WEBVTT - #669 Packers Unscripted: Sluggish start 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:10.959 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:14.360 Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always 0:00:14.400 --> 0:00:16.840 by my trusted colleague West Hodkowitz. We're coming to you 0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:20.160 here from our studios at lambeau Field West. Week one 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:23.520 in Minnesota did not go as the Packers had hoped 0:00:24.280 --> 0:00:27.720 to seven loss at US Bank Stadium, and for a 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:31.080 lot of folks watching deja vu in some respects with 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:34.800 regard to Week one last year when the Packers did 0:00:34.840 --> 0:00:37.800 not perform well um losing big and Week one to 0:00:37.840 --> 0:00:42.000 the New Orleans Saints, I think the biggest difference differences 0:00:42.120 --> 0:00:44.720 I guess I would say for me in this one 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:48.959 versus Week one last year is this game to me 0:00:49.040 --> 0:00:53.600 came down to two things. One too much justin Jefferson 0:00:54.160 --> 0:00:58.280 and number two missed opportunities. Yeah. I mean, my biggest 0:00:58.320 --> 0:01:00.520 takeaway from this game was last year when they got 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:02.600 out of Jacksonville and they lost thirty five to three. 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:05.839 I was like, who that that was a beat down? 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:08.160 Like that that did not not only did it not 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:10.840 go the way it you wanted it to go. I 0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:13.840 felt just like, you know, New Orleans beat him in 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:16.560 every phase of the game. The frustrating thing about this 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:19.440 game at US Bank Stadium was I still feel like 0:01:19.480 --> 0:01:22.240 if you rewack it, Packers could have easily won that 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:24.520 game too. And you heard Aaron Rodgers and Matt Fleur 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:27.720 both talk about it afterwards. You know there were plays 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:31.000 out there, the opportunities had presented themselves. Green Bay just 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:33.960 didn't take advantage of it. Looking at the offensive side 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:35.560 of the ball, I think one of the things that 0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:37.360 really hurt the most, and I wrote about this in 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:41.120 Insider Inboxes, I love that play call right out of 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:44.560 the game. You know, people are wondering about Christian Watson. 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:47.840 There's no preseason film on this kid. They send him 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:50.360 out deep. He beats Patrick Peterson by a good three 0:01:50.400 --> 0:01:52.559 and a half yards, but then he drops the ball 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:55.560 and green Bay kind of rallies a little bit. They 0:01:55.560 --> 0:01:58.760 get the running game going a little bit, but just overall, 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:01.520 they just didn't really capitalize when they needed to. Too 0:02:01.520 --> 0:02:04.720 many sacks at in proromptu times. It was gonna be 0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:08.639 tough sledding. Obviously, getting stuffed on fourth and one, all 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:12.240 things are going to add up defensively. I don't know 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:14.960 if I've really covered many games like this because Green 0:02:15.000 --> 0:02:17.760 Bay only gave up twenty three points, which I understand, 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:20.040 that's still twenty three points. But when you look at 0:02:20.040 --> 0:02:23.520 the first half production that Justin Jefferson had hundred and 0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:27.000 fifty six yards, two touchdowns, four plays of twenty or 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:30.239 more yards in the first two quarters, you're thinking that, 0:02:30.400 --> 0:02:32.799 you know, Minnesota is just rolling away with this thing. 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:36.280 It never really got to that point. So when when 0:02:36.320 --> 0:02:39.480 the game ended, certainly you tip your cap to Kevin o'connelly, 0:02:39.480 --> 0:02:41.639 you tip your cap to Minnesota and everything that they 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:44.480 did to win that game. But for the Green Bay Packers, 0:02:44.480 --> 0:02:47.080 playing without their starting tackles, playing without their number one 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:50.880 receiver and losing John Runyon, green Bay stayed in this thing. 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:54.079 But ultimately it's still a loss. Yeah, it is. It's 0:02:54.160 --> 0:02:57.120 and and it's a tough one to swallow because because 0:02:57.120 --> 0:03:01.359 of those missed opportunities. I mean, this game, this league, 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:03.680 these games, they always just come down to a couple 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:05.480 of plays here and there, right, And you know, and 0:03:05.520 --> 0:03:08.800 I'm not saying that if Christian Watson Watson catches the 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:11.040 ball and if A J. Dillon can punch it in 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:13.520 on fourth and goal from the one, or if as 0:03:13.520 --> 0:03:17.000 Aaron Rodgers said, he lamented afterward, if he had pulled 0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:19.480 back the handoff, he had to walk in touchdown because 0:03:19.560 --> 0:03:23.200 Zadarius Smith was crashing so hard from the outside. If 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:26.399 the quarterback takes his own option there, um, they would 0:03:26.400 --> 0:03:29.600 have had no way to stop it. But if those 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:32.320 two plays go green Bay's way, we're looking at a 0:03:32.320 --> 0:03:36.920 completely different game. Now. Minnesota maybe still wins anyway. But 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:41.600 even with all of that said, and with as much 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:46.240 as they had, all kinds of trouble handling Justin Jefferson, 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:48.960 and I know fans are asking like, why wasn't JayR 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:52.320 Alexander matched up on him? Etcetera, etcetera. You can watch 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:54.920 Matt Lfler's press conference from Monday. I wrote about it 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:57.400 on the website Monday night. The explanation for why the 0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:00.960 Packers did what they did. It didn't war. Nobody's saying 0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:04.600 it worked. Mattal Floor was giving the rationale for why 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:06.360 they went about it the way they did. We'll see 0:04:06.360 --> 0:04:09.080 what happens fifteen weeks from now when these two teams 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:13.680 meet again. But for all of the trouble that they had, 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:16.640 and as you mentioned, the big plays that Justin Jefferson had, 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:19.280 there was a moment in the second half here where 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:23.719 this game it's twenty seven and the Packers have a 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:27.680 first down. I want to say it was somewhere near midfield. Yeah, 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:32.200 close to midfield, with you know, early fourth quarter. I 0:04:32.240 --> 0:04:34.120 want to say, at that point, with plenty of time 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:36.479 on the clock, where you're thinking, boy, of everything that's 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:39.479 gone wrong, if you can put together this drive here 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:41.880 and get the game to twenty to fourteen, you know, 0:04:41.920 --> 0:04:44.159 you can try to forget about all that other stuff. 0:04:44.200 --> 0:04:48.360 But they still couldn't put it together. It was just 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:50.400 it was it was a game of fits and starts 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:53.039 for the Packers offense and for that matter, for the 0:04:53.040 --> 0:04:55.760 Packers defense as well. There were some there were some 0:04:55.800 --> 0:04:59.279 really good moments, but the big explosive plays, particularly with 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:02.520 with Justin Jefferson, those are just gonna those are just 0:05:02.520 --> 0:05:05.440 gonna kill you in the long haul because they're so 0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:08.360 hard to rebound from there, so hard to come back from. 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:10.320 And ultimately it was just it was just too much 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:12.320 for the Packers to overcome. And I think probably the 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:14.719 maddening thing at the beginning of that fourth quarters, Daniel 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:17.560 Hunter gets the sack of Rogers, so they're facing second 0:05:17.560 --> 0:05:20.320 and nineteen, but they actually were able to work their 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:23.160 way through it. There's a coverage breakdown in Minnesota's behalf. 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:25.960 You basically have Romeo Dab's just standing there waiting for 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:27.880 a pass. They get that for twenty three yards, one 0:05:27.920 --> 0:05:29.359 of the biggest plays of the day in the in 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:32.159 the passing game, and and I thought that would have 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:33.839 been a good opportunity. That's where they got to about 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:36.279 midfield green base forty eight. I thought that would have 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:38.440 been a good time to really reset with the running game. 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:43.120 And again all this stuff is hindsight being but that 0:05:43.120 --> 0:05:45.880 that's seven place, seventy five yard drive that they had 0:05:45.960 --> 0:05:48.200 before that that got them on the board. Finally with 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:51.400 the two yard A J. Dillon touchdown run, that is 0:05:51.440 --> 0:05:54.159 what reminded me of what this Green Bay Packers offense 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:56.320 really on paper we thought it was going to be 0:05:56.360 --> 0:05:58.960 and probably will still be at this point. Seventy five 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:01.520 yards forty six of those come through Aaron Jones and 0:06:01.560 --> 0:06:04.480 AJ Dillon. A G. Dillon mentioned even at that point 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:07.000 that that Jones breaks off that twenty nine yard run, 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:10.000 he's pushing through everybody, his guys, there are guys, referees, 0:06:10.400 --> 0:06:13.320 the guy's you know, he's rumbling, stumbling from all the 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:16.000 way right down the field and Jones and Dylan said 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:18.560 to him, He's like, you just electrical, you know, jolted 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:22.960 our entire roster. And the game was different offensively for 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:25.599 green Bay after that. But Green Bay didn't get back 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:28.080 to the running game. Jones only carried it five times, 0:06:28.120 --> 0:06:29.720 and that was one of the things that Matt Lafleur 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:32.760 really lamented. On the other side of the field, Delvin 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:35.760 Cook wasn't nearly as dynamic, but he was able to 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:39.279 put them in first down, second down favorable situations and 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:42.000 then really Kirk Cousins just took it from there. Yeah, well, 0:06:42.920 --> 0:06:46.560 the you mentioned you mentioned the running backs, and you 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:49.760 look at this game. Jones and Dylon combined rushing in 0:06:49.880 --> 0:06:52.920 receiving yards combined hundred and sixty seven yards. They were 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:57.080 a big part of this Packers offense. But after the game, 0:06:57.520 --> 0:07:00.200 both the head coach and the quarterback were like, they 0:07:00.240 --> 0:07:02.240 weren't a big enough part. They need they needed to 0:07:02.279 --> 0:07:04.800 be a bigger part this and we talked about it 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:08.799 through the offseason, through training camp. We're really expecting, especially 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:11.120 in the early going, for more of the offense to 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:14.960 um to go through Jones and Dylan. Now the way 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:17.320 the game started with the Vikings marching right down and 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:20.080 getting a touchdown and then Christian Watson dropping the ball, 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:23.720 you know, and you're in You're in that crazy dome 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:25.760 and all the noise and everything, and you're just you're 0:07:25.760 --> 0:07:28.320 trying to find something to to to get things going. 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:30.720 There was a lot of there's a lot of frustration 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:33.320 and what not going on there. But the Packers recognize 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:40.080 that Jones and Dylan are really really dynamic playmakers and 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:42.280 the more they can get them involved. They combined for 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:45.640 twenty three touches, and I think, you know, I don't 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:48.200 want to put a number on on Matt Lafleur here, 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:50.320 but I think we're going to see a target of 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:53.960 more towards like thirty or even thirty five potentially in 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:56.560 some games, depending on how many offensive players you run. 0:07:57.400 --> 0:08:00.400 Because they showed even as much as Minnister Oda was 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:04.160 in control of the football game, they showed that they 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:06.680 can churn out the yards and move the chains. And 0:08:06.720 --> 0:08:09.840 I think that's the thing here that that the Packers 0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:11.840 are going to are going to have to hang their 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:16.080 hat on as this offense finds its footing. Aaron Rodgers, 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:18.560 you know, talked about a lot of mental mistakes across 0:08:18.600 --> 0:08:21.240 the board, and he was talking about offensive alignement, talking 0:08:21.280 --> 0:08:24.680 about some of the young receivers. Andy you know, took 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:26.840 the blame for some of his own mistakes, mis throws, 0:08:26.840 --> 0:08:28.800 a bad decision to throw the jump ball to Cob 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:31.240 that got picked off. So there there were mistakes all 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:33.960 across the board. The mental mistakes were the most frustrating 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:37.800 for Rogers. And I think as the Packers work through 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:40.839 this stuff in the early season, it has to be 0:08:41.000 --> 0:08:43.040 it has to be Jones and Dillon that carry the 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:46.040 load and to and to just keep everything settled down 0:08:46.640 --> 0:08:50.840 and uh and not get so crazy and desperate, so 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:53.240 to speak, because that's the way it always feels in 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:56.240 that stadium. Right when you get behind, things get crazy 0:08:56.360 --> 0:08:59.040 and it feels desperate because the atmosphere in that place 0:08:59.120 --> 0:09:02.480 is unlike any other. And I think in in some respects, 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:06.120 the Packers got away from really what what this offense 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:08.920 can do best? Right now, it's a self fulfilling prophecy 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:11.360 if you allow Minnesota to get momentum. That's not just 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:13.199 green Bay. That goes for any team that goes into 0:09:13.320 --> 0:09:16.000 US Bank Stadium, because you know, whether it's the noise 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:19.240 level whether it's the game entertainment stuff they do, whether 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:22.360 it's the JumboTron putting us Darius Smith on the screen 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:25.600 every three seconds, They're going to find ways to to 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:28.400 really get their guys going and keep them motivated. So 0:09:28.720 --> 0:09:30.880 you need to be able to control that early on 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:32.800 the one part of this and it goes back, you know, 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:34.880 because people want to make that lazy comparison to last 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:37.520 year with the Saints. I feel a lot better about 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:39.480 where Green Bay is at right now coming out of 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:41.400 this game than honestly I did last year coming out 0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:43.320 of New Orleans because that game you're just wondering what 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:46.920 happened offensively, defensively, everything in between. Because that was the 0:09:46.960 --> 0:09:49.040 first year coordinator. You weren't sure what was going to 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:52.360 be going down. I would have been more discouraged in 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:55.640 this game had had the Packers given thirty thirty five 0:09:55.679 --> 0:09:58.360 touches to Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon and they weren't 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:00.400 able to have production. But as it turn and out, 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:03.040 both of those guys together averaging six point two yards 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:06.400 per carry, you saw what this offense can do with 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:08.720 them out of the backfield. I mean, I'll tell you 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:10.800 this right now, Like some of those passes to both 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:13.280 sides of the field. It shows you that when those 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:15.760 guys are given the opportunity to be free in space, 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:18.480 you don't need to be Aaron Jones with his explosiveness 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:20.880 and and all that stuff. A J. Dillon was very 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:23.520 successful out there too, with the more power running style. 0:10:24.240 --> 0:10:26.439 That's where I think it's not just about Okay, they 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:28.800 won or lost, or they whatever hell this went. It 0:10:28.920 --> 0:10:31.120 was about the fact that when Green Bay went to 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:34.240 those packages, the two back stuff, mixing and matching them, 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:36.559 it worked. And I think that's probably something they have 0:10:36.600 --> 0:10:38.360 to feel pretty good about now going into this game 0:10:38.400 --> 0:10:40.440 against the Bears. Yeah. I think a couple of other 0:10:40.520 --> 0:10:43.400 positives that are worth pointing out here from this game 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:48.360 the return of Robert Tunyan to the offense, and we 0:10:48.440 --> 0:10:52.200 saw what on what appeared to be maybe a rep count, 0:10:52.280 --> 0:10:54.559 so to speak, because with him coming back from the 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:57.480 knee injury because he wasn't out there for all the snaps, 0:10:57.520 --> 0:11:01.400 but even in a limited number of reps, he was impactful. 0:11:01.520 --> 0:11:05.080 He made he made a handful of a very impactful 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:10.280 place and the other was I thought, until unfortunately he 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:12.920 left with a shoulder injury, but a very solid debut 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:16.360 for rookie first round pick Kway Walker in this defense 0:11:16.400 --> 0:11:18.280 sort of went from a good news bad news back 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:20.480 to a good news thing. And that you know, he 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:22.760 had eight tackles before he had to leave with a 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:25.400 shoulder injury. But then we heard from Matt Lafleur it 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:28.360 doesn't sound like the shoulder injury is anything serious, even 0:11:28.400 --> 0:11:30.720 to the to the point that la Fleur is giving 0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:32.800 Walker a chance to be able to play right away 0:11:32.840 --> 0:11:37.640 again this coming Sunday against the Bears. So, um, those 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:39.920 were a couple of positives. And also you mentioned losing 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:43.559 John Runyon on the offensive line. He was h taken 0:11:43.559 --> 0:11:45.839 out of the game to be evaluated for a concussion. 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:49.000 Zach Tom the rookie fourth round pick from wake Forest, 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:52.200 went and I thought he played pretty solid for a 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:54.720 rookie not having been in an NFL game. He's played 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:58.719 all kinds of positions across the front. He got thrown into, um, 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:02.240 the left guard spot, cold off the bench and uh 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:04.559 and held his own just fine. And I have several 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:07.520 video clips a my what you Might Have Missed piece 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:09.120 on the website if you want to check out some 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:12.160 of those with regard to Tom. So there there's some 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:14.520 there are some little nuggets you can you can pull 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:18.080 out of this game that that will see exactly, um 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:21.080 you know, where this goes and how the Packers potentially 0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:23.360 build on some of those things. The maddening part about 0:12:23.360 --> 0:12:27.839 that defense performances justin Jefferson getting way too open, having 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:29.959 way too much leeway, and being able to hurt the 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:32.440 Packers after the catch. Right, It wasn't just his where 0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:34.160 he caught the ball, it's what he did with the 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:38.080 ball when it was in his hands. But conversely, when 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:40.480 I mentioned the maddening part is a lot of the 0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:43.600 defense was c ball hit ball, ball carrier goes down, 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:46.640 whether it was quay Walker, you know, working both sidelines, 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:49.440 whether it was you know, Rasul Douglas, the coverage, you know, 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:52.160 things you know on breakdowns, not with Sandy Rasul Douglas, 0:12:52.320 --> 0:12:56.200 Keyshawn Nixon on his only defensive snap, getting the ball 0:12:56.240 --> 0:12:59.560 carrier down to force a punting situation the Packers. For 0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:01.960 for all the questions going in about not playing the preseason, 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:05.120 the Packers tackled pretty well in this game. The major 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:07.280 point of emphasis I think going into this game against 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:08.920 the Bears now and the running back won't be nearly 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:11.880 as dynamic. The weapons won't be as dynamic in this 0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:14.400 matchup as they were at us Bank Stadium. Is on 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:17.160 early downs. You gotta get the ball here down to 0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:20.079 three yards from the line of scrimmage, and then once 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:23.079 you know you're in those third and passing situations, making 0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:25.440 sure that your coverages are where they need to be, 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:28.520 because that's really, in my opinion, the only where, the 0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:31.040 only area where Green Bay really did fall short because 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:33.480 they got eight hits on Kirk Cousins and the way 0:13:33.520 --> 0:13:35.160 he throws the ball, it's not gonna be easy to 0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:37.440 get him down to the turf. They did a lot 0:13:37.520 --> 0:13:39.760 of things right, but it was the things they did wrong. 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:42.680 We're a pretty big scale. Yeah, well, you mentioned the 0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:44.800 Bears are coming up here week two. I want to 0:13:44.840 --> 0:13:46.960 get to that um in just a second, but first 0:13:47.000 --> 0:13:50.440 some sponsored business. Serious x M NFL Radio delivers hard 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:53.240 hitting analysis and up to the minute NFL news that 0:13:53.280 --> 0:13:57.640 true football fanatics need seven three six and at Cousins Subs, 0:13:57.640 --> 0:14:00.720 we have something for everyone. Like our wiscons and Cheese curds, 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:03.400 mac and cheese, golden fries, and creamy shakes, all paired 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:06.160 with your favorite sub or sub in a bowl cousin 0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:11.520 subs fifty years of better. The Chicago Bears will be 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:14.680 coming into lambeau Field for a primetime game. I believe 0:14:14.720 --> 0:14:17.199 this is now going to be Is it the seventeen 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:22.440 consecutive year the Bears? And then I believe it's seventeen 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:25.600 in a row. Seventeen years in a row the Packers 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:27.720 and Bears will be playing a primetime game. This one 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:30.800 will be the home opener for Green Bay lambeau Field 0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:34.320 Sunday Night football, and the Bears are coming in a 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:39.440 surprising want to know, although I'll say this that when 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:44.560 I saw what the weather was doing in Chicago on Sunday, 0:14:44.840 --> 0:14:47.560 suddenly I mean that game Bears and forty Niners, it 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:50.560 was all bets are off because that that field turned 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:55.400 into a swamp, a quagmire. It you know, game plans 0:14:55.440 --> 0:14:57.640 and everything else just get thrown out the window. It's 0:14:57.640 --> 0:14:59.920 a it's a matter of it's a matter of survival. 0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:03.560 Protect the football, make the plays you can. And at 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:06.640 the end of the day, the Bears made a heck 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:08.320 of a lot more on both sides of the ball 0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:11.000 than the forty Niners did. And Chicago's going to come 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:13.160 to lambeau Field at one and all. Yeah, I mean 0:15:13.200 --> 0:15:16.280 the Bears just didn't make mistakes and in San Francisco did. 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:18.040 That's really what this came down to. And in a 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:19.960 game like that, when you do fall behind and you 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:23.120 can't really trust the passing game anymore, that's when all 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:24.920 the you know, the balls kind of get thrown up 0:15:24.960 --> 0:15:27.600 in the air. The one thing I took away from 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:29.840 this game, like, especially after watching some of the highlights 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:31.200 of it, because this is going to come off as 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:32.760 a diss and I don't want it to come off 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:36.600 that way. The way they ran their offense with justin 0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:39.320 fields reminded me a lot of what Mitchell Trubisky did 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:42.360 in two thousand eighteen, which is where it's not a 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:45.840 traditional passing offense. They didn't necessarily have a very good 0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:48.720 day on the ground, but they found ways to move 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:52.480 the football enough while leaning on their defense to get stopped. 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:55.320 That in a lot of ways, I think is really 0:15:55.400 --> 0:15:57.920 the recipe here for fields comes. That's how the Bears 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:01.680 won the NFC North. Exactly what that is, exactly what 0:16:01.720 --> 0:16:05.240 they did that that entire season. Uh. That that formula 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:07.240 that you just mentioned, Yeah, and in fields, you know, 0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:10.040 wasn't overly dynamic as a runner. But I just felt 0:16:10.080 --> 0:16:13.160 like you saw, just watch any of the clips on 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:15.680 any of the websites, go to NFL dot com, the 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:19.280 way guys rallied around him. There was an energy with 0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:22.160 that football team and with those fans that were there 0:16:22.800 --> 0:16:25.800 during that monsoon. So they're gonna come in, as Matt 0:16:25.840 --> 0:16:28.520 Lafleur said, they're gonna be feeling pretty good about themselves 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:31.080 and feeling like Matt aberflews in the direction they're heading 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:34.240 is in a good direction. But that being said, we 0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:36.080 need to remember when you look at where these power 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:37.960 rankings were at the beginning of the season, the fact 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:40.480 that not a lot of people were standing behind the Bears. 0:16:40.520 --> 0:16:43.320 Here they're still in, my opinion, is a very big 0:16:43.360 --> 0:16:46.440 discrepancy between the two talent levels of this team. Certainly 0:16:46.440 --> 0:16:50.080 from an experienced standpoint. Now you can't rest on that. 0:16:50.320 --> 0:16:52.720 You have to perform. But I think the key for 0:16:52.800 --> 0:16:56.400 Green Bay really was making sure on Monday, Okay, here's 0:16:56.480 --> 0:16:59.680 everything we did wrong, here's everything we need to change 0:16:59.800 --> 0:17:01.520 to be able to get to be the team we want, 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:04.119 and understanding that you're going to be facing a different 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:06.840 type of opponent on Sunday night and you're gonna be 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:08.840 doing it in front of your home opening crowd. Yeah. 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:12.959 I think the Packers, with everything that went wrong in Minnesota, 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:16.280 I think the Packers are the message this week for 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:19.320 the Packers. And this is this is as you said, 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:21.560 it's not a dis against the Bears, but it's where 0:17:21.600 --> 0:17:24.760 the Packers are right now. This game coming up Sunday 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:26.879 night is not going to be about what the Bears do. 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:29.080 It's going to be about the Packers getting back to 0:17:29.119 --> 0:17:31.600 doing what they do well. They know they had coverage 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:35.960 breakdowns and miscommunications and stuff that that aren't that aren't 0:17:35.960 --> 0:17:39.000 acceptable and are very very frustrating. And you know they 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:42.960 had the mental mental mistakes as well as physical mistakes 0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:45.679 on offense that cost them. The Packers are going to 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:48.600 go into this week feeling like if they clean up 0:17:48.600 --> 0:17:51.879 their own house, so to speak, and you're playing at 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:54.600 home in primetime in front of in front of your 0:17:54.600 --> 0:17:57.960 own fans, that u um that they should be able 0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:01.560 to take care of business here and uh. And that's 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:03.479 that's not a knock against the Bears at all. But 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:05.560 this this Bears team is going to come into lambeau 0:18:05.640 --> 0:18:08.480 Field fired up, their new their new head coaches want 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:10.520 to know and he's like, all right, you know, let's 0:18:10.640 --> 0:18:12.479 let's ride this as long as we can. Yeah, And 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:14.399 that's why you do have to throw out all of 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:16.440 those power rankings everything, because when you have a guy 0:18:16.480 --> 0:18:18.800 like Fields, that guys are energized about. And let's give 0:18:18.840 --> 0:18:21.719 the young man credit in a game of these young quarterbacks, 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:24.760 he made plays Trey Lance didn't, yep. And that's why 0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:27.560 the Bears ultimately one. They controlled their own destiny. And 0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:29.360 when you saw when they had that nine point lead 0:18:29.359 --> 0:18:31.679 in the fourth quarter, what they were able to do 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:35.280 with it, how the tempo of the game changed, And realistically, 0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:37.600 I said it from day one, Mike, the first unscripted 0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:39.639 we did, the Bears are gonna go as far as 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:42.720 this young man takes them. He they really are. And 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:44.040 and for them to get that win out of the 0:18:44.040 --> 0:18:45.639 gate when I think a lot of people were counting 0:18:45.640 --> 0:18:47.920 them out against the San Francisco team that has huge 0:18:47.960 --> 0:18:51.000 expectations for this season, that's gonna definitely be a feather 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:52.960 in their cap that's going to give them some swagger 0:18:52.960 --> 0:18:56.560 going into this matchup. Yeah. Well, aside from the quagmire 0:18:56.640 --> 0:18:59.399 at Soldier Field, there was a lot of other wild 0:18:59.440 --> 0:19:02.440 and wacky stuff got quite my Week one. In Week 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:05.600 one in the NFL, which always happens on the season 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:10.040 opening weekend every year, we saw UM the Lions lose 0:19:10.160 --> 0:19:12.760 in what turned into a shootout at Ford Field against 0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:15.800 the Eagles, the team that is now very much UM 0:19:15.880 --> 0:19:19.440 the favorite in the NFC East. With with Dak Prescott 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:24.159 dealing with thumb surgery for the Cowboys, there was the 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:29.920 overtime kicking craziness in Cincinnati. Where have we seen that before? Right? 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:33.680 Um and Uh? And also in that game you had 0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:37.119 another a significant injury to UH to t J. Watt 0:19:37.200 --> 0:19:40.800