Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford, joined alongside the one and only
Speaker 1: west Hodcowits were coming to you here from our studios
Speaker 1: at lambeau Field West this Sunday noon Central time kickoff
Speaker 1: at lambo Field Noon. Say it again, brother w Alright?
Speaker 1: Noon Central time kickoff Sunday at lambeau Field The Packers
Speaker 1: against the Arizona Cardinals. It is our midweek show and
Speaker 1: that means we break down the opponent a little bit.
Speaker 1: And the first season under new head coach Steve Wilks
Speaker 1: in Arizona not going according to plan. The Cardinals are
Speaker 1: two and nine. You brought it up on yesterday's show
Speaker 1: that offensively, their their rankings are at the bottom in
Speaker 1: basically every major category. This is a team that is
Speaker 1: struggling to score points, you know. And here's the thing, Like,
Speaker 1: I can't sit here and tell you that I've watched
Speaker 1: a lot of Arizona Cardinals football this year, and certainly
Speaker 1: we've seen with a young rookie quarterback how difficult that
Speaker 1: can be. Obviously, the Sam Bradford experiment did not work there.
Speaker 1: But I'll be honest when I was just bringing up
Speaker 1: the the depth chart, the statistics for the Cardinals, the
Speaker 1: players that are on this roster. I am somewhat surprised
Speaker 1: it's two and nine. Um, certainly, you know Josh Rosen
Speaker 1: going through the the rookie kind of ups and downs,
Speaker 1: you know, swings that you sort of feel early on
Speaker 1: David Johnson, it's been difficult for them getting him going
Speaker 1: this year. Um, he's had some games, but he's also
Speaker 1: been a non factor. And others. Larry Fitzgerald is there,
Speaker 1: Christian Kirk, there are pieces. Defensively, there's still the same
Speaker 1: playmakers that the Packers face three years ago. When you
Speaker 1: look at Um, you know Buchanan, Patrick Peterson, Buddha Baker,
Speaker 1: former teammate of Kevin King, is in that defense, and
Speaker 1: Chandler Jones is one of the best pass rushers in
Speaker 1: the NFL. Be that as it may, it's not led
Speaker 1: to wins this season, and they're coming into this game
Speaker 1: after really taking a big shellacking at the hands of
Speaker 1: the Chargers. Yeah, I mean that's the one everybody's looking
Speaker 1: at right now. And you know there's stories out there,
Speaker 1: the Cardinals already quitting on their first year coach and
Speaker 1: all that and that kind of thing can happen when
Speaker 1: you're having a season like this, and then, as you said,
Speaker 1: you get you get it handed to you pretty good
Speaker 1: by a team like the Charges. But you mentioned David Johnson.
Speaker 1: For as much as you say they haven't really gotten
Speaker 1: him going, this guy still has a thousand yards over
Speaker 1: a thousand yards from scrimmage right now, combining the rushing
Speaker 1: and receiving. He's got eight total touchdowns. Definitely the focal
Speaker 1: point of their offense. And I agree with us. I'm
Speaker 1: not saying I saw the Cardinals as a playoff team,
Speaker 1: but I didn't see this because even early in the year,
Speaker 1: I believe it was Week three, I watched an extensive
Speaker 1: highlights package of their game against the Chicago Bears out
Speaker 1: in Arizona, which the Bears early won. Probed it out fourteen.
Speaker 1: That was actually the game that the Cardinals bench Sam
Speaker 1: Bradford in the middle of it, and they still had
Speaker 1: a chance to win the game, but they bench Bradford
Speaker 1: in the middle of it, went to Rose in the rookie,
Speaker 1: basically threw him into the fire with the game on
Speaker 1: the line. He made a couple of mistakes and the
Speaker 1: Bears were able to escape with a two point victory.
Speaker 1: But I thought then even in week three, okay, this
Speaker 1: this Cardinals team will be okay. But then it just
Speaker 1: hasn't hasn't really come together for him, and um, you
Speaker 1: know they'll be coming in here lambeau Field obviously a
Speaker 1: Southern team, a Dome team, warm weather team. It you know,
Speaker 1: probably be pretty chilly at lambeau Field on Monday. The
Speaker 1: kind of game really where if you're the Packers, you
Speaker 1: jump on him, you jump on him early and make
Speaker 1: them think about the cold and how they just want
Speaker 1: to go back home. Yeah. Absolutely, and especially coming on
Speaker 1: a three game losing streake war those losses to the Raiders,
Speaker 1: who have had their own issues this year. Looking specifically
Speaker 1: at David Johnson, as I said, you know, they've had
Speaker 1: a hard time game going, they've been more dedicated to it.
Speaker 1: It seems like though since they made a change in
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator Mike coy was let go mid October, I
Speaker 1: believe Bryant Byron Leftwitch now is the offensive quarter of
Speaker 1: that's the acting offensive coordinator. Um. When you look at
Speaker 1: David Johnson's utilization carries for hundred thirty seven yards that
Speaker 1: was against Oakland, seventeen carries for sixty three last week
Speaker 1: against the Chargers, which obviously when you're that far behind,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be tough to get the run game going.
Speaker 1: Still dedicated themselves to it. It just seems like their
Speaker 1: goal now going forward, especially with having a rookie quarterback,
Speaker 1: try to get the ball in Johnson's hands if you
Speaker 1: can twenty times a game, maybe twenty five times a game,
Speaker 1: whether it's the as a pass catcher as you mentioned earlier,
Speaker 1: as a runner, that's the dimension he added before that.
Speaker 1: I believe there was that risk injury that that held
Speaker 1: him out last year. UM a dynamic football player and
Speaker 1: their primary playmaker. So from the Packers perspective, bottling him
Speaker 1: up is going to be a big emphasis. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: I just want to point this out as well. I
Speaker 1: know Larry Fitzgerald, as he's now in his fifteenth season,
Speaker 1: he's not who he was. But I made this point
Speaker 1: in our Insider inbox com I think anybody coming to
Speaker 1: lambou Field on Sun Day needs to take a moment
Speaker 1: and just appreciate the chance to see a surefire first
Speaker 1: ballot Hall of Famer making what is almost certainly going
Speaker 1: to be his final appearance at lambeau Field. I've said
Speaker 1: it before, West, there are certain guys when you get
Speaker 1: to see them in person, watching from the press box,
Speaker 1: that just stand out anytime the ball is in their hands.
Speaker 1: And there are two guys, for me, aside from Packers players,
Speaker 1: two guys that I have seen come into lambeau Field
Speaker 1: over the years that have really jumped out to me
Speaker 1: that way. One is Adrian Peterson and the other is
Speaker 1: Larry Fitzgerald. I've I've been impressed with this guy's career
Speaker 1: from from start to finish. And I know those playoff
Speaker 1: losses for the Packers in OH nine in Arizona and
Speaker 1: in fifteen in Arizona, both games, and he played a
Speaker 1: huge part in both of those in in breaking the
Speaker 1: Packers heart so to speak. But but man, you can't,
Speaker 1: you can't lack any respect for this guy because he
Speaker 1: he is absolutely consummate professional and for the put up
Speaker 1: the numbers that he has second all time in the
Speaker 1: NFL in receiving yards, seventh all time in the NFL
Speaker 1: in touchdown receptions, and he had a Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: quarterback for exactly one third of his career. Had Kurt
Speaker 1: Warner for five years other than that. Other than that,
Speaker 1: he hasn't had any superstar quarterbacks and look at what
Speaker 1: this guy's does and think about that realistically, Kurt Warner
Speaker 1: was there for five seasons. He was really his starting
Speaker 1: quarterback honestly for what three of them because they did
Speaker 1: that strange platoon thing with Matthew and then they finally
Speaker 1: went to Warner and then they've had they had their
Speaker 1: most success. I think that organization has really, you know,
Speaker 1: had the last thirty years at that point. So, UM,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be really interesting to see him come into
Speaker 1: lambeau Field one more time. As you mentioned, Mike, let's
Speaker 1: see now he is thirty five years old. UM. An
Speaker 1: incredible career that he's had. Him what stands out to
Speaker 1: me the most when you think back to that season,
Speaker 1: this is a guy I think, if you're going to
Speaker 1: succeed in the NFL past your thirty one, thirty second,
Speaker 1: thirty third birthday, at that position where you're taking on
Speaker 1: the JayR. Alexander's of the world, these young bucks that
Speaker 1: that are so just at their athletic prime, I really
Speaker 1: think you have to be able to reinvent yourself. Larry
Speaker 1: Fitzgerald did that probably three times throughout the course of
Speaker 1: his career. That latest one in fifteen, and he had
Speaker 1: that three that stretch of three thousand yard seasons from
Speaker 1: fifteen to seventeen. I believe it was an incredible thing
Speaker 1: for him to be able to. He was a big
Speaker 1: play receiver early on, he became more of a possession receiver.
Speaker 1: And the thing I will always remember the most in
Speaker 1: terms of just the most fun I think as a
Speaker 1: as a kid that I enjoyed watching football was when
Speaker 1: you had him and Kwan bolden Um. You know, almost
Speaker 1: like a mini Greatest Show on turf going there for
Speaker 1: a while down in Arizona. With what they can do
Speaker 1: with their passing game, especially, you know, once you know
Speaker 1: Carson Palmer got into that offense, it's been really exciting
Speaker 1: to watch. Certainly they've had some issues, but he's still
Speaker 1: a really shifty player. He's has three touchdowns in the
Speaker 1: last three weeks. If you get him inside the red zone.
Speaker 1: He's really savvy in that area and something Packers legitimately
Speaker 1: they are gonna have to take. And you know, keep
Speaker 1: in mind, Yeah, and you talk to any folks back
Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh, they will say that he should have won
Speaker 1: the Heisman Trophy his last year in college. They're still
Speaker 1: bitter in in the city of Pittsburgh about about that one,
Speaker 1: the the old pitt Panther and uh um, the great
Speaker 1: career he had there. But real quickly, what's the powerful
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Speaker 1: defensive side of the ball for the Arizona Cardinals, the
Speaker 1: statistics are pretty stark west in terms of yardage allowed.
Speaker 1: They're ranked fairly high in terms of clamping down on
Speaker 1: teams passing games, but that's in part because this is
Speaker 1: a defense that hasn't been able to stop the run,
Speaker 1: one of the worst run defenses in the league. Be
Speaker 1: interesting to see how the Packers go about is here,
Speaker 1: because as much as Green Bay wants to find that
Speaker 1: rhythm and the third down conversions and everything with the
Speaker 1: Packers passing game, the statistics tell you that this this
Speaker 1: ought to be a game for Aaron Jones and Jamal
Speaker 1: Williams to get the ball in their hands a lot. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it really really does, Mike. I mean when you look
Speaker 1: at where the Cardinals have been at this point of
Speaker 1: the season, certainly being dashed for a lot of yards offensively,
Speaker 1: but especially against the run, it's been a it's been
Speaker 1: a big thing for them, trying to, you know, find
Speaker 1: ways to get stops. They still have a lot of
Speaker 1: playmakers in this defense. I said to this to you
Speaker 1: as we were coming into the studio, if you look
Speaker 1: at the name type players, Um, now certainly you don't
Speaker 1: you know, Class Campbell, those type of players are gone.
Speaker 1: But when you talk about you know, you're Patrick Peterson's
Speaker 1: your Buchanans, Um, you know one of you know, Chandler Jones,
Speaker 1: one of my favorite players in the league. Just an
Speaker 1: exciting pass rusher. Um. They have guys that can get
Speaker 1: after the quarterback and take the ball away. It's just
Speaker 1: been it just seems to me like that that middle phase,
Speaker 1: the consistent phases where they've been lacking King this year,
Speaker 1: just trying to find some of those road greater type
Speaker 1: defensive linemen, linebackers, guys that can bottle up the run.
Speaker 1: Because in that regard, it doesn't really matter if you
Speaker 1: have Patrick Peterson on the perimeter or something. You know,
Speaker 1: Buddha Baker what he can do as a as a
Speaker 1: multidimensional safety defensive back. If you can't stop the run there,
Speaker 1: it's gonna put you in a bad spot. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: you mentioned Chandler Jones. And if there's a matchup here
Speaker 1: Packers offense versus Cardinals defense, that maybe is the one
Speaker 1: to watch. It is Chandler Jones. He's got eleven sacks
Speaker 1: this year. And we'll see as the week goes on
Speaker 1: what the word is with David Baker and the knee
Speaker 1: injury or injuries he's potentially dealing with, and what his
Speaker 1: availability will be for Sunday. So that's definitely something to
Speaker 1: keep an eye on heading towards Sunday. Yeah, it is.
Speaker 1: And that's gonna be a paramount thing for the Packers
Speaker 1: and James Camp in this offensive line depending on who's
Speaker 1: available there. Again, something will get a better idea of
Speaker 1: after watch some of the practices this week with everything
Speaker 1: that David Botier has been dealing with to this point
Speaker 1: of the season. But Chandler Jones has been really impressive
Speaker 1: to me for a number of reasons. One, I mean,
Speaker 1: he comes from an athletic family. You know, his brother's
Speaker 1: a UFC champion. His older brother, Arthur was, you know,
Speaker 1: a defensive lineman in this league for very for many years. Um,
Speaker 1: just an athletic bloodline. And and he's sort of, you
Speaker 1: know as the baby of that family, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of been the stud and and you saw him
Speaker 1: have some success early on with the Patriots. Patriots obviously
Speaker 1: made a decision there that they were going to move
Speaker 1: on from him and turned into a tremendous pickup. I
Speaker 1: believe it was for a second round draft pick. I
Speaker 1: want to say, I think it was a second round
Speaker 1: draft picks that the Cardinals were able to acquire him.
Speaker 1: And he's been so consistent eleven twelve sacks of season
Speaker 1: since he's gotten to Arizona. A guy the Packers are
Speaker 1: going to have to keep in mind and really, uh
Speaker 1: you know, put their clamps on depending on what that's
Speaker 1: gonna be like, is is box tr available as Lane
Speaker 1: Taylor available? What kind of shuffling has to occur if
Speaker 1: you want or both of those guys are missing or limited?
Speaker 1: So we'll we'll have to see. But um, but yeah,
Speaker 1: he's gonna be a focal point for sure. Yeah, alright,
Speaker 1: uh West at home or here in the stands, we
Speaker 1: all know that Green Bay fans give it their all
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Speaker 1: Bay Packers. Okay, I want to go back to Arizona's
Speaker 1: offense for one second, because they're at this rookie quarterback
Speaker 1: and Josh Rosen. We've talked for the last several weeks,
Speaker 1: almost till we're blue in the face in a sense,
Speaker 1: about how if there's one element that is missing with
Speaker 1: this Packers defense. As much as I think this defense
Speaker 1: has turned a corner this year, I think this defense
Speaker 1: has kept the Packers in games and given them a
Speaker 1: chance to win some of these games. The missing pieces, turnovers,
Speaker 1: they haven't they haven't happened. But you go back to
Speaker 1: the last rookie quarterback who came into lambeau Field, that
Speaker 1: being Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills. The Packers defense
Speaker 1: had its best turnover game of the season. I believe
Speaker 1: there four was it three or four that day against Buffalo?
Speaker 1: Total total turnovers, I think it was four. Um. So
Speaker 1: with a rookie quarterback Rosen has I believe eleven interceptions
Speaker 1: this year, I'm not sure how many fumbles lost. Okay,
Speaker 1: so thirteen total turnovers from a rookie quarterback who didn't
Speaker 1: uh didn't take over the starting job until Week four.
Speaker 1: So um, if the Packers defense is going to try
Speaker 1: to generate some momentum here in the turnover department, a
Speaker 1: rookie quarterback coming into lambeau Field is exactly the recipe
Speaker 1: you're looking for. Yeah, and Mike, you mentioned the eleven interceptions,
Speaker 1: the two fumbles. The bigger stat for him right now
Speaker 1: is last five games. Eleven of his turnovers have come
Speaker 1: in those five games. So the last two weeks specifically,
Speaker 1: only a hundred two one passing yards for him along
Speaker 1: with three interceptions to three touchdowns. So, uh, yeah, this
Speaker 1: is gonna be a big thing for the Packers. You
Speaker 1: have to be able to take away the football. Um,
Speaker 1: not not just this week, It's it's something we talked
Speaker 1: about every week. There's a big emphasis on it. But
Speaker 1: there's something about getting it started, isn't that. I mean,
Speaker 1: when it comes to whether whether you're talking sacks or turnovers,
Speaker 1: it's like you have to get it started to then
Speaker 1: try to get on one of those roles, get that
Speaker 1: momentum going in in that particular direction. And the Packers
Speaker 1: need to do this well. Any streaks starts with one, right,
Speaker 1: So I mean that's what they're gonna be looking for
Speaker 1: in this matchup. The big thing with rosen uh and
Speaker 1: I do think he has upside and I don't fault
Speaker 1: the Cardinals at all for going the direction they did
Speaker 1: and pushing him into lineup, especially with some of the
Speaker 1: salary considerations that were at hand with Sam Bradford, compensatory
Speaker 1: questions that were at hand with Sam Bradford. And if
Speaker 1: they've got rid of them at a certain point, they'd
Speaker 1: be able to keep you know, their equation and formula
Speaker 1: to potentially help them in the compensed story process they're
Speaker 1: building for the future. Now. So this is the guy
Speaker 1: you dedicate yourself to, an ultra confident individual, guy that
Speaker 1: obviously has some connections with Aaron Rodgers based on you know,
Speaker 1: where they both went to cal Um But the bigger
Speaker 1: thing and play here for the Packers, as you mentioned, Mike,
Speaker 1: is they've allowed just too many guys, too many quarterbacks
Speaker 1: to get into a comfort zone. Kirk Cousins is as
Speaker 1: as difficult as that start was for the Vikings. He
Speaker 1: got into a zone. Um Golf in the second half
Speaker 1: got in the zone. Tom Brady stayed in his own.
Speaker 1: So they the more sacks, the more pressure, the more
Speaker 1: hits you get, the more it's gonna take any quarterback
Speaker 1: off his game. But when you look at a young
Speaker 1: rookie quarterback, much like Josh Allen in that game against Buffalo,
Speaker 1: that's where you really make them start thinking and question
Speaker 1: themselves because there isn't that experience, there's not that backstory
Speaker 1: to maybe mentally persevered through that as much. The thing
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be looking for, Mike, much like that Week
Speaker 1: four game against Buffalo. If Josh Rosen hits me in
Speaker 1: the calf with a pastor in pregame warmups, we might
Speaker 1: know this is gonna be a long day for the Cardinals. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we may have to set up our pregame periscope Facebook
Speaker 1: Live in a different spot just to make sure you
Speaker 1: don't get you don't get drilled. Well, I mean, if
Speaker 1: I get drilled, that might mean a good day for
Speaker 1: the Packers. I mean, you go back and you say
Speaker 1: you're willing to make the sacrifice, is what you're saying.
Speaker 1: It's been what now nine weeks. I mean, my my
Speaker 1: calf is compertly healed, so we're we're good from that perspective.
Speaker 1: But all kidding aside, I mean that this is the
Speaker 1: biggest thing, and is if you allow him to get comfortable.
Speaker 1: Cause the thing is Mike. We saw it with Carson Palmer.
Speaker 1: We saw it when Kurt Warner was the quarterback. If
Speaker 1: you get Larry Fitzgerald comfortable, they have some weapons there
Speaker 1: that can hurt you, specifically David Johnson if they get
Speaker 1: him going as a passer. But if you can get
Speaker 1: some pressure going early on and make things uncomfortable for Rosen,
Speaker 1: that's where you might not have, uh, you know, a
Speaker 1: quarterback that can maybe rise to that occasion like some
Speaker 1: of those other veterans have. Ye, we'll see. The Packers
Speaker 1: need to win out and it starts with winning one game,
Speaker 1: which starts on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals. So with that,
Speaker 1: we're going to call it a wrap on this edition
Speaker 1: of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our
Speaker 1: coverage of the team on Packers dot com on Twitter.
Speaker 1: He's at West hot I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers
Speaker 1: for the team mccau. Thanks for tuning in, everybody. We'll
Speaker 1: see you next time.