Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford, sitting alongside my trusted colleague West Hodkowitz.
Speaker 1: We're coming to you here from our studios at lambeau
Speaker 1: Field West. We are another day closer to Packers Bronchos
Speaker 1: Week three, Sunday noon Central Time, kickoff at lambeau Field.
Speaker 1: And just to give a heads up here, because this
Speaker 1: show is truly unscripted, we're going to combine our Thursday
Speaker 1: and Friday shows into one show because our wonderful producer, Marvin,
Speaker 1: he needs to leave and be out of the office
Speaker 1: on Friday. So today's show we'll go a little bit long.
Speaker 1: We'll try to kind of pack the last two shows
Speaker 1: of the week into one. And I want to start
Speaker 1: with a story that that you've posted on our website
Speaker 1: examining the first two weeks of the season for the
Speaker 1: Packers veteran right tackle Brian Blaga. Because we watched throughout
Speaker 1: o t a s throughout training camp, you know, blog,
Speaker 1: I had a day off here, and a day off there,
Speaker 1: and sometimes even a couple of days off in row.
Speaker 1: This was all part of the plan, wasn't it. Because
Speaker 1: he got to Week one healthy and ready to go.
Speaker 1: He had He's had two absolute knockdown, drag out assignments.
Speaker 1: He's got another one here in Week three against the
Speaker 1: Broncos as far as his one on one matchup, but
Speaker 1: he is playing some outstanding football for the package. He
Speaker 1: really is, Mike, And it was interesting when I presented
Speaker 1: this to Corey Lindsley in the locker room on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: Lindsley basically said, I mean, yeah, this is what Brian
Speaker 1: Bolaga does. It's what he's done for the last ten
Speaker 1: years in this offense. A couple of different layers to this.
Speaker 1: The first thing they did have a plan for him,
Speaker 1: and Adam Stanovic actually said it sort of began his
Speaker 1: time with Joe Staley and San Francisco. Staley is one
Speaker 1: of the most durable, reliable and successful left tackles in
Speaker 1: the game. In the San Francisco forty nine for the
Speaker 1: past few years have been very smart about how they
Speaker 1: used him in practice. The Packers took the same approach
Speaker 1: with Brian Bulaga. Now, who's thirty years old. You know,
Speaker 1: in his tenth NFL season, he's seen it, he's done it.
Speaker 1: He's lived at in the NFL. They felt there was
Speaker 1: a need to be able to push him the way
Speaker 1: they need that he's previously been pushed in practice. He
Speaker 1: can get his work, get his reps, be smart, and
Speaker 1: be healthy for the start of the season. The other
Speaker 1: thing that's impressive about that is it still puts him
Speaker 1: well ahead of where he was a year ago when
Speaker 1: he came back from the torn e c L in
Speaker 1: ten months. He did not actually practice in a live
Speaker 1: capacity until the last week of training camp. He didn't
Speaker 1: play in a preseason game until the finale against Kansas City,
Speaker 1: and then oh, by the way, go block Khalil Mack
Speaker 1: and the opener. Seeing the difference in Bolaga this year,
Speaker 1: it's just incredible where he's at being able to have
Speaker 1: a full off season with those reps. He even put
Speaker 1: it out there he said he took more snaps that
Speaker 1: first week and a half of this year's training camp
Speaker 1: than he did all of last offseason. With those practices
Speaker 1: with the Texans mix J. J. Watt, Whitney Merciless and
Speaker 1: getting live reps against opponents like that and Whitney Whitney Merciless,
Speaker 1: mind you, I think was the reigning a f C
Speaker 1: defensive player of the week. I mean, just the stretch
Speaker 1: that he's had, the competition that he's faced here early on,
Speaker 1: and the fact that he's doing what he's doing a
Speaker 1: big feather in his cap, But to those who know
Speaker 1: him best, it's nothing out of the unusual. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: I remember talking a lot last year just about how
Speaker 1: impressive it was that from when his a c L
Speaker 1: injury occurred in seventeen being late in the season, that
Speaker 1: then he was actually ready for the opener in eighteen.
Speaker 1: It was a tremendous achievement, quite frankly, But as you say, now,
Speaker 1: you look at it this year and there's just no
Speaker 1: substitute for the practice time, for the rest that he got,
Speaker 1: and and also obviously just being another year removed from
Speaker 1: an injury like that. All of that has has added
Speaker 1: up to Brian Bulaga really starting the season off on
Speaker 1: a tremendous foot. Because after the Bears game, we weren't
Speaker 1: talking that much about Khalilick, And after the Vikings game, yes,
Speaker 1: Danil Hunter had a sack, but that actually didn't come
Speaker 1: against Bolag as far as a one on one matchup there,
Speaker 1: and both of those guys have been All Pro, either
Speaker 1: first team or second team over the last couple of years,
Speaker 1: and now he's got I'm trying to remember now Miller. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's gonna be He's gonna be matched with Von Miller
Speaker 1: on Sunday. And from what we understand what the Broncos,
Speaker 1: they don't move their guys around quite so much. It's
Speaker 1: probably going to be seventy five snaps or whatever the
Speaker 1: number is, Brian Bulaga against Von Miller. Okay, here we go,
Speaker 1: and uh, it's it's gonna be a great matchup to
Speaker 1: watch on Sunday because these are these are two season
Speaker 1: pros who have done it and uh and both of them,
Speaker 1: quite frankly, are still very much on the top of
Speaker 1: their game. Was interesting when I was talking to Lindsley
Speaker 1: a little bit about this in its comments that Brian
Speaker 1: or I just said David botr Of echoed in the
Speaker 1: past about Bulaga as well. So much of his story
Speaker 1: and the way it's been formatted has been around the
Speaker 1: injuries and the a c L tears and you know,
Speaker 1: and that sort of thing. You could actually see in
Speaker 1: sense because I didn't even ask Lindsley about that, but
Speaker 1: you can see how much that bothers some of the
Speaker 1: people that are you know, friends, colleagues, teammates with Bolaga,
Speaker 1: because as Lindsley said, I mean, you've gotta understand what
Speaker 1: this guy is doing behind closed doors, what he is
Speaker 1: doing to put himself in the position that to make
Speaker 1: him the player that he's become today. You're not going
Speaker 1: to find a harder working athlete in the Packers locker room.
Speaker 1: And really, you know, at his position for the way
Speaker 1: that he approaches this thing at the end of the day.
Speaker 1: And I wrote this, and we talked about this couple
Speaker 1: of weeks ago, and I wrote it an inbox. But
Speaker 1: I think history will be kind to Brian Blaga's career.
Speaker 1: I don't think people fully appreciate what they've had with
Speaker 1: him over the last ten years. Now, there's been some changes.
Speaker 1: You know, the AP now recognizes the right tackle position
Speaker 1: when it makes their AP teams. Pro Bowl is still
Speaker 1: the same, you know, it's mostly all left tackles. But
Speaker 1: you know, I think when you look at guys like
Speaker 1: Lane Johnson, when you look at guys like Brian Blaga,
Speaker 1: it's showing you what how NFL offenses have adapted in
Speaker 1: the caliber of players that are manning that right tackle
Speaker 1: position now because of the Vaughan Miller's, because of the
Speaker 1: Khalil Max. This is gonna be another big battle. Blaga
Speaker 1: said he doesn't care whether or not he gets the accolades,
Speaker 1: even though if some other people in his offensive line
Speaker 1: room feels like he should get them. His task is
Speaker 1: to go out there and pitch another shut out and
Speaker 1: that's where his sole focuses on. And whatever happens after that,
Speaker 1: he'll let the chips fall where they make. Well. I
Speaker 1: think we're seeing and guys like Bolaga and David Bakti
Speaker 1: have talked about this, that the evolution of defenses in
Speaker 1: the NFL, it's not just about getting your one Reggie
Speaker 1: White as your premium pass rusher. And then this is
Speaker 1: I mean, these teams are loading up with past rushers.
Speaker 1: And yes, the guy for a right handed quarterback, the
Speaker 1: left tackle is the one protecting the blind side, which
Speaker 1: is a little bit tougher job, so to speak. And
Speaker 1: I don't know if tougher is the right word, but it's,
Speaker 1: you know, because the quarterback doesn't have the eyes in
Speaker 1: the back. Yeah, And but that's not to say that
Speaker 1: the guys who are rushing on the other side against
Speaker 1: the right tackle or any are any less caliber these
Speaker 1: days than maybe they were twenty five or thirty years ago. So, um,
Speaker 1: the match up, the matchups on the edges, it's it's been,
Speaker 1: they've been the matchups to watch through the first two
Speaker 1: games when you're talking Khalil Mack and Leonard Floyd and
Speaker 1: Everson Griffin and Daniel Hunter, and now it's Von Miller
Speaker 1: and Bradley Chubb. And now I don't know if the
Speaker 1: Packers are gonna necessarily have a three game gauntlet of
Speaker 1: pass rushers in a row quite like this later in
Speaker 1: the season, just the way this season has started, but
Speaker 1: it does seem that more often than not, you're not
Speaker 1: just talking about one edge rusher from another team, You're
Speaker 1: talking about both of them. And that's how the Packers
Speaker 1: have built their defense now as well. It's funny you
Speaker 1: mentioned that too, because while they're not going to get
Speaker 1: a stretch of three like this again, they do have
Speaker 1: another stretch of Chicago and Minnesota in December. That's right
Speaker 1: back back back to back in Dember. In regards to
Speaker 1: having Van Miller on the end of that, that's a
Speaker 1: different type of problem, but it is coincidental how that
Speaker 1: schedule works out that you get Chicago Minnesota in September
Speaker 1: and then Chicago Minnesota in December. Be that as it may.
Speaker 1: And you talked about it when you when you mentioned
Speaker 1: the right tackle position. Just ask Aaron Rodgers how important
Speaker 1: it is too, I mean, for him in this offense
Speaker 1: and even in Mike McCarthy's scheme, the the offensive lineman,
Speaker 1: this is a tough task for them and enabling him
Speaker 1: to have the time in which he wants to work,
Speaker 1: uh in giving him a clean pocket to you know,
Speaker 1: be able to execute the plays under. Bilaga has seen
Speaker 1: it for the last ten years, and we talked you
Speaker 1: know so furvishly uh you know about you know, Chad
Speaker 1: Clifton and Mark Tauscher and a lot of these great
Speaker 1: offensive linemen that the Packers have had over the is
Speaker 1: I really do believe when it's all said and done,
Speaker 1: you gotta put Bryan Blogg in that conversation too, because
Speaker 1: this is when you use a first round draft pick
Speaker 1: on the tackle position. You want a decade from that player.
Speaker 1: You want to be able to plug that guy in
Speaker 1: and not worry about it again. And you know, with
Speaker 1: a few little bumps in the road, mostly on the
Speaker 1: injury side of things, Bolaga has given that to Green
Speaker 1: Bank well, and I still remember Bologa being I still
Speaker 1: believe he's the youngest player ever to start in a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. He was barely over one years old as
Speaker 1: a rookie and he got matched up with James Harrison
Speaker 1: on a fair number of snaps as a rookie in
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. And yet nobody was talking about James
Speaker 1: Harrison after that Super Bowl. So, I mean, the guy
Speaker 1: has been doing it. And yes, there have been some
Speaker 1: bumps in the road with the injuries and whatnot, But
Speaker 1: regardless of the the accolades and some of that is
Speaker 1: just circumstance, as you mentioned, with how the voting and
Speaker 1: things like that go, this guy has been doing it
Speaker 1: since he came into the league, and very quietly, Mike,
Speaker 1: I mean, the guys started ninety seven hundred and one
Speaker 1: regular season games with the Green Bay Packers. I mean
Speaker 1: that is a heck of a career. And as he said,
Speaker 1: I mean he has no plans on stopping. He sees
Speaker 1: himself with the bright future here in Green Bay and
Speaker 1: a lot of more football games to play this season
Speaker 1: to continue to live up to that type of playing potential. Yeah, Well,
Speaker 1: as the Packers get ready for the Broncos here on Sunday.
Speaker 1: It's been a little bit of an adjustment to the
Speaker 1: practice schedule, and the Packers are not alone here. The
Speaker 1: fact is Matt Lafleur and his staff they're looking ahead
Speaker 1: to the fact that there's a short week next week
Speaker 1: with the Philadelphia Eagles coming in on Thursday night. And
Speaker 1: we saw on Wednesday both the Packers and the Eagles
Speaker 1: essentially canceled or adjusted their normal Wednesday practice to go
Speaker 1: to a walk through to save a little bit on
Speaker 1: the players bodies and whatnot. In that sort of with
Speaker 1: that lens looking ahead to knowing that that next week
Speaker 1: is a short week, trying to plan ahead from a
Speaker 1: physical recovery standpoint. Now, it's it's an interest sting approach,
Speaker 1: does not not all teams have done this with Thursday
Speaker 1: night games over the years. I think it's a great approach.
Speaker 1: I thought it was very interesting that both Green Bay
Speaker 1: and Philadelphia both took the same attacked without, you know,
Speaker 1: presumably conversating about it. Because here's the thing, Mike, I mean,
Speaker 1: you go into this next week, once that game gets
Speaker 1: played on Sunday afternoon, you're already into the region mode.
Speaker 1: You're already having to get ready for practice on Tuesday
Speaker 1: and a little bit on Wednesday, and then hey, by
Speaker 1: the way, Thursday night, you're playing football again, So it
Speaker 1: comes it comes fast. Next week is going to be
Speaker 1: a short, fast week if you look at an eight
Speaker 1: day schedule. Yeah, your biggest shot to be able to
Speaker 1: take a little bit off of players is going to
Speaker 1: be that Wednesday, we're shooting this before practice on Thursday,
Speaker 1: conceivably players will be in pads. They won't be in
Speaker 1: pads next week. So I mean, just kind of figuring
Speaker 1: out those pieces. I think it really shows, you know,
Speaker 1: Matt la Floor, what they thought about this, how they
Speaker 1: wanted to approach this thing, and making sure that Okay,
Speaker 1: if you have some bumps and bruises coming out of that
Speaker 1: that Minnesota game, you give the guys an extra twenty
Speaker 1: four hours, you do the mental stuff. They called it
Speaker 1: a mental day out on They're still presenting the game plan,
Speaker 1: going through the basics of the game plan for the opponent,
Speaker 1: They're just not doing it at full speed on the
Speaker 1: practice field. Yeah, Because I mean, it is the biggest
Speaker 1: challenge in the National Football League is having to go
Speaker 1: from Sunday to Thursday and being able to make sure
Speaker 1: that you're right for that game. Remember how many times
Speaker 1: guys in the past have talked about it really isn't
Speaker 1: until Thursday till Wednesday that you start to actually feel
Speaker 1: recovered from that from the previous game. Anything that the
Speaker 1: team can do to kind of lessen that burden on
Speaker 1: guys is valuable. Fortunately, as Aaron Rodgers pointed out, the
Speaker 1: Packers have been very lucky that they've been able to
Speaker 1: do these swings mostly at home. So you're gonna play
Speaker 1: against Denver, you're gonna be able to you don't have
Speaker 1: to travel, you sleep in your own bed. You're gonna
Speaker 1: have that same opportunity going into the game. So there
Speaker 1: is that advantage because Mike, the reality is by September,
Speaker 1: if you can get through these next seven days, the
Speaker 1: Packers are in a real good position to be able
Speaker 1: to be, you know, three and one, four and oh
Speaker 1: somewhere in that realm to kind of leap frog yourself
Speaker 1: into that second quarter of the season. Yeah, exactly. Well,
Speaker 1: speaking of which, leap frogging, let's start our Friday show
Speaker 1: right now. How about that? Okay, So Keys to Victory,
Speaker 1: that's how we always end the week. It's Packers Broncos,
Speaker 1: an uncommon opponent. The Broncos have not played at lambeau
Speaker 1: Field since two thousand eleven, if I have that correct. Yeah,
Speaker 1: two thousand eleven was the last time the Broncos were
Speaker 1: here in the regular season. So what stands out to
Speaker 1: you as the key, whether you want to talk offensive
Speaker 1: or defensive side of the ball, what are the Packers
Speaker 1: need to do to win this game? You and I
Speaker 1: discussed this week a lot of different scenarios Mike with
Speaker 1: the Packers and especially how Denver's playing right now. Joe
Speaker 1: Flaccos off to a slow start. We talked about, you know,
Speaker 1: Lindsay off to a slow start in his second season.
Speaker 1: Certainly Miller Chubb no sacks at this point for the
Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers. There's gonna be certain things that are
Speaker 1: going to go right for the Broncos in this game.
Speaker 1: The law of averages says that's gonna happen. But you
Speaker 1: want to make sure you don't allow all those pieces
Speaker 1: to go off. You want to make sure that you
Speaker 1: can you you, you know, you carry on for another
Speaker 1: week here being able to either stop Flacco or Lindsay
Speaker 1: or those pass rushers and do what you have to
Speaker 1: do to win this football game. Because here's the facts. Now, Mike,
Speaker 1: You've just won two games in the NFC North. You
Speaker 1: are out front in the division. You look at those
Speaker 1: NFL power rankings. Suddenly the Packers, who were sort of
Speaker 1: left for dead by some people going into the season,
Speaker 1: now they're back in the driver's seat. You're taking on
Speaker 1: a Denver Broncos team that's OWEN two at this point.
Speaker 1: They've had some bad luck go their way, but it's
Speaker 1: still an OWEN two football team. You have to take
Speaker 1: care of business, so I you're you're not gonna be
Speaker 1: able to plug every hole. I understand that the game
Speaker 1: there's too many variables to it, but if they're able
Speaker 1: to make sure that they continue the slow start at
Speaker 1: little bit farther for the Denver Broncos, I think the
Speaker 1: Packers were able to hold serve here against them. I
Speaker 1: think for me that what I look at on the
Speaker 1: offensive side of the ball. It really my thoughts for
Speaker 1: this game stem from what happened in the Minnesota game,
Speaker 1: and it's a couple of things that stick out to
Speaker 1: me because while Minnesota did make some adjustments defensively and
Speaker 1: started to clamp down and obviously slowed down the Packers
Speaker 1: after that fast start. There were two things that I
Speaker 1: There are two areas that I felt the Packers still
Speaker 1: should have been able to control better and not let
Speaker 1: Minnesota necessarily get the momentum and get back into the game.
Speaker 1: And what I'm talking about is protecting the ball, because
Speaker 1: I thought Allison's fumble and then the fumbled snap in
Speaker 1: the second half were the fumbled shotgun snap. Those were
Speaker 1: both huge turnovers in the game that that really kind
Speaker 1: of gave Minnesota life. And then the other thing was
Speaker 1: the short yardage stuff, because Matt Lafleur had talked about,
Speaker 1: you know, hey, let's stay in third and manageable, let's
Speaker 1: not be in these third and long situations. Well, sometimes
Speaker 1: you are going to get third and long situations that happens.
Speaker 1: You're not gonna play four quarters of football and not
Speaker 1: have a holding penalty or a sack or something that's
Speaker 1: gonna put you in a bad spot. But the Packers
Speaker 1: had their share of short yardage opportunities against the Vikings
Speaker 1: and they didn't convert them. And this Broncos defense is
Speaker 1: not off to a very good start early in the
Speaker 1: year as far as stopping the run and the way
Speaker 1: the Packers ran the ball last week against Minnesota, I
Speaker 1: think Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams are gonna be able
Speaker 1: to churn out the yards that the Packers need on
Speaker 1: first and second down. But if the Packers get in
Speaker 1: the third and one or third and two, they've got
Speaker 1: to convert those short yardage situations. They can't let those
Speaker 1: opportunities get away because you're gonna run into some third
Speaker 1: and tens and third and twelves where the Bradley Chubbs
Speaker 1: and von Miller's of the world are going to affect
Speaker 1: the game at some point. And this is where everything
Speaker 1: comes back together. With the no takeaways, the no sacks
Speaker 1: for Denver's defense, they've been, you know, fairly stingy, given
Speaker 1: up yards, but their third down percentages not what they're
Speaker 1: looking for right now. I mean, they have three of
Speaker 1: twenty five opponents are thirty excuse me, of twenty five
Speaker 1: opponents are on third downs right now, and it's an
Speaker 1: even mesh. Fifteen of those first downs off the rush,
Speaker 1: eighteen off the past four due to penalties. So I
Speaker 1: think that that's a huge opportunity for the Packers going
Speaker 1: into this game because when you look at vic fan
Speaker 1: Joe's defense, you think of pressure, you think of takeaways,
Speaker 1: and you think of stout third down play. Think of
Speaker 1: how many nightmares that he gave the Packers when he
Speaker 1: was in San Francisco, in Chicago through those three things.
Speaker 1: So no doubt, I just I really when you look
Speaker 1: at whether it is you have to win on first
Speaker 1: and second down, that's what makes your life easier. But
Speaker 1: even you know, in some of those third and long situations,
Speaker 1: looking to get some of the route concepts together, and
Speaker 1: even if they know the past is coming, being able
Speaker 1: to still succeed and thrive. That's when this offense is
Speaker 1: at its best when you do move the ball appropriately.
Speaker 1: But in those situations where you've got to confer to
Speaker 1: third and nine, you do it. So I think you're right.
Speaker 1: I think that that's one of the things that I
Speaker 1: really you know, Earmark going into this game, is if
Speaker 1: the Packers can succeed it that way, they're gonna have
Speaker 1: you know, things are going to happen. Yeah, well on
Speaker 1: the defensive side of the ball. Again, my my thoughts
Speaker 1: for this game stem off of what happened in Minnesota,
Speaker 1: Because Minnesota got all of its points off of the
Speaker 1: big plays seventy yard touched on run, sixty one yard
Speaker 1: catch and run that led to a field goal, and
Speaker 1: then a forty five yard touched on past that Unfortunately
Speaker 1: Ji Year Alexander lost in the sun, or you might
Speaker 1: have picked it off, if not at least knocked it away.
Speaker 1: But through two games, and two games is not a
Speaker 1: huge sample size, But through two games, I think the
Speaker 1: evidence is there that if if this Packers defense is
Speaker 1: making teams put together a methodical drive down the field
Speaker 1: that takes eight or nine, ten or eleven play, if
Speaker 1: they're gonna make them take that many snaps in order
Speaker 1: to score, this defense has a really good chance to
Speaker 1: get the stop. I mean that that's what we've that's
Speaker 1: what we've seen so far. I actually looked. I think
Speaker 1: all of the scoring drives through the first two weeks
Speaker 1: for the opponent have in six plays or less, and
Speaker 1: it's because of a chunk play, you know, of of
Speaker 1: of a big play. Particularly against the Vikings, those big
Speaker 1: plays were what produced the points against this Broncos offense.
Speaker 1: And as you said, with Joe Flacco, he's not lighting
Speaker 1: the world on fire right now. He's obviously an accomplished
Speaker 1: quarterback and the guys won a Super Bowl, and he
Speaker 1: does have a couple of really good weapons in the
Speaker 1: passing game. But I think if the if the Packers
Speaker 1: don't allow the big play, then I like their chances
Speaker 1: of of getting stops or at least forcing field goals
Speaker 1: and not letting a team into the end zone too often.
Speaker 1: So that that is the blueprint. I mean, that's what
Speaker 1: they have to do in this game. Because you also
Speaker 1: can't get down on yourself. Joe Flacco is completing passes
Speaker 1: almost se so far. But one of the reasons why
Speaker 1: defense have been successful against the defense the offensive front
Speaker 1: of the Broncos is because they're tackling the receiver. They're
Speaker 1: not allowing big plays to happen. The few big plays
Speaker 1: that Denver has had with you know, you look at
Speaker 1: some of the things that Emmanuel Sanders has done have
Speaker 1: been off making guys miss and getting to the second
Speaker 1: level the yards after the running. So that's where I
Speaker 1: think the Packers got to stay stout. They gotta stay fundamental.
Speaker 1: And then also you know, Zadarius and Preston Smith, they
Speaker 1: got to keep this pressure coming. I mean, they know
Speaker 1: that that's what their job responsibility is. That's not breaking news.
Speaker 1: But you know, we talked about Garrett Bowls some of
Speaker 1: the issues he's having right now. Five holding calls right
Speaker 1: off the bat. It's been a big topic in the
Speaker 1: Broncos locker room that they've had to discuss. You know,
Speaker 1: five sacks allowed so far on Flacco. You want to
Speaker 1: keep it, you know, keep that coming because if you
Speaker 1: get that pressure in Flacco's face, we know what the
Speaker 1: type of quarterback he is. He likes to be in
Speaker 1: the pocket, He likes to be comfortably, likes to step
Speaker 1: into those big throws. That limits that and it also
Speaker 1: creates more opportunities for your gire Alexander's and Kevin King.
Speaker 1: So I still think and we're probably every single week
Speaker 1: we do this. Might we're gonna be talking about the
Speaker 1: Smiths as long as they're on the field, but they
Speaker 1: really are a big catalyst to this defense accomplishing what
Speaker 1: it wants to accomplish. Yeah, no question about it. Well,
Speaker 1: looking ahead to the rest of Week three in the NFL,
Speaker 1: I want to get your thoughts on a game here
Speaker 1: that I don't think it's necessarily going to attract a
Speaker 1: lot of national attention, so to speak. But for Packers fans,
Speaker 1: I think it's one to keep an eye on. And
Speaker 1: I'm talking about Detroit going on the road this week
Speaker 1: to play Philadelphia. Obviously Detroit being a division opponent. Uh
Speaker 1: they are. The Lions are one oh and one after
Speaker 1: a home victory over the the Los Angeles Chargers last
Speaker 1: week that a lot of people, including me, didn't think
Speaker 1: they were going to win. But the Lions here with
Speaker 1: an opportunity to stay undefeated, I guess if you want
Speaker 1: to put it that way, and the Philadelphia Eagles being
Speaker 1: the team that the Packers are going to play on
Speaker 1: the short week on Thursday night, the Eagles are coming
Speaker 1: off of a tough road loss at Atlanta in prime
Speaker 1: time when they had a chance to win that game
Speaker 1: and get to two and oh, instead they are one
Speaker 1: on one. They had a really impressive Week one comeback
Speaker 1: against Washington, one of their rivals from the NFC East,
Speaker 1: but then when they had a chance to come back
Speaker 1: against the Falcons, a couple of misquse a couple of
Speaker 1: the plays got away from him, and uh, the Eagles
Speaker 1: are one on one with with a big home game here,
Speaker 1: and the Eagles are hurting unit right now. Mike, if
Speaker 1: you watch that game from a week ago. I mean,
Speaker 1: they were banged up. They with their injury report, like
Speaker 1: the Packers, they estimated it because they did not actually
Speaker 1: practice Corey Clement, Dallas Goddard, uh, Sean Jackson, Elshan Jeffrey,
Speaker 1: Tim Jurgen. I mean, uh, there are so many guys
Speaker 1: that would not have practiced for them. In addition to
Speaker 1: the fact that, you know, you also had the quarterback
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz leaving temporarily. So who's going to be healthy
Speaker 1: for this game on Sunday and then by proxy, who's
Speaker 1: going to be available on Thursday night. That's gonna be
Speaker 1: a big thing for the Packers. If you're the Lions,
Speaker 1: who are still six and a half point dogs going
Speaker 1: into this game, I mean, this is gonna be a
Speaker 1: big moment for them. I mean I have to imagine
Speaker 1: that whatever feelings they had or whatever disappointment there was,
Speaker 1: you know, giving up that lead to the Cardinals, they
Speaker 1: got some of that back by taking the wind out
Speaker 1: of the Charger sales a little bit. I'm just very
Speaker 1: interested to see which team is available for Philadelphia and
Speaker 1: that after all those injuries that they suffered, and exactly
Speaker 1: how the Lions respond to it. Yeah, well, a couple
Speaker 1: of other games that I think we'll have our eye
Speaker 1: on Sunday that involve the quarterback injury situations. With regards
Speaker 1: to the Saints and Drew Brees being out and the
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steelers with Ben Roethlisberger out for the rest of
Speaker 1: the season, sounds like Breeze for the Saints will be
Speaker 1: out roughly six weeks or so. But New Orleans going
Speaker 1: on the road to Seattle. Where I mean, could the
Speaker 1: schedule have set up any nicer for the Seattle Seahawks.
Speaker 1: They get They get Zach Taylor for the Bengals as
Speaker 1: a rookie head coach. He gets sent to Century Link
Speaker 1: Field for his first game. Okay, the Seahawks survived that.
Speaker 1: When they're want to know, they go to Pittsburgh. Roethlisberger
Speaker 1: gets hurt, so they win that one. Now they're too
Speaker 1: you know, coming back home for what looked like a
Speaker 1: huge game against the New Orleans Saints when you originally
Speaker 1: look at the schedule, and now Drew breezes out, so
Speaker 1: the Seahawks have a huge opportunity to get to three
Speaker 1: and oh while the Saints Sean Payton is talking about
Speaker 1: using potentially two quarterbacks Teddy Bridgewater, Taysom Hill. He's not
Speaker 1: announcing who the starter is gonna be or anything about
Speaker 1: his his specific plans. This is a really interesting one.
Speaker 1: It is really interesting. I mean, Teddy Bridgewater will be
Speaker 1: the starter. I mean, it's just that he's one of
Speaker 1: the highest paid, if not the highest paid backup quarterback
Speaker 1: in the league. They are credibly high on him. I
Speaker 1: still imagine he's going to be the guy. But Taysom
Speaker 1: Hill is a great accessory piece to what they can
Speaker 1: do offensively as a receiver, as a tight end, as
Speaker 1: everything you can use him as, and at times a quarterback.
Speaker 1: So I bet you're going to see both of those guys.
Speaker 1: But for Bridgewater, this is such an important time, Mike,
Speaker 1: because this is a guy that had to get his
Speaker 1: career back on track. The Saints bring him in, and
Speaker 1: now he actually has a chance to prove here in
Speaker 1: this next month and a half that he's still a
Speaker 1: starting quarterback in this league and he can be a
Speaker 1: franchise quarterback for somebody, maybe even the Saints someday. So
Speaker 1: it's a great opportunit the downside of it for him,
Speaker 1: while the Seattle defense isn't maybe as lockdown as it
Speaker 1: used to be. You're still playing in Century Link and
Speaker 1: you're still playing that is a tough place to play.
Speaker 1: Bobby Wagner, can't chancer. All those guys are gonna be
Speaker 1: gunning for you. But you know it's it's gonna be
Speaker 1: a good one to watch as well. Yeah. Well, with
Speaker 1: regards to the Pittsburgh Steelers, they've lost Ben Roethlisberger for
Speaker 1: the season. The other reason I bring them up this
Speaker 1: week is because they are on the road at San
Speaker 1: Francisco to face a forty Niners team that is two
Speaker 1: and oh with an opportunity to go to three and oh.
Speaker 1: And this is a forty Niners team the Packers are
Speaker 1: going to visit later this season. The forty Niners are
Speaker 1: with Jimmy Garoppolo, uh the second year with Kyle Shanahan
Speaker 1: as the head coach. This is a franchise that looks
Speaker 1: like maybe they're starting to put things together the way
Speaker 1: they wanted to look. We've talked a lot about Shanahan
Speaker 1: and La Fleur and mcvag and all these guys, but
Speaker 1: I just I have so much respect for Kyle Shanahan.
Speaker 1: I mean, you look at their roster, you look at
Speaker 1: at offensive roster, you know, certainly you have George Kittle,
Speaker 1: who opened a lot of eyes last year, but there's
Speaker 1: not a lot of like household names, and yet he's
Speaker 1: still with his scheme with what they want to do
Speaker 1: effectively on offense, they hit all the notes to a
Speaker 1: t in Garoppolo. Now that he's healthy again, you know,
Speaker 1: there's gonna be some take you know, turnovers here and there.
Speaker 1: He looks like he's gonna be that type of quarterback
Speaker 1: that might end up with like ten, twelve, fifteen picks
Speaker 1: a year. But he can throw it, man, and he
Speaker 1: isn't afraid to so seeing how they match up now
Speaker 1: against the Pittsburgh team that while they did, you know,
Speaker 1: make this trade for makeup Fitzpatrick for a first round pick,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of questions there with Mason Rudolph. Now
Speaker 1: is their quarterback that is going to be a big
Speaker 1: one to follow. Yeah, one other game I want to
Speaker 1: get your thoughts on quickly. Has nothing to do with
Speaker 1: the Packers because it's two A f C teams and
Speaker 1: the Packers aren't necessarily involved here. But the two and
Speaker 1: oh Baltimore Ravens, the two and O Kansas City chiefs
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes really really interesting matchup here. What
Speaker 1: do you think, real interesting matchup and two teams that
Speaker 1: do it completly different. I mean, Patrick Mahomes is gonna
Speaker 1: throw for five thousand yards again this year. Lamar Miller
Speaker 1: has proven he can throw. But their ground game is
Speaker 1: to be feared. Kansas City. The one question mark they
Speaker 1: had coming off the last season was their defense. They're
Speaker 1: going to be stressed in this game against mark Ingram
Speaker 1: and all those weapons that they have on the ground.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be a fun one to watch. Unfortunately you
Speaker 1: and I won't be able to, but I have to
Speaker 1: be scoreboard watching online with that one. But I mean
Speaker 1: we saw, yeah, we saw Lamar Jackson in the preseason.
Speaker 1: The Packers are gonna see Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs
Speaker 1: in that offense mid season this year in a in
Speaker 1: a big Sunday night game down to Arrowheads. So this
Speaker 1: this is this is one of those that got to
Speaker 1: make sure we catch the highlights. I guess when we
Speaker 1: get a chance, right. I'm just surprised they didn't put
Speaker 1: this on Sunday night for Monday Night football, like off
Speaker 1: the bat with the schedule, I know there were some
Speaker 1: questions about Baltimore and what they were to look like
Speaker 1: last year. But I also think we saw enough to
Speaker 1: know that Lamar Jackson was for real and they were
Speaker 1: a playoff team. And so this is again it's one
Speaker 1: that I wish, I wish I would be able to
Speaker 1: check out. But seeing how they you there and if
Speaker 1: he can go tip for tat with the m v P,
Speaker 1: it's a big test. Yeah, all right, Well with that
Speaker 1: we will call it a rap on this combo edition
Speaker 1: of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our
Speaker 1: coverage of the team and of Sunday's big Week three
Speaker 1: matchup with the Broncos at lambeau Field. Will have all
Speaker 1: of it on Packers dot com. Subscribe to us, like
Speaker 1: us on iTunes and other podcast services. On Twitter, He's
Speaker 1: at west Hod, I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers for
Speaker 1: the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody, We'll see
Speaker 1: you next time.