Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my partner in crime, Weston Hodco. It's we're coming
Speaker 1: to you here from our studios at lambeau Field and
Speaker 1: finally West able to talk about a Packers victory for
Speaker 1: the first time in six weeks thirty a thriller in
Speaker 1: overtime over the Dallas Cowboys at lambeau Field. And we
Speaker 1: don't have a whole lot of time to talk about
Speaker 1: it because there's another game right around the corner here
Speaker 1: Thursday night coming up at home, and we have to
Speaker 1: cover that in this show as well. But we will
Speaker 1: start with reviewing this victory that snapped a five game
Speaker 1: losing streak for green Bay. Packers were down fourteen at
Speaker 1: the start of the fourth quarter, staring a six game
Speaker 1: losing streak in the face, but both sides of the
Speaker 1: ball stepped up, made the plays when they had to
Speaker 1: make them, got the victory and Green Bay is hoping
Speaker 1: that this will start to turn around its season. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I gotta have him moment uh, as as must win
Speaker 1: as it probably gets for a team in early November,
Speaker 1: the most impressive part of this thing, though, Mike is
Speaker 1: it wasn't the defense, It wasn't the offense, It wasn't
Speaker 1: special teams. It was the collective pulling together to get
Speaker 1: a much needed victory. The Greeny Packers don't win this
Speaker 1: game if they don't have the two minutes stopped by
Speaker 1: the defense. They don't have being able to stop Dallas
Speaker 1: on its first possession of overtime in scoring territory too,
Speaker 1: in scoring territory. They don't get this win if the
Speaker 1: offense doesn't rally, if Christian Watson doesn't get two of
Speaker 1: his three touchdowns, If Christian Watson in the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: if he doesn't end up converting a touchdown on a
Speaker 1: fourth down situation, they don't get this win. They don't
Speaker 1: get this win if Mason Crosby in the field goal
Speaker 1: unit doesn't kind of rally there after a few miscues
Speaker 1: early on in the game to get the game winner
Speaker 1: after Alan Lazard breaks the slant into a thirty six gain.
Speaker 1: It was about team football in the Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 1: When you listen to Matt Lafleur, when you hear him
Speaker 1: both at the podium and also with his locker room speech,
Speaker 1: Mike that was a passionate, passionate man that believes in
Speaker 1: his football team. And even though Green Bay was three
Speaker 1: and six going into this thing, they still felt like
Speaker 1: they are a championship caliber team that is underperformed at
Speaker 1: this point, I thought Sunday when they had to have it,
Speaker 1: the guys responded, and certainly an emotional victory that you
Speaker 1: had to immediately put in your back pocket because you
Speaker 1: have the Tennessee Titans looking at your face here on
Speaker 1: Thursday night. Yeah. Absolutely a tremendous release of emotion, though
Speaker 1: in in so many ways with regard to finally snapping
Speaker 1: this losing streak. But you said it, West, you hit
Speaker 1: on a couple of the of of the key moments.
Speaker 1: And when you when you look back at why the
Speaker 1: Packers have piled up the losses that they have and
Speaker 1: why it took them so long to get a win,
Speaker 1: you know, you're you're knocking on the door for the
Speaker 1: tying score in London in the four quarter, right, you
Speaker 1: don't get the job done? What was it? A a
Speaker 1: third and nine or a third and twelve in Washington
Speaker 1: right where Heineke you know, completes the past by the
Speaker 1: sideline to Terry McLaurin. That was essentially the ball game,
Speaker 1: because the Packers are down to if you can get
Speaker 1: the stop there, you get it back, you get a
Speaker 1: you know, you get a chance. You don't make the
Speaker 1: play your first intent on the seventeen yard line. For
Speaker 1: everything that went wrong in Detroit, your first intent on
Speaker 1: the seventeen yard line, down by six points, with enough
Speaker 1: time to score the winning touchdown, and you don't get
Speaker 1: it done in the clutch moments. What was this game?
Speaker 1: It was fourth and seven, down by fourteen. It was
Speaker 1: fourth and three in overtime when the Cowboys decided to
Speaker 1: pass on the field goal, go for the first down.
Speaker 1: Pass on the long field goal would have been I
Speaker 1: believe a fifty three yard or they decided to go
Speaker 1: for the first down, and the defense gets that stop
Speaker 1: on fourth and three, it's third and short and the
Speaker 1: play actions slanted to almaz Art. It's making the plays
Speaker 1: in the key moments. That is the You can talk
Speaker 1: about game plans and play calling and all this kind
Speaker 1: of stuff. It's about making it happen in the key moments.
Speaker 1: And the Packers were able to do that on Sunday
Speaker 1: when they hadn't been able to do that for the
Speaker 1: previous five weeks. And and that's the difference between wins
Speaker 1: and losses in this league. In a big gut check too,
Speaker 1: because you see a guy like Christian Watson, who again
Speaker 1: had more receiving yards in that game than he had
Speaker 1: all season, you know, due to injuries and opportunities and everything,
Speaker 1: being able to come back after that scare, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: a week earlier and and step up in a big
Speaker 1: way for an offense that needed it. When he completed
Speaker 1: that first fifty eight yard touchdown pass, I think Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers at that point in fifteen passing yards UM. They
Speaker 1: ran the ball well against loaded boxes. Aaron Jones and
Speaker 1: a J. Dillon in concert with one another, looked really good. Defensively,
Speaker 1: they had to stitch this thing together. I mean, they
Speaker 1: lost Eric Stokes, So then you have Darnell Savage playing
Speaker 1: in the slot for an extended period of time for
Speaker 1: really the first time. Rudy Ford on the back end,
Speaker 1: who had one interception in his career before day leaves
Speaker 1: lambeau Field with two more. UM. There just were so
Speaker 1: many areas where guys stepped up. And when you think
Speaker 1: about the best Packers teams that we've covered, both underneath
Speaker 1: Matt Lafloor and Mike McCarthy. It's where they've had complimentary
Speaker 1: players step up and phil voids not just your superstars.
Speaker 1: And when you lose Rashan Gary, when you don't have
Speaker 1: Romeo Dobbs, when you've taken as many hits as they
Speaker 1: took a week earlier in Detroit, somebody else has to
Speaker 1: be the guy that that carries that water and the thing. Honestly,
Speaker 1: Mike that I was most impressed with what this game
Speaker 1: is and I wrote this an insider inbox. The Packers
Speaker 1: have had games were defensively, they looked great on a
Speaker 1: on a stat sheet. You know, the passing yards were low,
Speaker 1: maybe they you know, the rushing yards weren't too bad,
Speaker 1: but ultimately when they need to make a stop, they
Speaker 1: didn't make it. This game. If you look at the
Speaker 1: box score, you see Dallas put up over four total yards.
Speaker 1: But in terms of the sniff test, in terms of
Speaker 1: the eye test when you watched it, that was a
Speaker 1: really good defensive effort by green Bay. Third quarter got
Speaker 1: away from a little bit, but they were able to
Speaker 1: get stops when they needed to, and also by making
Speaker 1: Dallas run seventy nine offensive plays in not rupturing for explosives.
Speaker 1: That's ultimately what allowed them to get some takeaway opportunities.
Speaker 1: It was how you draw it up with the Green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers, and I thought, overall a very complete performance
Speaker 1: all things considered. Yeah, you talk about a defense that
Speaker 1: that started strong early in the game and finished strong late.
Speaker 1: There were some things certainly that got away in the
Speaker 1: middle of the game. And Amari Rodgers fumbled punt was
Speaker 1: a huge momentum shift, and that was unfortunate because the
Speaker 1: Packers defense had stopped Dallas when they were backed up
Speaker 1: on the five yard line, stopped him, got the three
Speaker 1: and out. The scores tied their early third quarter fourteen all,
Speaker 1: but Amari Rodgers fumbles the punt. Dallas gets the ball
Speaker 1: right back and before you can blink your eyes, Dallas
Speaker 1: turns that momentum shift into two touchdowns and suddenly it's fourteen.
Speaker 1: But this defense, it was strong early. It did rise
Speaker 1: up in a I mean a huge moment after Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers had uh suffered the sack fumble on his own
Speaker 1: ten yard line. Dallas was already up seven nothing at
Speaker 1: that point in the second quarter, looking to add to that,
Speaker 1: and then on third and goal from the eleven. Rudy
Speaker 1: Ford cuts in front of Dalton Sheltz at the goal line,
Speaker 1: gets that gets that first interception. Then on Dallas's next possession,
Speaker 1: Rudy Ford gets another interception on a third down pass
Speaker 1: over the middle, similar type of thing, but this one
Speaker 1: was more of a downfield throw towards Ceedee Lamb, but
Speaker 1: he undercuts that one as well. Big returns on both
Speaker 1: them for Ford, and the Packers end up converting both
Speaker 1: of those turnovers into touchdowns. The Packers had fourteen points
Speaker 1: off of takeaways all season long through the first nine games.
Speaker 1: In Game ten, you get fourteen points off of two
Speaker 1: takeaways to to double that season total. So a lot
Speaker 1: going on there. Christian Watson. You mentioned it, and if
Speaker 1: this weren't a truly unscripted show, I would have our
Speaker 1: producer Marvin go back and call up my monologue for
Speaker 1: last week on what Christian Watson needs to do and
Speaker 1: how important he is for this offense and what he
Speaker 1: can mean to it. We saw it. It came to
Speaker 1: it came to fruition. His speed is something that teams
Speaker 1: have to deal with and if you are going to
Speaker 1: try to cover Christian Watson with that speed one on
Speaker 1: one on the outside. Because you are concerned about A J.
Speaker 1: Dylan and Aaron Jones running the ball at you between
Speaker 1: the tackles, you have to be able to make defenses
Speaker 1: pay for that. And Christian Watson is the guy that
Speaker 1: can make you pay because of that speed. And he
Speaker 1: did that. The fifty eight yard touched down, the thirty
Speaker 1: nine yard touchdown on fourth and seven, those were pure speed.
Speaker 1: And then he had the athleticism, the hands and everything
Speaker 1: to be able to be able to make the catches
Speaker 1: with um. With regard to running the ball, though you
Speaker 1: had said it, the Packers ran the ball into some
Speaker 1: loaded boxes. They stayed committed to it, and we saw
Speaker 1: in the second half a J. Dillon busted a seventeen
Speaker 1: yard run, Aaron Jones busted a twenty three yard run.
Speaker 1: It's when you when you have when you have that
Speaker 1: commitment to it and you pound away and pound away
Speaker 1: even though you want to get the explosive plays. And yes,
Speaker 1: the explosive plays in the passing game are important, but
Speaker 1: the explosive plays in the running game can happen when
Speaker 1: defense gets tired, when a defense gets worn down, and
Speaker 1: I thought the Packers uh took advantage of that in
Speaker 1: in big moments against the Cowboys and the Spotford Let's
Speaker 1: be real moment of the week that it isn't just
Speaker 1: the big plays the run game, you know creates, because
Speaker 1: certainly you want to rupture that. Certainly you want to
Speaker 1: make the second third level of the Cowboys defense think
Speaker 1: a little bit. But it's looking at those third and
Speaker 1: short opportunities. Why do shot plays largely work, Mike. Not
Speaker 1: not because oh, well the receiver beat this guy and
Speaker 1: they got a big complation. No, it's because of what
Speaker 1: the defense is having to account for, worrying that you're
Speaker 1: going to run the ball against third and one. I
Speaker 1: look at that play with Alan Lazard and a for time,
Speaker 1: and Lazard talked about it after the game. That probably
Speaker 1: doesn't work the way it worked if it wasn't for
Speaker 1: the Packers running the ball the way they did. Because
Speaker 1: ultimately Lazard was able to catch the slant. Maybe would
Speaker 1: have been a first down regardless, but with the way
Speaker 1: that Dallas was playing them, that's what allowed the middle
Speaker 1: of the field to come open for Lazard and ultimately
Speaker 1: you get down to the twenty yard line whatever it was,
Speaker 1: and then you have the five yard run by Aaron Jones.
Speaker 1: He gets there's a personal follow out of bounds and
Speaker 1: Mason Crosby goes out there for the game winner. The
Speaker 1: Packers were able to build the offense and their tempo
Speaker 1: off of the commitment to the run and credit to
Speaker 1: that offensive line playing together all every snap for the
Speaker 1: first time the season. I believe Zack tom did not
Speaker 1: have to even step on the field in this game,
Speaker 1: same same starting lineup for the first time in back
Speaker 1: to back right for for the Packers on the offensive line.
Speaker 1: That that is a huge factor as well terms of
Speaker 1: what you feel you can hang your hat on offensively
Speaker 1: and go to in the key moments. In sixty four
Speaker 1: offensive snaps, all five offensive lineman played that you saw
Speaker 1: them throughout the game, Mike getting more and more comfortable.
Speaker 1: I think you see yosh nieman in John running now
Speaker 1: on the right side. Every week they've been improving. We
Speaker 1: got to see David bakti Are pulling again on a
Speaker 1: stretch play that was a hallmark of the offense when
Speaker 1: botr before this knee injury, and then for Jones to
Speaker 1: cut up defense is the way he is and in
Speaker 1: allowing things to open up for a j Dillon just
Speaker 1: that was the most impressive thing to me, kind of
Speaker 1: like with Rudy Ford's interception. Defensively, with everything that happened late,
Speaker 1: it kind of got lost in the wash a little bit.
Speaker 1: The way the Packers ran the ball when you have
Speaker 1: those big completions to Watson, something that probably didn't get
Speaker 1: talked about nearly enough. Yeah, my my favorite statistic of
Speaker 1: many interesting to statistics to look at from this game,
Speaker 1: but my favorite one is the fact that the Packers
Speaker 1: two touchdown drives in the fourth quarter to tie the
Speaker 1: game covered a hundred and sixty five yards. Those two
Speaker 1: drives when you're down by fourteen and the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: seventy of those hundred and sixty five yards were on
Speaker 1: the ground. How often does that happen in a in
Speaker 1: a multi score fourth quarter comeback, that a team gets
Speaker 1: almost half of its yardage on multiple scoring drives on
Speaker 1: the ground. The the the commitment to the ground game,
Speaker 1: and the way the way the Packers offensive lineman, as
Speaker 1: you said, we're kind of they kind of kept feeling
Speaker 1: it as as the game was going on, and then
Speaker 1: you were able to to to bust a couple of
Speaker 1: big ones in the fourth quarter. There, I thought that
Speaker 1: was I thought that was outstanding. The other statistic I
Speaker 1: really liked to that I went through and figured this
Speaker 1: out the Cowboys. The Cowboys were five out of fifteen.
Speaker 1: Going back to the Packers defensive performance here, Cowboys were
Speaker 1: five out of fifteen on third downs in the game.
Speaker 1: Three of those five third down conversions were one, one,
Speaker 1: and two yards. When the Cowboys needed three yards or
Speaker 1: more on third down, they were two out of twelve
Speaker 1: the Packers third down defense in this game. Now, a
Speaker 1: couple of those ended up being fourth and ones. And
Speaker 1: and you know, Dak Prescott did the you know, quarterback
Speaker 1: sneak to convert, but two out of twelve on third
Speaker 1: downs when you know it was three yards or more
Speaker 1: to go, Packers defense did. Again, I just go back
Speaker 1: to saying it in the clutch moments when you have
Speaker 1: to have it, the Packers defense did a pretty darn
Speaker 1: good job. And uh, and the fact that both of
Speaker 1: Rudy Ford's interceptions stepping in as a starting safety with
Speaker 1: Darnell Savage moving to the slot in the nickel defense,
Speaker 1: both of the interceptions come on third down, right that, Uh,
Speaker 1: that's how you have to play to win, especially against
Speaker 1: a team like the Cowboys that is, you know, has
Speaker 1: major playoff and potential Super Bowl aspirations. They came in
Speaker 1: here six and two, ride and high. Coming off a
Speaker 1: bye week, They're like, all right, we're rested up. They
Speaker 1: didn't have Zeke Elliott, but they pretty much had the
Speaker 1: rest of their the rest of their cast and uh
Speaker 1: and they were they were loaded for bear and the
Speaker 1: Packers took every shot. They delivered well. And let's be honest,
Speaker 1: I mean certain there were some ruptures there in the
Speaker 1: middle with the We talked about the draw plays that
Speaker 1: Tony Pollard was able to get some yards on. But
Speaker 1: the fact of the matter is, Mike, we can say
Speaker 1: it because we don't work for the Dallas Cowboys. Um,
Speaker 1: Tony Pollard could be a starting running back at a
Speaker 1: lot of NFL teams. Absolutely, the the Cowboys have one
Speaker 1: of the biggest celebrity backs in the league and Zeke
Speaker 1: for good reason. But the way Pollard has emerged, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's created a lot of tough questions for them this year.
Speaker 1: And I thought this game showed that he can be
Speaker 1: a bell cow few even to be a hundred whatever
Speaker 1: it was. I think he had a d It's not
Speaker 1: by accident. He's a talent, and a lot of those
Speaker 1: a lot of those were on draw plays. The Packers
Speaker 1: kept getting the Cowboys into second and long, either by
Speaker 1: a good first down stop or maybe a penalty in
Speaker 1: a second and long situation, but then they weren't ready
Speaker 1: for the draw play. And Joe Barry even said on
Speaker 1: Monday when he spoke to the media, kind of infuriated
Speaker 1: him the way the way because because he felt it
Speaker 1: was it was an execution thing with regard to the
Speaker 1: second level, the linebackers and safeties in terms of who
Speaker 1: fits where to stop the You know, you're you're very
Speaker 1: rarely going to stop a drawplay at the line of scrimmage,
Speaker 1: but they're running a drawplay because it's long yardage. If
Speaker 1: you make that tackle just four or five yards down field,
Speaker 1: you take that as a win. The Packers weren't doing that,
Speaker 1: and those those draw plays were working. Honestly, It's a
Speaker 1: good not not They're gonna get hit in a different
Speaker 1: way with the run this week. We'll talk about in
Speaker 1: a second, but it is a good learning lesson for
Speaker 1: them of the importance of that because some of those
Speaker 1: third and short opportunities that we talked about We're dad
Speaker 1: ended up doing some sneaks. A lot of those are
Speaker 1: created off of second and really favorable second and you
Speaker 1: know three minus, you know, like, so that's gonna be
Speaker 1: where they have to short up. But I will say
Speaker 1: from the past defense perspective, see, Lamb got some yards there,
Speaker 1: but for the most part, considering the big adjustment they
Speaker 1: made there, I was really impressed by how the secondary played.
Speaker 1: I mean, Jolly Alexander's at the peak of his powers
Speaker 1: right now. Um, you know, completely shut down Michael Gallup
Speaker 1: when he was against him. Lamb moved to the slot
Speaker 1: a little bit, had some success, but the fact is
Speaker 1: that that was a big switch up they made their
Speaker 1: Rudy Ford had played a little bit this season, but
Speaker 1: not a lot, mostly only in the dime package or
Speaker 1: when guys were hurt. Savage going to the slot. You
Speaker 1: saw some of the blitzing options they did with Savage.
Speaker 1: I think you're gonna have to get a little bit
Speaker 1: more creative with moving forward with how you go about
Speaker 1: pass rushing without overshawn Gary. Yeah, Barry said that as
Speaker 1: well on Monday. Yeah, absolutely so. I mean, that's that's
Speaker 1: gonna be a part of this thing too. And you
Speaker 1: know guys are stepping up. I mean Jaren Reid, you
Speaker 1: talked about him from the intro three quarterback hits in
Speaker 1: this game. I mean, that's that's what you're gonna need.
Speaker 1: You're gonna need guys that maybe aren't typically your your
Speaker 1: pass rushers, aren't typically the stack guys, you know, being
Speaker 1: able to get you some production. Yeah, my, what you
Speaker 1: might have missed. Uh put together several film clips on
Speaker 1: Jared Reid sort of showing how his second half performance
Speaker 1: was building up to him making that big play fourth
Speaker 1: down their fourth and three in overtime. So we do
Speaker 1: have to turn the page to the next game, though,
Speaker 1: because it is coming up awfully quickly, So I'll take
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Speaker 1: fifty years of better. Alright, The Tennessee Titans are up next.
Speaker 1: It will be Thursday night football at lambeau Field. The
Speaker 1: color rush white, all white uniforms, right, Packers are going
Speaker 1: to be wearing those, So that's my understanding. Official yet,
Speaker 1: but yeah, that's my understanding. That's looking all right. Well,
Speaker 1: you alluded to it earlier. Derrick Henry, the big powerful
Speaker 1: running back. What what was I think Matt Lafleur used,
Speaker 1: he said, he called him both a creature and a
Speaker 1: freak of nature. There's a poem to be a poem
Speaker 1: to be put together with Joe Barry. Joe Barry called
Speaker 1: it Preston Smith looks like Preston Smith the d That
Speaker 1: was pretty good too. Derrick Henry nine and twenty three
Speaker 1: yards nine tough downs in nine games. The math is
Speaker 1: pretty easy that that's about a hundred yards of game
Speaker 1: and one touchdown every week for Derrick Henry's averaging four
Speaker 1: point six yards to carry. I think the really intriguing
Speaker 1: thing in this matchup is this bell cow back in
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry coming in. While on the other side, the
Speaker 1: Packers have their one to punch that has produced over
Speaker 1: two hundred yards rushing in two of the last three
Speaker 1: ball games. The Detroit game Packers were not successful running
Speaker 1: the ball and got away from it, but by and
Speaker 1: large over the in recent weeks, the Packers have found
Speaker 1: some rhythm with their running game. So it makes makes
Speaker 1: for an interesting match up here in this one. A
Speaker 1: big difference though, being the Packers statistically have had a
Speaker 1: lot more trouble stopping the run than the Titans. The
Speaker 1: Titans ranked I believe second in the league in UH
Speaker 1: in rushing yards per game allowed, So be interesting to
Speaker 1: see how this plays out. But um, but you know
Speaker 1: the Titans are gonna The Titans are gonna feed Derrick
Speaker 1: Henry and make the Packers stop him. And even if
Speaker 1: they stop him for a quarter and a half or
Speaker 1: two quarters or two and even three and a half,
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry is still going to get the football all
Speaker 1: night long on Thursday. The other thing that Joe Barry
Speaker 1: said during his Monday news conference was tackling plan. You
Speaker 1: have to have a tackling plan for how you approach Henry.
Speaker 1: And that is so true because it isn't just gonna
Speaker 1: be one guy. You have a running back that is
Speaker 1: bigger than most inside linebackers. You have a running back
Speaker 1: that you do not want to see at the third
Speaker 1: level with the secondary, you have a guy that must
Speaker 1: be gang tackled by everybody on the field and ultimately,
Speaker 1: as Barry also said, the first film he watched this
Speaker 1: week was going back to that two thousand twenty game
Speaker 1: against the Tennessee Titans before he was the d C.
Speaker 1: But Mike, everything that you just talked about, your one
Speaker 1: last look everything. The Packers accomplished that in that game
Speaker 1: against the Titans, and it was one of the more
Speaker 1: impressive performances of the season. You know, Henry still got
Speaker 1: his He just came a yard short or two yards
Speaker 1: short of a hundred yards. But green Bay kind of
Speaker 1: out Tennessee Tennessee in that game. You know, A J.
Speaker 1: Dillon had to step up at his first hundred yard performance.
Speaker 1: That that's that's his that's his career best game. And
Speaker 1: it came at night in the cold, right. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's there's a lot of things maybe lining up here.
Speaker 1: And the other thing is I wish this is where
Speaker 1: we don't really have much time because of how the
Speaker 1: week went, But I wish I could actually watch more
Speaker 1: of what Denver did because you know, I Jeru Everaru
Speaker 1: is gonna end up being a head coach in this
Speaker 1: league with what he's done in Denver. Offensively, Broncos really struggling,
Speaker 1: but everyone has been such a great higher for them.
Speaker 1: With the defensive side of things. They stopped Derrick Henry
Speaker 1: last week. Now, I can't give you a bull by
Speaker 1: blow and how they did it. They obviously have one
Speaker 1: of the best defenses in football. Yeah, and Henry Henry
Speaker 1: was on a streak of five consecutive one yard rushing performances,
Speaker 1: including one of those that was over two hundred yards
Speaker 1: and uh and the Denver Bronco shut him down. But
Speaker 1: the fact that you know, seventeen to ten, I mean,
Speaker 1: it just shows you again that if you can contain him,
Speaker 1: if you are able to kind of harness his production
Speaker 1: a little bit. You know, Tennessee has been a really
Speaker 1: interesting football team this year. Mike. You mentioned, you know,
Speaker 1: second against the run defensively, but their thirty feet against
Speaker 1: the past you mentioned that, you know what they've done
Speaker 1: in some of these situations. But you know, their third
Speaker 1: down defense is good, their fourth down defense is the
Speaker 1: worst in the NFL. Like, it's a very bizarre football team.
Speaker 1: And their strength of schedule hasn't been great. They've won
Speaker 1: a lot of games. They've beaten teams they need to beat,
Speaker 1: but I think there still are a lot of question marks. Now.
Speaker 1: They played Kansas City incredibly tough. You took with the
Speaker 1: rookie backup quarterback as well, Ryan Tannehill was not in
Speaker 1: the game, and they yeah, they they had They had
Speaker 1: a fourth quarter lead on Kansas City at Arrowhead and
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes was able to, you know, bring Kansas City
Speaker 1: back and pull that game out in overtime. But that
Speaker 1: was that was an impressive performance by by a somewhat
Speaker 1: undermanned Tennessee team on the road. So my message this week,
Speaker 1: you know, if I'm Matt the floors, you beat one
Speaker 1: of the best teams in football last week. You're going
Speaker 1: to face another really accomplished team this week. But who
Speaker 1: says you can't you know, surprise the world again. And
Speaker 1: if you're able to do it, Mike, then you're going
Speaker 1: to Philly, which now has their first loss of the season.
Speaker 1: This is a long year. It's the reason why Matt
Speaker 1: Lafleur always says you can't get too high or too
Speaker 1: low on these things, because after you bottom out against
Speaker 1: the Lions, the bounce back could be even more important
Speaker 1: for the Packers now going to the second half of
Speaker 1: the year. Yeah, absolutely. You you mentioned you mentioned Kent
Speaker 1: Tennessee being kind of a strange team when you when
Speaker 1: you look at the numbers and sort of how things
Speaker 1: have been put together. Their ranked thirty one in the
Speaker 1: league against the past. I believe it's two hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy two yards per game allowed passing. But they've got
Speaker 1: nine interceptions. They have eight different players they have nine interceptions,
Speaker 1: and their team leader has too. They have eight different
Speaker 1: guys who have intercepted a pass this year. They have
Speaker 1: they have twenty nine sacks, five different guys with at
Speaker 1: least three sacks amongst that amongst that pass rush unit.
Speaker 1: But yet, as you said, their ranked thirty first in
Speaker 1: the league against the past, second in the league against
Speaker 1: the run. It's going to be really interesting to see,
Speaker 1: and it's going to be cold, you know, not bitterly cold,
Speaker 1: but in the twenties. It will be the coldest game
Speaker 1: of the season so far. Certainly up here. It'll be
Speaker 1: interesting to see just where and how the Packers can
Speaker 1: try to find some rhythm offensively, because you know, Buffalo
Speaker 1: was the number one ranked run defense, and the Packers
Speaker 1: found a way to to run the ball. They just
Speaker 1: weren't able to finish drives and get points, but they
Speaker 1: were able to run the ball against a pretty darn
Speaker 1: good run defense. Um, Tennessee is coming in with a
Speaker 1: really good run defense, but you know the Packers are
Speaker 1: going to have to with a defense that's got nine
Speaker 1: interceptions in twenty nine sacks. You've got it. You've still
Speaker 1: got to be able to run the ball and stay
Speaker 1: and stay balanced and keep that defense honest because when
Speaker 1: defenses aren't honest and they can they can cheat, so
Speaker 1: to speak. That's when you get sacks and get takeaways.
Speaker 1: And the Packers have to be able to keep Tennessee's
Speaker 1: defense from being able to like that. And that's going
Speaker 1: to be the key. And it's such a tough task, Mike,
Speaker 1: because you have to do it for sixty minutes, and
Speaker 1: obviously everybody's in the same boat. Tennessee is gonna be
Speaker 1: traveling on a short week to come to Green Bay
Speaker 1: for this one. So but it's just you and I.
Speaker 1: Two weeks ago it didn't work out against Detroit, but
Speaker 1: I remember sitting here with you saying, Man, you went
Speaker 1: against Detroit and you went against Dallas in a span
Speaker 1: of fourteen days, you can change the entire trajectory of
Speaker 1: their season. They're still playing from behind here. Minnesota is
Speaker 1: still winning these close games late as far as the
Speaker 1: division is concerned. You're a couple of paces behind right
Speaker 1: now in terms of the wild card though, game and
Speaker 1: a half out. But you have to keep winning now.
Speaker 1: You have to build back after you lose five in
Speaker 1: a row. This is a good opportunity to do so
Speaker 1: against the very talented Tennessee team. Yeah. One other thing
Speaker 1: I want to talk about before it gets away from us,
Speaker 1: because it's being talked about already in mid November as
Speaker 1: the game of the year in the regular season in
Speaker 1: the NFL. That Minnesota at Buffalo game. I know, prior
Speaker 1: to kick off on Sunday afternoon, you know, we're in
Speaker 1: the press box and everybody's kind of keeping an eye
Speaker 1: on it, you know, watching bits and pieces of it
Speaker 1: and whatnot. Um just an absolutely unbelievable game with the
Speaker 1: number of the number of big moments, momentum swings and
Speaker 1: just and crazy things happening. And then afterwards there's all
Speaker 1: this officiating controversy with the completion that should have been
Speaker 1: overturned and Buffalo had twelve men on the field when
Speaker 1: they stopped the Vikings by the goal line and overtime,
Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff, but an absolutely wild, wild,
Speaker 1: wild game. And uh um to think. Two things that
Speaker 1: I'll say about it. One is that say what you
Speaker 1: want to say about the Minnesota Vikings. They just keep
Speaker 1: finding away and there's something, there's something about the mojo
Speaker 1: that develops when when a team just finds ways to
Speaker 1: win the way they have. And the other thing is
Speaker 1: that I'll be interested to see because I've I've I've
Speaker 1: felt that. I felt that when going into the Packers
Speaker 1: game in Buffalo, I felt the Buffalo Bills were going
Speaker 1: to represent the a f C in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: And I still think, I still think on balance, they're
Speaker 1: the best team in the a f C. But how
Speaker 1: do the Buffalo Bills bounce back? Now? Two straight losses,
Speaker 1: one to a division rival in the Jets, another one
Speaker 1: where they're lamenting all kinds of mistakes that they made
Speaker 1: late in the game, whether you're talking about allowing the
Speaker 1: fourth and eighteen, the fumble by the goal line, the
Speaker 1: interception in overtime, all that kind of stuff. Josh Allen
Speaker 1: was the front runner for m v P and suddenly
Speaker 1: in the last three games he's got seven turnovers that
Speaker 1: are his responsibility. He's not the front runner for m
Speaker 1: v P anymore. He could, but he could still win
Speaker 1: it because he's capable of throwing twenty touchdown passes in
Speaker 1: the next month and everybody's going to forget about the
Speaker 1: seven turnovers over the last three totalks, right. So I'm
Speaker 1: curious to see ken Minnesota's continue to sustain this. They've
Speaker 1: sustained it for basically two months now, winning all of
Speaker 1: these close games that come out of the wire. And
Speaker 1: how is Buffalo gonna bounce back? Yeah, very peculiar schedule
Speaker 1: for Minnesota that you know they go now they you know,
Speaker 1: I should say in Minnesota for the Cowboys because they
Speaker 1: came up here and now they go to Minnesota and
Speaker 1: now they go to Minneapolis and back to back, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, Division games against the North on the road. Minnesota.
Speaker 1: I'm very interested. You know, they're gonna keep winning um
Speaker 1: and you know, I can't say anything bad about them,
Speaker 1: but I'll be interested to see how that team reacts
Speaker 1: if they do face some adversity here at some point.
Speaker 1: If you're a good coach team, it doesn't matter what
Speaker 1: your talent is. It doesn't matter what you are. You
Speaker 1: win those games late in the fourth quarter, you find
Speaker 1: ways to you know, pull those things out. It says
Speaker 1: something about the coaching. Kevin O'Connell has done a fantastic
Speaker 1: job there so far this season. The Bills, Mike, I'm
Speaker 1: not a soothsayer. They may end up being the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl rep for the a f C. I said it
Speaker 1: when we left, Um whatever Landmark Stadium, not the Ralph
Speaker 1: hi Mark, hi Mark, whatever high Mark, Landmark, land Shark,
Speaker 1: land Shark. They are paying us. Um when I said,
Speaker 1: when they just make too many mistakes. Um, they have
Speaker 1: an incredible coach and Sean McDermott. I have confidence they're
Speaker 1: going to stay together and they'll be able to rally
Speaker 1: and pull this thing back. But I felt like last
Speaker 1: year that was the difference. They just that it just
Speaker 1: was those small things that Kansas City did just a
Speaker 1: little bit better. And you know, Kansas City still Kansas City.
Speaker 1: So very interested to see how that goes. But certainly, um,
Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers, this isn't getting any easier in the
Speaker 1: NFC North because Minnesota keeps finding ways to win. And
Speaker 1: I couldn't even tell you who you're supposed to cheer
Speaker 1: for this weekend between the Vikings and Cowboys. Yeah, I mean, yeah,
Speaker 1: I guess it's it's uh, it's take your pick right away.
Speaker 1: The only good news, the good news for the Packers
Speaker 1: is that both of them can't get a win, so
Speaker 1: uh so. And for the Packers it's like, hey, you're
Speaker 1: four and six right now. And as I said last
Speaker 1: week on one of our videos, I don't remember which one,
Speaker 1: but you gotta walk before you can run. The Packers
Speaker 1: have to get to five. If you can get to
Speaker 1: five hundred, whether it's at six and six or at
Speaker 1: seven and seven or whatever point, you can get to
Speaker 1: five hundred and get to the break even point, then
Speaker 1: you can start looking at what are your what are
Speaker 1: your possibilities? Packers need two more wins right now to
Speaker 1: get to five hundred, and then we can start having
Speaker 1: those conversations big night on Thursday night. In addition to
Speaker 1: the game this matchup with the Tennessee Titans, Green Bay
Speaker 1: Packers also be honoring Leroy Butler half time. His name
Speaker 1: will be the name added to the Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: facade of all the wonderful, tremendous historic players that have
Speaker 1: been part of this iconic franchise. Be really need to
Speaker 1: see him out there at halftime getting an honor that
Speaker 1: I felt has been rightfully due to him for the
Speaker 1: last sixty And what more, what more appropriate name to
Speaker 1: finally be on the facade at lambeau Field than the
Speaker 1: name of the man who invented the lambeau Leap. Right,
Speaker 1: it's it's it's it's tremendous. I love it. I hope.
Speaker 1: I hope Leroy has a great night, just as he
Speaker 1: enjoyed everything and can't and I hope he enjoys everything
Speaker 1: about the special honor he's getting on Thursday. When I
Speaker 1: was a kid, my grandfather always talked to me about
Speaker 1: Henry Jordan's and in these you know, fantastic Packers players,
Speaker 1: his favorites of the Lombardi era. Right, it's pretty cool, Mike,
Speaker 1: that there's someday Good Lord shining on us might have
Speaker 1: some grandkids at lambeau Field someday pointing up to that
Speaker 1: spot up in the rafters, up and up on the
Speaker 1: facade sand that was Leroy Butler many many moons ago.
Speaker 1: That guy is the one that invented the lambou leap.
Speaker 1: He is somebody that is one of the most distinguishable,
Speaker 1: hospitable faces of this franchise, and I'm glad he's getting
Speaker 1: that on her. Yeah, no question about it. With that,
Speaker 1: we will call it a rap. On this edition of
Speaker 1: Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage
Speaker 1: of the team. We got another game coming up right away.
Speaker 1: We will have everything from Thursday Night football for you
Speaker 1: on Packers dot Com and all of the preview content
Speaker 1: leading up to it for West I Am Mike. Thank
Speaker 1: you for tuning in everybody. We'll see you next time.