November 26, 2024 • 37 mins
Mike and Wes review the victory over the 49ers (:37), including the standout performances by free agents Xavier McKinney and Josh Jacobs, and then preview the Thanksgiving matchup with Miami (9:21), including Green Bay’s keys to victory (20:24). They also look around the league at other results and matchups (27:39).
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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 trust
and colleague Wes Honkoitz. We're coming to you here from
our studios at lambeau Field for our only show this
week because of Thanksgiving and the Packers playing on Thursday night,
so we got a lot of ground to cover in
this episode. Here, Wes, we'll start with reviewing Sunday's big
(00:38):
victory over the forty nine Ers thirty eight to ten.
The final score the Packers get to eight and three.
The forty nine Ers were really banged up. And the
storyline for the Packers in this game, as you wrote about,
as we've written about really all season long, the two
free agents that Brian Gudakun signed right as free agent,
(00:59):
the free agency bell rang and the ink was already
dry on those contracts, Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney, both
of those guys playing a huge, huge part in this game,
as they've done all season.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
I just thought it was so interesting, man. And I
know I allude to this on Twitter, probably a little
bit more than I've put in my story, but you know,
both of those guys, they came here to win, but
it's been interesting watching how they've added to Green Bay's
winning recipe. Both of these guys, you know, you listen
to Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney talk about it. I
think both of them made one playoff appearance in their
(01:33):
previous stops. It was such an important thing to them
to not only get what they deserve as unrestricted free agents,
but also be able to find places where they can
take a good thing and make it a little bit better.
And for Josh Jacobs man who is currently up for
the UH, I think it's the FedEx Aaron Ground Player
(01:54):
of the Week honor. This Sky had ninety one rushing
yards in the first half. The San Francisco forty nine
ers had not given up one hundred yard rusher in
almost three years in the in the regular season, fifty
four straight regular season games, and he just imposed his
will against him. I thought it was interesting, you know,
(02:17):
Matt Lafleur's postgame presser when they were asking I think
it was Steve mcgargey from the Associate Press had asked
him about, Hey, what was the key to this? He's like, well,
we got that number eight guy back there. He's pretty good.
I mean I think I also saw a stat that
he might have forced like fifteen mistackles or something like
that in this game.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
It was the most I think by any by that metric.
It was the most by any single running back in
a game this season in the NFL fifteen fifteen whiffs
on Josh Jacobs on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
It was pretty amazing.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Yeah, and he forced it. I mean it wasn't just that,
Oh well, San Francisco forty hours and make a bet.
I mean, there was a couple of those plays, man.
And I'm not even talking like some forty yard touchdown round.
I'm talking about like just taking what potentially could have
been a negative yard is playing getting three yards out
right right. I mean, this guy is just a mac
truck with this cerebral attitude towards the game where he
(03:06):
just sees processing all this information. And I've said it
time and time again, but his jump cuts, man, and
taking what the offensive line is giving him and maximizing it.
That's what the best running backs do. And then Zabra
McKinney won this game. In the second half of the Packers,
I mean they might have already been in firm control,
but with that interception, that is what took any hope
(03:27):
that the San Francisco forty nine ers might have of
a comeback and just completely removed all that air from
the blue. Forty eight yard return sets off a string
of three second half takeaways, and the Packers got the
job done well.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
You have to say with regard to the two big
plays McKinney made in this game. He was guarding McCaffrey
on the short fourth and two breaks up the pass
Packers get the turnover on downs, and then the interception
which he has the long run back to set up
a touchdown. Both of those plays occurred in Green Bay territory,
and when the score was only seven team to seven,
(04:00):
the Niners were looking to were in position to make
it a one score game on both of those possessions,
and McKinney was the guy who ended up stopping both
of those. So he gets his seventh interception of the season.
I think more importantly for the defense that started another
one of these turnover binges where the defense gets three
(04:20):
takeaways in the second half after going basically two and
a half games. The fourth quarter of the Jacksonville game
was the defense's last takeaway. No takeaways against the Lions
or the Bears, or in the first half against the
forty nine ers. So you go two and a half
games with nothing and then suddenly you get three. So
hopefully that's a good sign for the defense. But getting
back to Jacobs, I've said on this show many times,
(04:44):
and I've said it an insider inbox and everywhere else.
I've been impressed from the very beginning with Josh Jacobs's
vision and his footwork and just his toughness, his style
of running. It's been really, really impressive from the start.
What we're seeing now is all of that being married
up with faking end rounds and pulling guards or doing
(05:06):
the duo where they're just double team blocking going straight ahead.
All of this mixing up of how the Packers are
running the ball. When you look at it, there is
not just like the staple, Okay, this is the Packers
running play. This isn't the days of the Lombardi sweep
in the sixties, Matt Lafleur and the way the blocking
schemes and everything are set up. You have the tight
(05:28):
ends cutting across to you know, to take out defensive ends.
You have the receivers coming in and cracking on the
second level guys, and you have all the motion that's
going on with the receivers and the running backs themselves. Yeah,
the creativity that's going on in the running game and
giving defenses so much to try to decipher as far
as what's going on and who's getting the ball. Pairing
(05:50):
all of that with all of the skills and physical
attributes that Josh Jacobs brings to the table, we're really
starting to see something special in the Packers running game
and hopefully they can continue.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Yeah. And and it's Jacob's ability in those instances too,
to get from zero to sixty pretty quick, being able
to get up to speed and where he needs to
get and being decisive in those moments. And so many
times running backs really struggle between trying to allow their
blocks to set up, but then at the same time
also making sure that they get there before the game
the gaps close. And it leads to what I like
(06:23):
to refer to as almost those twirling little play actions
that Jordan Love does where he almost sometimes will do
a full three to sixty and then hand the ball.
The Packers have been able to really open things up
and again facing a team like San Francisco where they
want to run the ball, they want to shorten up
the game, they want to play the possession game. At
the end of the first half, Green Bay did everything
(06:45):
they needed to do. If San Francisco wants to defer,
which is what Kyle Shanahan religiously does, you need to
go down the field. You need to get a touchdown
right off the bat. And seeing how the running games
set up the passing game in some of those big
plays they were able to do. That's the hallmark of
a good football team. Rob Dmowski wrote about this too,
And you had your story last week about the explosive plays.
(07:07):
The mix between running the football well and creating downfield explosives.
That's that's how you get in the hunt. Yeah, and
I feel like we saw in this game. I mean,
it could have been even better. Unfortunately, Christian Watson doesn't
isn't able to bring in that pass, has that drop
at the end of the first half. That could have
been a forty nine yard touchdown. This game could have
(07:27):
almost been over here by halftime. The green Bay Packers,
Michael did what they have to do and listening to
Keishawn Nixon talk after the game. Again, I will not
quote him directly, but the Packers they had to go
three games without their quarterback too, and they won those
three games. So just the way this league goes.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yeah, the Niners. The Niners were as banged up as
it gets. They didn't have Brock Purty, they didn't have
their left tackle Trent Williams. They didn't have their best
defensive player in Nick Bosa. They didn't have one of
their starting cornerbacks in Shavarius Ward.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
But as you said, Wes.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
The Packers did exactly what they needed to do, which
is they jumped on these guys. It was seventeen to
nothing before the forty nine Ers had a first out
on offense.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
That is exactly what.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
You do when you have the personnel advantage when the
other team is trying to make adjustments for missing top
key players. The Packers got on top of them. No,
they probably should have put the game away a little
sooner than they did, but at the end of the day,
it ends up thirty eight to ten. It's actually the
largest winning margin of victory in the Matt Lafleur era
twenty eight points. And the other really good sign before
(08:31):
we shift our focus to the Miami Dolphins. The other
really good sign was going five for five in the
red zone five red zone opportunities five touchdowns last week
against the number one red zone defense in the league
in Chicago. It was three out of five. The sour
taste was those two misses were zero point even being
able to get any points out of those. But the
(08:52):
bottom line is, for where the Packers have been near
the bottom of the league through the first half of
the season in red zone offense, they're now eight of
their life ten punching him into the end zone in
the red zone. That hopefully is a good sign moving
forward here for the stretch run.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Yeah, and the fact that when they you don't have penalties,
but when they did they actually found a way to
bounce back from it.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Yeah, they had the one on the on the open
the opening drive, there was the one red zone penalty,
but then they overcame, didn't even need third down, No,
actually ended up getting the touchdown on second down there.
So well, it is a short week. The Miami Dolphins
are slated to come into lambeau Field for a Thanksgiving
night clash, and when you look at this was really
(09:33):
this is two teams, both of which have generated their
own momentum coming into this game. The Packers. Packers now
eight and three. They've won two straight after the loss
to Detroit. Miami has now won three in a row.
Their quarterback two Attagovailoa, is back from the concussion. He's
(09:54):
been back for five games, and in those five games,
the Dolphins lost the first two a couple of shootouts,
and then they've won three straight since then. The bottom
line is the Miami has averaged twenty nine points per
game since Tua came back. This is an offense that
is incredibly explosive, very much on a roll, and this
(10:16):
is going to be a huge, huge test for.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Jeff Affley's defense. Thursday night, I was.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Talking with Travis Wingfield, who works for the Dolphins right
before this for his podcast, and I told him this too,
and I mean this from the bottom of my heart.
When two is on the field, this is one of
the best teams in professional football. YEP. What they had
to go through there with losing him, and they've had
to do it a couple times now. Unfortunately, it just
changes everything because it's built on his decision making, it's
(10:44):
built on his ability to control the field, and obviously
the chemistry that he's built up with all of these
receiving weapons. I mean, the Packers. We talk so often
about how Green Bay has a multitude of different playmakers
they can go to. Yeah, Tyreek Hill is one of
the pre eminent receivers in this league, but it's not
just built around him. In Miami, they have receivers, they
(11:07):
have tight ends, they list multiple backs as their starter.
They there are so many different avenues of playmakers that
McDaniel invites into this offense. And again, much like what
happened with the Floor, getting underneath the shanahan and McVeigh
tree and then creating his own style, McDaniel has done
the same exact thing down in Miami. It's an impressive
(11:29):
offense and so much of it is tied into Tua
and his ability to create with it. Well.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Numbers wise, Tua right now has a one hundred and
six point two passer rating on the season, which is
awfully impressive. He's completing seventy three percent of the passes
this offense. Not to say that they won't take a
shot downfield, because they certainly will, but this offense is
very much predicated on a lot of the quick throws
and Tua hitting Tyreek Hill, Jalen Waddle and those guys
(11:58):
hitting them in stride so that they can yep yards
after the catch and try to get plays to you know,
short what looked like short, simple plays to rupture into
big plays Hill, Waddle, tight end John Newsmith. They all
have over five hundred yards receiving this year. Devon a
Chan raheem mostered a pretty good one to two punch
in the backfield. And a chan of course is he's
(12:20):
as good a receiver as a runner out of the backfield.
So and these guys, wes I was looking at it.
These guys are incredibly close, so incredibly close to being
on a five game winning streak here because when Tua
came back, they lost a twenty eight to twenty seven
game to Arizona in which they blew a two score
(12:41):
lead in the fourth quarter and lost on a walkoff
field goal. Then the following week they lose thirty to
twenty seven, another shootout type game against Buffalo. They lose
that on a sixty one yard walk off field goal
by Tyler Bass of the Bills. But then after losing
those two heartbreakers, now they've ripped off three straight wins
against teams much lower than much lower than them record wise,
(13:05):
or at least lower than them in the standings overall.
But this Miami team, there's it's interesting because to the
before he left the podium on Sunday after their blowout
winning against the Patriots two, was asked about the cold
weather in Green Bay because as a quarterback, he's I believe.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
It's oh to seven, yeah, when the.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Peperature is under forty degrees, And right away he was like, hey,
it's it's time to bust that narrative, you know, bring
it on, let's go. And you have to remember, as
much as yes, it sounds like the weather it's going
to be in the twenties or whatever on Thursday night,
it's definitely not Miami weather by any stretch. But this
is very much the same Miami team that played in
(13:50):
absolute arctic conditions in the wild Card round in Kansas
City last January. My point is that for all the
guys who were in that game twenty degrees that lambell
Field is not really going to feel all that crazy
to them, because what they dealt with in Kansas City
in the playoffs last year was absolutely frigid, so I
(14:12):
can see, you know, and Tua wants to break that
whole narrative about his own whatever record. When the temperature
is under forty degrees, Miami is Miami is going to
come in here and absolutely give the Packers everything they
can handle.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Well, and this is this is the this is the
heat check right now. No pun intended with the in
respect of the Packers weather.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
I mean, I like that, that's good.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
But I mean the Dolphins have been a really solid
football team, and they're beating teams recently the way that
you would expect them to beat them with Tua back
in the lineup and with the weapons that they have.
I think one thing I love most about Miami is that,
you know, they have a chan who comes out of nowhere.
Most it is this you know, ageless wonder as well,
but they still go and draft Jalen Wright. Jalen Wright
(14:52):
is contributing in this offense too. I mean it's in
a lot of ways. You almost have a three headed
monster back there. You look at you know, Jalen Waddle,
what he's been able to come. You mentioned Smith as well.
Smith is a guy that I think the league has
been really enticed by for a bulk of his career.
It seems like he's finally sort of I think he's
probably twenty nine years old at this point, but he
(15:12):
sort of realized that the potential that New England had
sort of seen in him and these other programs thinking that, hey,
this dude could be a potential playmaker. He's fit well
into what the Miami Dolphins want to do offensively, and yeah,
they're going to be super motivated to put that behind him.
You can even tell it so many times it's the
media that drives a lot of these narratives going into it.
(15:33):
You can tell listening to too and listening to these
guys down in Miami this week. They are fully embracing
this for what it is, you know, for as much
as again it's not Miami weather, but they we were
there on Christmas the second coldest game in that stadium's history.
It was like fifty one degrees at kickoff. I mean, yeah,
they you know, Miami, Florida and South Florida is pretty
(15:54):
warm a lot of times of the year. But I
mean when you play in that division, you see the
teams that you face, you're gonna have to, you know,
come up and rise up to these these matchups, So
I am fully anticipating you're going to see their best
effort in this one, and obviously trying to get back
to five hundred and show that there's still a lot
of fight left in this thing. Despite losing Toua for
(16:14):
as long as they did.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Yeah, they lost him for a month. They went I
believe it was one in three in the in the
four games that they missed.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
One passing touchdown too, That is wild. They had one
passing touchdown during that straight Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
They're off. Their offense was really struggling. It's worth pointing
out because we've pretty much just talked about Miami's offense
to this point. Miami's defense very good. It's there is
There is nothing that jumps off the page that you
accept that when you look at their rankings across the board,
whether you want to look at rushing yards, passing yards,
(16:46):
total points, third down, red zone, whatever category you want
to look at, it's very difficult to find a defensive
category in which they are not in the top ten
or twelve in the league. They're not like number one
in anything, you know, not up in the top one
or two in a whole bunch of things, but they're
not in the bottom half of the league in almost anything.
They're up there in the top ten or twelve just
(17:08):
about every category. This This this is a defense that
has played has played pretty steady and pretty consistent. It had,
as I mentioned, had a bad fourth quarter against Arizona
that cost him a game and then Josh Allen kind
of did you know what Josh Allen does? And the
Bills put up thirty. But since then, since then, teams
(17:31):
have not been able to do much and in fact,
and I know New England is struggling, but you know
New England was down what was it, thirty one to
nothing before they even scored any points last week against
against this Miami defense. So as much as this is
a big time challenge for Jeff Haffley, this is no
picnic for Jordan Love and company. A lot of positive
signs were seeing with the Packers on offense, no turnovers
(17:54):
for the offense in this last game. We talked about
Josh Jacobs and the running game. But this is this
is going to be a tough matchup for Green Bay.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
Very interesting matchup two in that it features the oldest
team in the National Football League in Week one versus
what was the youngest team and then now.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
So I didn't realize that.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Yeah, I think if I understood that, right, I believe
the Again, I'm doing this off top of my head.
I think the Dolphins have twenty three players who are
twenty nine or older on their team. A lot of
those players are on the defensive side of the ball.
And in credit to them, you got guys like Calias Campbell,
who's still their leading sacker this season, must be thirty
four to thirty five years old at this point.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Who Apparently Mike McDaniels stood on the table for Campbell
because there were rumors about him getting traded at the
trade deadline, and Mike McDaniel's like, do not trade that guy,
and the Dolphins hung onto him and they are very
much I mean, they're trying to work their way back
in the playoff race in the AFC, but they are
definitely not out of this.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
No, not at all. And in a guy like Campbell,
you're talking about an NFL Man of the Year, a
guy that has been one of the most dominant interior
forces for the last decade in this league, and the
guy I'm really enjoying them, Mike, I talk about how
old they are, and obviously Jalen Ramsey's there and Jordan
Poyer signed with them in the offseason. But Chop Robinson
is putting some really good things on film too as
(19:10):
their first round pick. And when you have a young
guy that can come in and start to make an
impact like he's done and being sort of sprinkled into
this defense a little bit, it's a very formidable group.
At the top of this thing is Anthony Weaver, who
was among this mass exodus because of just accomplishment that
was in Baltimore last year, guys becoming coordinators, you know,
(19:32):
moving into bigger positions. Weaver gets this opportunity down in Miami,
and I think there's a culture and there's a thought process,
and I think there's definitely an energy you can feel
that maybe wasn't there last year with Zick Vangio that
you know, these guys really he has them believing in
what they're doing, and even in those games where they
didn't have to it defensively, they were as competitive as
they've ever been in a lot of those matchups trying
(19:53):
to keep their team in it. So, yeah, Miami, again,
it presents a lot of different looks and things that
Green Bay is gonna have to take into account for.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
All Right, Well, I want to get to our keys
to victory in this one, but I will take care
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All right, Keys to Victory. I think the first thing
that jumps out to me in this game is this
is a game that defensively you have to tackle well
because busted tackles is what leads to the ruptured plays.
(20:43):
And that is how Tyreek Hill and Jayden Waddle and
Devon h Chan and these guys you know they they
they are the masters in many ways of turning five
yard gains into two pus five yard gains.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
That's what they do.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
And the Packers defense have to absolutely be on their
p's and q's with the tackling, which is it's always interesting.
You know, a Thursday game, short week, guys are just
trying to get their bodies back. You never quite know
in these short week situations where players are going to
be fundamentally are there going to be more fundamental breakdowns
because you don't do much in practice the whole week.
(21:21):
The whole week is really a week of mental preparation
and the only thing you're doing physically on the field
is more walk through and jogging kind of stuff. You're
not having any real practices like you do when you
have the full seven days in between games. But for me,
this one, this one starts with how well will Green
Bay tackle on defense?
Speaker 3 (21:40):
You know, before I give it into this, someone was
praising you at inbox, and as they should. I mean,
we do our final thoughts video every week, and you
know how we always give our little thoughts.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
And last week, yeah, the Packers win, if which is
the final segment.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
In mind was punching the ball in they went five
for five.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
We were talking about red zone and then you had yours,
which was to get a takeaway, get a take away
and they got.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Three of them. Can I just put you on blast
for one thing? Okay, when we did three Things last week,
I love how I think you finished yours with you know,
and I'll be very surprised if this thing doesn't come
down to the last minute of the game or something
like that. And then the Packers ended up happening their
biggest win ever with Matt Lafleour. You just never can tell,
that's right now, You never can tell.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Of course we did.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
We did film three Things on Wednesday, and we had
no idea that brock Purty wasn't going to play, So
I'll just say that. But yes, it's funny when you
look at it, and I did say I expected that
game with the Niners to go right down to the end,
and then of course it didn't be.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
Somebody was I just got a kick out it because
somebody's praising us for all this stuff at inbox and
I'm thinking of all the weeks where I could not
have been more wrong with final thoughts. But okay, so
here goes. Here's my big prediction with this one one.
Green Bay actually can't allow them to get their running
game going. I thought last week, yes, the pace of
play had a lot to do with that. Getting up
to that lead had a lot to do with that.
(22:56):
I think we were in the middle of the second
quarter by the time that Christian McCaffrey got his second
can carry in that game. But even so, Miami hasn't
actually run the ball that well this year. A chan
has is a huge weapon from the passing game, five
receiving touchdowns as a back. This year, he hasn't had
those big explosive moments like he had his rookie season.
(23:17):
You look at moster, he's been okay this year. You
have to try to make this thing one dimensional with
Tua and try to get after him. Twenty nine sacks
so far this season have been allowed by that offensive line. Again,
there's been multiple quarterbacks there, but I think pressure is
gonna be very important. But I really do think it
all starts with containing their run game. If you can
(23:38):
take the things that you did well, and certainly the
offense played into that too, but defensively with them being
able to not allow much breathing room to that rushing
offense for the forty nine ers, this is still the
same tree that this branch is coming off, that Shanahan tree,
and if you allow Miami to get that run game going,
then that's when Tua becomes extremely dangerous.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Yeah, and you bring up a good point about how
the Packers played run defense run defense against the forty
nine ers Christian McCaffrey. Yes, he missed a big chunk
of the season, but he's still the reigning NF Offensive
Player of the Year and a guy with fresh legs
at this point. Because of that time that he missed,
Packers only allowed him thirty one rushing yards on eleven carries.
And in fact, I put together my series of clips
(24:20):
for what you might have missed for those who want
to check that out on packers dot com. Six of
those eleven carries. Packers held him to two or fewer
yards on six of those eleven. So that was a
heck of a job up front by the run defense
and something I agree with you that needs to continue on.
(24:41):
So those are two keys to victory on the defensive
side of the ball for the Packers. What do you
think on the offensive side.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
Protect the football? Yeah, you want to get more takeaways
and things like that, But I thought last week showed
and there were some close calls there, don't get me wrong.
There were some moments there for San Francisco to make
plays that it didn't. But that being said, I thought
this this game against the forty nine ers illustrated what
is possible when you don't hurt yourself with penalties and
you protect the football. Green Bay outlasted the forty nine ers.
(25:10):
They routed them, but they outlasted them. They were able
to maintain that throughout four quarters. A lot of guys
afterwards it was the buzzword among the media asking if
this was the most complete game that Green Bay has
played this season. You give it, put whatever narratives you
want on top of it, especially considering the state of
the opponent. But I just felt like the complimentary football
(25:31):
set of thing and looking at how the Packers were
able to transition and turn those point those takeaways into points.
That was the difference in that football game against the
forty nine ers. So you look at Miami's defense, it's
been very opportunistic at times this season. They will hurt
you with the interceptions if you allow them to. Green
Bay has to and Jordan Love has to protect the football.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Yeah, I certainly hope that the Packers stay as persistent
with the running game as they've been, and Josh Jacobs
is coming on a twenty six carry game, it's a
short week. He certainly looks no worse for where and
he will take the ball at anytime that Matt Lafleur wants
to give it to him. But I tell you, if
I'm a Manuel Wilson or Chris Brooks, I'm ready to
(26:13):
get the ball in this game as well, because the
last thing Matt Lafleuur wants to do is if Josh
Jacobs needs a breather and he has to come out
that now suddenly it's like, okay, well now the Packers
have to throw the ball. No, They're gonna want to
Manuel Wilson and Chris Brooks to be able to run
the ball and to continue whatever it is that Jacobs
establishes when he does need to come out and get
a breather, and hopefully the Packers can just keep things
(26:35):
going on the ground what they have shown recently.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
I should say a word here about Chris Brooks because
for him this is obviously facing his former team in
the Miami Dolphins, a team that he had a lot
of success with as an undrafted free agent last year.
Has a concussion during training camp, gets injuries settled, and
now he's ends up here in Green Bay, the amount
of pony that we've seen this year, the amount of
the two running back packages we've seen this year in
the aftermath of the injuries to AJ Dillon and also
(26:59):
marsh Sean Lloyd. If you'd have told me the Packers
would be lining up in that as frequently as they
have been in the first half of the season, I
would have said, you are nuts, right, But that show
is not only the faith that they haven't Emmanuel Wilson,
but then for Chris Brooks to come in and he
had a tripping penalty that I'm sure he definitely wants back.
But by and large, his ability to pick up blitz,
his ability to run the football. There was some motioning
(27:20):
that was happening last week between him and Josh Jacobs,
and I think there was even a play where Jiden
Reid was in the backfield with him at one point.
Chris Brooks, dude, for being a guy that was not
here during training camp, his ability to function within this
offense and allow Green Bay to stay in their preferred packages.
He's another guy I don't think you could say enough
about him. Will be very critical in this matchup against
his former team. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Absolutely, Well, before we go looking around the league at
the most recent results very quickly. As we said, Packers
are eight and three, Detroit still on top of the
NFC North at ten to one, Minnesota in between Green
Bay and Detroit at nine and two. The Vikings end
up surviving a furious comeback by the Chicago Bears. The
Bears get at eleven points in the last thirty seconds
(28:01):
of regulation to force overtime, but then Minnesota wins in
ot one of just several crazy games in the early window.
On Sunday, Dallas and Washington played a wild one and
Dallas ends up getting the win. Kansas City needs a
walk off field goal to beat the Carolina Panthers down
in Charlotte, and the Houston Texans take a bad home
(28:24):
loss against the Tennessee Titans when Houston's kicker misses a
chip shot that should have forced overtime in that game,
I will say, since we're kind of calling each other
out and putting each other on blast, you kind of
dismissed my thought last week of watch to see how
Washington responds to getting steamrolled in the fourth quarter by
(28:46):
the Philadelphia Eagles, and you're like, well, it's the Dallas
Cowboys coming in Well, that's why just you can't always
dismiss that kind of stuff. Because Washington didn't respond well
to a really tough division loss where they got run
over in the fourth quarter by Philly. They took a
bad home loss to the Dallas Cowboys, and which certainly
helps the Packers in the playoff picture that Washington now
(29:07):
has five losses. But Jayden Daniels a rookie quarterback, and
what's going on in Washington that's something to watch now
because they've dropped two in a row, and you know
the shine is coming off the Christmas ornament a little bit.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
Yeah, for sure, and looking at the Cowboys very quickly,
people want to really rip on Mike and everything that's
happened out there for him to build a winnable game
plan for Cooper Rush looking as good as he did
in that game, dowd Will becoming their featured back I
thought had one of his best games as well. You
tip your cap to him in that phase. Very odd
ending to it, but the Cowboys did what they had
(29:42):
to do to win.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Forty one points in the last nine minutes.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
And then an on side kick that was returned for
a touchdown when it didn't matter. I mean, the thing
has just happened at the end of that game that
I have not quite understanding.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
But yeah, yeah, the Cowboy Cowboys picked up an onside
kick and ran it for a touchdown when you just
need to slide kneel the game out for a touchdown
and Jade and Daniels gets a shot at a hail
Mary on the final play because the Cowboys didn't just
take a stupid knee. It was just it is are
so many but bizarre things going on in that game.
But Washington, this is again, this is where you have
(30:14):
a young team, a different type of team, with a
lot of new pieces and and Daniel's having to be
the franchise guy. They're very interested to see how they respond.
Chicago Bears had one job they failed and this this
losing streak that they're on continues. By the way, have
you peaked at all at their schedule the Bear schedule
here the next month?
Speaker 1 (30:34):
I know that.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
I mean they they they still have they still have
both of their games left with Detroit. They haven't really
they haven't played the Lions.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
So listen to this meat grinder. So they had they
lost three, they've lost five in a row. Out of
the by. They lost three in a row at home.
Here's what they now face at Detroit, at San Francisco,
at Minnesota, and then you come back against Detroit at home,
and then they wrap up against Seattle and they come
to Green Bay. Very very rough turn of events for
(31:04):
the Bears.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Bears.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
Bears are sitting at four and seven in three games.
The the the game against Washington, the game against the Packers,
and now this last one against against the Vikings. Three
games they've lost on the final play of the game
when when they they had they had opportunities to win
and uh yeah, the I mean, you know, the Bears
(31:26):
got they got another field goal blocked early in that game,
which then I think influenced a decision to go for
it on a fourth and four instead of kicking a
field goal, you know, in like the third quarter. Just
all these all these things that then added up to
you know, they had another terrible special teams play where
the you know, the guy had the punt bounce off
his leg and the Vikings.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
Recovered they end up getting a touchdown.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
All these things that add up to, you know, they're
down by two scorers in in the last two minutes
and then they pull off this amazing you know, touchdown,
two point conversion, recover, the on side kick, the field
goal to get it to overtime, and they win the
toss in overtime yep. And then then they go three
and out.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
The Vikings win the game anyway.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
So yeah, and for Minnesota, it just Kevin O'Connell keeping
that team together, staying balanced. And you know, again, Josh
Jacobs has been a tremendous fine for Green Bay. He's
the right running back for this offense and a guy
that you can feed and he's durable. But Aaron Jones
is looking good too. Still had a fumble early in
(32:26):
that game, but they stuck with him and he showed
him to be right again in that instance. And you know,
Minnesota just keeps finding away. I did say this an
inbox and I do truly mean this, and we'll just
have to keep a pin in it the rest of
the season. But to me, this is starting to remind
me a lot of that twenty two team they had
where they won a lot of football games. Very curious
to see how high they're ceiling runs once you get
(32:47):
to the postseason. But they're beating the teams they have
to beat and I will close on this the statistic.
I don't know if it was Tom Fanning that found it,
but that's stat about how the green Bay Packers at
eight and three have the best records since I think
the merger in nineteen seventy at eight and three through
thirteen weeks of the season. But to still be in
the third place or worse within the division, that's never happened.
(33:10):
And again it just speaks to this division, how difficult
it is, how tight it is, and the fact that
of those handful of losses the North has, three of
them were doled out to each other. It's just it
is a wild, wild development and green Bay just has
to keep winning football games and trying to pick up
another intra conference game on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
Yeah, well, three quarters of the NFC North playing on Thanksgiving,
with the Bears going to Detroit the Packers hosting Miami.
The only NFC North game to watch on Sunday when
the Packers are not playing will be Minnesota playing against Arizona.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
Chaos theory. You and I we are already sitting here
calling ourselves out for some bad predictions. Is there any
chance the Chicago Bears, losers of five in a row
can go into Ford Field and win on Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
I don't I certainly don't like their chances, but I'm
not gonna I'm not gonna.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Give me a percentage. There's no there's no gambling in Bushwood.
But like, what, what do you think is for give
me a percentage that you think they can win? Straight up?
Speaker 1 (34:10):
Twenty percent?
Speaker 3 (34:11):
Okay, cool, let's see what happens.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
Yeah, I mean this, I mean, honestly, in a lot
of ways, this is this is a lot like where
Detroit was on Thanksgiving last year when the Packers came.
Packers were four and six at that time, the lines
I think were eight and two. Nobody really gave the
Packers a chance. They hadn't shown a whole heck of
a lot. The Bears in some ways have shown more
than the Packers showed last year at this time because
(34:35):
they've just lost some heartbreaking games that have led to
this four and seven records.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
So, but but.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
There's it just it feels like just everything, all the
all the the negativity going on with Eberflus right now,
head coach of the Bears. It just feels like it's
too it's too much to overcome. For the Bears to
start to put together a run here as close as
they've been in some of these games.
Speaker 3 (34:57):
If you would have told me back in September that
we would get to Thanksgiving. It looks like Caleb Williams
is a player. Their defense is playing pretty well in
the fact that they are plus nine in turnover differential
right now in their four and seven.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
Yeah, plus nine, plus nine, But three games under five
hundred at Thanksgiving?
Speaker 1 (35:19):
That's crazy.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
Do you know how far you have to go down
on the turnover differential to find a team without a
winning record other than Chicago? Like, it's like all the
way it's I think it's like La The Rams are
like sixteen in turnover differential in our below five hundred.
It's wild.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
Yeah, it is kind of crazy.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Bear down, yeah, bear down indeed.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Well.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
The home of the twenty twenty five NFL Draft is
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action coming April twenty four through April twenty six of
twenty twenty five. Visit green Bay dot com slash Draft
twenty five for more information.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
Can I ask you one last question?
Speaker 2 (35:55):
Sure?
Speaker 3 (35:55):
Uh? Because we won't see each other for another week.
My coach yes, kind of in a way in the
chair in these chairs. Last week, I was quoted as
saying that Mike Tomlins from the NFL Coach of the Year,
which could still end up being the case. They had
took a bad loss to Cleveland. Dennis Crowsey had asked
me this question after they lost, So maybe it's still
(36:18):
Tomman who's the NFL Coach of the Year right now?
Speaker 1 (36:22):
Oh boy, you're really putting me.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
But see, I had the same exact response me on
the spot because I'm really opinionated on the Coach of
the Year stuff. You know, I always talk about it
being the ap makes it a flavor of the month competition.
Speaker 2 (36:33):
Here's one. Here's one I'll throw out that not a
lot of people are talking about. Nick Sirianni maybe deserves.
Speaker 3 (36:39):
That's a great pick. That's a great way.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
I philed the way Philadelphia completely all apart at the
end of last season, and the way Nick Sirianni has
those Eagles playing right now after taking a couple of
early season losses and now there's still half a dozen
games left in the regular season. Oh, for sure, a
ton of stuff can happen, But you're asking me that
question right now. That's kind of the that's kind of
the first one that pops into my eye.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
It's just weird because like somebody had asked me this,
and I'm like everybody it's been you know, because it's like, okay, so,
well you so opinion on this who should be the
coach of the year. I'm like, well, me, personally, maybe
it should just be who the best teams are and
then that's where you pull from. But like all the
people that they wanted to put it on, like Dan Quinn, well.
Speaker 2 (37:21):
Yeah, now that's your thing. Now, Washington suddenly lost two
in a row. Yeah, everybody's wondering what's up with them?
So Jim Harbaugh, they lost again.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
Now like yeah, anyway, I wanted to ask you that
because otherwise we're never going to talk about it.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
So well, well let's let's revisit. Yeah when that's a
good pick. So with that, we'll call it a rap
on this edition of Packers Unscript. To be sure to
follow all of our coverage of Thursday night's big game
at lambeau Field between the Packers and the Dolphins. Will
have it all for you on Packers dot com. For
wes I and Mike, thank you for tuning in. Happy
Thanksgiving everybody, and 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 trust
and colleague Wes Honkoitz. We're coming to you here from
our studios at lambeau Field for our only show this
week because of Thanksgiving and the Packers playing on Thursday night,
so we got a lot of ground to cover in
this episode. Here, Wes, we'll start with reviewing Sunday's big
(00:38):
victory over the forty nine Ers thirty eight to ten.
The final score the Packers get to eight and three.
The forty nine Ers were really banged up. And the
storyline for the Packers in this game, as you wrote about,
as we've written about really all season long, the two
free agents that Brian Gudakun signed right as free agent,
(00:59):
the free agency bell rang and the ink was already
dry on those contracts, Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney, both
of those guys playing a huge, huge part in this game,
as they've done all season.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
I just thought it was so interesting, man. And I
know I allude to this on Twitter, probably a little
bit more than I've put in my story, but you know,
both of those guys, they came here to win, but
it's been interesting watching how they've added to Green Bay's
winning recipe. Both of these guys, you know, you listen
to Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney talk about it. I
think both of them made one playoff appearance in their
(01:33):
previous stops. It was such an important thing to them
to not only get what they deserve as unrestricted free agents,
but also be able to find places where they can
take a good thing and make it a little bit better.
And for Josh Jacobs man who is currently up for
the UH, I think it's the FedEx Aaron Ground Player
(01:54):
of the Week honor. This Sky had ninety one rushing
yards in the first half. The San Francisco forty nine
ers had not given up one hundred yard rusher in
almost three years in the in the regular season, fifty
four straight regular season games, and he just imposed his
will against him. I thought it was interesting, you know,
(02:17):
Matt Lafleur's postgame presser when they were asking I think
it was Steve mcgargey from the Associate Press had asked
him about, Hey, what was the key to this? He's like, well,
we got that number eight guy back there. He's pretty good.
I mean I think I also saw a stat that
he might have forced like fifteen mistackles or something like
that in this game.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
It was the most I think by any by that metric.
It was the most by any single running back in
a game this season in the NFL fifteen fifteen whiffs
on Josh Jacobs on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
It was pretty amazing.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Yeah, and he forced it. I mean it wasn't just that,
Oh well, San Francisco forty hours and make a bet.
I mean, there was a couple of those plays, man.
And I'm not even talking like some forty yard touchdown round.
I'm talking about like just taking what potentially could have
been a negative yard is playing getting three yards out
right right. I mean, this guy is just a mac
truck with this cerebral attitude towards the game where he
(03:06):
just sees processing all this information. And I've said it
time and time again, but his jump cuts, man, and
taking what the offensive line is giving him and maximizing it.
That's what the best running backs do. And then Zabra
McKinney won this game. In the second half of the Packers,
I mean they might have already been in firm control,
but with that interception, that is what took any hope
(03:27):
that the San Francisco forty nine ers might have of
a comeback and just completely removed all that air from
the blue. Forty eight yard return sets off a string
of three second half takeaways, and the Packers got the
job done well.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
You have to say with regard to the two big
plays McKinney made in this game. He was guarding McCaffrey
on the short fourth and two breaks up the pass
Packers get the turnover on downs, and then the interception
which he has the long run back to set up
a touchdown. Both of those plays occurred in Green Bay territory,
and when the score was only seven team to seven,
(04:00):
the Niners were looking to were in position to make
it a one score game on both of those possessions,
and McKinney was the guy who ended up stopping both
of those. So he gets his seventh interception of the season.
I think more importantly for the defense that started another
one of these turnover binges where the defense gets three
(04:20):
takeaways in the second half after going basically two and
a half games. The fourth quarter of the Jacksonville game
was the defense's last takeaway. No takeaways against the Lions
or the Bears, or in the first half against the
forty nine ers. So you go two and a half
games with nothing and then suddenly you get three. So
hopefully that's a good sign for the defense. But getting
back to Jacobs, I've said on this show many times,
(04:44):
and I've said it an insider inbox and everywhere else.
I've been impressed from the very beginning with Josh Jacobs's
vision and his footwork and just his toughness, his style
of running. It's been really, really impressive from the start.
What we're seeing now is all of that being married
up with faking end rounds and pulling guards or doing
(05:06):
the duo where they're just double team blocking going straight ahead.
All of this mixing up of how the Packers are
running the ball. When you look at it, there is
not just like the staple, Okay, this is the Packers
running play. This isn't the days of the Lombardi sweep
in the sixties, Matt Lafleur and the way the blocking
schemes and everything are set up. You have the tight
(05:28):
ends cutting across to you know, to take out defensive ends.
You have the receivers coming in and cracking on the
second level guys, and you have all the motion that's
going on with the receivers and the running backs themselves. Yeah,
the creativity that's going on in the running game and
giving defenses so much to try to decipher as far
as what's going on and who's getting the ball. Pairing
(05:50):
all of that with all of the skills and physical
attributes that Josh Jacobs brings to the table, we're really
starting to see something special in the Packers running game
and hopefully they can continue.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Yeah. And and it's Jacob's ability in those instances too,
to get from zero to sixty pretty quick, being able
to get up to speed and where he needs to
get and being decisive in those moments. And so many
times running backs really struggle between trying to allow their
blocks to set up, but then at the same time
also making sure that they get there before the game
the gaps close. And it leads to what I like
(06:23):
to refer to as almost those twirling little play actions
that Jordan Love does where he almost sometimes will do
a full three to sixty and then hand the ball.
The Packers have been able to really open things up
and again facing a team like San Francisco where they
want to run the ball, they want to shorten up
the game, they want to play the possession game. At
the end of the first half, Green Bay did everything
(06:45):
they needed to do. If San Francisco wants to defer,
which is what Kyle Shanahan religiously does, you need to
go down the field. You need to get a touchdown
right off the bat. And seeing how the running games
set up the passing game in some of those big
plays they were able to do. That's the hallmark of
a good football team. Rob Dmowski wrote about this too,
And you had your story last week about the explosive plays.
(07:07):
The mix between running the football well and creating downfield explosives.
That's that's how you get in the hunt. Yeah, and
I feel like we saw in this game. I mean,
it could have been even better. Unfortunately, Christian Watson doesn't
isn't able to bring in that pass, has that drop
at the end of the first half. That could have
been a forty nine yard touchdown. This game could have
(07:27):
almost been over here by halftime. The green Bay Packers,
Michael did what they have to do and listening to
Keishawn Nixon talk after the game. Again, I will not
quote him directly, but the Packers they had to go
three games without their quarterback too, and they won those
three games. So just the way this league goes.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yeah, the Niners. The Niners were as banged up as
it gets. They didn't have Brock Purty, they didn't have
their left tackle Trent Williams. They didn't have their best
defensive player in Nick Bosa. They didn't have one of
their starting cornerbacks in Shavarius Ward.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
But as you said, Wes.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
The Packers did exactly what they needed to do, which
is they jumped on these guys. It was seventeen to
nothing before the forty nine Ers had a first out
on offense.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
That is exactly what.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
You do when you have the personnel advantage when the
other team is trying to make adjustments for missing top
key players. The Packers got on top of them. No,
they probably should have put the game away a little
sooner than they did, but at the end of the day,
it ends up thirty eight to ten. It's actually the
largest winning margin of victory in the Matt Lafleur era
twenty eight points. And the other really good sign before
(08:31):
we shift our focus to the Miami Dolphins. The other
really good sign was going five for five in the
red zone five red zone opportunities five touchdowns last week
against the number one red zone defense in the league
in Chicago. It was three out of five. The sour
taste was those two misses were zero point even being
able to get any points out of those. But the
(08:52):
bottom line is, for where the Packers have been near
the bottom of the league through the first half of
the season in red zone offense, they're now eight of
their life ten punching him into the end zone in
the red zone. That hopefully is a good sign moving
forward here for the stretch run.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Yeah, and the fact that when they you don't have penalties,
but when they did they actually found a way to
bounce back from it.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Yeah, they had the one on the on the open
the opening drive, there was the one red zone penalty,
but then they overcame, didn't even need third down, No,
actually ended up getting the touchdown on second down there.
So well, it is a short week. The Miami Dolphins
are slated to come into lambeau Field for a Thanksgiving
night clash, and when you look at this was really
(09:33):
this is two teams, both of which have generated their
own momentum coming into this game. The Packers. Packers now
eight and three. They've won two straight after the loss
to Detroit. Miami has now won three in a row.
Their quarterback two Attagovailoa, is back from the concussion. He's
(09:54):
been back for five games, and in those five games,
the Dolphins lost the first two a couple of shootouts,
and then they've won three straight since then. The bottom
line is the Miami has averaged twenty nine points per
game since Tua came back. This is an offense that
is incredibly explosive, very much on a roll, and this
(10:16):
is going to be a huge, huge test for.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Jeff Affley's defense. Thursday night, I was.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Talking with Travis Wingfield, who works for the Dolphins right
before this for his podcast, and I told him this too,
and I mean this from the bottom of my heart.
When two is on the field, this is one of
the best teams in professional football. YEP. What they had
to go through there with losing him, and they've had
to do it a couple times now. Unfortunately, it just
changes everything because it's built on his decision making, it's
(10:44):
built on his ability to control the field, and obviously
the chemistry that he's built up with all of these
receiving weapons. I mean, the Packers. We talk so often
about how Green Bay has a multitude of different playmakers
they can go to. Yeah, Tyreek Hill is one of
the pre eminent receivers in this league, but it's not
just built around him. In Miami, they have receivers, they
(11:07):
have tight ends, they list multiple backs as their starter.
They there are so many different avenues of playmakers that
McDaniel invites into this offense. And again, much like what
happened with the Floor, getting underneath the shanahan and McVeigh
tree and then creating his own style, McDaniel has done
the same exact thing down in Miami. It's an impressive
(11:29):
offense and so much of it is tied into Tua
and his ability to create with it. Well.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Numbers wise, Tua right now has a one hundred and
six point two passer rating on the season, which is
awfully impressive. He's completing seventy three percent of the passes
this offense. Not to say that they won't take a
shot downfield, because they certainly will, but this offense is
very much predicated on a lot of the quick throws
and Tua hitting Tyreek Hill, Jalen Waddle and those guys
(11:58):
hitting them in stride so that they can yep yards
after the catch and try to get plays to you know,
short what looked like short, simple plays to rupture into
big plays Hill, Waddle, tight end John Newsmith. They all
have over five hundred yards receiving this year. Devon a
Chan raheem mostered a pretty good one to two punch
in the backfield. And a chan of course is he's
(12:20):
as good a receiver as a runner out of the backfield.
So and these guys, wes I was looking at it.
These guys are incredibly close, so incredibly close to being
on a five game winning streak here because when Tua
came back, they lost a twenty eight to twenty seven
game to Arizona in which they blew a two score
(12:41):
lead in the fourth quarter and lost on a walkoff
field goal. Then the following week they lose thirty to
twenty seven, another shootout type game against Buffalo. They lose
that on a sixty one yard walk off field goal
by Tyler Bass of the Bills. But then after losing
those two heartbreakers, now they've ripped off three straight wins
against teams much lower than much lower than them record wise,
(13:05):
or at least lower than them in the standings overall.
But this Miami team, there's it's interesting because to the
before he left the podium on Sunday after their blowout
winning against the Patriots two, was asked about the cold
weather in Green Bay because as a quarterback, he's I believe.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
It's oh to seven, yeah, when the.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Peperature is under forty degrees, And right away he was like, hey,
it's it's time to bust that narrative, you know, bring
it on, let's go. And you have to remember, as
much as yes, it sounds like the weather it's going
to be in the twenties or whatever on Thursday night,
it's definitely not Miami weather by any stretch. But this
is very much the same Miami team that played in
(13:50):
absolute arctic conditions in the wild Card round in Kansas
City last January. My point is that for all the
guys who were in that game twenty degrees that lambell
Field is not really going to feel all that crazy
to them, because what they dealt with in Kansas City
in the playoffs last year was absolutely frigid, so I
(14:12):
can see, you know, and Tua wants to break that
whole narrative about his own whatever record. When the temperature
is under forty degrees, Miami is Miami is going to
come in here and absolutely give the Packers everything they
can handle.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Well, and this is this is the this is the
heat check right now. No pun intended with the in
respect of the Packers weather.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
I mean, I like that, that's good.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
But I mean the Dolphins have been a really solid
football team, and they're beating teams recently the way that
you would expect them to beat them with Tua back
in the lineup and with the weapons that they have.
I think one thing I love most about Miami is that,
you know, they have a chan who comes out of nowhere.
Most it is this you know, ageless wonder as well,
but they still go and draft Jalen Wright. Jalen Wright
(14:52):
is contributing in this offense too. I mean it's in
a lot of ways. You almost have a three headed
monster back there. You look at you know, Jalen Waddle,
what he's been able to come. You mentioned Smith as well.
Smith is a guy that I think the league has
been really enticed by for a bulk of his career.
It seems like he's finally sort of I think he's
probably twenty nine years old at this point, but he
(15:12):
sort of realized that the potential that New England had
sort of seen in him and these other programs thinking that, hey,
this dude could be a potential playmaker. He's fit well
into what the Miami Dolphins want to do offensively, and yeah,
they're going to be super motivated to put that behind him.
You can even tell it so many times it's the
media that drives a lot of these narratives going into it.
(15:33):
You can tell listening to too and listening to these
guys down in Miami this week. They are fully embracing
this for what it is, you know, for as much
as again it's not Miami weather, but they we were
there on Christmas the second coldest game in that stadium's history.
It was like fifty one degrees at kickoff. I mean, yeah,
they you know, Miami, Florida and South Florida is pretty
(15:54):
warm a lot of times of the year. But I
mean when you play in that division, you see the
teams that you face, you're gonna have to, you know,
come up and rise up to these these matchups, So
I am fully anticipating you're going to see their best
effort in this one, and obviously trying to get back
to five hundred and show that there's still a lot
of fight left in this thing. Despite losing Toua for
(16:14):
as long as they did.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Yeah, they lost him for a month. They went I
believe it was one in three in the in the
four games that they missed.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
One passing touchdown too, That is wild. They had one
passing touchdown during that straight Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
They're off. Their offense was really struggling. It's worth pointing
out because we've pretty much just talked about Miami's offense
to this point. Miami's defense very good. It's there is
There is nothing that jumps off the page that you
accept that when you look at their rankings across the board,
whether you want to look at rushing yards, passing yards,
(16:46):
total points, third down, red zone, whatever category you want
to look at, it's very difficult to find a defensive
category in which they are not in the top ten
or twelve in the league. They're not like number one
in anything, you know, not up in the top one
or two in a whole bunch of things, but they're
not in the bottom half of the league in almost anything.
They're up there in the top ten or twelve just
(17:08):
about every category. This This this is a defense that
has played has played pretty steady and pretty consistent. It had,
as I mentioned, had a bad fourth quarter against Arizona
that cost him a game and then Josh Allen kind
of did you know what Josh Allen does? And the
Bills put up thirty. But since then, since then, teams
(17:31):
have not been able to do much and in fact,
and I know New England is struggling, but you know
New England was down what was it, thirty one to
nothing before they even scored any points last week against
against this Miami defense. So as much as this is
a big time challenge for Jeff Haffley, this is no
picnic for Jordan Love and company. A lot of positive
signs were seeing with the Packers on offense, no turnovers
(17:54):
for the offense in this last game. We talked about
Josh Jacobs and the running game. But this is this
is going to be a tough matchup for Green Bay.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
Very interesting matchup two in that it features the oldest
team in the National Football League in Week one versus
what was the youngest team and then now.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
So I didn't realize that.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Yeah, I think if I understood that, right, I believe
the Again, I'm doing this off top of my head.
I think the Dolphins have twenty three players who are
twenty nine or older on their team. A lot of
those players are on the defensive side of the ball.
And in credit to them, you got guys like Calias Campbell,
who's still their leading sacker this season, must be thirty
four to thirty five years old at this point.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Who Apparently Mike McDaniels stood on the table for Campbell
because there were rumors about him getting traded at the
trade deadline, and Mike McDaniel's like, do not trade that guy,
and the Dolphins hung onto him and they are very
much I mean, they're trying to work their way back
in the playoff race in the AFC, but they are
definitely not out of this.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
No, not at all. And in a guy like Campbell,
you're talking about an NFL Man of the Year, a
guy that has been one of the most dominant interior
forces for the last decade in this league, and the
guy I'm really enjoying them, Mike, I talk about how
old they are, and obviously Jalen Ramsey's there and Jordan
Poyer signed with them in the offseason. But Chop Robinson
is putting some really good things on film too as
(19:10):
their first round pick. And when you have a young
guy that can come in and start to make an
impact like he's done and being sort of sprinkled into
this defense a little bit, it's a very formidable group.
At the top of this thing is Anthony Weaver, who
was among this mass exodus because of just accomplishment that
was in Baltimore last year, guys becoming coordinators, you know,
(19:32):
moving into bigger positions. Weaver gets this opportunity down in Miami,
and I think there's a culture and there's a thought process,
and I think there's definitely an energy you can feel
that maybe wasn't there last year with Zick Vangio that
you know, these guys really he has them believing in
what they're doing, and even in those games where they
didn't have to it defensively, they were as competitive as
they've ever been in a lot of those matchups trying
(19:53):
to keep their team in it. So, yeah, Miami, again,
it presents a lot of different looks and things that
Green Bay is gonna have to take into account for.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
All Right, Well, I want to get to our keys
to victory in this one, but I will take care
of some sponsor business. Serious XM NFL Radio delivers hard
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sub and a bowl cousin subs fifty plus years of better.
All right, Keys to Victory. I think the first thing
that jumps out to me in this game is this
is a game that defensively you have to tackle well
because busted tackles is what leads to the ruptured plays.
(20:43):
And that is how Tyreek Hill and Jayden Waddle and
Devon h Chan and these guys you know they they
they are the masters in many ways of turning five
yard gains into two pus five yard gains.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
That's what they do.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
And the Packers defense have to absolutely be on their
p's and q's with the tackling, which is it's always interesting.
You know, a Thursday game, short week, guys are just
trying to get their bodies back. You never quite know
in these short week situations where players are going to
be fundamentally are there going to be more fundamental breakdowns
because you don't do much in practice the whole week.
(21:21):
The whole week is really a week of mental preparation
and the only thing you're doing physically on the field
is more walk through and jogging kind of stuff. You're
not having any real practices like you do when you
have the full seven days in between games. But for me,
this one, this one starts with how well will Green
Bay tackle on defense?
Speaker 3 (21:40):
You know, before I give it into this, someone was
praising you at inbox, and as they should. I mean,
we do our final thoughts video every week, and you
know how we always give our little thoughts.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
And last week, yeah, the Packers win, if which is
the final segment.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
In mind was punching the ball in they went five
for five.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
We were talking about red zone and then you had yours,
which was to get a takeaway, get a take away
and they got.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Three of them. Can I just put you on blast
for one thing? Okay, when we did three Things last week,
I love how I think you finished yours with you know,
and I'll be very surprised if this thing doesn't come
down to the last minute of the game or something
like that. And then the Packers ended up happening their
biggest win ever with Matt Lafleour. You just never can tell,
that's right now, You never can tell.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Of course we did.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
We did film three Things on Wednesday, and we had
no idea that brock Purty wasn't going to play, So
I'll just say that. But yes, it's funny when you
look at it, and I did say I expected that
game with the Niners to go right down to the end,
and then of course it didn't be.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
Somebody was I just got a kick out it because
somebody's praising us for all this stuff at inbox and
I'm thinking of all the weeks where I could not
have been more wrong with final thoughts. But okay, so
here goes. Here's my big prediction with this one one.
Green Bay actually can't allow them to get their running
game going. I thought last week, yes, the pace of
play had a lot to do with that. Getting up
to that lead had a lot to do with that.
(22:56):
I think we were in the middle of the second
quarter by the time that Christian McCaffrey got his second
can carry in that game. But even so, Miami hasn't
actually run the ball that well this year. A chan
has is a huge weapon from the passing game, five
receiving touchdowns as a back. This year, he hasn't had
those big explosive moments like he had his rookie season.
(23:17):
You look at moster, he's been okay this year. You
have to try to make this thing one dimensional with
Tua and try to get after him. Twenty nine sacks
so far this season have been allowed by that offensive line. Again,
there's been multiple quarterbacks there, but I think pressure is
gonna be very important. But I really do think it
all starts with containing their run game. If you can
(23:38):
take the things that you did well, and certainly the
offense played into that too, but defensively with them being
able to not allow much breathing room to that rushing
offense for the forty nine ers, this is still the
same tree that this branch is coming off, that Shanahan tree,
and if you allow Miami to get that run game going,
then that's when Tua becomes extremely dangerous.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Yeah, and you bring up a good point about how
the Packers played run defense run defense against the forty
nine ers Christian McCaffrey. Yes, he missed a big chunk
of the season, but he's still the reigning NF Offensive
Player of the Year and a guy with fresh legs
at this point. Because of that time that he missed,
Packers only allowed him thirty one rushing yards on eleven carries.
And in fact, I put together my series of clips
(24:20):
for what you might have missed for those who want
to check that out on packers dot com. Six of
those eleven carries. Packers held him to two or fewer
yards on six of those eleven. So that was a
heck of a job up front by the run defense
and something I agree with you that needs to continue on.
(24:41):
So those are two keys to victory on the defensive
side of the ball for the Packers. What do you
think on the offensive side.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
Protect the football? Yeah, you want to get more takeaways
and things like that, But I thought last week showed
and there were some close calls there, don't get me wrong.
There were some moments there for San Francisco to make
plays that it didn't. But that being said, I thought
this this game against the forty nine ers illustrated what
is possible when you don't hurt yourself with penalties and
you protect the football. Green Bay outlasted the forty nine ers.
(25:10):
They routed them, but they outlasted them. They were able
to maintain that throughout four quarters. A lot of guys
afterwards it was the buzzword among the media asking if
this was the most complete game that Green Bay has
played this season. You give it, put whatever narratives you
want on top of it, especially considering the state of
the opponent. But I just felt like the complimentary football
(25:31):
set of thing and looking at how the Packers were
able to transition and turn those point those takeaways into points.
That was the difference in that football game against the
forty nine ers. So you look at Miami's defense, it's
been very opportunistic at times this season. They will hurt
you with the interceptions if you allow them to. Green
Bay has to and Jordan Love has to protect the football.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Yeah, I certainly hope that the Packers stay as persistent
with the running game as they've been, and Josh Jacobs
is coming on a twenty six carry game, it's a
short week. He certainly looks no worse for where and
he will take the ball at anytime that Matt Lafleur wants
to give it to him. But I tell you, if
I'm a Manuel Wilson or Chris Brooks, I'm ready to
(26:13):
get the ball in this game as well, because the
last thing Matt Lafleuur wants to do is if Josh
Jacobs needs a breather and he has to come out
that now suddenly it's like, okay, well now the Packers
have to throw the ball. No, They're gonna want to
Manuel Wilson and Chris Brooks to be able to run
the ball and to continue whatever it is that Jacobs
establishes when he does need to come out and get
a breather, and hopefully the Packers can just keep things
(26:35):
going on the ground what they have shown recently.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
I should say a word here about Chris Brooks because
for him this is obviously facing his former team in
the Miami Dolphins, a team that he had a lot
of success with as an undrafted free agent last year.
Has a concussion during training camp, gets injuries settled, and
now he's ends up here in Green Bay, the amount
of pony that we've seen this year, the amount of
the two running back packages we've seen this year in
the aftermath of the injuries to AJ Dillon and also
(26:59):
marsh Sean Lloyd. If you'd have told me the Packers
would be lining up in that as frequently as they
have been in the first half of the season, I
would have said, you are nuts, right, But that show
is not only the faith that they haven't Emmanuel Wilson,
but then for Chris Brooks to come in and he
had a tripping penalty that I'm sure he definitely wants back.
But by and large, his ability to pick up blitz,
his ability to run the football. There was some motioning
(27:20):
that was happening last week between him and Josh Jacobs,
and I think there was even a play where Jiden
Reid was in the backfield with him at one point.
Chris Brooks, dude, for being a guy that was not
here during training camp, his ability to function within this
offense and allow Green Bay to stay in their preferred packages.
He's another guy I don't think you could say enough
about him. Will be very critical in this matchup against
his former team. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Absolutely, Well, before we go looking around the league at
the most recent results very quickly. As we said, Packers
are eight and three, Detroit still on top of the
NFC North at ten to one, Minnesota in between Green
Bay and Detroit at nine and two. The Vikings end
up surviving a furious comeback by the Chicago Bears. The
Bears get at eleven points in the last thirty seconds
(28:01):
of regulation to force overtime, but then Minnesota wins in
ot one of just several crazy games in the early window.
On Sunday, Dallas and Washington played a wild one and
Dallas ends up getting the win. Kansas City needs a
walk off field goal to beat the Carolina Panthers down
in Charlotte, and the Houston Texans take a bad home
(28:24):
loss against the Tennessee Titans when Houston's kicker misses a
chip shot that should have forced overtime in that game,
I will say, since we're kind of calling each other
out and putting each other on blast, you kind of
dismissed my thought last week of watch to see how
Washington responds to getting steamrolled in the fourth quarter by
(28:46):
the Philadelphia Eagles, and you're like, well, it's the Dallas
Cowboys coming in Well, that's why just you can't always
dismiss that kind of stuff. Because Washington didn't respond well
to a really tough division loss where they got run
over in the fourth quarter by Philly. They took a
bad home loss to the Dallas Cowboys, and which certainly
helps the Packers in the playoff picture that Washington now
(29:07):
has five losses. But Jayden Daniels a rookie quarterback, and
what's going on in Washington that's something to watch now
because they've dropped two in a row, and you know
the shine is coming off the Christmas ornament a little bit.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
Yeah, for sure, and looking at the Cowboys very quickly,
people want to really rip on Mike and everything that's
happened out there for him to build a winnable game
plan for Cooper Rush looking as good as he did
in that game, dowd Will becoming their featured back I
thought had one of his best games as well. You
tip your cap to him in that phase. Very odd
ending to it, but the Cowboys did what they had
(29:42):
to do to win.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Forty one points in the last nine minutes.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
And then an on side kick that was returned for
a touchdown when it didn't matter. I mean, the thing
has just happened at the end of that game that
I have not quite understanding.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
But yeah, yeah, the Cowboy Cowboys picked up an onside
kick and ran it for a touchdown when you just
need to slide kneel the game out for a touchdown
and Jade and Daniels gets a shot at a hail
Mary on the final play because the Cowboys didn't just
take a stupid knee. It was just it is are
so many but bizarre things going on in that game.
But Washington, this is again, this is where you have
(30:14):
a young team, a different type of team, with a
lot of new pieces and and Daniel's having to be
the franchise guy. They're very interested to see how they respond.
Chicago Bears had one job they failed and this this
losing streak that they're on continues. By the way, have
you peaked at all at their schedule the Bear schedule
here the next month?
Speaker 1 (30:34):
I know that.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
I mean they they they still have they still have
both of their games left with Detroit. They haven't really
they haven't played the Lions.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
So listen to this meat grinder. So they had they
lost three, they've lost five in a row. Out of
the by. They lost three in a row at home.
Here's what they now face at Detroit, at San Francisco,
at Minnesota, and then you come back against Detroit at home,
and then they wrap up against Seattle and they come
to Green Bay. Very very rough turn of events for
(31:04):
the Bears.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Bears.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
Bears are sitting at four and seven in three games.
The the the game against Washington, the game against the Packers,
and now this last one against against the Vikings. Three
games they've lost on the final play of the game
when when they they had they had opportunities to win
and uh yeah, the I mean, you know, the Bears
(31:26):
got they got another field goal blocked early in that game,
which then I think influenced a decision to go for
it on a fourth and four instead of kicking a
field goal, you know, in like the third quarter. Just
all these all these things that then added up to
you know, they had another terrible special teams play where
the you know, the guy had the punt bounce off
his leg and the Vikings.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
Recovered they end up getting a touchdown.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
All these things that add up to, you know, they're
down by two scorers in in the last two minutes
and then they pull off this amazing you know, touchdown,
two point conversion, recover, the on side kick, the field
goal to get it to overtime, and they win the
toss in overtime yep. And then then they go three
and out.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
The Vikings win the game anyway.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
So yeah, and for Minnesota, it just Kevin O'Connell keeping
that team together, staying balanced. And you know, again, Josh
Jacobs has been a tremendous fine for Green Bay. He's
the right running back for this offense and a guy
that you can feed and he's durable. But Aaron Jones
is looking good too. Still had a fumble early in
(32:26):
that game, but they stuck with him and he showed
him to be right again in that instance. And you know,
Minnesota just keeps finding away. I did say this an
inbox and I do truly mean this, and we'll just
have to keep a pin in it the rest of
the season. But to me, this is starting to remind
me a lot of that twenty two team they had
where they won a lot of football games. Very curious
to see how high they're ceiling runs once you get
(32:47):
to the postseason. But they're beating the teams they have
to beat and I will close on this the statistic.
I don't know if it was Tom Fanning that found it,
but that's stat about how the green Bay Packers at
eight and three have the best records since I think
the merger in nineteen seventy at eight and three through
thirteen weeks of the season. But to still be in
the third place or worse within the division, that's never happened.
(33:10):
And again it just speaks to this division, how difficult
it is, how tight it is, and the fact that
of those handful of losses the North has, three of
them were doled out to each other. It's just it
is a wild, wild development and green Bay just has
to keep winning football games and trying to pick up
another intra conference game on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
Yeah, well, three quarters of the NFC North playing on Thanksgiving,
with the Bears going to Detroit the Packers hosting Miami.
The only NFC North game to watch on Sunday when
the Packers are not playing will be Minnesota playing against Arizona.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
Chaos theory. You and I we are already sitting here
calling ourselves out for some bad predictions. Is there any
chance the Chicago Bears, losers of five in a row
can go into Ford Field and win on Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
I don't I certainly don't like their chances, but I'm
not gonna I'm not gonna.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Give me a percentage. There's no there's no gambling in Bushwood.
But like, what, what do you think is for give
me a percentage that you think they can win? Straight up?
Speaker 1 (34:10):
Twenty percent?
Speaker 3 (34:11):
Okay, cool, let's see what happens.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
Yeah, I mean this, I mean, honestly, in a lot
of ways, this is this is a lot like where
Detroit was on Thanksgiving last year when the Packers came.
Packers were four and six at that time, the lines
I think were eight and two. Nobody really gave the
Packers a chance. They hadn't shown a whole heck of
a lot. The Bears in some ways have shown more
than the Packers showed last year at this time because
(34:35):
they've just lost some heartbreaking games that have led to
this four and seven records.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
So, but but.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
There's it just it feels like just everything, all the
all the the negativity going on with Eberflus right now,
head coach of the Bears. It just feels like it's
too it's too much to overcome. For the Bears to
start to put together a run here as close as
they've been in some of these games.
Speaker 3 (34:57):
If you would have told me back in September that
we would get to Thanksgiving. It looks like Caleb Williams
is a player. Their defense is playing pretty well in
the fact that they are plus nine in turnover differential
right now in their four and seven.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
Yeah, plus nine, plus nine, But three games under five
hundred at Thanksgiving?
Speaker 1 (35:19):
That's crazy.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
Do you know how far you have to go down
on the turnover differential to find a team without a
winning record other than Chicago? Like, it's like all the
way it's I think it's like La The Rams are
like sixteen in turnover differential in our below five hundred.
It's wild.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
Yeah, it is kind of crazy.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Bear down, yeah, bear down indeed.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Well.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
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action coming April twenty four through April twenty six of
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twenty five for more information.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
Can I ask you one last question?
Speaker 2 (35:55):
Sure?
Speaker 3 (35:55):
Uh? Because we won't see each other for another week.
My coach yes, kind of in a way in the
chair in these chairs. Last week, I was quoted as
saying that Mike Tomlins from the NFL Coach of the Year,
which could still end up being the case. They had
took a bad loss to Cleveland. Dennis Crowsey had asked
me this question after they lost, So maybe it's still
(36:18):
Tomman who's the NFL Coach of the Year right now?
Speaker 1 (36:22):
Oh boy, you're really putting me.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
But see, I had the same exact response me on
the spot because I'm really opinionated on the Coach of
the Year stuff. You know, I always talk about it
being the ap makes it a flavor of the month competition.
Speaker 2 (36:33):
Here's one. Here's one I'll throw out that not a
lot of people are talking about. Nick Sirianni maybe deserves.
Speaker 3 (36:39):
That's a great pick. That's a great way.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
I philed the way Philadelphia completely all apart at the
end of last season, and the way Nick Sirianni has
those Eagles playing right now after taking a couple of
early season losses and now there's still half a dozen
games left in the regular season. Oh, for sure, a
ton of stuff can happen, But you're asking me that
question right now. That's kind of the that's kind of
the first one that pops into my eye.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
It's just weird because like somebody had asked me this,
and I'm like everybody it's been you know, because it's like, okay, so,
well you so opinion on this who should be the
coach of the year. I'm like, well, me, personally, maybe
it should just be who the best teams are and
then that's where you pull from. But like all the
people that they wanted to put it on, like Dan Quinn, well.
Speaker 2 (37:21):
Yeah, now that's your thing. Now, Washington suddenly lost two
in a row. Yeah, everybody's wondering what's up with them?
So Jim Harbaugh, they lost again.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
Now like yeah, anyway, I wanted to ask you that
because otherwise we're never going to talk about it.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
So well, well let's let's revisit. Yeah when that's a
good pick. So with that, we'll call it a rap
on this edition of Packers Unscript. To be sure to
follow all of our coverage of Thursday night's big game
at lambeau Field between the Packers and the Dolphins. Will
have it all for you on Packers dot com. For
wes I and Mike, thank you for tuning in. Happy
Thanksgiving everybody, and we will see you next time.
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com