November 12, 2024 • 30 mins
Mike and Wes review the state of the Packers after the bye week, including where things stand on defense (4:47), the aftermath of the Preston Smith trade (7:38) and the opportunities it will provide (9:54), and the outlook on offense (11:46). They also examine the state of the NFC North (18:51).
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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 Mike Spofford, joined as always by my partner
in crime, Weston had Quitz. We're coming to you here
from our studios at Lambeufield, coming off of the bye week, Wes,
how is your time off?
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Not long enough? Enough of it? But man, I always
say I hate the bye week. I always say this,
hate the bye week because you start to remember what
it's like to live a normal life again.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yeah, and then and then it changes right.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Back, and it goes right back.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
When do you have a responsibility at nine am on Monday? No,
it was great. It was a great week. I got
to spend some time with the kiddo. I got to
catch up on Peaky Blinders. I finished an entire season
at Peaky Blinders. Work, watched a little bit of football,
didn't do anything too extravagant. But you know what I
did do. I got my life in order and I
was really excited about that.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Well, that's always helpful for the second half of the season.
So I managed to take a trip back home. I
went to visit my visited my.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Old high school.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
Oh yeah, how are the children.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
I actually didn't even see my children.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Oh no, I met the platfilms.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Oh, the Platvial children.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
I hope your children are doing well though.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Yeah, my children are doing just fine. The platvil children are,
They're in good shape. They they were excited to uh,
they were excited to hear. I was one of dozens
of presenters at career day Nice High School, so it
was a big, big crowd of us, but I was
one of the few who was actually a platfl High
school graduate, so that sort of like got their attention, like, oh,
(01:46):
you actually went to school.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Here kind of thing.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
So it's pretty nifty man.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah, I went back and spoke at Bayport once. I
asked to never do it again. I love Bayport, but
I'm never gonna I'm never speaking again.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Well, this one was a first for me. We'll see
if they invite me back. I'm not entirely sure. But anyway,
so it's time to talk about date the state of
the Green Bay Packers six and three, and I think
the hope here we'll talk about things kind of on
both sides of the ball, but I think the biggest
(02:22):
thing that both sides of the ball for the Packers
are looking for offensive and defensively, is one to get
back to full health or as close as possible to
full health, particularly with regard to some very key players,
but then also to find a way to play that
complete game, that full four quarter performance that becomes something
(02:44):
you can hang your hat on, that thing that you
can that your side of the ball can build on.
As we get closer to the stretch run of the
season here, it kind of seems like in different ways,
both sides of the ball for the Packers are still
looking for that.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Nice thing about the bye week is you get a
chance to sort of take stock of everything. And I
know I was hitting everyone really hard with the fact
that the Packers are six and three right now through
nine games, as opposed to three and six last year
and already had the bye week behind them and then
ended up having to play I think maybe it was
thirteen straight games to finish out the season and get
on that run that they did.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
There's so much better position this year.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
But another thing I've been kind of drilling home with people,
and something I truly believe is once you kind of
get away from the Detroit loss a little bit, you
start to realize at least in my own opinion, how
close this Packers team is. They're close, I think Offensively,
you look at what they were able to do Michael
and the fact that they ranked top ten, top five
(03:40):
and so many offensive categories despite not having Jordan Love
for three games, despite not being able to get over
this penalty thing, and having these ebbs and flows to that,
you know, some drop passes, some miscommunication and they're still
producing at that level of efficiency. The amount of people
that gotten involved in this thing, the fact that there
(04:01):
was that little bit of a situation with Romeo Dobbs,
but it seems like everybody has moved past that. I
just there's so much like offensive bit of what Green
Bay is doing. And defensively, I think is the area
where they really as important as the Jordan Love situation
is and getting him healthy at this knee and all
these other things that he's dealt with now more recently
the groin. Defensively, if you can get Evan Williams back,
(04:25):
if you can get jay r Alexander back, if you
can get some of these stalwarts now on your defensive
side of the ball that have really emerged in the
first half of the season. Again, there's a lot of
improvement that has to happen. But considering where Green Bay
was and how daunting it looked at being three and
six last year, I think six and three is a
massive opportunity for this football team.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Yeah, I agree with you. I think the Packers are close.
And let's stay on the defensive side of the ball
for a minute, because while I think the story of
the first half of the season, if you want to
call it that slightly more than half, has been the
turnovers on defense, the takeaways, and the aggresive nons with
which they have played, I think this is a defense,
(05:04):
as you say, that is close in the sense that
it's right there to where you don't feel like you
have to go into a game counting on getting takeaways
to be successful. For that defense, I think they're getting
closer to the point. Of course you want them. They're
the game changing type of plays, but I think this
defense is getting closer to where it doesn't have to
(05:24):
rely on them.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
I think health will have a lot to do with that.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
But the big question is can the pass rush establish
a certain level of play in a certain consistency that
can be relied upon. And since our last show the
Packers traded Preston Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a
seventh round draft pick. Found out then the next day
that Preston Smith had actually requested the trade. Didn't feel
(05:51):
like he was fitting in with the transition from the
three to four front to the four to three. It's
a ten year vet. He's played his whole career as
an edge rusher in a three to four. So the
Packers accommodated that they got a seventh round draft pick
in return. What that does, is, of course, open a
tremendous window of opportunity, not only for guys who have
(06:13):
already been playing regularly in kings Leannigbari and Lucas van
Ness behind Rashaan Gary, who's certainly the leader of that
group now and has been for a while long with Preston,
but also a window of opportunity for younger guys who
have either barely played or haven't played. And of course
I'm talking about Aaron Mosby and Brenton Cox junior. So
(06:36):
the Packers didn't go out and add an edge rusher
at the deadline. They ended up they traded one because
he requested it. It's interesting to me because the more
I thought about this trade and its ramifications, moving on
from Preston Smith and everything over the bye week, it
took me back to last season and to a lot
of the things that Brian Gudakunt said after the season
(06:59):
was over over in that from a personnel side of things,
if the Packers feel they have young players who are capable,
then the answer is they have to let them play,
and they have to let them grow and develop by playing.
There's a lot to be said for watching the veterans
do it, for watching the Preston Smiths and the Rashan.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Garys of the world do it.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
But if these guys are going to become the players
that the personnel department believes they have and believes they
can become, then they have to play. And this is
opening that window of opportunity for guys like Mosby and
Cox to play.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
It's an astute point and I will dive into that
fully here in one moment, but before I do so,
I just need to say one last.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
Word here about Preston Smith.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Sure, because in a day and age where guys raise
hell and if they don't like something, they make it
known in the media, They make it known in the public.
They take it out in channels in which should not
be explored. Preston Smith very quietly said to the Green
Bits his representation of the Packers, Hey, you know what
I'm not fitting in? I don't you know nobody knew
(08:07):
about that?
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
The guys in the locker room said no, I was not,
you know, talking to basically all these edge rushers saying no,
I mean he never made that known. That was something
the personnel department dealt with, something Brian Dudekunz dealt with.
Something Preston Smith dealt with. If he got traded, great,
If he doesn't, no one would have ever even knew
that that situation was broach. My hat goes off to
Preston Smith. Five and a half years here, he finishes
(08:28):
his time here, six all time in sacks since nineteen
eighty to two. And the fact that this guy gave
so much to this team and had such an impact
on all these young pass rushers and still went about
his business the way he did. I've said it before,
I'll say it again. He never wore a captain's patch
in Green Bay. But I will tell you this man,
in terms of people that absolutely represented what that was
(08:51):
Preston Smith was that person and everybody in that locker
room knew that absolutely.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
And it's worth saying, and I'm glad you pointed it out.
It's worth saying. The way this went down, I think
not only says a lot about Preston Smith, but it
also said a lot about the mutual respect that existed
between Preston Smith and this organization. Because if Preston smith
representation goes to the packers and requests a trade, if
the packers are really upset about it and they don't
(09:18):
like it, they could very easily leak it to the
media and put Preston Smith on notice, and they make
him look like the bad guy for requesting a trade.
That didn't happen either. These were two sides that respected
each other and understood the situation, and it just very
quietly got resolved. And that's it's refreshing. I guess I'll
(09:40):
just say, though, without getting into other examples, in.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Preston's a guy that is going to be thirty two
years old next week. He still has a lot of
football ahead of him. If he feels like this scheme
in that system is going to what's going to help
him propel him to having a longer career. All the
credit to him for that. That being said, to your
original point, I think this is a massive opportunity and
I think Aaron Moseby's a really interesting guy. I thought
that was really cool. On his third snap on defense
(10:04):
with the Packers, he hits his first sack or shares
a sack with Rashan Gary. The guy I'm excited to
see is Brenton Cox Junior. Because the thing is is
the Packers use pretty much all those outside linebackers are
they have on their special teams units. Lucas Banas has
a role, kings Leanningbari has a role. Certainly, Moseby's a
four core.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Guy for them.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
That being said, Brenton Cox just hasn't been able to
get into that GameDay situation because a lot of that
is the special teams a lot of it. The guys
ahead of him on the depth chart on defense are
also ahead of him on the depth chart on special teams.
This is a massive opportunity for him. This is a
guy that has flashed so many times as a former
five star recruit. Everybody knows his story, knows what he's overcome,
(10:42):
knows the professionalism I think he showed in one and
a half years here in Green Bay. Now he potentially
has an opportunity to get some snaps on the field, because,
as you said, Michael, that's where ultimately this learning has
to take place. That's where you have to cut your teeth.
That's where you have to sink or swim. Now, both
him and Moseby, you'd imagine we'll get some of those
snaps as well in that re Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Absolutely, it's where it's It's how the Packers found out
last year what they had in the rookie receivers and
the rookie tight ends and the young guys that the
personnel department believed in and said, hey, all right, like
there are gonna be some bumps in the road, but
you have to let these guys play, you have to
let them develop. In this case, guys like Moseby and
Cox undrafted guys not to not chosen in the draft.
(11:24):
But I think the actions over the trade deadline certainly
indicate that the Packers believe in these guys, and they
believe that given the opportunity, Yes there are going to
be some mistakes, Yes there may be some setbacks along
the way, but given the opportunity to grow and develop
that these are guys who can contribute to a contending team.
So we're going to we're going to find that out.
(11:47):
Shifting back to the offense for a second, and I
wrote a story after our first kind of open locker
room after the bye on Monday afternoon and looking into
looking in this the statistics, and you mentioned offensively, how
you know, the Packers have very very in some cases high,
in other cases very respectable rankings in the offensive categories.
(12:10):
There is a bit of a discrepancy though, in the
fact that the Packers ranked third in the league in
yards per game offensively, but only ninth in the league
in points per game. And I think that discrepancy in
those two rankings, both of which are plenty solid, of course,
but the discrepancy in those two rankings, I think is
an indication of the opportunities that the Packers offense has
(12:33):
let get away. And those opportunities have gotten away for
the reasons that we've discussed the drop passes and the
penalties and the interceptions, because we talked about, you know,
Jordan Love's number being too high there, I think what
the Packers feel like offensively in the sense that I
got in the locker room on Monday talking to Josh
(12:55):
Jacobs and talking to Jayden Reid and talking to Josh
Myers about what's out there for this offense. Not a
one of them said anything about the schemes that defenses
are playing and what the other team is doing to them.
They're all looking at it as this is right in
front of us. Yeah, we can fix this, we can
perform better, we can put better numbers on the board.
(13:17):
This is very much this is very much an inward
looking team on offense saying it's all right in front
of them to get it going to where they believe
they can go.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
The number one thing when I looked at the Packers
offense and going back and going through NFLGSIS twenty ninth
in red zone offense right now, twenty fourth and goal
to go in nineteenth and third downs, that's really the
only area where Green Bay's kind of come up short
is the situational stuff. Obviously, we make a lot out
of the penalties, but if you look at the penalties
green Bay, it's not like they're demonstrably higher than the
(13:48):
rest of the NFL.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
It's just that they've had them happen at the wrong time.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Right, it's the way, it's the when they've occurred, and
a lot of them, particularly early in the year, were
occurring in the red zone, which is then affecting the
the point production at the end of the day.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Had an impact, I think in the Detroit game as well,
and being able to sustain drives and you know, it's
one thing to move the football, it's another thing to
be able to get the full six points out of it.
And I feel like that's where Green Bay still has
a lot left out there for them. I look at
a guy like Romeo Dobbs, who has been just an absolute,
you know, dream for a quarterback in the red zone.
Can they get more opportunities for him. We'll see how
(14:23):
everything goes here. With Christian Watson in the second half
of the season, I think there's a lot out there
for him as well. Josh Jacobs has been the third
leading rusher in the National Football League. He finally got
his first receiving touchdown during the first half of the season.
Where can the Packers build this offense out with him
as well? And as it sounds like from what Brian
Gudkuin said last week, there's a potential that Marshawn Lloyd
here will be back shortly as he works his way
(14:45):
back from the ankle injury. So green Bay offensively should
have their full allotment of weapons. That the other thing.
And we'll preview the Bears game on Thursday and we'll
get into this little bit more. But Green Bay's quarterbacks
are the least sacked quarterbacks in the National Football League.
They've had twelve sacks this season. The Bears have had
the most. Now as far as this individual position, I
(15:05):
think maybe Cleveland between the two quarterbacks, has more, but
nobody's taken more sacks than Caleb Williams. The Packers' ability
to keep the pocket clean give whether it's Jordan Love
or Malik Willis, giving them a workable pocket and allowing
playmakers to make plays. It's all been there for Green Bay.
Can you finish these drives? That's where ultimately they need
to get to.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Absolutely, I think it's out there. It's out there for
the Packers. They know it, they see it. But as
Josh Meyer said, you know when he was then asked
as a hobb Okay, what does it take to get there?
What does it take to really put yourself up there
as one of the best offenses in the league. And
he said it takes an intentionality every day to what
(15:45):
you do and how you go about your work. And
I think that's the you know, the inward looking message
is is that that's the approach. And we'll see, I
mean in a sense, we won't see because we don't
get to watch practice, but maybe will hear and perhaps
see in the results if some of the things that
Matt Lafleur talked about in terms of changing the structure
of practice a little bit, emphasizing certain things over others,
(16:09):
if that ends up, you know, perhaps changing the results
a little bit.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
For the better.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Because and I say all that going back to your
original point very early in the show talking about both
sides of the ball, the Packers are close, like they
are close. They are not far away from where they
need to be and where they believe they should be,
but they haven't gotten there.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
And you're never going to play a perfect game. There's
going to be things that Green Bay did really well
in the first half of the season that they maybe
won't do as well in the second half, because that's
just how this game is played. To the variables that
are in play with it. But that being said, there's
things that happened during the first half of the season
that you just don't expect to happen over the course
of an entire year. The receiver drops, right, I mean,
there's guys in that equation that you expect they're going
(16:52):
to be able to make those plays here going forward.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Yea, guys who have been more reliable than they've shown
in some of their worst moments.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
And the other thing is too And I'll close on this.
I wish people maybe sometimes they get to see.
Speaker 4 (17:04):
These locker room interviews.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Maybe they don't if you're on Packers dot Com or
some of the local television stations, But like, I wish
everybody could watch the six ten minutes whatever it was
that Sean Ryan talked after the game against Detroit, Because
when you talk about when fans get so upset and
we see things in insider inbox and they don't like this,
So why isn't this being fixed? How come they haven't
gotten better in this area? If you would have listened
to Sean Ryan after that game discussing his false start
(17:28):
that ultimately pushed the Packers back from a third and
three to a third and eight and then they end
up having I think they punted on that one. Then, Yes,
how seriously these guys take this and how much that
bothered Sean afterwards. I'm sure it's something that still said
he was thinking about going into the bye week. These
guys want to get it right and they want to
get things fixed, and they're not going to make excuses
when you don't have Josh Myers and the communication changes
(17:49):
on the offensive line and guys are trying to do
different positions that they haven't normally played, they won't use
those excuses. But at the same time, when you hear
them lament their errors, hearing them for that understanding the
emphasis in the intentionality to use that for a phrase. Again,
these guys take this so serious. Yeah, and they want
to come through for your team.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Yeah. And we'll see when the team gets back on
the practice field on Wednesday. We'll see where things are
health wise with Jordan Love and with Josh Myers at
center with the wrist injury, and as you mentioned that
defense with jay r Alexander and Evan Williams, and hopefully
the health report sort of turns in a more positive
direction here. As the Packers hit the second half of
(18:29):
the season, so I'll take care of a little bit
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(18:53):
All right, Well, we sort of covered the state of
the Packers at six and three, so let's shift gears
into the state of the NFC nose because the Detroit
Lions are eight and one, the Minnesota Vikings right behind
at seven and two, the Packers right behind them at
six and three, and the Chicago Bears this week's opponent
for Green Bay, now four and five. And as we
(19:15):
had talked about Wes, you know, they lose. They lose
the game on the Hail Mary in Washington and suddenly
everything is going haywire with their season. They've lost two
more in a row since then. They've now fired their
offensive coordinator, turned over the offense to the passing game
coordinator Thomas Brown. So Shane Waldern is out, Thomas Brown
is in trying to figure out trying to get the
(19:38):
number one overall draft pick Caleb Williams going. But there
is just there's a lot of turmoil.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
In Chicago right now.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
And even I mean when the home fans are channing
for the head coach to be fired after a loss
to the New England Patriots over the weekend, that's just
that's a lot to deal with for the Packers neighbors
to the south.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
They sure are, but the groom at Packers they is
they're still looking for that first NFC North wind too.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Very true.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
So kind of like the situation I look at with
what happened to Jacksonville, this is another ponent you're not
going to be able to just look past. You have
to be able to go out there and set the tone.
Matt Lafleur has yet to lose to the Chicago Bears
as the head coach. Unfortunately, Preston Smith is no longer here.
He had never lost at all at any interval of
his career to the Chicago Bears, and unfortunately, I don't
think we'll play them again this season. But all that
(20:27):
being said, here's the thing that I look at this
as sew or excuse me, Josh Jacobs said it as locker.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
I think it was after the Houston game.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
How football is a crazy game because you can almost
see the momentum, you can feel it more than anything else.
Doesn't matter what the box score says, doesn't matter what
the statistics say. It's all momentum in that very moment.
And it feels like the air got let out of
the balloon for them in Washington, YEP, with that loss
to Washington, and it had.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
They were four and two, on the verge of going
to five and two and beating one of the up
and coming teams in the league and the Washington Commanders,
and as it was like the balloon popped on that one.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
Play in the craziest thing of all, Mike, I know
you had to read my inbox when I was going
off about this. Either twenty three straight drives now without
a touchdown, but this stat about how Caleb Williams has
neither a touchdown nor an interception in these last three games,
it's it is mind boggling.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
Yeah, it's bizarre one way.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
Or the other.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
Like just that it goes three straight games with none
of those scoring statistics. And that being said, I mean
the other thing I look at for as much flak
as Williams got, as much as the Bears offensive line
got in that game against New England, the Patriots are
a team that really have struggled to protect their quarterback,
and the Bear's got one sack on Drake May So
(21:43):
I mean there's a lot of things happen in that
universe right now for Chicago, and none of it looks good.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Well, we'll talk more about this on Thursday as we
as we more directly preview the game. But it's really
interesting from a preparation standpoint because it's not as though
the Bears can completely, you know, overhaul the playbook because
they fired their offensive coordinator and turned it over to
somebody else. But that being said, you kind of have
to be prepared maybe for some unscouted looks and for
(22:12):
you know, some changeups and and things like that, some
some out of character stuff maybe in the offense, because
the new offensive coordinator is going to be looking for
some kind of a jump start, something that's going to
energize the offense and and get them going. So on
the Packers side, from a preparation standpoint, it's not as
easy necessarily as saying, oh, look the Patriots got like
nine sacks of Caleb Williams, and you know we can
(22:34):
we can you know sort of you know, look at
look at what they did and see how that fits
what we do, and that's going to be the plan.
When there's changes like this going on, you can't just
make assumptions like that. That being said, you don't want
to be chasing ghosts trying to guess or figure out
what they're.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Going to do.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
But it becomes a very a very different kind of
week from a preparation standpoint. And that being said, this
Bears defense is no picnic.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
It's not.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
I mean, they didn't have a great game, certainly in Arizona,
but in Washington and against the Patriots, the Bears defense.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Played pretty darn well.
Speaker 4 (23:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
I mean it's a solid unit.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
It's a unit that if you allow I mean, it's
the way it's been with Matt ebraflus Over. I mean,
they're going to play you competitively. It's just been a
matter of what's going on with their offense and are
they basically able to generate points in yards and production,
and they were not able to do that against New England. Now,
all that being said, what's funny to me in these
instances is there's nothing more dangerous than a team or
(23:31):
a person with nothing to lose. And we're entering those
waters now for the Bears, because if this thing continues
to turn, there won't be a year four for Ebraflus.
There's going to be another change over again, and they're
going to try to find another head coaching staff that
can work with Caleb Williams to try to build him
up the quarterback they feel.
Speaker 4 (23:48):
He can be.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
But all that being said is that's stuff for down
the line. What the Packers have to worry about is
this game at Soldier Field and again needing to pick
up not only wins in this division, but wins in
this conference. And Green Bay schedule as far as wins
and losses are concerned, looks favorable during the second half,
But you look at a San Francisco team that now
has Christian McCaffrey back, You look at you know, how
(24:10):
the Miami Dolphins look with Tua and the beaten that
they put down on the Rams, and certainly we're gonna
have another matchup with Detroit, this is going to be
a challenge, and I feel like moments like this, going
down to Soldier Field, this is where you can own
it and sort of set your tone and build yourself
up during this final stretch, much like they were able
to do last year during that big run they got on.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Well at the top of the NFC North. If you
had told me Wes going into the bye weekend that
the Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings were going to
combine to throw eight interceptions on Sunday and that they
were both going to win, I was gonna, you know, say, huh, like.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
What are you talking.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Well, that's exactly what happened.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
Now.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
Granted, one of Jared Goff's five interceptions was a hail
Mary at the end of the first half, sort of
meaningless in that respect, but still, even if you take
that one away, Jared got through four other interceptions. Sam
Darnold threw three for Minnesota. The Vikings didn't even get
a touchdown in Jacksonville. But the defensive performances of both
(25:16):
of those teams. What the Vikings did. Now they were
facing Mac Jones, the backup quarterback for Jacksonville, it wasn't
Trevor Lawrence, but Minnesota's defense. Other than one drive in
the game where Mac Jones got a touchdown, they just
completely shut the Jaguars down. And the Detroit Lions, after
some real shaky moments in the first half and falling
(25:37):
behind by sixteen points, they pitched a second half shutout
on the road at Houston against a first place team
and a quarterback in CJ.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
Stroud who looked.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Like he was getting back to being at NFL offensive
Rookie of the Year that he was last year, and
Detroit's defense just completely locked it down with the help
of one very very poorly thrown pass that should have
been a fit fifty yard touchdown that turned into an
interception for Stroud when he had a absolute layup for
a bomb for a touchdown and through a terrible ball,
(26:09):
and that really ended up being the difference in the
game because the Lions are not going to be able
to overcome one more touchdown by the Texans, and Texans
had their opportunity. That being said, though the top of
this NFC North eight and one, seven and two, six
and three, the numbers are right there. It's a it's
going to be it's going to be quite the fight,
(26:29):
but the Detroit Lions are the team that remains in
control of this division.
Speaker 4 (26:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
And if if you want a quick synopsis of how
you managed to lose a game in which he led
twenty three to seven and a half time, this is
what will suit you. Zero net yards interception, one net
yard punt, forty net yards interception, six net yards, punt,
one net yard punt, four net yards punt, thirty net yards,
missfield goal. That's how you lose a football game. Uh, listen, good.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
That was just a train wreck of a second half.
Not good by the Houston Texans offense, and they're defense
was trying to keep them in. It's not it's not
like the Lions just exploded for a whole bunch of points.
The Lions got enough points and got what they needed
to make the comeback and win the game. The Texans
defense is fighting and trying to hold them in there
while the offense was just absolutely self destructive.
Speaker 4 (27:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
I mean this is they started the first touchdown of
the second half. You know, the Lions started at the
Houston forty four, right, Just that's just the way it goes.
But anyway, that's neither here nor there. Good teams find
ways to win games, and Detroit is a very good team,
and I still think Minnesota is a good team. Sam Donald.
The shine is starting to come off of it a
little bit, but there's there's.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
A lot of a lot of you know, we obviously
talked a lot about the interceptions with Jordan Love. There's
a big turnover and interception discussion going on in Minnesota
with Sam Donald right now. And because the last two
games against the Indianapolis Colts and the Jacksonville Jaguars, the
Vikings have won those games because of their defense and
not really because of anything Sam Donald has done.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
You know, and I look at it that it's becoming
more evident to me as much of a star as
Justin Jefferson is, and certainly TJ. Hockinson now that he's back,
but Aaron Jones is something that really does drive that offense.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Yeah, he does.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
They are a different team when he's unavailable, and unfortunately
he left for a little bit. I think came back
dealing with maybe a rib issue. Aaron Jones might be
their most As much as they were talking about Sam
Darnold as a possible like MVP candidate, Aaron Jones might
be the most important asset to that offense right now
with what they're doing. But Donald has to figure some
stuff out because he went from looking like a guy
(28:34):
that could really bring them somewhere to okay, can we
win and despite this guy? And that's something Minnesota's going
to figure out now. To their credit, they do not
take the wins off the board. You are seven and
two right now, you still have a lot of momentum,
and they've been in the front before with Kevin O'Connell.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
Then let that thing go.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
They have to be able to find ways to keep
the winnings coming. It just so happened they're playing a
Jacksonville team with as many issues that they have, yep,
and if not more, and they found a way to
tek out that victory. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Well it's gonna be h It's gonna be an entertaining
second half of the season, no doubt about it. We
will dive more into specifically the Bears and this matchup
of the Packers and the Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday.
Will do that on our next show in a.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
I'm surprised you didn't want to talk about Baltimore and Cincinnati.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
Oh, too far away. We can go. It's time to go.
Let's talk about the draft. But how about that? Huh yeah,
that was a game.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
That was a game I remarked to, Uh yeah, that
was way I forgot about it because I was moving
back on Thursday night, you know, before all of the
craziness and one score close games on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
I watched the end of this shows you the ultimate
bye week experience. I watched the end of that game
from Shoots bar in Swama Goo there you go, like,
and just seeing the the the way that both of
those teams are thinking down the stretch to end up
being a very probably probably one of the better Thursday
Night games ever.
Speaker 4 (29:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Absolutely well.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
And to be honest and not to go off on
a complete tangent here, Yeah, but that's what Thursday night
football should be is division rivals. Yes, because of teams
that know each other, you don't need all the the
extra preparation that goes into playing the more unfamiliar opponents.
Thursday night games should be division games because then that's
what makes for much better Thursday night football, yes, than
(30:09):
when you randomly pair the Los Angeles Rams and the
you know, Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
No, I mean it's just you know, division games on
Thursday night makes for better Thursday night football. I think
the NFL needs to needs to understand that.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
All right, I'm with you before we go.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
The home of the twenty twenty five NFL Draft is
right here in Green Bay April twenty four through April
twenty six of twenty twenty five. Visit green Bay dot
com slash Draft twenty five for more information, and 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 on Packers dot com For Wes, I'm Miike.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
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 Mike Spofford, joined as always by my partner
in crime, Weston had Quitz. We're coming to you here
from our studios at Lambeufield, coming off of the bye week, Wes,
how is your time off?
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Not long enough? Enough of it? But man, I always
say I hate the bye week. I always say this,
hate the bye week because you start to remember what
it's like to live a normal life again.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yeah, and then and then it changes right.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Back, and it goes right back.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
When do you have a responsibility at nine am on Monday? No,
it was great. It was a great week. I got
to spend some time with the kiddo. I got to
catch up on Peaky Blinders. I finished an entire season
at Peaky Blinders. Work, watched a little bit of football,
didn't do anything too extravagant. But you know what I
did do. I got my life in order and I
was really excited about that.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Well, that's always helpful for the second half of the season.
So I managed to take a trip back home. I
went to visit my visited my.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Old high school.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
Oh yeah, how are the children.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
I actually didn't even see my children.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Oh no, I met the platfilms.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Oh, the Platvial children.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
I hope your children are doing well though.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Yeah, my children are doing just fine. The platvil children are,
They're in good shape. They they were excited to uh,
they were excited to hear. I was one of dozens
of presenters at career day Nice High School, so it
was a big, big crowd of us, but I was
one of the few who was actually a platfl High
school graduate, so that sort of like got their attention, like, oh,
(01:46):
you actually went to school.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Here kind of thing.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
So it's pretty nifty man.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah, I went back and spoke at Bayport once. I
asked to never do it again. I love Bayport, but
I'm never gonna I'm never speaking again.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Well, this one was a first for me. We'll see
if they invite me back. I'm not entirely sure. But anyway,
so it's time to talk about date the state of
the Green Bay Packers six and three, and I think
the hope here we'll talk about things kind of on
both sides of the ball, but I think the biggest
(02:22):
thing that both sides of the ball for the Packers
are looking for offensive and defensively, is one to get
back to full health or as close as possible to
full health, particularly with regard to some very key players,
but then also to find a way to play that
complete game, that full four quarter performance that becomes something
(02:44):
you can hang your hat on, that thing that you
can that your side of the ball can build on.
As we get closer to the stretch run of the
season here, it kind of seems like in different ways,
both sides of the ball for the Packers are still
looking for that.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Nice thing about the bye week is you get a
chance to sort of take stock of everything. And I
know I was hitting everyone really hard with the fact
that the Packers are six and three right now through
nine games, as opposed to three and six last year
and already had the bye week behind them and then
ended up having to play I think maybe it was
thirteen straight games to finish out the season and get
on that run that they did.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
There's so much better position this year.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
But another thing I've been kind of drilling home with people,
and something I truly believe is once you kind of
get away from the Detroit loss a little bit, you
start to realize at least in my own opinion, how
close this Packers team is. They're close, I think Offensively,
you look at what they were able to do Michael
and the fact that they ranked top ten, top five
(03:40):
and so many offensive categories despite not having Jordan Love
for three games, despite not being able to get over
this penalty thing, and having these ebbs and flows to that,
you know, some drop passes, some miscommunication and they're still
producing at that level of efficiency. The amount of people
that gotten involved in this thing, the fact that there
(04:01):
was that little bit of a situation with Romeo Dobbs,
but it seems like everybody has moved past that. I
just there's so much like offensive bit of what Green
Bay is doing. And defensively, I think is the area
where they really as important as the Jordan Love situation
is and getting him healthy at this knee and all
these other things that he's dealt with now more recently
the groin. Defensively, if you can get Evan Williams back,
(04:25):
if you can get jay r Alexander back, if you
can get some of these stalwarts now on your defensive
side of the ball that have really emerged in the
first half of the season. Again, there's a lot of
improvement that has to happen. But considering where Green Bay
was and how daunting it looked at being three and
six last year, I think six and three is a
massive opportunity for this football team.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Yeah, I agree with you. I think the Packers are close.
And let's stay on the defensive side of the ball
for a minute, because while I think the story of
the first half of the season, if you want to
call it that slightly more than half, has been the
turnovers on defense, the takeaways, and the aggresive nons with
which they have played, I think this is a defense,
(05:04):
as you say, that is close in the sense that
it's right there to where you don't feel like you
have to go into a game counting on getting takeaways
to be successful. For that defense, I think they're getting
closer to the point. Of course you want them. They're
the game changing type of plays, but I think this
defense is getting closer to where it doesn't have to
(05:24):
rely on them.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
I think health will have a lot to do with that.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
But the big question is can the pass rush establish
a certain level of play in a certain consistency that
can be relied upon. And since our last show the
Packers traded Preston Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a
seventh round draft pick. Found out then the next day
that Preston Smith had actually requested the trade. Didn't feel
(05:51):
like he was fitting in with the transition from the
three to four front to the four to three. It's
a ten year vet. He's played his whole career as
an edge rusher in a three to four. So the
Packers accommodated that they got a seventh round draft pick
in return. What that does, is, of course, open a
tremendous window of opportunity, not only for guys who have
(06:13):
already been playing regularly in kings Leannigbari and Lucas van
Ness behind Rashaan Gary, who's certainly the leader of that
group now and has been for a while long with Preston,
but also a window of opportunity for younger guys who
have either barely played or haven't played. And of course
I'm talking about Aaron Mosby and Brenton Cox junior. So
(06:36):
the Packers didn't go out and add an edge rusher
at the deadline. They ended up they traded one because
he requested it. It's interesting to me because the more
I thought about this trade and its ramifications, moving on
from Preston Smith and everything over the bye week, it
took me back to last season and to a lot
of the things that Brian Gudakunt said after the season
(06:59):
was over over in that from a personnel side of things,
if the Packers feel they have young players who are capable,
then the answer is they have to let them play,
and they have to let them grow and develop by playing.
There's a lot to be said for watching the veterans
do it, for watching the Preston Smiths and the Rashan.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Garys of the world do it.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
But if these guys are going to become the players
that the personnel department believes they have and believes they
can become, then they have to play. And this is
opening that window of opportunity for guys like Mosby and
Cox to play.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
It's an astute point and I will dive into that
fully here in one moment, but before I do so,
I just need to say one last.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
Word here about Preston Smith.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Sure, because in a day and age where guys raise
hell and if they don't like something, they make it
known in the media, They make it known in the public.
They take it out in channels in which should not
be explored. Preston Smith very quietly said to the Green
Bits his representation of the Packers, Hey, you know what
I'm not fitting in? I don't you know nobody knew
(08:07):
about that?
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
The guys in the locker room said no, I was not,
you know, talking to basically all these edge rushers saying no,
I mean he never made that known. That was something
the personnel department dealt with, something Brian Dudekunz dealt with.
Something Preston Smith dealt with. If he got traded, great,
If he doesn't, no one would have ever even knew
that that situation was broach. My hat goes off to
Preston Smith. Five and a half years here, he finishes
(08:28):
his time here, six all time in sacks since nineteen
eighty to two. And the fact that this guy gave
so much to this team and had such an impact
on all these young pass rushers and still went about
his business the way he did. I've said it before,
I'll say it again. He never wore a captain's patch
in Green Bay. But I will tell you this man,
in terms of people that absolutely represented what that was
(08:51):
Preston Smith was that person and everybody in that locker
room knew that absolutely.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
And it's worth saying, and I'm glad you pointed it out.
It's worth saying. The way this went down, I think
not only says a lot about Preston Smith, but it
also said a lot about the mutual respect that existed
between Preston Smith and this organization. Because if Preston smith
representation goes to the packers and requests a trade, if
the packers are really upset about it and they don't
(09:18):
like it, they could very easily leak it to the
media and put Preston Smith on notice, and they make
him look like the bad guy for requesting a trade.
That didn't happen either. These were two sides that respected
each other and understood the situation, and it just very
quietly got resolved. And that's it's refreshing. I guess I'll
(09:40):
just say, though, without getting into other examples, in.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Preston's a guy that is going to be thirty two
years old next week. He still has a lot of
football ahead of him. If he feels like this scheme
in that system is going to what's going to help
him propel him to having a longer career. All the
credit to him for that. That being said, to your
original point, I think this is a massive opportunity and
I think Aaron Moseby's a really interesting guy. I thought
that was really cool. On his third snap on defense
(10:04):
with the Packers, he hits his first sack or shares
a sack with Rashan Gary. The guy I'm excited to
see is Brenton Cox Junior. Because the thing is is
the Packers use pretty much all those outside linebackers are
they have on their special teams units. Lucas Banas has
a role, kings Leanningbari has a role. Certainly, Moseby's a
four core.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Guy for them.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
That being said, Brenton Cox just hasn't been able to
get into that GameDay situation because a lot of that
is the special teams a lot of it. The guys
ahead of him on the depth chart on defense are
also ahead of him on the depth chart on special teams.
This is a massive opportunity for him. This is a
guy that has flashed so many times as a former
five star recruit. Everybody knows his story, knows what he's overcome,
(10:42):
knows the professionalism I think he showed in one and
a half years here in Green Bay. Now he potentially
has an opportunity to get some snaps on the field, because,
as you said, Michael, that's where ultimately this learning has
to take place. That's where you have to cut your teeth.
That's where you have to sink or swim. Now, both
him and Moseby, you'd imagine we'll get some of those
snaps as well in that re Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Absolutely, it's where it's It's how the Packers found out
last year what they had in the rookie receivers and
the rookie tight ends and the young guys that the
personnel department believed in and said, hey, all right, like
there are gonna be some bumps in the road, but
you have to let these guys play, you have to
let them develop. In this case, guys like Moseby and
Cox undrafted guys not to not chosen in the draft.
(11:24):
But I think the actions over the trade deadline certainly
indicate that the Packers believe in these guys, and they
believe that given the opportunity, Yes there are going to
be some mistakes, Yes there may be some setbacks along
the way, but given the opportunity to grow and develop
that these are guys who can contribute to a contending team.
So we're going to we're going to find that out.
(11:47):
Shifting back to the offense for a second, and I
wrote a story after our first kind of open locker
room after the bye on Monday afternoon and looking into
looking in this the statistics, and you mentioned offensively, how
you know, the Packers have very very in some cases high,
in other cases very respectable rankings in the offensive categories.
(12:10):
There is a bit of a discrepancy though, in the
fact that the Packers ranked third in the league in
yards per game offensively, but only ninth in the league
in points per game. And I think that discrepancy in
those two rankings, both of which are plenty solid, of course,
but the discrepancy in those two rankings, I think is
an indication of the opportunities that the Packers offense has
(12:33):
let get away. And those opportunities have gotten away for
the reasons that we've discussed the drop passes and the
penalties and the interceptions, because we talked about, you know,
Jordan Love's number being too high there, I think what
the Packers feel like offensively in the sense that I
got in the locker room on Monday talking to Josh
(12:55):
Jacobs and talking to Jayden Reid and talking to Josh
Myers about what's out there for this offense. Not a
one of them said anything about the schemes that defenses
are playing and what the other team is doing to them.
They're all looking at it as this is right in
front of us. Yeah, we can fix this, we can
perform better, we can put better numbers on the board.
(13:17):
This is very much this is very much an inward
looking team on offense saying it's all right in front
of them to get it going to where they believe
they can go.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
The number one thing when I looked at the Packers
offense and going back and going through NFLGSIS twenty ninth
in red zone offense right now, twenty fourth and goal
to go in nineteenth and third downs, that's really the
only area where Green Bay's kind of come up short
is the situational stuff. Obviously, we make a lot out
of the penalties, but if you look at the penalties
green Bay, it's not like they're demonstrably higher than the
(13:48):
rest of the NFL.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
It's just that they've had them happen at the wrong time.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Right, it's the way, it's the when they've occurred, and
a lot of them, particularly early in the year, were
occurring in the red zone, which is then affecting the
the point production at the end of the day.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Had an impact, I think in the Detroit game as well,
and being able to sustain drives and you know, it's
one thing to move the football, it's another thing to
be able to get the full six points out of it.
And I feel like that's where Green Bay still has
a lot left out there for them. I look at
a guy like Romeo Dobbs, who has been just an absolute,
you know, dream for a quarterback in the red zone.
Can they get more opportunities for him. We'll see how
(14:23):
everything goes here. With Christian Watson in the second half
of the season, I think there's a lot out there
for him as well. Josh Jacobs has been the third
leading rusher in the National Football League. He finally got
his first receiving touchdown during the first half of the season.
Where can the Packers build this offense out with him
as well? And as it sounds like from what Brian
Gudkuin said last week, there's a potential that Marshawn Lloyd
here will be back shortly as he works his way
(14:45):
back from the ankle injury. So green Bay offensively should
have their full allotment of weapons. That the other thing.
And we'll preview the Bears game on Thursday and we'll
get into this little bit more. But Green Bay's quarterbacks
are the least sacked quarterbacks in the National Football League.
They've had twelve sacks this season. The Bears have had
the most. Now as far as this individual position, I
(15:05):
think maybe Cleveland between the two quarterbacks, has more, but
nobody's taken more sacks than Caleb Williams. The Packers' ability
to keep the pocket clean give whether it's Jordan Love
or Malik Willis, giving them a workable pocket and allowing
playmakers to make plays. It's all been there for Green Bay.
Can you finish these drives? That's where ultimately they need
to get to.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Absolutely, I think it's out there. It's out there for
the Packers. They know it, they see it. But as
Josh Meyer said, you know when he was then asked
as a hobb Okay, what does it take to get there?
What does it take to really put yourself up there
as one of the best offenses in the league. And
he said it takes an intentionality every day to what
(15:45):
you do and how you go about your work. And
I think that's the you know, the inward looking message
is is that that's the approach. And we'll see, I
mean in a sense, we won't see because we don't
get to watch practice, but maybe will hear and perhaps
see in the results if some of the things that
Matt Lafleur talked about in terms of changing the structure
of practice a little bit, emphasizing certain things over others,
(16:09):
if that ends up, you know, perhaps changing the results
a little bit.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
For the better.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Because and I say all that going back to your
original point very early in the show talking about both
sides of the ball, the Packers are close, like they
are close. They are not far away from where they
need to be and where they believe they should be,
but they haven't gotten there.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
And you're never going to play a perfect game. There's
going to be things that Green Bay did really well
in the first half of the season that they maybe
won't do as well in the second half, because that's
just how this game is played. To the variables that
are in play with it. But that being said, there's
things that happened during the first half of the season
that you just don't expect to happen over the course
of an entire year. The receiver drops, right, I mean,
there's guys in that equation that you expect they're going
(16:52):
to be able to make those plays here going forward.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Yea, guys who have been more reliable than they've shown
in some of their worst moments.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
And the other thing is too And I'll close on this.
I wish people maybe sometimes they get to see.
Speaker 4 (17:04):
These locker room interviews.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Maybe they don't if you're on Packers dot Com or
some of the local television stations, But like, I wish
everybody could watch the six ten minutes whatever it was
that Sean Ryan talked after the game against Detroit, Because
when you talk about when fans get so upset and
we see things in insider inbox and they don't like this,
So why isn't this being fixed? How come they haven't
gotten better in this area? If you would have listened
to Sean Ryan after that game discussing his false start
(17:28):
that ultimately pushed the Packers back from a third and
three to a third and eight and then they end
up having I think they punted on that one. Then, Yes,
how seriously these guys take this and how much that
bothered Sean afterwards. I'm sure it's something that still said
he was thinking about going into the bye week. These
guys want to get it right and they want to
get things fixed, and they're not going to make excuses
when you don't have Josh Myers and the communication changes
(17:49):
on the offensive line and guys are trying to do
different positions that they haven't normally played, they won't use
those excuses. But at the same time, when you hear
them lament their errors, hearing them for that understanding the
emphasis in the intentionality to use that for a phrase. Again,
these guys take this so serious. Yeah, and they want
to come through for your team.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Yeah. And we'll see when the team gets back on
the practice field on Wednesday. We'll see where things are
health wise with Jordan Love and with Josh Myers at
center with the wrist injury, and as you mentioned that
defense with jay r Alexander and Evan Williams, and hopefully
the health report sort of turns in a more positive
direction here. As the Packers hit the second half of
(18:29):
the season, so I'll take care of a little bit
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(18:53):
All right, Well, we sort of covered the state of
the Packers at six and three, so let's shift gears
into the state of the NFC nose because the Detroit
Lions are eight and one, the Minnesota Vikings right behind
at seven and two, the Packers right behind them at
six and three, and the Chicago Bears this week's opponent
for Green Bay, now four and five. And as we
(19:15):
had talked about Wes, you know, they lose. They lose
the game on the Hail Mary in Washington and suddenly
everything is going haywire with their season. They've lost two
more in a row since then. They've now fired their
offensive coordinator, turned over the offense to the passing game
coordinator Thomas Brown. So Shane Waldern is out, Thomas Brown
is in trying to figure out trying to get the
(19:38):
number one overall draft pick Caleb Williams going. But there
is just there's a lot of turmoil.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
In Chicago right now.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
And even I mean when the home fans are channing
for the head coach to be fired after a loss
to the New England Patriots over the weekend, that's just
that's a lot to deal with for the Packers neighbors
to the south.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
They sure are, but the groom at Packers they is
they're still looking for that first NFC North wind too.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Very true.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
So kind of like the situation I look at with
what happened to Jacksonville, this is another ponent you're not
going to be able to just look past. You have
to be able to go out there and set the tone.
Matt Lafleur has yet to lose to the Chicago Bears
as the head coach. Unfortunately, Preston Smith is no longer here.
He had never lost at all at any interval of
his career to the Chicago Bears, and unfortunately, I don't
think we'll play them again this season. But all that
(20:27):
being said, here's the thing that I look at this
as sew or excuse me, Josh Jacobs said it as locker.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
I think it was after the Houston game.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
How football is a crazy game because you can almost
see the momentum, you can feel it more than anything else.
Doesn't matter what the box score says, doesn't matter what
the statistics say. It's all momentum in that very moment.
And it feels like the air got let out of
the balloon for them in Washington, YEP, with that loss
to Washington, and it had.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
They were four and two, on the verge of going
to five and two and beating one of the up
and coming teams in the league and the Washington Commanders,
and as it was like the balloon popped on that one.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
Play in the craziest thing of all, Mike, I know
you had to read my inbox when I was going
off about this. Either twenty three straight drives now without
a touchdown, but this stat about how Caleb Williams has
neither a touchdown nor an interception in these last three games,
it's it is mind boggling.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
Yeah, it's bizarre one way.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
Or the other.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
Like just that it goes three straight games with none
of those scoring statistics. And that being said, I mean
the other thing I look at for as much flak
as Williams got, as much as the Bears offensive line
got in that game against New England, the Patriots are
a team that really have struggled to protect their quarterback,
and the Bear's got one sack on Drake May So
(21:43):
I mean there's a lot of things happen in that
universe right now for Chicago, and none of it looks good.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Well, we'll talk more about this on Thursday as we
as we more directly preview the game. But it's really
interesting from a preparation standpoint because it's not as though
the Bears can completely, you know, overhaul the playbook because
they fired their offensive coordinator and turned it over to
somebody else. But that being said, you kind of have
to be prepared maybe for some unscouted looks and for
(22:12):
you know, some changeups and and things like that, some
some out of character stuff maybe in the offense, because
the new offensive coordinator is going to be looking for
some kind of a jump start, something that's going to
energize the offense and and get them going. So on
the Packers side, from a preparation standpoint, it's not as
easy necessarily as saying, oh, look the Patriots got like
nine sacks of Caleb Williams, and you know we can
(22:34):
we can you know sort of you know, look at
look at what they did and see how that fits
what we do, and that's going to be the plan.
When there's changes like this going on, you can't just
make assumptions like that. That being said, you don't want
to be chasing ghosts trying to guess or figure out
what they're.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Going to do.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
But it becomes a very a very different kind of
week from a preparation standpoint. And that being said, this
Bears defense is no picnic.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
It's not.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
I mean, they didn't have a great game, certainly in Arizona,
but in Washington and against the Patriots, the Bears defense.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Played pretty darn well.
Speaker 4 (23:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
I mean it's a solid unit.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
It's a unit that if you allow I mean, it's
the way it's been with Matt ebraflus Over. I mean,
they're going to play you competitively. It's just been a
matter of what's going on with their offense and are
they basically able to generate points in yards and production,
and they were not able to do that against New England. Now,
all that being said, what's funny to me in these
instances is there's nothing more dangerous than a team or
(23:31):
a person with nothing to lose. And we're entering those
waters now for the Bears, because if this thing continues
to turn, there won't be a year four for Ebraflus.
There's going to be another change over again, and they're
going to try to find another head coaching staff that
can work with Caleb Williams to try to build him
up the quarterback they feel.
Speaker 4 (23:48):
He can be.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
But all that being said is that's stuff for down
the line. What the Packers have to worry about is
this game at Soldier Field and again needing to pick
up not only wins in this division, but wins in
this conference. And Green Bay schedule as far as wins
and losses are concerned, looks favorable during the second half,
But you look at a San Francisco team that now
has Christian McCaffrey back, You look at you know, how
(24:10):
the Miami Dolphins look with Tua and the beaten that
they put down on the Rams, and certainly we're gonna
have another matchup with Detroit, this is going to be
a challenge, and I feel like moments like this, going
down to Soldier Field, this is where you can own
it and sort of set your tone and build yourself
up during this final stretch, much like they were able
to do last year during that big run they got on.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Well at the top of the NFC North. If you
had told me Wes going into the bye weekend that
the Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings were going to
combine to throw eight interceptions on Sunday and that they
were both going to win, I was gonna, you know, say, huh, like.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
What are you talking.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Well, that's exactly what happened.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
Now.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
Granted, one of Jared Goff's five interceptions was a hail
Mary at the end of the first half, sort of
meaningless in that respect, but still, even if you take
that one away, Jared got through four other interceptions. Sam
Darnold threw three for Minnesota. The Vikings didn't even get
a touchdown in Jacksonville. But the defensive performances of both
(25:16):
of those teams. What the Vikings did. Now they were
facing Mac Jones, the backup quarterback for Jacksonville, it wasn't
Trevor Lawrence, but Minnesota's defense. Other than one drive in
the game where Mac Jones got a touchdown, they just
completely shut the Jaguars down. And the Detroit Lions, after
some real shaky moments in the first half and falling
(25:37):
behind by sixteen points, they pitched a second half shutout
on the road at Houston against a first place team
and a quarterback in CJ.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
Stroud who looked.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Like he was getting back to being at NFL offensive
Rookie of the Year that he was last year, and
Detroit's defense just completely locked it down with the help
of one very very poorly thrown pass that should have
been a fit fifty yard touchdown that turned into an
interception for Stroud when he had a absolute layup for
a bomb for a touchdown and through a terrible ball,
(26:09):
and that really ended up being the difference in the
game because the Lions are not going to be able
to overcome one more touchdown by the Texans, and Texans
had their opportunity. That being said, though the top of
this NFC North eight and one, seven and two, six
and three, the numbers are right there. It's a it's
going to be it's going to be quite the fight,
(26:29):
but the Detroit Lions are the team that remains in
control of this division.
Speaker 4 (26:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
And if if you want a quick synopsis of how
you managed to lose a game in which he led
twenty three to seven and a half time, this is
what will suit you. Zero net yards interception, one net
yard punt, forty net yards interception, six net yards, punt,
one net yard punt, four net yards punt, thirty net yards,
missfield goal. That's how you lose a football game. Uh, listen, good.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
That was just a train wreck of a second half.
Not good by the Houston Texans offense, and they're defense
was trying to keep them in. It's not it's not
like the Lions just exploded for a whole bunch of points.
The Lions got enough points and got what they needed
to make the comeback and win the game. The Texans
defense is fighting and trying to hold them in there
while the offense was just absolutely self destructive.
Speaker 4 (27:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
I mean this is they started the first touchdown of
the second half. You know, the Lions started at the
Houston forty four, right, Just that's just the way it goes.
But anyway, that's neither here nor there. Good teams find
ways to win games, and Detroit is a very good team,
and I still think Minnesota is a good team. Sam Donald.
The shine is starting to come off of it a
little bit, but there's there's.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
A lot of a lot of you know, we obviously
talked a lot about the interceptions with Jordan Love. There's
a big turnover and interception discussion going on in Minnesota
with Sam Donald right now. And because the last two
games against the Indianapolis Colts and the Jacksonville Jaguars, the
Vikings have won those games because of their defense and
not really because of anything Sam Donald has done.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
You know, and I look at it that it's becoming
more evident to me as much of a star as
Justin Jefferson is, and certainly TJ. Hockinson now that he's back,
but Aaron Jones is something that really does drive that offense.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Yeah, he does.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
They are a different team when he's unavailable, and unfortunately
he left for a little bit. I think came back
dealing with maybe a rib issue. Aaron Jones might be
their most As much as they were talking about Sam
Darnold as a possible like MVP candidate, Aaron Jones might
be the most important asset to that offense right now
with what they're doing. But Donald has to figure some
stuff out because he went from looking like a guy
(28:34):
that could really bring them somewhere to okay, can we
win and despite this guy? And that's something Minnesota's going
to figure out now. To their credit, they do not
take the wins off the board. You are seven and
two right now, you still have a lot of momentum,
and they've been in the front before with Kevin O'Connell.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
Then let that thing go.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
They have to be able to find ways to keep
the winnings coming. It just so happened they're playing a
Jacksonville team with as many issues that they have, yep,
and if not more, and they found a way to
tek out that victory. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Well it's gonna be h It's gonna be an entertaining
second half of the season, no doubt about it. We
will dive more into specifically the Bears and this matchup
of the Packers and the Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday.
Will do that on our next show in a.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
I'm surprised you didn't want to talk about Baltimore and Cincinnati.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
Oh, too far away. We can go. It's time to go.
Let's talk about the draft. But how about that? Huh yeah,
that was a game.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
That was a game I remarked to, Uh yeah, that
was way I forgot about it because I was moving
back on Thursday night, you know, before all of the
craziness and one score close games on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
I watched the end of this shows you the ultimate
bye week experience. I watched the end of that game
from Shoots bar in Swama Goo there you go, like,
and just seeing the the the way that both of
those teams are thinking down the stretch to end up
being a very probably probably one of the better Thursday
Night games ever.
Speaker 4 (29:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Absolutely well.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
And to be honest and not to go off on
a complete tangent here, Yeah, but that's what Thursday night
football should be is division rivals. Yes, because of teams
that know each other, you don't need all the the
extra preparation that goes into playing the more unfamiliar opponents.
Thursday night games should be division games because then that's
what makes for much better Thursday night football, yes, than
(30:09):
when you randomly pair the Los Angeles Rams and the
you know, Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
No, I mean it's just you know, division games on
Thursday night makes for better Thursday night football. I think
the NFL needs to needs to understand that.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
All right, I'm with you before we go.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
The home of the twenty twenty five NFL Draft is
right here in Green Bay April twenty four through April
twenty six of twenty twenty five. Visit green Bay dot
com slash Draft twenty five for more information, and 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 on Packers dot com For Wes, I'm Miike.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Thank you for tuning in, everybody. We will see you
next time.
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