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 and Hodkowitz. We're coming to
Speaker 1: you hear from our studios at lambeau Field and the
Speaker 1: Packers are getting set for a week two trip to Atlanta.
Speaker 1: It will be a Sunday noon Central Time kickoff against
Speaker 1: the Falcons and West. This is a Falcons team that
Speaker 1: there's some excitement brewing down there, not just because they're
Speaker 1: want to know. I actually did read that at one
Speaker 1: to oh. This is the first time the Atlanta Falcons
Speaker 1: have been above five hundred since twenty seventeen, was the
Speaker 1: year after they went to the Super Bowl, So there
Speaker 1: is some excitement brewing in Atlanta. They have a young
Speaker 1: quarterback in Desmond Ritter. They have a young backfield duo
Speaker 1: and Tyler Algier and first round draft pick b Genre Robinson.
Speaker 1: They spent big in free agency to get safety Jesse
Speaker 1: Bates from the Cincinnati Bengals, who made an immediate impact
Speaker 1: in his first game and a major impact in his
Speaker 1: first game for the Atlanta Falcons. Atlanta likes what they've
Speaker 1: got going down there. And this is going to be
Speaker 1: a very different and very interesting matchup for the Packers
Speaker 1: compared to Week one.
Speaker 2: Well, and don't look now, but you know you got
Speaker 2: Patterson coming back now too, That's right. You know he
Speaker 2: had the thigh injury miss last week. He was a
Speaker 2: full participant on Wednesday, the three headed monster. And you
Speaker 2: know what stood out to me most in that week
Speaker 2: three win Week one win, excuse me getting too far
Speaker 2: out of myself, was the fact that the parallels between
Speaker 2: Green Bay and Atlanta and how they won those football games. Right.
Speaker 2: You know, Jordan Love made a few more plays through
Speaker 2: the air than Desmond Ridder did. Yeah, but they both
Speaker 2: played mistake free football and in a certain amount, they
Speaker 2: both kind of took it to their opposition. For Atlanta,
Speaker 2: I thought one of the things that was really salient
Speaker 2: point that guys talked about in the locker room was
Speaker 2: the fact that, you know, this football team, the way
Speaker 2: that they're built. Yes, they're in this quote unquote rebuilding mode,
Speaker 2: but they've drafted a lot of these guys into their scheme.
Speaker 2: And it's something that even the assistant coaches last night,
Speaker 2: we're talking about on Wednesday, the fact that you know,
Speaker 2: the offensive side of the ball. They have studs everywhere.
Speaker 2: They've built out their offensive line. They have three good
Speaker 2: running backs that they can all build off of. You know,
Speaker 2: you look at the tight end situation with Kyle Pitts
Speaker 2: and you know, all these weapons that they have Drake London,
Speaker 2: they've kind of fortified the whole thing. They just got
Speaker 2: to figure out if Desmond Ritter can be the guy
Speaker 2: that drives this car. But last week, if you win
Speaker 2: the turnover margin three to nothing and you kind of
Speaker 2: take it to a team and control the tempo of
Speaker 2: a game like they did against Carolina, that's the recipe
Speaker 2: for success in the National Football League.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you said it. With regard to the way both
Speaker 1: the Packers and the Falcons won, the two teams combined
Speaker 1: to go plus five yeh turnovers. The Packers won two
Speaker 1: zero in the turnover battle, the Falcons won three zero
Speaker 1: and Jesse Bates. That three zero was all thanks to
Speaker 1: Jesse Bates. He had two interceptions, he had a forced fumble.
Speaker 1: Those three turnovers led directly to Atlanta's first seventeen points
Speaker 1: in the game in a game that they win twenty
Speaker 1: four to ten, and they were actually losing ten to
Speaker 1: seven in the third quarter when Baits got his second
Speaker 1: and his third takeaway that led to ten points and
Speaker 1: then the Falcons were up seventeen to ten and then
Speaker 1: added a touchdown late to put it away. Reigning NFC
Speaker 1: Defensive Player of the Week, they couldn't have asked more
Speaker 1: in one game from the big free agent investment that
Speaker 1: they made on the defensive side of the ball. And
Speaker 1: Jordan Love was talking about it after practice on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: that Baits, you know, he makes his plays. You know,
Speaker 1: he plays what they call the post or the deep
Speaker 1: center field at safety, and he makes his plays by
Speaker 1: you know, reading the quarterback's eyes for a young quarterback,
Speaker 1: you know Jordan Love, and last week it was a
Speaker 1: rookie making his first start, Bryce Young for the Carolina
Speaker 1: Panthers going up against this Falcons defense. This is a
Speaker 1: game that's going to test Jordan Love's eye discipline. You know,
Speaker 1: we've seen on the film how he made some throws
Speaker 1: last week where you know he is he's trying to
Speaker 1: look off defenders and then throw the other way. These
Speaker 1: are the kinds of things that you learn in the
Speaker 1: NFL when you can sit for a few years, and
Speaker 1: certainly behind a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers. It's going to
Speaker 1: be a test for Jordan Love in that area because
Speaker 1: if he gives anything away with his eyes, Jesse Bates
Speaker 1: is going to be there and to try and to
Speaker 1: try to jump the pass.
Speaker 2: Much better football team overall is what they're seeing this week.
Speaker 2: You know, that was a great start against Chicago, but
Speaker 2: I think you listed everybody on Wednesday in the locker room.
Speaker 2: Nobody's resting on their laurels going into this one because
Speaker 2: they understand the threat on both sides of the ball.
Speaker 2: Looking at Baits, I mean, the Packers have seen him before.
Speaker 2: AJ Dillon even talked about in the locker room being
Speaker 2: hit by him before when they played Cincinnati. I was
Speaker 2: trying to get an end zone. The kid brings it
Speaker 2: on every single play and he gave them sort of
Speaker 2: a veteran edge that I think this secondary really needed.
Speaker 2: AJ Terrell is probably one of the better corners in
Speaker 2: this league that nobody talks about. You saw some of
Speaker 2: I don't know if you've checked it out, but like
Speaker 2: some of the PFF stats, I mean, this guy is
Speaker 2: one of the best cover corners in the league. But again,
Speaker 2: kind of like the situation the Packers were in last
Speaker 2: year in Miami. There's a couple of these corners that
Speaker 2: if they're not flashy and they don't really put themselves
Speaker 2: out there, you don't hear a lot about them. But
Speaker 2: Butterrell's not a guy that you can, you know, really
Speaker 2: look past. Either. Jeff Akuda could potentially be back in
Speaker 2: this game. You want to talk about hungry guys that
Speaker 2: have something to prove, you know, He's probably stands chief among.
Speaker 1: That list redemption story if there ever was one. Yeah.
Speaker 2: And then up front, I mean it's your typical Calias Campbell,
Speaker 2: you know, with Grady Jared, I mean, just the guys
Speaker 2: that have been hallmarks in this league of defensive excellence
Speaker 2: for years.
Speaker 1: Bud just like Campbell kind of established him self elsewhere.
Speaker 1: Now you know, a veteran that's been brought in for
Speaker 1: this Atlanta Falcons defense. As they they've put some pieces
Speaker 1: you mentioned how they you know, offensively, especially in the
Speaker 1: offensive line. They've drafted all these guys defensively, they've kind
Speaker 1: of put things together through free agency and picking guys up,
Speaker 1: and they're trying to, you know, to piece it all
Speaker 1: together and see what they have.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's gonna be where it all comes down
Speaker 2: to and seeing what Green Bay can do and if
Speaker 2: they can win in the same way as they won
Speaker 2: against the Chicago Bears. But Mike, I will bring it
Speaker 2: back to the beginning. You're not gonna see a Justin
Speaker 2: Fields type runner this week. But it's going to be
Speaker 2: about staying disciplined against this this multifaceted offense. I wish
Speaker 2: I could remember which guy talked about it, but just
Speaker 2: looking around and seeing first round pick, first round pick,
Speaker 2: the amount of resources that they've invested on the offensive
Speaker 2: side of the ball, Now that's gonna be a key
Speaker 2: because even I wrote about this an insider inbox. Guys,
Speaker 2: they're gonna see it here in a couple of weeks
Speaker 2: with Gibbs, and they're gonna see it in this game
Speaker 2: with Jan Robinson. But when these guys figure out the
Speaker 2: full gamut of being a running back, they're gonna be
Speaker 2: difficult to deal with and it's gonna be tough to
Speaker 2: get them off the field. Green Bay needs to make
Speaker 2: him look like a rookie in the areas in which
Speaker 2: he's growing, and then when he has the ball in
Speaker 2: his hands in space, whether it's as a pass catch
Speaker 2: or a runner, hats to the ball again and making
Speaker 2: sure that they get him down. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, in that backfield you have Tyler Algier, who is
Speaker 1: a thousand yard rusher, Like.
Speaker 2: Why it a thousand yard season? I think I've ever heard. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And he was just a rookie last year doing that,
Speaker 1: so he's a second year running back. Then they spend
Speaker 1: the number eight overall pick in the draft on Bijon
Speaker 1: Robinson and just the highlights from week one and Matt
Speaker 1: Lafleur talked about it too. He makes guys miss, He's
Speaker 1: tough to tackle, and you know, it's one of those
Speaker 1: things that much like we talked about with Justin Fields
Speaker 1: last week, you have to have everybody rallying to the
Speaker 1: ball when he's got it because there is a good
Speaker 1: chance he's gonna make the first guy miss, and you
Speaker 1: have to have other guys there to help clean it
Speaker 1: up so that a mistackle doesn't rupture into a big play.
Speaker 1: A mistackle just means maybe a couple of extra yards.
Speaker 1: Those are the things that will that'll make the difference
Speaker 1: in this game. And it's interesting because as much as
Speaker 1: Jordan Love posted one hundred and twenty three passer rating,
Speaker 1: Desmond Ritter posted one hundred and eleven passer rating, and
Speaker 1: those were the two highest passer ratings in the NFL
Speaker 1: in Week one. I think this game is going to
Speaker 1: come down to the to the ground games for both teams.
Speaker 1: With what with what the Falcons want to do, and
Speaker 1: as you mentioned, getting Cordrell Patterson back from injury, if
Speaker 1: you can call a you know, six four, two and
Speaker 1: twenty pound guy a change up running back, but that's
Speaker 1: what he is, That's what he is in this offense
Speaker 1: because of because of how the style of runner that
Speaker 1: those those other guys are. And then with the Packers,
Speaker 1: we'll see what happens with Aaron Jones. He missed practice
Speaker 1: on Wednesday with the hamstring, and and you know the
Speaker 1: Packers that elevated Patrick Taylor from the practice squad to
Speaker 1: be the number three running back in the game last week.
Speaker 1: But I think there's gonna be a lot on both
Speaker 1: sides that that's going to be predicated on the running
Speaker 1: game here. And I'm not saying that the Packers necessarily
Speaker 1: have to outrush the Falcons in order to win this game,
Speaker 1: but when you see that the Carolina Panthers rushed for
Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty four yards against the Falcons. You
Speaker 1: got to be you have to find a way to
Speaker 1: do some of the things that they did in terms
Speaker 1: of the way they move the ball, but then obviously
Speaker 1: protect the football because the turnovers is what killed Carolina.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's where Bryce Young got into trouble at
Speaker 2: that game, obviously the fumble as well. Corterill Patterson. I
Speaker 2: have so much respect for this guy. The fact that
Speaker 2: he's in now, what year eleven in the National Football League.
Speaker 2: I mean, we saw him in Minnesota. We saw how
Speaker 2: dynamic of a kickoff returner it could be, but he
Speaker 2: couldn't find his footing as a receiver. He resurfaces, he
Speaker 2: bounces around, he gets to Atlanta, and they kind of
Speaker 2: opened up Pandora's box a little bit. And now if
Speaker 2: they call it the joker position, whatever they're referring to
Speaker 2: him as now, I think with Robinson there, with Elgier
Speaker 2: did last year, that only makes him more dangerous. And
Speaker 2: again I was taken aback when I saw that injury port.
Speaker 2: I was like, Okay, he's back at practice. It's like,
Speaker 2: oh no, he's a full participant. It's like, okay, well
Speaker 2: that's a little bit of a game changer here. So Yeah,
Speaker 2: but at the end of the day, as I wrote
Speaker 2: in our Insider Inbox column, it's going to come down
Speaker 2: to that turnover margin in which team breaks the other
Speaker 2: team's sort of streak here to start the season. You know,
Speaker 2: it's making Ridder make mistakes. Ridder got to play a
Speaker 2: very basic football game against Carolina thanks to the takeaways,
Speaker 2: thanks to his weapons that he had around him. Making
Speaker 2: sure that you can actually make him be more of
Speaker 2: a passer, make him try to make plays beyond ten
Speaker 2: yards downfield. And from Green Bay's perspective, it's taking all
Speaker 2: the things they did well against Chicago and trying to
Speaker 2: elevate them now against the Felcons team that feels like
Speaker 2: it has a lot to prove this season. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, Oh, I want to get to a few more
Speaker 1: keys to victory from our perspective, but I'll take care
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Speaker 1: all right. So we talked about the turnovers, We talked
Speaker 1: about the ground game for both teams, anything else that
Speaker 1: stands out to you that you would put on the
Speaker 1: list of the keys to victory for Green Bay.
Speaker 2: I want to expand a little bit more on Aaron
Speaker 2: Jones because at this time in which we're taping this
Speaker 2: before practice on Thursday, we're not sure what's going to
Speaker 2: happen there. He did not go on Wednesday. Yeah, but Mike,
Speaker 2: he touched the ball eleven times last week and he
Speaker 2: produced one hundred and twenty seven yards. Ninety seven of
Speaker 2: those came in I think it was ninety seven was
Speaker 2: a one O. Three came in the third quarter. Basically
Speaker 2: two series against the Bears last Sunday, he made.
Speaker 1: The two biggest plays of the game offensively, the throwback
Speaker 1: the throwback screen for fifty plus yards and then obviously
Speaker 1: was the receiver on the choice route on fourth and
Speaker 1: three that not only turned into a huge conversion but
Speaker 1: a huge thirty five yard touchdown. Those are the two
Speaker 1: biggest plays of the game offensively.
Speaker 2: They really were Mike, and that was without one of
Speaker 2: the top playmakers and Christian Watson. So let's see how
Speaker 2: this week goes now Watson also not practicing yet. Are
Speaker 2: they going to have one? Could they have either, may
Speaker 2: not have both? Everything kind of changes on its access
Speaker 2: based on that. Now, Matt Lafleura, the coaching staff probably
Speaker 2: has a decent idea of what their availability is going
Speaker 2: to be. At this point, they'll be able to make
Speaker 2: a game plan work no matter what. But if you
Speaker 2: don't have him, then it goes back to aj Dillon,
Speaker 2: it goes back to a guy like Emmanuel Wilson, possibly
Speaker 2: Patrick Taylor who came up last week. It becomes who's
Speaker 2: the next man up there that can help them make plays?
Speaker 2: And from a receiving perspective, Mike, you know you and
Speaker 2: I talked right before the show began. The Packers had
Speaker 2: the youngest team in the National Football League in Week one,
Speaker 2: twenty five point one to three average years age. Just
Speaker 2: a remarkable shift obviously in one year's time. Well, you
Speaker 2: want to use that youth, you want to use that
Speaker 2: that upside, I mean, and Jayden Reid showed you that,
Speaker 2: Luke Musgrave, did you realize that stat that I think
Speaker 2: Josh Blank from the NFL put out Luke Musgrave's fifty
Speaker 2: yards relatively modest, you know output in that game. Fifty
Speaker 2: yards was the most receiving yards by a rookie tight
Speaker 2: end in four years. C J. Hockinson, who had like
Speaker 2: one hundred and twenty one yards is his debut in Detroit,
Speaker 2: but fifty yards just give you a reminder that's uncommon
Speaker 2: for rookies to be able to contribute in that way. Now,
Speaker 2: obviously a chunk of that yardage came off of that
Speaker 2: broken play on Chicago's behalf, but you have to make
Speaker 2: the plays that are out there, and the Packers are
Speaker 2: going to have to rely on those guys. If Aaron
Speaker 2: Jones is available, fantastic. I would be surprised if he's
Speaker 2: playing thirty snaps or thirty you know, touches. But you
Speaker 2: have to prepare like you have a team that is
Speaker 2: built to excel in different ways. And I think as
Speaker 2: good as that game plan was for the Chicago Bears,
Speaker 2: packers aren't have to come up with something potentially completely
Speaker 2: opposite now for Atlanta.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and the other thing that I that I think
Speaker 1: I want to touch on here too, and it's just
Speaker 1: it's a repeat of what I brought up last week defensively,
Speaker 1: and it comes down to the tackling. And we talked
Speaker 1: about it so much with Justin Fields, and yes it
Speaker 1: was it was frustrating that Fields escaped so many sacks
Speaker 1: and all this kind of stuff. Right, But but that's
Speaker 1: what he does. I mean that, that's that's what that's
Speaker 1: what makes him the dynamic player that he is. And
Speaker 1: and it's it's not easy to bring him down. It's
Speaker 1: not he's easy to sack him. And as I said before,
Speaker 1: now you have a guy like Bijon Robinson who is
Speaker 1: extremely quick and shifty at breaking tackles. And if Corduoll
Speaker 1: Patterson is in the mix, that's a power guy that
Speaker 1: is tough to that is tough to bring down with
Speaker 1: one player. And and there are going there are going
Speaker 1: to be mistackles. It happens. You know, the guys on
Speaker 1: the offensive side of the ball are paid not to
Speaker 1: get tackle. That's part of the game, right. But I
Speaker 1: think that you know the differences. Does a mistackle become
Speaker 1: an explosive play or or do you have the guys
Speaker 1: there to still limit the damage when somebody misses the tackle.
Speaker 1: And that's the thing to watch defensively, because Matt Lafleuris
Speaker 1: has has talked all preseason long, through the preseason games,
Speaker 1: you know, the play style and the aggressiveness on defense,
Speaker 1: and the aggressiveness is not just about it's not just
Speaker 1: about getting in guys' faces, you know, on the perimeter
Speaker 1: at the line of scrimmage to play bump and run,
Speaker 1: and you know, it's not just about blitzing or whatever.
Speaker 1: It's about the pursuit. It's about the way guys go
Speaker 1: after the ball carrier collectively. And if the Packers can
Speaker 1: continue that kind of play style, that's how when there
Speaker 1: is a mistackle, it doesn't end up becoming a big
Speaker 1: backbreaking play. And if the Packers defense can continue that
Speaker 1: style and limit the mistackles and you know, take advantage
Speaker 1: of the opportunities that are there to get those guys
Speaker 1: on the ground, then I think you turn it over
Speaker 1: to Desmond Ritter and can this young quarterback beat your
Speaker 1: young quarterback? And that might be what the game comes
Speaker 1: down to in the fourth.
Speaker 2: Quart I absolutely love the physicality with which the Packers
Speaker 2: defense played against Chicago, because you're right, it is about
Speaker 2: the ball carry, but let's not even look at the
Speaker 2: ball carry. Let's look at where the ball is going.
Speaker 2: You think about that end zone play, that red zone
Speaker 2: play where I mean the Bears kind of telegraph what
Speaker 2: they were trying to do with Cole Comet. Comet goes
Speaker 2: to the end zone basically, you know, initiates the contact
Speaker 2: with Rasoul Douglas, and Douglas doesn't back down, He stays
Speaker 2: right with him, he ends up block. You know, having
Speaker 2: a pass disruption there sort of neutralizes the only real
Speaker 2: threat that the Bears had towards the Green Bay end
Speaker 2: zone that entire game, until, of course, the mop up
Speaker 2: duty late. You have to be able to do that,
Speaker 2: and you know, with jyr Alexander, Rasoul Douglas and Darnell Savage,
Speaker 2: I thought I had a heck of a game that
Speaker 2: probably didn't draw a lot of headlines. But I mean
Speaker 2: ten to eleven tackles and a TfL for negative seven yards.
Speaker 2: I said it to you in the press box, Mike,
Speaker 2: a negative seven yard TfL off a screen on first
Speaker 2: down is as good as a sack. Yeah, it doesn't
Speaker 2: get that little one next to your name on the
Speaker 2: sack column, but that's a huge play. And the Packers
Speaker 2: had defenders that were routinely making those plays against Chicago.
Speaker 2: They have to keep them coming against the Falcons.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely. The I think the other thing that will
Speaker 1: be interesting here because this is this is such an
Speaker 1: intriguing matchup and last week's game, you know, with the
Speaker 1: big plays by Aaron Jones and then the pick six
Speaker 1: by kway Walker. You know, the Packers turn this turn
Speaker 1: turn that game into a runaway if this one, if
Speaker 1: this one comes down to you know, late in the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter, you've got two very young quarterbacks trying to
Speaker 1: feel their way which one is going to be able
Speaker 1: to execute, to make the plays, to to do the
Speaker 1: things in a you know, whether it's in a in
Speaker 1: a four minute offense situation or a two minute drill
Speaker 1: type of situation in order to get something done. The
Speaker 1: other thing that I think will be really intriguing to
Speaker 1: watch in this game is Rashaan Gary. He only played
Speaker 1: twelve snaps against the Bears. Ten of those were pass
Speaker 1: rush snaps, and statistically, he was credited with seven quarterback
Speaker 1: pressures in ten snaps. Now, of course, you know when
Speaker 1: wind wise, you know, conditioning wise, you're not getting tired
Speaker 1: at all because you're only playing twelve snaps over the
Speaker 1: course of a game, you know, you're your your percentage
Speaker 1: you know likely will be higher. But seven pressures in
Speaker 1: in ten pass rush snaps, like that's insane. And I mean,
Speaker 1: we'll see, we'll see where exactly where Shaun Gary's you know,
Speaker 1: quote unquote pitch count will be now in his second
Speaker 1: game back, and how the Packers want to handle that.
Speaker 1: They certainly rotated all those guys defensively, upfront, defensive lineman,
Speaker 1: the edge rushers. There was a big time rotation going
Speaker 1: on even before you know, the the the late in
Speaker 1: the game, when when the when things were out of
Speaker 1: reach for Chicago. But but I mean, if you know,
Speaker 1: if Rashaun Gary goes from playing say twelve snaps to
Speaker 1: thirty snaps, how big of an impact might he have
Speaker 1: on on this football game? With the way he looked
Speaker 1: coming back in Week one, It's it's kind of scary
Speaker 1: to think about.
Speaker 2: It is the only I will say. And again this
Speaker 2: is just to keep expectations modest. They're going into Mercedes
Speaker 2: Benz Stadium, They're gonna deal with the artificial turf. I
Speaker 2: would be I would be surprised if it goes above
Speaker 2: twenty this week. Yet I could see that being the
Speaker 2: case when they get back to Green Bay finally on
Speaker 2: their own their own Turf's good point. But that being said, Mike,
Speaker 2: I don't recall anybody who did more with fewer snaps
Speaker 2: than what Rashan Gary did. And I was so happy
Speaker 2: to see the NFL actually gave him credit for that
Speaker 2: pass deflection when they readjusted their statistics on WEDNESDA.
Speaker 1: Yeah you got Yeah, you got credit because.
Speaker 2: He deserved it.
Speaker 1: He broke up that pass. Yeah, he broke up the play.
Speaker 2: And the fact is is that for a guy to
Speaker 2: come out and accept the role that he's been given
Speaker 2: with the understanding of hey, Rashan, we got to get
Speaker 2: through seventeen games. You know, we want you to get
Speaker 2: paid like everybody else we want we want to see
Speaker 2: the big picture here. Though, because I wrote about it
Speaker 2: last week, Mike, this defense is different when Rashan Gary
Speaker 2: is out there. There's a swagger about it. There's a confidence.
Speaker 2: And one thing that Matt Lafleur touchdown that you also
Speaker 2: did too a couple of minutes ago, and it was
Speaker 2: something I asked Jason Rebervich, the Packers outside linebackers coach
Speaker 2: passed for a specialist on Thursday or Wednesday. Excuse me,
Speaker 2: the rotation that they had. Yeah, Preston Smith played about
Speaker 2: fifty percent of the defensive snaps. That's never happened, at
Speaker 2: least when he's healthy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's been up in the more eighty percent range
Speaker 1: in most games since since he's been here with Green Bay.
Speaker 2: And they're willing to live with some of the mistakes
Speaker 2: that come with that. Lucas Vennis isn't going to play
Speaker 2: completely clean football, but you saw what he can add
Speaker 2: with his speed and his athleticism. You saw with Justin Hollins,
Speaker 2: the veteran savviness. You touched on it, you know, with
Speaker 2: what you might have missed. I mean things that these
Speaker 2: guys do. To have four pass rushers all have over
Speaker 2: twenty five snaps, and we're not even talking about Rashaan Gary.
Speaker 2: That's what gives me a lot of excitement here about
Speaker 2: what they can do. Last week, Justin Field's tough guy
Speaker 2: to bring down. Very interested to see if you know,
Speaker 2: guys like DeVante Wyatt and Rashaun Gary can get separation
Speaker 2: from their man and go up against a guy like
Speaker 2: Desmond Ritter, what they could possibly do with those opportunities.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's going to be It's definitely going to be
Speaker 1: interesting to watch. A couple other things to touch on
Speaker 1: before we go. First off, I want to get your
Speaker 1: thoughts on a couple of other Week two games, but
Speaker 1: I'd be remiss because I've mentioned it so many times
Speaker 1: in Insider Inbox. One of the things that really excites
Speaker 1: me about this game is I went to the Atlanta
Speaker 1: Falcons website this week and they changed like their background
Speaker 1: to like the red helmets. They're going to be wearing
Speaker 1: the red helmets, I think on Sunday, like the ones
Speaker 1: from my childhood. I absolutely love that helmet. I really
Speaker 1: wish the Falcons had never gone away from it in
Speaker 1: the first place. It's like that red helmet with the
Speaker 1: black bird on it. I just I always, I always
Speaker 1: love that as a kid, and I'm actually going to
Speaker 1: get to see it live and in person here in
Speaker 1: Atlanta on Sunday. I'm fired up, am ready.
Speaker 2: There aren't a lot of things that actually show our
Speaker 2: generational differences, but this is one of them. Because You're
Speaker 2: absolutely right, it's a sweet look. But for me, I
Speaker 2: was a Michael Vick kid. Yeah, So like when I
Speaker 2: think of the Falcons. I think of just jet black,
Speaker 2: those black uniforms with a little you know, red tint,
Speaker 2: because that was Michael Vick running all over everybody for
Speaker 2: a few years. So I'm always I'm partial to that.
Speaker 2: But that being said, it is a good look, and
Speaker 2: obviously it's it's always neat when you get the alternate uniforms,
Speaker 2: whether it's Green Bay or the opposing team. We add
Speaker 2: a different, little little extra flair to a matchup.
Speaker 1: Is always yeah, a little more, a little more spice,
Speaker 1: a little more visual to what's going on. Week two,
Speaker 1: I think a big game a lot of a lot
Speaker 1: of NFL fans in general, but certainly Packers fans will
Speaker 1: be paying attention to the Thursday night matchup. The Minnesota
Speaker 1: Vikings have an awfully tough task. They lose at home
Speaker 1: in Week one to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a game
Speaker 1: that everybody expected them to win, they did not, And
Speaker 1: now they have the quick turnaround on the road at Philadelphia,
Speaker 1: playing the defending NFC champions in a primetime matchup and
Speaker 1: the Vikings trying to avoid an zero to two start.
Speaker 1: And then the flip side of it is the Detroit Lions.
Speaker 1: They're back at home now in week two, they're playing
Speaker 1: a Seattle team that lost at home in Week one
Speaker 1: and the Detroit Lions. While Seattle's looking to avoid zero
Speaker 1: to two, the Detroit Lions much like the Packers looking
Speaker 1: to start two and oh, and I think just you'd
Speaker 1: be really interesting to see where everything is in the
Speaker 1: NFC North after two games here.
Speaker 2: So last week we had the Bears loss against Green Bay,
Speaker 2: and then you had the Giants kind of getting just
Speaker 2: ran out of the building against.
Speaker 1: The Dallas Cowboys, putting it mildly, putting it mildly.
Speaker 2: But if it wouldn't have been for that, just speaking
Speaker 2: strictly on the field, not the Aaron Rodgers thing, and
Speaker 2: the Jets actually winning that game, the Seattle Seahawks completely
Speaker 2: lay an egg against the La Rams at home at home.
Speaker 2: And now you got a team that a lot of
Speaker 2: people was expecting to be playoff contender top of that division.
Speaker 2: Now they got questions to answer right off the bat.
Speaker 1: Yeah, a lot of folks were thinking that Seattle is
Speaker 1: really the only team in the NFC West that was
Speaker 1: going to challenged the San Francisco forty nine ers for
Speaker 1: that division title. And they lose a division game at
Speaker 1: home in Week one two, a Rams team that was
Speaker 1: miles away from the playoffs last ye Yeah.
Speaker 2: And again it was close early on, but it did
Speaker 2: not end that way. And then for the Philadelphia Eagles,
Speaker 2: one reason I'm excited to watch this game at the
Speaker 2: time in which we're taping this tonight is because of
Speaker 2: Jaalen Carter and the fact that this young man. I mean,
Speaker 2: there's a lot going on there. We know what happened
Speaker 2: with the draft and everything, but he's a wrecking ball
Speaker 2: and that was already a really tough, physical Philadelphia Eagles defense.
Speaker 2: I'm excited to see what he does against a Minnesota
Speaker 2: interior offensive line that hasn't been perennially known as one
Speaker 2: of the best in the National Football League.
Speaker 1: Well, and the Vikings are dealing with injuries up front.
Speaker 1: Their center Garrett Bradbury's already been ruled out for this game,
Speaker 1: and then at tackle Christian Darrisaw it sounds like he's
Speaker 1: been listed as questionable I think with his injury. So
Speaker 1: the Vikings might be down two starters on the offensive
Speaker 1: line on a short week on the road against a
Speaker 1: team like philadelph and they're trying to avoid starting h
Speaker 1: to two. It's a huge, huge task in front of
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings Thursday night to get a win and
Speaker 1: get in the win column in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And then obviously for Philadelphia's standpoint, Jalen Hurts going
Speaker 2: back into that stadium, I mean, there's gonna be a
Speaker 2: lot of positive vibes. I know they came up short,
Speaker 2: but they still got high expectations for this year. That
Speaker 2: Eagles fan base is gonna be revan ready to go.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I know we don't talk too much about AFC
Speaker 1: games a lot, but I just want to say I
Speaker 1: think the game of the week in the NFL this
Speaker 1: week is one that we're not gonna be able to
Speaker 1: watch because it's gonna be going on at the same
Speaker 1: time as Packers Falcons. But Kansas City at Jacksonville, my friend,
Speaker 1: the Chiefs. They start out OH to one Jacksonville, who
Speaker 1: was eliminated from the playoffs by the Chiefs last year,
Speaker 1: and you know, they've got Trevor Lawrence and Doug Peterson's
Speaker 1: got everything going in the right direction in Jacksonville, and
Speaker 1: Kansas City has to go down there to try to
Speaker 1: avoid an OH and to start for the defending champs.
Speaker 1: I think that's gonna be a really intrigue game. I'm
Speaker 1: definitely going to catch the highlights of that one when
Speaker 1: I have a chance, maybe on the plane on the
Speaker 1: way back from Atlanta.
Speaker 2: We gotta go, we gotta get, gotta get move in here.
Speaker 2: But I want to ask you this quick, because you
Speaker 2: knew him a little bit. Was there ever a team
Speaker 2: we talked about being a quarterback away where I was
Speaker 2: talking earlier about being like Christian McCaffrey away with like
Speaker 2: the San Francisco forty nine ers. Yeah, was there ever
Speaker 2: a team that you think was more of a coach
Speaker 2: away just in terms of getting the ship righted than
Speaker 2: Jacksonville was with Doug Peterson because we talked so much
Speaker 2: about him with Trevor Lawrence, right, and Lawrence is starting
Speaker 2: to realize his potential underneath the learning tree of Doug Peterson.
Speaker 2: But just the way that that team has played for
Speaker 2: the last year and a half. Now, they're competitive, and
Speaker 2: when they go up against a team like Kansas City,
Speaker 2: the defending Super Bowl champion, they're going to be focused
Speaker 2: more on the fact that, yeah, they lost last week.
Speaker 2: They're gonna be disappointed and they're gonna come out hungry
Speaker 2: in guns of blazon. Doug Peterson. I just you cannot
Speaker 2: say enough of what that guy has done there and
Speaker 2: just changing that culture, and very quickly they went from
Speaker 2: a laughing stock in the National Football League within the
Speaker 2: last what four hundred days to be in a team
Speaker 2: now that nobody wants to mess with.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and a team that came back from what was
Speaker 1: a twenty seven to nothing in a playoff game. I
Speaker 1: mean that that team, I'm telling you, they absolutely believe
Speaker 1: they are going to win every single game. And when
Speaker 1: you come back in a playoff game from twenty seven
Speaker 1: to nothing, it doesn't matter what the score at halftime is,
Speaker 1: They're gonna come out and believe that they're going to
Speaker 1: beat you. That is the culture that Doug Peterson has
Speaker 1: instilled there, and they have the quarterback that gives everybody
Speaker 1: the belief that it's not just a bunch of happy talk.
Speaker 2: So well, by the way, Kelvin Ridley too, is still
Speaker 2: a pretty darn good receiver.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, he can. He can play.
Speaker 2: Thankfully, the Packers don't have to see him this weekend.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, he's not in Atlanta anymore. So Packers have
Speaker 1: certainly other guys that they have to deal with and
Speaker 1: it'll be fun to watch on Sunday. So with that,
Speaker 1: we'll call it a rap on this edition of Packers Unscript,
Speaker 1: but be sure to follow all of our coverage of
Speaker 1: the team and we will have everything for you from
Speaker 1: Atlanta on Sunday for the Week two matchup. It's all
Speaker 1: there on packers dot com for Wes, I'm Mike, thank
Speaker 1: you for tune and everybody, we will see you next time.
Speaker 1: M HM.