WEBVTT - #329 Packers Unscripted: Rainy days and Mondays 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:20.440 Hi, everybody, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:23.439 I am Mike Spofford, joined as always by my trusted 0:00:23.520 --> 0:00:26.560 Collige West Hodkowits. Were coming to hear from our studios 0:00:26.560 --> 0:00:29.720 at lambeau Field, back from the nation's capital West and 0:00:29.880 --> 0:00:33.159 Uh an old group called the Carpenters. They made a 0:00:33.240 --> 0:00:36.760 lyric rather famous and it goes, rainy days and Mondays 0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:40.080 always get me down. And I think that pretty much 0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:42.239 sums this one up. It was a rainy day at 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:45.720 FedEx Field and uh kind of rained on the Packers parade. 0:00:45.840 --> 0:00:49.559 Just uh, not one that anybody's gonna remember for for 0:00:49.600 --> 0:00:52.800 a while. No, not for the right reasons. And uh, certainly, 0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:56.080 Uh it was weird, Mike. I woke up on Sunday 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:59.480 morning and we actually stayed like directly downtown where like 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:02.440 two blocks from the White House. Looked out my window 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:04.839 the moment before, and I knew it was gonna rain, 0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:08.240 but just the amount of consistent rain throughout the day, 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:11.680 it just it it's sort of underscored what this game 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:14.600 was gonna be for the Packers and and and it's funny. 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:18.160 I You're always learning things, right, you know, in my 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:20.600 thirty years I think of every year I've covered the 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:23.600 NFL and I've had a thought or I've had a 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:27.040 you know, kind of an analysis hypothesis for how things 0:01:27.040 --> 0:01:29.520 were gonna go, and everybody talked about, you know, while 0:01:29.680 --> 0:01:33.039 coming off of a tie road teams, teams that then 0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:35.160 go on the road, or like, oh, in thirteen or fourteen, 0:01:35.200 --> 0:01:36.760 I actually thought the Packers are gonna be the ons 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:39.320 a curb that uh. And certainly I'm not saying that 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:41.640 that's the reason why they lost, but you could see 0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:45.280 what how difficult it is in those circumstances to go 0:01:45.319 --> 0:01:47.039 out there and play well, and in the Packers case, 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:49.960 particularly in that first half, just not enough. Yeah, it 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:52.600 was a rough start on both sides of the ball 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:55.320 for the Packers. No mistake about a defense was not 0:01:55.360 --> 0:01:58.080 playing well, offense was not playing well. You get down 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:02.880 into a ten hole at time the and as the 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:06.040 second half unfolded, you know, the defense boat up and 0:02:06.120 --> 0:02:08.880 got a series of stops, and the bottom line is 0:02:08.919 --> 0:02:11.760 the offense had its opportunities to get back in the game. 0:02:12.160 --> 0:02:14.240 You had the feeling if the Packers could just get 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:16.440 it to a one score game, that was going to 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:19.800 flip some of the pressure back to Washington's offense to 0:02:19.919 --> 0:02:22.679 have to try to seize the momentum back that that 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:25.600 that unit had clearly lost. But the Packers never got 0:02:25.600 --> 0:02:27.760 it to a one score game. They never, they never, 0:02:27.960 --> 0:02:30.680 you know, turned up the screws in that respect, so 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:32.560 to speak. And you know, whether you want to talk 0:02:32.600 --> 0:02:36.320 about the penalties, the drop passes, all kinds of opportunities 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:39.360 were there for Green Bay and the Packers just didn't 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:41.680 cash in and and walked out of there with a 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:44.200 with a really tough loss. Yeah, it's funny, you're the 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:47.079 big baseball guy. I don't know as much about anymore, 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:48.639 but it did seem to seem to me like a 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:50.200 game where there was a lot of runners left on 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:53.400 base ye in that the Packers defense. I mean, that 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:55.280 was about as bizarre of a game as I think 0:02:55.320 --> 0:02:58.200 I've seen in a long time in terms of the 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:02.440 difference between the first and the second half. Total yards 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:04.480 in the first half sixty three and the second. Now, 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:08.040 mind you, Washington had a lead, they were protecting the lead, 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:10.240 but just how they didn't really do much in the 0:03:10.280 --> 0:03:13.400 second half. Alex Smith had six passing yards after halftime, 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:17.680 four possessions. Four possessions. Washington had one first down and 0:03:17.680 --> 0:03:20.920 it was on the Clay Matthews roughing the passer penalty, 0:03:20.919 --> 0:03:23.160 which is a whole another discussion I'm sure we can 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:27.560 touch on again. But um, but no, the Packers defense, 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:30.840 for as much as the unit struggled in the first half, 0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:33.520 it gave the offense a chance in the second half 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:36.360 and and it just didn't come together. Yeah, And all 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:39.160 five explosive plays the defense allowed were in the first 0:03:39.280 --> 0:03:43.480 two quarters. They settle in, but then offensively, every time 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:46.000 it looked like the Packers were about to mount a rally, 0:03:46.240 --> 0:03:48.320 that Aaron Rodgers was going to lead the troops again, 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:52.920 just something happened there. It was a drop pass, a fumble, um, 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:55.720 you know, just things didn't quite go their way. And 0:03:55.720 --> 0:04:00.080 in this in a road environment, playing a team that 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:02.040 I think, as you've seen with Washington, is as game 0:04:02.080 --> 0:04:04.280 as they are, and their defense, which is pretty stingy 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:06.680 that I mean, they're playing, they're playing good ball right now. 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:10.160 When you get an opportunity to to seize momentum, to 0:04:10.160 --> 0:04:12.840 to seize an opportunity to to put some points on 0:04:12.880 --> 0:04:14.800 the board, you have to execute on it. And the 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:16.640 Packers just weren't able to do that. Yeah. Well, to 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:19.680 give you another baseball analogy, I wrote flying back on 0:04:19.880 --> 0:04:22.040 the Plane. Last night, I was working on the Insider 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:24.720 Inbox column for Monday morning, and I said, you know, 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:28.200 in a baseball lineup, you have to string the hits together. 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:29.720 It doesn't do any good to get a hit in 0:04:29.760 --> 0:04:31.720 the first inning, one hit in the second inning, one 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:34.280 hit in the fourth inning. You have to string him together. 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:37.680 And the way this game went, the Packers couldn't string 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:40.599 anything together. You get an interception from the defense, but 0:04:40.680 --> 0:04:43.799 then the offense has great field position and can't take advantage. 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:47.360 The special teams pins Washington on the two yard line. Well, 0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:49.320 that's time for the defense to do it's part, but 0:04:49.640 --> 0:04:53.360 to plays seventy five yards and Washington's right in scoring 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:56.640 range again. You know, the offense hits the sixty four 0:04:56.720 --> 0:05:00.560 yard touchdown, but then the defense allows another oring drive 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:02.960 right back the other way. Right after that. The Packers 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:07.120 couldn't string anything together, and the result is then you're 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:09.480 scrambling in the second half to try to get back 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:11.160 in the game, and it just didn't happen. It's an 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:13.800 eleven on eleven game. It's offense versus defense, and in 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:16.599 too many phases, the Packers just got beat just enough 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:19.039 that ultimately it would end up being the result that 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:22.400 it was. The difficult thing is is there were positives 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:24.680 in this that that get lost. And I'm sure we'll 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:27.920 talk about the Clay Matthews uh penalty here in a moment, 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:30.000 but I mean the fact that Clay Matthews finally did 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:32.200 get a sack or it looked like he was that 0:05:32.200 --> 0:05:35.599 that looked like vintage Clay Matthews on that play gets 0:05:35.600 --> 0:05:38.280 wiped out. Nimo Allison has a sixty four yard touchdown 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:41.280 past Doronimo Allison is leading the Packers and receiving right now, 0:05:41.880 --> 0:05:44.560 and you know it's it's all for not Mark Quisvelde. 0:05:44.640 --> 0:05:46.440 Scantling looks like he can be the gunner that the 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:48.839 Packers need to compliment J K. Scott, who had another 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:52.480 strong game. Aaron Jones is back involved. But all those 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:56.840 positives didn't ultimately help the Packers get to where they 0:05:56.839 --> 0:05:59.080 needed to be and what you need to do more 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:00.840 than anything else, and you I talked about before it 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:03.799 came in here. As great as those those moments are, 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:07.320 it comes down to fundamentals across the entire offense and defense, 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:08.680 and we could talk about it to where the blue 0:06:08.680 --> 0:06:10.960 in the face and people get you know, tired of it. 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:13.080 But it's true if you go back and look at 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:15.640 some of the areas where the Packers came up short, 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:18.760 it's fundamental mistakes and not being able to either protect 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:21.480 the football, secure the football, or you know, just just 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:24.800 losing their technique. Yeah, obviously and and technique that that 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:28.320 is a key thing. Mike McCarthy, you know, after the game, 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:30.800 said hey, you know, we had too many penalties, and 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:32.840 it does go back to the fundamentals because whether you're 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:35.680 talking about the hand placement of offensive linemen when they're 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:38.719 getting called for holding, or the techniques in the defensive 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:42.479 backfield when you're getting multiple pass interference penalties on one drive, 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:45.320 those kinds of things just they take the wind out 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:47.240 of the sales of of any team. There's only so 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:50.039 there's only so many times you're gonna get that opportunity 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:52.600 to seize the momentum and uh and when you let 0:06:52.600 --> 0:06:54.320 it slip away like that, and then on top of it, 0:06:54.400 --> 0:06:56.960 you have a couple of veteran players in Randall Cobb 0:06:57.000 --> 0:06:58.920 and Lance Kendricks, and I don't mean to single them 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:01.400 out because other guys had penalties other guys had past 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:04.479 interference calls and all that, but the drop passes when 0:07:04.480 --> 0:07:08.400 it's veteran, proven veteran players. These guys are gonna atone 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:11.560 for their mistakes. We know that. But that's tough because 0:07:11.800 --> 0:07:14.120 you know, the past narrative around here has been, well, 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:15.960 it's young guys who make mistakes and you have to 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:17.640 live with them. In this case, there was a lot 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:20.520 of veteran players unfortunately that let the Packers down. And 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:23.080 and you know their pros, they'll bounce back, they'll they'll 0:07:23.080 --> 0:07:26.120 get the job done. But it's it's it's a you know, 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:28.720 a tally market in the al column because of because 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:30.640 of a lot of guys that that you know, no, 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:32.920 they didn't play up to their own standard. Yeah, and 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:35.120 Randall Cobb is about as even keel as they come, 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:37.520 and was beating himself up about it afterwards, you know, 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:41.160 having the fumble in that series, the really close forth 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:43.880 and to play looked like he had the catch upon 0:07:44.000 --> 0:07:46.880 further review, ball did come out and to touch the ground. 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:49.280 Those are plays that that Cobb prides himself on, and 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:51.680 he knows the offense and needs those moments, and certainly 0:07:51.760 --> 0:07:55.840 Lance Kendricks that was a great opportunity for a big play, 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:59.360 and and he did a phenomenal job to it. It 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:02.000 appeared like it was sort of an extended scrambled drow 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:03.400 where he was out in the flat, that he turned 0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:05.360 it up field, almost turning it into a wheel route 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:08.400 gets behind the linebacker coverage, And the most frustrating part 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:09.640 of that, and I know he talked about it. It's 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:11.960 all focused is that it wasn't even like it was 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:14.560 broken up, like he actually had the separation. He pulled 0:08:14.600 --> 0:08:16.920 it down the linebacker fifty four. I think that was 0:08:17.160 --> 0:08:20.320 faster Foster. He didn't actually touch him until really he's 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:22.080 on the ground. It just wasn't able to secure it. 0:08:22.440 --> 0:08:24.880 Moments like that that I think Aaron Rodgers talked about it. 0:08:24.880 --> 0:08:27.240 The guys talked about the locker room afterwards, separates the 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:29.400 winds and the losses, and unfortunately for the packers, this 0:08:29.440 --> 0:08:31.480 one goes down as an owl. Yeah, well, a little 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:33.800 bit of sponsored business here quickly West at home or 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:35.800 here in the stands. We all know that Green Bay 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:37.520 fans give it their all and that takes a lot 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:40.640 of energy. So grab a warm bowl Campbell's Chunky soup. 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:43.439 It's meaty goodness. Fuels the greatness of Packers fans everywhere. 0:08:43.440 --> 0:08:46.720 Try the delicious classic chicken noodle soup. Just visit your 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:50.120 local supermarket and asked for Campbell's Chunky Soup, the official 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:53.320 soup partner of the Green Bay Packers. Okay, to add 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:57.280 injury to insults, so to speak, the Packers left Washington 0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:01.040 rather banged up. Here we saw Maha mid Wilkerson, veteran 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:03.839 defensive lineman, get carted off the field, which with what 0:09:04.440 --> 0:09:09.160 looked like a pretty nasty ankle injury. Brian Bulaga left 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:11.679 the game with a back injury. Also on the right 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:14.080 side of the offensive line, Justin McCrae left the game 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:16.400 with a shoulder injury. Towards the end of the game, 0:09:16.480 --> 0:09:19.240 Nick Perry on the defensive side, was being evaluated for 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:21.720 a concussion. We'll see as the week goes along what 0:09:21.840 --> 0:09:24.920 kind of updates we get on those injuries. But but boy, 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:28.600 those are those are some some key veteran players that 0:09:29.160 --> 0:09:32.120 you know, you hope, you know, things obviously don't look 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:34.440 good with Wilkerson when the cart comes out like that, 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:36.200 but with some of the other guys, you hope maybe 0:09:36.240 --> 0:09:38.440 none of these are long term deals. Yeah, and and 0:09:38.520 --> 0:09:40.360 blag is certainly the way he was able to come 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:42.640 back from the knee injury and and be a starter 0:09:42.720 --> 0:09:45.240 for this offense and be accountable at that position, and 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:47.600 in moving back in at right tackle. It's it's tough 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:50.120 to see, you know him have to go out, Certainly 0:09:50.240 --> 0:09:52.880 Jason Spriggs, who actually thought looked pretty good at the 0:09:52.960 --> 0:09:55.400 end of training camp working mostly on the left side, well, 0:09:55.400 --> 0:09:57.719 now he has to go back to the right side, uh, 0:09:57.760 --> 0:10:01.079 and gets worked there. Justin mccrawe actually said afterwards, this 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:03.160 is the shoulder injury. He's kind of been dealing with 0:10:03.160 --> 0:10:04.680 the going back to training camp, and he sort of 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:06.760 tried to muscle through it. There was a point in 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:09.120 time in that game, though, where he started to realize 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:13.079 subconsciously he wasn't really getting his hands behind his blocks anymore. 0:10:13.080 --> 0:10:15.600 He was doing things that compensate for that. And because 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:18.440 he wasn't in his you know mind, you know, being 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:21.080 able to help the offense at his full full pressure, 0:10:21.080 --> 0:10:23.800 full you know, full accord, he pulls himself out by 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:25.720 Ron Bell ends up being the guy that finishes the 0:10:25.760 --> 0:10:29.200 game there. It's tough because the Packers offensive line, I 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:31.120 thought one of the big positives these first two weeks 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:33.559 they had all five guys, they were able to start 0:10:33.559 --> 0:10:36.360 working together, building that rapport, and then you lose some 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:39.240 of that. As far as Wilkerson, that one's really tough 0:10:39.280 --> 0:10:41.320 because we've seen Mike in these first three games were 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:44.439 probably more specifically the Vikings game, how big the Packers 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:46.960 plans are for him with this defense and the ways 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:49.920 that they can use him. And and he actually had 0:10:49.920 --> 0:10:52.880 a pretty good pressure earlier in that game that I 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:56.360 thought kind of helped contribute to the Clinton Dick's interception 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:58.560 being able to get in Alex Smith's face. Yeah, he 0:10:58.600 --> 0:11:00.600 was lined up as a five tech on that play 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:02.599 and he was he was coming around the edge and 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:04.800 Kenny Clark had some pressure up the middle, and then 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:07.880 Smith gets rid of that ball, the tight end doesn't 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:11.440 break off his route, and you know, the pressure through 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:13.520 the timing of the playoff ends up being a pick 0:11:13.559 --> 0:11:15.760 for the Packers, and Smith is standing in the heart 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:17.840 of the pocket at that time. He can't throw it away. 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:21.080 So it's things like that, man, where it's just the 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:23.800 Packers defensive line. We talked about it all summer long. 0:11:23.880 --> 0:11:25.680 It was going to be a strength for them. I 0:11:25.679 --> 0:11:28.160 think they've had their moments. But we'll have to see 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:30.319 what happens with Wilkerson. That's a big chunk of it though. 0:11:30.320 --> 0:11:32.560 If if he's not able to go, Yeah, well we'd 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:35.439 be remiss if we didn't at least discussed to some 0:11:35.640 --> 0:11:39.959 extent the Clay Matthews ready passer third straight week. Now, 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:43.280 Clay Matthews first nine years of his career, he has 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:47.560 four roughing the passer penalties. The last three weeks he's 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:50.240 had three. Now we all know, as we've said, the 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:53.880 one against Chicago, and Matthews has admitted it multiple times 0:11:53.960 --> 0:11:56.640 that was on him. He knows he shouldn't have done it, 0:11:56.920 --> 0:12:00.520 perfectly legitimate roughing the passer call. But these last two 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:03.720 weeks and you can you can just see the frustration 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:06.839 right there on the field. He's sacks Smith. He looks 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:10.000 at the referee right away, you know, because he's actually 0:12:10.000 --> 0:12:11.880 worried that maybe a flag is going to come out, 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:15.439 and then sure enough the flag does come out. I Joe, 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:18.000 I was, you know, I say, maybe half joking in 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:20.160 my chat or an inbox wherever I wrote it last 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:22.600 week that you know it's time to just bear hug 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:25.440 the quarterback and hold on like I I don't. I 0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:27.640 don't know what else Clay Matthews is supposed to do. 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:29.960 Not that being said, you have to try to do 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:33.640 something different because you can't keep getting flags. So you 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:36.360 can't just keep doing the same thing because the flags 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:39.679 are gonna keep coming out. But I'm not sure what 0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:42.920 the answer is West. I'm really not get the flags out, 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:46.040 the flag, the red flags, throw them on the quarterback. 0:12:46.960 --> 0:12:50.080 I'll tell you what, Mike, Um, here's what's funny about this. 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:55.760 Here's the feeder of it. Week one egregious. You know 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:59.360 everyone understands that just because I mean, even if he 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:01.640 wasn't trying to be malicious in it, you go up 0:13:01.679 --> 0:13:04.440 near the quarterback's head and the balls out, they're gonna 0:13:04.480 --> 0:13:08.200 throw the flag. Matthews got that last last week is 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:11.360 last week wasn't a penalty. This might have been the 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:14.080 first week that the referees got the call right in 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:16.520 terms of the letter of the law. But that doesn't 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:19.320 change the fact it's a terrible foul. It's a terrible call. 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:23.640 But it is funny in that claim Matthews. After three 0:13:23.679 --> 0:13:27.240 straight weeks, the referees actually got the call probably right, 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:31.440 and it doesn't change the fact that it's terrible and uh, 0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:34.400 I don't know, man, But here's here, here's the things. 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:36.840 And this is interesting because after after we got back 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:41.000 last night, after the plane landed, got home, I'm looking 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:42.960 through some different things on the internet. I got my 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:46.080 eye on Sunday Night Football. I saw I saw a 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:49.200 discussion that happened on the Sunday Night Football pregame show 0:13:49.240 --> 0:13:52.640 and apparently they had Terry McAuley, the former official who's 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:55.199 now kind of one of these rules analysts for the networks, 0:13:56.000 --> 0:13:58.680 and he pointed out something very interesting that there is 0:13:58.840 --> 0:14:01.520 language in the rule as far as this whole body 0:14:01.559 --> 0:14:04.720 weight thing on the quarterback. There's language and the rule 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:09.280 about it being unnecessary, you know. And that's the part 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:12.840 I think that's getting lost here. Is that. Okay, so yes, 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:15.560 by the letter of the law, Clay Matthews landed with 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:19.120 all of his body weight on the quarterback. But it 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:21.680 was necessary for him to make the play. It wasn't 0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:27.120 some unnecessary act that was outside of the play that 0:14:27.160 --> 0:14:29.640 he was trying to make. And I think that's what's 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:32.360 getting lost here. And as as we've talked about all 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:34.400 of this focus on the rules and the changes in 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:36.280 the rules and all this kind of stuff. It has 0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:41.120 the the officials hyper focused on finding reasons to throw 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:45.120 flags instead of stopping to think about the reasons not to. 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:50.080 That's what's going on here, and unfortunately the Packers seem 0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:52.240 to be the team that's right in the middle of it. Now, 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:56.720 not long before the Clay Matthews sack, Aaron Rodgers gets 0:14:56.760 --> 0:15:00.000 basically tossed like a rag doll on a sack, actually 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:03.360 really lands on his head, his helmet goes right into 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:06.560 the turf. And then we in the press box were 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:10.080 treated to a little conversation between Rogers and referee Craig 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:13.480 Rolstad where he had left his microphone on during the 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:17.200 TV time out, and we heard Rogers asking the referee 0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:19.120 about hey, like, did you know do you see me 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:22.480 get thrown down on my head there? And the referee said, well, 0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:25.080 I couldn't see it through all the pile of bodies 0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:27.240 and whatever based on his angle, so he couldn't, so 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:29.720 he couldn't throw the flag. So that again brings me 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:31.720 back to the point I've been making all along, which 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:34.160 is if you want to protect these players, then you 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:36.120 have to have replay to look at this, because if 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:38.880 one guy is in charge of throwing that flag and 0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:41.880 he can't see what happened, then how are we How 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:44.720 is anybody's supposed to get anything right and trust that 0:15:45.040 --> 0:15:47.240 the calls are all going to be legitimate and fair. 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:50.760 It's it's it's not happening correctly, and the league needs 0:15:50.800 --> 0:15:53.720 to do something about it. Ding ding Ding. Yeah. I 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:56.120 can't add much more to that. You're right. Here's here's 0:15:56.120 --> 0:15:58.000 the one thing I will say though. Uh, this is 0:15:58.000 --> 0:16:00.880 the one thing I really appreciated about Clay Matthews. Afterwards 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:02.560 he said he did not he did not agree with 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:06.120 it obviously. Uh. And he handled it all, in my opinion, 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:09.360 handled it very professionally. You could tell his frustration, considering 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:11.880 he comes from a third generation football family, has an 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:13.480 uncle that played in the league for twenty years, a 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:15.480 father that played in the league for nineteen years. He's 0:16:15.480 --> 0:16:17.800 been playing this game for twenty years. He said, this 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:20.960 is the way I play it. I almost wish, though, 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:23.680 he would have did one thing differently, And and I 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:25.920 understand that the games played at a million miles prower 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:27.800 there's nothing to do. I think it would have made 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:29.560 a great statement to the league if he would have 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:32.720 bear hugged him and stopped and then to getting back 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:35.360 to the original thing, because one they would have had 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:37.960 to he had his arms covered, so there's nothing Alex Smith. 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:40.000 If you if you can get the quarterback in a 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:42.480 bear hug, he's not He's not going. And I think 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:44.480 that would have been a great statement in terms of 0:16:44.480 --> 0:16:46.200 the I'm not saying this is how you should do it, 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:47.720 but I'm saying I think that would have been a 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:50.000 great moment for people to really look at be like, 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:52.360 is this the league you want? Is this the play 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:55.800 you want? Do you want your your your faces, your 0:16:55.840 --> 0:16:59.400 celebrity pass rushers that the guys that Sunday Night Football 0:16:59.480 --> 0:17:02.120 is gonna put their promotions. Do you want him going 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:04.000 up to Alex Smith and bear hugging him until the 0:17:04.000 --> 0:17:07.400 ref calls end of forward progress, until they blow the whistle. Yeah, 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:09.360 And I think that might be what's gonna happen because 0:17:09.359 --> 0:17:12.040 getting back to you original thing about unnecessary, you know, penalty, 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:14.440 Clay Matthew said he could have made it unrest unnecessary. 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:16.439 There's things he could have done that would have been 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:23.200 absolutely specific plays. But he got inside leverage on the tackle, 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:28.000 He had a straight line to the quarterback. You're telling me, 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:29.960 Clay Matthews is going to be able to get his 0:17:30.119 --> 0:17:32.879 hips around on that play. And by the way, you 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:34.800 get your hips around too much, you know what you're doing. 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:37.280 You're soup plexing them. You're gonna do the same thing 0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:39.240 that happened to Rogers, but now you don't have the 0:17:39.280 --> 0:17:42.720 clutter and you're getting the play. Yeah yeah, yeah, what 0:17:42.720 --> 0:17:46.479 what what Doron Payne did? If Rollsdad can see it, 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:49.800 he's throwing the flag and and that potentially changes up 0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:53.360 changes a possession of possible scoring opportunity. So here's Packers, 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:56.240 here's the here's the lesson. Here kids, make sure there's 0:17:56.240 --> 0:18:03.920 a scrum around the quarterback. They take your what you will? Yeah, yeah, yes, well, 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:06.760 I tell you what was We spent more time on 0:18:06.800 --> 0:18:08.280 that than I thought we were going to. And there 0:18:08.359 --> 0:18:10.920 was a lot that happened elsewhere in the NFL, And 0:18:11.240 --> 0:18:13.360 let's save a lot of that discussion and where things 0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:16.600 are in the NFC North for tomorrow's show. And there's 0:18:16.680 --> 0:18:18.560 some other things obviously to follow up on this game. 0:18:18.600 --> 0:18:20.720 But you know what, we're just gonna what. I'm gonna 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:23.160 interrupt you one more time, you know, the ultimate travesty 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:27.159 with this Matthews played two pretty good games. He played 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:29.680 well against Minnesota, got wiped out. He got a sack 0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:36.000 in this game and got wiped out. Okay, all right, 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:38.399 but we do have to call it a wrap on 0:18:38.440 --> 0:18:40.800 this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all 0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:43.680 of our coverage of the team on the website packers 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:45.920 dot com. On Twitter, you can follow him at west 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:48.720 Hot I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account. 0:18:48.720 --> 0:18:50.800 Thanks for tuning in, everybody, See you next time.