Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my partner in crime, West Hodkuwitz. Were coming to
Speaker 1: you here from our studios at Lambeau Field and West.
Speaker 1: The Packers are back from Cincinnati, and I don't think
Speaker 1: they're sad that they won't be going back again for
Speaker 1: another eight years. The way the games in that stadium go,
Speaker 1: Are you kidding me? The Packers prevailed twenty two in overtime,
Speaker 1: improved to four and one on the season, but it
Speaker 1: took if my math is correct, well, I'm not even
Speaker 1: gonna try to do it all somewhere around two hundred
Speaker 1: yards worth of missed field goals um in uh in
Speaker 1: the final two minutes of regulation and overtime before Mason
Speaker 1: Crosby puts one through and the Packers escaped with one
Speaker 1: of the wildest, craziest most buses are Packers games that
Speaker 1: I can recall in sometimes. Yeah, I was actually after
Speaker 1: the game. I was walking We obviously are here with
Speaker 1: the COVID restrictions, yet we're covering the game from Lambeau
Speaker 1: But I was walking down the hallway with my boss
Speaker 1: Duke Barbara are manager of digital, and I said to him, like,
Speaker 1: you know, I've been covering the team now. This is
Speaker 1: my tenth season on a full time basis covering the team.
Speaker 1: I'm sure there's been a lot of these moments. Obviously
Speaker 1: there was Detroit with the hail Mary. You know, a
Speaker 1: lot of crazy things have happened over the last ten years.
Speaker 1: I don't think there's anything quite like this when you
Speaker 1: break it down, where you know there's five, you know,
Speaker 1: potential game altering type field goals missed. I think Elias
Speaker 1: had that stat that that's a record of some kind
Speaker 1: since the merger. There's never been anything like that in
Speaker 1: the fourth the fourth quarter, in overtime, but you know,
Speaker 1: three hours and twenty two minutes of just excruciating football
Speaker 1: in a lot of regards for both teams, and to
Speaker 1: be able to find a way that There was a
Speaker 1: guy that said an insider inbox, and no disrespect to him,
Speaker 1: but one of the things he said is like, well,
Speaker 1: that would have been a game that I would end
Speaker 1: up tied. I would have said, that's fair. And my
Speaker 1: retort to that was the fact that it wasn't. That's football.
Speaker 1: There's going to be imperfections. You can only play what's
Speaker 1: in front of you. As what Matt Lafleur said afterwards,
Speaker 1: there are no beauty points for any of us. You
Speaker 1: just go to win the football game. And the fact
Speaker 1: of the matter is, despite you know, the the issues
Speaker 1: there with the red zone defense, despite the fact Mason
Speaker 1: missed some kicks, at the end of the day, the
Speaker 1: Packers found a way to win that game. And the
Speaker 1: good teams do, Mike, And the fact of the matter
Speaker 1: is the Green Packers are four and one and they
Speaker 1: were able to avoid uh, you know, two real game
Speaker 1: teams in the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals, uncommon opponents
Speaker 1: to be able to get there. Yeah. Well, in the
Speaker 1: bottom line for Mason Crosby is he was able to
Speaker 1: He was able to earn that shot at redemption, if
Speaker 1: arne is the right word, by his countenance, essentially his face,
Speaker 1: because Matt Lafleur went over to him after the three
Speaker 1: misses and the Packers are in position for a forty
Speaker 1: nine yard or there with two minutes left and overtime
Speaker 1: went over to him and said, hey, what do you think.
Speaker 1: And Crosby's response was I got this and La Fleur said,
Speaker 1: I didn't see any I didn't see any flinch in him.
Speaker 1: I didn't see any um, you know, hesitation, any doubt
Speaker 1: whatsoever in his in his demeanor, in his countenance. And
Speaker 1: so he went with his veteran kicker there. When you know,
Speaker 1: fourth and inches. It would have been an easy call,
Speaker 1: in a lot of respects to just say, hey, okay,
Speaker 1: our kickers missed three field goals, We're gonna go for
Speaker 1: the first down, try to get closer, maybe get a touchdown,
Speaker 1: whatever the case might be. Because certainly, forty nine yards,
Speaker 1: even if Mason Crosby has made twenty five field goals
Speaker 1: in a row or twenty seven was his streak before
Speaker 1: it ended, forty nine yards is no gimme for anybody
Speaker 1: in this league. But they Lafleur decided to go with
Speaker 1: to go with Crosby, and UH, and he comes through
Speaker 1: for this team, and UH and a big, big win
Speaker 1: because the with the win, the Acker state in sole
Speaker 1: possession of first place in the NFC North at four
Speaker 1: and one, the Chicago Bears, this week's opponent, right on
Speaker 1: their heels at three and two, and UM. But yeah,
Speaker 1: getting back to what you said earlier, I I can't
Speaker 1: remember there. There are always games where a game winning
Speaker 1: opportunity might be missed here, or they're even back and
Speaker 1: forth once each way to a certain extent. But for
Speaker 1: it to go back and forth that many times with
Speaker 1: with essentially the game on the line, um, I don't
Speaker 1: know if we'll ever see anything like that. No, And
Speaker 1: and just to make one quick point about Mason Crosby,
Speaker 1: because it was a frustrating game. I know Mason be
Speaker 1: the first I'll tell you that's not one he's going
Speaker 1: to be putting in the you know, the archives there
Speaker 1: to remember and you know, show all the kids. But
Speaker 1: there is a lesson to be learned with that. And
Speaker 1: one thing I liked, you know, I give a lot
Speaker 1: of credit to Mike McCarthy. In two thousand and eighteen,
Speaker 1: things were not going well in Detroit, but he made
Speaker 1: sure to give Mason that last field goal I think
Speaker 1: it was a forty one yard or against the Allions
Speaker 1: after he missed what four field goals four or five?
Speaker 1: I think it was four field goals in an extra
Speaker 1: point that day that this this particular day in Cincinnati
Speaker 1: was three field goals in the net. Yeah. And I remember,
Speaker 1: you know, Mike wanted to give him that opportunity, even
Speaker 1: though that one wasn't The game was sort of out
Speaker 1: of hand at that point, but but one to give
Speaker 1: him that one last opportunity. I remember Aaron Rodgers patting
Speaker 1: him on the back and the fact that he went
Speaker 1: on this remarkable run. Ever since then, you know, goes
Speaker 1: the entire season, resets the franchise record at on extra
Speaker 1: point attempts. This game, in so many ways reminded me
Speaker 1: of that, because now the outcome was, you know, up
Speaker 1: in the balance, they're trying to figure out, you know,
Speaker 1: who's going to win this game. But you know Matt
Speaker 1: Lafleur having confidence in his kicker, the kicker that for
Speaker 1: the most part, has made of his field goals during
Speaker 1: Floor's time in Green Bay. You know Aaron Jones going
Speaker 1: up to him and tell him that he loves him
Speaker 1: before that kick. I mean, the guys, this is a
Speaker 1: guy who's been an eight time team captain. That locker
Speaker 1: room understands what he provides to this team in the
Speaker 1: way in which he provides it. There are a lot
Speaker 1: of fan bases, Mike, and we saw it in a
Speaker 1: lot of different NFL cities this weekend that every time
Speaker 1: their kicker goes out on the field, you don't know
Speaker 1: what's going to happen. Mason Crosby, for the most part,
Speaker 1: with the exception of one game every two or three years,
Speaker 1: is automatic in a lot of cases. That is what
Speaker 1: stood out to me the most. And how that team
Speaker 1: rallied around him, the fact that they were able to
Speaker 1: get that team victory. We weren't there and since you
Speaker 1: to hear it, but you know all the reporters talking
Speaker 1: about the loud ruckus in the Packers locker room that
Speaker 1: was adjacent to the media auditorium, the visiting meeting media room.
Speaker 1: That tells you everything you need to know. And the
Speaker 1: fact is they have an opportunity now to kind of
Speaker 1: continue this four game winning streak and really find that
Speaker 1: cohesive unit that that ultimately, you know, makes you a
Speaker 1: winning type championship club. Yeah. I think a lot of
Speaker 1: Packers fans after a game like that, all the emotions
Speaker 1: and back and forth and and the roller coaster of
Speaker 1: it all, if Packers fans are sitting back trying to like,
Speaker 1: how am I supposed to feel about my team? Right? Like, like,
Speaker 1: how how do you come out of a win like
Speaker 1: that feeling good? About your team. Well, for me, in
Speaker 1: looking at this game and and how it unfolded, if
Speaker 1: you want to feel good about where this Packers team is,
Speaker 1: take a look at all of the big time plays,
Speaker 1: aside from the missed kicks obviously that were made in
Speaker 1: crunch time to give the Packers all these opportunities to win.
Speaker 1: Whether you're talking about Aaron Jones ripping off a fifty
Speaker 1: seven yard run with three minutes left in the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: another Aaron Rodgers to Davante Adams in the final half
Speaker 1: minute of regulation, carbon copy of what happened in San
Speaker 1: Francisco to put the ball in position for a game
Speaker 1: winning kick. Deveandre Campbell getting an interception on the first
Speaker 1: play of overtime, setting up for you know, another possible
Speaker 1: and huge play by Campbell, who's who's had such a
Speaker 1: big impact on this defense. And then on the final
Speaker 1: drive with that did turn out to be the game winner,
Speaker 1: the screen pass to Marcedes Lewis that goes for twenty yards,
Speaker 1: and then after a sack on third and sixteen, the
Speaker 1: fifteen yard passed. Randall I mean the number the number
Speaker 1: of clutch plays on both sides of the ball in
Speaker 1: a lot of respects that that the Packers made in
Speaker 1: this game. That's what you hang your hat on coming
Speaker 1: out of here. And and you just Mason Crosby is
Speaker 1: going to deal with what he has to deal with,
Speaker 1: and and the whole field goal operation, because Matt Lafleur
Speaker 1: did talk about that as well, that there are issues
Speaker 1: with the operation that need to be cleaned up to
Speaker 1: make things easier on everybody. But if you take that
Speaker 1: part out of it and you look at you look
Speaker 1: at what this team did in crunch time with the
Speaker 1: game on the line, there's a lot to like there.
Speaker 1: I want to start with offense because there's a lot
Speaker 1: I want to talk about with the defense. But first
Speaker 1: and foremost, Mike, it hit me in the middle of
Speaker 1: that second quarter when Davonte Adams has a hundred yards
Speaker 1: receiving a loan in that fifteen minute block, hundred and
Speaker 1: seventeen yards in the first half on six catches with
Speaker 1: the touchdown off of fade that appeared to be a
Speaker 1: check that I mean, just that's Aaron Rodgers and Davante
Speaker 1: Adams operating on a different level one on one on
Speaker 1: the bound. But the thing that stands out to me
Speaker 1: the most right now is Davante Adams has been on
Speaker 1: the come up for a number of years, and he's
Speaker 1: been doing this since two thousand sixteen, for five years. Really,
Speaker 1: this this prime has been but right now, in my
Speaker 1: for my money, this is the best receiver in football
Speaker 1: because this was the first game to my eye where
Speaker 1: it did not matter what the Cincinnati Bengals did. You know,
Speaker 1: Shudobi A. Woozier is a fantastic cornerback, has been success
Speaker 1: for a number of years. As a reason why Cincinnati
Speaker 1: brought him in. They made that adjustment early on. I
Speaker 1: thought they did a really good job against him in
Speaker 1: the first quarter, but that second quarter proved that when
Speaker 1: you are smart with how you utilize him and moving
Speaker 1: Davante around, he's so hard to cover. And if anybody
Speaker 1: asked me West Hodkowitz, can you give me a play
Speaker 1: that sums up Davante Adams. You can talk about the
Speaker 1: laid hands and in Philadelphia can talk about some of
Speaker 1: the boundary passes, but watching him beat the entire secondary
Speaker 1: over the top down the middle of the field for
Speaker 1: a fifty nine yard ball which Aaron Rodgers just places perfectly.
Speaker 1: I mean, you can't say enough about where that ball
Speaker 1: was thrown into. That's Davante Adams, four time Pro Bowler,
Speaker 1: All Pro Receiver nearly unanimous a year ago. This guy
Speaker 1: has almost six hundred receiving yards in five games. Mike,
Speaker 1: we don't even need to talk about the seventeen games
Speaker 1: right now in a sixteen game season. He's having a
Speaker 1: historic type season. Yeah, that you mentioned the deep bomb.
Speaker 1: He as as that ball is coming down to rest
Speaker 1: in his arms, He's got three Cincinnati Bengals chasing. He's behind,
Speaker 1: He's behind everybody. And this is after he's already at
Speaker 1: that point got a hundred and twenty roughly hundred twenty
Speaker 1: five yards receiving in the game already. They're a monster
Speaker 1: game by Davante Adams. Eleven catches, two hundred and six yards,
Speaker 1: first two hundred yard receiving game of his career, first
Speaker 1: two hundred yard receiving game by a Packers receiver since
Speaker 1: Jordy Nelson in it has been seven years. Um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: an absolutely monster game. And the other part with this
Speaker 1: offense too, for the second game in a row, in
Speaker 1: all the ways that the Packers are utilizing these guys,
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones, A J. Dillon, the one two punch in
Speaker 1: the backfield, combining for almost two yards from scrimmage two
Speaker 1: weeks in a row. Now they've been at that. Plus
Speaker 1: when you combine all their rushing and receiving yards this
Speaker 1: offense with that big three Jones, Dillon, and Adams, they're
Speaker 1: they're they're accounting for a heck of a lot of
Speaker 1: production and defenses are having a hard time stop in it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and A J. Dillon watching how far he's come, um
Speaker 1: and it is, you know, was talking about it. He
Speaker 1: came in last year. He didn't catch the ball a
Speaker 1: lot at BC, but they felt like he was a
Speaker 1: pretty good pass catcher. I still think he's taken it
Speaker 1: to a different level this year. And you and I
Speaker 1: were discussing some of those plays that he made against
Speaker 1: the Bengals. Those weren't just sitting down waiting for the
Speaker 1: check down throw. They were him running routes. They were
Speaker 1: catching balls and stride, no wasted motion for him to
Speaker 1: have forty nine yards, which was a new you're high
Speaker 1: for him in the NFL. On on receiving yards, being
Speaker 1: able to pound the ball north and south the way
Speaker 1: he does, and more than anything else, the more I
Speaker 1: watch him now, when you understand that the outside zone
Speaker 1: the Packers want to run. You start to see why
Speaker 1: Brian Goodakins in his scouting department, thought that this guy
Speaker 1: is a really good fit for it. The way he
Speaker 1: hits his cutbacks are is it's in stride, it's fluid.
Speaker 1: He's not just a bruising type running back. There's there.
Speaker 1: I agree with you when when you when you see
Speaker 1: him run to the go to the outside on that
Speaker 1: outside zone and then make the cut. There's a combination
Speaker 1: of patients with explosiveness that you and that that's the
Speaker 1: smoothness that you talk about where it looks it looks effortless,
Speaker 1: but but there's there's a patience to it with the
Speaker 1: timing and then the burst is there when as they say,
Speaker 1: you stick your foot in the ground and go and
Speaker 1: where where this offense can go with with those three
Speaker 1: with Dylan Joe, I mean when Matt Lafleur after the game,
Speaker 1: a game that the offense puts up four hundred and
Speaker 1: sixty six yards, Now, yes, they left a lot of
Speaker 1: points out there that the Packers, they know they should
Speaker 1: have scored more points. Cincinnati's defense in the red zone
Speaker 1: gave them all kinds of trouble so you credit the
Speaker 1: Bengals for that, but the Packers they're they're gonna they
Speaker 1: need to get there. Their red zone offense figured out
Speaker 1: because it was so good last year, so you know
Speaker 1: the capability is there. But after an offensive game like that,
Speaker 1: with all the production, and when Matt Lafleur saying, boy,
Speaker 1: I wish I could have gotten the ball to a
Speaker 1: j Dillon Moore, that that that that tells you something
Speaker 1: about about what the Packers have at their disposal. And
Speaker 1: and for Aaron Jones to run the way he did
Speaker 1: in this game too, Mike, how long have I been
Speaker 1: talking about this? He's gaining every yard that's available, He's
Speaker 1: finding ways to extend places, but he just didn't have
Speaker 1: that big home run. Well, here's an opportunity where you
Speaker 1: have von Bell collapsing. There's a gap there, but Bell's
Speaker 1: occupying it with the kind of blitz almost it looks
Speaker 1: like that he's doing from the far safety. But he's
Speaker 1: able to make him miss. And as Aaron Jones said,
Speaker 1: you know, with with his footwork, his timing, he felt
Speaker 1: calm and and he'd be able to get that step.
Speaker 1: With the room he has the operate to be able
Speaker 1: to get up field. You saw him lay a heck
Speaker 1: of a stiff arm at the end of that play too.
Speaker 1: They're gonna be a really good one too. And I
Speaker 1: give Jamal Williams a fantastic back. He's having a good
Speaker 1: season right now with with the Detroit Lions. But it
Speaker 1: wasn't a slight on Jamal Williams that they moved on
Speaker 1: from him. It was more about, Okay, this is a
Speaker 1: guy we drafted a year ago, with two guys both
Speaker 1: coming up on the final year of their contracts and
Speaker 1: A J. Dillon, we feel like he's a good fit.
Speaker 1: And right now Dylan is proving the Packers right. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: I want, I do want to shift gears to the defense.
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Speaker 1: we believe in better on the defensive side. West We
Speaker 1: had talked last week about the pack is having to
Speaker 1: adjust to their new reality. They've been dealing for multiple
Speaker 1: weeks without Zadarius Smith. Now, this was the first game
Speaker 1: without jayear Alexander both of those second team All Pro
Speaker 1: defenders out indefinitely. At this point, the Packers don't know
Speaker 1: if or when either will be back. And I thought
Speaker 1: in the first half of this game, I thought the
Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers defense really came to play. And unfortunately, UM,
Speaker 1: a really really good half of defensive football against a young,
Speaker 1: up and coming franchise quarterback. Was was kind of undone
Speaker 1: by by just the big breakdown at the end there
Speaker 1: and in the final men of the first half in
Speaker 1: the seventy yard touchdown pass. But UM Matt Lafleur even
Speaker 1: said on Monday he thought this was the Packers best
Speaker 1: defensive performance of the season. Yes, there is still plenty
Speaker 1: to work on, but we're continuing to see this defense
Speaker 1: makes strides there. There there are things to show up,
Speaker 1: there are things they've got it, you know, the red zone,
Speaker 1: and we'll talk about that too. But this defense, this
Speaker 1: defense is making progress every week. You're seeing it, and
Speaker 1: they're doing it now as they're adjusting without some of
Speaker 1: their best players. Yeah, and the first thing first, before
Speaker 1: we talk about some of those breakdowns. The reason why
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers were able to ultimately have that
Speaker 1: big second quarter that they did was because of how
Speaker 1: the defense played in the first quarter. Offense did not
Speaker 1: get off to a fast start. It was kind of
Speaker 1: a grind there until they started to kind of find
Speaker 1: their rhythm a little bit. It was the defense forcing
Speaker 1: Cincinnati into multiple three and outs. Even the scoring drive
Speaker 1: that they had, they went three and out or three
Speaker 1: and fourth and whatever, and then they converted the fourth
Speaker 1: down to ultimately end up getting down the field, but
Speaker 1: they originally went three plays and fourth down. That right there,
Speaker 1: I think is huge in the long run in the
Speaker 1: big picture, because if you give Aaron Rodgers a clean
Speaker 1: slate in a first quarter, he's either a gonna be
Speaker 1: able to do a lot of damage to the opposing
Speaker 1: defense or be it's gonna allow the offense time to
Speaker 1: get in sync. That's what the defense provided in this matchup.
Speaker 1: They're also doing less or they're doing more with less.
Speaker 1: Excuse me, they're doing less. They're doing more with less.
Speaker 1: When you don't have Zadarius Smith, it's on the whole
Speaker 1: group to be able to pick up that weight. You
Speaker 1: see Rashan Gary now playing that rover position, Mike, one
Speaker 1: of the stops they had was Gary collapsing on the
Speaker 1: center being able to get the stop, I believe on
Speaker 1: third down or at least to set up that situation.
Speaker 1: You're seeing guys like Dean Lowry making contributions. Kenny Clark
Speaker 1: has been an absolute game record. He's a guy that
Speaker 1: if you look at a statue, you're not going to
Speaker 1: see that he's playing at a Pro Bowl level. But
Speaker 1: he absolutely is. And unfortunately for Kenny, he is such
Speaker 1: a darn good run stopper that, yeah, it makes it
Speaker 1: difficult at times to be able to keep him in
Speaker 1: the past flow because you need to have with what
Speaker 1: he's providing up front. The Packers strong start against the
Speaker 1: run so far, a lot of that has been a
Speaker 1: contribution of Kenny Clark. But Mike dev Andre Campbell coming
Speaker 1: into this defense on June six, I believe it was
Speaker 1: June sixth Gosh, I was so competent to well, I'll
Speaker 1: transaction wire June nine. It was probably June nine, darn it, no,
Speaker 1: but him coming into this defense on June nine, this
Speaker 1: is a guy Mike that win for the better part
Speaker 1: of three months without a job. This is not a
Speaker 1: guy that's been injured. This is not a guy that
Speaker 1: wasn't a starter. Dvandre Campbell was right there for the
Speaker 1: National Football League. And when the Arizona Cardinals, who might
Speaker 1: be as deep at the linebacker position as any in
Speaker 1: the National Football League right now, decided to move on
Speaker 1: from Campbell, I cannot believe there wasn't a long line
Speaker 1: of teams wanting to pick this guy up. Six ft
Speaker 1: three two pounds, runs in the four fives, can cover
Speaker 1: sideline to sideline, and is a willing guy to go
Speaker 1: after the posing running back. Davandre Campbell's a difference maker
Speaker 1: right now. And for him to be able to give
Speaker 1: this contribution after being here for basically three o t
Speaker 1: A practices at the end of the off season program
Speaker 1: unbelievable what he's been able to add to this defense. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you saw. I believe it was.
Speaker 1: Believe it was a one on one interview that he
Speaker 1: did within the last couple of weeks with Larry McCarron,
Speaker 1: and there was a line from Campbell that really stood
Speaker 1: out where he basically said you know where I've been before,
Speaker 1: I've always been the robin to somebody's batman, you know,
Speaker 1: And well, this guy is batman on this Packers defense.
Speaker 1: I mean he is in the middle of everything. He's
Speaker 1: wearing the communication helmet, he is um, he is making
Speaker 1: plays against the run and the pass on a regular basis.
Speaker 1: He's just a presence in the middle of the field
Speaker 1: every time he is out there. And he did leave
Speaker 1: the game in Cincinnati briefly. Fortunately then was able to
Speaker 1: come back and it was not a it was not
Speaker 1: a game ending injury. Um, you can't you can't help
Speaker 1: but be impressed. I mean the whole for For as
Speaker 1: much as the salary cap crunch, you know, had an
Speaker 1: impact on the Packers and how they were putting together
Speaker 1: their roster, this is one of the benefits of it
Speaker 1: because because this guy couldn't get the type of contract
Speaker 1: he was looking for, he waits until the middle of June,
Speaker 1: and the Packers are the one out there making him
Speaker 1: an offer. So he takes it and comes in and
Speaker 1: he's he's completely changed the landscape of how this defense
Speaker 1: looks now. The way things the way things unfolded. The
Speaker 1: play at the end of the first half was extremely unfortunate.
Speaker 1: There was a big miscommunication on defense with regard to
Speaker 1: the front and the pass rush. And even with all that,
Speaker 1: Darnell Savage still made an incredibly athletic play to where
Speaker 1: he was in position to bat that pass down and
Speaker 1: and prevent uh prevent that disaster from happening. But the
Speaker 1: Bengals get the seventy yard touchdown. Other the other than
Speaker 1: that one play, the defense did exactly what it needed
Speaker 1: to in this game West in terms of preventing the
Speaker 1: explosive plays. I had talked about that last week with
Speaker 1: this Bengals offense, don't let them get the big chunks
Speaker 1: of yardage, and the Packers didn't. The Packers didn't allow that.
Speaker 1: Eric Stokes had a really solid game. Kevin King played
Speaker 1: a solid game until he went out with an injury.
Speaker 1: Apparently was was playing with one arm essentially for a
Speaker 1: while due to a shoulder injury. According to mattel Fleur,
Speaker 1: you know, we mentioned Campbell, the road to the road,
Speaker 1: the rotating players on the defensive front, But then it's
Speaker 1: if this defense starts getting a stop, even just one
Speaker 1: red zone, stop a game if you can, if you
Speaker 1: can get to that point, everything is gonna is gonna
Speaker 1: it's gonna take another step and things are gonna start
Speaker 1: to look different. This defense hasn't had any red zone
Speaker 1: stops yet this year. That's what they have to work on,
Speaker 1: because if you're not going to give up the explosive plays,
Speaker 1: you know that whole bend but don't but don't break
Speaker 1: kind of thing, you start forcing field goals at the
Speaker 1: fifteen yard line, at the eight yard line, everything everything
Speaker 1: else statistically, statistically, with the defense starts to come around,
Speaker 1: that's the last, the last piece in my mind that
Speaker 1: they need to put together, other than obviously getting healthy
Speaker 1: and hopefully getting some of these guys back. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: such a cat and most game because you don't want
Speaker 1: to be blitzing in those situations a lot once you
Speaker 1: get into the inside the twenty, because you want to
Speaker 1: have your full complement of safety's, cornerbacks and obviously linebackers
Speaker 1: to be able to cover the space because you're covering
Speaker 1: less field, so you're able to kind of be able to,
Speaker 1: you know, manage that space, but you have to be
Speaker 1: able to find ways to get pressure. Um this game, Yeah,
Speaker 1: just some underneath passes that kind of burnt them and
Speaker 1: then they were able to get in some really advantageous
Speaker 1: goal to goals situations inside the five. Have to find
Speaker 1: answers for that. But to get back to the play
Speaker 1: to chase, obviously there was some some miskey and communication
Speaker 1: there upfront. Guys pretty much other than Kenny Clark, it
Speaker 1: looked like everybody just starts spying Burrow like it wasn't
Speaker 1: like guys pulled off. But I said this too, when
Speaker 1: Savage came down and made that tackle on Burrow that
Speaker 1: ended up being able to force a you know, a
Speaker 1: punt I believe, or was that on fourth down? That
Speaker 1: was whatever it was. Yeah, the way he's playing with
Speaker 1: his speed this season is what is impressing me the most.
Speaker 1: Mike Darnel Savage was the highest drafted defensive back in
Speaker 1: two thousand, not the highest drafted safety, highest drafted defensive back.
Speaker 1: This is a guy that climbed the polls, climbed the
Speaker 1: rankings in the pre draft process after he ran a
Speaker 1: four three six at the combine four three six at
Speaker 1: the safety position. With the way that he has ability
Speaker 1: to hit and to play the ball, that's golden. And
Speaker 1: he said it after the game, those type of plays
Speaker 1: are gonna end up being interceptions for him as he learns,
Speaker 1: as he develops, he's gonna want that one back. But
Speaker 1: the fact that he even got close to making that
Speaker 1: play on what was really a broken play for the defense. Yeah,
Speaker 1: incredibly athletic play by him, Incredibly athletic play. And Chase,
Speaker 1: you know, is just a different type of receiver as
Speaker 1: we know. So you have to live and learn overall.
Speaker 1: Those are going to be kind of the free plays.
Speaker 1: They're going to happen every once in a while. You
Speaker 1: just have to find a way to manage. It's the
Speaker 1: red zone defense that if the Packers can clamp that down,
Speaker 1: if they can get their gold Song packages going, that's
Speaker 1: really the last piece I think. Otherwise they've overcome the injuries,
Speaker 1: they found ways to take away the ball. This is
Speaker 1: the fourth straight game the Packers generated takeaway defensively, first
Speaker 1: time that's happened since two thousand seventeen. Yeah, speaking of safeties,
Speaker 1: heck of an interception by Adrian Amos there on the
Speaker 1: opening drive of the third quarter, when because of the
Speaker 1: touchdown late in the second quarter, the Bengals had a
Speaker 1: chance to take the lead. Amos takes it away with
Speaker 1: a great pick and then you know, Devandre Campbell doing
Speaker 1: his job in the overtime to be able to get
Speaker 1: that interception, in which a lot of cases that's the
Speaker 1: end of the ball game there. The defense is doing
Speaker 1: what they have to do, and the hope is you
Speaker 1: stem this tide. You're able to maybe get back Jay
Speaker 1: are here in a couple of weeks, knock on wood,
Speaker 1: depending on how things heal with the shoulder. This is
Speaker 1: this is a huge stretch for them, and those safeties
Speaker 1: Mike Amos and Savage their pivotal right now because if
Speaker 1: you're gonna end up, you know, we'll see what happens
Speaker 1: with Kevin King. You gotta go at least two more
Speaker 1: games without Jaire Alexander, possibly more. Those safety's man are
Speaker 1: going to really be the catalyst here for the secondary
Speaker 1: if they got to go with all their two big guys, Yeah,
Speaker 1: no question about it. Well, it is Packers Bears week.
Speaker 1: It will be first place in the NFC North on
Speaker 1: the line, and we will definitely get to all of
Speaker 1: that in our next episode, but we do have to go.
Speaker 1: We'll call it a wrap on this edition of Packers
Speaker 1: on Script and be sure to follow all of our
Speaker 1: coverage of the team We've got everything for you on
Speaker 1: packers dot com. For West, I'm Mike. Thank you for
Speaker 1: tuning in, everybody. We'll see you next time. Yeah,