Speaker 1: Hi, everybody, Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my trusted colleague West hod Kowitz. Were coming to
Speaker 1: you here from our studios at lambeau Field and West.
Speaker 1: It's been a few days since that Thursday night down
Speaker 1: to the wire triumphed by the Green Bay Packers in Arizona.
Speaker 1: But I think you're The message you sent out on
Speaker 1: Twitter a day later probably says it all, in which
Speaker 1: you indicated every time we leave the stadium, since we're
Speaker 1: covering both the home games and the road games from
Speaker 1: the stadium during this pandemic era, it seems like every
Speaker 1: time we walk out of here, we're saying to each other, boy,
Speaker 1: haven't seen that before? Well, and I mean, honestly, if
Speaker 1: we're gonna go back and talk about this, let's also
Speaker 1: mention what you mentioned with your one Last Look column
Speaker 1: that's something crazy was gonna happen, and hey, loimhold, something
Speaker 1: crazy did happened in Arizona for the Packers. I don't
Speaker 1: even know how to quantify this stuff anymore, Mike, because
Speaker 1: there's so many times when you know, you cover this
Speaker 1: team long enough and you have Aaron Rodgers at quarterback.
Speaker 1: Not that it doesn't get surprising, not that it isn't thrilling,
Speaker 1: it's certainly both of those things. But you get done
Speaker 1: with a game like that and I'm sitting there waiting
Speaker 1: for the zoom calls afterwards from the ever our meeting
Speaker 1: room there, and I'm just like, it's incredible how frequently
Speaker 1: this stuff happens where whether it was the ending in
Speaker 1: San Francisco or just how crazy this the whole you know,
Speaker 1: second half of the since he game was for the
Speaker 1: Packers to apparently have everything rolling against the momentum wise,
Speaker 1: and then that passed to get thrown a j Green,
Speaker 1: one of the best of his era, not on the
Speaker 1: same page with Kyler Murray and Russeul Douglas who was
Speaker 1: on the Cardinals practice squad a month ago, ends up
Speaker 1: getting the game ending interception. I don't know. In some ways,
Speaker 1: it's sort of mind me that that Chargers game with
Speaker 1: Casey Hayward many years ago, probably in two thousand fifteen,
Speaker 1: I think it was where Casey I think had the
Speaker 1: interception whatever it was near the end zone. It's the drama.
Speaker 1: It's the drama football. It's the pageantry of football, and
Speaker 1: for the Green Bay Packers it means they've won seven
Speaker 1: of their first eight. Yeah, it's a it's incredible. The
Speaker 1: Packers on a seven game winning streak. They hand the
Speaker 1: NFL's last unbeaten team in one a loss. And this
Speaker 1: is one of those West where I guess much like
Speaker 1: the Cincinnati game in the sense that this one wasn't
Speaker 1: about the kicking, but it was. You think the game
Speaker 1: is one, then it's from the Packers perspective, it looks
Speaker 1: like the game is certainly lost, and then suddenly the
Speaker 1: Packers still come out with a victory. Just the back
Speaker 1: and forth at the end. Obviously, I'm referring to the
Speaker 1: fact that the Packers just needed to punch the ball
Speaker 1: in from the one yard line to take a two
Speaker 1: score lead with three or four minutes to play in
Speaker 1: this one. They weren't able to get that. They thought
Speaker 1: they got it done, then the replay reversed it, then
Speaker 1: they weren't able to finish it off. And then with
Speaker 1: the Cardinals trying to keep their undefeated season alive, they
Speaker 1: drive from their own one yard line all the way
Speaker 1: to the opposing five yard line. So if my math
Speaker 1: is right, that would be ninety four yards. And then
Speaker 1: that ninety four yard drive does not result in anything
Speaker 1: as the Packers get the interception, Douglas makes the pick
Speaker 1: against Green with twelve seconds to go. Um the way
Speaker 1: things that I know, we'll talk more about the bigger
Speaker 1: picture later, but you look at the way this thing
Speaker 1: is going west, with what Arizona is doing, with what
Speaker 1: the Packers are doing, with what the Rams are doing,
Speaker 1: with what the Cowboys are doing. And yes, the Buccaneers
Speaker 1: just took a loss on Sunday, but they are the
Speaker 1: defending Super Bowl champions, right. I mean, this is this
Speaker 1: is just the first of many many games we're going
Speaker 1: to see in the NFC here one amongst these contenders
Speaker 1: that could absolutely go either way at any time. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and and it's a credit to Matt la Floor because
Speaker 1: he's never wanted to take any credit for this. But
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you something, Mike. When you see for
Speaker 1: the last two and a half years now at this
Speaker 1: point where the Packers are able to win this many
Speaker 1: down to the wire games, yes, sometimes it absolutely is
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers brilliance or a guys stepping up, But you
Speaker 1: got to give credit where credits due. Matt Lafleur has
Speaker 1: these guys mentally, physically, and even emotionally ready in those moments,
Speaker 1: in the winning time moments, right the Reggie Miller winning time.
Speaker 1: The Packers know how to excel in that time because
Speaker 1: you can't always do it, but when you do it
Speaker 1: with this amount of success, that's more than just a fluke.
Speaker 1: I know, there was a thought of voted the Packers
Speaker 1: get lucky. When you get this lucky that many times,
Speaker 1: that's not fortune, that's preparation. In the Packers have been
Speaker 1: ready to capitalize on those opportunities. And this one, this one,
Speaker 1: the preparation was all about all of the limitations, right,
Speaker 1: I mean the short week. And yes, Cardinals run a
Speaker 1: short week as well, and they found out they didn't
Speaker 1: have J. J. Watt. But the Packers are on a
Speaker 1: short week and there they suddenly are heading into this
Speaker 1: game on the road, traveling two thousand miles without their
Speaker 1: top three receivers. You're all pro. Left tackle still has
Speaker 1: not returned. And yet the the commentary from both the
Speaker 1: head coach and the players after the game is it's
Speaker 1: just there's a there's an attitude that permeates in this
Speaker 1: team that no matter no matter what players you're putting
Speaker 1: out there, they believe there is a path to victory.
Speaker 1: They believe they are going to win every single game.
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter if it's if it's in San Francisco
Speaker 1: and Elton Jenkins can't go and you're putting yash Naiman
Speaker 1: in at left tackle for his first NFL start, right,
Speaker 1: you know, a primetime game against a big time team,
Speaker 1: long road trip, all that, it doesn't matter these guys.
Speaker 1: These guys go out there believing that they're going to win. Now.
Speaker 1: As as I said an insider inbox on Friday, the
Speaker 1: morning after one of these close games, is not is
Speaker 1: going to go against the Packers eventually, that's the nature
Speaker 1: of this league. You're not gonna win all of them
Speaker 1: like this. But as you said, the way the Packers
Speaker 1: seem to find a way and to come out on
Speaker 1: top in these situations more often than not, it does
Speaker 1: speak to the leadership, both from the coaching staff and
Speaker 1: the leadership within the locker room. I think that that
Speaker 1: this team has going for and you can't discount what
Speaker 1: those victories do in terms of a confidence standpoint. It's
Speaker 1: one of the biggest cliches in sports media is confidence.
Speaker 1: I don't want to go down a confidence road here,
Speaker 1: but let's be honest, Mike. You mentioned all the Packers
Speaker 1: won't win all those games, and I understand the point
Speaker 1: you're making, But look at the Minnesota Vikings, how many
Speaker 1: tightly contested games they were playing so far this season,
Speaker 1: and where their season is at. The Detroit Lions played
Speaker 1: a number of teams tough. You saw what happened to
Speaker 1: them last week. The Green Bay Packers. When you keep
Speaker 1: getting those wins together, Man, it's kind of like your
Speaker 1: fantasy football league. If you're at home, it doesn't really
Speaker 1: matter how you win them. As long as you win them,
Speaker 1: you're still up in the standings. Uncle Eric, he's done,
Speaker 1: it's over. He's back at three and four. You're focused
Speaker 1: on the postseason. He's wondering how much money he's gonna
Speaker 1: owe you at the end of the year. But be
Speaker 1: that as it may. The Green Bay Packers, Mike, they
Speaker 1: are three and a half games up in the NFC
Speaker 1: North right now, and I'll be interested if we have time.
Speaker 1: I'd love to talk to you about the thing you
Speaker 1: and I were discussing last week. When you look back
Speaker 1: at the Minnesota and Dallas game, who you wanted to see,
Speaker 1: you know, prevail. But I think so much of it.
Speaker 1: We spent so much time in the last three or
Speaker 1: four years talking about, Okay, well there's this team and
Speaker 1: that team, and do the Packers want this team to lose?
Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers might be that team now the team
Speaker 1: that it's like, you know what, it doesn't matter what
Speaker 1: everybody else does, as long as they take care of business.
Speaker 1: The people they're talking about green Bay in that fashion
Speaker 1: now to be seven and one through eight games. With
Speaker 1: the season and the schedule that you and I were
Speaker 1: talking about two months ago, it doesn't even matter what
Speaker 1: happened against Jacksonville or in Jacksonville anymore against the Saints.
Speaker 1: Greenbay Packers have real off seven in a row, and
Speaker 1: that means it puts them in pole position for not
Speaker 1: only a division but also the NFC. Yeah. Absolutely, And
Speaker 1: when you talk about the schedule, obviously it's not as
Speaker 1: though it gets any easy, right because this week it's
Speaker 1: a trip to Kansas City Arrowhead Stadium. Uh, certainly one
Speaker 1: of the louder ones in the league, and and uh
Speaker 1: up there with Seattle in terms of the loudness of
Speaker 1: an outdoor stadium in the NFL. And then I know
Speaker 1: we're mostly going to talk about Kansas City, but you're
Speaker 1: still talking about a road trip to Minnesota, where with
Speaker 1: what's going on with the Vikings, that is essentially going
Speaker 1: to be the Viking season on the line. I think
Speaker 1: when the Packers visit there and uh, excuse me, you
Speaker 1: have you have the Seattle Seahawks coming in again. Russell
Speaker 1: Wilson maybe is going to be back for that game
Speaker 1: that they will be essentially playing for their season perhaps
Speaker 1: as well. And then on Thanksgiving weekend, before the Packers
Speaker 1: finally get to that the full week by, you have
Speaker 1: the Los Angeles Rams, another one lost team that's going
Speaker 1: to be coming to lambeau Field. So this this next
Speaker 1: stretch of four games, the Packers have had their mini by,
Speaker 1: like we talked about it. You get through the Thursday
Speaker 1: night game, you get a few days off, a chance
Speaker 1: to to regroup and refresh a little bit. Now you've
Speaker 1: got this four game stretch before you get to the
Speaker 1: full week by that will proceed the stretch run. But
Speaker 1: but the schedule here, I don't I don't care what
Speaker 1: the records are. It's all about when you're playing certain teams, right,
Speaker 1: And this Uh, this next four game stretches as big
Speaker 1: gauntlet as as the Packers have faced so far this season. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And it's interesting too though, right because, as you and
Speaker 1: I mentioned and I wrote about an insider inbox today
Speaker 1: at the time in which we're taping this, everything in
Speaker 1: that month of October was leading up to that Cardinals game. Yeah. Okay,
Speaker 1: if the Packers beat the Cincinnati, if they take care
Speaker 1: of business against Washington, it's Washington a trap game. You know,
Speaker 1: are they able gonna you know, in a short week
Speaker 1: with without Davante Adams, without Mark was Velda Scantling, without
Speaker 1: Alan Lazar Jr. Alexander's, Zadarius Smith, Ray Nichky, you know,
Speaker 1: Jerry Kramer, with all all the these guys, are they
Speaker 1: going to actually be able to stack up against a
Speaker 1: seven and oh Arizona Cardinals team. And they came out
Speaker 1: and punched them in the mouth. It wasn't a full
Speaker 1: four quarter game. You wouldn't imagine it to be against
Speaker 1: a team that hadn't freaking lost this year. But they
Speaker 1: came out, set the tone early and we're able to
Speaker 1: position themselves in the second half once they got up
Speaker 1: seventeen to seven to be able to be the team
Speaker 1: out front. They weren't catching, they were they were they
Speaker 1: were leading. So I look at this November stretch very similarly.
Speaker 1: This Kansas City game is going to be difficult. Seattle
Speaker 1: is going to be a game team regardless of whether
Speaker 1: or not. You know, you're gonna see Russell Wilson. You're
Speaker 1: going into Minnesota. That's never fun. And then you also
Speaker 1: have that matchup at the end of the month against
Speaker 1: that juggernaut in the Los Angeles Rams, the playoff rematch
Speaker 1: from last year. The Rams are going to be coming
Speaker 1: here where they saw their season end last January. Correct,
Speaker 1: And the fact is is that the Packers by picking
Speaker 1: up seven of eight, much like that same thing you
Speaker 1: and I were saying going into Arizona. Mike, Okay, they've
Speaker 1: taken care of business here. You flip the coin. See
Speaker 1: what happens at State Farm Stadium. They won that football
Speaker 1: game there, won seven in a row. Now at this point,
Speaker 1: see how long this road can take you? Yeah? Absolutely well.
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Speaker 1: With regard to the health situation with this team, the
Speaker 1: Packers after the weekend off, they came back, had a
Speaker 1: short practice on Monday. Good news, both al Lazard and
Speaker 1: Marquez Velde Scantling um MVS still on injured reserve, has
Speaker 1: not been placed back on the active roster as if yet,
Speaker 1: but both of those receivers were on the practice field Monday,
Speaker 1: so that is a good sign here as the Packers
Speaker 1: will um begin in preparing for this trip to Kansas City.
Speaker 1: But Davante Adams not on the field yet, um Matt
Speaker 1: Lafleur suggesting maybe he'd be back Thursday later in the week,
Speaker 1: so that's something to keep an eye on. And then
Speaker 1: we're still waiting to kind of see what's going to
Speaker 1: happen or not happen with David baktr Um Matt Lafleur
Speaker 1: saying telling the media there's been a decision made as
Speaker 1: to whether bok tr will play against Kansas City, but
Speaker 1: he's not going to reveal it. Obviously doesn't want Kansas
Speaker 1: City to know exactly what the Packers are doing there.
Speaker 1: From a logistical standpoint, the Packers have to decide by
Speaker 1: the middle of next week, UM to put David BAKTIERI
Speaker 1: back on the fifty three man roster, to activate him
Speaker 1: for the rest of the season. That deadline, UM, that
Speaker 1: deadline is next week, I believe UM. That being said, UM,
Speaker 1: Matt Lafleur also left open the possibility that the Packers
Speaker 1: could activate bok tr E. But if he's still not
Speaker 1: quite ready to play, UM, he may not play right
Speaker 1: away once he once he is put on the fifty
Speaker 1: three man roster. It sounds like it's heading toward David
Speaker 1: baktier being activated here at some point. We just don't
Speaker 1: know when he's going to. David David spoiler alert, David
Speaker 1: Botr is going to be activated here the next week
Speaker 1: and half barring some kind of like catastrophic setback. Because
Speaker 1: the thing is is now with the practice squad elevations,
Speaker 1: I mean, Mike, the Packers I think have fifty one
Speaker 1: guys on the roster as we're speaking right now. With
Speaker 1: the practice squad elevations. You can bring a guy up
Speaker 1: and stash him on your game D and actives and
Speaker 1: still be just fine. So the floors playing the right
Speaker 1: cards in that regard. It really is going to come
Speaker 1: down to how the training staff and the doctors feel about, Okay,
Speaker 1: this mini preparation that box tr has had, is it enough?
Speaker 1: Are we ready to let him go? Because certainly, as
Speaker 1: Lucas Patrick was talking about, just the energy that he's
Speaker 1: brought to the practice field, just imagine what that would
Speaker 1: do for that unit once he's back out there. It's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: he went seven of eight without David Bok. Try you
Speaker 1: play as well as you did at left tackle for
Speaker 1: half a season without a future Hall of Fame left tackle.
Speaker 1: What a job that that group has done. And I
Speaker 1: think it's gonna be something that really carries them down
Speaker 1: the stretch. The very fascinating thing about how this week
Speaker 1: lines up for Green Bay is they're going to have
Speaker 1: to figure out what this life looks like without Robert Tonyan, Right,
Speaker 1: you lose him for the season. He is by far
Speaker 1: your most versatile, you know, inline perimeter receiving threat. In
Speaker 1: addition to a guy that has really improved himself as
Speaker 1: a blocker over the years. There's so many things that
Speaker 1: he brings to the table they're just not going to
Speaker 1: be able to replace. But they're gonna have to try
Speaker 1: to write. So whether it is you know, from a
Speaker 1: receiving standpoint, getting back mvs you for sure we'll have
Speaker 1: al Lazard back. That's a huge you know, that's a
Speaker 1: huge boom I think for this Packers you know, passing game,
Speaker 1: and then as far as a tight end perspective, Mike,
Speaker 1: it's gonna have to be all those guys picking up
Speaker 1: their work pails and getting to it because Mercedes Lewis,
Speaker 1: you know what you got there, you understand, you know, heck,
Speaker 1: he's gonna end up having the most receiving yards that
Speaker 1: he's had as a Packer this season, regardless of Tonyan's injury. Right,
Speaker 1: you know, Josiah Deguars back, the third round pick, He's
Speaker 1: had a full season to work himself back. You know,
Speaker 1: Dominic Daphne's healthy. There's so many young guys here that
Speaker 1: are going to have to carry that load for for
Speaker 1: Tony in and it's gonna be pretty exciting, I think
Speaker 1: to see exactly what that plan is going to be
Speaker 1: like without Bobby Well, if there's one thing we know
Speaker 1: about this Packers coaching staff on the offensive side, in
Speaker 1: particular now in their third year together, talking about La
Speaker 1: fleur Um, Nathaniel Hackett, Luke Getzi, Adam Stanovich, Luke Buckis,
Speaker 1: all these guys Ben's Ben Sermons, Jason varabel Um is
Speaker 1: that they know how to adjust an offensive game plan
Speaker 1: and how you go about attacking somebody based on the
Speaker 1: personnel you have. Unfortunately, now the absence of tonyan Is
Speaker 1: is permanent for two thousand and twenty one. They won't
Speaker 1: have him for the rest of the season, but it
Speaker 1: will be it will be interesting to see with regard
Speaker 1: to guys, we we know what Marcedes Lewis is going
Speaker 1: to do and where he is, but with guys like
Speaker 1: Daguara and Daphne, I think in particularly we saw what
Speaker 1: daft He did when he was given an opportunity late
Speaker 1: last season. Deguire is a guy who you know, all
Speaker 1: signs were pointing to him being such a big part
Speaker 1: of this offense in and then he goes down early
Speaker 1: in the season with the knee injury. These these Packers
Speaker 1: coaches will figure out, We'll figure out a way to
Speaker 1: get the most out of these guys, I think everybody needs.
Speaker 1: Everybody can be confident in that. And then when you've
Speaker 1: got that one two punch in the backfield, not to
Speaker 1: mention obviously a three time m v P quarterback, but
Speaker 1: when you have that one two punch in the backfield,
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones and a J. Dillon, and what these guys
Speaker 1: are bringing to the table every week, as we've continued
Speaker 1: to talk about on the show, that's the that's really
Speaker 1: the crux and the foundation of of this offense and
Speaker 1: where it can go and and you can figure out
Speaker 1: the rest of the pieces. And obviously you hope to
Speaker 1: get Davanta Adams back in this mix as soon as possible.
Speaker 1: You really do, Mike and I love the way that
Speaker 1: the offense has built. You know, with all due respect
Speaker 1: to Mike McCarthy, he's done so many great things. He's
Speaker 1: doing great things right now in Dallas. But it did
Speaker 1: seem like at times, you know, in the mid two
Speaker 1: thousand tens, you know, you lose Jordy Nelson, you lose
Speaker 1: a Davante Adams. It was difficult to try to kind
Speaker 1: of structure an offense without those guys. It was just
Speaker 1: so built into that, you know, kind of thirteen personnel.
Speaker 1: It's a much more malleable thing. And that's not just
Speaker 1: a reflection McCarthy. I think that's the league now, right.
Speaker 1: It's more versatile. You you have tighter bunch formations, You're
Speaker 1: able to use guys in different various spots. That's going
Speaker 1: to be imperative for Green Bay right now because you're,
Speaker 1: as you said, you're not getting Tongy in back. That
Speaker 1: weapon has gone for a potential Super Bowl type run.
Speaker 1: So how do you replace that production the same way
Speaker 1: that they had to figure out on defense, how to
Speaker 1: you know, pursue a pass rush without Zadarius Smith, how
Speaker 1: to lockdown receivers without Jaire Alexander, Packers have to figure
Speaker 1: out that same type of menu now without Tony in Yeah,
Speaker 1: and this is interesting West. You know how things, you know,
Speaker 1: how things work in this league, how things sort of
Speaker 1: happen in bunches or or or happen as trends and whatnot.
Speaker 1: And I do want to we'll talk more about the
Speaker 1: Kansas City Chiefs on our next show, but before we
Speaker 1: go today, I just wanted to wanted to mention as
Speaker 1: much as uh, you know that Packers victory on Thursday
Speaker 1: in Arizona with so many odds seemingly stacked against you,
Speaker 1: and they pull it out. Look at what the Dallas
Speaker 1: Cowboys in the New Orleans Saints did this past weekend.
Speaker 1: The Saints, they lose. They lose Jamis Winston in the
Speaker 1: middle of that game to Tampa Bay. Now, yes, the
Speaker 1: Saints were playing at home, but they have to throw
Speaker 1: Trevor Simeon and then it turns out now that Jamis
Speaker 1: Winston is out for the season, unfortunately for New Orleans.
Speaker 1: But with their backup quarterback going against Tom Brady, they
Speaker 1: find they find a way to pull that um pull
Speaker 1: that game out right because Tayson Hill was not available.
Speaker 1: And then the Dallas Cowboys Cooper Rush has to make
Speaker 1: his first NFL start in place of Dak Prescott, and
Speaker 1: the Cowboys are on the road in a primetime game
Speaker 1: at Minnesota, seemingly a lot stacked against them, and they're
Speaker 1: down ten to three I think it was at halftime there.
Speaker 1: You know, the replacement quarterback had only put three points
Speaker 1: on the board in the first two quarters, and yet
Speaker 1: the Cowboys found a way to to remain a one
Speaker 1: lost team in the NFC. They pull out a big
Speaker 1: victory on the road in Minnesota. What what some of
Speaker 1: these teams and these coaching staffs and everything are doing
Speaker 1: when it seems like you shouldn't be able to win
Speaker 1: the game, Right, It's it's a it's a credit, it's
Speaker 1: a credit and a statement to just how ultra competitive
Speaker 1: this league is there. I mean, yes, you're occasionally you're
Speaker 1: going to have the Eagles beat the Lions forty four
Speaker 1: to six. That happens. The Saints beat the Packers thirty
Speaker 1: eight to three. Right, that's gonna happen every once in
Speaker 1: a while. But the vast majority of the time, these
Speaker 1: are the kind this is the kind of competition that
Speaker 1: um that this league is built on, and it makes
Speaker 1: absolutely every week not only unpredictable, but incredibly entertaining, incredibly
Speaker 1: entertaining and rewarding because they have to imagine as difficult
Speaker 1: as it was, the lowest tonying in to seek Hiland
Speaker 1: Hills suffered that knee injury. That was awful for him,
Speaker 1: But when you look at the totality of the victory,
Speaker 1: like I hope Matt Lafleur, Jerry Gray, especially Kirk liv Datty,
Speaker 1: they were actually able to sit back at some point
Speaker 1: the weekend and appreciate what they actually did. They don't
Speaker 1: need to talk about in a press conference. They don't
Speaker 1: need to pat themselves on the back publicly. But to
Speaker 1: be able to put your your team in a situation
Speaker 1: to win under those adverse situations, that's what football is
Speaker 1: all about, right, Mike McCarthy did it again? I tip
Speaker 1: your captain McCarthy, the game plan they developed, the way
Speaker 1: they rallied against Minnesota to get a much needed victory,
Speaker 1: with the idea of, Okay, we need to get our
Speaker 1: quarterback healthy, but we also need to win this game.
Speaker 1: I want to throw it back to you though, Mike,
Speaker 1: because you saw my response and insider inbox. It's probably
Speaker 1: been the number one question in relation to the league
Speaker 1: that we've been asked over the last week that were
Speaker 1: you rooting for a Dallas win or were you ruling
Speaker 1: for a Minnesota win. My thought on it is that
Speaker 1: the divisions, the division and the Packers now of a
Speaker 1: three and a half game lead, you have to win
Speaker 1: the division before any of this other stuff matters. Yes,
Speaker 1: would it probably have helped the Packers in the long
Speaker 1: run if the if the Cowboys take a loss there,
Speaker 1: you don't really have to worry about the space with
Speaker 1: the Vikings. Yes, but there's also nine regular season games
Speaker 1: to go. Yeah, there's a lot of stuff that's going
Speaker 1: to happen. I think it's way too early to be
Speaker 1: talking about implications. So for the Packers to have a
Speaker 1: three and a half game lead eight games into a season,
Speaker 1: that's not too shabby. Well, I think I said to
Speaker 1: you before the game kicked off on Thursday night, as
Speaker 1: we were getting set up in the conference room to
Speaker 1: watch it and to cover it, provide all the updates
Speaker 1: and all of that, my feeling on Thursday night before
Speaker 1: kickoff was if the Packers win this game, then maybe
Speaker 1: it would be good to see the Cowboys lose another one.
Speaker 1: But if the Packers would lose to Arizona, then you're obvious,
Speaker 1: you're definitely rooting for Minnesota to take another loss. I
Speaker 1: think the reason I felt that way is just knowing that,
Speaker 1: knowing that the Dallas Cowboys schedule, I think when you
Speaker 1: look at when you look at you know, the Rams,
Speaker 1: the Cardinals, the Packers, the Buccaneers. I think the Cowboys
Speaker 1: have the quote unquote easiest schedule, if there is such
Speaker 1: a thing in this league. So that why my feeling
Speaker 1: was okay, especially if you know the Cowboys are going
Speaker 1: to be playing a game without Dak Prescott. Okay, give
Speaker 1: them another loss, um. But the good news is for
Speaker 1: the Packers in that whole scenario is you had the
Speaker 1: Cowboys and the Vikings playing and both couldn't get a win, right,
Speaker 1: I mean somebody, somebody was going to take a loss. There.
Speaker 1: One last thought before we go, getting back to kind
Speaker 1: of where we started the show. You mentioned Jerry Gray
Speaker 1: and he he was calling the defensive plays obviously, so
Speaker 1: and you and I have never called plays, right, I
Speaker 1: mean you've played Madden, I guess, so. Yeah, I'm I'm
Speaker 1: not a mad I'm not a Maden guy. But my
Speaker 1: question to you, my question to you is your team's
Speaker 1: ahead by three points. The other team with a with
Speaker 1: a quarterback playing at an m v P type level,
Speaker 1: has just driven the ball ninety four yards to your
Speaker 1: five yard line. Do you have the guts to call
Speaker 1: an all out blitz a seven man pressure? I mean,
Speaker 1: we don't see seven man pressures very often. Jerry Gray
Speaker 1: dialed it up and and that blitz call is what
Speaker 1: led to the whole miscommunication between Murray and a j Green,
Speaker 1: do you have the guts to call that? Well? And
Speaker 1: then the other thing you gotta remember, too, is the
Speaker 1: play before that, you had Darniell Savage basically rushing the
Speaker 1: quarterback as an edge rusher, which ended up you know,
Speaker 1: you don't want to see Murray get hurt, But it
Speaker 1: was that tackle that Murray ended up tweaking his ankle, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, Jerry Gray wasn't leaving anything left in the holster.
Speaker 1: And and to be honest with you, I actually really
Speaker 1: appreciate that. I've just I've always as conservative as I am,
Speaker 1: as much as I am. A bird in the hand guy,
Speaker 1: I really think you got to go out on your shield.
Speaker 1: And if the Packers would have lost that game, they
Speaker 1: would have went out on their shield. And but but
Speaker 1: what ended up ultimately happening was Murray end up throwing
Speaker 1: an ill advised pass. Green wasn't looking, and the to
Speaker 1: the victor went the spoils and the Packers got that
Speaker 1: much coveted seventh victory. Yeah, I just say I think
Speaker 1: it was just such a It was such a gutsy call,
Speaker 1: especially since just a few plays earlier, Grade called for
Speaker 1: the blitz. The Cardinals had blocked the whole thing up
Speaker 1: and a short pass to the running back Edmonds. Because
Speaker 1: there were fewer guys out in coverage, he's able to
Speaker 1: kind of weave his way, you know, ends up being
Speaker 1: like a twenty yard game and gets the Cardinals in
Speaker 1: position for the touchdown. But yet it didn't deter him,
Speaker 1: and on the five yard line he sent the house
Speaker 1: at Kyler Murray and it forced the Cardinals into a
Speaker 1: mistake and it was the mistake that won the game
Speaker 1: for the Green Bay Packers. So, um, just remarkable. We're
Speaker 1: we've got i mean officially we're not quite halfway through
Speaker 1: the season right yet, and some of these games that
Speaker 1: we've been talking about, um, absolutely remarkable. But I've never
Speaker 1: I've never gotten more like depressed. When we were talking
Speaker 1: with A. J. Dillon after the game and he's like,
Speaker 1: you know, we're we're halfway ish through the season. It's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: it should be halfway, but now thanks to the seventeen game, uh,
Speaker 1: we are now halfway ish through the season. So well,
Speaker 1: it's been Hey, we got the Kansas City Chiefs this week,
Speaker 1: a game that wasn't really supposed to be on the schedule,
Speaker 1: but hey, it just kind of popped up there, Game seventeen,
Speaker 1: the new, the new seventeenth game. Here it is. The
Speaker 1: Packers are going to be traveling to face the two
Speaker 1: time defending a FC champions here in game number nine.
Speaker 1: We will talk more about the Chiefs on our next show,
Speaker 1: but with that, we're going to call it a rap
Speaker 1: on this edition of Packers on Scripted. Be sure to
Speaker 1: follow all of our coverage of the team. We've got
Speaker 1: stuff every day for you on Packers dot com. For West,
Speaker 1: I'm Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody. We'll see
Speaker 1: you next time.