Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spoffer, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my trusted colleague Weston Hodkoitz. We're coming to you
Speaker 1: hear from our studios at Lambeufield West. A lot of
Speaker 1: ground to cover on today's show. A twenty three to
Speaker 1: twenty victory over the Chargers posted by the Green Bay
Speaker 1: Packers on Sunday at lambeau Field, A game coming up
Speaker 1: right around forty eight hours, I guess from the time
Speaker 1: we're taping this episode Packers and Lions. Packers and Lions
Speaker 1: will square off on Thanksgiving at Ford Field, so we'll
Speaker 1: try to both review and preview. Biggest statistic, of course,
Speaker 1: from the victory over the Chargers Jordan Love three hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty two passing yards with two touchdowns and the
Speaker 1: Packers first three hundred yard passing game since December of
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one and first one for first one in
Speaker 1: Jordan Love's career. And it was great to see the
Speaker 1: offense build on four quarters of production in Pittsburgh, even
Speaker 1: though it didn't produce as many points as you would
Speaker 1: have hoped. With another four quarters of production against the Chargers,
Speaker 1: even though again not as many points as you would
Speaker 1: have hoped, but two days too, I'm sorry, two games
Speaker 1: in a row. The Packers offense has been a threat
Speaker 1: for four quarters and not gone into some kind of
Speaker 1: a shutdown mode like we had seen earlier in the season.
Speaker 2: That was my biggest takeaway from this one, as the
Speaker 2: Green Bay Packers found a way to win in the
Speaker 2: fourth quarter, and they didn't just do it because they
Speaker 2: ended up having the offense just you know, ouch, you know,
Speaker 2: beating out the you know, kind of a shootout, I
Speaker 2: should say. With the LA Chargers, the defense stepped up,
Speaker 2: got a timely stop, got a takeaway, and then Kenny
Speaker 2: Clark's first batted pass in four years. Could not have
Speaker 2: come at a better time for the Packers seal that victory.
Speaker 2: But ultimately, Mike, you can talk about red zone defense,
Speaker 2: you can talk about, you know, the amount of young
Speaker 2: players that stepped up in this thing. For me, it
Speaker 2: came back to Jordan Love because I thought when the
Speaker 2: Packers needed him to be his best, he was. And
Speaker 2: you know, there were some moments there got a little tight,
Speaker 2: a couple third and lungs at some inopportune times. You're
Speaker 2: really sure which way it was going to go, but yep,
Speaker 2: Love kept his composure through the ball with confidence, trusted
Speaker 2: his receivers, and I'll tell you what if you were
Speaker 2: looking for a play, a go ahead score, that was
Speaker 2: going to indicate the little progressions and where Green Bay
Speaker 2: was working to and what they need to overcome. Romeo
Speaker 2: Dobs showing extremely good not only timing with the high
Speaker 2: point of the ball, but also pulling that down aggressively physically,
Speaker 2: and the amount of celebration and jubilation that was shared
Speaker 2: with that team afterwards. Jordan Love played the way he
Speaker 2: needed to play, protected the football, and the green Bay
Speaker 2: Packers won a much need a football game.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the Packers offense had been in that situation so
Speaker 1: many times over the last couple of months. You have
Speaker 1: the ball late in the fourth quarter, you're down by
Speaker 1: one score, you need a score. Most of the time
Speaker 1: it has been needing a touchdown for various circumstances. And
Speaker 1: this time they needed a touchdown again and they got
Speaker 1: it with really what turned into three big plays. There
Speaker 1: was the third and twenty with the defensive pass interference
Speaker 1: that got the drive started. That was an attempted pass
Speaker 1: to Don Tavian Wicks over the middle. Then Love went
Speaker 1: back to Wicks again. He bounces off a tackler, turns
Speaker 1: a short pass into a thirty five yard gain, and
Speaker 1: then the twenty four yard are over the top to
Speaker 1: Romeo Dobbs. When Love kind of hustled up the offense
Speaker 1: and noticed that the Chargers were a little discombobulated on defense,
Speaker 1: He's like, hey, let's snap the ball and go, and
Speaker 1: Romeo was one on one on the outside. He put
Speaker 1: it up there with a chance for the go ahead
Speaker 1: touchdown and the Packers got it. The other thing that
Speaker 1: I really liked, and to me, when you're looking for
Speaker 1: those little things, because we all see the big things,
Speaker 1: when you're looking for those little things that show the
Speaker 1: progress of the offense and where things are now compared
Speaker 1: to a couple of months ago, I will I will
Speaker 1: point to something that was learned after the game in
Speaker 1: the postgame press conferences, and I wrote about it in
Speaker 1: my Rapid Reaction piece after the game that's on the
Speaker 1: website off folks want to check it out. Jordan Love
Speaker 1: offered up that in the third quarter, the touchdown pastor
Speaker 1: Christian Watson in the back corner of the end zone
Speaker 1: was not a play that was in the game plan.
Speaker 1: He said, you know, he sort of said, I think
Speaker 1: coach Lafleur drew that one up on the sideline. So
Speaker 1: then I asked Matt Lafleur when he came into the
Speaker 1: podium afterwards, I followed up on that and said, okay,
Speaker 1: so this is what Jordan said. He said, you drew
Speaker 1: the play up on the sideline. Lafleur explained even further
Speaker 1: that it was actually tight Ends coach John Dunn, who
Speaker 1: had come up with the idea. He and Lafleur kind
Speaker 1: of collaborated on it, presumably over the headset or whatever,
Speaker 1: but it was on that drive there was a defensive
Speaker 1: look they had seen from the Chargers earlier in the drive.
Speaker 1: John Dunn came up with an idea, a route idea
Speaker 1: to possibly exploit that. So they talked about it during
Speaker 1: the drive and then when the Packers got down into
Speaker 1: the red zone, Lafleur dialed it up, called the play,
Speaker 1: and Love and Watson, the route runners, everybody executed it
Speaker 1: perfectly for a twelve yard touchdown touchdown pass. The fact
Speaker 1: that they could do that in an important situation it
Speaker 1: was not something in the game plan. It wasn't repped
Speaker 1: during the week. It was an improv move based on
Speaker 1: something they thought they could exploit with the defense. It
Speaker 1: gets thrown in there into a red zone situation and
Speaker 1: it was executed perfectly. The route was there, the throw
Speaker 1: was right on target, and the Packers get a touchdown
Speaker 1: in the red zone. To me, that one play was
Speaker 1: an incredible sign of progress because I don't think if
Speaker 1: they're trying to collaborate on the headsets and come up
Speaker 1: with something on the sideline for a red zone play
Speaker 1: for a touchdown back in September or October, that that's
Speaker 1: going to work, that the Packers are going to get
Speaker 1: a score there. They got one. It was a big
Speaker 1: score at the time. It gave the Packers the lead
Speaker 1: at the time in the third quarter, and I just
Speaker 1: I thought that hearing about that and learning about it,
Speaker 1: about that and how that went down, that really opened
Speaker 1: my eyes.
Speaker 2: Well, and everybody wants to just look at statistics and
Speaker 2: they want to look at you know this, that and
Speaker 2: the other to judge, Hey, like, is Jordan love the guy?
Speaker 2: Is he going to be the franchise quarterback? I think
Speaker 2: that it's moments like that that really are the true
Speaker 2: test of a quarterback and being able to play the
Speaker 2: game at the second level. And you know, that's one
Speaker 2: thing we've learned this year with Jordan love and intention,
Speaker 2: in addition to just his intelligence at football IQ, the
Speaker 2: fact that you know he is thinking about the game
Speaker 2: on that next level. He's not just being given the
Speaker 2: play call and trying to execute it. He's trying to
Speaker 2: figure out, Okay, what can I do to manipulate the defense.
Speaker 2: That's three years of growing, That's three years of working
Speaker 2: with Aaron Rodgers. That's three years of being in Matt
Speaker 2: Lafuur system and understanding what his coach wants from him,
Speaker 2: and you're able to take chances like that and produce.
Speaker 2: And then lastly, I just want to mention this too
Speaker 2: for these young receivers. There's a quote that Jaden Reid
Speaker 2: gave to Pete Doherty from the pres Gazette after the game,
Speaker 2: which I thought was a really huge highlight of how
Speaker 2: far this receiving corp has come in the last two months.
Speaker 2: Guy like Reid who's now been nominated back to back
Speaker 2: weeks for the NFL Rookie of the Week. Yeah, fourth
Speaker 2: guy in franchise history, according to Elias that has had
Speaker 2: forty five receiving yards and forty five rushing yards in
Speaker 2: a single game in franchise history, with that thirty two
Speaker 2: yard touchdown end around helping boost his rushing numbers. But
Speaker 2: he said, I mean two months later, three months into
Speaker 2: the season. There's things he's doing out there now that
Speaker 2: he doesn't think he would be able to do the
Speaker 2: first few weeks. The way he's thinking of the game,
Speaker 2: the speed at which he plays, but then also mentally
Speaker 2: processing what's happening around him. And you're seeing that with him,
Speaker 2: You're seeing with Don Tavian Wicks, You're seeing it with
Speaker 2: Tucker Craft.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And you know, depending on what happens this week with
Speaker 2: the injured report, Packers might need a whole lot more
Speaker 2: of Tucker Craft in this game against the Lions. So
Speaker 2: that's what you and I Mike talked about from week one.
Speaker 2: You have eighteen weeks, four and a half months until
Speaker 2: the end of the season. What kind of progress do
Speaker 2: you see with these young offensive playmakers. I think you're
Speaker 2: seeing it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I would agree with you, and I want to
Speaker 1: get to what's going on with the injuries and whatnot
Speaker 1: heading into Detroit. We'll get to that in a minute.
Speaker 1: I just want to follow up with regard to the
Speaker 1: defense in this game against the Chargers. Bottom line is
Speaker 1: the defense caught a few breaks here because the Chargers
Speaker 1: dropped some passes that would have been significant plays. Donald
Speaker 1: Parham drops the fourth down play on the Chargers opening possession,
Speaker 1: so that drive gets killed. Keenan Allen, who we talked
Speaker 1: about last week, I wrote a bottom last week. He's
Speaker 1: in the ten thousand yard club. He dropped two passes
Speaker 1: near the goal line that both would have been at
Speaker 1: a minimum first and goal if not touchdowns. And then
Speaker 1: at the end of the game, Quinton Johnston drops I
Speaker 1: mean an absolute seed of a throw by Justin Herbert,
Speaker 1: I mean Mike Goodness puts it right on the money
Speaker 1: along the Packers' sideline there, and Quinton Johnston drops it.
Speaker 1: Would have put the Chargers at a minimum in game
Speaker 1: tying field goal range in the final thirty seconds of
Speaker 1: the ballgame, if not, possibly if he's able to catch
Speaker 1: it and stay in bounds, maybe he even scores on it.
Speaker 1: So the Packers caught some breaks there, and I don't
Speaker 1: want to minimize those because this game definitely could have
Speaker 1: gone the other way. But I'll say this as well,
Speaker 1: going up against Justin Herbert, who came as advertised, the
Speaker 1: first time either one of us got to see him
Speaker 1: live and in person, and he was impressive and his
Speaker 1: arm is really something. But at this stage of the season,
Speaker 1: the plan, the plan was the Packers' top four cornerbacks
Speaker 1: were going to be JR Alexander Rousoul, Douglas, keishn Nixon,
Speaker 1: Eric Stokes. In your top two safeties would be Darnell
Speaker 1: Savage and Rudy Ford. So that's your dime defense with
Speaker 1: six defensive backs. One of those guys, only one was
Speaker 1: on the field on Sunday against Justin Herbert. The Packers
Speaker 1: needed Carrington Valentine. They needed Corey Ballentine. They needed Anthony
Speaker 1: Johnson Junior, the rookie safety. They needed Jonathan Owens at safety.
Speaker 1: Nixon was out there and he's gotten it out on
Speaker 1: a bad ankle because he got hurt early in the game.
Speaker 1: So as much as as much as the Chargers dropped
Speaker 1: passes certainly had a big impact on this game. I
Speaker 1: thought essentially a makeshift secondary of sorts for the Packers.
Speaker 1: Based on what the plans were going going along this season.
Speaker 1: I thought they didn't. They didn't make things easy for Herbert.
Speaker 1: I guess he had to make some darn good throws
Speaker 1: and he did. It's just that his receivers kind of
Speaker 1: let him down.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and Benny Sap, the third who is promoted from
Speaker 2: the practice squad, was the dime cornerback.
Speaker 1: That's right, that's right.
Speaker 2: It just again shows you just how how down to
Speaker 2: the felt the Packers were with some of these secondary situations.
Speaker 2: But a couple things to touch on with this game.
Speaker 2: First and foremost, just making a quick comment about the Chargers.
Speaker 2: I don't want to hear anymore bullpoo. I'm not gonna
Speaker 2: say bull crap, although I just did bullpoo about Justin
Speaker 2: Herbert and his quarterback record and all these things, winning
Speaker 2: loss record. That guy can play.
Speaker 1: That dude, I'm telling you, if you're I mean, I know,
Speaker 1: the Chargers have a lot of Chargers have a lot
Speaker 1: of stuff to figure out, like that's that's obvious. But man,
Speaker 1: if you if you are a Chargers fan, you are
Speaker 1: feeling darn good about the guy who is taking snaps
Speaker 1: for your offense.
Speaker 2: It's the rare exception. You don't see this much in
Speaker 2: the NFL anymore, where the team has the quarterback situation
Speaker 2: figured out, and they just don't have enough around him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they can't. They can't. They can't get the rest
Speaker 1: of some of that injuries. The guy ends up the
Speaker 1: leading rusher in the game for teams because of his.
Speaker 2: Scram Funny some people were ripping about that on inbox, like,
Speaker 2: how did they let Justin Herbert run from us? Justin
Speaker 2: Herbert can run. Yeah, He's always been able to run.
Speaker 1: Did anybody watch the Rose Bowl in Wisconsin? I mean
Speaker 1: the guy won the game with his legs, not his arm.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's that dangerous.
Speaker 2: He has a million dollar arm and he has Austin
Speaker 2: Eckler in the backfield. He doesn't have to run very often,
Speaker 2: but they took advantage of it this game. Keenan Allen
Speaker 2: had one of the most quiet one hundred yard, one
Speaker 2: hundred and sixteen yard one hundred catch excuse me, ten
Speaker 2: catches one hundred and sixteen yards in a touchdown games
Speaker 2: you're ever going to see. But I thought you made
Speaker 2: a really good point at the end of your statement there.
Speaker 2: The Packers didn't make it easy for them. They had
Speaker 2: to make the most of the opportunities that they were given.
Speaker 2: And there weren't a lot of breakdowns that just led
Speaker 2: to guys being able to just be wide open. Fortunately,
Speaker 2: when Parham was he dropped it.
Speaker 1: But the one, I mean, the one really big, what
Speaker 1: turned out to be the big negative play for the
Speaker 1: defense was the fifty one yard touchdown to the backup
Speaker 1: tight end Smart where he broke free and then Jonathan
Speaker 1: Owens missed the tackle and and you know that ends
Speaker 1: up rupturing into a fifty yard touchdown, and you know
Speaker 1: you kind of sigh and go, oh, you know that
Speaker 1: that shouldn't have happened. But but you know, I give
Speaker 1: I give the guys. I give the guys in the
Speaker 1: Packers secondary credit for battling. I mean, yeah, there were
Speaker 1: a couple of flags. You know, Keishaan got flagged for
Speaker 1: a you know, on a third down, but you know
Speaker 1: he's trying to cover Keenan Allen, you know, in the
Speaker 1: slot and and trying to blanket him as best he can.
Speaker 1: Close call, tough call, gives them a free first down,
Speaker 1: you know, But but you just you line up and
Speaker 1: keep fighting and keep playing. And that's what these guys
Speaker 1: did and h and as it turned out, fortunately Johnson
Speaker 1: dropped the Johnston dropped the deep ball at the end.
Speaker 1: He was a guy who really hadn't done much at all,
Speaker 1: and then he's got He ends up being the guy
Speaker 1: with the chance to make the big play at the
Speaker 1: end of the game, and he doesn't make it.
Speaker 2: And that really is the product there of being down
Speaker 2: Mike Williams and Josh Palmer and kind of having to
Speaker 2: work down your depth trot a little bit. But let's
Speaker 2: get back to what ultimately is the reason why the
Speaker 2: Packers won this game. It came down to mistakes. And
Speaker 2: Kenny Clark said this in the locker room afterwards when
Speaker 2: I was talking with him and he was part of
Speaker 2: our huddle. The Packers knew going into this thing this
Speaker 2: was going to be incumbent on them to win the
Speaker 2: turnover battle. This was not going to be a team
Speaker 2: that you could play in have take not get takeaways
Speaker 2: and lose the turnover margin expect to win. It just
Speaker 2: doesn't happen. If you look at what they've done this season,
Speaker 2: the Chargers are going to make life very difficult on you.
Speaker 2: So what happens Austin Eckler fumbles, trips, fumbles, and as
Speaker 2: Kenny was explaining afterwards, the thing is something they preach
Speaker 2: all the time. They rep it every single week when
Speaker 2: ball carriers are trying to get back to their feet.
Speaker 2: If you ever wanted to look for the moment which
Speaker 2: ball security is the last thing on their minds when
Speaker 2: they're trying to stumble back to their feet, That's exactly
Speaker 2: what happened with Eckler on that play. Kenny punches the
Speaker 2: ball out. Rashan Gary gets the sack that is kind
Speaker 2: of generated by Kenny Clark's pressure. When the game was
Speaker 2: on the line late Packers had a little bit of
Speaker 2: a mental lapse there where Shawn gets busted there for
Speaker 2: the off sides on fourth and six makes it a
Speaker 2: fourth and two, although at that point of the game
Speaker 2: they weren't gonna run anyway, so it didn't matter. But
Speaker 2: Kenny puts his hand up and he gets the batted ball.
Speaker 2: That fourth quarter, with what the defense did, it allowed
Speaker 2: them to overcome you know, a big run from Austin Eckler,
Speaker 2: a big scramble or two from Herbert keenan Allen's production,
Speaker 2: Smart's touchdown because they came back and they won that
Speaker 2: turnover margin in the end.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, absolutely, Well, I'll take care of some sponsor
Speaker 1: business here West, and then we will move on to
Speaker 1: the Lions. Serious XMNFL Radio delivers hard hitting analysis and
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Speaker 1: Cousin Subs fifty years of better. All Right. The Detroit Lions,
Speaker 1: as they do traditionally hosting the early Thanksgiving game, the
Speaker 1: first of the Thanksgiving triple header. The Packers are the
Speaker 1: visitors this year. And I tell you what, West, and
Speaker 1: this is what I said when we did our three
Speaker 1: Things video for this week, which this week's Three Things
Speaker 1: video is on Monday because instead of in the middle
Speaker 1: of the week because the game is on Thursday. We're
Speaker 1: all adjusting. But all you have to do to see
Speaker 1: how tough the Lions are to beat is look at
Speaker 1: these last two games. They gave up thirty eight points
Speaker 1: to the LA Chargers. Justin Herbert directed five consecutive touchdown drives,
Speaker 1: and yet the Lions still wouldn't be beat. Then they
Speaker 1: come home against the Chicago Bears. Jared Goff throws three interceptions,
Speaker 1: the Bears get four takeaways in all end up plus
Speaker 1: three in the turnover margin, and the Bears have a
Speaker 1: twelve point lead with four minutes to go in Detroit
Speaker 1: against the division leaders, and yet the Lions would not
Speaker 1: be beat. This is a tough bunch. And I'm telling
Speaker 1: you the I expect the atmosphere at Ford Field on Thursday.
Speaker 1: I can't even think of the last time that the
Speaker 1: Lions and their fans would be looking this much forward
Speaker 1: to hosting a game on Thanksgiving. As to what's going
Speaker 1: on this year. The atmosphere in that place is going
Speaker 1: to be is going to be off the chart.
Speaker 2: So obviously, I just watched a few of the highlights
Speaker 2: from that Bears game. I didn't go back and watch
Speaker 2: it or anything, and we obviously were doing business of
Speaker 2: our own on Sunday. But you know what I took
Speaker 2: away as you're watching the final couple minutes of that game,
Speaker 2: what was the first principle that Dan Campbell wanted to
Speaker 2: ingrain and still in that football team. It was toughness, yeah,
Speaker 2: and it was it was the response to adversity, and
Speaker 2: this was as good of an example as you're gonna find.
Speaker 2: I'm not worried about Jared Goff. Jared Goff, this is
Speaker 2: gonna happen. He's had three interception games before in his career.
Speaker 2: He's gonna have Shoot. He started the game against Green
Speaker 2: Bay with an interception right to Rudy Ford. But you
Speaker 2: don't worry about how he's gonna bounce back. But to
Speaker 2: see the way Jamior Gibbs, that young defense, Aiden Hutchinson,
Speaker 2: they have a lot of mental toughness and one of
Speaker 2: the things that I think Detroit had been zapped up
Speaker 2: for many years was confidence, talent, and toughness. And this
Speaker 2: is not going to be a cakewalk by any means,
Speaker 2: But I will say this, I think they're going to
Speaker 2: see a much different Packers team this second time around
Speaker 2: than they did the first time.
Speaker 1: I agree, I would be surprised.
Speaker 2: You never can say never, but I'd be surprised if
Speaker 2: green Bay fell into another seventeen zero hole or something
Speaker 2: like that that they're trying to dig out of. But
Speaker 2: for the Lions against that opponent to be able to
Speaker 2: rally continue their winning streak against the NFC North while
Speaker 2: continuing this remarkable losing streak that the Bears are on.
Speaker 2: I just thought they showed a lot of grit and
Speaker 2: those are the type of things that for many years,
Speaker 2: when the lines were the pushovers, that that was not present.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's interesting. It's interesting what's going on in
Speaker 1: Detroit because the while the fan base, While the fan
Speaker 1: base there is fired up about everything that's going on
Speaker 1: and rightly so, there's also there's also the lingering impatience
Speaker 1: in that fan base because Jared Goff was getting booed. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, your team is seven and two and your
Speaker 1: quarterbacks having a rough day and he's you know, he's
Speaker 1: thrown the three interceptions. A seven and two team in
Speaker 1: first place. Their guy was getting booed by the home
Speaker 1: fans because that impatience that you know, that that worry
Speaker 1: that you know, is there is this still maybe somehow
Speaker 1: the same old Lions that's that's still there. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: it came out. It came out against the Bears when
Speaker 1: the Lions had their backs against the wall and the
Speaker 1: fans were really nervous about that game. But you know,
Speaker 1: it's credit.
Speaker 2: You know what I liked it about what I likened
Speaker 2: it to though. It's when you've had continuous car trouble
Speaker 2: and the check engine like comes on again. Yeah, you're
Speaker 2: immediately you may be a little low on like anti freeze.
Speaker 2: You're thinking the whole engines done. I mean seriously, though,
Speaker 2: the Lions. This is the first time like since like
Speaker 2: the early sixties. The Lions are eight and two.
Speaker 1: Yeah, first the first time since the Fords have owned
Speaker 1: the team, and they have owned the team for roughly
Speaker 1: sixty years.
Speaker 2: And you know what happened in nineteen sixty two. They
Speaker 2: missed the freaking playoffs that year when they started eight
Speaker 2: and two. Nowdy, they weren't as many playoff spots. They
Speaker 2: still won eleven games with theydn't make the Plus, this
Speaker 2: fan base has been beaten into the ground over and
Speaker 2: over and over again. I'm usually not one for booing
Speaker 2: your team ever, but I like that you use the
Speaker 2: word patients because they have been patient. But boy, I'll
Speaker 2: tell you what now, man, they want to eat?
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, Well, I want to get your thoughts on
Speaker 1: what you think the Packers keys to victory are in
Speaker 1: this game for me. For me, I look at three
Speaker 1: things that are at the top of my there's a
Speaker 1: long list that the Packers need to execute to pull
Speaker 1: off in order to get this victory. But the three
Speaker 1: at the top of my list. Number one is to
Speaker 1: stop the run. Number two is to somehow contain Aiden Hutchinson.
Speaker 1: And the reason those are the top the two things
Speaker 1: at the top of my list is because those are
Speaker 1: the two things I believe were the biggest reason, the
Speaker 1: two biggest things the Packers couldn't do the first time
Speaker 1: they faced the Lions on that Thursday night game back
Speaker 1: in September. The Lions had that ended up with the
Speaker 1: two hundred plus yards rushing and Aiden Hutchinson just set
Speaker 1: the tone defensively, allowing that Lion's defensive front to do
Speaker 1: whatever it wanted to do because the Packers didn't have
Speaker 1: an answer for Hutchinson. So those are the two things
Speaker 1: at the top of my list. And then the other
Speaker 1: thing was in reference to something I just mentioned. Packers
Speaker 1: are gonna have to handle the environment in this game,
Speaker 1: because the Packers have gone on the road, you know,
Speaker 1: to Atlanta and to Vegas and Denver, and there have
Speaker 1: been there's been a decent contingent of Packers fans. It's
Speaker 1: you know, hasn't really been a quote unquote true road
Speaker 1: game anywhere that the Packers have been this year. Quite frankly,
Speaker 1: even even Week one, we've certainly seen games at Soldier
Speaker 1: Field with more Packers fans than there were in Week one.
Speaker 1: But this one Thanksgiving in Detroit with the Lions in
Speaker 1: first place playing the Packers, I don't think there's gonna
Speaker 1: be a lot of Green Bay fans there. And this
Speaker 1: is gonna this is going to be an environment where
Speaker 1: the crowd is going to have an influence on things
Speaker 1: and the Packers are gonna have to handle, you know,
Speaker 1: the the momentum swings and what's gonna happen out there,
Speaker 1: because because this is gonna be a true road game.
Speaker 2: For I don't think Lions fans are as fair weather
Speaker 2: as the Bears in that that Bears atmosphere in the
Speaker 2: first quarter was fantastic. Yeah, one, it was very difficult. Unfortunately,
Speaker 2: their team got off to a really slow start and
Speaker 2: everybody bailed. They were all heading for the train after
Speaker 2: like the halftime.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they wanted to grab their hot dog and go home.
Speaker 2: Go home. I don't think that's gonna happen with the Lions.
Speaker 2: But that being said, I think there's a lot of Green.
Speaker 2: They can learn from the way they started that game
Speaker 2: against the Bears, and they really need to take that
Speaker 2: same blueprint that the Lions used against them at Lambefield
Speaker 2: and try to turn it back against them. The Bears
Speaker 2: got three interceptions of Jared Goff. They got three freaking
Speaker 2: points out of it. They punted twice, No, they punted
Speaker 2: once and then fumbled the next one. Then they finally
Speaker 2: got a Santos field goal.
Speaker 1: They got a fumble recovery off of a I believe
Speaker 1: a kickoff returner or a punt return as well. There
Speaker 1: was a turnover on special teams, four takeaways in all
Speaker 1: by the Bears. They were plus three in the game,
Speaker 1: and they still couldn't figure out a way to win it.
Speaker 2: Because they didn't get the points. Yea, the Packers have
Speaker 2: to get the points. Even in that game against the Lions,
Speaker 2: weren't able to get all the points from that turnover
Speaker 2: with Rudy, I just look at this game in terms
Speaker 2: of what you said, doing everything, basically taking all the
Speaker 2: lessons you learned in that first game against the Lions
Speaker 2: in implementing them. You have to stop the run. The
Speaker 2: Packers cannot give up two hundred rushing yards in this game,
Speaker 2: especially with the way that Jamior Gibbs is running. Now,
Speaker 2: that first game, it was all the.
Speaker 1: Dyeam, it was all Montgomery.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you think David Montgomer's getting thirty two carries in
Speaker 2: this game? Ah nah, I mean like Jamior Gibbs is
Speaker 2: going to give you fits too, Sam Laporta, I'm and
Speaker 2: Ross Saint Brown has been a constant thorn in the
Speaker 2: Packer's side. We'll see what happens here with Jai r
Speaker 2: If he potentially could be back for this one, that
Speaker 2: would be an amazing, amazing addition for this team. But
Speaker 2: I'll tell you what, Mike, when you're this beat up
Speaker 2: and you're playing on a short week, it was one
Speaker 2: of my points I made an inbox sometimes you just
Speaker 2: got to run the football. Just roll the football out
Speaker 2: there and see what happens. Packers will have a plan.
Speaker 2: It'll be a good plan. But there's not a lot
Speaker 2: of rhyme or reason to these Thursday games, especially Thursday
Speaker 2: morning game.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so you gotta you just see you're right, recheck
Speaker 1: the football, you're right. You got to you gotta show
Speaker 1: up and play. And with regard to the Packers injury, situation.
Speaker 1: They're hoping, you know, maybe you can get jy R.
Speaker 1: Alexander back. He ended up missing the Chargers game. You
Speaker 1: saw two running backs go down, Aaron Jones Emmanuel Wilson
Speaker 1: both go down with injuries against the Chargers. The good
Speaker 1: news is it sounds like at least the preliminary thoughts
Speaker 1: were that Aaron Jones did not suffer a significant injury.
Speaker 1: But I certainly don't expect to see him suiting up
Speaker 1: on Thursday in Detroit after what happened with his knee.
Speaker 1: Emmanuel Wilson, we haven't at this point, we haven't really
Speaker 1: heard many updates yet, but he injured his shoulder. So
Speaker 1: the Packers down to just aj Dillon and now have
Speaker 1: they've signed Patrick Taylor. They brought him back for running
Speaker 1: back depth, and also brought back James Robinson on the
Speaker 1: practice squad who had spent some time on the practice
Speaker 1: squad earlier this season. So the Packers trying to fortify
Speaker 1: the running back situation due to the injuries. But other
Speaker 1: stuff cropped up in the Chargers game too, Dantavian Wix
Speaker 1: being evaluated for a concussion. I saw Luke Muskrave popped
Speaker 1: up on the injury abdomen. The Packers' list of injuries
Speaker 1: here is long, and there's you know, quite frankly, it
Speaker 1: will in a lot of ways probably be right up
Speaker 1: until ninety minutes before kickoff when that inactive list gets
Speaker 1: turned in that we'll find out exactly who's going to
Speaker 1: be available for Green Bay. Because you're not making those
Speaker 1: decisions on a Tuesday after you played on Sunday. You're
Speaker 1: gonna give these guys you know, up until you know,
Speaker 1: as long as you can to say hey, can you
Speaker 1: suit up or not? And then the Packers are gonna
Speaker 1: roll with what they've got.
Speaker 2: I will be very curious to see what that elevation
Speaker 2: list looks like on Wednesday. Though. Now if you elevate
Speaker 2: a guy doesn't mean you have to play them. You
Speaker 2: can still have them in active. Still uses their elevation,
Speaker 2: but you can have them in active. Yeah, I'll be
Speaker 2: curious see how many of those they use. You know,
Speaker 2: I wonder a guy like James Robinson they have another
Speaker 2: back on the practice squad. But one of the lines
Speaker 2: that really stood out to me from what Ben Sermon
Speaker 2: said before Robinson was released the first time the Packers
Speaker 2: running back coach Sermons was that he felt confident enough
Speaker 2: that if Robinson had to play in a game, he
Speaker 2: was where he needed to be to play. Guy's been here,
Speaker 2: done that thousand yard rusher in the National Football League.
Speaker 2: If Jones and Emanuel Wilson aren't there, they're going to
Speaker 2: need a third running back, especially considering Josiah Deguara, who
Speaker 2: Matt Lafleur pointed this out to Larry McCarron after the game.
Speaker 2: I didn't even think about this when the Packers. Everybody's thinking, oh,
Speaker 2: they're down to one running back when they lost Jones
Speaker 2: and Wilson. Well, Josiah Deguarre is their other like HVAC,
Speaker 2: like personal protector. If they would have needed another guy
Speaker 2: to be in the backfield and shotgun with Geordan Love
Speaker 2: on third down, right, they were really getting down that
Speaker 2: depth chart. So it's that sort of thing that Green
Speaker 2: Bay's probably need a third running back in this game
Speaker 2: as well. All that being said, one of the things
Speaker 2: that this team has done really well so far this
Speaker 2: season is guys stepping up in those moments. The only
Speaker 2: reason the Packers are where they are right now, and
Speaker 2: the fact that they have hope going into this game
Speaker 2: against the Lions, is the Anthony Johnson's, the Carrington Valentines,
Speaker 2: the Jonathan Ford or Jonathan Owens. Excuse me, guys that
Speaker 2: we're either starters in the league before or are just
Speaker 2: your typical seventh round rookies that are just looking for
Speaker 2: an opportunity. Those guys have been up for the challenge.
Speaker 1: Yeah. On the defensive side too, the Packers get Devondre
Speaker 1: Campbell back. He has a pretty good game, I thought,
Speaker 1: overall against the run versus the Chargers, but then he
Speaker 1: gets a next stinger and goes out, and now he's
Speaker 1: on the injury report. No idea exactly where that stands,
Speaker 1: if he's going to be available to play on a
Speaker 1: short week on Thursday, or if it's going to be
Speaker 1: Isaiah McDuffie again next to Kay Walker. The other thing too,
Speaker 1: I'll point out I didn't notice this until I watched
Speaker 1: the film and I did my what you might have
Speaker 1: missed with all the film clips on Kenny Clark this
Speaker 1: week from the Chargers game. So of course, the last
Speaker 1: play is the fourth and one batted pass by Clark.
Speaker 1: Isaiah McDuffie was all over the tight end like Herbert
Speaker 1: was going to try to squeeze that one in there.
Speaker 1: I don't know if that ball would have gotten in
Speaker 1: there or not, or if Herbert maybe was just gonna
Speaker 1: be looking for, you know, for a defensive pass interference
Speaker 1: or holding or something. McDuffie. McDuffie had the coverage on
Speaker 1: that fourth and one, And even if Clark doesn't doesn't
Speaker 1: bat that pass, I think there's a good chance that
Speaker 1: that passes incomplete. So again, another young guy who's filled
Speaker 1: in for Green Bay, and he might have to fill
Speaker 1: in again.
Speaker 2: On Thursday, we talked so much about how you neque
Speaker 2: cornerbacks in this league because of the nickel and the dime.
Speaker 2: My goodness, you need inside linebackers too.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you gotta have those guys that can cover tight ends.
Speaker 1: And with Sam Laporta on deck, the Packers are gonna
Speaker 1: Packers are gonna have to have a plan for a
Speaker 1: first round draft pick at tight end who's having as
Speaker 1: good a rookie season as any tight end has had
Speaker 1: that we've seen in a long time.
Speaker 2: Hey, let's have a little bit of good news. Darnell
Speaker 2: Savage desi to return off injured reserve. I don't know
Speaker 2: if the Greemit Packers would feel comfortable playing him without
Speaker 2: any practice whatsoever.
Speaker 1: Yeah, for the last month.
Speaker 2: But the fact that you do have that coming back,
Speaker 2: not only does that give you another option the secondary.
Speaker 2: You remember when he first got injured, Jonathan Owens was
Speaker 2: the one playing like dime cornerback. He is also one
Speaker 2: of the options is the slot corner too. So yeah,
Speaker 2: trying to find some options.
Speaker 1: There, all right, Well, with that, we will call it
Speaker 1: a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure
Speaker 1: to follow all of our coverage of the team and
Speaker 1: everything from Thursday's game against the Lions at Ford Field.
Speaker 1: We'll have it all for you on Packers dot com
Speaker 1: for Wes, I am Mike. Thank you for tuning in. Everybody,
Speaker 1: Happy Thanksgiving and we will see you next time.