November 14, 2024 • 30 mins
Mike and Wes preview the matchup in Chicago, reviewing the Packers’ injury situation (:35), the Bears’ offense (3:08) and defense (8:46) and Green Bay’s keys to victory (15:14). They also look at other Week 11 contests in the NFC North (19:52) and around the league (21:54).
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hi, everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
I am like Spofford, joined as always by my trust
and colleague Wes Hodkoitz. We're coming to you Hear from
our studios at Lambeaufield to preview Sunday's Packers Bears showdown.
It will be at Soldier Field in Chicago, a noon
Central time.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Kickoff and west.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Before we dive a little bit deeper into this four
and five Chicago Bears team, a quick.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Update on the.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Health department for the Packers. Quarterback Jordan Love, a full
participant in practice on Wednesday, took all of the reps.
That was certainly good news to hear. Jay r, Alexander,
Evan Williams, Josh Myers all back at practice on Wednesday
after missing the last game against the Lions before the bye.
(01:06):
Colby Wooden defensive lineman, second year pro. He was the
only player on the Packers current active roster who did
not practice on Wednesday. He has a shoulder injury. By
all accounts, at least so far, the bye week did
some good for the Packers as far as their injury report.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
You missed the biggest one of all Michael Tucker Craft
no longer in the red non contact jersey Tucker Klaft
Craft will once again be unleashed on the Packers defense
in practices after having to take off him here the
last couple months. But you know, all joking aside, I
felt like it was a reason why I ended up
doing my Thursday morning story. I mean, this was what
(01:45):
everybody was waiting to see. You know, you saw Evan Williams,
you sat jyr Alexander, you sat Josh Myers going into
the Lions game. Jordan was dealing with what he was
dealing with. How are they going to look on the
other side of this thing? I thought Wednesday's practice obviously
was very positive. Nobody's making any promises. Evan Williams wasn't,
Josh Myers wasn't at his locker, But it does sound
like there's optimism there that all those guys are making
(02:07):
the progress you want to see. And even more than that, Michael,
I just look at a team that did so many
things well in the first half of the season despite
some not a huge rash of injuries, but like nagging
things at bad positions where you don't want to have
nagging things right when you think about the quarterback issues
green Bay went through, when you think about the secondary
(02:27):
and some of the things they've had to navigate to
getting back a guy like Evan Williams, with how well
he's played in the first half of the season, what
that could do for the Packers. We saw the domino
effect of Josh Myers not being out there, Elton Jenkins
having to move in, different communications set up up front.
I just feel like what we saw is Green Bay
getting closer to being healthy, which means them getting closer
to being comfortable within their assignments, and from there, hopefully
(02:50):
the Packers can continue to fly here in the second half.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yeah, and we'll see how things play out for the
rest of the week. Obviously, Thursday's practice is always a
big indicator because they put the pads on. It's really
more of the full contact practice the one time they
do that during the week. So we'll keep our eye
on that injury report as the week unfolds. The opponent
this week, the Chicago Bears. We talked about a little
bit on our last show. This is a team that
(03:15):
was one play away from being five and two and
feeling really, really good about itself. The Hail Mary goes
the wrong way for Chicago. In Washington, they lose to
the Commanders, and there's there's been some kind of what
you call it a hangover effect, whatever you want to say.
The last two Bears performances have just been complete duds.
(03:37):
They've gotten, you know, handled quite easily, to be brutally honest,
by the Arizona Cardinals and by a struggling New England
Patriots team that has now led to a change at
offensive coordinator. Shane Waldron is out and Thomas Brown is
in as offensive coordinator for Chicago. And you know, I'm
(04:00):
not sure exactly how much is going to change with
the with the Bears offense. I think you have to
be kind of ready for some unscouted looks. You have
to be ready for some tendency breakers. If I'm Thomas Brown,
I'm coming into this game against the Packers saying, you know,
our rookie quarterback is having his struggles, our pass protection
unit is having its struggles. As the Bears gave up
(04:23):
nine sacks to the New England Patriots. The running back
is the best friend in those situations, the running game.
I think the Packers have to be ready for a healthy,
healthy dose of DeAndre Swift coming at him in this game.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Yeah, one hundred percent. The tough thing was as I
was looking back at that game against New England and
where they came up short. Certainly the nine sacks jump
off the page and we're not going to sit here
and you can listen to Chicago media as far as
who's all the blame for that. But you know one
thing that I think has really hurt this team when
I look at them on paper is the fact that
Braxton Jones has been banged up. Darnell Wright has been
(04:56):
banged up. Those are your two bookends on the offensive line.
They've had a lot of change on the interior offensive
line there, and it just seems like they haven't been
able to get into much of a rhythm. And I
covered this on Insider inbox Er this week, where I
feel like, when you're building a team and you have
a new quarterback, a young quarterback, you have to build
from the inside out. And in no disrespect to Chicago
or what they're doing, but I mean they kind of
(05:16):
built from the outside in. It feels like, now that
being said, DeAndre Swift was a move they needed to make.
You're gonna lose David Montgomery. You're gonna lose some of
those proven assets in your backfield. You have to find
a way to be able to make up for that. Swift.
To me, he's been okay this year. I thought last
year he was sensational. I thought he really It made
it look like both them and the Lions made the
(05:37):
right moves with how they did their running back situations.
But this year it's been a little bit harder running.
But that being said, he does have a fifty six
yard touchdown. He is the lead back. There is no
committee there. This is the guy, and he's been able
to stay healthy for the most part in that role
in Chicago. And when you're talking about as much as
everybody will talk and discuss about unscouted looks and trick
(06:00):
plays and all these other things, the number one thing
that I would imagine the Bears are thinking right now
is how can we make life easier on Caleb Williams.
And to your initial point, that goes back to the
wrong game and getting in favorable down in distance.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
I think so too.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
I think that's I think that's what this Bears offense
is going to start to focus on to really help
out Caleb Williams, the number one.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Overall draft pick.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
As far as the passing game goes, he's certainly spread
the ball around quite a bit. Roma Duneesa, DJ morricle comet.
All these guys have produced. Nobody really stands out as
necessarily like the go to guy for Caleb Williams, which
I think is a good thing for a young quarterback.
But the Bears need to find something to hang their
(06:47):
hat on offensively, to really to be the foundation of
what they're going to do and who they're going to be.
And I think whatever that is going to be, I
think it's going to start this week against the Packers
because of this big if now at offensive coordinate, there's.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Just no explosiveness to the offense, is what my initial
thing has been. Again that's not a criticism, it's just
the facts. I mean, they just they have a bunch
of guys that have caught the ball. Nobody's had that
big game breaker. I think their longest catch of the
year is forty seven yards and it wasn't even a touchdown.
I mean, like, they haven't had those explosive type plays
that I think sometimes can really help boost a young
quarterbacks confidence and Because of that, they are what is it,
(07:23):
the thirty first ranked third down offense in the National
Football League. It's just been tough sledding offensively, trying to
find some consistency there. Now, that being said, I want
to make this clear because I know we'll transition here
shortly to the defense. But the Chicago Bears are four
and five. They lost threes in a row here now
coming out of the buy they are still undefeated this season.
(07:43):
When their offense scores over twenty points. Yeah, defensively they
can play with anybody in the league. It's just been
a grind trying to find ways to generate offense and
twenty three straight drives now whatever it is without a
touchdown or passing touchdown. I mean, there is a lot
of bad mojo feeling around this team right now. But
that being said, an opening driver, you go down the
field and you score, it changes everything, especially when you
(08:06):
make a change on the coaching staff. So my message
this week has been you got to treat this team
just like you treated the Detroit Lions. You have to
have your antennas up. You got to think about them
as not just an opponent, an obstruction from your seventh
win but you got to get NFC wins, You got
to get division wins, and it starts with the Chicago
Bears and keeping this winning street going under Matt Lafleur
at Soldier Field.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Yeah, I think there's I think there's a perception out
there amongst Packer fans because the Bears are struggling so much,
especially on offense, they can't get things going with Caleb
Williams and all that, there's there's this perception that you
know that if the Packers, you know, they get themselves
healthier on offense, they get rolling, that that they can
go into that they can go into Soldier Field and
just and steamroll the Bears. Here, you look at this
(08:47):
Bears defense and that's simply not going to be the case.
I mentioned this an Insider Inbox. I mentioned it on
our Three Things video with Larry yesterday. This Bears defense
has allowed more than twenty one points only once all season,
and that was to the Arizona Cardinals the game right
after they hail Mary. This is a defense that's taken
(09:10):
the ball away sixteen times. They have eight interceptions, they
have eight fumble recoveries. That's only a few takeaways behind
the Packers. It's only a few takeaways off of the
league lead across the board. Two big things situationally where
this defense is really really tough. They are seventh in
the league in third down percentage allowed. I believe it's
around thirty three percent, only allowing third down conversions a
(09:34):
third of the time. And this is the best statistically,
the best defense in the league in the red zone
in terms of the low percentage of touchdowns allowed. And
that really becomes a very interesting thing in this matchup
because while the Bears are the top ranked team in
red zone defense, the Packers are near the bottom twenty
(09:54):
ninth in the league in red zone offense. So there's
a lot to look at here from situational and a
statistical matchup between the Packers offense and the Bears defense.
One significant injury, safety Jaikwon Brisker, has already been ruled
out for this week. He's in the concussion protocol in Chicago.
They've already said he's out this week.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
He won't be playing.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
That's a big loss because he's, you know, kind of
one of those free ranging safeties. He can play deep,
he can attack the line of scrimmage. He's all over
the field. He won't be out there, but this Bears
defense is not to be trifled with. These guys can play.
They've really there's really only been one game and that
was the game against the Cardinals. The final score I
(10:37):
believe was twenty nine to nine. That's really the only
game where the Bears defense did not give Chicago a
legitimate chance to win the football game.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Yeah, and you know a couple of things that go
into this one. I guess that means we'll probably see
Jonathan Owens on Sunday perhaps. Think as far as the
backup there, I know they have some younger guys as well.
But here's all I want to say about this, because
this came up this week because obviously Mattiberflu's he's been
under He's in the hot seat, people, he's under the microscope. Yep,
whatever idiom you want to use on that. I want
(11:10):
to say, the Chicago Bears are doing something right. Because yes, offensively,
it's not been what you wanted. But when you have
a defensive head coach and your team's not performing the
way you wanted to perform, I feel like you gain
nothing from letting that defensive coach go in the middle
of a season, if their unit, the area that they
specialize in, the area that they master in, if that
unit's performing. The Bears have done that this season. I mean,
(11:33):
you look at what the Jets are going through right now.
Not only did you lose your head coach, I felt
like they lost their defensive identity. They when they let
you know, Robert Salad go absolutely the Bears are committed
to a long term plan. Here. They're going to be
some strikes and some balls, and you're gonna have to
some swings and misses. But defensively, Matti Aberflu's coming here
from Indianapolis. It's been everything you would expect the defense
(11:54):
to be. They just haven't won enough and they haven't
done enough offensively. But that being said, the unit, why
they got off to their fast start, it was because
of defense and special teams. It was because they were
finding ways to win those close matchups. They lost that
the last few weeks, but that doesn't mean it can't
come back. So seeing and it's a very diverse group.
I think fourteen different guys that have a sack this season.
(12:17):
You talk about you know, Tremaine Edmonds in the middle
of that defense. They've always had really good linebacker played there, TJ.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Edwards, one of their team captains.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
Yes, and the fact that you know Montes sweat that
all this conversation between him and the Packers in the
back and the fourth and the rivalry he's talking about,
it is what it is when the game gets played.
But you can tell these guys are motivated to play it.
So I just think it's it's a matchup where the
Green Bay Packers have to take the threat seriously. You
(12:45):
have to put points on the board, you have to
protect the football, you have to play clean. But more
than anything, the opportunities that are presented to make the
Bears question what they're doing. Those are the times where
you really have to pounce because they aren't going to
last their and if they get the wind in their
sales in this matchup, particularly early on at their home
stadium against the Green Bay Packers, a place team they
(13:06):
have not beat since the Mike McCarthy era, they they're
gonna be feeling themselves.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Yeah, And there's a there's a lot of curiosity with
regard to the fan base as well as the players
in the locker room as to just maybe what what
the offense can do with with the changeup at coordinator,
emphasizing some different things, some tendency breakers, you know, all
that kind of stuff. And as you say, especially when
you're playing at home, if you start to get the
win in your sales a little bit, it doesn't matter
(13:31):
who the opponent is on the other side, the Bears
are going to start feeling like that team that was
four and two and on the verge of being five
and two, not the team that has that you know,
has really struggled these last couple of weeks and seeing
their season start to slip away.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
And I want to make sure I bring this back
full circle because the point I'm trying to make with
all my assessments here is Thomas Brown was the offensive
coordinator for Carolina Panthers last year. He was the guy
that had to go in there and they had to
try to devise a game plan for Bryce Young against
the Packers, and they nearly won the game. Young had
one of the best games of his career. To this point.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Carolina probably wins that game if Carolina gets the ball back,
you know, or just gets the ball back ten seconds sooner,
I mean literally another ten seconds on the clock, and
Bryce Young might have beaten the Packers in that game.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
And why did it happen? Why did it play out
that way? Because the Packers did not put Away Young
in that offense. Early on, they got they made some
explosive plays, they had some big plays late, and then
they almost came close to Vietnam. So though, those are
all the things you have to keep in mind. But yeah,
there's a lot of different traps and things you have
to be cognizant of in this matchup with the Chicago Bears.
(14:38):
But more than anything, getting back to your initial point,
the Bears have not scored a lot lately, they have
not had a lot of success. They had an absolute
awful way to lose a football game against Washington. Yep,
you have to make sure you keep them down.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
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subs fifty plus years of better all right, keys to victory.
We've are obviously suggested. Hint today, Oh I got plenty more?
What I have plenty more? Okay, we haven't even scratched
the surface yet, Brev.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
All right, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Oh you can continue talking if you want.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
No, that's all right, I'll throw I'll toss it over
to you. What's at the top of your list.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Packers have to run the football in this game. They
have to run it well. When you look defensively at
what Chicago where they've struggled this season, it's been against
the run. Now again, there's a couple of chunk games
in there. I think that have added that up. But
it's not just the fact they're twenty fourth and rushing
defenses here. It's a fact they're twenty eighth in yards
per carry almost five yards per carry allowed this season.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Which means you can stay ahead of the sticks as
long as you're not committing penalties, right, bingo, what's its name?
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (15:55):
I mean that's the fact. I mean, when you are
able to control the line a scrimmage the way that
the Packers have when they've been successful this season, I
feel like the blueprint is there. So many people are
gonna make this about Jordan Love. He's a full participant,
He's getting all his practice reps. Everything's hunky dory in
that regard. Josh Jacobs is a third leading rusher in
the National Football League right now this season at this point.
(16:17):
Getting him going, getting manageable down in distance and then
executing when you get in the red zone, I think
is going to be absolutely paramount. In Michael, I don't
want to steal any of your stuff. I know you're
gonna have plenty of points here too. But the fact
of the matter is the Chicago Bears gave up nine
sacks last week. Yeah, Green Bay Packers have made some
significant changes with their defensive front. I'm very interested to
see exactly who the personnel is going to be in
those third down rush packages. Will we see more Aaron Moseby.
(16:40):
Could Brenton Cox Junior be involved in that? Where is
Rashaan Gary going to be? Hey, Eddrian Cooper is playing
really well, Maybe he gets involved in this thing, whatever
the case is. You know, Evan Williams talked about this
at his locker on Wednesday. You know, Caleb's gonna run
a little bit, you know, he's going to try to
extend place. But that's also an opportunity if you've plaster
to potentially make up play. Yeah, Packers have to be
(17:01):
able to execute in that regard.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Yeah, what rises And I certainly agree with all of
those as keys to Vic, Thank you, no disagreement there whatsoever.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
For me?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
What rises to the top of my list? I go
back to the situational discrepancy that we talked about before.
The Bears are the number one red zone defense in
the league. Statistically, the Packers are the twenty ninth ranked
red zone offense in the league. Pretty amazing, quite frankly,
that the Packers are ninth in the league in scoring yep,
yet twenty ninth in the league in red zone it
(17:32):
tells you how many opportunities the Packers have left out
there and how close, as we talked about on our
last show, how close the Packers are to seeing this
offense really hit full gear and hit full stride. I
think this game comes down to can the Packers finish drives?
Because I think with Josh Jacobs, with the balance that
(17:53):
the Packers generally have on offense, they will be able
to move the football against the Chicago Bears. But when
they get into scoring territory, are they going to be
able to finish drives against the number one red zone
defense in the league and get the ball in the
end zone or are they going to be relegated kicking
field goals all day? Yep, if the Packers, and you're
not going to finish every single drive. But obviously you
(18:17):
know if you're in the red zone, if you're in
the red zone four times, there's a huge difference on
the scoreboard between going three for four in the red
zone and going one for four in the rest right,
and that really becomes the difference in where I think
this game gets.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
It's funny too you mention that because if you want
to look at the glass, not that that was glass
half empty, but the other aspect of it, when you
talk about the discrepancy between these two teams, it is
the explosive plays. Now I don't have the true media
stats in front of me, but when you talk about
how many yards Green Based produced, how many points they
still produce, it's because the explosive plays they've had a
lot of times have also led to touchdowns, whether it's
that drive or whether it's the play itself. Yeah, they've
(18:54):
been able to extend for that, and that's where Chicago
has struggled this season. So bring it back to what
I was talking about with the defense and what they
have to do against the Bears, not allowing those plays
to rupture, playing well in front of them, and making
sure that you're making the tackles that you have to make. Certainly,
there's gonna be a lot of different factors and variables
that can played into this outcome and how they're gonna
win it. But there's a lot of things that Green
Bay does significantly better than the Chicago Bears. They need
(19:17):
to be able to carry that over into this matchup.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Yeah, absolutely, you need to you need to be you
need to be who you are and uh and the
Packers know they have the thing, they have the things
that they need to clean up and all that. But really,
as much as we've talked about the changing offensive coordinator
and how good this Bears defense can be and everything,
this this still just is It's one of those games
that strike strikes me where this is this is about what.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
The Packers do.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
One hundred percent of Bears do.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
If the Packers bring their bring their a game and
play like it the Packers are the better team. They've
proven it over the long haul so far this season,
and if they do that, they should be able.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
To win this game.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Looking around the league, Week eleven, elsewhere in the NFC NO,
Minnesota is at Tennessee. Jacksonville is at Detroit. So those
are a couple of NFC North versus AFC South matchups.
I'm not gonna be holding my breath on either one
of those. Quite frankly. Jacksonville playing with Mac Jones again
at quarterback. They couldn't do Diddley squad on offense against.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
Diddley pooh, I think is the what's that is the
expression Diddley pooh oh? Okay, well, I forget Who's Diddley
squad is the one I grew up with. So I'm
just I'm not holding my breath on on either one
of those games. I mean, it will be interesting to
see Minnesota going on the road back to back weeks
now with all of you know, last week they went
to Jacksonville, couldn't score touchdown and Sam Darnold through three interceptions,
(20:40):
so well, their offense, you know, get something going more
in a positive direction against Tennessee or not, but it
is interesting though that if I believe it comes down
to if the Vikings and the Lions win these two games,
the NFC North, the NFC North versus AFC South will
(21:01):
be all done after this weekend, and if the Vikings
and the Lions win these games, the final tally will
be fourteen and two. Wow.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
The only to this point, the only AFC South versus
AFC South beating the NFC North is that both Houston
and Indianapolis beat Chicago and Tennessee should have too, and
Tennessee should have beaten Chicago. Dude, you know what's hilarious
about that now that you think, yeah, possibly fourteen and
two if the favored teams, the Vikings and the Lions
(21:33):
win this week.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
So you're telling me the NFC North is done with
the season series at the AFC South this week after
this weekend, and this is the first time the Bears
are playing an NFC North opponent, correct? Yeah? Is this?
They did a number on that schedule that the.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Schedule this year is just it's it's bizarre. It's bizarre
in a in a number of ways. But aside, huh
from that, the other this is a really really interesting
win this week eleven schedule in the NFL because it
is the first time from what I read, it is
the first time since the league merger that in Week
(22:10):
eleven there are three games where all six of the
teams have seven or more wins in Week eleven playing
each other. And it starts tonight, starts on Thursday Night
Football with Washington at Philadelphia, and then continues on Sunday
with Baltimore at Pittsburgh and Kansas City at Buffalo. So
these are some major, major mid season matchups here. And
(22:34):
of course Packers fans are going to have, you know,
their eye on Packers Bears, and that's where our attention
will be. But this is quite the slate of games
for one week in the NFL, well.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
In Washington, Philly. Man, you were talking about it last
week on the show. I mean the fact that we've
got these really pivotal, critical division matchups here on Thursday
Night Football. One, it's obviously I agree with you, it's
the way to go. But two, it really raises the
stakes because you're looking at Washington now where hey, dude,
there's seven and three. I will not disrespect that record. Obviously,
I've sat up here before and I've talked about Jayden
(23:06):
Daniels and everything, that.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
They were an eyelash from being eight and two because
they were right there with a chance to beat the
Steelers last week.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
They absolutely were. But the part of it that I
thought was really interesting when I was breaking it down,
because you know, I'm sophisticated, I have NFL gsis and everything.
The strength of victory for Washington is one of the
worst of the National Football League. It's three thirty eight.
I guess it's yeah, no, it only twenty three wins
against the opponent that their opponents have won. This is
(23:33):
a big moment for Washington to show that they can
play with one of the upper echelon teams and credit
to Philadelphia the way that they've kind of been able
to pull themselves back together, pull itself back together after
how last year unfolded. They're proving once again that they
are still not to be trifled with and that NFC
East and absolutely the part that I didn't know all
(23:54):
the ins and outs of it when you were explaining
some of those statistics with the seven and eight win
teams playing each other. When I first looked at this
sc this week, what I thought was most interesting is
how much teams are paired against each other a similar record.
Really Detroit and in Jacksonville's the only like really huge difference.
I mean when you look at Kansas City Buffalo, but
even there's like five and four playing four and five teams.
(24:15):
I mean there's a lot on the line in terms
of stakes for a week eleven matchup, and certainly Green
Bay is a part of that. You're trying to, you know,
extend themselves out from the Bears and also keep themselves
in contention there with their other two NFC North adversaries.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Yeah, well in those in those big matchups with teams
with seven plus wins. Two of those our division games
Washington at Philadelphia in the NFC East, Baltimore at Pittsburgh
in the AFC North. That's one that'll have a lot
of eyes on it. You know, Russell Wilson has taken
over at quarterback for the Steelers and and you know
that team keeps winning and then a lot of eyes
(24:51):
I believe it's I'm assuming it's you know, kind of
the game in the national window the Kansas City, Kansas
City is at Buffalo. What do you think do you
think Kansas City stays undefeated or do the Bills hand
the Chiefs their first loss. The Kansas City has been
they've been riding right out of the edge. And not
just block field goal last week, but we've seen in
(25:13):
other games, you know they I mean, it was overtime
against Tampa Bay on Monday Night Football the week before.
They've had other games earlier in the season that just
that came right down to the end. And no apologies,
Kansas City is finding ways to win, and you take
nothing away from him, but they have been on the
edge and you have to feel like one of these teams,
and maybe it's Buffalo this weekend, is finally going to
(25:34):
knock them all.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
They're on the edge of glory. And I'll tell you
what I think Buffalo wins. That's my pick for this one. Okay,
not that I often offer predictions, but that is what
I'm thinking. But here's the thing that's funny about it. It
doesn't matter. Kansas City is the closest thing. I've said
this for a while now. They're the closest thing to
an NCAA basketball team where it's like the regular season
is the regular season. Yeah, they'll win the you know
(25:54):
SEC or whatever the ACC and then it's all about
how good are you entering the tournament? Last year was
another example of that. You know, Packers ended up beating
them in December here at Lambeufield, but they just kept building.
That's what New England did during its dynasty, and that's
what Kansas City is doing.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
And I think what and not to go on too
much of a tangent in the AFC, but I think
what was most impressive about Kansas City's run to the championship,
to the Super Bowl Championship last year is that they
weren't just.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Playing at Arrowhead. No.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
In the playoffs, they had to go to Buffalo, they
had to go to Baltimore. They were winning those playoff
games on the road in order to get there. And
again that's where it sort of does become like they're
the NCAA tournament team where it doesn't matter if they
end up with a one seed or a four seed
or a six seed or whatever. They're going to be
formidable in the postseason because they've been there and they've
(26:48):
won those kinds of games in any condition, in any location,
And you're right, and they're for all the attention that's
going to be on this Buffalo Kansas City matchup, it's
probably just a preview of another matchup coming up in January.
To question of then where is that game going to be?
Speaker 3 (27:02):
Which is That's the only question that Josh Allen and
Sean McDermott they have to answer, is that is that question?
Because Kansas City has been the final boss, it's been
the final boss for the entire league, but definitely Buffalo
because Buffalo. We were talking beforehand about how Houston and
the bumfill era would run into Pittsburgh and Buffalo keeps
running into Kansas City and it just cannot get through it.
(27:24):
Now that being said, for them being nine to zero,
the Chiefs still have a lot of issues when you
look at they have been dinged up everywhere on the offense.
I mean, now they brought in DeAndre Hopkins and they
made moves to try to augment that. But this is
another example I feel like of proving why Patrick Mahomes
is a perennial MVP contender because he is lifting that
(27:45):
football team up with the way he's playing, in addition
to a very talented defense. But for me, for that reason, yes,
the eyes will be on that game, and certainly it's
for the right reasons, but I think Baltimore and Pittsburgh's
probably the one I have my my most interest in
because Mike Tomlin's doing what he does and Russell Wilson
(28:05):
is resuscitating his career after people like myself question whether
or not there was anything left in the gas tank.
The Baltimore Ravens have a lot of issues now on defense,
but they still got Lamar Jackson, So it's like seeing
how all that interacts. That's what's fun about this time
of the year, because, yeah, all these teams are going
to be in the playoffs, but these are where you
kind of put your your flag in the ground and say,
(28:28):
I should be the one that's out front of this thing.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Right And when you're talking these divisional matchups, that not
to say that anything's going to be decided in week eleven,
but a game that is going to have a big
influence on who wins a division versus who You're talking
about the difference between maybe a one or two seed
and being a five seed, right, because that's just how
the that's how the numbers break down, and how the
structure of the playoffs breaks down with the four division
(28:52):
champions being one through four.
Speaker 3 (28:53):
And that's what the longer I cover this league, the
more you'll see it am I writing, the more you'll
hear me say it on the show, whether it's September
or December. Now in January, you have to keep stacking
those wins, because how often is it? Mike. We'll be
doing the same thing here with the Packers in week
seventeen and eighteen, hopefully talking about okay, playoff positioning, getting
in seeding, buys, all this type of stuff, and it
(29:13):
all comes back to these games that you play in
week eleven. Yep, that at the time feel like you're
just trying to get one win, but in reality have
a much much more important purpose.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Yeah. Absolutely, well, it should be a good one in Chicago.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
And the yeah, good one in Green Bay.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
Two before we go April, the countdown to the twenty
twenty five NFL Draft in Green Bay has begun. Mark
your calendars for April twenty four through April twenty six
of twenty twenty five, and visit green Bay dot com
slash Draft twenty five for more information. With that, we'll
call it a rap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
(29:46):
Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the
team and everything from Sunday's big game against the Bears
at Soldier Field.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Wes and I will be there. We will have it.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
All for you on packers dot com.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
For Wes, I'm Mike. Thank you for tuning in. Everybody.
We will see you next time.
Hi, everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
I am like Spofford, joined as always by my trust
and colleague Wes Hodkoitz. We're coming to you Hear from
our studios at Lambeaufield to preview Sunday's Packers Bears showdown.
It will be at Soldier Field in Chicago, a noon
Central time.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Kickoff and west.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Before we dive a little bit deeper into this four
and five Chicago Bears team, a quick.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Update on the.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Health department for the Packers. Quarterback Jordan Love, a full
participant in practice on Wednesday, took all of the reps.
That was certainly good news to hear. Jay r, Alexander,
Evan Williams, Josh Myers all back at practice on Wednesday
after missing the last game against the Lions before the bye.
(01:06):
Colby Wooden defensive lineman, second year pro. He was the
only player on the Packers current active roster who did
not practice on Wednesday. He has a shoulder injury. By
all accounts, at least so far, the bye week did
some good for the Packers as far as their injury report.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
You missed the biggest one of all Michael Tucker Craft
no longer in the red non contact jersey Tucker Klaft
Craft will once again be unleashed on the Packers defense
in practices after having to take off him here the
last couple months. But you know, all joking aside, I
felt like it was a reason why I ended up
doing my Thursday morning story. I mean, this was what
(01:45):
everybody was waiting to see. You know, you saw Evan Williams,
you sat jyr Alexander, you sat Josh Myers going into
the Lions game. Jordan was dealing with what he was
dealing with. How are they going to look on the
other side of this thing? I thought Wednesday's practice obviously
was very positive. Nobody's making any promises. Evan Williams wasn't,
Josh Myers wasn't at his locker, But it does sound
like there's optimism there that all those guys are making
(02:07):
the progress you want to see. And even more than that, Michael,
I just look at a team that did so many
things well in the first half of the season despite
some not a huge rash of injuries, but like nagging
things at bad positions where you don't want to have
nagging things right when you think about the quarterback issues
green Bay went through, when you think about the secondary
(02:27):
and some of the things they've had to navigate to
getting back a guy like Evan Williams, with how well
he's played in the first half of the season, what
that could do for the Packers. We saw the domino
effect of Josh Myers not being out there, Elton Jenkins
having to move in, different communications set up up front.
I just feel like what we saw is Green Bay
getting closer to being healthy, which means them getting closer
to being comfortable within their assignments, and from there, hopefully
(02:50):
the Packers can continue to fly here in the second half.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yeah, and we'll see how things play out for the
rest of the week. Obviously, Thursday's practice is always a
big indicator because they put the pads on. It's really
more of the full contact practice the one time they
do that during the week. So we'll keep our eye
on that injury report as the week unfolds. The opponent
this week, the Chicago Bears. We talked about a little
bit on our last show. This is a team that
(03:15):
was one play away from being five and two and
feeling really, really good about itself. The Hail Mary goes
the wrong way for Chicago. In Washington, they lose to
the Commanders, and there's there's been some kind of what
you call it a hangover effect, whatever you want to say.
The last two Bears performances have just been complete duds.
(03:37):
They've gotten, you know, handled quite easily, to be brutally honest,
by the Arizona Cardinals and by a struggling New England
Patriots team that has now led to a change at
offensive coordinator. Shane Waldron is out and Thomas Brown is
in as offensive coordinator for Chicago. And you know, I'm
(04:00):
not sure exactly how much is going to change with
the with the Bears offense. I think you have to
be kind of ready for some unscouted looks. You have
to be ready for some tendency breakers. If I'm Thomas Brown,
I'm coming into this game against the Packers saying, you know,
our rookie quarterback is having his struggles, our pass protection
unit is having its struggles. As the Bears gave up
(04:23):
nine sacks to the New England Patriots. The running back
is the best friend in those situations, the running game.
I think the Packers have to be ready for a healthy,
healthy dose of DeAndre Swift coming at him in this game.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Yeah, one hundred percent. The tough thing was as I
was looking back at that game against New England and
where they came up short. Certainly the nine sacks jump
off the page and we're not going to sit here
and you can listen to Chicago media as far as
who's all the blame for that. But you know one
thing that I think has really hurt this team when
I look at them on paper is the fact that
Braxton Jones has been banged up. Darnell Wright has been
(04:56):
banged up. Those are your two bookends on the offensive line.
They've had a lot of change on the interior offensive
line there, and it just seems like they haven't been
able to get into much of a rhythm. And I
covered this on Insider inbox Er this week, where I
feel like, when you're building a team and you have
a new quarterback, a young quarterback, you have to build
from the inside out. And in no disrespect to Chicago
or what they're doing, but I mean they kind of
(05:16):
built from the outside in. It feels like, now that
being said, DeAndre Swift was a move they needed to make.
You're gonna lose David Montgomery. You're gonna lose some of
those proven assets in your backfield. You have to find
a way to be able to make up for that. Swift.
To me, he's been okay this year. I thought last
year he was sensational. I thought he really It made
it look like both them and the Lions made the
(05:37):
right moves with how they did their running back situations.
But this year it's been a little bit harder running.
But that being said, he does have a fifty six
yard touchdown. He is the lead back. There is no
committee there. This is the guy, and he's been able
to stay healthy for the most part in that role
in Chicago. And when you're talking about as much as
everybody will talk and discuss about unscouted looks and trick
(06:00):
plays and all these other things, the number one thing
that I would imagine the Bears are thinking right now
is how can we make life easier on Caleb Williams.
And to your initial point, that goes back to the
wrong game and getting in favorable down in distance.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
I think so too.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
I think that's I think that's what this Bears offense
is going to start to focus on to really help
out Caleb Williams, the number one.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Overall draft pick.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
As far as the passing game goes, he's certainly spread
the ball around quite a bit. Roma Duneesa, DJ morricle comet.
All these guys have produced. Nobody really stands out as
necessarily like the go to guy for Caleb Williams, which
I think is a good thing for a young quarterback.
But the Bears need to find something to hang their
(06:47):
hat on offensively, to really to be the foundation of
what they're going to do and who they're going to be.
And I think whatever that is going to be, I
think it's going to start this week against the Packers
because of this big if now at offensive coordinate, there's.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Just no explosiveness to the offense, is what my initial
thing has been. Again that's not a criticism, it's just
the facts. I mean, they just they have a bunch
of guys that have caught the ball. Nobody's had that
big game breaker. I think their longest catch of the
year is forty seven yards and it wasn't even a touchdown.
I mean, like, they haven't had those explosive type plays
that I think sometimes can really help boost a young
quarterbacks confidence and Because of that, they are what is it,
(07:23):
the thirty first ranked third down offense in the National
Football League. It's just been tough sledding offensively, trying to
find some consistency there. Now, that being said, I want
to make this clear because I know we'll transition here
shortly to the defense. But the Chicago Bears are four
and five. They lost threes in a row here now
coming out of the buy they are still undefeated this season.
(07:43):
When their offense scores over twenty points. Yeah, defensively they
can play with anybody in the league. It's just been
a grind trying to find ways to generate offense and
twenty three straight drives now whatever it is without a
touchdown or passing touchdown. I mean, there is a lot
of bad mojo feeling around this team right now. But
that being said, an opening driver, you go down the
field and you score, it changes everything, especially when you
(08:06):
make a change on the coaching staff. So my message
this week has been you got to treat this team
just like you treated the Detroit Lions. You have to
have your antennas up. You got to think about them
as not just an opponent, an obstruction from your seventh
win but you got to get NFC wins, You got
to get division wins, and it starts with the Chicago
Bears and keeping this winning street going under Matt Lafleur
at Soldier Field.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Yeah, I think there's I think there's a perception out
there amongst Packer fans because the Bears are struggling so much,
especially on offense, they can't get things going with Caleb
Williams and all that, there's there's this perception that you
know that if the Packers, you know, they get themselves
healthier on offense, they get rolling, that that they can
go into that they can go into Soldier Field and
just and steamroll the Bears. Here, you look at this
(08:47):
Bears defense and that's simply not going to be the case.
I mentioned this an Insider Inbox. I mentioned it on
our Three Things video with Larry yesterday. This Bears defense
has allowed more than twenty one points only once all season,
and that was to the Arizona Cardinals the game right
after they hail Mary. This is a defense that's taken
(09:10):
the ball away sixteen times. They have eight interceptions, they
have eight fumble recoveries. That's only a few takeaways behind
the Packers. It's only a few takeaways off of the
league lead across the board. Two big things situationally where
this defense is really really tough. They are seventh in
the league in third down percentage allowed. I believe it's
around thirty three percent, only allowing third down conversions a
(09:34):
third of the time. And this is the best statistically,
the best defense in the league in the red zone
in terms of the low percentage of touchdowns allowed. And
that really becomes a very interesting thing in this matchup
because while the Bears are the top ranked team in
red zone defense, the Packers are near the bottom twenty
(09:54):
ninth in the league in red zone offense. So there's
a lot to look at here from situational and a
statistical matchup between the Packers offense and the Bears defense.
One significant injury, safety Jaikwon Brisker, has already been ruled
out for this week. He's in the concussion protocol in Chicago.
They've already said he's out this week.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
He won't be playing.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
That's a big loss because he's, you know, kind of
one of those free ranging safeties. He can play deep,
he can attack the line of scrimmage. He's all over
the field. He won't be out there, but this Bears
defense is not to be trifled with. These guys can play.
They've really there's really only been one game and that
was the game against the Cardinals. The final score I
(10:37):
believe was twenty nine to nine. That's really the only
game where the Bears defense did not give Chicago a
legitimate chance to win the football game.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Yeah, and you know a couple of things that go
into this one. I guess that means we'll probably see
Jonathan Owens on Sunday perhaps. Think as far as the
backup there, I know they have some younger guys as well.
But here's all I want to say about this, because
this came up this week because obviously Mattiberflu's he's been
under He's in the hot seat, people, he's under the microscope. Yep,
whatever idiom you want to use on that. I want
(11:10):
to say, the Chicago Bears are doing something right. Because yes, offensively,
it's not been what you wanted. But when you have
a defensive head coach and your team's not performing the
way you wanted to perform, I feel like you gain
nothing from letting that defensive coach go in the middle
of a season, if their unit, the area that they
specialize in, the area that they master in, if that
unit's performing. The Bears have done that this season. I mean,
(11:33):
you look at what the Jets are going through right now.
Not only did you lose your head coach, I felt
like they lost their defensive identity. They when they let
you know, Robert Salad go absolutely the Bears are committed
to a long term plan. Here. They're going to be
some strikes and some balls, and you're gonna have to
some swings and misses. But defensively, Matti Aberflu's coming here
from Indianapolis. It's been everything you would expect the defense
(11:54):
to be. They just haven't won enough and they haven't
done enough offensively. But that being said, the unit, why
they got off to their fast start, it was because
of defense and special teams. It was because they were
finding ways to win those close matchups. They lost that
the last few weeks, but that doesn't mean it can't
come back. So seeing and it's a very diverse group.
I think fourteen different guys that have a sack this season.
(12:17):
You talk about you know, Tremaine Edmonds in the middle
of that defense. They've always had really good linebacker played there, TJ.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Edwards, one of their team captains.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
Yes, and the fact that you know Montes sweat that
all this conversation between him and the Packers in the
back and the fourth and the rivalry he's talking about,
it is what it is when the game gets played.
But you can tell these guys are motivated to play it.
So I just think it's it's a matchup where the
Green Bay Packers have to take the threat seriously. You
(12:45):
have to put points on the board, you have to
protect the football, you have to play clean. But more
than anything, the opportunities that are presented to make the
Bears question what they're doing. Those are the times where
you really have to pounce because they aren't going to
last their and if they get the wind in their
sales in this matchup, particularly early on at their home
stadium against the Green Bay Packers, a place team they
(13:06):
have not beat since the Mike McCarthy era, they they're
gonna be feeling themselves.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Yeah, And there's a there's a lot of curiosity with
regard to the fan base as well as the players
in the locker room as to just maybe what what
the offense can do with with the changeup at coordinator,
emphasizing some different things, some tendency breakers, you know, all
that kind of stuff. And as you say, especially when
you're playing at home, if you start to get the
win in your sales a little bit, it doesn't matter
(13:31):
who the opponent is on the other side, the Bears
are going to start feeling like that team that was
four and two and on the verge of being five
and two, not the team that has that you know,
has really struggled these last couple of weeks and seeing
their season start to slip away.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
And I want to make sure I bring this back
full circle because the point I'm trying to make with
all my assessments here is Thomas Brown was the offensive
coordinator for Carolina Panthers last year. He was the guy
that had to go in there and they had to
try to devise a game plan for Bryce Young against
the Packers, and they nearly won the game. Young had
one of the best games of his career. To this point.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Carolina probably wins that game if Carolina gets the ball back,
you know, or just gets the ball back ten seconds sooner,
I mean literally another ten seconds on the clock, and
Bryce Young might have beaten the Packers in that game.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
And why did it happen? Why did it play out
that way? Because the Packers did not put Away Young
in that offense. Early on, they got they made some
explosive plays, they had some big plays late, and then
they almost came close to Vietnam. So though, those are
all the things you have to keep in mind. But yeah,
there's a lot of different traps and things you have
to be cognizant of in this matchup with the Chicago Bears.
(14:38):
But more than anything, getting back to your initial point,
the Bears have not scored a lot lately, they have
not had a lot of success. They had an absolute
awful way to lose a football game against Washington. Yep,
you have to make sure you keep them down.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Yeah, absolutely, a little bit of sponsor business here. West
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(15:12):
subs fifty plus years of better all right, keys to victory.
We've are obviously suggested. Hint today, Oh I got plenty more?
What I have plenty more? Okay, we haven't even scratched
the surface yet, Brev.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
All right, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Oh you can continue talking if you want.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
No, that's all right, I'll throw I'll toss it over
to you. What's at the top of your list.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Packers have to run the football in this game. They
have to run it well. When you look defensively at
what Chicago where they've struggled this season, it's been against
the run. Now again, there's a couple of chunk games
in there. I think that have added that up. But
it's not just the fact they're twenty fourth and rushing
defenses here. It's a fact they're twenty eighth in yards
per carry almost five yards per carry allowed this season.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Which means you can stay ahead of the sticks as
long as you're not committing penalties, right, bingo, what's its name?
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (15:55):
I mean that's the fact. I mean, when you are
able to control the line a scrimmage the way that
the Packers have when they've been successful this season, I
feel like the blueprint is there. So many people are
gonna make this about Jordan Love. He's a full participant,
He's getting all his practice reps. Everything's hunky dory in
that regard. Josh Jacobs is a third leading rusher in
the National Football League right now this season at this point.
(16:17):
Getting him going, getting manageable down in distance and then
executing when you get in the red zone, I think
is going to be absolutely paramount. In Michael, I don't
want to steal any of your stuff. I know you're
gonna have plenty of points here too. But the fact
of the matter is the Chicago Bears gave up nine
sacks last week. Yeah, Green Bay Packers have made some
significant changes with their defensive front. I'm very interested to
see exactly who the personnel is going to be in
those third down rush packages. Will we see more Aaron Moseby.
(16:40):
Could Brenton Cox Junior be involved in that? Where is
Rashaan Gary going to be? Hey, Eddrian Cooper is playing
really well, Maybe he gets involved in this thing, whatever
the case is. You know, Evan Williams talked about this
at his locker on Wednesday. You know, Caleb's gonna run
a little bit, you know, he's going to try to
extend place. But that's also an opportunity if you've plaster
to potentially make up play. Yeah, Packers have to be
(17:01):
able to execute in that regard.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Yeah, what rises And I certainly agree with all of
those as keys to Vic, Thank you, no disagreement there whatsoever.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
For me?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
What rises to the top of my list? I go
back to the situational discrepancy that we talked about before.
The Bears are the number one red zone defense in
the league. Statistically, the Packers are the twenty ninth ranked
red zone offense in the league. Pretty amazing, quite frankly,
that the Packers are ninth in the league in scoring yep,
yet twenty ninth in the league in red zone it
(17:32):
tells you how many opportunities the Packers have left out
there and how close, as we talked about on our
last show, how close the Packers are to seeing this
offense really hit full gear and hit full stride. I
think this game comes down to can the Packers finish drives?
Because I think with Josh Jacobs, with the balance that
(17:53):
the Packers generally have on offense, they will be able
to move the football against the Chicago Bears. But when
they get into scoring territory, are they going to be
able to finish drives against the number one red zone
defense in the league and get the ball in the
end zone or are they going to be relegated kicking
field goals all day? Yep, if the Packers, and you're
not going to finish every single drive. But obviously you
(18:17):
know if you're in the red zone, if you're in
the red zone four times, there's a huge difference on
the scoreboard between going three for four in the red
zone and going one for four in the rest right,
and that really becomes the difference in where I think
this game gets.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
It's funny too you mention that because if you want
to look at the glass, not that that was glass
half empty, but the other aspect of it, when you
talk about the discrepancy between these two teams, it is
the explosive plays. Now I don't have the true media
stats in front of me, but when you talk about
how many yards Green Based produced, how many points they
still produce, it's because the explosive plays they've had a
lot of times have also led to touchdowns, whether it's
that drive or whether it's the play itself. Yeah, they've
(18:54):
been able to extend for that, and that's where Chicago
has struggled this season. So bring it back to what
I was talking about with the defense and what they
have to do against the Bears, not allowing those plays
to rupture, playing well in front of them, and making
sure that you're making the tackles that you have to make. Certainly,
there's gonna be a lot of different factors and variables
that can played into this outcome and how they're gonna
win it. But there's a lot of things that Green
Bay does significantly better than the Chicago Bears. They need
(19:17):
to be able to carry that over into this matchup.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Yeah, absolutely, you need to you need to be you
need to be who you are and uh and the
Packers know they have the thing, they have the things
that they need to clean up and all that. But really,
as much as we've talked about the changing offensive coordinator
and how good this Bears defense can be and everything,
this this still just is It's one of those games
that strike strikes me where this is this is about what.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
The Packers do.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
One hundred percent of Bears do.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
If the Packers bring their bring their a game and
play like it the Packers are the better team. They've
proven it over the long haul so far this season,
and if they do that, they should be able.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
To win this game.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Looking around the league, Week eleven, elsewhere in the NFC NO,
Minnesota is at Tennessee. Jacksonville is at Detroit. So those
are a couple of NFC North versus AFC South matchups.
I'm not gonna be holding my breath on either one
of those. Quite frankly. Jacksonville playing with Mac Jones again
at quarterback. They couldn't do Diddley squad on offense against.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
Diddley pooh, I think is the what's that is the
expression Diddley pooh oh? Okay, well, I forget Who's Diddley
squad is the one I grew up with. So I'm
just I'm not holding my breath on on either one
of those games. I mean, it will be interesting to
see Minnesota going on the road back to back weeks
now with all of you know, last week they went
to Jacksonville, couldn't score touchdown and Sam Darnold through three interceptions,
(20:40):
so well, their offense, you know, get something going more
in a positive direction against Tennessee or not, but it
is interesting though that if I believe it comes down
to if the Vikings and the Lions win these two games,
the NFC North, the NFC North versus AFC South will
(21:01):
be all done after this weekend, and if the Vikings
and the Lions win these games, the final tally will
be fourteen and two. Wow.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
The only to this point, the only AFC South versus
AFC South beating the NFC North is that both Houston
and Indianapolis beat Chicago and Tennessee should have too, and
Tennessee should have beaten Chicago. Dude, you know what's hilarious
about that now that you think, yeah, possibly fourteen and
two if the favored teams, the Vikings and the Lions
(21:33):
win this week.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
So you're telling me the NFC North is done with
the season series at the AFC South this week after
this weekend, and this is the first time the Bears
are playing an NFC North opponent, correct? Yeah? Is this?
They did a number on that schedule that the.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Schedule this year is just it's it's bizarre. It's bizarre
in a in a number of ways. But aside, huh
from that, the other this is a really really interesting
win this week eleven schedule in the NFL because it
is the first time from what I read, it is
the first time since the league merger that in Week
(22:10):
eleven there are three games where all six of the
teams have seven or more wins in Week eleven playing
each other. And it starts tonight, starts on Thursday Night
Football with Washington at Philadelphia, and then continues on Sunday
with Baltimore at Pittsburgh and Kansas City at Buffalo. So
these are some major, major mid season matchups here. And
(22:34):
of course Packers fans are going to have, you know,
their eye on Packers Bears, and that's where our attention
will be. But this is quite the slate of games
for one week in the NFL, well.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
In Washington, Philly. Man, you were talking about it last
week on the show. I mean the fact that we've
got these really pivotal, critical division matchups here on Thursday
Night Football. One, it's obviously I agree with you, it's
the way to go. But two, it really raises the
stakes because you're looking at Washington now where hey, dude,
there's seven and three. I will not disrespect that record. Obviously,
I've sat up here before and I've talked about Jayden
(23:06):
Daniels and everything, that.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
They were an eyelash from being eight and two because
they were right there with a chance to beat the
Steelers last week.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
They absolutely were. But the part of it that I
thought was really interesting when I was breaking it down,
because you know, I'm sophisticated, I have NFL gsis and everything.
The strength of victory for Washington is one of the
worst of the National Football League. It's three thirty eight.
I guess it's yeah, no, it only twenty three wins
against the opponent that their opponents have won. This is
(23:33):
a big moment for Washington to show that they can
play with one of the upper echelon teams and credit
to Philadelphia the way that they've kind of been able
to pull themselves back together, pull itself back together after
how last year unfolded. They're proving once again that they
are still not to be trifled with and that NFC
East and absolutely the part that I didn't know all
(23:54):
the ins and outs of it when you were explaining
some of those statistics with the seven and eight win
teams playing each other. When I first looked at this
sc this week, what I thought was most interesting is
how much teams are paired against each other a similar record.
Really Detroit and in Jacksonville's the only like really huge difference.
I mean when you look at Kansas City Buffalo, but
even there's like five and four playing four and five teams.
(24:15):
I mean there's a lot on the line in terms
of stakes for a week eleven matchup, and certainly Green
Bay is a part of that. You're trying to, you know,
extend themselves out from the Bears and also keep themselves
in contention there with their other two NFC North adversaries.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Yeah, well in those in those big matchups with teams
with seven plus wins. Two of those our division games
Washington at Philadelphia in the NFC East, Baltimore at Pittsburgh
in the AFC North. That's one that'll have a lot
of eyes on it. You know, Russell Wilson has taken
over at quarterback for the Steelers and and you know
that team keeps winning and then a lot of eyes
(24:51):
I believe it's I'm assuming it's you know, kind of
the game in the national window the Kansas City, Kansas
City is at Buffalo. What do you think do you
think Kansas City stays undefeated or do the Bills hand
the Chiefs their first loss. The Kansas City has been
they've been riding right out of the edge. And not
just block field goal last week, but we've seen in
(25:13):
other games, you know they I mean, it was overtime
against Tampa Bay on Monday Night Football the week before.
They've had other games earlier in the season that just
that came right down to the end. And no apologies,
Kansas City is finding ways to win, and you take
nothing away from him, but they have been on the
edge and you have to feel like one of these teams,
and maybe it's Buffalo this weekend, is finally going to
(25:34):
knock them all.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
They're on the edge of glory. And I'll tell you
what I think Buffalo wins. That's my pick for this one. Okay,
not that I often offer predictions, but that is what
I'm thinking. But here's the thing that's funny about it. It
doesn't matter. Kansas City is the closest thing. I've said
this for a while now. They're the closest thing to
an NCAA basketball team where it's like the regular season
is the regular season. Yeah, they'll win the you know
(25:54):
SEC or whatever the ACC and then it's all about
how good are you entering the tournament? Last year was
another example of that. You know, Packers ended up beating
them in December here at Lambeufield, but they just kept building.
That's what New England did during its dynasty, and that's
what Kansas City is doing.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
And I think what and not to go on too
much of a tangent in the AFC, but I think
what was most impressive about Kansas City's run to the championship,
to the Super Bowl Championship last year is that they
weren't just.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Playing at Arrowhead. No.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
In the playoffs, they had to go to Buffalo, they
had to go to Baltimore. They were winning those playoff
games on the road in order to get there. And
again that's where it sort of does become like they're
the NCAA tournament team where it doesn't matter if they
end up with a one seed or a four seed
or a six seed or whatever. They're going to be
formidable in the postseason because they've been there and they've
(26:48):
won those kinds of games in any condition, in any location,
And you're right, and they're for all the attention that's
going to be on this Buffalo Kansas City matchup, it's
probably just a preview of another matchup coming up in January.
To question of then where is that game going to be?
Speaker 3 (27:02):
Which is That's the only question that Josh Allen and
Sean McDermott they have to answer, is that is that question?
Because Kansas City has been the final boss, it's been
the final boss for the entire league, but definitely Buffalo
because Buffalo. We were talking beforehand about how Houston and
the bumfill era would run into Pittsburgh and Buffalo keeps
running into Kansas City and it just cannot get through it.
(27:24):
Now that being said, for them being nine to zero,
the Chiefs still have a lot of issues when you
look at they have been dinged up everywhere on the offense.
I mean, now they brought in DeAndre Hopkins and they
made moves to try to augment that. But this is
another example I feel like of proving why Patrick Mahomes
is a perennial MVP contender because he is lifting that
(27:45):
football team up with the way he's playing, in addition
to a very talented defense. But for me, for that reason, yes,
the eyes will be on that game, and certainly it's
for the right reasons, but I think Baltimore and Pittsburgh's
probably the one I have my my most interest in
because Mike Tomlin's doing what he does and Russell Wilson
(28:05):
is resuscitating his career after people like myself question whether
or not there was anything left in the gas tank.
The Baltimore Ravens have a lot of issues now on defense,
but they still got Lamar Jackson, So it's like seeing
how all that interacts. That's what's fun about this time
of the year, because, yeah, all these teams are going
to be in the playoffs, but these are where you
kind of put your your flag in the ground and say,
(28:28):
I should be the one that's out front of this thing.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Right And when you're talking these divisional matchups, that not
to say that anything's going to be decided in week eleven,
but a game that is going to have a big
influence on who wins a division versus who You're talking
about the difference between maybe a one or two seed
and being a five seed, right, because that's just how
the that's how the numbers break down, and how the
structure of the playoffs breaks down with the four division
(28:52):
champions being one through four.
Speaker 3 (28:53):
And that's what the longer I cover this league, the
more you'll see it am I writing, the more you'll
hear me say it on the show, whether it's September
or December. Now in January, you have to keep stacking
those wins, because how often is it? Mike. We'll be
doing the same thing here with the Packers in week
seventeen and eighteen, hopefully talking about okay, playoff positioning, getting
in seeding, buys, all this type of stuff, and it
(29:13):
all comes back to these games that you play in
week eleven. Yep, that at the time feel like you're
just trying to get one win, but in reality have
a much much more important purpose.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Yeah. Absolutely, well, it should be a good one in Chicago.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
And the yeah, good one in Green Bay.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
Two before we go April, the countdown to the twenty
twenty five NFL Draft in Green Bay has begun. Mark
your calendars for April twenty four through April twenty six
of twenty twenty five, and visit green Bay dot com
slash Draft twenty five for more information. With that, we'll
call it a rap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
(29:46):
Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the
team and everything from Sunday's big game against the Bears
at Soldier Field.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Wes and I will be there. We will have it.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
All for you on packers dot com.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
For Wes, I'm Mike. Thank you for tuning in. Everybody.
We will see you next time.
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