Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my trusted colleague Weston Hodgo. It's keeping my distance
Speaker 1: because I am a little bit under the weather. I
Speaker 1: apologize for my voice. I will try to fight through
Speaker 1: this today for the episode as best I can. Wes,
Speaker 1: we are here to talk about Packers Bears Soldier Field Sunday.
Speaker 1: It will be a noon Central Time kickoff. The overarching
Speaker 1: story is the winner of this game has the most
Speaker 1: wins of any franchise in NFL history. Those teams are
Speaker 1: deadlocked with seven and eighty six victories if I have
Speaker 1: the number right. The more internal story is what is
Speaker 1: going on with the quarterbacks because the Bears are hoping
Speaker 1: to get Justin Fields back in action after he missed
Speaker 1: last week with a shoulder injury. Packers at this point
Speaker 1: counting on Aaron Rodgers being able to play despite the
Speaker 1: rib injury that is now on top of the broken
Speaker 1: thumb that continues to heal. So very interesting quarterback storyline
Speaker 1: here heading into Chicago on Sunday. First, and foremost incredible
Speaker 1: that hunt for seven eight seven that both of these
Speaker 1: teams have kind of been on here for a number
Speaker 1: of weeks. Now. From the green Bay Packers perspective, again,
Speaker 1: I think you tip your cap to Brat Farve. To
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers, the fact that the Packers not only were
Speaker 1: able to pull out in front of the Bears and
Speaker 1: the all time series between the two teams, but are
Speaker 1: now in a position to potentially overtake Chicago for all
Speaker 1: time wins in NFL history. That's a tremendous achievement for
Speaker 1: all the Packers teams, the quarterbacks, coaches, everybody that contributed
Speaker 1: to that surge for green Bay considering where they were
Speaker 1: at the eighties. Yeah, for sure, that being said, talking
Speaker 1: about quarterbacks and two thousand and twenty two, what an
Speaker 1: interesting decision here for both of these squads. Now for
Speaker 1: the green Bay Packers. Aaron Rodgers, he he sliced it
Speaker 1: down kind of like this. He's feeling better. He did
Speaker 1: his rehab work on Wednesday. His goal is to be
Speaker 1: ready to go on Sunday once again. The Chicago Bears,
Speaker 1: I feel like this is such a tricky decision for
Speaker 1: them though, because as much as you want justin fields
Speaker 1: out there, as much as you want him playing against
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers. As much as you want him
Speaker 1: out in front of your fans to energize that base
Speaker 1: heading into two thousand twenty three, you also do kind
Speaker 1: of need to think about two thousand twenty three. You
Speaker 1: don't want to make that shoulder injury any worse. And
Speaker 1: I'm very interested to see what the week takes here.
Speaker 1: We saw our good friend, former Green Bay Packer Tim
Speaker 1: Boyle was signed off the practice squad from the Detroit
Speaker 1: Lions as a potential backup because of Trevor Simeons injury. Certainly,
Speaker 1: you know there's a lot of different moving parts right
Speaker 1: now for the Bears, but I'll be very interested to
Speaker 1: see what the strategy is here with that, because justin
Speaker 1: fields Man, one thing we've learned over the last two
Speaker 1: weeks two months. I should say they're using him the
Speaker 1: right way, but it is a physical way of using him,
Speaker 1: and you're going to be putting him out there for
Speaker 1: contact if he plays the game the way he's been
Speaker 1: playing it. Yeah, absolutely, this is This is a very
Speaker 1: different Um Bears team from the one that the Packers
Speaker 1: saw in Week two at lambeau Field in a lot
Speaker 1: of different ways, starting on the offensive side of the
Speaker 1: ball that game back in Week two the Bears. The
Speaker 1: Bears were intent on running the football in that game,
Speaker 1: but it wasn't about justin Fields running the football. It
Speaker 1: was about Montgomery and Herbert pounding away. Now that backfield tandem,
Speaker 1: give those guys some credit. They've combined for one thousand,
Speaker 1: two d and twenty three rushing yards in twelve games
Speaker 1: with seven touchdowns. But what we've seen since Week two,
Speaker 1: I guess I would say, you know, maybe as as
Speaker 1: the season got into like mid October and beyond, we've
Speaker 1: seen justin Fields take over this Bears offense in terms
Speaker 1: of his decision making and not only the improvised running,
Speaker 1: but then also the um the schemed running plays for
Speaker 1: the quarterback. And he leads all NFL quarterbacks in rushing
Speaker 1: yards with eight hundred and thirty four, also has seven
Speaker 1: rushing touchdowns. So that whole combination, the two running backs
Speaker 1: and the quarterback, this is the number one rushing offense
Speaker 1: in the NFL. And of course it's the way this
Speaker 1: league works. Right west, the Packers are coming off of
Speaker 1: allowing three hundred and sixty three rushing yards, where the
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles running backs and their quarterbacks piled up a
Speaker 1: bunch of rushing yards. So who's next down the list,
Speaker 1: the number one rushing offense in the league if Justin
Speaker 1: Fields plays. And again, at this point, all we know
Speaker 1: at the time we're taping this is that Fields was
Speaker 1: a limited participant in Wednesday's practice for the Bears. We
Speaker 1: don't really know what the rest of the week holds there.
Speaker 1: But um, but Justin Fields, the way the way he
Speaker 1: runs the ball, he is I'm not sure of exactly
Speaker 1: the right adjectives. He is. He is slippery, he is elusive,
Speaker 1: he is dangerous. Um just asked the Miami Dolphins, who
Speaker 1: have one of the best records in the a f C,
Speaker 1: and Justin Fields almost single handedly beat the Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: down South earlier this season. And he's decisive. That's the
Speaker 1: other aspect to this too. Yeah, there's no no hesitation
Speaker 1: what he's doing out Sometimes when you get these young quarterbacks,
Speaker 1: it's because they can't figure out what they want to do.
Speaker 1: Are they throwing? Are they running? Do they want to
Speaker 1: run and then throw? Justin Fields when he does something,
Speaker 1: he commits to it, and that's the biggest difference I've
Speaker 1: seen watching him over the last month. Compared to even
Speaker 1: where where the he was at in Week two against
Speaker 1: Green Bay. Now the fascinating part of this thing for
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers, and I do not cover the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears. Maybe the statistics are available, maybe someone's already
Speaker 1: looked into it, but you're right, Bears are the number
Speaker 1: one ranked rushing offense of the National Football League. They
Speaker 1: are dead last in passing offense. Though we're talking about
Speaker 1: throwbacks and and things like that inside or inbox this week.
Speaker 1: The Bears are a throwback right now. I think they're
Speaker 1: out rushing their past game by about fifty or sixty
Speaker 1: yards right now a game. It's because of this dimension
Speaker 1: that they've added with fields. But he's comfortable in that setting.
Speaker 1: He's effective in that setting. And also I think with
Speaker 1: Havin Juice, Herbert get more immersed in this offense. He's
Speaker 1: kind of been this running back that's sort of always
Speaker 1: been there that it seems like the last few years,
Speaker 1: but it was really only the break the glass in
Speaker 1: case of emergency that something happens with David Montgomery. They're
Speaker 1: using them more in tandem this season or more specifically
Speaker 1: the second half of the year, and I think that's
Speaker 1: worked out very well for them. Now this has all
Speaker 1: come at a cost to you know, Darnel Mooney stats.
Speaker 1: After his breakout year, he hasn't had that type of
Speaker 1: season again, Cole commet probably from a lot of people
Speaker 1: that were hoping he'd be a big fantasy stud. This
Speaker 1: year hasn't quite reached that level. But the Chicago Bears
Speaker 1: were looking to win games, they were looking to be
Speaker 1: more effective, they were looking for something to hang their
Speaker 1: hat on in Over these last few weeks, even if
Speaker 1: the winds haven't always been there, I think they definitely
Speaker 1: have found their identity underneath their young quarterback. Yeah, the winds,
Speaker 1: the winds haven't been there, but you look at their
Speaker 1: game by game there's I mean, they've you know, they
Speaker 1: lost by three points to the Falcons, they lost one
Speaker 1: point to the Lions. They you know, yeah, they they
Speaker 1: ended up getting blown out by the Cowboys. They had
Speaker 1: one comeback and then the Cowboys pulled away. Yeah, but three,
Speaker 1: you know, three or four of Chicago's recent losses have
Speaker 1: been one score games and and sometimes even a field
Speaker 1: goal or less. So excuse me. They've definitely been in
Speaker 1: a lot of games personnel wise. You mentioned Darnell Mooney,
Speaker 1: at wide receiver. He's now on injured reserve. UM. Chase
Speaker 1: Claypool was a wide receiver the Bears picked up via
Speaker 1: trade and other personnel changes. More significant ones in a
Speaker 1: lot of ways have occurred on the defensive side of
Speaker 1: the ball in terms of what the Packers saw back
Speaker 1: in Week two. Because Robert Quick in the pass rusher,
Speaker 1: Roquan Smith the star inside linebacker. Both of those guys
Speaker 1: have been traded and now star safety Eddie Jackson has
Speaker 1: landed on injured reserve and he is out for the
Speaker 1: rest of the year. Chicago's biggest problem during the five
Speaker 1: game losing streak that has that has dropped them to
Speaker 1: three and nine on the year is the defense. The
Speaker 1: fewest points they have allowed in this five game losing
Speaker 1: streak is twenty seven. All the other games have been
Speaker 1: thirty or more. UM. This is a defense that is
Speaker 1: that is struggling flat out west And when you look,
Speaker 1: when you look at the Packers, and yes, Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: is going to be managing some pain, managing his injuries.
Speaker 1: But we've you know, we're seeing this big emergence of
Speaker 1: Christian Watson. Romeo Dobbs was back at practice on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: so potentially, after missing the last three games from his
Speaker 1: injury and ankle injury in Detroit, Romeo Dobbs might get
Speaker 1: back on the field for the Packers. You look at
Speaker 1: Green Bay's offense the last three games, and I know
Speaker 1: the Packers have only won one of those three. They
Speaker 1: lost to both both Tennessee and Philadelphia. But in the
Speaker 1: last three games, the Packers offensively have really only had
Speaker 1: like one bad quarter, and it was the fourth quarter
Speaker 1: against Tennessee, which was crucial and cost them a chance
Speaker 1: to win that game. But they scored twenty eight points
Speaker 1: in regulation against the Cowboys, added a field goal in overtime.
Speaker 1: You had seventeen points in the first three quarters against
Speaker 1: a pretty good Tennessee Titans defense, but then the fourth
Speaker 1: quarter things kind of crumbled on you offensively. Then between
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers and Jordan's Love, you put up thirty three
Speaker 1: points against Philadelphia against a pretty darn good defense that
Speaker 1: you know that's uh leading the number one seed in
Speaker 1: the NFC right now. So Packers have had one bad
Speaker 1: quarter in the last three weeks, and now they're heading
Speaker 1: into facing a defense that that's really trying to find
Speaker 1: itself and really struggling Packers have to keep doing what
Speaker 1: they've been doing offensively, and it's weird is this is
Speaker 1: going to sound that there are still positives on the
Speaker 1: defensive side that Green Bay is gonna need to hang
Speaker 1: his hat And I'll get to that in a moment. Offensively,
Speaker 1: this is a huge opportunity. There are some great stories
Speaker 1: with the Bears defense. Certainly Jack Sandborn, the Lake Zurich native,
Speaker 1: the undrafted free agent, former Wisconsin Badger. He's been one
Speaker 1: of these guys that's emerged for them. They've had before
Speaker 1: the liszt Frank injury. Eddie Jackson had sort of a
Speaker 1: resurgent year for them. Unfortunately now they lost him as well.
Speaker 1: But they have been highly ineffective at pressuring the quarterback
Speaker 1: even before the trade of Robert Quinn. Quinn, as we've seen,
Speaker 1: has been kind of a streaky pass rushing throughout his career,
Speaker 1: eighteen sacks. Last year he had one through I think
Speaker 1: it was whatever it was, six or seven games and
Speaker 1: to the point in which they traded him, sixteen sacks
Speaker 1: right now for the Chicago Bears, conversely, they've allowed forty one.
Speaker 1: Justin fields has eaten forty of those. When you have
Speaker 1: a minus in the sack differential, not saying it's like turnovers,
Speaker 1: not saying it's like time of possession or any other
Speaker 1: stats you want to use, but that is a jarring figure.
Speaker 1: That's significant because if you're not getting to the quarterback,
Speaker 1: you've got to make sure you're protecting yours and the
Speaker 1: Bears just haven't been able to win that equation this year.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of that is from the standpoint
Speaker 1: that it is a really young defense. Aaron Rodgers was
Speaker 1: talking about that on Wednesday. There's a lot of new
Speaker 1: faces there as far as the Packers are concerned, though,
Speaker 1: thirty three points last week against Philadelphia, being able to
Speaker 1: have three straight games now with Christian Watson scoring at
Speaker 1: least one touchdown, the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month
Speaker 1: for November after a terrific stretch of games. Hats off
Speaker 1: to Watson for that. Just as a quick sidebar, first
Speaker 1: Packers rookie to win that award in nine years, first
Speaker 1: offensive offensive when that Damerius Randall also got it in fifteen,
Speaker 1: but the first one since Eddie Lacy, first first offensive,
Speaker 1: first offensive rookie since Eddie Lacy and then Sam Kangato
Speaker 1: before that, but all that being said Green Bay, I
Speaker 1: look at Aaron Jones in this game. I look at
Speaker 1: A J. Dillon. I look at this as an opportunity.
Speaker 1: You know, we don't know whether or not Romeo Dobbs
Speaker 1: will be back or not. He was able to practice
Speaker 1: on Wednesday, appears to be making strides with his ankle injury.
Speaker 1: But the stars are a line there for the Packers
Speaker 1: pieces offensively and in this on all different sides of it.
Speaker 1: You don't even have to add in the storyline with
Speaker 1: Rogers and the Bears at Soldier Field. This is the
Speaker 1: type of game the Green Bay Packers, no matter how
Speaker 1: this season has gone, should expect to win. Yeah, you
Speaker 1: absolutely expect to win this one. And you have to
Speaker 1: win this one. I you know, we like to get
Speaker 1: into our keys to victory. I think I already said it.
Speaker 1: As far as the Packers offense, I think it's I
Speaker 1: think it's just continue to do what you're doing. Because
Speaker 1: you're facing a defensive unit that is struggling. Your offense
Speaker 1: is starting to find itself. I thought the combination of
Speaker 1: run and pass last week against Philly, what Aaron Jones
Speaker 1: and a J. Dillon were doing, what Christian Watson Randall
Speaker 1: Cobb and company were doing in the passing game. I
Speaker 1: really liked the I really like the balance in the
Speaker 1: back and forth there. Hopefully the Packers can keep that
Speaker 1: going defensively. To me, this game comes down to one thing,
Speaker 1: and it's make Justin Fields throw the football now. And
Speaker 1: I say that not as some sort of a rip
Speaker 1: on the guy that that he can't throw or that
Speaker 1: he can't move the ball through the air. But you
Speaker 1: said it West. These guys are ranked last in the
Speaker 1: league offense, their first in the league in rushing offense.
Speaker 1: And whether they're gonna whether they're gonna run the ball
Speaker 1: with Fields or with those two those two backs who
Speaker 1: have been so productive for them during the season, you
Speaker 1: have to make the Chicago Bears throw the football because
Speaker 1: if you don't, if you if you don't, they they
Speaker 1: are going to. They are going to use that rushing
Speaker 1: offensive their's to wear you down. I mean, trust me,
Speaker 1: they they have. They have gone over every inch of
Speaker 1: videotape of that game in Philadelphia, of the all the
Speaker 1: tackles that the Packers missed, where the holes were with
Speaker 1: you know how Jalen Hurts was able to get out
Speaker 1: so many times and run Miles Sanders and and Kenneth Gainwell,
Speaker 1: and what those guys are doing running between the tackles.
Speaker 1: They have dissected all of that, and they are going
Speaker 1: to come at the Packers with everything they've got with
Speaker 1: their running game, and the Packers are going to have
Speaker 1: to make justin Fields throw the football to to be
Speaker 1: able to be able to have a good day defensively.
Speaker 1: And it's an excellent point you raised, because you're right
Speaker 1: and how you approach Fields and in not trying to
Speaker 1: disrespect any other aspects of his game. But I've heard
Speaker 1: so many times from you. I mean, the things you
Speaker 1: can do on a grill, right, you we've talked about,
Speaker 1: you know, your steaks, your chicken, things like that. I've
Speaker 1: never heard you break about your risotto. Just because you
Speaker 1: know you're you're a world class chef, doesn't mean you've
Speaker 1: mastered every single dish here, Right, That's how this goes.
Speaker 1: You like that? You like that, That's how this goes
Speaker 1: with Fields. You want to take him out of his
Speaker 1: comfort zone here, because the blueprint for victory is so clear.
Speaker 1: They've seen it two or three times now against this
Speaker 1: young man. Matt Lafleur still has yet to lose to
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears became the head coach. So the other
Speaker 1: aspect of this for me is one of the early
Speaker 1: tipping points that sort of signaled some potential turbulent waters
Speaker 1: for the Packers. Run defense kind of started against Chicago
Speaker 1: because David Montgomery had one of his best games of
Speaker 1: the season in Week two. If I look for a
Speaker 1: defensive key to victory in this thing, it's going to
Speaker 1: be making sure you do not let him and Juice
Speaker 1: Herbert get going in the run game. Because as volatile
Speaker 1: as Jalen Hurts was, as volatile as fields can be,
Speaker 1: it was as you mentioned, Miles Sanders having a hundred
Speaker 1: yard rushing day. It's what Herbert in Montgomery could do
Speaker 1: in this game to be the number one ranked rushing
Speaker 1: off it in the league. It's not just because you
Speaker 1: have a scrambling quarterback. You have to have some good
Speaker 1: backs that are helping them out as well. That's what
Speaker 1: the Bears have. And you have to imagine a guy
Speaker 1: like Luke Getsy that has as much experience in this system,
Speaker 1: many different versions of it here in Green Bay. You
Speaker 1: know he's going to have his pencil going this week
Speaker 1: trying to come up with some ideas, some thoughts, some theories,
Speaker 1: because this is still a young coaching staff, It's still
Speaker 1: a coaching staff that feels like they have the right
Speaker 1: pieces in place to guide themselves into the future. Where
Speaker 1: the Detroit Lions were at at the end of last
Speaker 1: season in terms of how they felt about their football team,
Speaker 1: that's kind of the area that the Bears are kind
Speaker 1: of gravitating towards right now. So from my perspective, I
Speaker 1: think it really starts with that ground game and making
Speaker 1: sure that the Packers defensively shore up some of the
Speaker 1: things that they were lacking last week in Philly. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: and you mentioned the fact that Justin Fields has been
Speaker 1: sacked forty times this year. I honestly hope the Packers
Speaker 1: don't even pay attention to that number because because this
Speaker 1: game is not going to come down to how many
Speaker 1: times you can sack Justin Fields. You know, the Packers
Speaker 1: got off to such a bad start against Philadelphia because
Speaker 1: they were a little bit too over zealous, over aggressive
Speaker 1: early on with trying to rush Justin Fields. They thought
Speaker 1: with with having with having a spy um I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: with with Jalen Hurts last week, they thought with having
Speaker 1: a spy that they could that they could contain his scrambling. Well,
Speaker 1: what happened in the first quarter. Jalen Hurts rushes for
Speaker 1: over a hundred yards and the Eagles have two quick
Speaker 1: touchdowns on the board right or early in the ballgame. Now,
Speaker 1: the rest of the Packers definitely adjusted from there because
Speaker 1: the rest of the game, Jalen Hurts only had roughly
Speaker 1: fifty yards rushing. And if you had said, Okay, Jalen
Speaker 1: Hurts is only gonna rush for fifty yards from the
Speaker 1: second through the fourth quarter, you take that. But it
Speaker 1: was but it was a bad start in the first quarter,
Speaker 1: and the and the Packers can't afford to get into
Speaker 1: that over zealous, over aggressive mode going after Justin Fields because, um,
Speaker 1: you know, as I said, they will have watched everything
Speaker 1: with regard to Philadelphia. They're going to try to take
Speaker 1: advantage of every of every breakdown that the Packers had
Speaker 1: in that game and get them into those situations again. Um.
Speaker 1: So to me, it's like, at the end of this game,
Speaker 1: I'm not going to be looking at how many times
Speaker 1: did Justin Fields get sacked. I'm gonna be looking at
Speaker 1: how many how many pass attempts does justin fields have
Speaker 1: because if that number is high enough, I think the
Speaker 1: Packers win the football game. If that number is too low,
Speaker 1: that means they're running the ball too well and the
Speaker 1: Packers are gonna have their hands full. And if he
Speaker 1: has to throw a lout, what else does that tell you?
Speaker 1: It tells you the Packers are playing with the lead.
Speaker 1: And that's been one thing absent that week to game
Speaker 1: against the Bears, Green Bay has not really had the
Speaker 1: benefit of at this point in the season. The other
Speaker 1: name to keep an eye on is going to be
Speaker 1: Devondre Campbell too. In this equation, Yes, Screen Bay has
Speaker 1: not had their full allotment of inside linebackers available really
Speaker 1: all season, so there's a lot of things he can
Speaker 1: do there. Chris Barnes I think has made some nice
Speaker 1: plays this season. But when you talk about being able
Speaker 1: to spy her, you know, hurts and those type of quarterbacks,
Speaker 1: I know that probably isn't the word that Devandre loves
Speaker 1: to hear, but it is something he's very proficient at
Speaker 1: and they definitely have missed him in those situations and
Speaker 1: could really be extremely valuable. He was limited on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: returned to practice last Friday. If he's available on Sunday.
Speaker 1: Another guy that can help in that assignment. Yeah, that changes,
Speaker 1: That changes the equation in terms of how the Packers
Speaker 1: match up and and schematically, maybe we'll go about things
Speaker 1: against Chicago. So a little bit of sponsor business here.
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Speaker 1: of better. Alright, Week thirteen in the NFL, a really
Speaker 1: really interesting slate of games actually starting Thursday night, UM
Speaker 1: Thursday night football Big game in the a FC East
Speaker 1: Buffalo is that New England. But the ones that the
Speaker 1: ones that really jump out at me. There's a trio
Speaker 1: of a f C versus NFC games on the slate
Speaker 1: this week that I think all have a an elevated
Speaker 1: level of intrigue. And I'm talking about the Jets playing
Speaker 1: at Minnesota, Tennessee is playing at Philadelphia, and Miami perhaps
Speaker 1: maybe the most explosive offense in the NFL right now
Speaker 1: is at San Francisco, going against the team playing probably
Speaker 1: the best defense in the NFL right now. Those three
Speaker 1: cross conference games Jets, Vikings, Titans, Eagles, Dolphins, Niners, those
Speaker 1: are all really really interesting. Less it's extremely interesting from
Speaker 1: the Miami standpoint of now the Packers have to kind
Speaker 1: of start paying attention to them. Obviously, the coaches have
Speaker 1: their you know, their plans in place already. It's not
Speaker 1: like they're just gonna go in cold here in a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks. But now the Dolphins game in Christmas
Speaker 1: is actually right around the corner and going up again
Speaker 1: San Francisco. That's a very interesting opponent in terms of
Speaker 1: the contrast there that the styles and the similarities on
Speaker 1: both sides of the ball. It's gonna be fascinating to
Speaker 1: watch that. I also really look at that Jets game too,
Speaker 1: you know, the Mike White thing. I made a lot
Speaker 1: of jokes about it, Mike, but the real thing that
Speaker 1: is probably the biggest takeaway from the Jets season so far,
Speaker 1: and Garrett Wilson has kind of talked about this and
Speaker 1: not so many words. They really have only been a
Speaker 1: quarterback away in a lot of regards. I mean, certainly
Speaker 1: they've taken have been extremely banged up in their backfield,
Speaker 1: but they had the perimeter weapons and they have the defense.
Speaker 1: They just haven't been able to get the quarterback play
Speaker 1: to where it was at last week was an uplifting performance.
Speaker 1: And now they're going to be going into you know,
Speaker 1: US Bank Stadium very interested to see how they respond
Speaker 1: in that one. And certainly the Vikings, you know, trying
Speaker 1: to build their own momentum um in the Eagles, let's
Speaker 1: just say this as well. I mean their run defense
Speaker 1: it's going to be tested now against Derrick Henry. So
Speaker 1: it's and and this Philadelphia rush offense that just put
Speaker 1: up three going up against the Tennessee rush defense that
Speaker 1: completely shut down the Packers running game, and uh and
Speaker 1: really gave the Packers fits trying to run the football
Speaker 1: in that Thursday night game at Lambeau. And then not
Speaker 1: that there is any bearing on the NFC situation, but
Speaker 1: the Bengals have come back to life and they have
Speaker 1: a good opponent now against Kansas City at home. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I look at this is sort of the measuring stick
Speaker 1: week right now in the NFL. I think there's a
Speaker 1: lot of playoff contenders. There's teams like, you know, the
Speaker 1: Chargers that have to try to keep themselves alive here
Speaker 1: with a potentially another win and trying to play catch
Speaker 1: up there with the Chiefs. So a very intriguing slate
Speaker 1: of games, and of course Giants Commanders probably the one
Speaker 1: that has the biggest implication that was for the Packers hopes. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that that was the next one I was going to
Speaker 1: mention because because you look at um, even taking you know,
Speaker 1: whatever implications that might have for the Packers out of
Speaker 1: the equation. You look at the schedule, the down the
Speaker 1: stretch schedule for Washington and the Giants and and the Cowboys,
Speaker 1: these teams in the NFC East, and how how often
Speaker 1: between now and that second weekend in January when the
Speaker 1: regular season wraps up, how often they are playing each
Speaker 1: other and and and banging around against each other. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be you know, the Eagles are obviously in the
Speaker 1: catbird seat, sitting there at ten and one. They've they've
Speaker 1: gotten this far with just one loss. There the team
Speaker 1: that everybody is chasing in that division. But um, those
Speaker 1: other teams are gonna be are gonna be kind of
Speaker 1: beating up on each other here down the stretch, and
Speaker 1: it's gonna be it's gonna be interesting to see who
Speaker 1: who emerges when you you get into a run of
Speaker 1: of all these division games where you're playing you know,
Speaker 1: opponents that know you and you know them, and you know,
Speaker 1: you get into these grinded out battles. Is that something
Speaker 1: that can that can you know, be the catalyst for
Speaker 1: a run for somebody if they if they get it going,
Speaker 1: really get it going against the teams in their own division,
Speaker 1: then you know, does does that propel them into the
Speaker 1: playoffs or are they all just gonna be beating each
Speaker 1: other up so much that it's a win here and
Speaker 1: a loss there, and a win here and a loss
Speaker 1: there and then and nobody really has a whole lot
Speaker 1: of momentum. Whoever from that division makes it into the
Speaker 1: post in the same thing can be said out in
Speaker 1: the West to right where Seattle is at as good
Speaker 1: as the story was with Gino Smith and it's still incredible.
Speaker 1: Seattle beyond the quarterback had flaws this season. I think
Speaker 1: the season has sort of started to reveal there was
Speaker 1: more where he had a team like San Francisco that
Speaker 1: maybe a little bit more was expected, even though there
Speaker 1: was the quarterback controversy. Uh, and they've sort of pulled
Speaker 1: back up in that race. I said it last week
Speaker 1: or two weeks ago, and I don't like to pair
Speaker 1: it myself, but I think it begs repeating. This was
Speaker 1: the stretch where we're going to learn the most about
Speaker 1: the Giants because the Giants had a very favorable slate.
Speaker 1: The way everything worked out, even coming off of London,
Speaker 1: as I mentioned before the week nine by everything worked
Speaker 1: out well for them. While they finally started getting injured,
Speaker 1: they started facing winning teams. Now this is where they're
Speaker 1: going to decide whether or not they're a playoff team.
Speaker 1: The Packers, by virtue of being in this you know
Speaker 1: slump here, these winter duldrums, late fall duldrums, you just
Speaker 1: got to try to beat the Bears and see how
Speaker 1: the rest falls. Because there are so many different ways
Speaker 1: the NFC East is going to shake out that I
Speaker 1: think even those teams in that division, all you really
Speaker 1: truly can do is play the game in front of
Speaker 1: you because there's so many interconnected matchups that are going
Speaker 1: to happen over the next six weeks. Yeah, certainly from
Speaker 1: the package point of view, you know you've got you know,
Speaker 1: you've got the Dolphins and the Vikings, two teams that
Speaker 1: look like they're headed to the playoffs. Those teams are
Speaker 1: down the road. But this week and then after the bye,
Speaker 1: you're playing the Bears and the Rams, two teams that
Speaker 1: are under five, not playing all that well overall. And
Speaker 1: if you're Green Bay, you're like, hey, you know, get
Speaker 1: a couple of wins and then see and see where
Speaker 1: you're at heading into heading into the Christmas trip to Miami.
Speaker 1: That's that's really all it boils down to right now. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And and for Green Bay it's that it's that idea
Speaker 1: and we'll see which direction this thing goes. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: certainly there's that sliver of hope. But it's the same
Speaker 1: reason why Aaron Rodgers is pressing to play. It's the
Speaker 1: same reason why the Packers haven't given up on themselves.
Speaker 1: And I'll tell you this too. You know, this thing
Speaker 1: isn't built for one season. I know everyone's always like, oh,
Speaker 1: the all in thing. Now, it's not built for one season.
Speaker 1: Packers still want to contend for championships. Whatever happens with
Speaker 1: this postseason race. You still don't want to build up
Speaker 1: momentum now going into this January, because if you don't
Speaker 1: have that coming out of a season, you look at
Speaker 1: where teams can head and the kind of the direction
Speaker 1: things have faced. Uh, this team, I still say is
Speaker 1: better than its four and eight record indicates, but the
Speaker 1: Packers only have five more chances now to prove that. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Absolutely well with that, we will call it a wrap
Speaker 1: on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Thank you for putting
Speaker 1: up with my voice. I apologize for that over the
Speaker 1: last twenty five or so minutes. But be sure to
Speaker 1: follow all of our coverage of the team on Packers
Speaker 1: dot Com. All kinds of great content for you on
Speaker 1: the website for Wes, I am Mike. Thank you for
Speaker 1: tuning in everybody. We'll see you next time.