WEBVTT - #912 Packers Unscripted: Rivalry recap 0:00:02.420 --> 0:00:10.580 Hi everybody, welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from Packers.com. 0:00:10.700 --> 0:00:13.060 I am Mike Spofford, joined by the one and only 0:00:13.100 --> 0:00:16.160 Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming to you here from the Pottawatomie 0:00:16.180 --> 0:00:19.600 Sportsbook studio inside the walls of Lambeau Field to review, Wes, 0:00:19.860 --> 0:00:24.160 a 31-7 Green Bay Packers victory at Lambeau Field over 0:00:24.680 --> 0:00:26.160 the arch-rival Chicago. 0:00:25.820 --> 0:00:26.640 Bears on Sunday. 0:00:27.590 --> 0:00:29.790 And to me, the formula to win this game turned 0:00:29.830 --> 0:00:33.200 out to be explosive plays and takeaways. And that's a 0:00:33.350 --> 0:00:35.580 pretty good way to beat up on a division rival. 0:00:35.700 --> 0:00:37.760 It sure is, Michael. And the way that they started 0:00:37.780 --> 0:00:40.440 this thing, when you look at the first quarter specifically, right, 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:43.400 the Packers came out right off the bat. Some creative plays, 0:00:43.460 --> 0:00:45.840 some schemes that Matt LaFleur had drawn up. You start 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:48.279 with the flea flicker that goes into a tight end 0:00:48.320 --> 0:00:51.650 screen to Tucker Kraft. 13-plus yards, the Packers are cooking 0:00:51.690 --> 0:00:54.590 right off the bat, right? They finish that series, big 0:00:54.650 --> 0:00:59.160 explosive touchdowns. Christian Watson, four quarters, brought it from start 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:02.940 to finish. Jordan Love was finding it, seeing it downfield. 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:07.380 120-plus play offensively after another, it felt like. But to me, 0:01:07.420 --> 0:01:09.619 and it's what I focus the game notes on afterwards, 0:01:10.020 --> 0:01:13.580 it was really the interception from Xavier McKinney that started 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:16.750 this whole thing because that's where Tyson Bajent and the 0:01:17.050 --> 0:01:19.270 Bears offense realized this is going to be a different 0:01:19.290 --> 0:01:21.870 type of football game. They're not going to be able 0:01:21.890 --> 0:01:23.510 to have the success that they had the past two 0:01:23.530 --> 0:01:28.530 weeks with backup quarterbacks. with Caleb Williams being down, that 0:01:28.610 --> 0:01:31.230 flag was put in the ground quickly at Lambeau Field 0:01:31.310 --> 0:01:34.530 on Sunday. And I felt ultimately, it wasn't always clean. 0:01:34.830 --> 0:01:36.899 Second quarter was a little rough at times, but the 0:01:36.920 --> 0:01:39.320 Packers never let momentum get out of their side of 0:01:39.340 --> 0:01:41.840 the field. And that was really what it took to 0:01:41.860 --> 0:01:43.960 wear down the Bears over those four quarters. Yeah. 0:01:43.980 --> 0:01:47.160 And we'll go through each of the three phases here. 0:01:47.180 --> 0:01:50.360 And when you look at offensively here for Green Bay, 0:01:50.380 --> 0:01:54.400 I mean, What is cooking right now with Christian Watson 0:01:54.420 --> 0:01:57.440 and Matthew Golden as a one-two combination at wide receiver 0:01:57.500 --> 0:02:01.640 is really something. They are the league-leading duo in terms 0:02:01.700 --> 0:02:07.570 of combined yardage. Watson had 143 yards. Golden had 123. 0:02:07.570 --> 0:02:10.490 Watson with the two long touchdowns in there. It was 0:02:10.510 --> 0:02:13.690 the first time in five years the Packers had multiple 0:02:13.710 --> 0:02:15.350 100-yard receivers in the same game. 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:15.970 It was a 31-point game. 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:22.130 Game against the Minnesota Vikings with Marquez Valdez-Scantling and Devontae 0:02:22.210 --> 0:02:28.230 Adams back in 2021, both getting over 100 yards. And yeah, 0:02:28.350 --> 0:02:30.570 it stinks that Jaden Reed isn't a part of this mix. 0:02:31.270 --> 0:02:34.410 We're seeing Tucker Craft, you know, game by game getting 0:02:34.450 --> 0:02:37.530 back to looking like the Tucker Craft of old. But 0:02:37.550 --> 0:02:40.300 this passing game now, it's all about number nine and 0:02:40.340 --> 0:02:42.980 number zero. And these guys, these guys are there for 0:02:43.020 --> 0:02:44.440 Jordan Love whenever he needs them. 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:48.560 Well, so Tom Fanning, our wonderful assistant director of communications, 0:02:49.139 --> 0:02:51.530 was emailing back and forth with him yesterday, and he 0:02:51.910 --> 0:02:53.750 proofed this with True Media. I think it's going to 0:02:53.770 --> 0:02:57.630 be in the dope sheet on Tuesday. The total combined 0:02:57.650 --> 0:03:00.690 receiving yards that Christian Watson and Matthew Golden have through 0:03:00.710 --> 0:03:04.470 the first five games, it is the second most since 1970, 0:03:04.470 --> 0:03:08.200 since the merger for a pair of Packers receivers, trailing 0:03:08.419 --> 0:03:12.840 only James Lofton and John Jefferson in 1982, I believe 0:03:12.860 --> 0:03:14.100 it was. I have to go back and actually check 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:15.829 my email. Uh, but I want to say it's there 0:03:15.850 --> 0:03:17.970 at like, what is it like 791 yards or something 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:18.290 like that? 0:03:18.310 --> 0:03:20.360 I'm going to guess it was 83. 0:03:20.330 --> 0:03:21.680 83 was what it probably was. Yeah. Cause it was 0:03:21.700 --> 0:03:26.000 like 43 years. So, um, man, in what was impressive 0:03:26.060 --> 0:03:29.140 about this game and we were talking with Tucker Kraft 0:03:29.180 --> 0:03:30.540 about it afterwards, it was one of the things that 0:03:30.620 --> 0:03:33.220 I asked him, um, when you look at not only 0:03:33.320 --> 0:03:35.440 what they've done, but the direction of where this thing 0:03:35.500 --> 0:03:37.890 is going with those being the one, two punch right 0:03:37.930 --> 0:03:40.810 now at receiver in terms of the perimeter weapons, uh, 0:03:41.670 --> 0:03:44.410 Matthew Golden plays so much bigger than he is. In 0:03:44.450 --> 0:03:47.430 addition to just having that lightning quick speed and separation ability, 0:03:47.450 --> 0:03:49.990 I mean, Jalen Johnson was having just nightmares trying to 0:03:50.030 --> 0:03:52.470 keep up with him on the field. But then you 0:03:52.510 --> 0:03:54.810 have a guy like Christian Watson, who is a big receiver, 0:03:54.890 --> 0:03:56.790 who is so much faster than a guy should be 0:03:56.890 --> 0:04:00.850 for six foot four, 208 pounds. So it makes defenses 0:04:00.910 --> 0:04:03.350 make a decision. I don't think it's a coincidence at 0:04:03.450 --> 0:04:05.620 all that Tucker Kraft did his best game so far. 0:04:05.940 --> 0:04:09.540 Some things opened up for Tucker underneath. But here's what 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:12.520 I like the most. the Packers finally took advantage of 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:15.240 a defense. They manipulated a defense for the first time. 0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:17.849 Jordan Love was able to really go to work, play 0:04:17.870 --> 0:04:20.409 the chess game, right? Early on, they're going to have 0:04:20.470 --> 0:04:22.910 guys hanging back in two shell. Packers were able to 0:04:22.950 --> 0:04:24.730 get four or five yards on first down out of 0:04:24.770 --> 0:04:28.790 that on the ground game. Bears start creeping up to 0:04:28.810 --> 0:04:30.390 the line of scrimmage. They packed the line of scrimmage 0:04:30.410 --> 0:04:32.450 a little bit more, stacked the box, and then the 0:04:32.490 --> 0:04:34.510 explosive plays opened up for the offense. 0:04:34.620 --> 0:04:35.300 Yeah, absolutely. 0:04:35.330 --> 0:04:38.969 The Bears decided, at least what I saw, is the 0:04:39.010 --> 0:04:43.950 Bears decided to go single high and they said, okay, 0:04:44.570 --> 0:04:46.430 we're going to play single high safety. We're going to 0:04:46.470 --> 0:04:48.210 crowd the line of scrimmage and we're going to count 0:04:48.270 --> 0:04:50.890 on our pass rush to get to Jordan Love and 0:04:50.950 --> 0:04:55.470 to disrupt this passing game. Well, Packers pass protection is 0:04:55.529 --> 0:04:58.310 in a better spot now than it was a few 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:02.280 weeks ago. And it showed because Jordan Love was able to, 0:05:02.440 --> 0:05:06.000 you talk about manipulate, he was manipulating the pocket. buying 0:05:06.020 --> 0:05:08.840 the time that he needed for the routes to develop downfield. 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:11.599 And as you said off the top, I mean, it 0:05:11.640 --> 0:05:14.020 felt like it was a 20-plus yard play like every. 0:05:13.860 --> 0:05:15.380 Other snap out there. 0:05:16.470 --> 0:05:18.790 This is going to be interesting because the Packers still 0:05:18.850 --> 0:05:21.390 need to run the ball better. Matt LaFleur has said that. 0:05:21.610 --> 0:05:23.409 It's obvious when you look at it. The running game 0:05:23.450 --> 0:05:27.480 still has too many zero-yard rushes, negative plays, the things, 0:05:27.540 --> 0:05:29.839 you know, you just want to be able to get 0:05:30.500 --> 0:05:32.720 three or four yards, you know, even when a run 0:05:32.760 --> 0:05:35.409 play isn't great, right? but the Packers aren't able to 0:05:35.490 --> 0:05:38.650 do that consistently enough. So the run game does need 0:05:38.670 --> 0:05:42.170 to get better. But now, to your other point, defenses 0:05:42.210 --> 0:05:46.170 have to make a choice. Because if you're going to 0:05:47.730 --> 0:05:50.070 sit back to try to take away the big play, 0:05:50.750 --> 0:05:53.090 that might be what gets Green Bay's run game going. 0:05:53.910 --> 0:05:57.610 We've seen so much improvement with this offensive line over 0:05:57.650 --> 0:06:00.310 the last couple weeks, with Lakin Tomlinson taking over at 0:06:00.350 --> 0:06:03.530 left guard, Travis Glover taking over at right guard. And 0:06:03.630 --> 0:06:06.880 I would add Anthony Belton really settling in at right 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:09.420 tackle and looking like he owns that spot now. And 0:06:09.460 --> 0:06:12.690 that is his spot with Zach Bacaboele out for the 0:06:12.730 --> 0:06:14.390 rest of the season. And we'll see what happens with 0:06:14.430 --> 0:06:17.170 Kevin Zeitler at right guard and what the coaches decide 0:06:17.190 --> 0:06:19.470 to do there when he's ready to go. But this 0:06:19.570 --> 0:06:23.310 offensive line has made strides. The pass protection has shored 0:06:23.390 --> 0:06:26.229 up considerably. So now the next step is get the 0:06:26.290 --> 0:06:28.900 running game going. then you're really going to have defenses 0:06:28.960 --> 0:06:29.400 on their heels. 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:32.300 Yeah, I have so much respect for Lakin Tomlinson coming 0:06:32.339 --> 0:06:35.100 in here in two weeks and then having to start 0:06:35.140 --> 0:06:37.810 and play every single snap for Green Bay, both victories. 0:06:38.790 --> 0:06:41.630 Just shows you sometimes when you have that experience what 0:06:41.650 --> 0:06:45.070 that can do. It's not just about Lakin. It's not 0:06:45.089 --> 0:06:46.849 just about left guard either. I think you can see 0:06:46.870 --> 0:06:49.940 the comfort that a Jordan Morgan has as he's been 0:06:49.980 --> 0:06:53.200 settling into his position. But to get back to your 0:06:53.220 --> 0:06:55.710 bigger point there, I've really liked what I've seen from 0:06:55.750 --> 0:06:58.290 Anthony Belton. Now, I don't break down film like all 0:06:58.330 --> 0:07:01.190 these guys on Twitter and everything. I'm not all these breakdowns. 0:07:01.250 --> 0:07:05.130 But the confidence is such a big thing in this game, Mike. 0:07:05.170 --> 0:07:07.740 And so often last year, and I can see why 0:07:07.779 --> 0:07:10.260 Green Bay was sliding him back to tackle. Because so 0:07:10.320 --> 0:07:13.040 often last year, I mean, this is a big kid. 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:17.640 From a pure statistical measurable standpoint, this is the biggest 0:07:17.730 --> 0:07:20.330 offensive lineman the Packers have pretty much ever drafted. Yeah. Right? 0:07:20.940 --> 0:07:23.500 And it seemed like last year he was a right 0:07:23.580 --> 0:07:25.820 tackle that was learning how to be a starting right 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:28.540 guard in this league. And now it's like, oh, wait, 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:31.300 I'm back at home now. It's not perfect. Still plenty 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:33.340 to clean up. Still same thing with Jordan Morgan on 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:36.240 the left side. But the fact that this was the 0:07:36.300 --> 0:07:38.400 first game where Green Bay finally had a starting five 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:40.340 that was the same from one week to the next, 0:07:41.060 --> 0:07:43.160 I think you could see that have an impact on 0:07:43.440 --> 0:07:45.630 how things were going. And To your other point, the 0:07:45.670 --> 0:07:47.980 Packers absolutely need to run the ball better, but when 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:49.380 they needed to get it in the red zone, they 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:52.600 got it. Marshawn Lloyd, two red zone scores, and lowered 0:07:52.620 --> 0:07:55.680 the boom on Jalen Johnson, too, on one of them. 0:07:55.740 --> 0:07:58.540 That's my favorite Marshawn Lloyd run of his young career 0:07:58.580 --> 0:07:59.230 so far. 0:07:59.260 --> 0:08:00.750 That was outstanding. 0:08:00.870 --> 0:08:03.810 Yeah, and when you break it down... yeah, they weren't 0:08:03.850 --> 0:08:06.050 running the ball well three weeks ago, but they weren't 0:08:06.090 --> 0:08:09.310 protecting well for Jordan Love either. So for the first time, 0:08:09.350 --> 0:08:11.410 it feels like Green Bay has something to hang its 0:08:11.430 --> 0:08:13.410 hat on. I'm not saying it's perfect. It definitely needs 0:08:13.430 --> 0:08:15.170 to improve if Green Bay is going to achieve some 0:08:15.210 --> 0:08:18.790 of its larger goals this season. But the steps are there, 0:08:18.830 --> 0:08:20.630 and you can kind of feel the momentum building here 0:08:20.670 --> 0:08:22.600 for the Packers offense after a game like this. You 0:08:22.620 --> 0:08:24.120 can say whatever you want, and we'll talk about it 0:08:24.130 --> 0:08:26.440 in a second, what the Packers defense did and the 0:08:26.500 --> 0:08:29.280 pieces that Chicago was missing on offense. But that was 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:32.610 a game defense game. That was one of the better 0:08:32.690 --> 0:08:34.829 ones in the National Football League statistically through the first 0:08:34.870 --> 0:08:37.110 month of the season. And Jordan Love and company made 0:08:37.130 --> 0:08:37.650 them look silly. 0:08:37.750 --> 0:08:39.750 Yeah, they carved them up. No doubt about it. 0:08:39.770 --> 0:08:43.120 Well, on the defensive side for Green Bay, the bad 0:08:43.160 --> 0:08:46.300 news on the day. Second straight week, a key player 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:50.860 on defense goes down with a season-ending Achilles injury. Javon Hargrave, unfortunately, 0:08:51.820 --> 0:08:53.620 will not be playing for the rest of the year. 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:55.610 That was tough to see. Happened with like two minutes 0:08:55.650 --> 0:08:58.350 left in the game. Got carded off the field. You know, 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:02.319 If anybody watched Matt LaFleur's post-game press conference, put a 0:09:02.340 --> 0:09:05.319 damper on the whole thing. He was just sick for 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:07.100 Hargrave when he heard. 0:09:07.380 --> 0:09:08.160 What the news was. 0:09:09.460 --> 0:09:12.300 But with regard to the takeaways, I mean, first time 0:09:12.350 --> 0:09:14.910 the Packers have had five takeaways defensively in a game 0:09:14.950 --> 0:09:17.150 in a decade. You have to go back to 2016, 0:09:17.150 --> 0:09:20.290 that Russell Wilson five interception game at Lambeau Field. That 0:09:20.309 --> 0:09:22.710 was part of the run the table, the early stages 0:09:22.770 --> 0:09:25.670 of run the table that year. Xavier McKinney got the 0:09:25.750 --> 0:09:29.800 one early. He got another one later. We've seen this 0:09:31.580 --> 0:09:34.500 tag team, so to speak, of Isaiah McDuffie, Tyron Hopper 0:09:34.540 --> 0:09:37.160 filling in for Edgerin Cooper, and Tyron Hopper gets the 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:40.280 fourth down interception at the goal line after the Bears 0:09:40.330 --> 0:09:43.370 had switched from Bajent to Case Keenum. Ben Johnson trying 0:09:43.410 --> 0:09:45.729 to figure out, quite frankly, who's his quarterback going to 0:09:45.770 --> 0:09:49.929 be next week if Caleb Williams isn't back yet, because 0:09:49.990 --> 0:09:52.690 Bajent was not up to it at all. The Packers 0:09:52.750 --> 0:09:56.270 made his life really, really difficult. And as far as 0:09:56.350 --> 0:09:59.210 up front, while the Packers are still waiting to get 0:09:59.250 --> 0:10:02.060 Micah Parsons back. and he's not going to practice this week, 0:10:02.179 --> 0:10:05.280 it's still a week-to-week waiting game in that regard. But 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:08.179 we saw Devontae Wyatt have a couple of sacks, made 0:10:08.220 --> 0:10:10.500 a big impact in this game. The rookie denied Dennis 0:10:10.540 --> 0:10:13.800 Sutton on the edge. Again, didn't play a perfect game 0:10:13.830 --> 0:10:17.010 by any means, but was impactful. And you see you 0:10:17.050 --> 0:10:19.770 see the effort, the strength, the size, what he's got 0:10:19.830 --> 0:10:22.790 out there and what he brings. There's so much coming 0:10:22.830 --> 0:10:26.470 along with that young man. There's a lot to like 0:10:26.510 --> 0:10:29.450 about what the Packers are doing defensively. Now, things are 0:10:29.470 --> 0:10:31.910 going to change because Dak Prescott's coming to town, and 0:10:31.950 --> 0:10:35.270 Dak Prescott is not Jalen Daniels, and Dak Prescott is 0:10:35.309 --> 0:10:40.010 not Tyson Bajan. But this Packers defense put a pretty 0:10:40.050 --> 0:10:43.100 darn good game together, and they got something to build on. 0:10:43.150 --> 0:10:45.969 Yeah, as I drove home on Sunday night, one of 0:10:46.030 --> 0:10:48.790 my main takeaways in my head were the fact that 0:10:48.870 --> 0:10:51.109 they made Tyson Bajent look the way that I felt 0:10:51.150 --> 0:10:55.490 they should have made Jalen Daniels look a week earlier. Now, 0:10:55.550 --> 0:10:56.490 that being said. 0:10:56.690 --> 0:10:58.690 That's what I thought the Philadelphia Eagles should have been 0:10:58.710 --> 0:11:02.150 able to do to Case Keenum coming cold off the bench, 0:11:02.590 --> 0:11:05.650 and they weren't able to do that, and the Packers were. 0:11:05.750 --> 0:11:09.579 And home versus road can matter in those backup QB situations. 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:12.440 Yeah. And when you look at that game against Tampa, 0:11:12.460 --> 0:11:14.540 we learned a lot too, from the fact that, you know, 0:11:14.580 --> 0:11:17.559 Daniels went into Dallas and ended up leading the Buccaneers 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:19.080 to a victory. So you never know what you're going 0:11:19.100 --> 0:11:21.490 to truly expect. But, you know, one of the comments 0:11:21.500 --> 0:11:24.950 that I'd seen, you know, people mentioning the fact that, 0:11:25.110 --> 0:11:26.949 you know, now there's tape out there on Beijing. I mean, there's, 0:11:27.030 --> 0:11:28.870 there's been tape out there the last couple of seasons. 0:11:28.890 --> 0:11:30.750 I think the key to this thing was Green Bay 0:11:30.790 --> 0:11:33.570 didn't concede any big runs early on. And I understand 0:11:33.590 --> 0:11:37.100 that Menungai wasn't out there, but DeAndre Swift was, and 0:11:37.540 --> 0:11:41.460 Rashawn Johnson was, and the Packers defensive front, you know, 0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:43.000 I went back and looked at some of the cut-ups 0:11:43.080 --> 0:11:46.250 on it. I mean, Zaire Franklin was everywhere up front. And, 0:11:46.270 --> 0:11:50.110 you know, he was talking about that afterwards. Like, the 0:11:50.270 --> 0:11:52.390 way a defense looks at it, especially a run defense 0:11:52.410 --> 0:11:54.250 looks at it, is it is disrespectful when a team 0:11:54.330 --> 0:11:57.340 runs against you. What the Falcons were able to do 0:11:57.380 --> 0:12:00.420 against Green Bay two weeks ago, that was disrespectful, the 0:12:00.440 --> 0:12:02.840 Packers felt in a lot of ways. And And they 0:12:02.880 --> 0:12:04.840 paid for it. They lost that game by 21 points. 0:12:04.900 --> 0:12:08.300 And obviously the performance that Bajon Robinson had, that's one 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:10.240 of the reasons why Green Bay still ranks 25th right 0:12:10.280 --> 0:12:13.000 now in run defense. To use an old Dom Capers-ism, 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:14.819 if you take that one away, Green Bay's been a 0:12:14.860 --> 0:12:17.900 top 10 run defense this season, but you can't. You 0:12:17.950 --> 0:12:19.429 have to learn from it. And I felt like this 0:12:19.450 --> 0:12:21.870 was a really good step in the right direction. And 0:12:22.150 --> 0:12:24.730 another comment that kind of came out of locker room 0:12:24.770 --> 0:12:27.250 was the Packers, with how they were able to mix 0:12:27.290 --> 0:12:30.610 and match their disguises, the various things that Jonathan Gannon 0:12:30.630 --> 0:12:34.640 was doing, it just put so much on Tyson Bajan's plate. 0:12:35.340 --> 0:12:38.260 And it just seemed like once that first interception happened 0:12:38.300 --> 0:12:42.680 with McKinney, it was just snowballing from there. And then 0:12:42.730 --> 0:12:44.910 when they did have some drives, they did have some scores, 0:12:44.929 --> 0:12:46.849 they did have some answers, they weren't able to keep 0:12:46.890 --> 0:12:50.210 pace with Green Bay's offense. So to have a game, though, 0:12:50.250 --> 0:12:52.410 where you have five takeaways and then you end it 0:12:52.450 --> 0:12:56.120 the way they did, four consecutive to end it, this 0:12:56.179 --> 0:12:57.740 is the way you draw it up. And the fact 0:12:57.780 --> 0:13:01.170 that Green Bay now is already at seven interceptions for 0:13:01.190 --> 0:13:03.870 the season after they had seven and 17 regular season 0:13:03.890 --> 0:13:06.290 games last year. It's not, you know, and I don't 0:13:06.309 --> 0:13:07.950 want to compare one season to another, but it does, 0:13:08.250 --> 0:13:11.550 it just does show you, um, Green Bay's getting back 0:13:11.610 --> 0:13:14.290 to that takeaway streak again. And, and, you know, they 0:13:14.330 --> 0:13:16.690 come in bunches and on Sunday they certainly did. Yeah. 0:13:16.710 --> 0:13:20.000 And, and, um, we saw so many guys sort of 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:22.600 get their hands on the ball, right? Because Xavier McKinney's 0:13:22.620 --> 0:13:25.780 first interception was a great play by Javon Bullard, you know, 0:13:25.820 --> 0:13:28.240 when Bajan tries to force that pass into coverage, we 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:32.150 saw Brandon Cisse making some plays out there defensively and 0:13:32.230 --> 0:13:34.470 being around the football. And that's, and that's what it's 0:13:34.490 --> 0:13:37.550 going to take. You know, I hope that every week 0:13:37.590 --> 0:13:40.570 we're coming in here talking about different guys on defense 0:13:41.090 --> 0:13:43.650 after every game, because without Edger and Cooper, while you're 0:13:43.670 --> 0:13:46.160 still waiting for Parsons to come back, that's what it's 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:48.679 going to take is, is different guys. 0:13:48.420 --> 0:13:51.500 Being able to shine in the spotlight, you know, when 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:52.040 it matters. 0:13:52.420 --> 0:13:56.170 Um, Tyron Hopper too, just to throw a little line 0:13:56.210 --> 0:13:59.230 out there for him, him having that interception, you need people, 0:13:59.290 --> 0:14:02.530 both him and McDuffie stepping into Edgeron's spot, right? But 0:14:02.550 --> 0:14:05.200 at the same time, you need your stars to also 0:14:05.380 --> 0:14:08.360 up their game. Xavier McKinney did that with the two interceptions, 0:14:08.400 --> 0:14:11.900 his fourth two interception game of his career. Devontae Wyatt, 0:14:11.980 --> 0:14:14.760 as you illustrated, we've been talking about this. I even 0:14:14.820 --> 0:14:16.220 hinted at it when you and I were doing final 0:14:16.240 --> 0:14:17.840 thoughts last week. I'm like, he could be a guy. 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:19.980 Who's your guy this week? You know, just based on 0:14:20.420 --> 0:14:22.970 where he's been trending. And they got all of it. 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:26.260 And also now with Javon Hargrave being down, Wyatt's another guy. 0:14:26.300 --> 0:14:28.380 Carl Brooks is another guy that you're going to need 0:14:28.500 --> 0:14:29.380 even more from them. 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:33.990 Yeah. Well, third phase, special teams. A couple of question 0:14:34.010 --> 0:14:36.550 marks get raised in this game. Everything was fine as 0:14:36.610 --> 0:14:41.170 far as returns. But Trace Mack, unfortunately, missed three kicks, 0:14:41.210 --> 0:14:44.530 an extra point, and two field goals. The kickoff return 0:14:44.630 --> 0:14:48.200 unit allowed a long return late in the game. So 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:51.580 Cam Acord, his bunch, they've got some things to figure out. 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:55.460 it seemed like it was one of those tricky win days, 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:59.770 as unseasonably warm as it was for mid-October in Green Bay. 0:15:00.330 --> 0:15:03.370 There were some wins, and the Packers have a rookie kicker. 0:15:03.410 --> 0:15:05.530 He's got to try to figure this out. Cairo Santos 0:15:05.570 --> 0:15:08.850 missed a kick for going that same direction. He missed 0:15:08.930 --> 0:15:13.720 one for the Bears. So as I said with regard 0:15:13.760 --> 0:15:17.000 to smack and insider inbox, what's not the concern is 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:20.980 that this happened. What uh, what matters now is, is 0:15:21.270 --> 0:15:26.130 what happens from here and how he responds to it. Right. So, um, and, uh, 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:31.380 I thought what Matt LaFleur said, um, was very telling 0:15:31.540 --> 0:15:34.470 about how this organization and how this team feels about 0:15:34.510 --> 0:15:37.630 Trey smack. There's no wavering of, of confidence just because 0:15:37.650 --> 0:15:40.130 the rookie missed a couple of kicks. They've seen him 0:15:40.190 --> 0:15:43.210 every day. They've seen how he goes about his business. Um, 0:15:43.450 --> 0:15:46.690 it sounded like he was maybe just overcompensating for the 0:15:46.730 --> 0:15:49.070 wind a little bit. And that's, that's figuring things out 0:15:49.110 --> 0:15:51.230 in Lambeau Field, which is, which is not easy. It 0:15:51.290 --> 0:15:54.130 can be a tricky place to kick. So, um, we'll 0:15:54.150 --> 0:15:55.729 see what happens with smack here moving forward. 0:15:55.790 --> 0:15:58.130 Yeah. The second one, which is, I guess, technically the 0:15:58.150 --> 0:15:59.930 third one, but the second missed field goal, it really 0:15:59.990 --> 0:16:01.430 just looked like, I mean, he just put, he was 0:16:01.510 --> 0:16:03.340 aiming it. He wasn't kicking. He was aiming it. 0:16:03.380 --> 0:16:03.940 He pushed it. 0:16:03.930 --> 0:16:05.840 It just looked like that. The first one, who knows, 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:08.540 but the way I've always said this with Lambeau Field, 0:16:08.560 --> 0:16:10.600 and it goes back to conversations I had with Mason 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:13.390 Crosby in the past, it's, You know, Lambeau Field is 0:16:13.510 --> 0:16:15.930 the same golf course that you've always played every Sunday, 0:16:16.230 --> 0:16:18.750 you know, in your neighborhood your entire life. But the 0:16:18.770 --> 0:16:21.460 way they move the pin around is constant. You just 0:16:21.520 --> 0:16:23.280 never quite know what you're going to get. It wasn't 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:25.300 like it was, people asked, they were asking the inbox, like, 0:16:25.980 --> 0:16:27.360 was it a really blustery day? 0:16:27.420 --> 0:16:27.900 It wasn't. 0:16:28.340 --> 0:16:31.140 But inside the bowl, weird things happen. And I felt 0:16:31.200 --> 0:16:32.940 it during the pregame when I'd walk down there for 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:35.080 a little bit. You never know what exactly that wind 0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:36.320 is going to do, what that air is going to 0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:38.000 do once it swirls inside the stadium. 0:16:38.020 --> 0:16:38.160 Yeah. 0:16:38.530 --> 0:16:42.270 So the fact that this happened in a vacuum, this 0:16:42.330 --> 0:16:44.410 was the game you want your kicker to miss kicks in. 0:16:44.930 --> 0:16:46.229 They would have loved to have them, but they didn't 0:16:46.270 --> 0:16:49.370 need them, right? The goal is now, though, that when 0:16:49.490 --> 0:16:53.650 they go back to Lambeau on Sunday and Dallas Cowboys 0:16:53.700 --> 0:16:55.060 come in here and there's going to be those instances 0:16:55.100 --> 0:16:56.700 where you are going to need an extra point, you 0:16:56.740 --> 0:16:58.980 are going to need a field goal, that smack can 0:16:59.020 --> 0:17:01.560 come through for you there. But yeah, I think with 0:17:01.680 --> 0:17:04.139 what he's built and the credibility he's built up and 0:17:04.980 --> 0:17:07.919 You and I have been in those stadiums, man, in Minnesota, 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:10.590 and we felt what it was like in Tampa. There 0:17:10.630 --> 0:17:13.090 are some major kicks that he has made with a 0:17:13.130 --> 0:17:14.970 lot of heat on his back and a lot of 0:17:15.470 --> 0:17:18.340 loud voices in the stands, and he's come through. So 0:17:18.630 --> 0:17:21.560 I think he's earned that respect, and the key now 0:17:21.660 --> 0:17:23.560 is obviously making those adjustments. He made them at the 0:17:23.600 --> 0:17:25.980 end of training camp to get onto the start that 0:17:26.000 --> 0:17:28.739 he did. and now needs to, uh, close that out. 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:30.919 Lambeau can just be so odd, right? You and I 0:17:30.960 --> 0:17:32.680 sit up there in the press box and you look 0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:34.929 at the flags that are on the top of the 0:17:34.950 --> 0:17:37.990 stadium and they'll be blowing in the wind. It seems like, okay, 0:17:38.010 --> 0:17:39.969 there's breeze. And then you look down at the flags 0:17:39.990 --> 0:17:42.450 that are on the top of the goalposts and they're 0:17:42.470 --> 0:17:45.230 not moving. So it's like, well, so what's going on 0:17:45.310 --> 0:17:47.390 out there? I mean, I don't know how you figure 0:17:47.410 --> 0:17:50.800 it out. Um, it's, it's, it's a challenge. And I think, 0:17:50.900 --> 0:17:52.940 I think if there's one thing probably that I heard 0:17:53.000 --> 0:17:56.290 from Mason Crosby over the years, more than anything, it was, um, 0:17:57.160 --> 0:18:00.500 it was to trust your line. It's, it's about, you 0:18:00.540 --> 0:18:02.920 don't want to play the wind at Lambeau too much 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:07.310 and you pick a line that, yes, you have to 0:18:07.350 --> 0:18:09.090 account for the wind a little bit, but you pick 0:18:09.130 --> 0:18:12.630 a line that's not going to, um, that where you're 0:18:12.670 --> 0:18:14.989 not counting on the wind to do something one way 0:18:15.030 --> 0:18:16.869 or another. And then you trust that line and you 0:18:16.890 --> 0:18:19.679 have to hit that line. And, and, uh, you know, 0:18:20.060 --> 0:18:20.840 Smack will get there. 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:23.080 He just needs. 0:18:22.940 --> 0:18:26.790 To get more experience in this stadium, which he's going 0:18:26.810 --> 0:18:28.600 to get. Packers have plenty of home games coming up. 0:18:29.490 --> 0:18:30.950 We've got to pay some bills and more to talk 0:18:30.990 --> 0:18:33.210 about with regard to this game, but let's hear a 0:18:33.230 --> 0:18:37.070 quick word from our sponsors. Sirius XM NFL Radio delivers 0:18:37.170 --> 0:18:41.440 hard-hitting analysis and up-to-the-minute NFL news that true football fanatics 0:18:41.500 --> 0:18:47.290 need 24-7, 365. Hey Packers fans, looking to score a 0:18:47.330 --> 0:18:50.690 few more Wisconsin memories? From Devil's Lake State Park to 0:18:50.730 --> 0:18:54.350