September 21, 2023 • 22 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
by my trust in colleague West hodkow it'z. We're coming
to you hear from our studios at Lambeufield here to
talk about the home opener coming up here. West is
a Sunday noon kickoff at Lambeau Packers versus Saints, and
(00:28):
the Saints are coming in with a two or zero record,
built largely on the strength of their defense, allowing only
one touchdown through the first two games of the season,
and that touchdown occurred with like just over a minute
to go in game number two. This Saints defense is
I've been saying it's probably the toughest test for Jordan
(00:51):
Love and this Packers offense for at least the first
half of the season, maybe for the maybe on the
entire schedule.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I would agree. And just what Dennis Allen has done
with that unit. I mean, you forget ten years ago,
just the roller coaster that those Saints teams went through
because Drew Brees would be thrown for five thousand yards
and then they couldn't stop anybody either. And you know,
it's been a steady progression for them. But you know,
Dennis Allen has sort of been the exception to the rule.
This is a league where defensive coordinators one don't tend
(01:21):
to last very long for one reason or another, positive
or negative in two in having success that has slowly
built up. I think when you look at these Saints defenses,
they've gotten better every single year. Dennis Allen has been there.
The training camp practice we had here last year super
impressive unit. But I think they've even taken yet another step.
(01:44):
And the probably the most impressive thing of all to
me is that Larry mccaerron said this when we were
doing three things on Wednesday. And it's true they have
name brand talent at a number of positions, but even
more than that, they have ageless wonders at those spots.
I mean, Cameron Jordan, if you've ever looked at it,
has one of them satisfying box score career stat lines
I think I've ever seen. I mean, he went years
(02:06):
by playing in every single game, and although he did
miss one last year and the year before, it actually
has allowed him to continue the streak of sixteen starts
a season. Yeah, and he continues to be a top
playmaker the honey Badger. I mean, you see Marshawn Lattimore
coming back kind of a scary incident last year, and
you know, return at the end of last season and
he's built back as good as he's ever been. It's
(02:29):
a very dangerous unit for Jordan Love and this Packers
offense to tackle, but also an incredible opportunity to show
how far this offense has come in a short period
of time.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Yeah, yesterday when I was putting together a story on
the Saints defense and I was looking up, you know,
with regard to Cam Jordan de Mario Davis at middle linebacker,
Lattimore and Tyron Matthew. Like you said, in the secondary,
you start adding up to the the All Pros and
the Pro Bowls and stuff, and you lose track. Because
these these are extremely veteran, extremely accomplished play in this league.
(03:00):
They will have to make one significant adjustment in the
secondary because starting safety Marcus May, who has an interception
this season, has been suspended by the NFL for a
violation of the substance Abuse policy, so he will not
be on the field at Lambeau. But this defense, it
started to hit its stride in the second half of
(03:21):
last season. You look at how twenty twenty two went
for the Saints. Seven of their first nine games I
believe on the season they allowed twenty four plus points
or something like that, seven out of nine. But then
in the final eight games last season they did not
(03:43):
allow any team to score more than twenty and that
streak has now continued into twenty twenty three. They're at
ten consecutive games not allowing more than twenty points, which
is one off of the longest such streak by a
defense in the NFL basically in the last twenty five
three years. So a major test for the Green Bay
(04:05):
Packers for Jordan Love, and we'll see what happens with
regard to where things are on offense. Christian Watson is
back at practice, Aaron Jones is not. Elton Jenkins is
out kind of on He's on a week to week
basis right now. David Bakhtiari essentially is week to week
as well from what we know at this point, So
(04:26):
we'll see just who all is out there comes Sunday.
The one that we know for sure won't be I
think is Jenkins. Everybody else will have to see what happens.
But as we talked about on our last show, the
Packers were putting together a pretty good offensive performance despite
being extremely shorthanded in terms of some of your major
(04:47):
players against Atlanta. You've got to you've got to be
able to, you know, bounce back from that rough fourth quarter,
pick up where you left off in that second and
third quarters in Atlanta and try to try to capitalize
on the opportunities you do get against a tough unit.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Yeah. One of the big points I've been stressing this week,
and a lot of my writing has been remembering what
you did well in the third quarter, but learning from
what happened in the fourth. Yeah, and you know, Packers
got up One thing not enough people really talk about,
and it's a story that I'm writing this week. It's
something you and I have discussed as the fact that
Jordan Love for all of these games that he's played,
so few of them have actually come at lambeau Field.
(05:23):
I mean the times in which he's gotten in and
gotten some experience. Now he finally gets that home field advantage.
The Packers have to make that count and we'll see
what tools and weapons are going to be around him
in this one. Certainly it was a positive sign to
see Christian Watson being able to practice again on Wednesday
after returning last Friday. That's a big, big check mark
(05:44):
there to make sure there were no setbacks in his rehab.
But David Bactieri, Elton Jenkins, and Aaron Jones, that's that's
three of the best at their position, not on this
football team, but in the National Football League, and they're
going to have to overcome that. At the same token,
the New Orleans Saints are dealing with their own business
right now. As you mentioned, may get suspended. Elvin Kamar
is still on the suspension, and now Jamal Williams has
(06:06):
this hamstring injury that likely is going to sideline him
on Sunday. So now they're looking at a young backfield
that's going up with Derek Carr. The most intriguing thing
to me, and I don't want to end up sounding
like a broken record here, Mike, but watching these turnover
margins and differentials in the coming weeks is going to
be really critical because, yes, the Packers have done a
great job of protecting the football. They need to extend
(06:28):
that into this game against the Saints because they're going
up against the New Orleans offense that has been a
little inconsistent in recent years. And while they have made
the transition now to Derek Carr. Carr has one touchdown,
he has two interceptions, He's been sacked eight times. There
is opportunity out there, but you have to make sure
that if this game is going to be seventeen to fourteen,
(06:49):
you get the points to win those type of games.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Yeah, and that's what I was going to say about
Carr with him taking over now in New Orleans. You
look at and it is only just two games thus far,
but you look at the stats, you see sixty four
percent completion rate seems to be pretty efficient. But the
two interceptions in the eight sacks definitely jump off the page.
After two games, there is the potential to disrupt things,
(07:12):
to make things difficult on this Saints offense. They won't
have Kamara in the backfield. It sounds like they won't
have Jamal Williams. That's certainly going to put an even
bigger spotlight than normal on Taysom Hill and how the
Saints are going to use him, whether it be as
a straight tailback or as a wildcat quarterback or whatever
(07:34):
they want to do. There in their receiving corps. They
have right now, they have kind of the one to
two the combination of the old pro with the young
rising star. You've got Michael Thomas, you got Chris Olave,
those guys, and Derek Carr's a veteran quarterback. You figure
it's not going to take that long for all of
those guys to get on the same page. But I
(07:56):
think the big question with this game, based on how
well the Fat Falcons ran the ball and ultimately used
that to come back and defeat the Packers in the
fourth quarter last week. What are the Saints going to
do to run the ball, because you know they're going
to want to attack the Packers and their run defense
that did not perform well last week. But by the
(08:17):
same token, you can't just you can't just ignore what
you do well, which right now they're not the greatest
rushing offense because they've had so many moving parts in
the backfield.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
It's one hundred percent correct, Mike, But there also is
a young man down there in Tony Jones Junior, who's
best game in the National Football League came right out
of the gate against the Packers in twenty twenty one.
Eleven carries fifty yards. That was a tough day for
the Packers trying to defend the run. Jones was the
complimentary back in that scenario, and he ran the ball
really well. He's never run for fifty yards again. I
(08:48):
don't even know that rookie that twenty twenty one season
if he ended up running for another fifty the entire year.
But he has that confidence in his back pocket if
they have to turn to him in this game. For me, though,
it does go back to the tricks. It comes back
to Taysom Hill. The Packers have actually done a pretty
good job defending Taysom Hill in the past few years.
Alvin Kamara a little bit of a different story, but
(09:09):
Taysom Hill, they've been able to keep him somewhat under wraps.
You have to imagine though, they are going to be
cooking up and coming up with some interesting plans for him. Obviously,
last week we saw what he can do with the
ball in his hand. Get him in space. He's still quick.
Even though everyone wants to talk about the age number,
he kind of plays beyond that. And then, as we
were talking about before we went on air, you know,
(09:30):
Rashid Shaheed is a guy that has really impressed me
as a former college free agent that again has made
some critical plays for them both last year and now
going into this year. And he gives you a special
team's aspect of that you know game as well. The
New Orleans Saints went and got Derek Carr for a
very specific reason. It's almost kind of like the New
(09:50):
York Jets light. They had a team they felt could
compete to win a division title. They had a team
they felt could compete to actually get to the playoffs,
but they just made either too many mistakes when as
Winston was in there, or they just got a little
bit too blase when it was Andy Dalton. Derek Carr
gives them a little bit more of both worlds there,
the playmaking and also the protection. And that's what they're
(10:11):
hoping to build this thing off of. They were hoping
with that signing and that acquisition that they were that
player away from being able to make this thing happen. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Absolutely, I want to get to our keys to victory
here for Green Bay. But first a little bit of
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(10:39):
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bowl Cousin Subs fifty years of better. All right, Keys
to Victory. We've already dropped a few suggestions here and there,
but if you were to put something at the top
of the list, Wes, what is the a number one
priority that we'll get the Packers a victory on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
This is not gonna sound great, okay, because it's the
home opener at lambeau Field, and there's seventy eight thousand
people there that are reven and rare in to go,
and you want them to have as entertaining of a
football game as possible. But for me, it's that if
the game gets kind of boring, if there isn't a
whole lot of sparkle happening, don't be the ones that
make the sparkle for the Saints. The Packers have to
(11:21):
be smart. I think where you've seen these two victories
that New Orleans has had, it has been predicated on
the opponent making a mistake in the Saints taking advantage
of it and ultimately using that to win. Green Bay
has played really clean football. I don't know what the
percentage possibilities are of going three straight games to start
a season without a turnover. This would be appreciated though,
(11:41):
if that can happen in this game. And defensively, it's
getting back to what they did well against the Bears,
getting in rotations with that defensive front. I sat here
and I pontificated about, you know, Kenny Clark and Preston
Smith and being able to kind of keep some reps
off of these guys. They need young guys to step
up up once again against the Saints. It's easy for
(12:02):
me to sit here and say, yeah, stop the run,
but that has to happen because the Packers need to
keep an eye on Chris A. Lave on the back end.
They need to keep an eye on some of those
big plays downfield. If the Packers can win this game
in the trenches up front, in force maybe a turnover
two along the way, that's going to help out Jordan
Love's cause and hopefully getting his first win at lambeau Field.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
It sounds like the way you started things. Is what
you're saying is don't force it. Don't force it. You can't.
You can't try to take something that's that's not there.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Even if it gets boring, even if it.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Yeah, and and and the urgent that there's good, there's
gonna be some urgency there. And here's here's the way
I see this game. When I look at and I
understand two weeks as a small sample size. We're just
in week three here, But when I look at the
Saints first two games and everything about this defense and
and how well they're playing. The Tennessee Titans kicked five
(12:55):
field goals. The Carolina Panthers kicked three field goals before
they scored a touchdown. The scoring opportunities are there. Teams
have not saying they've gone up and down the field,
but teams have moved the ball well enough at certain
points in the games to give themselves scoring opportunities. Against
(13:16):
the Saints. In that Tennessee Titans game, I looked back
at the numbers. Three of the five field goals that
Tennessee kicked were thirty one yards or shorter. That means
those possessions were deep in the red zone, but they
couldn't finish the drives. If the Packers are only going
to get say they're going to follow the same pattern
as the Panthers or the Titans, and they're going to
(13:38):
get four or five scoring opportunities in this game, it
comes down to are you going to score touchdowns? Are
you going to kick field goals? Because if not, to
say you're going to score a touchdown every single time,
but if you get enough touchdowns and you're scoring opportunities
as opposed to only kicking field goals or as the
Panthers did, kicking field goals until the last two minutes
(14:00):
of the game, that's going to be the difference between
whether you have sixteen seventeen points on the board or
you're up there in the twenty four to twenty seven
range and breaking this streak of New Orleans holding opponents
to twenty or less for ten consecutive games. I believe
the Packers are going to have chances to score points.
It's going to be a matter of whether they whether
(14:22):
they cash in, and that's ultimately going to decide this game.
I do think the Packers defense is going to bounce
back from its performance last week. I know I talked
all off season about how the Packers defense has to stop,
you know, this roller coaster thing, which was the story
all of last season where they play really well and
they don't play well and they go through these ups
(14:45):
and downs. Well, they just had a down. They just
had a down game, certainly a down fourth quarter in Atlanta,
so they have to bring it back up again. But
then but then try to stay there as best they can.
I think it comes down to what are the Packers
going to do with the score chances when they get them?
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Yeah, and honestly play like a team that plays outdoors.
It's not going to be cold, but I mean a
team that is built for this type of environment. I think,
historically speaking, you can't take one season and just translate
it to another. But the New Orleans Saints are typically
a much different team when they're on grass, as opposed
to win there in the super Dome, as opposed to
win there in those climate controlled environments. I think the
(15:23):
Packers it's been a long wait to get back to
lambeau Field for meaningful football, not just preseason. Yeah, making
sure that you can actually capitalize on that is going
to be imperative because there are so many things. I
just think about this. I've been kind of manifesting in
my mind a little bit on while this game could start,
And I mean, just imagine with Jordan Love being able
to get off to some of these quicker starts that
they have, being able to put points on the board
(15:44):
in the first quarter, for a Green Bay Packers crowd
that is just ready to come on glued for this
young guy. There's no better way that you could start
a football game. And I think one of the big
things we never talk enough about, because you're absolutely right
about the points margins and everything like that, but the
emotional upliftingness of a touchdown, of putting twenty five thirty
points on the board is all the momentum that comes
with that. The Packers have to be able to take
(16:05):
care of that.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Yeah. Absolutely, And with regard I lost my train of
thought there for.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
A second, I could say one more thing, go ahead,
if you want the Green Bay Packers, we are going
to have a big transition with iPhones with your Packers app. Yes,
So if you are coming to the game, there's some
great little tidbits on Packers dot Com that you could
find that is actually going to give you some information
to update your app so you can access your tickets. Yes,
(16:35):
you're going to want to do that before you come
to Lambeufield and then cheer for Jordan Love.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Yes, that's a great reminder, the update, update your app
so you don't have any issues with your tickets. We're
in this whole all electronic ticket world, right, you got
to have everything with your phone working right or you're
going to be standing out in the parking lot going
how do I get in? But I don't want to
be in that situation.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
As I said an insider inbox, my dad has already
done it, and if my God bless him, my sixty
two year old father can do it, Gosh darn it,
you can do it.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Too, all right. The other thing I was going to
point out is that you know you have to make
and it's it sounds funny to say it this way,
you have to make the fourth quarter failure last week
in Atlanta count for something, which means that you've you've
got to you've got to learn from it. You've got
to understand, you've got to understand why it happened. And
(17:28):
on both sides of the ball, defensively and offensively, you
have to understand why it happened, what led to it,
and but by the same token, while while learning from it,
you can't dwell on it. You can't let you can't
let the one bad quarter beat you again. And then
you have another game coming up, you know, four days
after on Sunday. Don't don't let one bad quarter of
(17:48):
football suddenly turn the whole first quarter of your season
upside down. I think Matt Lafleur has always had, has
always had a really good mentality and a really good
approach to how to deal with coming up short, how
to deal with failure. And this was and on the
offensive side, this was Jordan Love's first first time, you know,
stepping into that crucible of crunch time in an NFL
(18:12):
regular season game, and you have to make the failure count,
make it worth something so that you're better the next time.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
And I'll close with this, Matt Lafleur has not been
in a joking mood this week, nor would I try
to be a comedian. But you know, when you look
at what happened in the fourth quarter, I really am
reminded of that story he always likes to tell about
his time with the Houston Texans.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Yeah, his first year in the NFL as a lowly
offensive assistant for the Houston Texans going up against Peyton
Manning and the Indianapolis Colt.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
And the Packers weren't facing Peyton Manning in this game,
but it does again remind you of you know, twelve thirteen,
fourteen point leads. Yeah, if you feel really good about it,
you have that confidence in that swagger. But they really
can go quickly, and I think for a young football
team that's the biggest benefit right now. Yeah, Matt Lafleur
and the coaching staff, they've experienced it. A couple of
(19:05):
these veterans on this team have experienced it, Guys like
Dontavian Wicks and Jaden Reed and this young roster they
might have gotten a taste of it in college, but
realistically those are the eye openers that kind of remind
you that league. No lead is safe in this league. Yeah,
you have to make those opportunities count. You have to
really put your your stamp on these games when you
have the opportunity to do so.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Yeah, absolutely quickly before we go a couple of other
games in the NFC North to pay attention to that.
Let's go Falcons. The Atlanta Falcons, who just beat the
Green Bay Packers, now go to Ford Field in Detroit
to take on the Lions. So the Falcons playing the
Packers and Lions in back to back weeks, and then
the Packers and Lions are going to play one another
(19:47):
on Thursday Night football here coming up. And then we
touched on this one also on our last show. The
Chargers are going to Minnesota. Two teams that are both
zero and two, two teams that nobody thought would be
zero to two at this stage, and barring a seventy
minute stalemate, one of these teams is going to be
(20:08):
oh to three in beginning. We both made the playoffs
last year.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
And you saying that, you know, two oh and two
teams that nobody expected, just like Sunday Night Football now,
where you're gonna have a two and o team in
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosting the defending NFC champions in
the Philadelphi Eagles, a team that I don't think many
people expect to be two and oh either. So like
it just shows you that, regardless of whatever the narratives
are around these teams, to use another old Matt Lafleur line,
(20:33):
you gotta do it on the grass. Yeah, and the
Buccaneers going to and taking on Philly now with a
chance to really get off to fast start, that's one thing.
But US Bank Stadium playing host to this game, this
could get real bad, real quick for the Vikings if
they don't attack this thing the right way. Because while
the Chargers are oh and two, and while there are
the Brandon Staley questions out there, they have lost those
(20:55):
games very by narrow, very very easy for you, very
narrow margins, three narrow margins in one of those is
too a Miami Dolphins team that's suddenly, you know, NFL's
pundit's already talking about them being a Super Bowl contender. Yeah,
So the reminder is there of how important it is
and how crucial it is to win these games. And
then also from the Falcons perspective, you know, Arthur Smith,
(21:18):
I was watching a lot of the interviews this week.
Not that they're feeling themselves. I think they've taken the
right mentality, but the NFL is feeling the Falcons now.
And you know, an opportunity after getting in having this
incredible two and oh start, which is the first time
in however many years they've done that to go three
and oh, it would be really important in a division
that looks like it's going to be a complete, you
know race right till the end.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Yeah, when you have when you bring a brand new
potential rising star into this league and he does what
Bejeon Robinson has done in the first two weeks, where
you're getting a glimpse of what that young man can do.
But everybody who's watching it knows that as the oak
cliche goes, that's just scratching the surface, like there's there's
(21:59):
no idea, there's no ceiling as to just maybe what
that young man could accomplish.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
And guess what he gets to do this weekend he
gets to face the Detroit Lions. So very interested to
see how that one plays out. The narratives potentially coming
out of that game could be expansive.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Yeah, absolutely, with that, we'll call it a rap on
this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all
of our coverage of the team and everything from Sunday's
home opener at lambeau Field Packers and Saints. We'll have
it all for you on Packers dot com for wes
I Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody. We will
see you next time.
Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
by my trust in colleague West hodkow it'z. We're coming
to you hear from our studios at Lambeufield here to
talk about the home opener coming up here. West is
a Sunday noon kickoff at Lambeau Packers versus Saints, and
(00:28):
the Saints are coming in with a two or zero record,
built largely on the strength of their defense, allowing only
one touchdown through the first two games of the season,
and that touchdown occurred with like just over a minute
to go in game number two. This Saints defense is
I've been saying it's probably the toughest test for Jordan
(00:51):
Love and this Packers offense for at least the first
half of the season, maybe for the maybe on the
entire schedule.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I would agree. And just what Dennis Allen has done
with that unit. I mean, you forget ten years ago,
just the roller coaster that those Saints teams went through
because Drew Brees would be thrown for five thousand yards
and then they couldn't stop anybody either. And you know,
it's been a steady progression for them. But you know,
Dennis Allen has sort of been the exception to the rule.
This is a league where defensive coordinators one don't tend
(01:21):
to last very long for one reason or another, positive
or negative in two in having success that has slowly
built up. I think when you look at these Saints defenses,
they've gotten better every single year. Dennis Allen has been there.
The training camp practice we had here last year super
impressive unit. But I think they've even taken yet another step.
(01:44):
And the probably the most impressive thing of all to
me is that Larry mccaerron said this when we were
doing three things on Wednesday. And it's true they have
name brand talent at a number of positions, but even
more than that, they have ageless wonders at those spots.
I mean, Cameron Jordan, if you've ever looked at it,
has one of them satisfying box score career stat lines
I think I've ever seen. I mean, he went years
(02:06):
by playing in every single game, and although he did
miss one last year and the year before, it actually
has allowed him to continue the streak of sixteen starts
a season. Yeah, and he continues to be a top
playmaker the honey Badger. I mean, you see Marshawn Lattimore
coming back kind of a scary incident last year, and
you know, return at the end of last season and
he's built back as good as he's ever been. It's
(02:29):
a very dangerous unit for Jordan Love and this Packers
offense to tackle, but also an incredible opportunity to show
how far this offense has come in a short period
of time.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Yeah, yesterday when I was putting together a story on
the Saints defense and I was looking up, you know,
with regard to Cam Jordan de Mario Davis at middle linebacker,
Lattimore and Tyron Matthew. Like you said, in the secondary,
you start adding up to the the All Pros and
the Pro Bowls and stuff, and you lose track. Because
these these are extremely veteran, extremely accomplished play in this league.
(03:00):
They will have to make one significant adjustment in the
secondary because starting safety Marcus May, who has an interception
this season, has been suspended by the NFL for a
violation of the substance Abuse policy, so he will not
be on the field at Lambeau. But this defense, it
started to hit its stride in the second half of
(03:21):
last season. You look at how twenty twenty two went
for the Saints. Seven of their first nine games I
believe on the season they allowed twenty four plus points
or something like that, seven out of nine. But then
in the final eight games last season they did not
(03:43):
allow any team to score more than twenty and that
streak has now continued into twenty twenty three. They're at
ten consecutive games not allowing more than twenty points, which
is one off of the longest such streak by a
defense in the NFL basically in the last twenty five
three years. So a major test for the Green Bay
(04:05):
Packers for Jordan Love, and we'll see what happens with
regard to where things are on offense. Christian Watson is
back at practice, Aaron Jones is not. Elton Jenkins is
out kind of on He's on a week to week
basis right now. David Bakhtiari essentially is week to week
as well from what we know at this point, So
(04:26):
we'll see just who all is out there comes Sunday.
The one that we know for sure won't be I
think is Jenkins. Everybody else will have to see what happens.
But as we talked about on our last show, the
Packers were putting together a pretty good offensive performance despite
being extremely shorthanded in terms of some of your major
(04:47):
players against Atlanta. You've got to you've got to be
able to, you know, bounce back from that rough fourth quarter,
pick up where you left off in that second and
third quarters in Atlanta and try to try to capitalize
on the opportunities you do get against a tough unit.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Yeah. One of the big points I've been stressing this week,
and a lot of my writing has been remembering what
you did well in the third quarter, but learning from
what happened in the fourth. Yeah, and you know, Packers
got up One thing not enough people really talk about,
and it's a story that I'm writing this week. It's
something you and I have discussed as the fact that
Jordan Love for all of these games that he's played,
so few of them have actually come at lambeau Field.
(05:23):
I mean the times in which he's gotten in and
gotten some experience. Now he finally gets that home field advantage.
The Packers have to make that count and we'll see
what tools and weapons are going to be around him
in this one. Certainly it was a positive sign to
see Christian Watson being able to practice again on Wednesday
after returning last Friday. That's a big, big check mark
(05:44):
there to make sure there were no setbacks in his rehab.
But David Bactieri, Elton Jenkins, and Aaron Jones, that's that's
three of the best at their position, not on this
football team, but in the National Football League, and they're
going to have to overcome that. At the same token,
the New Orleans Saints are dealing with their own business
right now. As you mentioned, may get suspended. Elvin Kamar
is still on the suspension, and now Jamal Williams has
(06:06):
this hamstring injury that likely is going to sideline him
on Sunday. So now they're looking at a young backfield
that's going up with Derek Carr. The most intriguing thing
to me, and I don't want to end up sounding
like a broken record here, Mike, but watching these turnover
margins and differentials in the coming weeks is going to
be really critical because, yes, the Packers have done a
great job of protecting the football. They need to extend
(06:28):
that into this game against the Saints because they're going
up against the New Orleans offense that has been a
little inconsistent in recent years. And while they have made
the transition now to Derek Carr. Carr has one touchdown,
he has two interceptions, He's been sacked eight times. There
is opportunity out there, but you have to make sure
that if this game is going to be seventeen to fourteen,
(06:49):
you get the points to win those type of games.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Yeah, and that's what I was going to say about
Carr with him taking over now in New Orleans. You
look at and it is only just two games thus far,
but you look at the stats, you see sixty four
percent completion rate seems to be pretty efficient. But the
two interceptions in the eight sacks definitely jump off the page.
After two games, there is the potential to disrupt things,
(07:12):
to make things difficult on this Saints offense. They won't
have Kamara in the backfield. It sounds like they won't
have Jamal Williams. That's certainly going to put an even
bigger spotlight than normal on Taysom Hill and how the
Saints are going to use him, whether it be as
a straight tailback or as a wildcat quarterback or whatever
(07:34):
they want to do. There in their receiving corps. They
have right now, they have kind of the one to
two the combination of the old pro with the young
rising star. You've got Michael Thomas, you got Chris Olave,
those guys, and Derek Carr's a veteran quarterback. You figure
it's not going to take that long for all of
those guys to get on the same page. But I
(07:56):
think the big question with this game, based on how
well the Fat Falcons ran the ball and ultimately used
that to come back and defeat the Packers in the
fourth quarter last week. What are the Saints going to
do to run the ball, because you know they're going
to want to attack the Packers and their run defense
that did not perform well last week. But by the
(08:17):
same token, you can't just you can't just ignore what
you do well, which right now they're not the greatest
rushing offense because they've had so many moving parts in
the backfield.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
It's one hundred percent correct, Mike, But there also is
a young man down there in Tony Jones Junior, who's
best game in the National Football League came right out
of the gate against the Packers in twenty twenty one.
Eleven carries fifty yards. That was a tough day for
the Packers trying to defend the run. Jones was the
complimentary back in that scenario, and he ran the ball
really well. He's never run for fifty yards again. I
(08:48):
don't even know that rookie that twenty twenty one season
if he ended up running for another fifty the entire year.
But he has that confidence in his back pocket if
they have to turn to him in this game. For me, though,
it does go back to the tricks. It comes back
to Taysom Hill. The Packers have actually done a pretty
good job defending Taysom Hill in the past few years.
Alvin Kamara a little bit of a different story, but
(09:09):
Taysom Hill, they've been able to keep him somewhat under wraps.
You have to imagine though, they are going to be
cooking up and coming up with some interesting plans for him. Obviously,
last week we saw what he can do with the
ball in his hand. Get him in space. He's still quick.
Even though everyone wants to talk about the age number,
he kind of plays beyond that. And then, as we
were talking about before we went on air, you know,
(09:30):
Rashid Shaheed is a guy that has really impressed me
as a former college free agent that again has made
some critical plays for them both last year and now
going into this year. And he gives you a special
team's aspect of that you know game as well. The
New Orleans Saints went and got Derek Carr for a
very specific reason. It's almost kind of like the New
(09:50):
York Jets light. They had a team they felt could
compete to win a division title. They had a team
they felt could compete to actually get to the playoffs,
but they just made either too many mistakes when as
Winston was in there, or they just got a little
bit too blase when it was Andy Dalton. Derek Carr
gives them a little bit more of both worlds there,
the playmaking and also the protection. And that's what they're
(10:11):
hoping to build this thing off of. They were hoping
with that signing and that acquisition that they were that
player away from being able to make this thing happen. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Absolutely, I want to get to our keys to victory
here for Green Bay. But first a little bit of
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(10:39):
all paired with your favorite sub or sub and a
bowl Cousin Subs fifty years of better. All right, Keys
to Victory. We've already dropped a few suggestions here and there,
but if you were to put something at the top
of the list, Wes, what is the a number one
priority that we'll get the Packers a victory on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
This is not gonna sound great, okay, because it's the
home opener at lambeau Field, and there's seventy eight thousand
people there that are reven and rare in to go,
and you want them to have as entertaining of a
football game as possible. But for me, it's that if
the game gets kind of boring, if there isn't a
whole lot of sparkle happening, don't be the ones that
make the sparkle for the Saints. The Packers have to
(11:21):
be smart. I think where you've seen these two victories
that New Orleans has had, it has been predicated on
the opponent making a mistake in the Saints taking advantage
of it and ultimately using that to win. Green Bay
has played really clean football. I don't know what the
percentage possibilities are of going three straight games to start
a season without a turnover. This would be appreciated though,
(11:41):
if that can happen in this game. And defensively, it's
getting back to what they did well against the Bears,
getting in rotations with that defensive front. I sat here
and I pontificated about, you know, Kenny Clark and Preston
Smith and being able to kind of keep some reps
off of these guys. They need young guys to step
up up once again against the Saints. It's easy for
(12:02):
me to sit here and say, yeah, stop the run,
but that has to happen because the Packers need to
keep an eye on Chris A. Lave on the back end.
They need to keep an eye on some of those
big plays downfield. If the Packers can win this game
in the trenches up front, in force maybe a turnover
two along the way, that's going to help out Jordan
Love's cause and hopefully getting his first win at lambeau Field.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
It sounds like the way you started things. Is what
you're saying is don't force it. Don't force it. You can't.
You can't try to take something that's that's not there.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Even if it gets boring, even if it.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Yeah, and and and the urgent that there's good, there's
gonna be some urgency there. And here's here's the way
I see this game. When I look at and I
understand two weeks as a small sample size. We're just
in week three here, But when I look at the
Saints first two games and everything about this defense and
and how well they're playing. The Tennessee Titans kicked five
(12:55):
field goals. The Carolina Panthers kicked three field goals before
they scored a touchdown. The scoring opportunities are there. Teams
have not saying they've gone up and down the field,
but teams have moved the ball well enough at certain
points in the games to give themselves scoring opportunities. Against
(13:16):
the Saints. In that Tennessee Titans game, I looked back
at the numbers. Three of the five field goals that
Tennessee kicked were thirty one yards or shorter. That means
those possessions were deep in the red zone, but they
couldn't finish the drives. If the Packers are only going
to get say they're going to follow the same pattern
as the Panthers or the Titans, and they're going to
(13:38):
get four or five scoring opportunities in this game, it
comes down to are you going to score touchdowns? Are
you going to kick field goals? Because if not, to
say you're going to score a touchdown every single time,
but if you get enough touchdowns and you're scoring opportunities
as opposed to only kicking field goals or as the
Panthers did, kicking field goals until the last two minutes
(14:00):
of the game, that's going to be the difference between
whether you have sixteen seventeen points on the board or
you're up there in the twenty four to twenty seven
range and breaking this streak of New Orleans holding opponents
to twenty or less for ten consecutive games. I believe
the Packers are going to have chances to score points.
It's going to be a matter of whether they whether
(14:22):
they cash in, and that's ultimately going to decide this game.
I do think the Packers defense is going to bounce
back from its performance last week. I know I talked
all off season about how the Packers defense has to stop,
you know, this roller coaster thing, which was the story
all of last season where they play really well and
they don't play well and they go through these ups
(14:45):
and downs. Well, they just had a down. They just
had a down game, certainly a down fourth quarter in Atlanta,
so they have to bring it back up again. But
then but then try to stay there as best they can.
I think it comes down to what are the Packers
going to do with the score chances when they get them?
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Yeah, and honestly play like a team that plays outdoors.
It's not going to be cold, but I mean a
team that is built for this type of environment. I think,
historically speaking, you can't take one season and just translate
it to another. But the New Orleans Saints are typically
a much different team when they're on grass, as opposed
to win there in the super Dome, as opposed to
win there in those climate controlled environments. I think the
(15:23):
Packers it's been a long wait to get back to
lambeau Field for meaningful football, not just preseason. Yeah, making
sure that you can actually capitalize on that is going
to be imperative because there are so many things. I
just think about this. I've been kind of manifesting in
my mind a little bit on while this game could start,
And I mean, just imagine with Jordan Love being able
to get off to some of these quicker starts that
they have, being able to put points on the board
(15:44):
in the first quarter, for a Green Bay Packers crowd
that is just ready to come on glued for this
young guy. There's no better way that you could start
a football game. And I think one of the big
things we never talk enough about, because you're absolutely right
about the points margins and everything like that, but the
emotional upliftingness of a touchdown, of putting twenty five thirty
points on the board is all the momentum that comes
with that. The Packers have to be able to take
(16:05):
care of that.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Yeah. Absolutely, And with regard I lost my train of
thought there for.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
A second, I could say one more thing, go ahead,
if you want the Green Bay Packers, we are going
to have a big transition with iPhones with your Packers app. Yes,
So if you are coming to the game, there's some
great little tidbits on Packers dot Com that you could
find that is actually going to give you some information
to update your app so you can access your tickets. Yes,
(16:35):
you're going to want to do that before you come
to Lambeufield and then cheer for Jordan Love.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Yes, that's a great reminder, the update, update your app
so you don't have any issues with your tickets. We're
in this whole all electronic ticket world, right, you got
to have everything with your phone working right or you're
going to be standing out in the parking lot going
how do I get in? But I don't want to
be in that situation.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
As I said an insider inbox, my dad has already
done it, and if my God bless him, my sixty
two year old father can do it, Gosh darn it,
you can do it.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Too, all right. The other thing I was going to
point out is that you know you have to make
and it's it sounds funny to say it this way,
you have to make the fourth quarter failure last week
in Atlanta count for something, which means that you've you've
got to you've got to learn from it. You've got
to understand, you've got to understand why it happened. And
(17:28):
on both sides of the ball, defensively and offensively, you
have to understand why it happened, what led to it,
and but by the same token, while while learning from it,
you can't dwell on it. You can't let you can't
let the one bad quarter beat you again. And then
you have another game coming up, you know, four days
after on Sunday. Don't don't let one bad quarter of
(17:48):
football suddenly turn the whole first quarter of your season
upside down. I think Matt Lafleur has always had, has
always had a really good mentality and a really good
approach to how to deal with coming up short, how
to deal with failure. And this was and on the
offensive side, this was Jordan Love's first first time, you know,
stepping into that crucible of crunch time in an NFL
(18:12):
regular season game, and you have to make the failure count,
make it worth something so that you're better the next time.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
And I'll close with this, Matt Lafleur has not been
in a joking mood this week, nor would I try
to be a comedian. But you know, when you look
at what happened in the fourth quarter, I really am
reminded of that story he always likes to tell about
his time with the Houston Texans.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Yeah, his first year in the NFL as a lowly
offensive assistant for the Houston Texans going up against Peyton
Manning and the Indianapolis Colt.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
And the Packers weren't facing Peyton Manning in this game,
but it does again remind you of you know, twelve thirteen,
fourteen point leads. Yeah, if you feel really good about it,
you have that confidence in that swagger. But they really
can go quickly, and I think for a young football
team that's the biggest benefit right now. Yeah, Matt Lafleur
and the coaching staff, they've experienced it. A couple of
(19:05):
these veterans on this team have experienced it, Guys like
Dontavian Wicks and Jaden Reed and this young roster they
might have gotten a taste of it in college, but
realistically those are the eye openers that kind of remind
you that league. No lead is safe in this league. Yeah,
you have to make those opportunities count. You have to
really put your your stamp on these games when you
have the opportunity to do so.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Yeah, absolutely quickly before we go a couple of other
games in the NFC North to pay attention to that.
Let's go Falcons. The Atlanta Falcons, who just beat the
Green Bay Packers, now go to Ford Field in Detroit
to take on the Lions. So the Falcons playing the
Packers and Lions in back to back weeks, and then
the Packers and Lions are going to play one another
(19:47):
on Thursday Night football here coming up. And then we
touched on this one also on our last show. The
Chargers are going to Minnesota. Two teams that are both
zero and two, two teams that nobody thought would be
zero to two at this stage, and barring a seventy
minute stalemate, one of these teams is going to be
(20:08):
oh to three in beginning. We both made the playoffs
last year.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
And you saying that, you know, two oh and two
teams that nobody expected, just like Sunday Night Football now,
where you're gonna have a two and o team in
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosting the defending NFC champions in
the Philadelphi Eagles, a team that I don't think many
people expect to be two and oh either. So like
it just shows you that, regardless of whatever the narratives
are around these teams, to use another old Matt Lafleur line,
(20:33):
you gotta do it on the grass. Yeah, and the
Buccaneers going to and taking on Philly now with a
chance to really get off to fast start, that's one thing.
But US Bank Stadium playing host to this game, this
could get real bad, real quick for the Vikings if
they don't attack this thing the right way. Because while
the Chargers are oh and two, and while there are
the Brandon Staley questions out there, they have lost those
(20:55):
games very by narrow, very very easy for you, very
narrow margins, three narrow margins in one of those is
too a Miami Dolphins team that's suddenly, you know, NFL's
pundit's already talking about them being a Super Bowl contender. Yeah,
So the reminder is there of how important it is
and how crucial it is to win these games. And
then also from the Falcons perspective, you know, Arthur Smith,
(21:18):
I was watching a lot of the interviews this week.
Not that they're feeling themselves. I think they've taken the
right mentality, but the NFL is feeling the Falcons now.
And you know, an opportunity after getting in having this
incredible two and oh start, which is the first time
in however many years they've done that to go three
and oh, it would be really important in a division
that looks like it's going to be a complete, you
know race right till the end.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Yeah, when you have when you bring a brand new
potential rising star into this league and he does what
Bejeon Robinson has done in the first two weeks, where
you're getting a glimpse of what that young man can do.
But everybody who's watching it knows that as the oak
cliche goes, that's just scratching the surface, like there's there's
(21:59):
no idea, there's no ceiling as to just maybe what
that young man could accomplish.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
And guess what he gets to do this weekend he
gets to face the Detroit Lions. So very interested to
see how that one plays out. The narratives potentially coming
out of that game could be expansive.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Yeah, absolutely, with that, we'll call it a rap on
this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all
of our coverage of the team and everything from Sunday's
home opener at lambeau Field Packers and Saints. We'll have
it all for you on Packers dot com for wes
I Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody. We will
see you next time.
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