WEBVTT - #747 Packers Unscripted: Thanksgiving turnaround 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:10.360 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:10.360 --> 0:00:13.840 Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spoffer, joined as always 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:16.600 by my trusted colleague Weston Hodkoitz. We're coming to you 0:00:16.640 --> 0:00:19.640 hear from our studios at Lambeufield West. A lot of 0:00:19.640 --> 0:00:22.240 ground to cover on today's show. A twenty three to 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:25.520 twenty victory over the Chargers posted by the Green Bay 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:29.040 Packers on Sunday at lambeau Field, A game coming up 0:00:30.280 --> 0:00:33.240 right around forty eight hours, I guess from the time 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:39.440 we're taping this episode Packers and Lions. Packers and Lions 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:43.120 will square off on Thanksgiving at Ford Field, so we'll 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:48.960 try to both review and preview. Biggest statistic, of course, 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:52.800 from the victory over the Chargers Jordan Love three hundred 0:00:52.840 --> 0:00:57.400 and twenty two passing yards with two touchdowns and the 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:01.760 Packers first three hundred yard passing game since December of 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:06.240 twenty twenty one and first one for first one in 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:09.640 Jordan Love's career. And it was great to see the 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:14.280 offense build on four quarters of production in Pittsburgh, even 0:01:14.319 --> 0:01:17.080 though it didn't produce as many points as you would 0:01:17.080 --> 0:01:20.400 have hoped. With another four quarters of production against the Chargers, 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:22.720 even though again not as many points as you would 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:25.600 have hoped, but two days too, I'm sorry, two games 0:01:25.600 --> 0:01:29.679 in a row. The Packers offense has been a threat 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:32.720 for four quarters and not gone into some kind of 0:01:32.720 --> 0:01:35.319 a shutdown mode like we had seen earlier in the season. 0:01:36.360 --> 0:01:38.280 That was my biggest takeaway from this one, as the 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:39.840 Green Bay Packers found a way to win in the 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:42.280 fourth quarter, and they didn't just do it because they 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:45.039 ended up having the offense just you know, ouch, you know, 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:47.840 beating out the you know, kind of a shootout, I 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:51.600 should say. With the LA Chargers, the defense stepped up, 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:54.720 got a timely stop, got a takeaway, and then Kenny 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:57.840 Clark's first batted pass in four years. Could not have 0:01:57.920 --> 0:02:01.120 come at a better time for the Packers seal that victory. 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:04.960 But ultimately, Mike, you can talk about red zone defense, 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:06.920 you can talk about, you know, the amount of young 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:09.600 players that stepped up in this thing. For me, it 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:13.400 came back to Jordan Love because I thought when the 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:16.720 Packers needed him to be his best, he was. And 0:02:17.040 --> 0:02:19.440 you know, there were some moments there got a little tight, 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:22.760 a couple third and lungs at some inopportune times. You're 0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:24.800 really sure which way it was going to go, but yep, 0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:29.280 Love kept his composure through the ball with confidence, trusted 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:32.799 his receivers, and I'll tell you what if you were 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:36.320 looking for a play, a go ahead score, that was 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:39.679 going to indicate the little progressions and where Green Bay 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:42.600 was working to and what they need to overcome. Romeo 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:45.680 Dobs showing extremely good not only timing with the high 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:49.720 point of the ball, but also pulling that down aggressively physically, 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:53.440 and the amount of celebration and jubilation that was shared 0:02:53.480 --> 0:02:57.080 with that team afterwards. Jordan Love played the way he 0:02:57.120 --> 0:02:59.160 needed to play, protected the football, and the green Bay 0:02:59.200 --> 0:03:00.880 Packers won a much need a football game. 0:03:01.040 --> 0:03:03.720 Yeah, the Packers offense had been in that situation so 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:05.840 many times over the last couple of months. You have 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:08.400 the ball late in the fourth quarter, you're down by 0:03:08.440 --> 0:03:10.920 one score, you need a score. Most of the time 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:14.360 it has been needing a touchdown for various circumstances. And 0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:18.320 this time they needed a touchdown again and they got 0:03:18.360 --> 0:03:24.720 it with really what turned into three big plays. There 0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:28.000 was the third and twenty with the defensive pass interference 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:30.919 that got the drive started. That was an attempted pass 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:33.680 to Don Tavian Wicks over the middle. Then Love went 0:03:33.720 --> 0:03:36.400 back to Wicks again. He bounces off a tackler, turns 0:03:36.400 --> 0:03:39.160 a short pass into a thirty five yard gain, and 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:41.360 then the twenty four yard are over the top to 0:03:41.520 --> 0:03:45.760 Romeo Dobbs. When Love kind of hustled up the offense 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:49.040 and noticed that the Chargers were a little discombobulated on defense, 0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:51.400 He's like, hey, let's snap the ball and go, and 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:54.000 Romeo was one on one on the outside. He put 0:03:54.040 --> 0:03:57.200 it up there with a chance for the go ahead 0:03:57.280 --> 0:04:00.160 touchdown and the Packers got it. The other thing that 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:03.440 I really liked, and to me, when you're looking for 0:04:03.480 --> 0:04:06.840 those little things, because we all see the big things, 0:04:07.320 --> 0:04:10.640 when you're looking for those little things that show the 0:04:10.680 --> 0:04:13.920 progress of the offense and where things are now compared 0:04:13.960 --> 0:04:17.000 to a couple of months ago, I will I will 0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:21.240 point to something that was learned after the game in 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:24.080 the postgame press conferences, and I wrote about it in 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:27.520 my Rapid Reaction piece after the game that's on the 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:30.120 website off folks want to check it out. Jordan Love 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:34.120 offered up that in the third quarter, the touchdown pastor 0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:36.320 Christian Watson in the back corner of the end zone 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:38.760 was not a play that was in the game plan. 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:41.760 He said, you know, he sort of said, I think 0:04:42.160 --> 0:04:45.200 coach Lafleur drew that one up on the sideline. So 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:48.000 then I asked Matt Lafleur when he came into the 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:50.880 podium afterwards, I followed up on that and said, okay, 0:04:50.920 --> 0:04:52.680 so this is what Jordan said. He said, you drew 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:55.839 the play up on the sideline. Lafleur explained even further 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:59.040 that it was actually tight Ends coach John Dunn, who 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:01.360 had come up with the idea. He and Lafleur kind 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:05.600 of collaborated on it, presumably over the headset or whatever, 0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:10.039 but it was on that drive there was a defensive 0:05:10.080 --> 0:05:13.360 look they had seen from the Chargers earlier in the drive. 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:16.400 John Dunn came up with an idea, a route idea 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:19.680 to possibly exploit that. So they talked about it during 0:05:19.720 --> 0:05:21.599 the drive and then when the Packers got down into 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:25.000 the red zone, Lafleur dialed it up, called the play, 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:30.120 and Love and Watson, the route runners, everybody executed it 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:34.280 perfectly for a twelve yard touchdown touchdown pass. The fact 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:37.120 that they could do that in an important situation it 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:39.320 was not something in the game plan. It wasn't repped 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:42.760 during the week. It was an improv move based on 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:45.520 something they thought they could exploit with the defense. It 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:48.160 gets thrown in there into a red zone situation and 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:51.920 it was executed perfectly. The route was there, the throw 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:54.200 was right on target, and the Packers get a touchdown 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:57.400 in the red zone. To me, that one play was 0:05:57.600 --> 0:06:01.000 an incredible sign of progress because I don't think if 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:03.840 they're trying to collaborate on the headsets and come up 0:06:03.880 --> 0:06:06.360 with something on the sideline for a red zone play 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:10.159 for a touchdown back in September or October, that that's 0:06:10.200 --> 0:06:12.680 going to work, that the Packers are going to get 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:14.680 a score there. They got one. It was a big 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:16.599 score at the time. It gave the Packers the lead 0:06:16.680 --> 0:06:19.640 at the time in the third quarter, and I just 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:22.960 I thought that hearing about that and learning about it, 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:25.159 about that and how that went down, that really opened 0:06:25.200 --> 0:06:25.599 my eyes. 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:28.200 Well, and everybody wants to just look at statistics and 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:30.080 they want to look at you know this, that and 0:06:30.160 --> 0:06:32.480 the other to judge, Hey, like, is Jordan love the guy? 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:35.880 Is he going to be the franchise quarterback? I think 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:38.680 that it's moments like that that really are the true 0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:42.479 test of a quarterback and being able to play the 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:45.039 game at the second level. And you know, that's one 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:47.000 thing we've learned this year with Jordan love and intention, 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:50.640 in addition to just his intelligence at football IQ, the 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:53.400 fact that you know he is thinking about the game 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:56.200 on that next level. He's not just being given the 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:58.280 play call and trying to execute it. He's trying to 0:06:58.279 --> 0:07:00.880 figure out, Okay, what can I do to manipulate the defense. 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:03.800 That's three years of growing, That's three years of working 0:07:03.839 --> 0:07:05.760 with Aaron Rodgers. That's three years of being in Matt 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:08.440 Lafuur system and understanding what his coach wants from him, 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:12.840 and you're able to take chances like that and produce. 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:15.840 And then lastly, I just want to mention this too 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:18.560 for these young receivers. There's a quote that Jaden Reid 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:20.800 gave to Pete Doherty from the pres Gazette after the game, 0:07:20.840 --> 0:07:24.280 which I thought was a really huge highlight of how 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:26.680 far this receiving corp has come in the last two months. 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:30.160 Guy like Reid who's now been nominated back to back 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:33.440 weeks for the NFL Rookie of the Week. Yeah, fourth 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:36.040 guy in franchise history, according to Elias that has had 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:38.800 forty five receiving yards and forty five rushing yards in 0:07:38.840 --> 0:07:42.040 a single game in franchise history, with that thirty two 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:46.520 yard touchdown end around helping boost his rushing numbers. But 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:49.400 he said, I mean two months later, three months into 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:52.120 the season. There's things he's doing out there now that 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:53.640 he doesn't think he would be able to do the 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:55.960 first few weeks. The way he's thinking of the game, 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:58.920 the speed at which he plays, but then also mentally 0:07:58.960 --> 0:08:01.880 processing what's happening around him. And you're seeing that with him, 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:03.760 You're seeing with Don Tavian Wicks, You're seeing it with 0:08:03.800 --> 0:08:04.600 Tucker Craft. 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:05.440 Yeah. 0:08:05.480 --> 0:08:07.280 And you know, depending on what happens this week with 0:08:07.280 --> 0:08:09.040 the injured report, Packers might need a whole lot more 0:08:09.040 --> 0:08:11.280 of Tucker Craft in this game against the Lions. So 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:15.560 that's what you and I Mike talked about from week one. 0:08:16.000 --> 0:08:19.520 You have eighteen weeks, four and a half months until 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:21.280 the end of the season. What kind of progress do 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:24.080 you see with these young offensive playmakers. I think you're 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:24.480 seeing it. 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:27.000 Yeah, I would agree with you, and I want to 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:29.520 get to what's going on with the injuries and whatnot 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:31.960 heading into Detroit. We'll get to that in a minute. 0:08:32.000 --> 0:08:33.880 I just want to follow up with regard to the 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:38.880 defense in this game against the Chargers. Bottom line is 0:08:38.920 --> 0:08:42.319 the defense caught a few breaks here because the Chargers 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:46.720 dropped some passes that would have been significant plays. Donald 0:08:46.720 --> 0:08:51.160 Parham drops the fourth down play on the Chargers opening possession, 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:54.080 so that drive gets killed. Keenan Allen, who we talked 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:56.080 about last week, I wrote a bottom last week. He's 0:08:56.120 --> 0:08:58.760 in the ten thousand yard club. He dropped two passes 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:01.160 near the goal line that both would have been at 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:04.320 a minimum first and goal if not touchdowns. And then 0:09:04.320 --> 0:09:07.040 at the end of the game, Quinton Johnston drops I 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:11.079 mean an absolute seed of a throw by Justin Herbert, 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:13.839 I mean Mike Goodness puts it right on the money 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:16.880 along the Packers' sideline there, and Quinton Johnston drops it. 0:09:16.880 --> 0:09:20.440 Would have put the Chargers at a minimum in game 0:09:20.480 --> 0:09:24.840 tying field goal range in the final thirty seconds of 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:27.520 the ballgame, if not, possibly if he's able to catch 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:29.720 it and stay in bounds, maybe he even scores on it. 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:33.040 So the Packers caught some breaks there, and I don't 0:09:33.040 --> 0:09:36.360 want to minimize those because this game definitely could have 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:39.360 gone the other way. But I'll say this as well, 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:43.160 going up against Justin Herbert, who came as advertised, the 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:45.959 first time either one of us got to see him 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:48.839 live and in person, and he was impressive and his 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:53.080 arm is really something. But at this stage of the season, 0:09:53.360 --> 0:09:58.520 the plan, the plan was the Packers' top four cornerbacks 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:02.280 were going to be JR Alexander Rousoul, Douglas, keishn Nixon, 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:04.800 Eric Stokes. In your top two safeties would be Darnell 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:09.400 Savage and Rudy Ford. So that's your dime defense with 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:13.040 six defensive backs. One of those guys, only one was 0:10:13.080 --> 0:10:15.800 on the field on Sunday against Justin Herbert. The Packers 0:10:15.840 --> 0:10:20.760 needed Carrington Valentine. They needed Corey Ballentine. They needed Anthony 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:24.440 Johnson Junior, the rookie safety. They needed Jonathan Owens at safety. 0:10:25.120 --> 0:10:27.640 Nixon was out there and he's gotten it out on 0:10:27.720 --> 0:10:30.280 a bad ankle because he got hurt early in the game. 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:35.319 So as much as as much as the Chargers dropped 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:39.880 passes certainly had a big impact on this game. I 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:45.800 thought essentially a makeshift secondary of sorts for the Packers. 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:49.160 Based on what the plans were going going along this season. 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:54.520 I thought they didn't. They didn't make things easy for Herbert. 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:56.640 I guess he had to make some darn good throws 0:10:56.679 --> 0:11:00.240 and he did. It's just that his receivers kind of 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:00.880 let him down. 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:04.760 Yeah, and Benny Sap, the third who is promoted from 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:06.560 the practice squad, was the dime cornerback. 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:07.800 That's right, that's right. 0:11:07.920 --> 0:11:10.040 It just again shows you just how how down to 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:14.280 the felt the Packers were with some of these secondary situations. 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:16.800 But a couple things to touch on with this game. 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:19.760 First and foremost, just making a quick comment about the Chargers. 0:11:20.200 --> 0:11:23.400 I don't want to hear anymore bullpoo. I'm not gonna 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:27.040 say bull crap, although I just did bullpoo about Justin 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:29.640 Herbert and his quarterback record and all these things, winning 0:11:29.640 --> 0:11:31.400 loss record. That guy can play. 0:11:31.320 --> 0:11:34.720 That dude, I'm telling you, if you're I mean, I know, 0:11:34.760 --> 0:11:37.040 the Chargers have a lot of Chargers have a lot 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:40.200 of stuff to figure out, like that's that's obvious. But man, 0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:42.560 if you if you are a Chargers fan, you are 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:45.319 feeling darn good about the guy who is taking snaps 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:46.160 for your offense. 0:11:46.280 --> 0:11:48.559 It's the rare exception. You don't see this much in 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:51.720 the NFL anymore, where the team has the quarterback situation 0:11:51.880 --> 0:11:54.679 figured out, and they just don't have enough around him. 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:56.400 Yeah, they can't. They can't. They can't get the rest 0:11:56.440 --> 0:11:58.480 of some of that injuries. The guy ends up the 0:11:58.559 --> 0:12:01.760 leading rusher in the game for teams because of his. 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:05.200 Scram Funny some people were ripping about that on inbox, like, 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:07.520 how did they let Justin Herbert run from us? Justin 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:10.240 Herbert can run. Yeah, He's always been able to run. 0:12:10.280 --> 0:12:12.920 Did anybody watch the Rose Bowl in Wisconsin? I mean 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:15.679 the guy won the game with his legs, not his arm. 0:12:15.760 --> 0:12:17.200 I mean, he's that dangerous. 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:18.920 He has a million dollar arm and he has Austin 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:21.680 Eckler in the backfield. He doesn't have to run very often, 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:25.160 but they took advantage of it this game. Keenan Allen 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:27.000 had one of the most quiet one hundred yard, one 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:30.800 hundred and sixteen yard one hundred catch excuse me, ten 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:33.200 catches one hundred and sixteen yards in a touchdown games 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:36.160 you're ever going to see. But I thought you made 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:40.000 a really good point at the end of your statement there. 0:12:40.760 --> 0:12:44.000 The Packers didn't make it easy for them. They had 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:47.160 to make the most of the opportunities that they were given. 0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:49.680 And there weren't a lot of breakdowns that just led 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:53.000 to guys being able to just be wide open. Fortunately, 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:54.679 when Parham was he dropped it. 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:58.400 But the one, I mean, the one really big, what 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:00.560 turned out to be the big negative play for the 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:03.880 defense was the fifty one yard touchdown to the backup 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:07.400 tight end Smart where he broke free and then Jonathan 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:10.760 Owens missed the tackle and and you know that ends 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:13.640 up rupturing into a fifty yard touchdown, and you know 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:15.840 you kind of sigh and go, oh, you know that 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:20.120 that shouldn't have happened. But but you know, I give 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:22.160 I give the guys. I give the guys in the 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:25.520 Packers secondary credit for battling. I mean, yeah, there were 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:27.960 a couple of flags. You know, Keishaan got flagged for 0:13:28.040 --> 0:13:30.120 a you know, on a third down, but you know 0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:32.480 he's trying to cover Keenan Allen, you know, in the 0:13:32.520 --> 0:13:34.920 slot and and trying to blanket him as best he can. 0:13:35.080 --> 0:13:37.480 Close call, tough call, gives them a free first down, 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:39.839 you know, But but you just you line up and 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:42.000 keep fighting and keep playing. And that's what these guys 0:13:42.000 --> 0:13:45.280 did and h and as it turned out, fortunately Johnson 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:48.439 dropped the Johnston dropped the deep ball at the end. 0:13:48.440 --> 0:13:50.720 He was a guy who really hadn't done much at all, 0:13:51.200 --> 0:13:53.560 and then he's got He ends up being the guy 0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:55.240 with the chance to make the big play at the 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:56.520 end of the game, and he doesn't make it. 0:13:56.760 --> 0:13:58.800 And that really is the product there of being down 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:01.240 Mike Williams and Josh Palmer and kind of having to 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:03.440 work down your depth trot a little bit. But let's 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:05.440 get back to what ultimately is the reason why the 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:09.520 Packers won this game. It came down to mistakes. And 0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:11.760 Kenny Clark said this in the locker room afterwards when 0:14:11.760 --> 0:14:13.160 I was talking with him and he was part of 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:15.880 our huddle. The Packers knew going into this thing this 0:14:16.000 --> 0:14:17.319 was going to be incumbent on them to win the 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:19.160 turnover battle. This was not going to be a team 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:23.320 that you could play in have take not get takeaways 0:14:23.840 --> 0:14:26.840 and lose the turnover margin expect to win. It just 0:14:26.880 --> 0:14:29.200 doesn't happen. If you look at what they've done this season, 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:31.520 the Chargers are going to make life very difficult on you. 0:14:31.840 --> 0:14:36.440 So what happens Austin Eckler fumbles, trips, fumbles, and as 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:39.360 Kenny was explaining afterwards, the thing is something they preach 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:41.480 all the time. They rep it every single week when 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:43.760 ball carriers are trying to get back to their feet. 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:45.600 If you ever wanted to look for the moment which 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:48.400 ball security is the last thing on their minds when 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:50.880 they're trying to stumble back to their feet, That's exactly 0:14:50.880 --> 0:14:53.840 what happened with Eckler on that play. Kenny punches the 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:56.920 ball out. Rashan Gary gets the sack that is kind 0:14:56.960 --> 0:15:00.720 of generated by Kenny Clark's pressure. When the game was 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:03.080 on the line late Packers had a little bit of 0:15:03.120 --> 0:15:05.440 a mental lapse there where Shawn gets busted there for 0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:07.400 the off sides on fourth and six makes it a 0:15:07.440 --> 0:15:08.920 fourth and two, although at that point of the game 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:11.280 they weren't gonna run anyway, so it didn't matter. But 0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:14.320 Kenny puts his hand up and he gets the batted ball. 0:15:14.640 --> 0:15:18.400 That fourth quarter, with what the defense did, it allowed 0:15:18.440 --> 0:15:22.800 them to overcome you know, a big run from Austin Eckler, 0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:27.240 a big scramble or two from Herbert keenan Allen's production, 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:30.120 Smart's touchdown because they came back and they won that 0:15:30.160 --> 0:15:31.400 turnover margin in the end. 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:34.600 Yeah, yeah, absolutely, Well, I'll take care of some sponsor 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:36.560 business here West, and then we will move on to 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:40.680 the Lions. Serious XMNFL Radio delivers hard hitting analysis and 0:15:40.760 --> 0:15:43.760 up to the minute NFL news that true football fanatics 0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:46.040 need twenty four to seven, three sixty five. And at 0:15:46.080 --> 0:15:49.040 Cousin Subs, we have something for everyone like our Wisconsin 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:51.760 Cheese kurds, mac and cheese, golden fries, and creamy shakes, 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:54.280 all paired with your favorite sub or sub in a bowl. 0:15:54.600 --> 0:15:59.480 Cousin Subs fifty years of better. All Right. The Detroit Lions, 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:04.720 as they do traditionally hosting the early Thanksgiving game, the 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:08.800 first of the Thanksgiving triple header. The Packers are the 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:13.280 visitors this year. And I tell you what, West, and 0:16:13.320 --> 0:16:15.960 this is what I said when we did our three 0:16:16.000 --> 0:16:19.360 Things video for this week, which this week's Three Things 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:22.600 video is on Monday because instead of in the middle 0:16:22.600 --> 0:16:24.600 of the week because the game is on Thursday. We're 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:28.880 all adjusting. But all you have to do to see 0:16:28.920 --> 0:16:32.400 how tough the Lions are to beat is look at 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:36.280 these last two games. They gave up thirty eight points 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:43.040 to the LA Chargers. Justin Herbert directed five consecutive touchdown drives, 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:49.280 and yet the Lions still wouldn't be beat. Then they 0:16:49.320 --> 0:16:54.160 come home against the Chicago Bears. Jared Goff throws three interceptions, 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:57.400 the Bears get four takeaways in all end up plus 0:16:57.440 --> 0:17:00.400 three in the turnover margin, and the Bears have a 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:03.560 twelve point lead with four minutes to go in Detroit 0:17:03.600 --> 0:17:07.159 against the division leaders, and yet the Lions would not 0:17:07.760 --> 0:17:13.800 be beat. This is a tough bunch. And I'm telling 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:20.520 you the I expect the atmosphere at Ford Field on Thursday. 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:25.000 I can't even think of the last time that the 0:17:25.080 --> 0:17:30.080 Lions and their fans would be looking this much forward 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:34.600 to hosting a game on Thanksgiving. As to what's going 0:17:34.680 --> 0:17:36.959 on this year. The atmosphere in that place is going 0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:38.520 to be is going to be off the chart. 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:40.400 So obviously, I just watched a few of the highlights 0:17:40.400 --> 0:17:42.359 from that Bears game. I didn't go back and watch 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:44.520 it or anything, and we obviously were doing business of 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:47.680 our own on Sunday. But you know what I took 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:50.480 away as you're watching the final couple minutes of that game, 0:17:51.359 --> 0:17:55.520 what was the first principle that Dan Campbell wanted to 0:17:55.720 --> 0:17:58.919 ingrain and still in that football team. It was toughness, yeah, 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:02.240 and it was it was the response to adversity, and 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:05.680 this was as good of an example as you're gonna find. 0:18:05.800 --> 0:18:07.960 I'm not worried about Jared Goff. Jared Goff, this is 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:10.399 gonna happen. He's had three interception games before in his career. 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:13.000 He's gonna have Shoot. He started the game against Green 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:16.840 Bay with an interception right to Rudy Ford. But you 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:18.919 don't worry about how he's gonna bounce back. But to 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:25.000 see the way Jamior Gibbs, that young defense, Aiden Hutchinson, 0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:29.760 they have a lot of mental toughness and one of 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:32.879 the things that I think Detroit had been zapped up 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:38.000 for many years was confidence, talent, and toughness. And this 0:18:38.040 --> 0:18:39.919 is not going to be a cakewalk by any means, 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:42.800 But I will say this, I think they're going to 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:45.720 see a much different Packers team this second time around 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:46.720 than they did the first time. 0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:48.680 I agree, I would be surprised. 0:18:48.720 --> 0:18:50.960 You never can say never, but I'd be surprised if 0:18:50.960 --> 0:18:53.720 green Bay fell into another seventeen zero hole or something 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:56.080 like that that they're trying to dig out of. But 0:18:57.200 --> 0:19:01.480 for the Lions against that opponent to be able to 0:19:02.560 --> 0:19:06.440 rally continue their winning streak against the NFC North while 0:19:06.760 --> 0:19:10.120 continuing this remarkable losing streak that the Bears are on. 0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:13.320 I just thought they showed a lot of grit and 0:19:14.359 --> 0:19:16.000 those are the type of things that for many years, 0:19:16.000 --> 0:19:18.320 when the lines were the pushovers, that that was not present. 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:21.439 Yeah, it's it's interesting. It's interesting what's going on in 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:24.800 Detroit because the while the fan base, While the fan 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:28.000 base there is fired up about everything that's going on 0:19:28.080 --> 0:19:33.320 and rightly so, there's also there's also the lingering impatience 0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:36.760 in that fan base because Jared Goff was getting booed. Yeah, 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:39.320 I mean, your team is seven and two and your 0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:41.560 quarterbacks having a rough day and he's you know, he's 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:44.879 thrown the three interceptions. A seven and two team in 0:19:44.960 --> 0:19:48.440 first place. Their guy was getting booed by the home 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:52.479 fans because that impatience that you know, that that worry 0:19:52.520 --> 0:19:55.440 that you know, is there is this still maybe somehow 0:19:55.440 --> 0:19:58.440 the same old Lions that's that's still there. Yeah, And 0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:01.480 it came out. It came out against the Bears when 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:04.439 the Lions had their backs against the wall and the 0:20:04.480 --> 0:20:06.639 fans were really nervous about that game. But you know, 0:20:06.840 --> 0:20:07.320 it's credit. 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:09.399 You know what I liked it about what I likened 0:20:09.400 --> 0:20:12.600 it to though. It's when you've had continuous car trouble 0:20:12.640 --> 0:20:14.840 and the check engine like comes on again. Yeah, you're 0:20:14.880 --> 0:20:18.040 immediately you may be a little low on like anti freeze. 0:20:18.080 --> 0:20:21.800 You're thinking the whole engines done. I mean seriously, though, 0:20:22.040 --> 0:20:24.159 the Lions. This is the first time like since like 0:20:24.200 --> 0:20:26.280 the early sixties. The Lions are eight and two. 0:20:26.480 --> 0:20:29.359 Yeah, first the first time since the Fords have owned 0:20:29.359 --> 0:20:31.679 the team, and they have owned the team for roughly 0:20:31.720 --> 0:20:32.320