WEBVTT - #915 Packers Unscripted: Moving on to Motown 0:00:06.180 --> 0:00:10.340 Hi everybody, welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from Packers.com. 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:13.260 I am Mike Spofford, joined as always by my trusted 0:00:13.300 --> 0:00:16.119 colleague Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming to you here from the 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:20.349 Pottawatomie Sportsbook studio inside the walls of Lambeau Field. And Wes, 0:00:20.410 --> 0:00:24.550 next up for the Packers is a big NFC North 0:00:24.670 --> 0:00:28.690 showdown with the Detroit Lions. It'll be at Ford Field Sunday, 0:00:28.690 --> 0:00:33.839 325 Central Time kickoff. The Lions are 3-2, Packers are 4-2, 0:00:33.850 --> 0:00:38.050 Detroit coming off of a bye week. And I guess 0:00:38.070 --> 0:00:40.570 when you look at this, in a lot of ways, 0:00:40.650 --> 0:00:43.390 it's a similar matchup to last week for Green Bay 0:00:43.430 --> 0:00:46.590 in that you're going up against a very explosive offense, 0:00:47.120 --> 0:00:49.400 but a team that has also struggled on the defensive 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:50.020 side of the ball. 0:00:50.220 --> 0:00:52.440 Yeah, I think that's a pretty good summation of everything. 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:55.260 When you have Jared Goff at the controls, the type 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:56.920 of player that he is, the start that he's been 0:00:57.000 --> 0:01:02.950 off to, you put him behind a somewhat rebuilt, improved 0:01:03.030 --> 0:01:06.520 offensive line. Jameer Gibbs in that backfield is as good 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:08.940 as it gets in the National Football League. And then 0:01:09.390 --> 0:01:13.530 certainly a top three receiving core, a top tight end 0:01:13.550 --> 0:01:16.130 that in many ways closely mirrors what the Packers have 0:01:16.150 --> 0:01:21.220 when at full strength. Offensively, they can go with anybody. Defensively, 0:01:21.260 --> 0:01:26.660 it's been a grind. trying to find the right combination, 0:01:27.060 --> 0:01:29.780 trying to figure out exactly what's happening in the secondary. 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:32.270 Maybe Brian Branch is back in the fold this week. 0:01:33.630 --> 0:01:37.350 They potentially could get some help there, but it's been 0:01:37.390 --> 0:01:39.330 a slog here for the Lions early on. But to 0:01:39.370 --> 0:01:42.110 their credit, they won the games that I think people 0:01:42.150 --> 0:01:45.410 think they should have won, and they find themselves above. 0:01:45.390 --> 0:01:47.130 500 here going into their bye week, coming out of 0:01:47.150 --> 0:01:47.460 their bye week. 0:01:47.470 --> 0:01:49.120 Coming out of their bye week, yeah. Well, you look 0:01:49.180 --> 0:01:51.080 at some of the numbers on the offensive side of 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:55.050 the ball. Jared Goff has a 111 passer rating through 0:01:55.090 --> 0:01:58.330 five games, has not thrown an interception yet this year. 0:01:59.170 --> 0:02:04.240 Jameer Gibbs is on pace for about 1,500 rushing yards 0:02:04.340 --> 0:02:08.080 and 20 touchdowns. Not to mention he's also on pace 0:02:08.100 --> 0:02:11.540 for about 750 receiving yards on top of that because 0:02:11.980 --> 0:02:14.750 he's used as a weapon for Goff in the passing 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:19.889 game as well. That collection of pass catchers on the outside, St. Brown, 0:02:20.370 --> 0:02:24.350 Jamison Williams, Sam Laporte. You throw in Isaac Tesla too, 0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:27.030 although Tesla doesn't have a whole lot of catches this year, 0:02:27.060 --> 0:02:29.820 but that guy's averaging like 20 yards a catch all 0:02:29.860 --> 0:02:32.419 by himself. The other three guys, just under a thousand 0:02:32.460 --> 0:02:36.680 yards combined. And they've got a total of 10 touchdowns 0:02:37.180 --> 0:02:41.680 with that big three. We've been talking a lot. You 0:02:41.720 --> 0:02:44.680 have a great story up on Packers.com about the Packers 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:47.140 defense and where it is and sort of how it's 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:49.320 evolved in this first month and a half of the 0:02:49.380 --> 0:02:52.980 regular season. with Jonathan Gannon as defensive coordinator and how 0:02:53.020 --> 0:02:57.090 he's worked with the leaders like Xavier McKinney and Zaire Franklin, 0:02:57.230 --> 0:02:59.889 the leaders on the defensive side of the ball to 0:02:59.950 --> 0:03:02.690 get things in place. I don't know if there's a 0:03:02.750 --> 0:03:05.270 bigger test as far as the middle of the season 0:03:05.730 --> 0:03:09.970 for where this Packers defense is than this matchup on 0:03:10.030 --> 0:03:11.960 top of the fact that it comes on the road 0:03:12.410 --> 0:03:14.200 at Ford Field. You're not going to have, you know, 0:03:14.790 --> 0:03:16.489 The Lions aren't going to be in a silent count 0:03:16.550 --> 0:03:19.370 like teams are at Lambeau Field, which always gives the 0:03:19.410 --> 0:03:21.470 defense an advantage. This is a monster test. 0:03:21.630 --> 0:03:24.350 This is a huge test, Mike. And I think for 0:03:24.389 --> 0:03:26.620 Green Bay, this is in some ways, too, the get-right 0:03:26.660 --> 0:03:30.880 game after what happened with the Atlanta Falcons. So defensively, 0:03:30.940 --> 0:03:33.720 you've touched on it. Their run defense, what they've done, 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:36.820 the job they've done this season, you can't take out 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:39.960 that Falcons game. But if you can, they would be 0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:42.590 a top-five run defense in the National Football League this year. 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:45.960 They have to put forth a better effort against Jameer Gibbs, 0:03:46.020 --> 0:03:50.260 but historically, Packers have defended Jameer Gibbs really well. They've 0:03:50.300 --> 0:03:54.800 done a good job in every iteration of this Lions offense, 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:58.380 going back to when Ben Johnson was there. They've had solutions, 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:01.380 but what are those solutions? It's gang tackling. It's the 0:04:01.420 --> 0:04:04.750 guys at the front closing their gaps. It's linebackers fitting 0:04:04.790 --> 0:04:07.370 the right holes. It's safeties being able to clean things up. 0:04:07.670 --> 0:04:09.910 Green Bay needs all of that. Oh, but by the way... 0:04:10.470 --> 0:04:12.270 You have Amon Ross St. Brown, who's as good of 0:04:12.310 --> 0:04:14.930 a chain-moving receiver as there is in the National Football League. 0:04:14.950 --> 0:04:18.070 You have home-run threats. Jamison Williams has been off to 0:04:18.110 --> 0:04:21.030 a very slow start, but even before the bye, he 0:04:21.070 --> 0:04:23.950 was coming alive a little bit. There's a lot that 0:04:23.980 --> 0:04:26.940 the Packers have to figure out with this one, but defensively, 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:31.140 everything that Green Bay has put forth, you heard Dan 0:04:31.180 --> 0:04:33.060 Campbell talk about it this week, the amount of respect 0:04:33.100 --> 0:04:35.760 that's been shown between these coaching staffs. This is not 0:04:35.820 --> 0:04:38.490 going to be easy in terms of who's going to 0:04:38.529 --> 0:04:41.290 be counted on to make the big play, whether it 0:04:41.370 --> 0:04:45.090 is on the secondary in Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams, 0:04:45.490 --> 0:04:47.859 whether it's up front with a Lucas Van Ness, could 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:51.340 it be Zyre Franklin, you know, just completely bursting through 0:04:51.380 --> 0:04:54.900 the offensive line again. All these things have to be 0:04:54.940 --> 0:04:58.000 factored in, but for the Lions' sake, they know what's 0:04:58.080 --> 0:04:59.640 at stake here and what they have to do to 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:01.260 try to pick up this win. Yeah. 0:05:01.940 --> 0:05:04.500 A couple of inbox readers earlier this week raised an 0:05:04.540 --> 0:05:09.400 interesting point with this particular matchup where this might be 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:13.400 a game where the absence of Edger and Cooper could 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:16.350 really show up because of his speed and on the 0:05:16.390 --> 0:05:19.029 second level, that sideline to sideline, the way he can 0:05:19.089 --> 0:05:21.549 chase plays when you're talking about trying to chase down 0:05:22.110 --> 0:05:26.039 a guy like Jameer Gibbs. So that could definitely show 0:05:26.100 --> 0:05:29.960 itself in a matchup like this. That being said, you 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:33.140 mentioned all the other things, the gang tackling, the guys 0:05:33.220 --> 0:05:36.400 up front getting the penetration that would force Jameer Gibbs 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:39.470 to take an extra sidestep or even to reroute a 0:05:39.510 --> 0:05:41.750 little bit where he doesn't necessarily get up that head 0:05:41.810 --> 0:05:44.460 of steam to where then he can start breaking tackles 0:05:44.540 --> 0:05:48.080 and he becomes that more elusive guy in the open field. 0:05:48.140 --> 0:05:51.589 So yes, the Packers are probably going to miss Cooper 0:05:51.790 --> 0:05:55.930 in this game, but there is such a team component 0:05:56.010 --> 0:05:59.510 to defending a guy like Jameer Gibbs. But then of course, 0:05:59.550 --> 0:06:01.650 what makes the Lions so tough is like, you know, 0:06:01.710 --> 0:06:05.070 this isn't like the Barry Sanders Lions. I mean, they 0:06:05.130 --> 0:06:07.150 have all these other guys that we've been talking about 0:06:07.190 --> 0:06:12.020 and you have a quarterback who statistically is playing at 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:16.640 an MVP level right now. So big time test for 0:06:16.680 --> 0:06:20.430 Green Bay. Flipping to the other side of things, the 0:06:20.460 --> 0:06:25.210 Lions have struggled particularly in the area of pass defense. 0:06:25.250 --> 0:06:29.690 But what is so curious about this Lions defense when 0:06:29.730 --> 0:06:32.469 it comes to defending the pass is they lead the 0:06:32.550 --> 0:06:36.150 NFL in sacks. They have 20 sacks through five games. 0:06:36.650 --> 0:06:39.270 Now my quick sports math says that that's four sacks 0:06:39.330 --> 0:06:42.150 a game. That's pretty good, right? They have four different 0:06:42.170 --> 0:06:44.850 guys in that defensive front who have at least three 0:06:44.910 --> 0:06:50.060 sacks already this season. So when you talk about going 0:06:50.130 --> 0:06:52.640 on the road, Jordan Love and the Packers will be 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:56.420 doing the silent count where the opposing defensive front gets 0:06:56.460 --> 0:07:01.160 that advantage. Protecting Jordan Love in this matchup is absolutely 0:07:01.220 --> 0:07:07.420 paramount because the Lions are going to rely on their 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:12.920 pressure up front to slow down this Packers passing game. 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:16.250 I think they, I think they know from a coverage standpoint, 0:07:16.260 --> 0:07:19.630 they're going to struggle against Matthew Golden and Christian Watson 0:07:19.670 --> 0:07:22.170 and Tucker craft. They are going to try to win 0:07:22.190 --> 0:07:26.390 this game defensively by. pressuring Jordan Love into hurrying things 0:07:26.530 --> 0:07:29.090 up into inaccurate throws you know all of those kinds 0:07:29.130 --> 0:07:31.350 of things that's Detroit's game plan here because that's what 0:07:31.370 --> 0:07:32.110 their strength is. 0:07:32.170 --> 0:07:34.710 Yeah and I mean don't don't ask me what the 0:07:34.790 --> 0:07:37.590 issue is with the Detroit Lions because I haven't been 0:07:37.610 --> 0:07:40.110 able to figure it out but the stats are what 0:07:40.150 --> 0:07:41.970 they are they're giving up more passing yards than any 0:07:42.010 --> 0:07:44.190 other team they're giving up more total yards than any 0:07:44.230 --> 0:07:48.340 other team and despite having those 20 sacks they only 0:07:48.380 --> 0:07:51.360 have five takeaways so which I think is somewhere like 0:07:51.360 --> 0:07:55.020 26 in the NFL so It's just this feast or 0:07:55.060 --> 0:07:58.200 famine type approach. It just seems like that when teams 0:07:58.380 --> 0:08:02.440 are able to beat their rush, there's big play opportunities downfield. 0:08:02.990 --> 0:08:05.490 You've got to imagine Shepard and all those coaches there. 0:08:05.530 --> 0:08:07.850 They see what Christian Watson has done on film. They've 0:08:07.890 --> 0:08:11.490 seen what Golden have done on film. Their antennas are 0:08:11.510 --> 0:08:13.920 going to be up for that. In a game like this, 0:08:14.180 --> 0:08:16.540 it is going to come down to some of the 0:08:16.580 --> 0:08:19.300 other guys in this equation. The Tucker Crafts of the world. 0:08:19.340 --> 0:08:22.090 Tucker Craft has had some big time performances in the 0:08:22.130 --> 0:08:24.730 past against the Lions. He's found a way to get 0:08:24.770 --> 0:08:27.050 underneath the skin of that secondary a time or two. 0:08:27.770 --> 0:08:30.140 Josh Jacobs could potentially be back in the cards for 0:08:30.180 --> 0:08:33.300 this one off the commissioner's exemplist. If he's back out there, 0:08:33.340 --> 0:08:36.920 that changes the math in the trenches there a little 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:41.660 bit in what a respectable Detroit run defense is going 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:45.920 to have to account for with Jacobs there. But most importantly, Mike, 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:49.790 let's be honest about something. You're absolutely right about Jared 0:08:49.830 --> 0:08:52.250 Goff playing at MVP level. And I think what impresses 0:08:52.290 --> 0:08:54.150 me the most about Goff is he keeps doing this 0:08:54.170 --> 0:08:57.480 despite having different offensive coordinators, despite being in a different, 0:08:57.880 --> 0:09:00.000 completely different team a few years ago when he went 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:03.520 over to Detroit. And yet it seems like as he's 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:06.410 gotten older, he's gotten wiser and he's gotten better with 0:09:06.429 --> 0:09:08.270 the football and he's given the Packers a lot of 0:09:08.290 --> 0:09:12.600 problems at times. But Jordan Love is pretty darn good too. 0:09:12.940 --> 0:09:17.809 And I understand for a guy that's already perennially been 0:09:17.910 --> 0:09:20.550 overlooked by the National Football League, there's going to be 0:09:20.570 --> 0:09:22.290 a lot of people that don't watch Packer games that 0:09:22.350 --> 0:09:24.050 are going to look at a 91 passer rating, they're 0:09:24.070 --> 0:09:26.390 going to look at his completion percentage, and they're going 0:09:26.410 --> 0:09:31.160 to be like, okay, whatever. The Packers aren't 4-2 right 0:09:31.200 --> 0:09:35.700 now without Jordan Love. This offense isn't having the explosive 0:09:35.760 --> 0:09:39.750 firepower that it has without Jordan Love, and I think 0:09:39.780 --> 0:09:42.170 the cool thing about it, you want to be able 0:09:42.210 --> 0:09:45.030 to run the football. The Packers, this is crazy what's 0:09:45.070 --> 0:09:46.910 happened so far the first five weeks of the season, 0:09:47.770 --> 0:09:52.890 six weeks. But Jordan loves airing it out. And we're 0:09:52.929 --> 0:09:55.390 seeing that, hey, if he needs to be a 4,000, 5,000, 0:09:55.370 --> 0:10:02.100 hopefully not 6,000-yard passer, that he can do it. And 0:10:02.179 --> 0:10:03.730 that part of it's been fun. You don't want him 0:10:03.750 --> 0:10:05.750 to get hit as much as he's been hit, but 0:10:05.790 --> 0:10:09.030 it has been fun watching him isolate on those perimeter 0:10:09.050 --> 0:10:10.410 weapons and really go to town. 0:10:10.610 --> 0:10:14.420 Yeah, and this really could turn into a quarterback showdown. 0:10:14.440 --> 0:10:17.309 I mean, what's always... What's always stood out to me 0:10:17.390 --> 0:10:20.550 about Jared Goff and this Lions offense, whether it was 0:10:20.650 --> 0:10:23.370 when Ben Johnson was running it or since Johnson left 0:10:23.429 --> 0:10:27.450 to go to Chicago, is that Jared Goff's success, and 0:10:27.490 --> 0:10:29.960 I'm not meaning this as a knock against him, but 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:33.500 when that Lions offense is really clicking, it's because they 0:10:33.540 --> 0:10:36.220 have the running game going and Jared Goff off play 0:10:36.340 --> 0:10:39.580 action is just deadly. He will absolutely carve you up. 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:45.000 The way to slow down this Lions offense is to 0:10:45.059 --> 0:10:47.900 handle the running game so that Jared Goff has to 0:10:47.940 --> 0:10:51.200 get into a straight drop back situation because that's when 0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:55.080 your pressure, when you're pinning your ears back and going 0:10:55.179 --> 0:10:57.780 after him, that's when your pressure can impact things. If 0:10:57.820 --> 0:11:01.450 he's living in play action on second and medium and 0:11:01.510 --> 0:11:05.150 third and manageable all day long, if he's living in 0:11:05.190 --> 0:11:08.890 the play action world, this offense is really, really tough 0:11:08.910 --> 0:11:11.590 to stop. What's been so impressive to me about Jordan 0:11:11.630 --> 0:11:15.230 Love so far this season is what he has done 0:11:15.309 --> 0:11:18.350 and how he has led the Packers offensively to this 0:11:18.429 --> 0:11:21.170 four and two record with no running game to speak 0:11:21.270 --> 0:11:24.880 of whatsoever. Um, and at the same time, you know, 0:11:25.340 --> 0:11:28.679 losing Jaden Reed and Tucker Kraft working his way back 0:11:28.700 --> 0:11:33.000 to the pre-injury Tucker Kraft, um, what Love has done in, 0:11:33.220 --> 0:11:36.480 in that regard has, uh, um, has been remarkable. And this, 0:11:36.580 --> 0:11:40.080 this could turn into just a, um, you know, massive 0:11:40.140 --> 0:11:41.660 quarterback showdown Sunday afternoon. 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:43.620 He's just, he's such, I think one thing that goes 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:46.720 back for me is he's so unselfish that at times 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:49.720 you forget just how good he is at throwing the football, right? 0:11:50.220 --> 0:11:54.400 The offense the last three-ish years has not been about 0:11:54.460 --> 0:11:57.160 Jordan Love, right? It's been about depth at receiver. It's 0:11:57.220 --> 0:11:59.559 been about Josh Jacobs two years ago being a Pro 0:11:59.580 --> 0:12:02.839 Bowl player, you know, Tucker Kraft breaking out. It's been 0:12:02.860 --> 0:12:05.340 about spreading the ball out. This is one of those 0:12:05.380 --> 0:12:07.710 scenarios where the other 10 guys in the huddle are 0:12:07.770 --> 0:12:10.230 all looking at Jordan Love right now. Matt LaFleur is 0:12:10.270 --> 0:12:13.070 looking at Jordan Love and it is about what plays 0:12:13.110 --> 0:12:15.370 this guy can make now, you know, as he's 27 0:12:15.370 --> 0:12:18.079 years old and kind of entering the peak of his powers. 0:12:19.179 --> 0:12:21.480 And it's just been really fun to watch from that 0:12:21.540 --> 0:12:24.800 regard because it looks like he's playing free, he's playing loose, 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:28.620 and most importantly, he's having fun. this guy loves to 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:30.800 throw the football, and he can do some amazing things 0:12:30.820 --> 0:12:33.640 with it. For the people that have watched, Packer fans 0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:35.880 have seen it. For the people that are just seeing 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:38.000 him now for the first time, it's cool that they're 0:12:38.020 --> 0:12:40.219 finally starting to get a chance to experience that on 0:12:40.260 --> 0:12:41.160 a national scale. 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:45.240 Yeah, absolutely. Well, let's dive right into keys to victory 0:12:45.280 --> 0:12:47.280 here for Green Bay. There are a lot of things 0:12:47.820 --> 0:12:49.780 that the Packers will have to do well in order 0:12:49.850 --> 0:12:52.870 to win this game. What rises to the top of 0:12:52.890 --> 0:12:53.470 the list for you? 0:12:53.650 --> 0:12:56.520 I told my tire man, Doug Allberg, this morning, it's 0:12:56.559 --> 0:13:00.100 going to come down to explosive plays on Sunday. When 0:13:00.140 --> 0:13:02.319 you look at it, and that goes both ways, man, 0:13:02.559 --> 0:13:05.350 I think the Packers need to establish the run. They 0:13:05.390 --> 0:13:09.170 need to keep Detroit honest. So whether it's Josh Jacobs, 0:13:10.010 --> 0:13:12.670 Marshawn Lloyd, whomever back there, they need to do that. 0:13:13.940 --> 0:13:16.040 there are big plays to be made through the air 0:13:16.100 --> 0:13:19.360 in this game. And if teams, or in this particular case, 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:21.380 if the Lions want to start to cloud a little 0:13:21.420 --> 0:13:24.300 bit more of the coverage with Watson or with Golden, 0:13:24.860 --> 0:13:28.679 whoever has the one-on-one op needs to maximize it. Tucker 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:31.030 Kraft can catch a 50-yard pass now. We've seen it 0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:34.130 this year, right? We've seen the opportunities that are there 0:13:34.210 --> 0:13:37.390 for the Packers offense if the moments happen where teams 0:13:37.450 --> 0:13:39.670 are isolating on those top two receivers. So I don't 0:13:39.690 --> 0:13:41.109 care if it's Watson, I don't care if it's Golden, 0:13:41.210 --> 0:13:44.760 Bo Melton, J. Michael Sturdivant, Savion Williams, whoever you want 0:13:44.780 --> 0:13:49.429 to pick. If the Packers can maximize those chances at 0:13:49.470 --> 0:13:53.590 explosive plays, catch the football, score touchdowns, I think they 0:13:53.610 --> 0:13:57.390 control this game. Because on average, I do think the Packers' 0:13:57.450 --> 0:14:00.840 offense is more explosive than what Detroit has. Detroit's more 0:14:00.860 --> 0:14:03.339 of a possession-based scheme. That's the way they run this thing. 0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:06.610 Yeah, I would agree there. To me, To me, this 0:14:06.660 --> 0:14:09.130 game comes down to two things for Green Bay that 0:14:09.150 --> 0:14:11.390 they have to do really, really well in order to win. 0:14:11.450 --> 0:14:13.890 The first one is tackling on the defensive side of 0:14:13.910 --> 0:14:17.010 the ball. And other than one game, and we always 0:14:17.070 --> 0:14:19.270 keep saying that, other than the one game, the Thursday 0:14:19.290 --> 0:14:22.130 night home opener against Atlanta, this Packers defense has played 0:14:22.170 --> 0:14:24.150 the way you want it to play. And this Packers 0:14:24.190 --> 0:14:27.550 defense has tackled very well. What stands out to me 0:14:27.610 --> 0:14:30.150 as far as tackling in this particular game is when 0:14:30.170 --> 0:14:34.640 you're talking about Jameer Gibbs and his ability to make 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:38.530 people miss and turn short gains into big ones. Jamison Williams, 0:14:38.570 --> 0:14:40.990 the same way with his, with his speed, you know, 0:14:41.030 --> 0:14:43.190 they'll run him on a shallow cross just to get 0:14:43.230 --> 0:14:45.550 him in some space. And then like, okay, if he 0:14:45.570 --> 0:14:51.390 breaks one tackle last week with the Packers defense, really 0:14:51.550 --> 0:14:54.830 heating up Dak Prescott, putting so much pressure on the Cowboys. 0:14:55.350 --> 0:14:58.030 There were a lot of plays that came down to 0:14:58.050 --> 0:15:01.330 a one-on-one tackle in the open field when Prescott did 0:15:01.390 --> 0:15:03.960 find a hot read, hit his guy, right? It was 0:15:03.980 --> 0:15:07.320 Cissé or Keyshawn Nixon or one of the other DBs one-on-one. 0:15:08.020 --> 0:15:11.420 That tackle was made where if that tackle is missed, 0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:14.239 suddenly the Cowboys have a big, you know, a play 0:15:14.280 --> 0:15:16.730 that ruptures and they're making their way down the field. 0:15:16.750 --> 0:15:19.630 The Packers did a great job with those types of 0:15:19.670 --> 0:15:22.370 tackles last week. And I think that has to continue 0:15:22.410 --> 0:15:24.950 in this one. And the other thing is what I 0:15:25.010 --> 0:15:30.620 said earlier is protecting Jordan Love because This Lions defensive 0:15:30.650 --> 0:15:33.040 front has racked up a ton of sacks. We've seen 0:15:33.100 --> 0:15:36.160 Jordan Love get hit this season way too many times. 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:39.540 Things had started to stabilize on the offensive line, but 0:15:39.580 --> 0:15:42.440 then last week he took some shots again against the Cowboys, 0:15:42.500 --> 0:15:44.450 and you've got to be able to avoid that. Now 0:15:44.490 --> 0:15:48.310 we'll see, heading into this game, Aaron Banks is getting healthier. 0:15:48.450 --> 0:15:51.930 Kevin Zeitler, he's been in the fold for a few 0:15:51.970 --> 0:15:54.230 weeks now, so are the Packers going to make changes 0:15:54.290 --> 0:15:56.520 at the guard positions and shift things up on the 0:15:56.580 --> 0:16:00.330 offensive line again? maybe, maybe not. We'll probably find out 0:16:00.370 --> 0:16:02.670 during warmups on Sunday while we're sitting in the press 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:06.340 box watching things. And you mentioned the potential return of 0:16:06.380 --> 0:16:08.640 Josh Jacobs here. And for those who are wondering, he 0:16:08.700 --> 0:16:11.840 spoke to the media late in the afternoon on Wednesday. 0:16:11.860 --> 0:16:14.660 There's video and a story that I wrote with everything 0:16:14.700 --> 0:16:18.000 Jacobs had to say. That's up on Packers.com. But as 0:16:18.040 --> 0:16:21.940 we all know, he can change the equation offensively with 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:24.120 what he can do with the ground game. And, and 0:16:24.780 --> 0:16:26.820 Jacobs can catch passes out of the backfield too and 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:30.960 be that outlet for Jordan Love. But if there's one 0:16:31.020 --> 0:16:33.740 thing to me offensively that stands out, it's you've got 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:36.020 to protect your quarterback in this game because I think 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:37.820 the Lions are going to come after him with everything 0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:38.200 they got. 0:16:38.260 --> 0:16:41.120 Yeah, absolutely. I mean, Aiden Hutchinson already having four sacks. 0:16:41.140 --> 0:16:43.210 I mean, a number of those guys, I think the five, six, 0:16:43.230 --> 0:16:46.070 seven guys have multiple sacks on it. This is what 0:16:46.110 --> 0:16:48.530 it's going to take to try to find a way 0:16:48.570 --> 0:16:52.190 to answer that bell. And You know, I'm very intrigued because, like, 0:16:52.290 --> 0:16:54.650 I obviously tip my cap to Travis Glover and the 0:16:54.670 --> 0:16:56.410 job that he's done the last three weeks. I mean, 0:16:56.450 --> 0:17:00.880 he did. He's helped them stem the tide here in 0:17:00.890 --> 0:17:02.800 this time in which they didn't have Monk, and then 0:17:02.860 --> 0:17:05.760 obviously now Zeitler getting up to speed. But the Packers 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:07.939 did sign Kevin Zeitler for a reason. This is not 0:17:07.980 --> 0:17:09.380 a guy that they just brought in off the street. 0:17:09.420 --> 0:17:12.119 He's getting paid to be a starting right guard, and 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:14.100 you have to imagine when that moment comes, he's going 0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:15.800 to be ready for it, and the Packers are going 0:17:15.820 --> 0:17:16.920 to want to make sure that he's in the best 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:20.490 place for it. My thing with the Aaron Banks situation, 0:17:20.510 --> 0:17:22.109 because Adam Stenovich talked about it, a lot of guys 0:17:22.130 --> 0:17:25.070 have been asked about it this week, just have to 0:17:25.109 --> 0:17:28.270 make sure he's healthy. Get him healthy. So get the 0:17:28.330 --> 0:17:31.540 toe figured out, get the knee figured out. Laken Tomlinson 0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:34.400 has bought them time. The addition of Laken Tomlinson bought 0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:36.680 them this opportunity. Now, I'm sure there's probably a piece 0:17:36.740 --> 0:17:39.420 of Laken Tomlinson that wouldn't mind getting out there against 0:17:39.460 --> 0:17:41.000 his former team, too, on Sunday. 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:41.480 For sure. 0:17:41.680 --> 0:17:46.060 But all those things added up together, and Zeitler, too, 0:17:46.100 --> 0:17:47.680 for that matter, now that I think about it. Yeah. 0:17:48.150 --> 0:17:49.090 Um, former lion. 0:17:50.100 --> 0:17:51.970 You want to have banks for the stretch run. You 0:17:51.990 --> 0:17:53.880 want to have Zeitler ready when he's good to go. 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:56.520 And at the very least, what we've seen from these 0:17:56.560 --> 0:17:58.619 last three weeks is the Packers now have an offensive 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:00.119 line that can help them get there. They have to 0:18:00.140 --> 0:18:02.180 do better in the run game, but this is a 0:18:02.220 --> 0:18:05.280 group on average now that can give that protection that 0:18:05.320 --> 0:18:06.940 Jordan Love needs. Yeah. It's going to be put to 0:18:06.960 --> 0:18:07.260 the test. 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:10.460 Yeah, absolutely. Well, we need to pay a couple of bills. 0:18:10.540 --> 0:18:12.760 So right now we'll take a break and hear a 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:17.419 quick word from our sponsors. Sirius XM NFL Radio delivers 0:18:17.500 --> 0:18:21.770 hard-hitting analysis and up-to-the-minute NFL news that true football fanatics 0:18:21.830 --> 0:18:27.649 need 24-7, 365. Hey Packers fans, looking to score a 0:18:27.690 --> 0:18:31.040 few more Wisconsin memories? From Devil's Lake State Park to 0:18:31.100 --> 0:18:34.719 the Milwaukee Art Museum, discover all the wonders of Wisconsin 0:18:34.780 --> 0:18:40.370 at TravelWisconsin.com slash wonders. Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. All right, Wes, 0:18:40.390 --> 0:18:42.730 before we go, just taking a glance around the league 0:18:42.750 --> 0:18:45.080 in week seven, um, big one in the NFC North 0:18:45.140 --> 0:18:48.879 right away tonight, Thursday night, um, New England is at Chicago, 0:18:48.900 --> 0:18:51.859 a second game back for Caleb Williams coming off of 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:55.240 his injury. And the Patriots appear to have righted the 0:18:55.300 --> 0:18:57.950 ship after all kinds of questions being thrown around about 0:18:57.970 --> 0:18:59.890 where they were headed and what's going on with Drake 0:18:59.950 --> 0:19:03.210 May and all this after three, four games. Um, The 0:19:03.250 --> 0:19:06.010 Patriots are starting to look like the Patriots of last 0:19:06.070 --> 0:19:08.909 year that, you know, were obviously ended up in the 0:19:08.970 --> 0:19:11.850 Super Bowl, but were a pretty solid team all season long. 0:19:12.230 --> 0:19:14.910 This is an interesting one on Thursday Night Football for 0:19:14.950 --> 0:19:17.130 an AFC versus NFC clash. 0:19:17.250 --> 0:19:19.570 Yeah, and to me, the Patriots look like the quintessential 0:19:19.630 --> 0:19:22.550 example of a team that needed that extra preseason, so 0:19:22.590 --> 0:19:24.369 to speak, right, that we've talked about now in the 0:19:24.410 --> 0:19:26.350 month of September. That happens a lot of times when, 0:19:27.050 --> 0:19:30.929 especially you have young teams. I think everybody... And you 0:19:30.970 --> 0:19:32.780 hear players talk about this all the time and it 0:19:32.820 --> 0:19:35.780 kind of goes over, you know, fans' heads about, you know, 0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:38.300 you have to restart this. You got to rebuild it again. 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:40.199 You got to build your chemistry. You got to get 0:19:40.240 --> 0:19:41.840 all your stuff and you can't just pick up exactly 0:19:41.859 --> 0:19:44.850 where you left off last season. You know, the the 0:19:45.170 --> 0:19:47.409 new england patriots were the wunderkinds last season right i 0:19:47.430 --> 0:19:49.690 mean they just they they won all the close games 0:19:49.869 --> 0:19:51.330 they beat the teams they were supposed to beat and 0:19:51.350 --> 0:19:52.750 next thing you know they're in the super bowl yeah 0:19:53.050 --> 0:19:54.969 they should just keep doing that right well no you 0:19:55.010 --> 0:19:56.790 come back to earth a little bit when everything gets 0:19:56.850 --> 0:20:00.120 reset with another 31 teams the following season so yeah 0:20:00.230 --> 0:20:01.560 this is a this is a big one for the 0:20:01.600 --> 0:20:03.900 pats and it will be a good test against that 0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:07.820 defense and the bears Seeing exactly what they have right 0:20:07.859 --> 0:20:10.420 now offensively, they were very efficient. They controlled the ball 0:20:10.440 --> 0:20:13.919 last week, but it was not, you know, fireworks. It 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:17.080 was kind of plodding down the field and long drive 0:20:17.119 --> 0:20:20.310 after long drive. Curious if they can. 0:20:20.230 --> 0:20:23.090 Win that way. And the Bears defense started to falter 0:20:23.130 --> 0:20:26.950