Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Lake Spofford, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my partner in crime, Wes Hodko. It's coming to
Speaker 1: you Hear from our studios at Lambeufield to preview Sunday's
Speaker 1: big NFC North showdown. It's the Packers and the Lions.
Speaker 1: It will be a three twenty five Central Time kickoff.
Speaker 1: And Wes, that outfit of yours looks familiar.
Speaker 2: It does. So we had a bunch of practical jokers
Speaker 2: at Packers dot Com by the name of Haley Helmley
Speaker 2: and Kristen Crispy Shand that decided to work their way
Speaker 2: into our studio, the grim at Packers Studio and try
Speaker 2: to replicate the irreplicable. And Mike Spofford and Wes how
Speaker 2: Kwitz here on Packer's Unscripted. And I want to say
Speaker 2: this for anybody that might have caught that video. Okay,
Speaker 2: this is how I know.
Speaker 1: It's on Twitter for those who are wondering.
Speaker 2: Yeah talking about Yeah. By the way, this does nothing
Speaker 2: for anybody on the audio version of this right now, right,
Speaker 2: But this sweater that I'm wearing that Lisa Trickle from
Speaker 2: the Packers Pro Shop or the pro shop. She was
Speaker 2: the one that originally picked this out for me, Duke
Speaker 2: Bober our boss, and I'm gonna put you on blast, Duke,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna mention your name. I'm gonna say your name.
Speaker 2: He comes up to me and he's like, hey, you know,
Speaker 2: I got a packers thing going on next week. Could
Speaker 2: I borrow your sweater for sure? Yeah, no problem, I'm
Speaker 2: happy to help my coworkers. And as it turns out,
Speaker 2: he was actually lifting this so that Haley could go
Speaker 2: and use it along with a wig that does not
Speaker 2: look like my hair at all, maybe the twenty twelve
Speaker 2: version of Wes Hodkowitz, but not the twenty twenty four version.
Speaker 2: And they put together a little piece of business kind
Speaker 2: of trying to mimic Packer's unscripted. I enjoyed it, but
Speaker 2: the North remembers.
Speaker 1: The North remembers there was a little story behind the
Speaker 1: shirt that Chris was wearing as well that I was
Speaker 1: absolutely stunned when I saw that video and I saw
Speaker 1: that shirt because that was a shirt that I had
Speaker 1: owned long before I worked for the Green Bay Packers,
Speaker 1: and at some point, just random day, I wore it
Speaker 1: and Tyler Gayeski from our video department. He was an
Speaker 1: intern at the time. This is long before you even
Speaker 1: showed up here. Tyler's been full time for like fifty Yes,
Speaker 1: this is when Tyler was an intern. And I ended
Speaker 1: up gifting the shirt to Tyler. It's a rather loud,
Speaker 1: obnoxious it's a nineties type yeah, Okay, Zach Morris would.
Speaker 2: Have worn that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And Tyler was enamored with the shirt. So when
Speaker 1: he was an intern, I gifted him the shirt. Posterity sake,
Speaker 1: Lo and behold from moving from third floor to second
Speaker 1: floor to now where we have our temporary offices and
Speaker 1: where the video department is down the hall, like, Tyler
Speaker 1: has hung on to that shirt and it showed up
Speaker 1: in Thepackers dot Com mock video with Kristin shand Crispy
Speaker 1: as we call her, wearing it was I was absolutely floored.
Speaker 2: Kristin did a good job too. She that was a
Speaker 2: pretty good Mike Spofford she did.
Speaker 1: She did do a pretty good job.
Speaker 2: Yes, credit to them.
Speaker 1: The shirt is what really made the made the effort
Speaker 1: rather noteworthy for me. Anyway back to business though, but
Speaker 1: there's a big football game youhu jump at lambeau Field
Speaker 1: Sunday afternoon Packers against the Lions. Green Bay is six
Speaker 1: and two in second place in the NFC North to
Speaker 1: Troit is six and one, sitting on top of the division.
Speaker 1: Before we dig into the Lions and how they got
Speaker 1: to that six and one record, a quick update on
Speaker 1: the Packers' injury situation. Things still rather murky and uncertain
Speaker 1: at particular spots. Quarterback Jordan Love did not practice on
Speaker 1: Wednesday due to the groin injury, but he did speak
Speaker 1: with the media and say he definitely and he definitely
Speaker 1: wants to play, and he feels it's realistic that he
Speaker 1: could be he could play on Sunday. Possibly even if
Speaker 1: he's unable to practice all week, he still might be
Speaker 1: able to play on Sunday. So that will certainly be
Speaker 1: something monitored throughout the week and all the way up
Speaker 1: until those inactives are turned in ninety minutes before kickoff.
Speaker 1: Perhaps running back Josh Jacobs, who left the Jacksonville game
Speaker 1: right at the very end with the ankle bothering him,
Speaker 1: he says he'll be good to go. He wasn't practicing Wednesday,
Speaker 1: but he's saying it's just body maintenance. He'll be good
Speaker 1: to go come Sunday afternoon. A lot less that we
Speaker 1: know about cornerback Jay r Alexander and safety Evan Williams.
Speaker 1: Neither was practicing on Wednesday. Didn't really hear from either guy,
Speaker 1: and really very much in weight and see mode on
Speaker 1: that as far as as far as the defense is concerned,
Speaker 1: and there's there's potentially all kinds of different scenarios of
Speaker 1: how the Packers go about this game in their secondary
Speaker 1: if they get one of those guys back or both
Speaker 1: of them, or if neither is able to play. So
Speaker 1: a lot of question marks there. Going up against a
Speaker 1: high powered Detroit Lions offense.
Speaker 2: Detroit Lions offense man is something to behold, and watching
Speaker 2: how they've adjusted and how they've adapted and how they've
Speaker 2: grown over the last three years has been I give
Speaker 2: them a lot of credit. They've drafted well. Dan Campbell
Speaker 2: has instituted a mentality and instilled the philosophy and the
Speaker 2: toughness into that football team. And every single year he's
Speaker 2: been there, that team has gotten better and better and better.
Speaker 2: So the Green Bit Packers have to match that. A
Speaker 2: lot will be made this week and you and I
Speaker 2: will probably talk about it. Some today still about what
Speaker 2: exactly is going to happen to Green Bay on the
Speaker 2: offensive side of the ball, Who's going to be under center,
Speaker 2: what is going to have to happen for the Packers
Speaker 2: to be successful. This game really does hinge though, on
Speaker 2: the Packers' defense being able to answer everything that Detroit
Speaker 2: is going to throw at them, because they have arguably
Speaker 2: the best backfield in the game, certainly one of the
Speaker 2: best two hundred and two headed tandems in professional football
Speaker 2: right now in Jamier Gibbs and David Montgomery. Aman Rossain
Speaker 2: Brown is a legitimate superstar. Sam Laporta has proven me wrong.
Speaker 2: He was one of the guys that I had a
Speaker 2: big question mark about when he was coming out, if
Speaker 2: he had the size, if he was going to be
Speaker 2: able to be the complete player they needed him to be.
Speaker 2: He has been that and then some. And then when
Speaker 2: Jared Goff is completing passes at almost a seventy five
Speaker 2: percent clip, that means things are going pretty well for
Speaker 2: your offense. They've been efficient, they've been explosive, they've been dangerous,
Speaker 2: and the Packers have a supreme challenge in front of them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a big time challenge. The Lions have won
Speaker 1: five in a row, a one on one start, and
Speaker 1: really the last four games is where we've seen their
Speaker 1: team kind of take off. They're averaging forty three points
Speaker 1: per game over their last four games in that stretch.
Speaker 1: I don't have the numbers in front of me exactly,
Speaker 1: but it's like Jared Goff has thrown almost as many
Speaker 1: touchdown passes as incomplete pass yeah, or something like that
Speaker 1: over the last four games. Statistically, he has a one
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty five passer rating over the last four games.
Speaker 1: That's a month of football with a one to fifty
Speaker 1: five passer rating. His passer rating on the season is
Speaker 1: one fifteen, which is impressive enough. You mentioned the two
Speaker 1: headed monster in the backfield, Gibbs and Montgomery. Their carries
Speaker 1: have been almost exactly split. I believe there's only one
Speaker 1: kre different between the two of them. Gibbs is the
Speaker 1: you know, the speedster, the home run hitter. Montgomery is
Speaker 1: the power back. But either one of these guys can
Speaker 1: do whatever you ask of them in the backfield in
Speaker 1: terms of, you know, whether it's catching passes, whether it's
Speaker 1: picking up blitzes, whether it's inside runs or outside runs.
Speaker 1: I'm on Ross Saint Brown. He has forty one receptions
Speaker 1: this season, which is actually more than twice as many
Speaker 1: as anybody else on the Lions. He's clearly the go
Speaker 1: to guy in the passing game. And then second in
Speaker 1: receptions with twenty is Sam Laporta, the tight end you mentioned.
Speaker 1: He has a fifty two yard touchdown. We're talking about, actually,
Speaker 1: I mean, two of the really up and coming and
Speaker 1: reaching the level of premiere tight ends in this league
Speaker 1: are going to be on the field together in Sam
Speaker 1: Laporta and Tucker Craft. You look at their statistics, you
Speaker 1: look at their highlights, you know what they're producing for
Speaker 1: their respective teams, and it's pretty impressive. And both of
Speaker 1: these guys are still really young. Bottom line is the
Speaker 1: Lions have just weapons across the board, and I think
Speaker 1: what I think what makes them most dangerous is that
Speaker 1: they've just shown the ability to score in a hurry.
Speaker 1: They you know, you can maybe even hold them down
Speaker 1: for a couple of possessions and then all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: within their next five or six plays, they could score
Speaker 1: two touchdowns because because they're that explosive and they can
Speaker 1: make things happen that quickly in.
Speaker 2: The way they beat teams is noteworthy. I mean, you
Speaker 2: are talking about a Tennessee Titans team that is really
Speaker 2: struggling right now and is going through a bunch of
Speaker 2: different things, and the Detroit Lions ran through them, like
Speaker 2: you should that type of team go back. You know,
Speaker 2: two weeks ago, Dallas Cowboys. Cowboys trying to get their
Speaker 2: season right. Detroit's like, nope, we got this. They wanted
Speaker 2: down to the wire football game, you know against the
Speaker 2: Minnesota Vikings thirty one to twenty nine. They're just so
Speaker 2: darn consistent in everything that they do. Now there has
Speaker 2: been adversity. Jamison Williams is suspended for this game. Still
Speaker 2: had that issue, I believe with the performance substance, performance
Speaker 2: enhancing variety. I believe it was two games suspension for him.
Speaker 2: Aiden Hutchinson goes down with it. You know, the devastating
Speaker 2: leg injury. Defensively, that's been something they're going to have
Speaker 2: to make up for here the rest of the year.
Speaker 2: They don't have a guy that necessarily just fits into
Speaker 2: that power pass rushing mode that they're going to have
Speaker 2: to deal with. But as a collective, a team that
Speaker 2: got so close to the Super Bowl last year has
Speaker 2: picked up right where it left off and has really
Speaker 2: showed that we are still on the incline and we
Speaker 2: still are very much in contention for that Super Bowl championship.
Speaker 2: That's a little to them for so long.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely they are. They have. They've taken the field
Speaker 1: through this first half of twenty twenty four look looking
Speaker 1: like a team on a mission, knowing that that they
Speaker 1: let it get away last season in San Francisco in
Speaker 1: that NFC Championship game. You mentioned Hutchinson on the defensive side,
Speaker 1: he is out for the remainder of at least the
Speaker 1: regular season based on what we're hearing he has. He
Speaker 1: had seven and a half sacks before he went down,
Speaker 1: was on his way to potentially, you know, defensive player
Speaker 1: of the year or certainly being in that discussion. Nobody
Speaker 1: else on the Lions has more than two and a
Speaker 1: half sacks at this point. But that being said, the
Speaker 1: first full game without Hutchinson against the Vikings, they sacked
Speaker 1: Sam Darnold four times, So you can't take anything for
Speaker 1: granted here. What really sticks out to me statistically is
Speaker 1: that this is a defense that has ten interceptions, which
Speaker 1: matches the Packers total ten interceptions on the season, and
Speaker 1: it's the safety Kirby Joseph with five of them, and
Speaker 1: then safety Slash Nickel slot corner Brian Branch with four.
Speaker 1: Those two guys have combined for nine out of the ten.
Speaker 1: The Lions are plus ten in turnover margin this season.
Speaker 1: The Packers are plus seven in turnover margin. So there's
Speaker 1: a lot of there's a lot of when you look
Speaker 1: at the numbers, sort of like something's got to give
Speaker 1: in this game, right, because both these teams both have
Speaker 1: six wins for a reason. But defensively, defensively, I think
Speaker 1: where the Lions have been most vulnerable is against the pass.
Speaker 1: They've had a lot of flags in the secondary, a
Speaker 1: lot of first downs by penalty by their opponents. But
Speaker 1: then you look at the ten interceptions and it's, you know,
Speaker 1: so the ten interceptions they have and the way they've
Speaker 1: taken the ball away, So it's not like you can
Speaker 1: just say, all right, well, just let's just drop back
Speaker 1: and throw it right yard, because these guys will find
Speaker 1: ways to make plays.
Speaker 2: And Branch is one of those guys. Mike, This happens
Speaker 2: every once in a while in the National Football League,
Speaker 2: where someone is considered a top draft pick and he
Speaker 2: falls for whatever reason, it ends up being a second rounder.
Speaker 2: And I think so many people made such a big
Speaker 2: deal about his safety position when it was like the
Speaker 2: Detroit Lions, kudos to them. They're like, no, this is
Speaker 2: a nickel cornerback that could be an explosive player in
Speaker 2: this league and they've reaped an ultimate reward with him
Speaker 2: falling into their lap where they did Kirby Joseph a
Speaker 2: good third round pick from him a number of years ago.
Speaker 2: I was telling you before we started the show, I
Speaker 2: can't believe he's already up to twelve interceptions or whatever
Speaker 2: it is in his career. Yeah, certainly he made a
Speaker 2: big coming out party in twenty twenty two with his
Speaker 2: interception off Aaron Rodgers in that finale against green Bay
Speaker 2: to really solidify that victory for the Lions and knock
Speaker 2: the Packers out of the playoffs, securing that winning season
Speaker 2: finally that Detroit had been chasing at that time. And
Speaker 2: again they've just gotten better and better. But between Hutchinson's injury,
Speaker 2: between what's happened with Marcus Davenport, there is an issue
Speaker 2: there as far as their edge rush is concerned. That's
Speaker 2: one area where green Bay does need to take advantage.
Speaker 2: Whether it is Jordan Love or whether it is Malik Willis,
Speaker 2: the dangers are different without those two guys on the field,
Speaker 2: especially in Hutchinson's case, who had seventeen quarterback hits at
Speaker 2: the time in which he got injured, the seven and a.
Speaker 1: Half sacks of the prest five games or four and
Speaker 1: a half games or whatever it was.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he was constantly on top of the quarterback and
Speaker 2: for him to be gone, now that's something that they're
Speaker 2: gonna have to deal with. But you know what, Mike, again,
Speaker 2: another testament to the way they play. They are a
Speaker 2: complete three phase football team. You look at last week
Speaker 2: with Kalise Fraeman, was that, believe the NFC Special Teams
Speaker 2: Player of the week.
Speaker 1: That's what I was going to bring up with what
Speaker 1: they're doing in the return game right now too. Khalif
Speaker 1: Raymond takes a punt ninety yards for a touchdown. I
Speaker 1: believe it was against the Titans. As you said, he's
Speaker 1: the reigning NFC Special Teams Player of the Week, and
Speaker 1: they had a big kickoff return as well, seventy plus yards.
Speaker 1: And the first name escapes me, but his last name
Speaker 1: is Dorsey. John Dorsey, Yeah, John Dorsey, good old friend,
Speaker 1: but il Dorsey. So they have a ninety yard punt
Speaker 1: return and a seventy yard kickoff return in the same game.
Speaker 1: I mean again, just other examples of the explosiveness of
Speaker 1: the players that they have on the field and the
Speaker 1: way they can the way they can turn a game
Speaker 1: on its head so quickly. Because a couple different things
Speaker 1: to look at here. When they beat the Vikings in Minneapolis,
Speaker 1: they felt but the Lions fell behind ten to nothing
Speaker 1: out of it eating that game, and they didn't blink,
Speaker 1: they didn't flinch, and they ended up they ended up
Speaker 1: needing a field goal right at the end to win.
Speaker 1: But that was because of a fumble by David Montgomery
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter that the Vikings scooped and scored,
Speaker 1: you know, ran the other wave to surprisingly retake the lead.
Speaker 1: But they're down ten to nothing on the road division rival,
Speaker 1: you know, Minnesota Vikings, and you know they you know,
Speaker 1: they ended up outscoring them. I believe it was like
Speaker 1: twenty eight to seven through like the second and third
Speaker 1: quarters of that game last week against the Titans, that
Speaker 1: game is fourteen to fourteen in in the early stages.
Speaker 1: At some point in the first half there it's fourteen
Speaker 1: all and the next thing you know, the Lions have
Speaker 1: ripped off twenty eight or thirty five straight points or
Speaker 1: whatever it is, and the game turns into a blowout.
Speaker 1: So these guys can These guys can change games in
Speaker 1: a hurry, I guess, is what my point is.
Speaker 2: And to get back as far as the special teams too,
Speaker 2: they're just they're really solid. I think Jack Fox is
Speaker 2: one of my favorite punters in the league. He's been
Speaker 2: an All Pro before in this time, he's one of
Speaker 2: the guys when you watch him, his ball placement is
Speaker 2: just extraordinary. And then Jake Bates has gone in there
Speaker 2: and I think as eleven for eleven on the season
Speaker 2: after everything he did during the XFL year. Again, they're
Speaker 2: very complete. We'll talk about in a minute here. There's
Speaker 2: opportunities for the Packers to win this game, but the
Speaker 2: challenges and the need to be you know, dial into
Speaker 2: your details is so so critical to being able to
Speaker 2: defend a team like this.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well that was what's next on my list is Okay,
Speaker 1: we've gone over all these things that the Lions do
Speaker 1: well and why they are six and one and sitting
Speaker 1: on top of the NFC North and in fact kind
Speaker 1: of the team right now that most people are pegging
Speaker 1: as the team to beat in the NFC in general.
Speaker 1: So what are the keys to victory for Green Bay?
Speaker 1: What do the Packers need to do to come out
Speaker 1: on top in this one?
Speaker 2: Survive the second quarter? I don't know. You dig into
Speaker 2: this stuff a lot. You look at the stat sheet.
Speaker 1: I did see those numbers. It's like one hundred and
Speaker 1: two points to like twenty twenty seven, twenty seven.
Speaker 2: Okay, So what Detroit does is, I mean they start
Speaker 2: and it's kind of almost like a fighter sort of
Speaker 2: finding his range, and then they hammer you in the
Speaker 2: second quarter, and you know, you look at their their
Speaker 2: ebbs and flows, I mean it's thirty eight, one hundred
Speaker 2: and two sixty five twenty three. Like there is sort
Speaker 2: of this pattern as far as when they're striking. But
Speaker 2: that is where they've won a lot of these games,
Speaker 2: is they've taken the souls of a lot of teams
Speaker 2: in that second quarter and going into halftime and really
Speaker 2: making them question everything. They talk so much about the
Speaker 2: point differential in the NFC North and in how extraordinary
Speaker 2: that has been to this point, and the fact that
Speaker 2: all four of these teams are actually in the plus
Speaker 2: area if I remember correctly, and the Allions are like
Speaker 2: plus one sixteen. I mean, they are just getting out
Speaker 2: and dominating teams, but there are opportunities. They're strange anomalies
Speaker 2: with this team, the fact that they're minus one sixteen
Speaker 2: and the penalty differential, the fact that you know they've
Speaker 2: had some moments there where teams have been able to
Speaker 2: put points on them and they've been able to have
Speaker 2: success against them. But when you're getting hit with waves
Speaker 2: of offense like the Relions have done, which again with
Speaker 2: a few exceptions, are their top ten and pretty much
Speaker 2: everything top five in a lot, that's ultimately what pushes
Speaker 2: the tempo of a football game. No matter what it's
Speaker 2: about points, it's about touchdowns. And the Detroit Lions, with
Speaker 2: how efficient Jared Goff has been playing at an MVP
Speaker 2: caliber level to this point, it's been really hard to
Speaker 2: knock them off their spot. The Packers have to do that, though.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think for me, for me, this game
Speaker 1: comes down to the explosive play ratio or the explosive
Speaker 1: play equation. Both of these offenses, the Packers and the Lions,
Speaker 1: they make big plays a lot You know, taking chunksy
Speaker 1: yard it's twenty five yards here, thirty five yards there.
Speaker 1: The Packers have to win that ratio in this game.
Speaker 1: I don't think you. I don't think you're going to
Speaker 1: stop the Lions from being able to make explosive plays.
Speaker 1: But the more times that you can make them grind
Speaker 1: out a twelve or thirteen play drive in order to score,
Speaker 1: that's just where you give the defense more opportunities to
Speaker 1: possibly get whether it's that pass deflection or punch the
Speaker 1: ball out, or somebody gets a really good rush and
Speaker 1: either gets the hit on the quarterback or the really
Speaker 1: good rush that leads to a holding penalty and then
Speaker 1: puts them behind the sticks, and then you have a chance.
Speaker 1: But if they're going to take thirty and forty yard
Speaker 1: chunks of the field on a regular basis, your defense
Speaker 1: is not going to have a chance to do that.
Speaker 1: And conversely, offensively, the Packers, in a lot of ways,
Speaker 1: they live and die by the explosive play. When the
Speaker 1: Packers get an explosive play, they score points on the
Speaker 1: drive more often than not. I'd say it's probably ninety
Speaker 1: to ninety five percent of the time. So the Packers
Speaker 1: still have to be able to do what they do
Speaker 1: against this defense and take chunks of the field at
Speaker 1: the end of the game. If we're looking at the
Speaker 1: place of twenty plus yards and the Packers are, the
Speaker 1: Packers make more of them than the Lions than I
Speaker 1: like Green Bay's chances to win this football.
Speaker 2: In whatever yards they can't get against the run. I
Speaker 2: mean defensively, the Lions, they've been really good as far
Speaker 2: as teams and what they're rushing and their averages are.
Speaker 2: But if you dig into that a little bit more,
Speaker 2: it's because so many teams have had to throw from
Speaker 2: being behind their fifth and run defense right now, but
Speaker 2: they're twenty second in yards per rush, and if you
Speaker 2: look at it with the passing game, yes, teams have
Speaker 2: put up some passing yards because they've had to. If
Speaker 2: you can establish the run and get into your offensive rhythm,
Speaker 2: especially if it ends up being Malik Willis as your
Speaker 2: starting quarterback in this thing, if Jordan can't go, that
Speaker 2: is going to be absolutely critical. One of the things
Speaker 2: that Packers have done really well Mike in all of
Speaker 2: these appearances, maybe with the exception of the final play
Speaker 2: there that Willis had to come in Brazil, but his
Speaker 2: three games where he basically helped them win the game. Right,
Speaker 2: They've been able to manage possessions at a premium. Every
Speaker 2: single possession has had meaning for the most part. That
Speaker 2: has to continue against Detroit. If you're going to be
Speaker 2: able to hang in there with the punch just that
Speaker 2: they're going to throw against you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and the other thing too, because we know this
Speaker 1: is a Lions team that doesn't turn the ball over
Speaker 1: much that I was actually looking at. The Packers have
Speaker 1: gone five consecutive games without having a turnover free game. Offensively, offensively,
Speaker 1: slash special teams. You cannot turn the ball over in
Speaker 1: this game. You may not be able to win the
Speaker 1: turnover battle, but you have to be able to get
Speaker 1: out of this game at worst at zero zero in
Speaker 1: the turnover takeaway department. Because seeing the Packers only have
Speaker 1: the one giveaway last week on the interception in the
Speaker 1: red zone, that was certainly a step in the right direction.
Speaker 1: And as we've seen with Malik Willis he in all
Speaker 1: the time that he has been playing in place of
Speaker 1: Jordan Love, he does not put the ball in harm's way.
Speaker 1: He's done a remarkable job of protecting the football. But
Speaker 1: whether it's whether it's love or willis it feels like
Speaker 1: this game has to be a zero giveaway game. Yep
Speaker 1: for green Bay. Regardless of what the defense is able
Speaker 1: to do in the takeaway department, the Packers absolutely cannot
Speaker 1: have a turnover. You know.
Speaker 2: The other thing that has happened to green Bay has
Speaker 2: to win on third downs because the Detroit Lions are
Speaker 2: the best in ball right now defensively on third downs. Again,
Speaker 2: that goes with a lot of teams to throw against him.
Speaker 1: But you what is the they're allowing is it? Is
Speaker 1: it thirty percent or just under right right at right
Speaker 1: at thirty percent? Thirty percent conversions on a third down
Speaker 1: against that defense, It's a It's a tough one to
Speaker 1: move the chains. I'll take care of some sponsor business here.
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Speaker 2: We should ever do the draft?
Speaker 1: Will imitate me? So well?
Speaker 2: Yeah, ever do the draft one? Like literally remember that
Speaker 2: when Matt Arvin had micd up coon that one time
Speaker 2: and he came in and did on scripture with us
Speaker 2: that one time. Yeah, yeah, she have Kristen just come
Speaker 2: in with yeah.
Speaker 1: Just ever come in. She can do the she can
Speaker 1: do the ad reads. It's week nine, yeah in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Wes looking around at the other games that are going on.
Speaker 1: I mean there is there is no game on the
Speaker 1: slate in the NFL in Week nine that is bigger
Speaker 1: than Packers and Lions at lambeau Field. But that being said,
Speaker 1: there are other very interesting ones that impact the NFC
Speaker 1: in general as well as the NFC North. I'm very
Speaker 1: curious Chicago goes on the road to Arizona. I am
Speaker 1: very curious how the Bears respond to losing a game
Speaker 1: on a Hail Mary, because that kind of loss, and
Speaker 1: especially with everything with you know, the one player Tyreek
Speaker 1: Stevenson whose kind of head was not in the game
Speaker 1: on the final play and all that, that's the kind
Speaker 1: of thing that can that can really spiral things the
Speaker 1: wrong way for a team. So can the Bears respond
Speaker 1: to that in the appropriate way. Going out to Arizona
Speaker 1: and playing against a Cardinals team that Kyler Murray in
Speaker 1: that offense, they're getting some things going out.
Speaker 2: They're so scrappy and Marvin Harrison Junior. We talked about
Speaker 2: it when the Packers played on I mean, it's just
Speaker 2: such a premium talent and they've been I keep saying it.
Speaker 2: I mentioned in last week's show. Seeing if you don't
Speaker 2: corral Murray what he can do offensively is something to behold.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of good scrambling quarterbacks, there's a lot
Speaker 2: of good elusive quarterbacks. He has it all and he
Speaker 2: can really will you to a victory. Chicago great test
Speaker 2: for them defensively, but I'm with you, seeing what their
Speaker 2: response to that game is is going to be critical.
Speaker 2: I mean, really realistically, even though the Packers and the
Speaker 2: Lions are the ones that are playing in the NFC
Speaker 2: North and have these big implications both that game. Indianapolis
Speaker 2: Colts traveling to the US Bank to face the Vikings
Speaker 2: is also very huge too. Joe Flacco is now the
Speaker 2: starting quarterback there.
Speaker 1: That was the other one I was going to bring up.
Speaker 1: And it's interesting how that evolved because a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks ago that game Indianapolis at Minnesota was flexed into
Speaker 1: the Sunday night time slot. It was just going to
Speaker 1: be a garden variety afternoon game on Sunday. Since that
Speaker 1: game was flexed into the Sunday night slot, the Vikings
Speaker 1: had lost back to back games. They went from five
Speaker 1: to o to five and two, and Indianapolis now has
Speaker 1: benched young quarterback Anthony Richardson for Joe Flacco. Flacco is
Speaker 1: stepping in as the starter. It sounds like for the
Speaker 1: long haul here, at least in terms of twenty twenty four,
Speaker 1: probably for the rest of the season that Flacco is
Speaker 1: going to be is going to be Indies guys. So
Speaker 1: now all of that going on and that that game
Speaker 1: is in is in prime time.
Speaker 2: A couple other original Sunday night game do you remember?
Speaker 1: I believe it was Philadelphia against Jacksonville. Oh okay, And yeah,
Speaker 1: they with where the where things were going with the Jaguars,
Speaker 1: the the league and the networks decided they wanted the
Speaker 1: Vikings instead. So a couple other games though that are
Speaker 1: some really interesting implications elsewhere in the NFC. Dallas at
Speaker 1: three and four is at Atlanta. Atlanta is five and
Speaker 1: three and sitting on top of the NFC South. Right now,
Speaker 1: it kind of feels like we say we say this,
Speaker 1: you know, at least once every two weeks that the
Speaker 1: Cowboys find themselves in like a must win type of
Speaker 1: game with what's going on with the Commanders and the
Speaker 1: Eagles in the NFC East. If the Cowboys dropped to
Speaker 1: three and five, if they lose this game and dropped
Speaker 1: to three and five, they're really really playing uphill the
Speaker 1: second half of the season. They're in big trouble.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you can seem bras you can't ever take
Speaker 2: anything for granted year to year, and you can't always
Speaker 2: have the masth of Okay, well this team played this
Speaker 2: way one year, they're going to run through everybody the next.
Speaker 2: Doesn't work like that. Cowboys have had a couple of injuries.
Speaker 2: I think Deron Bland is back this week or at
Speaker 2: least has had his window activated for return, So potentially
Speaker 2: maybe that gives you a left here, But they just
Speaker 2: they are a team searching for something right now. Also,
Speaker 2: this has been another lesson in why I wrote the
Speaker 2: story on Chris Brooks. This week, we've talked about Josh
Speaker 2: Jacobs investing into your backfield and understanding the value of
Speaker 2: having your or your franchise back, whether it's a young guy,
Speaker 2: whether it's not. The Cowboys are a great example of
Speaker 2: how critical that is. They moved on from Zeke, they
Speaker 2: went with Tony Pollard for a year, they let Pollard go,
Speaker 2: and then they brought Zeke back. After kind of a
Speaker 2: lackluster year in New England. Their running game has been
Speaker 2: in shambles this year too. Dak has not had that
Speaker 2: compliment that I think he needs in an offense to
Speaker 2: really have those explosive plays present themselves. In the Atlanta Falcons,
Speaker 2: as much as we've talked about the Vikings and all
Speaker 2: the free agent signings they've made, the Falcons really have
Speaker 2: kind of pushed all in in terms of bringing in
Speaker 2: all these types of guys. I think Justin Simmons had
Speaker 2: come in late, like they had all these different players
Speaker 2: that they had signed, veterans that have been in the
Speaker 2: league seven eight years, and it took some time to
Speaker 2: take and Kirk Cousins has been very up and down
Speaker 2: this season. Yeah, but when they're on they're on and this,
Speaker 2: by no means is an easy one for the Dallas
Speaker 2: Cowboys trying to go into Mercedes Benz and get a victory.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely. The Falcons won a big one in their
Speaker 1: division last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which is why.
Speaker 1: And that was on the road. Actually, the Buccaneers were
Speaker 1: wearing the old cream Sickle uniforms and the Falcons knocked
Speaker 1: them off down there in Tampa. So that's why the
Speaker 1: Falcons are sitting on top of that division. And now
Speaker 1: they're back home against the Cowboys. Out in the NFC West,
Speaker 1: the Los Angeles Rams, a team that is maybe starting
Speaker 1: to find itself here. They're getting the receivers back. We
Speaker 1: talked about that and the impact that had and beating
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings last Thursday night. The Rams are three
Speaker 1: and four. They are at Seattle going up against a
Speaker 1: Seahawks team that is four and four. Four and four
Speaker 1: is the top of the NFC West right now, multiple
Speaker 1: teams with that record and Seattle trying to figure things
Speaker 1: out after being at home last week against Buffalo. Buffalo
Speaker 1: flies all the way across the country and walks into
Speaker 1: Seattle's normally difficult stadium, and just absolutely took it to
Speaker 1: the Seahawks and that game was it was almost like
Speaker 1: it was never even a contest. Buffalo completely dominated.
Speaker 2: And now they got to deal with Cup and they
Speaker 2: got to deal with Nikua Yea and that changes everything.
Speaker 2: We saw it in that game against the Vikings. Rams
Speaker 2: are totally different with those two dudes on the field.
Speaker 2: Everything improves when they're out there. Seattle's an other team
Speaker 2: has been up and down. You know, DK Metcalf potentially
Speaker 2: getting healthier. But I mean, the fact is is that
Speaker 2: when you're looking at a division right now where so
Speaker 2: many and again Arizona Cardinals at four and four is
Speaker 2: sitting at top right now for whatever reason, if the
Speaker 2: season ended after eight weeks, they would be the team
Speaker 2: in the playoffs right now. Out of this whole equation, Yeah,
Speaker 2: every win in that division is critical, So how that plays,
Speaker 2: it'll be interesting. In addition to the fact that for
Speaker 2: the sixth time in nine weeks, the New York Jets
Speaker 2: are in primetime tonight.
Speaker 1: Is that what is that?
Speaker 2: What is six times? Six times in nine.
Speaker 1: Weeks and they are one of the worst teams in
Speaker 1: football right now?
Speaker 2: Yeah, Like I will say this about the networks they
Speaker 2: completely loaded up on Aaron Rodgers in the first two
Speaker 2: months of the season, like they were like, all right,
Speaker 2: all our chips are in on that, but.
Speaker 1: Here we are all and gambling is always illegal at Bushwood.
Speaker 1: But did I hear correctly that Vegas actually has the
Speaker 1: Jets favored over the Texans tonight? It's like it's like
Speaker 1: by one point or something like that.
Speaker 2: They are at home. But it's weird.
Speaker 1: It's like Jets minus one was like the line or something.
Speaker 2: But hey, again, I don't want to get into all
Speaker 2: that stuff. But the fact that it was Packers last
Speaker 2: week minus three and a half and then they won
Speaker 2: thirty to twenty seven on that game winning field goal
Speaker 2: bro wild. But yeah, I mean, Jets are still trying
Speaker 2: to find something. And listen to listen to Rogers press
Speaker 2: conferences this week. I watch both the postgame one and
Speaker 2: I watched his one on Monday. They are they are,
Speaker 2: They're they're feeling it right now.
Speaker 1: They're searching.
Speaker 2: They're searching.
Speaker 1: They're searching, is what is what they're doing out?
Speaker 2: You know what? I'm searching for the twenty twenty five
Speaker 2: NFL Draft.
Speaker 1: That's right, because the home of the twenty twenty five
Speaker 1: NFL Draft is right here in Green Bay. Don't miss
Speaker 1: any draft action coming April twenty four through April twenty
Speaker 1: six of twenty twenty five. Visit green Bay dot com
Speaker 1: slash Draft twenty five for more information and with that
Speaker 1: we will call it a rep on this edition Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the
Speaker 1: team and all of our coverage of Sunday's big game
Speaker 1: at lambeau Field Packers and Lions. We will have it
Speaker 1: all for you on Packers dot com for Wesi Ammike.
Speaker 1: Thank you for tuning in everybody. We will see you
Speaker 1: next time.