WEBVTT - #813 Packers Unscripted: Big win, short week 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:16.640 Hi, everybody. 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:20.200 Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:22.880 I am Mike Spofford, joined as always by my trust 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:25.720 and colleague Wes Honkoitz. We're coming to you here from 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:29.120 our studios at lambeau Field for our only show this 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:32.840 week because of Thanksgiving and the Packers playing on Thursday night, 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:35.000 so we got a lot of ground to cover in 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:38.760 this episode. Here, Wes, we'll start with reviewing Sunday's big 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:40.760 victory over the forty nine Ers thirty eight to ten. 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:43.480 The final score the Packers get to eight and three. 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:47.720 The forty nine Ers were really banged up. And the 0:00:47.760 --> 0:00:50.640 storyline for the Packers in this game, as you wrote about, 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:54.480 as we've written about really all season long, the two 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:59.120 free agents that Brian Gudakun signed right as free agent, 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:02.600 the free agency bell rang and the ink was already 0:01:02.680 --> 0:01:06.559 dry on those contracts, Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney, both 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:10.360 of those guys playing a huge, huge part in this game, 0:01:10.480 --> 0:01:11.639 as they've done all season. 0:01:12.000 --> 0:01:14.600 I just thought it was so interesting, man. And I 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:16.800 know I allude to this on Twitter, probably a little 0:01:16.800 --> 0:01:19.520 bit more than I've put in my story, but you know, 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:22.160 both of those guys, they came here to win, but 0:01:22.280 --> 0:01:24.880 it's been interesting watching how they've added to Green Bay's 0:01:24.920 --> 0:01:28.880 winning recipe. Both of these guys, you know, you listen 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:31.440 to Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney talk about it. I 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:33.800 think both of them made one playoff appearance in their 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:37.920 previous stops. It was such an important thing to them 0:01:37.920 --> 0:01:40.880 to not only get what they deserve as unrestricted free agents, 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:44.680 but also be able to find places where they can 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:47.480 take a good thing and make it a little bit better. 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:51.760 And for Josh Jacobs man who is currently up for 0:01:52.000 --> 0:01:54.600 the UH, I think it's the FedEx Aaron Ground Player 0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:58.000 of the Week honor. This Sky had ninety one rushing 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:02.200 yards in the first half. The San Francisco forty nine 0:02:02.240 --> 0:02:05.280 ers had not given up one hundred yard rusher in 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:09.720 almost three years in the in the regular season, fifty 0:02:09.760 --> 0:02:14.280 four straight regular season games, and he just imposed his 0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:16.800 will against him. I thought it was interesting, you know, 0:02:17.040 --> 0:02:19.760 Matt Lafleur's postgame presser when they were asking I think 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:21.680 it was Steve mcgargey from the Associate Press had asked 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:24.880 him about, Hey, what was the key to this? He's like, well, 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:27.119 we got that number eight guy back there. He's pretty good. 0:02:27.200 --> 0:02:29.120 I mean I think I also saw a stat that 0:02:29.160 --> 0:02:31.600 he might have forced like fifteen mistackles or something like 0:02:31.639 --> 0:02:32.320 that in this game. 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:36.040 It was the most I think by any by that metric. 0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:39.000 It was the most by any single running back in 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:42.560 a game this season in the NFL fifteen fifteen whiffs 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:44.200 on Josh Jacobs on Sunday. 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:45.040 It was pretty amazing. 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:47.280 Yeah, and he forced it. I mean it wasn't just that, 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:49.800 Oh well, San Francisco forty hours and make a bet. 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:51.359 I mean, there was a couple of those plays, man. 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:53.799 And I'm not even talking like some forty yard touchdown round. 0:02:53.840 --> 0:02:56.440 I'm talking about like just taking what potentially could have 0:02:56.440 --> 0:02:58.600 been a negative yard is playing getting three yards out 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:02.480 right right. I mean, this guy is just a mac 0:03:02.639 --> 0:03:06.079 truck with this cerebral attitude towards the game where he 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:10.000 just sees processing all this information. And I've said it 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:12.200 time and time again, but his jump cuts, man, and 0:03:12.720 --> 0:03:15.520 taking what the offensive line is giving him and maximizing it. 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:18.040 That's what the best running backs do. And then Zabra 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:20.440 McKinney won this game. In the second half of the Packers, 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:23.160 I mean they might have already been in firm control, 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:27.720 but with that interception, that is what took any hope 0:03:27.919 --> 0:03:29.800 that the San Francisco forty nine ers might have of 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:32.120 a comeback and just completely removed all that air from 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:35.440 the blue. Forty eight yard return sets off a string 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:38.520 of three second half takeaways, and the Packers got the 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:39.280 job done well. 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:41.400 You have to say with regard to the two big 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:45.000 plays McKinney made in this game. He was guarding McCaffrey 0:03:45.040 --> 0:03:47.400 on the short fourth and two breaks up the pass 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:50.720 Packers get the turnover on downs, and then the interception 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:53.200 which he has the long run back to set up 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:57.800 a touchdown. Both of those plays occurred in Green Bay territory, 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:00.720 and when the score was only seven team to seven, 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:03.720 the Niners were looking to were in position to make 0:04:03.760 --> 0:04:07.080 it a one score game on both of those possessions, 0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:10.480 and McKinney was the guy who ended up stopping both 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:14.360 of those. So he gets his seventh interception of the season. 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:18.200 I think more importantly for the defense that started another 0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:20.800 one of these turnover binges where the defense gets three 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:24.680 takeaways in the second half after going basically two and 0:04:24.680 --> 0:04:27.520 a half games. The fourth quarter of the Jacksonville game 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:30.719 was the defense's last takeaway. No takeaways against the Lions 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:32.720 or the Bears, or in the first half against the 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:34.760 forty nine ers. So you go two and a half 0:04:34.800 --> 0:04:37.120 games with nothing and then suddenly you get three. So 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:40.120 hopefully that's a good sign for the defense. But getting 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:44.159 back to Jacobs, I've said on this show many times, 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:46.360 and I've said it an insider inbox and everywhere else. 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:49.960 I've been impressed from the very beginning with Josh Jacobs's 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:53.640 vision and his footwork and just his toughness, his style 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:57.719 of running. It's been really, really impressive from the start. 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:01.880 What we're seeing now is all of that being married 0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:06.599 up with faking end rounds and pulling guards or doing 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:09.799 the duo where they're just double team blocking going straight ahead. 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:12.680 All of this mixing up of how the Packers are 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:14.920 running the ball. When you look at it, there is 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:19.240 not just like the staple, Okay, this is the Packers 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:21.880 running play. This isn't the days of the Lombardi sweep 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:25.719 in the sixties, Matt Lafleur and the way the blocking 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:28.240 schemes and everything are set up. You have the tight 0:05:28.320 --> 0:05:31.440 ends cutting across to you know, to take out defensive ends. 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:34.640 You have the receivers coming in and cracking on the 0:05:34.680 --> 0:05:38.120 second level guys, and you have all the motion that's 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:42.200 going on with the receivers and the running backs themselves. Yeah, 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:45.320 the creativity that's going on in the running game and 0:05:45.360 --> 0:05:48.080 giving defenses so much to try to decipher as far 0:05:48.080 --> 0:05:50.640 as what's going on and who's getting the ball. Pairing 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:54.839 all of that with all of the skills and physical 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:59.359 attributes that Josh Jacobs brings to the table, we're really 0:05:59.400 --> 0:06:01.920 starting to see something special in the Packers running game 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:03.160 and hopefully they can continue. 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:05.880 Yeah. And and it's Jacob's ability in those instances too, 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:08.840 to get from zero to sixty pretty quick, being able 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:10.279 to get up to speed and where he needs to 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:13.039 get and being decisive in those moments. And so many 0:06:13.120 --> 0:06:16.360 times running backs really struggle between trying to allow their 0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:18.400 blocks to set up, but then at the same time 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:20.599 also making sure that they get there before the game 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:23.479 the gaps close. And it leads to what I like 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:25.960 to refer to as almost those twirling little play actions 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:28.160 that Jordan Love does where he almost sometimes will do 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:29.920 a full three to sixty and then hand the ball. 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:33.800 The Packers have been able to really open things up 0:06:33.800 --> 0:06:37.560 and again facing a team like San Francisco where they 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:40.000 want to run the ball, they want to shorten up 0:06:40.000 --> 0:06:42.479 the game, they want to play the possession game. At 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:45.000 the end of the first half, Green Bay did everything 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:47.359 they needed to do. If San Francisco wants to defer, 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:50.680 which is what Kyle Shanahan religiously does, you need to 0:06:50.680 --> 0:06:52.200 go down the field. You need to get a touchdown 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:54.880 right off the bat. And seeing how the running games 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:57.640 set up the passing game in some of those big 0:06:57.640 --> 0:07:00.600 plays they were able to do. That's the hallmark of 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:03.320 a good football team. Rob Dmowski wrote about this too, 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:07.119 And you had your story last week about the explosive plays. 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:12.960 The mix between running the football well and creating downfield explosives. 0:07:13.800 --> 0:07:16.440 That's that's how you get in the hunt. Yeah, and 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:18.200 I feel like we saw in this game. I mean, 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:21.440 it could have been even better. Unfortunately, Christian Watson doesn't 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:23.600 isn't able to bring in that pass, has that drop 0:07:23.640 --> 0:07:25.440 at the end of the first half. That could have 0:07:25.440 --> 0:07:27.200 been a forty nine yard touchdown. This game could have 0:07:27.200 --> 0:07:30.320 almost been over here by halftime. The green Bay Packers, 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:33.280 Michael did what they have to do and listening to 0:07:33.320 --> 0:07:36.760 Keishawn Nixon talk after the game. Again, I will not 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:40.000 quote him directly, but the Packers they had to go 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:42.400 three games without their quarterback too, and they won those 0:07:42.440 --> 0:07:44.960 three games. So just the way this league goes. 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:47.280 Yeah, the Niners. The Niners were as banged up as 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:49.120 it gets. They didn't have Brock Purty, they didn't have 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:51.280 their left tackle Trent Williams. They didn't have their best 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:53.360 defensive player in Nick Bosa. They didn't have one of 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:55.679 their starting cornerbacks in Shavarius Ward. 0:07:56.400 --> 0:07:58.120 But as you said, Wes. 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:00.320 The Packers did exactly what they needed to do, which 0:08:00.360 --> 0:08:02.680 is they jumped on these guys. It was seventeen to 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:05.000 nothing before the forty nine Ers had a first out 0:08:05.120 --> 0:08:05.720 on offense. 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:07.239 That is exactly what. 0:08:07.080 --> 0:08:09.680 You do when you have the personnel advantage when the 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:13.320 other team is trying to make adjustments for missing top 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:16.120 key players. The Packers got on top of them. No, 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:18.840 they probably should have put the game away a little 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:20.960 sooner than they did, but at the end of the day, 0:08:20.960 --> 0:08:22.960 it ends up thirty eight to ten. It's actually the 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:25.680 largest winning margin of victory in the Matt Lafleur era 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:31.679 twenty eight points. And the other really good sign before 0:08:31.720 --> 0:08:34.240 we shift our focus to the Miami Dolphins. The other 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:37.640 really good sign was going five for five in the 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:41.600 red zone five red zone opportunities five touchdowns last week 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:43.920 against the number one red zone defense in the league 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:46.680 in Chicago. It was three out of five. The sour 0:08:46.720 --> 0:08:50.000 taste was those two misses were zero point even being 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:52.320 able to get any points out of those. But the 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:54.880 bottom line is, for where the Packers have been near 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:57.000 the bottom of the league through the first half of 0:08:57.040 --> 0:08:59.640 the season in red zone offense, they're now eight of 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:02.400 their life ten punching him into the end zone in 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:04.760 the red zone. That hopefully is a good sign moving 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:06.000 forward here for the stretch run. 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:08.720 Yeah, and the fact that when they you don't have penalties, 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:10.280 but when they did they actually found a way to 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:11.080 bounce back from it. 0:09:11.160 --> 0:09:12.839 Yeah, they had the one on the on the open 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:15.280 the opening drive, there was the one red zone penalty, 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:17.640 but then they overcame, didn't even need third down, No, 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:20.600 actually ended up getting the touchdown on second down there. 0:09:20.679 --> 0:09:25.479 So well, it is a short week. The Miami Dolphins 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:30.160 are slated to come into lambeau Field for a Thanksgiving 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:33.600 night clash, and when you look at this was really 0:09:33.640 --> 0:09:37.319 this is two teams, both of which have generated their 0:09:37.360 --> 0:09:42.960 own momentum coming into this game. The Packers. Packers now 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:45.800 eight and three. They've won two straight after the loss 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:49.120 to Detroit. Miami has now won three in a row. 0:09:50.440 --> 0:09:54.960 Their quarterback two Attagovailoa, is back from the concussion. He's 0:09:54.960 --> 0:09:59.240 been back for five games, and in those five games, 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:03.000 the Dolphins lost the first two a couple of shootouts, 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:05.880 and then they've won three straight since then. The bottom 0:10:05.920 --> 0:10:08.559 line is the Miami has averaged twenty nine points per 0:10:08.600 --> 0:10:11.440 game since Tua came back. This is an offense that 0:10:11.679 --> 0:10:16.080 is incredibly explosive, very much on a roll, and this 0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:19.560 is going to be a huge, huge test for. 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:21.839 Jeff Affley's defense. Thursday night, I was. 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:25.440 Talking with Travis Wingfield, who works for the Dolphins right 0:10:25.480 --> 0:10:28.839 before this for his podcast, and I told him this too, 0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:30.560 and I mean this from the bottom of my heart. 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:32.240 When two is on the field, this is one of 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:36.360 the best teams in professional football. YEP. What they had 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:38.520 to go through there with losing him, and they've had 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:41.200 to do it a couple times now. Unfortunately, it just 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:44.880 changes everything because it's built on his decision making, it's 0:10:44.880 --> 0:10:48.120 built on his ability to control the field, and obviously 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:50.640 the chemistry that he's built up with all of these 0:10:50.679 --> 0:10:54.000 receiving weapons. I mean, the Packers. We talk so often 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:56.960 about how Green Bay has a multitude of different playmakers 0:10:56.960 --> 0:11:01.120 they can go to. Yeah, Tyreek Hill is one of 0:11:01.160 --> 0:11:03.600 the pre eminent receivers in this league, but it's not 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:07.040 just built around him. In Miami, they have receivers, they 0:11:07.040 --> 0:11:10.040 have tight ends, they list multiple backs as their starter. 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:14.160 They there are so many different avenues of playmakers that 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:18.920 McDaniel invites into this offense. And again, much like what 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:22.640 happened with the Floor, getting underneath the shanahan and McVeigh 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:25.160 tree and then creating his own style, McDaniel has done 0:11:25.200 --> 0:11:29.240 the same exact thing down in Miami. It's an impressive 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:31.640 offense and so much of it is tied into Tua 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:34.240 and his ability to create with it. Well. 0:11:34.360 --> 0:11:37.520 Numbers wise, Tua right now has a one hundred and 0:11:37.559 --> 0:11:40.320 six point two passer rating on the season, which is 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:44.000 awfully impressive. He's completing seventy three percent of the passes 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:46.840 this offense. Not to say that they won't take a 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:51.040 shot downfield, because they certainly will, but this offense is 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:54.040 very much predicated on a lot of the quick throws 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:58.080 and Tua hitting Tyreek Hill, Jalen Waddle and those guys 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:00.680 hitting them in stride so that they can yep yards 0:12:00.679 --> 0:12:03.560 after the catch and try to get plays to you know, 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:07.240 short what looked like short, simple plays to rupture into 0:12:07.280 --> 0:12:11.000 big plays Hill, Waddle, tight end John Newsmith. They all 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:14.480 have over five hundred yards receiving this year. Devon a 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:17.640 Chan raheem mostered a pretty good one to two punch 0:12:17.679 --> 0:12:20.520 in the backfield. And a chan of course is he's 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:23.640 as good a receiver as a runner out of the backfield. 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:26.400 So and these guys, wes I was looking at it. 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:32.800 These guys are incredibly close, so incredibly close to being 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:35.880 on a five game winning streak here because when Tua 0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:39.280 came back, they lost a twenty eight to twenty seven 0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:41.720 game to Arizona in which they blew a two score 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:43.880 lead in the fourth quarter and lost on a walkoff 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:47.480 field goal. Then the following week they lose thirty to 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:52.280 twenty seven, another shootout type game against Buffalo. They lose 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:54.839 that on a sixty one yard walk off field goal 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:58.000 by Tyler Bass of the Bills. But then after losing 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:00.760 those two heartbreakers, now they've ripped off three straight wins 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:05.080 against teams much lower than much lower than them record wise, 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:08.600 or at least lower than them in the standings overall. 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:15.840 But this Miami team, there's it's interesting because to the 0:13:16.280 --> 0:13:20.040 before he left the podium on Sunday after their blowout 0:13:20.040 --> 0:13:23.080 winning against the Patriots two, was asked about the cold 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:26.439 weather in Green Bay because as a quarterback, he's I believe. 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:28.000 It's oh to seven, yeah, when the. 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:31.640 Peperature is under forty degrees, And right away he was like, hey, 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:33.920 it's it's time to bust that narrative, you know, bring 0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:37.160 it on, let's go. And you have to remember, as 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:40.480 much as yes, it sounds like the weather it's going 0:13:40.559 --> 0:13:42.800 to be in the twenties or whatever on Thursday night, 0:13:42.880 --> 0:13:46.440 it's definitely not Miami weather by any stretch. But this 0:13:46.600 --> 0:13:49.960 is very much the same Miami team that played in 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:54.120 absolute arctic conditions in the wild Card round in Kansas 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:57.440 City last January. My point is that for all the 0:13:57.480 --> 0:14:01.200 guys who were in that game twenty degrees that lambell 0:14:01.240 --> 0:14:04.079 Field is not really going to feel all that crazy 0:14:04.080 --> 0:14:06.840 to them, because what they dealt with in Kansas City 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:12.400 in the playoffs last year was absolutely frigid, so I 0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:15.040 can see, you know, and Tua wants to break that 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:18.200 whole narrative about his own whatever record. When the temperature 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:21.160 is under forty degrees, Miami is Miami is going to 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:23.560 come in here and absolutely give the Packers everything they 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:24.040 can handle. 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:26.000 Well, and this is this is the this is the 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:28.400 heat check right now. No pun intended with the in 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:29.640 respect of the Packers weather. 0:14:29.680 --> 0:14:31.000 I mean, I like that, that's good. 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:33.360 But I mean the Dolphins have been a really solid 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:36.120 football team, and they're beating teams recently the way that 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:38.400 you would expect them to beat them with Tua back 0:14:38.480 --> 0:14:40.200 in the lineup and with the weapons that they have. 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:44.120 I think one thing I love most about Miami is that, 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:46.480 you know, they have a chan who comes out of nowhere. 0:14:46.560 --> 0:14:49.200 Most it is this you know, ageless wonder as well, 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:51.960 but they still go and draft Jalen Wright. Jalen Wright 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:54.000 is contributing in this offense too. I mean it's in 0:14:54.000 --> 0:14:55.600 a lot of ways. You almost have a three headed 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:58.920 monster back there. You look at you know, Jalen Waddle, 0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:02.040 what he's been able to come. You mentioned Smith as well. 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:04.560 Smith is a guy that I think the league has 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:07.200 been really enticed by for a bulk of his career. 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:10.480 It seems like he's finally sort of I think he's 0:15:10.480 --> 0:15:12.520 probably twenty nine years old at this point, but he 0:15:12.640 --> 0:15:15.200 sort of realized that the potential that New England had 0:15:15.200 --> 0:15:18.120 sort of seen in him and these other programs thinking that, hey, 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:21.640 this dude could be a potential playmaker. He's fit well 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:25.880 into what the Miami Dolphins want to do offensively, and yeah, 0:15:26.080 --> 0:15:28.320 they're going to be super motivated to put that behind him. 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:30.640 You can even tell it so many times it's the 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:33.280 media that drives a lot of these narratives going into it. 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:35.680 You can tell listening to too and listening to these 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:38.760 guys down in Miami this week. They are fully embracing 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:41.160 this for what it is, you know, for as much 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:43.960 as again it's not Miami weather, but they we were 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:47.760 there on Christmas the second coldest game in that stadium's history. 0:15:47.760 --> 0:15:50.760 It was like fifty one degrees at kickoff. I mean, yeah, 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:54.440 they you know, Miami, Florida and South Florida is pretty 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:56.000 warm a lot of times of the year. But I 0:15:56.040 --> 0:15:59.040 mean when you play in that division, you see the 0:15:59.080 --> 0:16:01.080 teams that you face, you're gonna have to, you know, 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:03.480 come up and rise up to these these matchups, So 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:06.640 I am fully anticipating you're going to see their best 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:09.680 effort in this one, and obviously trying to get back 0:16:09.680 --> 0:16:12.320 to five hundred and show that there's still a lot 0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:14.680 of fight left in this thing. Despite losing Toua for 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:15.600 as long as they did. 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:17.920 Yeah, they lost him for a month. They went I 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:20.440 believe it was one in three in the in the 0:16:20.480 --> 0:16:21.960 four games that they missed. 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:24.800 One passing touchdown too, That is wild. They had one 0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:26.880 passing touchdown during that straight Yeah. 0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:29.680 They're off. Their offense was really struggling. It's worth pointing 0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:32.320 out because we've pretty much just talked about Miami's offense 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:38.320 to this point. Miami's defense very good. It's there is 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:41.080 There is nothing that jumps off the page that you 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:44.640 accept that when you look at their rankings across the board, 0:16:44.680 --> 0:16:46.920 whether you want to look at rushing yards, passing yards, 0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:50.880 total points, third down, red zone, whatever category you want 0:16:50.880 --> 0:16:54.160 to look at, it's very difficult to find a defensive 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:56.040 category in which they are not in the top ten 0:16:56.120 --> 0:16:58.840 or twelve in the league. They're not like number one 0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:01.200 in anything, you know, not up in the top one 0:17:01.280 --> 0:17:03.520 or two in a whole bunch of things, but they're 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:05.960 not in the bottom half of the league in almost anything. 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:08.199 They're up there in the top ten or twelve just 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:13.560 about every category. This This this is a defense that 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:17.480 has played has played pretty steady and pretty consistent. It had, 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:20.320 as I mentioned, had a bad fourth quarter against Arizona 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:24.000 that cost him a game and then Josh Allen kind 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:27.080 of did you know what Josh Allen does? And the 0:17:27.160 --> 0:17:31.160 Bills put up thirty. But since then, since then, teams 0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:32.879 have not been able to do much and in fact, 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:35.439 and I know New England is struggling, but you know 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:37.359 New England was down what was it, thirty one to 0:17:37.440 --> 0:17:40.639 nothing before they even scored any points last week against 0:17:41.359 --> 0:17:44.280 against this Miami defense. So as much as this is 0:17:44.880 --> 0:17:47.720 a big time challenge for Jeff Haffley, this is no 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:50.640 picnic for Jordan Love and company. A lot of positive 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:54.119 signs were seeing with the Packers on offense, no turnovers 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:56.040 for the offense in this last game. We talked about 0:17:56.160 --> 0:18:02.040 Josh Jacobs and the running game. But this is this 0:18:02.080 --> 0:18:04.320 is going to be a tough matchup for Green Bay. 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:07.159 Very interesting matchup two in that it features the oldest 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:09.480 team in the National Football League in Week one versus 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:11.359 what was the youngest team and then now. 0:18:11.200 --> 0:18:12.160 So I didn't realize that. 0:18:12.320 --> 0:18:14.840 Yeah, I think if I understood that, right, I believe 0:18:14.920 --> 0:18:17.000 the Again, I'm doing this off top of my head. 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:19.399 I think the Dolphins have twenty three players who are 0:18:19.440 --> 0:18:22.639 twenty nine or older on their team. A lot of 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:24.600 those players are on the defensive side of the ball. 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:27.040 And in credit to them, you got guys like Calias Campbell, 0:18:27.040 --> 0:18:30.160 who's still their leading sacker this season, must be thirty 0:18:30.160 --> 0:18:31.800 four to thirty five years old at this point. 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:35.120 Who Apparently Mike McDaniels stood on the table for Campbell 0:18:35.119 --> 0:18:37.520 because there were rumors about him getting traded at the 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:41.200 trade deadline, and Mike McDaniel's like, do not trade that guy, 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:44.760 and the Dolphins hung onto him and they are very 0:18:44.880 --> 0:18:47.200 much I mean, they're trying to work their way back 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:49.199 in the playoff race in the AFC, but they are 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:50.119 definitely not out of this. 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:52.520 No, not at all. And in a guy like Campbell, 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:54.320 you're talking about an NFL Man of the Year, a 0:18:54.320 --> 0:18:57.400 guy that has been one of the most dominant interior 0:18:57.520 --> 0:19:00.399 forces for the last decade in this league, and the 0:19:00.440 --> 0:19:02.359 guy I'm really enjoying them, Mike, I talk about how 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:04.840 old they are, and obviously Jalen Ramsey's there and Jordan 0:19:04.920 --> 0:19:08.320 Poyer signed with them in the offseason. But Chop Robinson 0:19:08.400 --> 0:19:10.479 is putting some really good things on film too as 0:19:10.520 --> 0:19:12.840 their first round pick. And when you have a young 0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:14.840 guy that can come in and start to make an 0:19:14.840 --> 0:19:17.640 impact like he's done and being sort of sprinkled into 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:20.880 this defense a little bit, it's a very formidable group. 0:19:21.800 --> 0:19:24.280 At the top of this thing is Anthony Weaver, who 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:29.199 was among this mass exodus because of just accomplishment that 0:19:29.280 --> 0:19:32.679 was in Baltimore last year, guys becoming coordinators, you know, 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:36.040 moving into bigger positions. Weaver gets this opportunity down in Miami, 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:38.760 and I think there's a culture and there's a thought process, 0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:40.720 and I think there's definitely an energy you can feel 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:42.960 that maybe wasn't there last year with Zick Vangio that 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:45.879 you know, these guys really he has them believing in 0:19:45.960 --> 0:19:48.239 what they're doing, and even in those games where they 0:19:48.240 --> 0:19:51.240