WEBVTT - #707 Packers Unscripted: Schedule musings 0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:10.399 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:13.520 Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford. He is my 0:00:13.600 --> 0:00:16.720 trusted colleague Weston Hodkoitz. We're coming to you here from 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:20.599 different locations at Lambeufield, and since our last show Wes, 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:25.440 the twenty twenty three Green Bay Packers schedule was released, 0:00:25.880 --> 0:00:28.880 We've had a few days to process it and digest 0:00:28.920 --> 0:00:32.440 it and figure out what we think of it. So 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:34.680 I'm just going to toss it to you right away. 0:00:34.760 --> 0:00:40.320 When you first saw this seventeen game slate, eighteen week 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:43.600 schedule for twenty twenty three, what struck you? 0:00:43.920 --> 0:00:46.080 We're going back on the road again to start the season. 0:00:46.120 --> 0:00:48.000 That was the number one thing that struck me. I mean, 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:49.600 I don't know what Matt Lafleur is going to have 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:51.080 to do to be able to get a Week one 0:00:51.120 --> 0:00:55.280 opener at lambeau Field, but hey, there's two ways to 0:00:55.320 --> 0:00:57.480 look at this, right The one way I look at 0:00:57.480 --> 0:00:58.680 it is I just felt like it would have been 0:00:58.680 --> 0:01:01.560 the perfect opportunity your starf the Jordan Love era, Let 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:04.920 the young man have a moment at Lambelefield, something that 0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:07.200 would be bigger than just a game. You know if 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:09.399 he would have opened the season here, but you know, 0:01:09.440 --> 0:01:12.319 we know how these schedule simulations go, how complicated they are. 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:15.280 So instead, Packers are going back to back weeks on 0:01:15.360 --> 0:01:18.640 the road, which is the third time in franchise history 0:01:19.040 --> 0:01:21.240 that they'll have played Week one and Week two away 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:24.600 from Green Bay. The other two were nineteen twenty four 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:28.880 in twenty sixteen. So a big challenge opening up in 0:01:28.959 --> 0:01:32.280 Chicago and then going up and having to travel to Atlanta. 0:01:32.600 --> 0:01:36.760 Two potentially very dynamic and potent rushing offenses that the 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:38.480 defense is going to have to be ready for. But 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:41.440 from Jordan Love's perspective, he'll get the opportunity for the 0:01:41.480 --> 0:01:43.440 first time to lead the Packers out of the tunnel 0:01:43.800 --> 0:01:47.559 at Lambelefield in Week three against New Orleans. By and large, 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:50.000 I think it's a pretty balanced schedule, But that was 0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:52.600 the only thing silently I was rooting for. I did 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:54.680 want to see a Week one opener at Lambelefield, just 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:56.440 because it's been so long since we've had one. 0:01:56.880 --> 0:01:59.680 Yeah, it is pretty remarkable that now this will be 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:02.040 Matt Laflour's fifth season as the head coach of the 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:04.640 Packers and he still will have yet to open a 0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:08.360 season at Lambellfield, going down the road once again. I 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:12.120 think if the Packers get a twenty twenty four opener 0:02:12.120 --> 0:02:14.400 at Lambeau, I think the league should just Matt Lafleur. 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:18.160 Let Matt Lafleur call all the shots, the opponent, the day, 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:21.360 the time of the game, the act for the pregame 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:24.120 concert out in the parking lot, Like Matt Lafleur should 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:28.000 just get to call all the shots for his first 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:32.200 season opener at home whenever that does occur. But the 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:34.280 other thing, that the other thing that struck me to 0:02:34.480 --> 0:02:38.079 right away, and this is where you wonder how this 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:41.360 kind of stuff happens. And I'm not, by no means 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:45.480 suggesting any kind of conspiracy, but it is incredibly ironic 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:50.239 to me that exactly one year after the Packers explicitly 0:02:50.320 --> 0:02:53.840 did not want the Week six by right after the 0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:56.000 London game in Week five because they felt it was 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:59.360 too early in the season, and then in response to 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:03.120 turning that down, the league gave the Packers the latest 0:03:03.160 --> 0:03:07.320 possible bye last year in Week fourteen. That now in 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:10.840 twenty twenty three, the Week six by, Oh, there, it 0:03:10.919 --> 0:03:13.359 is the one that you turned down last year because 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:15.919 you felt it was too early in the season, but 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:18.600 that's how that's how this thing goes. The Packers are 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:22.320 going to have some significant rest opportunities early in the 0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:24.360 season because you have a Week four game on a 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:27.720 Thursday night, so you get some extra time off there. 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:30.120 You actually go from a Thursday night to playing on 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:34.359 Monday night in Week five at Las Vegas, so a 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:37.560 break there between those two games, and then after the 0:03:37.600 --> 0:03:40.440 Week five game, you have your full bye week. So 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:43.440 those rest opportunities the Packers are going to have to 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:45.920 take advantage of that, you know, get the team healthy, 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:49.160 get everybody geared up, because then after that Week six by, 0:03:49.280 --> 0:03:51.880 that's a lot of football to take you to the 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:52.640 end of the season. 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:56.280 I didn't jump on the NFL conference call they were 0:03:56.360 --> 0:04:00.280 going to make a media availability to discuss the schedule creations. 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:05.200 To me, the bye weeks were about as quizzical in 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:08.000 nature as I think they've ever been. You mentioned last 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:10.360 year the Packers didn't want the Week six by, which 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:13.440 would have been the earliest in twenty twenty two. This 0:04:13.520 --> 0:04:15.360 year it's actually the second one, though There'll be four 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:18.080 teams that'll be on buy in Week five, which is 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:19.800 you and I discussed in some of our videos last 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:21.880 week will be the inverse of what happened last year 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:24.599 with the Packers, where they had to play three thirteen 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:26.440 straight in a row and then finish the game this 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:30.240 season with four games. This year, there'll be four teams 0:04:30.240 --> 0:04:32.159 that will play four games, and then we'll have to 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:34.360 finish with thirteen in a row to end the regular season. 0:04:34.720 --> 0:04:36.760 That's a gauntlet, man. I mean when the Packers, or 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:38.760 not the Packers, but when the NFL came up with 0:04:38.839 --> 0:04:41.080 this idea that they were going to add the seventeenth 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:43.760 regular season game, I was really hoping that that would 0:04:43.760 --> 0:04:46.200 mean that we would see more buys in the dead 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:48.640 center of the season. Well, as it turns out, this year, 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:51.480 there's no Week eight byes at all. Not really sure 0:04:51.520 --> 0:04:54.440 everything that goes into those decisions, But so as weird 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:56.200 as it says to say, well the Packers got a 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:57.920 Week sixt fi, it could have actually been a lot 0:04:57.920 --> 0:04:59.760 worse for them. They could have been stuck and saddled 0:04:59.760 --> 0:05:02.720 with that Week five by And the fact of the 0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:04.960 matter is, and I think what Matt Lafleur discussed with 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:08.800 Larry mccaern when breaking down the schedule was you just 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:10.799 look for the areas where you're going to be challenged, 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:12.800 and certainly the one of the biggest challenges will be 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:15.360 that opener against New Orleans and then coming back four 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:17.960 days later in playing a Detroit Lions team that I 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:20.279 think a lot of people in the NFL have huge 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:24.560 expectations for on Thursday Night football. The other end of it, though, 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:27.040 that I think does work to green Bay's advantage, is 0:05:27.400 --> 0:05:30.039 when you look at the balance of it. After the bye, 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:32.840 you have two home games against Minnesota and the Los 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:37.400 Angeles Rams. Aside from that early stretch there against Chicago 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:39.719 and the Falcons, you don't have to play back to 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:43.280 back weeks on the road until Christmas Eve against Carolina 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:46.840 and then also New Year's Eve against Minnesota, which is 0:05:46.880 --> 0:05:49.159 really just a puddle jump over to the Twin Cities. 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:52.880 So it's very difficult for me to say that this 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:54.720 was a poorly laid out schedule for green Bay because 0:05:54.720 --> 0:05:57.120 I actually feel like the balance is there. It's just 0:05:57.240 --> 0:05:59.240 that first month that I think green Bay is going 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:01.200 to have to overcome and the win lost column, and 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:03.440 also from an injuries perspective, trying to stay as healthy 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:04.040 as possible. 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:07.360 Yeah, I agree with you. I certainly agree with you there. 0:06:07.400 --> 0:06:10.200 The other thing that that really struck me about the 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:12.359 schedule is what I wrote about I talked about it 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:15.719 in some of our videos on the website last week 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:19.359 as well, is the I guess I would say the 0:06:19.360 --> 0:06:22.440 the even brighter spotlight than normal that is on the 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:26.440 Division games here in Jordan Love's first season as the 0:06:26.480 --> 0:06:30.520 starting quarterback. Because your opener Week one is at Chicago, 0:06:30.839 --> 0:06:34.279 then Jordan Love's first home Division game is against Detroit 0:06:34.320 --> 0:06:38.960 on Thursday Night Football, so a primetime opportunity there. His 0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:42.159 first start at ford Field in Detroit will be on 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:48.120 Thanksgiving Day, where if Detroit lives up to the expectations 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:51.000 of where a lot of people think that franchise is heading, 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:53.400 that could be one of the one of the biggest 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:58.800 Thanksgiving games at ford Field in quite some time. And 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:02.279 then you're Jordan Love's first trip as the starting quarterback 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:06.320 into the noisy confines of US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:11.040 will be in primetime on New Year's Eve in week seventeen. 0:07:11.520 --> 0:07:14.440 And then in week eighteen, you know, the one that's 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:18.440 listed as TBD against the Chicago Bears. If there's anything 0:07:18.520 --> 0:07:22.400 at stake, if there's anything at stake for either team 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:24.840 in that game, there's a good chance that that finds 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:28.520 a prime slot, either as a National three twenty five 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:32.520 game or maybe even in primetime. They're Packers and Bears, 0:07:32.560 --> 0:07:36.880 so the division games are always important. They are. They 0:07:36.960 --> 0:07:41.640 are the shortest, most efficient, most impactful way to carve 0:07:41.800 --> 0:07:45.720 out a path to the postseason for your team. But 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:48.800 the extra spotlight that is on those division games here 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:51.200 and Jordan Love's first season is pretty significant. 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:53.240 No doubt in the fact that there will be that 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:57.000 Thursday night game on Thanksgiving against the Lions. Packers then 0:07:57.040 --> 0:08:00.080 will have that mini by before hosting Kansas City. There 0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:02.280 no circumstances can you envision a way in which that 0:08:02.320 --> 0:08:05.880 won't be a challenging matchup against the defending Super Bowl champions. 0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:08.920 A lot goes into these schedules, but I think for me, 0:08:09.680 --> 0:08:12.520 the idea that the Packers won't actually play now we 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:14.400 know how quickly these things can change. We saw it 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:18.000 last year with it with how competitive New York's both 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:20.960 of the New York teams ended up being Washington. But 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:23.680 the Packers won't actually play a team coming off a 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:27.240 playoff appearance until Week eight against Minnesota, and we've already 0:08:27.320 --> 0:08:29.600 seen some of the Vegas lines out there on the vikings, 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:31.720 you know, putting their win lost total right around maybe 0:08:31.720 --> 0:08:35.199 seven or eight. So it is going to be very 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:39.000 back heavy where the challenges potentially lie there for green Bay. 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:42.120 But as it always was the case, whether it was 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:46.360 Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, Jordan Love, Brett Hunley, whoever, it 0:08:46.400 --> 0:08:48.560 comes down to winning in the division. And I think 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:50.800 with the last couple of seasons where the Packers kind 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:53.600 of got tripped up was in some of those division matchups, 0:08:53.640 --> 0:08:56.080 whether it was against Minnesota or last year, you know, 0:08:56.160 --> 0:08:58.520 losing both of them to the Lions. Certainly, you know, 0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:01.320 Matt Lafleur still has yet to lose game to the Bears. 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:03.640 So that will be critical both beginning the season and 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:06.600 ending the season for green Bay. But to have two 0:09:06.640 --> 0:09:10.160 Thursday night matchups against the Lions after everything that Detroit did, 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:12.640 after you know, really this feeling that hey, they've been 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:15.160 building every single year. Dan Campbell has been in the 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:18.360 Motor City. Though for as much as there's gonna be 0:09:18.400 --> 0:09:20.720 Kansas City and there's gonna be you know, justin Herbert 0:09:20.720 --> 0:09:24.680 in Los Angeles, it's gonna sound kind of monotonous. But 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:27.160 for as many times as the Packers have played the Lions, 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:29.439 especially to end the season, they've played a couple of 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:32.920 playing games against them, those two matchups against them both 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:34.440 in Week four and then at the end of the season. 0:09:34.559 --> 0:09:35.840 I think are really going to have a lot to 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:37.040 do with where their season goes. 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:40.400 Yeah. Absolutely, I agree with you one hundred percent. And 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:44.319 there's a lot of talk in Detroit, of course about 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:46.880 where that team is headed. They got pegged for Week 0:09:46.960 --> 0:09:49.839 one to play the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:53.280 Chiefs in prime time, the type of game that the 0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:56.679 Detroit Lions normally do not get selected to play, and 0:09:57.280 --> 0:09:59.960 that is how they are opening their twenty twenty three season. 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:02.520 So there will be a lot of attention on Detroit, 0:10:02.559 --> 0:10:05.040 and I agree with you, a big spotlight on those 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:08.600 Green Bay Detroit games, those two NFC North matchups this year. 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:10.240 I want to take care of a little bit of 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:14.480 sponsor business here. West Sirius XM. NFL Radio delivers hard 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:17.480 hitting analysis and up to the minute NFL news that 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:21.120 true football fanatics need twenty four to seven, three sixty 0:10:21.120 --> 0:10:23.439 five and Ed cousin subs. We have something for everyone, 0:10:23.480 --> 0:10:26.480 like our Wisconsin cheese curds, Mac and cheese, golden fries, 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:29.040 and creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite sub or 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:33.600 sub and a bowl cousin subs fifty years of better. 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:36.240 All Right, I just a'll throw out a couple of 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:40.360 questions to you. We've touched on a few of these 0:10:40.960 --> 0:10:46.400 highlights already, but when it comes to the opponent you 0:10:46.440 --> 0:10:49.760 are most looking forward to seeing visit Lambellfield and the 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:53.120 road trip for the Packers in twenty twenty three that 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:55.840 you are most looking forward to? What are your selections? 0:10:55.920 --> 0:10:59.040 Well, Las Vegas is the biggest road trip on my schedule. 0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:00.920 I'm sure it's that way for a lot of Packer fans. 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:02.959 First time the Packers will be at a Llegiance Stadium 0:11:02.960 --> 0:11:05.760 that's going to be absolutely huge. Also, the storylines there 0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:08.480 with DeVante Adams in the history with the Green Bay Packers, 0:11:08.920 --> 0:11:11.400 that will kind of right itself. I'm sure it'll drive 0:11:11.440 --> 0:11:13.959 the narrative that week. But placing it on Monday Night Football, 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:16.840 I feel is also a really good spotlight for that matchup. 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:20.319 Very interested to see. How you know, Jordan Love, He's 0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:22.080 going to get a taste to some of these these 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:25.360 primetime matchups right off the bat. As we mentioned, Lions 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:28.079 on Thursday Night football, coming right back against the Raiders 0:11:28.080 --> 0:11:31.640 the following week. That's where the national eye really comes 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:33.720 on to you and seeing what you have to offer. 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:37.800 And I'm very intrigued to see how the Packers handle 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:41.840 that type of moment. Aaron Rodgers always seemed to embrace him, 0:11:41.880 --> 0:11:43.440 you know, when you would have the you know that 0:11:43.440 --> 0:11:46.560 that national you know, he always talked about the romanticism 0:11:46.600 --> 0:11:49.040 that's kind of involved with you're the only television game, 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:52.120 You're the only NFL game that everybody's watching. To be 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:54.600 in the you know, Las Vegas first time, you know, 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:55.880 you and I will get a chance to be in 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:57.720 a new stadium in a while that we haven't been to. 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:01.440 That's very intriguing to me. And then certainly I'm going 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:03.120 to steal the other good one here, which is that 0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:06.120 December third matchup against Kansas City. As you've outlined so 0:12:06.120 --> 0:12:08.200 many times before already an Inbox and a lot of 0:12:08.200 --> 0:12:10.640 our other stories on Packers dot Com, it'll be the 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:13.040 first time Patrick mahomes in theory, if you can stay 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:15.080 healthy here, we'll be making a start at lambeau Field. 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:17.960 One of the things I led Inbox with last week 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:20.640 was just how special those moments are because especially when 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:23.199 it's a cross conference team that I mean, maybe now 0:12:23.240 --> 0:12:25.680 there's more of an opportunity than there was before for 0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:28.640 those guys to come over and play road games. It's 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:31.320 not just once every eight years anymore because of that 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:34.360 cross conference matchup, but still it's very rare that you're 0:12:34.360 --> 0:12:36.600 going to see Patrick Mahomes in this type of stadium. 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:38.840 I want to say, Tom Brady only played here what 0:12:38.920 --> 0:12:42.240 two or three times, So that's something I think all 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:44.360 Packer fans will have on their calendar because it's a 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:46.160 game that's a little bit more than just the win 0:12:46.200 --> 0:12:48.600 and the loss. It's also what it represents, knowing that 0:12:48.640 --> 0:12:51.120 you're probably watching one of the a player that will 0:12:51.160 --> 0:12:53.240 go down as one of the greatest quarterbacks in league history. 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:55.600 Yeah, that's one of the things I always look at 0:12:55.679 --> 0:12:58.680 with regard to the opponents coming to Lambeofield is particularly 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:02.520 the quarterbacks, the guys that the guys that everybody talks about. 0:13:03.040 --> 0:13:06.360 And Patrick Mahomes be making his first trip to Lambe Field, 0:13:06.679 --> 0:13:09.240 and Justin Herbert for the Chargers, another young up and 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:12.400 coming quarterback in the AFC, He'll be making his first 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:16.679 visit to Lambe Field on that Sunday prior to Thanksgiving. 0:13:16.800 --> 0:13:19.240 So those are those are some interesting ones to look 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:21.080 forward to. And I totally agree with you as far 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:23.640 as a road trip Las Vegas. It's it's not just 0:13:24.559 --> 0:13:28.240 the Packers obviously have have never played in Vegas. It's 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:31.199 the DeVante Adams and you know, presumably matched up against 0:13:31.240 --> 0:13:35.160 Jay R Alexander and uh and And for me personally, 0:13:35.200 --> 0:13:39.040 there are only two current in use NFL stadiums that 0:13:39.440 --> 0:13:41.840 that I have at which I have not covered a game. 0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:44.280 Las Vegas is one. The other is Sofi Stadium in 0:13:44.320 --> 0:13:46.120 Los Angeles. So I get to chalk another one off 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:49.679 my list. Until Buffalo builds its new stadium and all 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:52.680 the other new ones start getting built in then yeah, 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:55.200 then then there'll be more that uh that I'll that 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:57.400 I'll still need to visit. Here's a thought that just 0:13:57.440 --> 0:14:01.040 occurred to me though, and and I I'm dead serious 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:03.160 that this just occurred to me all, you know, late 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:07.319 last week looking over things. I didn't realize this, but 0:14:08.000 --> 0:14:12.760 in his first season as a starting quarterback, I'm counting 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:19.960 I'm counting four stadiums at which Jordan Love could get 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:24.640 a victory in which stadiums in which Aaron Rodgers never 0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:27.040 got a victory as the quarterback of the Packers. And 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:30.000 I'm talking about Atlanta, which is the new Mercedes Benz 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:33.600 Stadium in Atlanta. Obviously, Rogers won, you know, a big 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:37.600 playoff game at the Georgia Dome, but lost once in 0:14:37.600 --> 0:14:41.200 the regular season once in the playoffs in Atlanta's new stadium, 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:43.520 Las Vegas. We just mentioned that the Packers have never 0:14:43.560 --> 0:14:48.080 played there. Denver, the road game at Denver. Rogers only 0:14:48.160 --> 0:14:51.000 played one game, one regular season game in Denver in 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:53.600 twenty fifteen. Lost that one. That was when Peyton Manning 0:14:53.960 --> 0:14:56.760 was quarterbacking the Broncos, and the Broncos eventually. 0:14:56.680 --> 0:15:00.120 Seventy seven passing yards in that one. Yeah, Packers, they 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:00.760 got a hand. 0:15:00.560 --> 0:15:02.160 It to him and that was and that was in 0:15:02.240 --> 0:15:03.160 prime time too. 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:03.440 Yeah. 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:08.080 So, and then the other one is is Pittsburgh because 0:15:08.680 --> 0:15:14.320 Rogers actually only played one game at Hinsfield in Pittsburgh, 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:17.560 lost it to Ben Roethlisberger on a last play of 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:20.040 the game touchdown pass back in two thousand and nine. 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:23.800 And then in twenty seventeen when the Packers returned to Pittsburgh, 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:27.240 Rodgers was injured and Brett Hunley was the starting quarterback Bret. 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:29.840 Brett Huntley probably had his best game of his career. 0:15:29.600 --> 0:15:31.760 That Yeah, that was. That was actually that was and 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:33.600 and the Packers ended up losing that game on a 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:36.400 walk off field goal if I recall correctly. That was 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:41.200 another primetime another primetime matchup. So just interesting the way 0:15:41.280 --> 0:15:44.560 things fall that that Jordan love in his first year there, 0:15:44.720 --> 0:15:46.880 because Aaron Rodgers has won a lot of games, of 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:50.880 course all over the NFL, but there are four stadiums 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:53.640 on this on this road slate for the Packers in 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:59.280 twenty twenty three where Rogers never won a game, and 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:02.160 and Jordan Lovell have an opportunity to chalk those off 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:03.040 his list right away. 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:06.160 Yeah. Absolutely, And again it's about sort of being able to, 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:07.920 you know, leave your mark a little bit and kind 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:10.000 of put your foot down and show what type of 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:12.080 quarterback you are. You know a lot of the stories 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:13.720 I wrote this week, Mike, and you know some of 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:15.920 the things that you're touching on too with Andras Carlson 0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:18.840 is just the transition that this entire roster is going over. 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:21.640 I mean, the fact that you're going to have right now, 0:16:21.680 --> 0:16:23.760 you have ten receivers on the team between the ages 0:16:23.800 --> 0:16:26.560 of twenty one and twenty six, not one of them 0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:29.480 with more than one accrued season two new rookie tight 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:33.840 ends obviously a very veteran backfield, but seeing this offense 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:37.120 kind of come together and develop its identity behind Jordan 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:39.280 Love is going to be so important, and also how 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:42.120 they handle the week to week challenges that the NFL 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:44.120 schedule presents. It's going to start right off the bat. 0:16:44.120 --> 0:16:46.280 I mean, even you look at the preseason, you know 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:48.040 you're traveling to Cincinnati, and then you're going to be 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:50.920 going up against New England and then also closing against Seattle. 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:53.360 It's going to be the type of year where you're 0:16:53.400 --> 0:16:55.880 really going to have to figure out what this path 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:57.520 is going to be if you're Matt Lafleur, and how 0:16:57.520 --> 0:16:59.720 you're going to go about utilizing Jordan Love and how 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:03.120 you're going about deploying starters in these matchups. It's a 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:04.960 lot different than a lot of other years where I 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:06.680 think it would just always kind of become a foregone 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:08.879 conclusion of what your plan is going to be with 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:11.600 Aaron Rodgers, So just seeing from week to week how 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:14.520 you handle those challenges that that's probably gonna be the 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:17.159 most exciting aspect of the schedule regardless of what the 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:18.399 real layout was. 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:22.240 Yeah, and we should based on past history, we should 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:24.600 within the next couple of weeks have the dates and 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:27.200 the times nailed down with regard to the preseason games. 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:31.600 Matt Lafleur has mentioned that there are negotiations going on 0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:36.040 to have a team practice here in Green Bay with 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:38.359 the Packers for a couple of days during training camps. 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:41.400 So we'll see how We'll see how all of that 0:17:41.840 --> 0:17:45.680 shakes out as well. So, oh, the other, the other thing, 0:17:45.800 --> 0:17:51.000 the other thing to mention too before we go. We 0:17:51.040 --> 0:17:54.320 talked about that Week eighteen game against the Bears, which 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:58.720 is the which is the TVD and if that game, 0:17:59.200 --> 0:18:02.360 because the game at Chicago is a three twenty five kickoff, 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:05.520 if the Week eighteen game Packers Bears at lambeau Field 0:18:05.800 --> 0:18:09.120 does not end up in primetime, that will actually end 0:18:09.280 --> 0:18:13.119 one of the longest streaks in NFL scheduling history. The 0:18:13.160 --> 0:18:16.480 Packers and Bears have played a primetime game at least 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:21.560 once in seventeen consecutive seasons, and that streak is actually 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:25.120 in jeopardy of ending here if Packers Bears in Week 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:28.400 eighteen is not a primetime game. But you know what, 0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:31.560 it would be pretty cool if it did become a 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:34.480 primetime game, not only because of the streak, but because 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:36.760 that would mean something really, really big is on the 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:39.719 line there in Week eighteam between those between those rivals, 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:41.760 So that would be that'll be something to watch as 0:18:42.440 --> 0:18:45.520 the stretch run unfolds here in December and January. 0:18:45.680 --> 0:18:48.400 No doubt it would kind of be sort of it'd 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:50.160 be too bad if it ends that way too, because 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:52.119 it's like the Week one game is America's game of 0:18:52.160 --> 0:18:54.280 the Week three twenty five. I mean, there's going to 0:18:54.320 --> 0:18:57.640 be tons of lights on it and attention drawn to it, 0:18:57.680 --> 0:19:01.119 even if it isn't necessarily at seven to fifty. But 0:19:01.600 --> 0:19:04.359 all that being said, certainly everybody's felt like that's a 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:07.399 huge rivalry and the matchups that had been played in 0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:09.640 that too, the one hundred season for both the Packers 0:19:09.680 --> 0:19:12.040 and the Bears in the league, and you know some 0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:14.920 of the you know, you think about how the thirteen 0:19:15.000 --> 0:19:17.640 season ended between Green Bay and Chicago and the play 0:19:17.680 --> 0:19:20.280 in game winner take all for the NFC North and 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:23.199 the Randall Cobb touchdown, so many incredible moments, and it 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:25.399 would be nice if it does work out in the 0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:27.960 week eighteen that Jordan Love's first year as a starter 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:31.040 in Green Bay kind of continues on that trajectory. Found 0:19:31.040 --> 0:19:32.960 it very interesting you talked about it in one of 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:35.560 our other videos that we did, actually, I think it 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:37.959 was the Q and A. If it does end, it 0:19:38.080 --> 0:19:40.080 ends in the same way it almost started where the 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:43.119 Packers were actually playing Week one and Week seventeen at 0:19:43.119 --> 0:19:45.600 the time against the Bears. It just so happened that 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:47.680 that first year the game was flex back. 0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:49.919