, that is
Speaker 1: not an indicator we're gonna be able to just replicate
Speaker 1: that the next season they're onto two thousand and twenty,
Speaker 1: And for the hope and sake of my own sanity,
Speaker 1: I hope the onlookers are too. If the Packers perform
Speaker 1: well on Sunday, it's not because it's a fluke. It's
Speaker 1: not because it's some statistical anomaly. It's because they were
Speaker 1: the better football team and so far underneath mapa floor
Speaker 1: in eighteen games or whatever it is underneath him at
Speaker 1: this point, more often than not, the Packers have been
Speaker 1: the more prepared and better producing football team on the field. Well,
Speaker 1: that is a big Week one matchup coming up here
Speaker 1: with the Packers traveling to Minneapolis to take on the Vikings,
Speaker 1: a big NFC North battle. I want to get to
Speaker 1: some keys to victory here. But a little sponsor Business West,
Speaker 1: our first sponsor business on Packers unscripted of gear up
Speaker 1: four game day folks, open a Packers checking account from
Speaker 1: Associated Bank and score a fifty dollar Packers Pro Shop
Speaker 1: gift card. Learn more at Associated bank dot com. Backslash
Speaker 1: Packers Okay Week one noon Central time kickoff at us
Speaker 1: Bank Stadium. It's the Packers and the Vikings. A little
Speaker 1: bit of news that we found out yesterday. The Vikings
Speaker 1: and we had talked on our last show about all
Speaker 1: the changes that are going on with some of their
Speaker 1: personnel on defense, they will be without pro Bowl pass
Speaker 1: rusher Daniel Hunter, fourteen and a half sacks each of
Speaker 1: the last couple of years. This is the guy who
Speaker 1: has five and a half career sacks against the Green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers. He was placed on injury preserve by the Vikings.
Speaker 1: He's going to be out at least three weeks. Had
Speaker 1: been dealing with an injury throughout training camp, and the
Speaker 1: Vikings have just decided he will not be ready to
Speaker 1: play in the early going here in and with the
Speaker 1: Packers having obviously their own injury question at right tackle
Speaker 1: on on one of the edges. Um, you know, something
Speaker 1: to watch here to see just what matchup ends up
Speaker 1: actually taking place on the field Sunday afternoon. You know
Speaker 1: it's funny too, Mike. It makes a lot, I mean
Speaker 1: a lot of reasons why them trading for Unique made
Speaker 1: a lot of a lot of sense for them. But boy,
Speaker 1: that's another one. Now. The fact that Hunter dealing with
Speaker 1: what he was dealing with probably shed some light on
Speaker 1: why they were so proactive and trying to go out
Speaker 1: in adding another pass rusher during training camp. It was funny.
Speaker 1: I don't think Matt Arvin, our wonderful producer, can bring
Speaker 1: up the video on top of us. But the reaction
Speaker 1: that Aaron Rodgers had when Bill Hubert, because it literally
Speaker 1: happened seconds before Rogers spoke to the media on Wednesday.
Speaker 1: So Bill, who was the first reporter to to ask
Speaker 1: a question in the zoom session, used his opportunity to
Speaker 1: ask Rogers about that, and there is this pause in
Speaker 1: thousand yard gaze, uh in Aaron Rodgers expression the moment
Speaker 1: that Bill mentioned that he was going on injured reserve.
Speaker 1: Not that Rogers is necessarily happy about it, but it's
Speaker 1: shocking the people. I think that in Minnesota earlier in
Speaker 1: the day, they were maybe the day before, they were
Speaker 1: talking to Hunter about Eric Kendricks and if Eric Kendricks
Speaker 1: would be playing in this game, and him mentioning, you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a guy you can't replace. Nobody thought that Danil
Speaker 1: Hunter was just going to be completely not only you know,
Speaker 1: you know, questionable for this game, that's fine, but like
Speaker 1: just completely out of the equation for the Vikings. It's
Speaker 1: that stuff that happens when there's no preseason, when there's
Speaker 1: no eyes on anybody, and you really kind of had
Speaker 1: this cloak of darkness that I keep talking about throughout
Speaker 1: the league. He's not in there, So that changes thing.
Speaker 1: The different secondary, the different cornerbacks for the Vikings change things,
Speaker 1: and it's going to lead to some more questions than
Speaker 1: we've grown accustomed to with this Mike Zimmer defense going
Speaker 1: into this game. Yeah, I think when we if we
Speaker 1: look at keys to victory here for the Packers, if
Speaker 1: you start on the offensive side of the ball, even
Speaker 1: without Hunter, this is still a heck of a Vikings defense.
Speaker 1: And there are questions about these young rookie cornerbacks stepping
Speaker 1: into significant roles and all that, but you're gonna have
Speaker 1: Unique and Ghakway on one side as a pass rusher.
Speaker 1: You've still got Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barr in the
Speaker 1: middle of that defense. And then the back middle, so
Speaker 1: to speak, is Anthony Harrison Harrison Smith, and you know
Speaker 1: Harrison Smith will line up anywhere and everywhere I think
Speaker 1: offensively for the Packers. And this is what we saw,
Speaker 1: I would say, in the second half of that Week
Speaker 1: sixteen game last year. The Packers control the line of
Speaker 1: scrimmage in that game because they were avoiding the negative plays.
Speaker 1: As Matt Lafleur likes to say, you can't get behind
Speaker 1: the sticks against a defense like this. You stay in
Speaker 1: manageable down and distances. You avoid the penalties, you avoid
Speaker 1: the sacks, the tackles for loss against the run, you
Speaker 1: avoid those negative plays. And this Packers offense with Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers can really do its thing. And I think offensively,
Speaker 1: whether you want to do it trying to pound the
Speaker 1: ball and play action or do the short passing game
Speaker 1: test those rookie corners, I'm not sure how the Package
Speaker 1: are going to go about it. But if they avoid
Speaker 1: those negative plays and the penalties that that put them
Speaker 1: in rough down and distant situations, I like their chances
Speaker 1: offensively to to have a have a good day. Yeah,
Speaker 1: when we're gonna talk about Delvin Cook here in the
Speaker 1: second when we talk about defensive keys to victory. But
Speaker 1: one thing that was underrated in that first series last
Speaker 1: year was the fact that when Cook was in that game,
Speaker 1: it was different. Right. What did the Green Bay Packers
Speaker 1: benefit from in those two games? Aaron Jones. Jones came
Speaker 1: up big. He was dynamic, he was successful. The Packers
Speaker 1: were able to get their running game going. I think
Speaker 1: that's gonna be a big key in this game, and honestly,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a big key for the season, allowing
Speaker 1: that running game to set up what they want to
Speaker 1: do with their past, with their misdirection, with making defensive
Speaker 1: coordinators scratch their heads a little bit. We didn't talk
Speaker 1: a lot about Aaron Jones this camp because a lot
Speaker 1: of the eyes were on Hey J Dillon's thighs uh
Speaker 1: and and also, you know Jamal Williams getting so much
Speaker 1: due credit as well for Aaron Rodgers. But I said
Speaker 1: this a couple of weeks ago, Mike. It was a
Speaker 1: very small snippet that I put in an insider inbox.
Speaker 1: But I thought Aaron Jones had a really quietly successful camp.
Speaker 1: I thought he looked sharp. I thought he looked decisive.
Speaker 1: I thought like the wide zone scheme was starting to
Speaker 1: fit him a little bit better. And here's the other
Speaker 1: option too. They wanted to expand the repertoire of these receivers,
Speaker 1: of these running backs with the receiving aspect of the game.
Speaker 1: Jamal Williams took that to heart. Aaron Jones already has
Speaker 1: definitely been taking that to heart. That was an area
Speaker 1: he emphasized last year going into the season. There were
Speaker 1: we can talk about the receivers and MVS had a
Speaker 1: great offseason, had a great camp. Uh, certainly Davante Adams
Speaker 1: one of the best in the league at the receiver position.
Speaker 1: But the Packers have put a lot of horses, a
Speaker 1: lot of firepower behind their running game, and this would
Speaker 1: be like the kind of game I think that that
Speaker 1: could really shine for them. Yeah. Well, shifting to the
Speaker 1: defensive side, you already said it, Dalvin Cook. I think
Speaker 1: he's the whole key to this game and for Vikings
Speaker 1: offense versus Packers defense, because you look at obviously he
Speaker 1: wasn't in there in Week sixteen, the game that decided
Speaker 1: the NFC North last December. You look at the way
Speaker 1: the Packers end of the season in San Francisco, with
Speaker 1: all the struggles trying to stop the run. The Vikings
Speaker 1: have cooked back. You know that, Mike Zimmer, Gary Kubiak,
Speaker 1: they want to run the ball. They are going to
Speaker 1: test that Packers run defense something fierce. I think on Sunday.
Speaker 1: And I'm not saying you have to hold Dalvin Cook
Speaker 1: to you know, thirteen carries for forty yards or some
Speaker 1: like herculean effort. But you can't let Dalvin Cook be
Speaker 1: the guy who's dictating the pace of every possession for
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings and therefore dictating the pace of the
Speaker 1: entire game. The Packers have to contain him in some
Speaker 1: form or fashion. And that's not to say it will
Speaker 1: be easy if it gets turned over to, you know,
Speaker 1: dealing with Adam Theeland and Kyle Rudolph and will see
Speaker 1: what Justin Jefferson, the rookie wide receiver provides for Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 1: But it all starts with Dalvin Cook for the Minnesota Vikings.
Speaker 1: In my opinion, yeah, and all Mary your your key
Speaker 1: to victory With what I wanted to say, and it's
Speaker 1: a it's something I've been really hitting home all week long.
Speaker 1: To me, it's two aspects to the same question. It's
Speaker 1: containing Delvin Cook and insider in box. I said that
Speaker 1: would be underneath the hundred yards. I think would be
Speaker 1: a really good day, or at least make him work
Speaker 1: for those carries cares. Obviously, Madison is a guy too
Speaker 1: that you need to be cognizant of. They have good
Speaker 1: running backs. It's not just Cook, but he's going to
Speaker 1: be the guy that the Vikings are gonna want to
Speaker 1: shove down Green Bays throat because he had success last
Speaker 1: year in that week to matchup a hundred fifty yards
Speaker 1: or whatever it came to. He was dynamic, and when
Speaker 1: they didn't have him, when Madison was dealing with his stuff,
Speaker 1: their running game was different. And why was it when
Speaker 1: what was the byproduct of that? Kirk Cousins was different.
Speaker 1: This passing game was different. So my two pronged answer
Speaker 1: to this is containing Cook but then pressuring Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 1: So Darius Smith had arguably his best game in that
Speaker 1: matchup against the Vikings. I know Mike Smith would disagree
Speaker 1: with me on that because he really liked those nineteen
Speaker 1: pressures or whatever uh Smith had against Oakland or the
Speaker 1: Panthers or whoever that was last season. But that being said,
Speaker 1: you could see what Sadarius Smith was taking out of
Speaker 1: those Vikings offensive linemen last year, three and a half sacks.
Speaker 1: They were demoralized, they were beaten, they were mentally exhausted
Speaker 1: by the end of that game. And because of that,
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins had a really long afternoon. If you contain cook,
Speaker 1: if you allow them to not get off the ground
Speaker 1: with that running game, then the game changes for Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 1: When he's able to manage it, when he's able to
Speaker 1: work the sidelines, when he's able to get his guys
Speaker 1: going underneath off the play action, that's when things get
Speaker 1: really difficult against Minnesota's offense. That's where it starts from me. Alright, Well,
Speaker 1: one other thing before we go here West, Let's just
Speaker 1: take a quick look around at some other key games
Speaker 1: to keep an eye on Week one in the NFL. Obviously,
Speaker 1: as we are taping this, the kickoff opener Thursday night
Speaker 1: between the Chiefs and the Texans has not taken place yet,
Speaker 1: but by the time um Sunday rolls around, we will
Speaker 1: know if the Kansas City Chiefs have started their title
Speaker 1: defense with a victory. But it's a big week in
Speaker 1: the NFC North Minnesota and Green Bay obviously, but Chicago
Speaker 1: also traveling to Detroit, so all the NFC North teams
Speaker 1: are playing against each other. I think, you know all
Speaker 1: the talk in Chicago about who's gonna play quarterback, and
Speaker 1: they're going with Trubisky right now, and and Folds is
Speaker 1: the backup and we'll see how long um that actually
Speaker 1: is the case. But a lot of other really interesting
Speaker 1: games in the NFC. I'll throw these out there and
Speaker 1: let you talk about which ones interest you the most.
Speaker 1: Seattle is at Atlanta, an interesting cross divisional matchup there,
Speaker 1: big one in the NFC West, San Francisco hosting Arizona.
Speaker 1: I think Arizona very tough division obviously in the NFC West,
Speaker 1: but I think Arizona with Kyler Murray the way Lamar
Speaker 1: Jackson kind of took the league by storm in year two.
Speaker 1: You never know, maybe Kyler Murray is that type of guy.
Speaker 1: In Dallas is at the Rams, Mike McCarthy's first game
Speaker 1: as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys on the road
Speaker 1: out in l A. And then of course New Orleans
Speaker 1: at Tampa Bay. Big matchup in the NFC South, Drew
Speaker 1: Brees versus Tom Brady making his debut for the Tampa
Speaker 1: Bay Buccaneer. There's so many good matchups, Mike. I mean,
Speaker 1: whoever was putting these schedules together, I mean the week one,
Speaker 1: they it was power packed with how they approached this.
Speaker 1: Somebody even pointed out inside or inbox, I mean this
Speaker 1: is gonna be an incredible matchup between the Saints and
Speaker 1: Buccaneers for so many reasons, but also the fact that
Speaker 1: the two starting quarterbacks are like a combined forty five
Speaker 1: years or eighty five years old. Excuse me, uh that
Speaker 1: there's just there's so much experience on that field. I
Speaker 1: would it's not the most attractive matchup. But I do
Speaker 1: want to actually touch on that Cardinals game quick because
Speaker 1: DeAndre Hopkins goes and gets his extension after they acquired him,
Speaker 1: Larry Fitzgerald, back Christian Kirk, the way that they have
Speaker 1: built that offense now not only for Kyler Murray, but
Speaker 1: then also you know, when you when you look at
Speaker 1: the way that they're structured and what they're trying to achieve,
Speaker 1: their uh, they just they can be a really dynamic
Speaker 1: team and they still have you know, you look at
Speaker 1: their defense and Chandler Jones and the pieces are there.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying it's a complete puzzle yet, but I
Speaker 1: think the Cardinals are going to give a lot of
Speaker 1: people in that division problems this year in San Francisco
Speaker 1: forty Niners. Man, that's a good test for their defense
Speaker 1: right out of the gate. Again, there's a lot of
Speaker 1: compelling matchups. But that's one that secretly, if you're like
Speaker 1: kind of picking like a quiet one that you're sort
Speaker 1: of looking at, seeing what kind of litmus test that
Speaker 1: is for both of those teams out of the gate,
Speaker 1: is something I might be paying attention to. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: everybody's gonna be wondering what the forty niners that whole
Speaker 1: Super Bowl hangover effect. You know, when you're the team
Speaker 1: that goes to the Super Bowl and you lose, and
Speaker 1: certainly it was a really tough loss. They had the
Speaker 1: lead in the fourth quarter and they let it get away.
Speaker 1: And we've seen over the years teams that have gone
Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl and gotten beat. There are a
Speaker 1: lot of times that team not only doesn't live up
Speaker 1: to it the next year, but they don't even make
Speaker 1: the postseason because the other teams in their division take
Speaker 1: steps forward. San Francisco forty seven years ago. Yeah exactly,
Speaker 1: I mean that that's you know, so I do think, uh,
Speaker 1: there there's some great matchups here. You don't always like
Speaker 1: to see all these great division games right away because
Speaker 1: you know you only have six of them and whatnot,
Speaker 1: but you know what, it sure makes for a makes
Speaker 1: for a compelling week one here as we get kicked off. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you know we were talking about the teams that
Speaker 1: have been kind of seen his offseason Darling's the Detroit
Speaker 1: Lions are one of them. So I mean, this is
Speaker 1: a team at the Chicago Bears that they have some
Speaker 1: legitimate questions on both sides of the ball. Defensively obviously
Speaker 1: a little bit more sure handed there. But if the
Speaker 1: Lions can come out and make a statement like that
Speaker 1: week one, I think myself in particular, that'd be a
Speaker 1: huge wake up call for me. Is you know people
Speaker 1: have been boarding that hype train in the last few months. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: they're getting their quarterback back, Matthew Stafford. You know when
Speaker 1: he he left the Lions with an injury last season
Speaker 1: and then they were not the same, not anything close
Speaker 1: to the same. And he'd been playing at a pretty
Speaker 1: darn good high level when he did get hurt. And
Speaker 1: the Packers just can't quit. Adrian Peterson, he just always
Speaker 1: finds a way to work his way back onto the schedule,
Speaker 1: always always going to face him. You know, it's it
Speaker 1: will be will be ten years from now we'll be
Speaker 1: talking about the Packers facing Adrian Peterson again. I was
Speaker 1: gonna say the year is two thousand and thirty. Adrian
Speaker 1: Peterson is forty five years old, and he's still you know,
Speaker 1: picking up some reps for the Chicago Bears and putting
Speaker 1: up seventy yards. Yeah, who knows. All right, well, it
Speaker 1: should be a fun week one in the NFL. We
Speaker 1: are glad it is finally here, and certainly thank you
Speaker 1: for tuning into our show. We will be back next
Speaker 1: week for WES. I am Mike. Take care, We will
Speaker 1: see you next time.