Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted social
Speaker 1: distancing Style from Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford,
Speaker 1: joined as always by my partner and crime Wes Hodkowitz
Speaker 1: and West. The Packers have reached their bye week, and
Speaker 1: like a really good clean up hitter in baseball, there
Speaker 1: four for four, Green Bay is four and oh after
Speaker 1: four games and in sole possession of first place in
Speaker 1: the NFC North one quarter of the way through the season. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's funny, Mike, if you go back and look at
Speaker 1: how this has sort of played out for the Packers. Certainly,
Speaker 1: there's been some injuries that they've had to weather and
Speaker 1: unfortunately a few guys that they've lost for the extended
Speaker 1: run here. But other than that, not much else has
Speaker 1: gone wrong for the Packers during this four games start
Speaker 1: to this season. I mean, offensively, right now, one of
Speaker 1: the most pro left picking potent offenses in the National
Speaker 1: Football League. Certainly, you look at this game. I I
Speaker 1: outlined this on a tweet I had on Monday night.
Speaker 1: You had Davante Adams week one, then it was Aaron Jones,
Speaker 1: then it was Alan Lazard and then lo and behold
Speaker 1: week four. It turns out to be Robert Toanyan three
Speaker 1: touchdown catches, only the third time that that's happened since
Speaker 1: with the Packers tight end in a single game. It's
Speaker 1: just been one thing after another. But at the core
Speaker 1: of this, I'll put it out there, Mike, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's been some exceptional game calling, play calling, in game
Speaker 1: planning from Matt la Floor and his coaching staff and
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers just being brilliant. I mean, now, thirteen touchdown,
Speaker 1: zero interceptions on pace for really, I hate to even
Speaker 1: put it this way right now, but you know, a
Speaker 1: career type season. I mean, he has been playing lights
Speaker 1: out football in the first four games of the year,
Speaker 1: and the Packers have really followed suit well. I remember
Speaker 1: saying last week after the victory in New Orleans that
Speaker 1: if you had told me the Packers are going to
Speaker 1: be without Davante Adam, We're not going to rush for
Speaker 1: a hundred yards and they were going to score thirty
Speaker 1: seven points against the Saints and leave the Super dumb
Speaker 1: with a victory, I would have said, I'm not quite
Speaker 1: sure how that's going to work. Well, so what happens
Speaker 1: this week? No Davante Adams, no Alan Lazard, no, Marcedes
Speaker 1: Lewis either he misses the game with an injury, and
Speaker 1: yet Aaron Rodgers throws four touchdown passes, only six incomplete passes,
Speaker 1: and has a one forty five point seven passerrating and
Speaker 1: you just you kind of go, how how is he
Speaker 1: doing this? How are they doing this? It just doesn't
Speaker 1: It doesn't fit the norm, the narrative that you think
Speaker 1: would occur with what the Packers have been dealing with,
Speaker 1: and yet here they are another thirty point performance easily
Speaker 1: could have been thirty seven if you're not stopped on
Speaker 1: fourth and gold the one and uh um, and the
Speaker 1: Packers offense is just is just in almost in a
Speaker 1: league of its own right now. Yeah. And it's funny too, Mike,
Speaker 1: if you go and actually break it down on like
Speaker 1: this the Packers in terms of just passing to the
Speaker 1: running backs and tight ends, Rogers was a perfect twenty
Speaker 1: for twenty in this game, three touchdown passes. Uh It's
Speaker 1: quite remarkable the way he's been able to orchestrate this thing.
Speaker 1: Somebody insider inbox asked me, as I'm preparing at the
Speaker 1: time in which we're taping this for Wednesday's edition, somebody
Speaker 1: asked me about what has impressed me the most through
Speaker 1: the first four games of this season, and really it
Speaker 1: keeps coming back to the overall offensive efficiency and also Mike,
Speaker 1: just how well they've performed in four minutes situations. Uh,
Speaker 1: you and I can talk about how they're right now,
Speaker 1: I think fifth in the league and third downs conversions,
Speaker 1: but that's not just always being in good positions. It's
Speaker 1: also picking up some third and longs too that at
Speaker 1: times that's been a real difficulty for the Packers over
Speaker 1: the years, going back to Mike McCarthy's time here as well.
Speaker 1: And they're doing it and I think they might have
Speaker 1: either one or none. Uh when you know three and
Speaker 1: notes to this point of this season, it just seems
Speaker 1: like every time that Aaron Rodgers lines up, there is
Speaker 1: a feeling they're gonna be able to push the all downfield.
Speaker 1: It was funny listening to Mount la Floor after the
Speaker 1: game on Monday, I'd say, yeah, for as much praise
Speaker 1: as I got a week before for the flow and
Speaker 1: the play calling, I didn't really feel like I was
Speaker 1: in a flow. Well that's not quite feeling like he
Speaker 1: was in a flow. Still ended up being a really
Speaker 1: solid offensive performance and and certainly a dominating win. I mean,
Speaker 1: this was a defining victory. It looked like a three
Speaker 1: and O team, even missing Davante Adams and Kenny Clark
Speaker 1: and whatnot, still look like a three year three and
Speaker 1: O team, you know, dismantling and deconstructing, and team that
Speaker 1: is still yet to win this season. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: you can take your pick as far as the statistics
Speaker 1: with Aaron Rodgers and where he is at the quarter
Speaker 1: pole of the season. Here thirteen touchdown passes, zero interception,
Speaker 1: zero turnovers as a whole for the Packers offense, and
Speaker 1: as Rogers pointed out after the game, not even a
Speaker 1: lot of close calls in terms of turnovers. I mean,
Speaker 1: you've seen it over the years, West, you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: a bad passes, a dropped interception. You know, quarterbacks benefit
Speaker 1: from that all the time. Rogers hasn't really had any
Speaker 1: of those. And on top of that, the Packers haven't
Speaker 1: even had a fumble actually hit the ground in the
Speaker 1: field of play because the only fumble on their on
Speaker 1: their statistical chart is won by Aaron Jones back in
Speaker 1: Week one in Minnesota, where the ball flew out of
Speaker 1: bounds and never really had a chance to be recovered
Speaker 1: by the defense anyway. So um, what the Packers are
Speaker 1: doing here offensively, it's incredibly efficient. We talked in the
Speaker 1: early weeks about how all the moving parts on the
Speaker 1: offensive line the Packers weathered those storms. That group has
Speaker 1: been playing really, really well. Now they finally had a
Speaker 1: second straight week with the same starting five, the same
Speaker 1: group up front, and it's and again it was the
Speaker 1: same type of performance. And and another statistic, Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: has only been sacked three times in four games, with
Speaker 1: plenty of dropbacks, and he puts at least two of
Speaker 1: the three sacks just on himself for not being able
Speaker 1: to get away from pressure situations that he feels he
Speaker 1: should escape. So um, just a lot of things really
Speaker 1: falling into place for this Packers offense despite injuries. And
Speaker 1: the Packers are going to have to deal long term
Speaker 1: now without Alan Lazard for a while. It sounds like
Speaker 1: they won't have Josiah Deguara, the rookie tight end for
Speaker 1: a while. He has a significant knee injury. But so far,
Speaker 1: whatever the missing pieces have been, it hasn't mattered. And
Speaker 1: that's a credit to Aaron Rodgers, it's a credit to
Speaker 1: all those guys, I think, particularly the guys up front
Speaker 1: with the offensive line and the Matt Lafleur in that
Speaker 1: offensive coaching staff for the game plans they're putting together
Speaker 1: week after week. Yeah, And I don't want to just
Speaker 1: sit here and point towards, you know, certain past offenses
Speaker 1: or Packers teams and say, well, this is how much
Speaker 1: better they are now. But you think back to two
Speaker 1: thousand fifteen and when they lost Jordy Nelson, how much
Speaker 1: the domino effect that that had on the entire roster,
Speaker 1: the passing game, the way that they were able to
Speaker 1: move the ball downfield. And this year they went two
Speaker 1: games without Davante Adams, you had Alan Lazard step up
Speaker 1: and then he's gone here for the foreseeable future. But
Speaker 1: you know, we've talked time and time again, Mike about
Speaker 1: how malleble this offense is, and I thought this game
Speaker 1: was the ultimate testament to that. Matt Lafleur has had
Speaker 1: that two running back package in his back pocket for
Speaker 1: some time now. In addition to all the motioning that
Speaker 1: they do with Tyler Irvin as a you know, kind
Speaker 1: of a hybrid receiver. They did some plays there with
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams in the backfield. And do
Speaker 1: you know why, because you're making a case that those
Speaker 1: are the two top playmakers on offense going into this game.
Speaker 1: You know, there was a lot of consternation at the
Speaker 1: end of the first half of a well where is
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams had seventy seven receiving yards.
Speaker 1: That was the most in the first half by a
Speaker 1: Packers running back in six years. I mean, you ride
Speaker 1: with the hot hand, and I think we're so used
Speaker 1: to saying, well, Aaron Jones is the starter. Now you
Speaker 1: kind of forget about what Williams brings to the table too,
Speaker 1: coming five yards short of his first hundred yard receiving
Speaker 1: game in this matchup, and getting back to Tanyan there too.
Speaker 1: You know the red zones, Mike being able to push
Speaker 1: the ball in. Now, obviously they had they came up
Speaker 1: short on the fourth and goal earlier on, but once
Speaker 1: they got into the red area there in the second
Speaker 1: and third quarters, they were hard to stop. And one
Speaker 1: of the big things when you think back to these
Speaker 1: Packers offenses, when they are effective, when they can find
Speaker 1: a way to get the ball, doesn't necessarily have to
Speaker 1: be a tight end, but oftentimes it can be find
Speaker 1: the way to pass the ball in the red area,
Speaker 1: good things are gonna happen. Tanyan stepped up ninety receiving yards,
Speaker 1: three touchdowns. Uh, you know, a classic performance, something that
Speaker 1: you know, Greenby I think really is wanted to see
Speaker 1: from the third year tight end now. And yeah, it
Speaker 1: wasn't Adams, it wasn't Lazard it it had to be
Speaker 1: somebody else and they found a way to make it happen.
Speaker 1: A few interesting stats with regard to Robert Tanyan's three
Speaker 1: touchdown performance in this game. First, he is the uh
Speaker 1: I'm trying to remember now for certain, the third Packers
Speaker 1: tight end in team history to have three touchdown catches
Speaker 1: in one game, joining Keith Jackson from and jere Michael
Speaker 1: Finley from earlier this decade. And Robert Tanyan also has
Speaker 1: uh a touchdown catching three consecutive games, and he's the
Speaker 1: first Packers tight end to do that since jew Michael
Speaker 1: Finley back into two thousand twelve. And I'll throw another
Speaker 1: one at you West. Robert Tayan now has seven touchdown
Speaker 1: receptions from Aaron Rodgers. That ties him for the lead
Speaker 1: amongst the undrafted players who have caught touchdown passes from
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers. John kun also had seven, not including playoffs.
Speaker 1: Will see maybe Robert Tanyan has some playoff touchdown receptions
Speaker 1: in his future as well. We don't want to get
Speaker 1: ahead of ourselves. But that being said, um before we
Speaker 1: shift gears to the defense, a little bit of sponsor business.
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Speaker 1: outlet dedicated to the National Football League seven days a week,
Speaker 1: three d sixty five days a year. Okay, West defensive
Speaker 1: side of the ball. I'm writing about this this week
Speaker 1: for our website. This Packers defense has gone through its
Speaker 1: ups and downs through the first four games. I think
Speaker 1: there wasn't it wasn't the pinnacle. It wasn't the perfect
Speaker 1: performance by any means against the Atlanta Falcons. But I
Speaker 1: think we saw a much steadier defensive performance on Monday
Speaker 1: Night than we had seen previously. You start out with
Speaker 1: a couple of three and ounce. You don't allow the
Speaker 1: Falcons into the end zone until the second half. You
Speaker 1: you have a big stand in the red zone after
Speaker 1: a long drive to hold the Falcons to a field goal.
Speaker 1: You stop at potential touchdown drive towards the end that
Speaker 1: would have made it a one score game late in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter. Those types of pieces, those are the
Speaker 1: elements that we saw from what was a much steadier
Speaker 1: defense for the Packers in nineteen I think Monday Night's
Speaker 1: performances starting to get this defense to point in that direction. Well,
Speaker 1: there were two things I really liked about this performance. One,
Speaker 1: they came out right away and got three three and
Speaker 1: out's in the first half. That that kind of allowed
Speaker 1: them to get on this run. And then you know,
Speaker 1: the offense to start finding itself and you know, finished
Speaker 1: really strong with those two Robertsonian touchdowns in the second quarter.
Speaker 1: That was really good. But it was also the way
Speaker 1: they finished in the second half. I mean, Mike, they
Speaker 1: had a lot of things that started working against and
Speaker 1: now certainly you look around the Atlanta side of things,
Speaker 1: they weren't able to finish the game with you know,
Speaker 1: Julio Jones, but Kevin King goes out with the quad injury,
Speaker 1: Shannon Sullivan goes out with the concussion he gets diagnosed
Speaker 1: with that's your number two and number three cornerback. So
Speaker 1: they had to get really creative there. You saw Raven
Speaker 1: Green get used in the slot, Will Redmond came in
Speaker 1: the dime package basically had four defensive backs I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: four safeties and its defensive backfield out of the six Jr.
Speaker 1: Alexander put together a strong performance. They were able to
Speaker 1: maneuver their positions there in the secondary, and I think
Speaker 1: you're seeing a unit that's getting more comfortable playing with
Speaker 1: itself outside of what you would consider maybe the quote
Speaker 1: unquote starting eleven. So that was a huge positive. But
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, you go back to
Speaker 1: your playmakers and Zadarius Smith. He he owned this ball game,
Speaker 1: especially in the second half. I mean, three sacks. You're
Speaker 1: gonna write about it on packers dot com with with
Speaker 1: your what um you know what you might have missed.
Speaker 1: He's affecting plays even when he isn't getting at the quarterback.
Speaker 1: Though he finished is the game with the team high
Speaker 1: eight tackles. Do you understand how difficult that is to
Speaker 1: finish the game with to lead your defense and tackles
Speaker 1: if you're an outside rusher. I mean, this is what
Speaker 1: this guy's bringing to the table. Five quarterback hits, four
Speaker 1: tackles for a loss, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Speaker 1: This is this is really incredible stuff that he's putting together.
Speaker 1: Five sacks Mike through the first four games. That's tied
Speaker 1: with Miles Garrett for the most in the NFL. The Packers,
Speaker 1: we were all wondering the conversation was going into this year. Okay,
Speaker 1: Zadarius Smith is no longer an unknown commodity. This guy
Speaker 1: is gonna have people. You know, he's gonna be in
Speaker 1: the crosstairs. People are gonna be gunning for him. And
Speaker 1: it really hasn't mattered. I mean, there's a couple of
Speaker 1: penalties that I'm sure that Mike Petton and Mike Smith
Speaker 1: want to clean up. But other than that, man Darius
Speaker 1: Smith is the real deal. Yeah. And Matt Lafleur even
Speaker 1: said it on Tuesday when he spoke with reporters that
Speaker 1: you know, Zadarius Smith is such a leader on the defense.
Speaker 1: He's he's got that personality, he's got that energy, everything
Speaker 1: he brings. For this Packers defense to be playing at
Speaker 1: its best, Zadarius Smith needs to be that leader, needs
Speaker 1: to be that got, that all pro type guy at
Speaker 1: the top of his game. And la Fleur said, hey,
Speaker 1: you know, he's been battling through some stuff just like
Speaker 1: everybody does. He hasn't necessarily been a d percent healthy
Speaker 1: since the start of the season, so the bye week
Speaker 1: potentially is going to do him some good as well
Speaker 1: as several of those other guys that you mentioned. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know that the Packers are dealing with injury wise,
Speaker 1: and hopefully they get Kenny Clark back as well now
Speaker 1: that he's he's missed three straight games. But um, but yeah,
Speaker 1: the defense just had a different feel to it. It
Speaker 1: just does have a different different aura about it. When
Speaker 1: Sadarius Smith is dodging blockers and dominating the way that
Speaker 1: he was. And I'll throw this in as well, because
Speaker 1: you know, we saw some big plays earlier in the season,
Speaker 1: Alexander getting the sack safety in Minnesota, Sullivan getting the
Speaker 1: pick six against the Lions, and Zadarius with the big
Speaker 1: force fumble you know on Taysom Hill down New Orleans,
Speaker 1: that play in the end zone late in the fourth
Speaker 1: quarter by Adrian Amos to knock that ball away at
Speaker 1: the last second from Calvin Ridley and prevent that touchdown
Speaker 1: on fourth and ten from about the twenty five yard line.
Speaker 1: That's not necessarily going to make all the big highlight
Speaker 1: reels at the end of the end of the season.
Speaker 1: But that was a whale of a play by the
Speaker 1: Packers veteran safety and as I said before, that prevented
Speaker 1: it from becoming a one score game really for the
Speaker 1: first time since the early stages of the ball game. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it basically slammed the door on you know,
Speaker 1: the Falcons and being able to mount any type of comeback.
Speaker 1: And you know, certainly they were going through a lot
Speaker 1: of things and mentally just trying to push through what
Speaker 1: they've had to go through here with some really demoralizing losses.
Speaker 1: You know, Matt Lafleur said it all a week long.
Speaker 1: He felt like they were going to get the falcons best,
Speaker 1: best effort in a lot of ways. I think they did.
Speaker 1: It's just that Atlanta has really been hit hard by
Speaker 1: the injury bug. Then you look at that's that the
Speaker 1: way they finished this game though, and in a credit
Speaker 1: to Adrian Amos, I mean, those are the type of
Speaker 1: plays that if you're not just giving that little extra ounce,
Speaker 1: maybe that ball gets through, maybe that does become a
Speaker 1: touchdown reception. But it really shows the veteran presence that
Speaker 1: he provides back there, and and if you listen to
Speaker 1: the way that those guys responded to that play after words,
Speaker 1: you would have thought he intercepted it. I mean, guys
Speaker 1: were just jacked up, they were excited. It was the
Speaker 1: type of exclamation point that I think they really wanted
Speaker 1: to put on this performance because we've seen them come
Speaker 1: down the stretch where they've been you know, well ahead.
Speaker 1: The decision is not in really jeopardy at all whatsoever.
Speaker 1: The wind is in the bag, so to speak. But
Speaker 1: you know, you give up some passes here and you
Speaker 1: give up some yards there in those garbage things that
Speaker 1: really hurts you in the rankings. Green Bay for the
Speaker 1: most part, didn't do that here. They kept a foot
Speaker 1: on the gas pedal and despite some of the pieces
Speaker 1: that they were missing defensively, again, I think they've really
Speaker 1: learned to play without them and in you know, finding
Speaker 1: a way to develop that chemistry, even if there's some
Speaker 1: new guys that are in the mix. Yeah. Well, as
Speaker 1: I mentioned at the top of the show, the Packers
Speaker 1: are four and oh and in first place all by
Speaker 1: themselves in the NFC North. I want to talk a
Speaker 1: little bit more about that in just a second, but
Speaker 1: gear up for game day, folks. Open a Packers checking
Speaker 1: account from Associated Bank and score a fifty dollar Packers
Speaker 1: Pro Shop gift card. Learn more at Associated bank dot com.
Speaker 1: Backslat Packers. All right, well, the Chicago Bears took their
Speaker 1: first loss of the season on the chin the Indianapolis Colts.
Speaker 1: All to talk about the Bears changing quarterbacks and Nick Foles,
Speaker 1: and I do think the Bears have the better quarterback
Speaker 1: playing right now. But I tell you what, and the
Speaker 1: Packers are going to see this Indianapolis Colts team at
Speaker 1: Lucas Oil Stadium in about a month and a half.
Speaker 1: That Colts defense is legit West. They they shut down
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings earlier, they completely bottled up the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 1: The Colts and Philip Rivers kind of a new lease
Speaker 1: on life there in Indianapolis after after some rough times.
Speaker 1: And um that that victory by Indianapolis has the Packers
Speaker 1: four no and one of only I'm sorry, I have
Speaker 1: the Packers in first place stopping the Bears from getting
Speaker 1: to fourn O. And the Packers are one of only
Speaker 1: two teams in the NFC at four and oh along
Speaker 1: with the Seattle Seahawks. Yeah, I mean, first off, when
Speaker 1: you talk about the Colts, I mean the exciting thing
Speaker 1: about Indianapolis is I can't tell you how often if
Speaker 1: you go back to Philip Rivers run with the Chargers,
Speaker 1: they really had a really strong, impenetrable defense. And it's early,
Speaker 1: but I mean the numbers that the Colts are putting
Speaker 1: up now in contrast to the rest of the National
Speaker 1: Football League, it's gonna be tough to knock him out
Speaker 1: of that spot here for a while. They're gonna need
Speaker 1: to have some pretty big performances against them in order.
Speaker 1: I think they're giving up like two or thirty six
Speaker 1: yards a game right now. I mean, and there's only
Speaker 1: maybe five teams that are keeping on defenses or offenses
Speaker 1: underneath three right now. So it's a really strong, formidable
Speaker 1: group that the Colts have assembled. And certainly, uh Philip
Speaker 1: Rivers has shown over the years, I mean, exactly what
Speaker 1: he can do when he's given you know, not necessarily
Speaker 1: having to play from behind, that he's able to control
Speaker 1: the game. A little bit more from the Bears perspective,
Speaker 1: it was probably the performance you did not want to see.
Speaker 1: You make that move to folds. I think that that
Speaker 1: was going to be something where if they could have
Speaker 1: gotten off on the right foot, then then you feel
Speaker 1: more confident about where this offense is headed. Instead, you
Speaker 1: start to get into this little area where you're not
Speaker 1: too quite certain who your quarterback is, You're not too
Speaker 1: certain what the direction of your offense is going to be. Uh.
Speaker 1: In that way, it was dis concerning for the Bears.
Speaker 1: The nice thing though for them is it appears like
Speaker 1: they're gonna press forward the folds here. They're gonna stick
Speaker 1: to their guns. And if he ends up being the guy,
Speaker 1: I think that that's the right move. You can't be
Speaker 1: doing this thing where you're going in and out every
Speaker 1: single week with a different quarterback. You've got to give
Speaker 1: the other ten guys on the offensive side of the
Speaker 1: ball in understanding who the leader is going to be
Speaker 1: in Fols has shown in the past that he can
Speaker 1: be that guy. It's just tough for them right now,
Speaker 1: considering how well he played in a relief appearance for them,
Speaker 1: that they weren't able to get that same kind of
Speaker 1: strong start on the back end of it. Yeah, no
Speaker 1: question about it. I think there are a lot of
Speaker 1: a lot of uncertainty just as to where things are
Speaker 1: headed in in Chicago on offense right now. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: to throw something else in there too. It isn't just
Speaker 1: all on the quarterback. There were a lot of years
Speaker 1: between if it was Matt Forte or you know, they
Speaker 1: had a running back, they had a running game that
Speaker 1: they were really well established with. You know, as much
Speaker 1: as we talk about Trabisky here the last two three years,
Speaker 1: they just have not had a consistent running presence. And
Speaker 1: if you don't have that, especially for that type of quarterback,
Speaker 1: it's going to make life a little bit more difficult.
Speaker 1: And every time Mike you can look at the Bear
Speaker 1: stats and it happens time and time again. I'll look
Speaker 1: at him in the middle of the third quarter and
Speaker 1: they're leading rusher is David Montgomery with eight carriers for
Speaker 1: eighteen yards or something. You have to be able to
Speaker 1: get back going if you're really going to truly be
Speaker 1: I think the offense that Mattneggie wants them to be. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: the times that Mitch Drubisky did play well, he was
Speaker 1: a lot of times the leading rusher for the Bears.
Speaker 1: A lot of scrambling running around. He's a guy who
Speaker 1: can get out of the pocket and he's been able
Speaker 1: to move the chains that way. Nick Foles not that
Speaker 1: type of quarterback, and you need to have more efficiency
Speaker 1: in the in the passing game because you're not gonna
Speaker 1: have those scramble plays to necessarily bail you out quickly.
Speaker 1: Before we go, Both the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions
Speaker 1: are one in three at the bottom of the NFC North.
Speaker 1: Just curious your thoughts on where things are. The Vikings
Speaker 1: avoiding oh and four by winning on the route at Houston,
Speaker 1: and then Houston's head coach Bill O'Brien gets fired after
Speaker 1: that game. The Detroit Lions, they just keep riding that
Speaker 1: roller coaster West. They jump up fourteen nothing on the Saints,
Speaker 1: they give up five straight touchdowns and they're down ten,
Speaker 1: and then they make a late rally but lose thirty
Speaker 1: five to twenty nine. It's hard to It's hard to
Speaker 1: know what to make of of what's going on in Detroit.
Speaker 1: Both Minnesota and Detroit heading it well. Detroit will be
Speaker 1: on the by just like the Packers, but their next game,
Speaker 1: and Minnesota now playing Seattle this upcoming week. Both those teams,
Speaker 1: Minnesota and Detroit trying to avoid one and four um
Speaker 1: after their next contest. Yeah, and everybody knows how difficult
Speaker 1: it is to make a playoff run after starting one
Speaker 1: and four. And I said it last week, Mike, I
Speaker 1: will echo myself again. I mean Detroit is just in
Speaker 1: a position right now where I just don't know if
Speaker 1: there's a there's a lot of guys on that team
Speaker 1: that at the NFL level just don't know how to
Speaker 1: win games. And I know that sounds like a somewhat
Speaker 1: of a cliche, but it's true. I mean, you've got
Speaker 1: to know how to be able to pull these things out,
Speaker 1: or at least how to protect it. And they're just
Speaker 1: working through so many different little issues right now. I
Speaker 1: think that that's been something that's really pulled them back
Speaker 1: here in the beginning half of this season. And obviously
Speaker 1: how they finished for the Vikings, that's what they had
Speaker 1: to do. I mean, it was one of those games.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure what the move would have been if
Speaker 1: they would have been owen four, but you had to
Speaker 1: be able to pick up that victory. Yes, the the
Speaker 1: Hexans had played some tough teams, but like I said
Speaker 1: last week to Mike, I mean, when you're owing three,
Speaker 1: you're owing three, and you've got to find a way
Speaker 1: to get your your momentum back, your mojo back, Uh,
Speaker 1: they were able to do that with it. But again,
Speaker 1: when you fall into that early hole, you have to
Speaker 1: keep climbing to pull yourself out. They grabbed the first run,
Speaker 1: can they get the second? That that's gonna be the
Speaker 1: big challenge for them moving forward, because you know that
Speaker 1: the one thing is that I think we're starting to
Speaker 1: learn a little bit. It's gonna have to be an
Speaker 1: offensively driven team this year for Minnesota if they're going
Speaker 1: to be successful, if they're going to make a playoff run.
Speaker 1: It's not going to be this traditional Mike Zimmer type
Speaker 1: Vikings squad where okay, the defense is gonna give you
Speaker 1: a little bit of a you know, a birdie on
Speaker 1: the whole, you know, how how do you come back
Speaker 1: after it and finish out your round? So that that's
Speaker 1: gonna be the biggest challenge offensively Can they be that?
Speaker 1: Can you have that as the driver's seat right now
Speaker 1: for them? And right now they're one in three? I
Speaker 1: think you know, it's shown that what the formula they
Speaker 1: have right now is not working. Where can they adjust
Speaker 1: to it moving forward? Yeah? Well, with the Packers on
Speaker 1: there by next weekend, Vikings and Seahawks is the primetime
Speaker 1: Sunday night football matchup, so a lot of Packers fans
Speaker 1: will have their eye on that, but for now we
Speaker 1: will call it a wrap on this edition of Packers
Speaker 1: on Script. To be sure to follow all of our
Speaker 1: coverage of the team on Packers dot com. It is
Speaker 1: the bye week, but we will have plenty of content,
Speaker 1: lots of stories and videos and whatnot for you to
Speaker 1: check out. So for Wes, I am Mike, thank you
Speaker 1: for tuning everybody. See you next time.