May 15, 2025 • 24 mins
Mike and Wes discuss the Packers’ 2025 schedule, giving their first impressions (:27), looking at the holiday implications (9:49) and highlighting individual games (15:06).
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
by my trusted colleague Weston Hodkowitz. We're coming to you
here from our studios at lambeau Field West, fresh off
of the schedule release for the twenty twenty five season.
The Packers' schedule is out there, The entire NFL schedule
(00:30):
is out there, and we're going to spend the bulk
of this episode talking about it. And I'm just going
to start with your thoughts. When you first glanced at
the schedule, what was the first thing you noticed.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
My eyes went to one thing, and it was what's
happening Week one? And that's the green Bay Packers are
back at lambeau Field for the first time since twenty eighteen,
the first time as Matt Lafleur in the position of
Packers head coach. The Green Bay Packers will play a
home opener at lambeau Field in Week one, and I
(01:05):
just felt like this was important because I know you're
the big baseball buff I'm not, but I will say
I always felt like when opening Day happens in Major
League Baseball, if you're playing the home at home during
opening Day, that's a big deal. There's been so many
times I can't tell you where the Brewers will start
on a road trip and then eventually they have their
home opener, and my attention has already gone off to
(01:26):
some other places. The NFL the season, every weekend, every
Sunday is huge, and I'm not saying it's not. And
we've had some awesome Sundays the last few years. Obviously,
Jordan Love I'll never forget his first home opener as
the starting quarterback against the New Orleans Saints two years ago, right,
But I just think there's something special about actually having
that first game right out of like the eight. What
(01:47):
I did not anticipate was oh, hey, four days later,
we're gonna do this again. Who wants to play again?
Because they'll welcome in a very talented, very deep, very
dangerous Washington Commanders team. But the fact that Green Bay
did I only get that opener. They're going to take
on the Detroit Lions the first time I think in
twenty four years they're hosting the Lions and an opener.
I think it's the first time since five that they're
(02:08):
playing them at all. That that is a fitting way,
I feel like to at least start off what is
somewhat of an uneven but always going to be imperfect schedule.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
It is kind of crazy that it took this long
into Matt Lafleur's tenure for the Packers to get a
week one home games.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Because longest stretching franchise history.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Yeah, the Packers had opened their one hundred season in
twenty eighteen with a home game against the Bears, and
then they did not open another season at home until
season one oh seven, which is what this one.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
And they requested that one, Yeah, in eighteen.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
It's been actually just straight up booked for one since seventeen.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Yeah, well you and you hinted at it as well.
It's it's an interesting one to two right off the
bat when you're playing actually two teams that played each
other in the NFC Divisional Playoffs last year, the Lions
and the Commanders. It'll be back to back, both games
at Lambeau five days in a span of five days.
(03:05):
The two games are just four days apart, a late
Sunday afternoon and then a Thursday night game. And it's
very interesting to me that it fell that way in
a year in which the NFC, which of course includes
the Packers, has the eight home games and the nine
road games, that when you actually have one more road
game on the schedule that you would start out with
(03:27):
back to back home games, Because now that leaves you
with nine road games out of your last fifteen, it
becomes a bit unbalanced in that regard. But starting out
against Detroit and Washington, two playoff teams from a year ago,
two teams with Super Bowl aspirations, it's a tremendous opportunity
(03:48):
getting both of those teams at home right out of
the gate. It's a tremendous opportunity for the Packers to
make a statement of sorts as to where twenty five
might be headed for green Bay. The other intriguing thing
I think, just with opening against the Lions in particular,
is they have a new offensive coordinator, a new defensive coordinator.
(04:10):
Both of their coordinators from last year got head coaching
jobs elsewhere. There's obviously plenty of confidence in Detroit on
both sides of the ball that they can keep this
thing rolling with Dan Campbell and the players they have
and everything they've got going. But sometimes you just never know,
and there's gonna be a lot of unknown with regard
to there always is with a week one game, but
then a Week one game against a team that has
(04:32):
brand new coordinators on both sides of the ball. I'm
not sure that I can recall anything like that happening
in recent years around.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Not where you lose both. And obviously some of that
is somewhat telegraphed because Ben Johnson probably could have left
for a job last year. Oh sure not to yeah,
But so my point being with that comment is the
Lions obviously have been bracing for his leaving here at
some point and obviously had their plans in place for
how are going to go about handling that. I will say, though,
(05:03):
especially as it relates to the NFC North, a really
interesting question Insider Inboxes past week asking about the probability
of the Chicago Bears not taking a step forward with
Ben Johnson taking over as the head coach, but also
the Detroit Lions taking a step back without him as
their offensive coordinator. That is an interesting way to look
(05:24):
at it, because what is the probability of those two
things both happening. Is Chicago going to make a big jump,
but is Detroit going to take a step back. Is
Detroit going to keep the training on the tracks, But
is Chicago going to become this giant that everybody's been
thinking they were going to be for the last I
don't know decade that they've been billed as a lot
of times during the off season. We'll have to wait
and see. But past happenings don't always indicate future success.
(05:50):
So I'm just very interested to see if Detroit can
legitimately stay on top of the mountain in if Chicago
can actually claw itself back into this thing. In either case,
with the Packers standpoint two very intriguing matchups against the Lions,
and that they open the season and they also travel
there for Thanksgiving again second time in three years. And
then in Chicago's case, you actually won't see Ben Johnson.
(06:11):
You won't be a part of that rivalry yet until
what week fourteen. Yeah, they start that stretch of two
games in three weeks, two very interesting ways to go
out tackling one of the two of the Packers' biggest rivals.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Well, you mentioned the Thanksgiving game in Detroit, and that
was the other thing that really caught my eye right away,
and it's what I wrote about on the website. In
my column, you wrote the ten things about the schedule,
and I kind of focused on this one particular element,
which is that the Packers have two Thursday games, so
you have two short weeks, and so that gives you
(06:46):
two different segments of your schedule. War you're playing two
games in a span of five days, but the two
games in five days are Lions Commanders and then Vikings
Lions the week of Thanksgiving. The Packers have nine games
on their schedule in twenty twenty five against teams that
made the playoffs a year ago. Four of those nine
(07:08):
are in these like Sunday Thursday, these two games within
five days things. We've been a part of these before
West because every team has to deal with it when
you play a Sunday followed by a Thursday. And yeah, sure,
there's plenty of times where you win when you lose one,
and that's how this league goes. But man, you can
really set yourself up with a lot of momentum if
you can win both of those games, and you can
(07:31):
really find yourself, you know, struggling and needing a reset
if you drop two games in a span of five days.
These are inflection points in any given NFL schedule when
you have to when you have to cram two games
into such a short timeframe. There and the fact that
all of the matchups, the four matchups in these two
(07:54):
five day spans that the Packers are dealing with, one
in September, one in November leading into things giving the
matchups are huge, they're going to have made the major
implications because of the teams that the Packers are facing
in those in those matchups.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
An excellent point by you, And I mean, is there
any better example of what you just talked about than
the twenty twenty three Packers. I mean, their season was
at a crossroads when they hosted the Los Angeles Chargers.
They beat the Chargers, and then they surprise the world
and they beat a streaking Detroit Lions, completely turned the
season around, and the week after that beat the Kansas
(08:30):
City Chiefs, who end up going on and winning the
Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Right.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Yeah, I mean that's that's the difference that the team
that went from four and six to suddenly being right
there at six and six by a matter of just
taking care of business. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Absolutely, it's a as as I said, these are these
are crucial stretches and the fact that the Packers have
two of them on the schedule and the matchups that
they're facing in those are are going to have such
big implications in the NFC picture if things go somewhat
as we expect with teams like the Lions and the
(09:02):
Commanders and the Packers and the Vikings staying as contenders.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
So before we shot this, and we also did our
little Q and a video as well beforehand, I have
a one guy. There's one human being that I will
always say yes to an interview. It's Mike Keller, good
friend of mine, do the pregame radio show with them,
works for iHeartRadio to Milwaukee. And I told him like,
this today is the only day I was like. I
was like, I wasn't, but it was because of Mike.
I'm like, I'll do it for you. We have enough
(09:27):
other stuff going on, I'll do it for you. So
the point I'm illustrating with that is we got into
an interesting discussion. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts
on this, because the question came up about all of
us thinking that we were going to be playing the
Gremit Packers will be playing on Christmas here based on
the fact that they were going to take on Chicago
Bears on that Saturday in week sixteen.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Yeah, December twentieth.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
So my question for you is, and then I'll tell
you what my response was this, would you rather be
home on Christmas for a game or be in Detroit
for Thanksgiving? Or be on the road doesn't have to
be Detroit, but just be on the road for Thanksgiving
or home on Christmas.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
US. Given my druthers, I would probably say home on Christmas.
But I will say this play playing on Thanksgiving. I
don't mind. I don't mind the Detroit game because A
it's a quick flight and B it's the earliest game
on things true. So you know, I mean I have
(10:22):
I've covered. I'd have to count it up. I think
I've covered four or five of the Packers Thanksgiving games
in Detroit in my tenure. And now this year they
moved the kickoff back to noon Central. It used to
be eleven thirty and uh and with that eleven thirty kickoff,
like I'd be I'd be walking back in the door
at home at like six thirty for a late Thanksgiving
(10:43):
dinner with my family. You know, can't quite get back
that early now because they've they've moved the kickoff back
to twelve. But but I I've never minded that the
Thanksgiving game in Detroit because because of how close it is,
and because it's the early one last year hosting Thanksgiving,
you know, with the night game, you know, eating all
(11:06):
the turkey during the day and then having to work
really really late hours with.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
All of our Yeah, we were super productive.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
That was that was That was tough. That was tough,
and it was the uh, that was the if I'm
not mistaken, that was the start of what was at
four night games in a row or whatever last year.
So at least there's nothing like that that's on the
twenty twenty fifth schedule.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
If I never have to eat turkey in the ford
Field press box again in my life, though, I wouldn't
necessarily well upset.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
And and that's the thing is when I know that
I'm coming home to have Thanksgiving dinner, like I just
don't even eat the turkey and the press.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Well good because it's usually gone by the time you
end up getting and.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
I don't even I don't even worry about it, you know,
I just maybe grab a couple of side dishes that
I know aren't going to be back at home.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
But I I just it was something the question I
come up with Mike and we're doing the show on
because it was like I kind of, you know, dodged
a little bit of a fiasco there and not having Christmas.
I'm like, ah, I think I would have taken Christmas
over being in.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Yeah, home on Christmas is always a good thing. The
other thing I want to mention though, with regard to
that Thanksgiving game, So you have the Vikings on the
Sunday before Thanksgiving at Lambeau, then you go to Detroit
for Thanksgiving. That begins the final seven weeks of the
regular season, in which five of the Packers NFC North
(12:21):
games are in those final seven including, as you mentioned earlier,
playing the Bears twice in a span of three weeks
there in December. So you have Vikings Lions on Thanksgiving week,
you got the two games with the Bears in a
span of three weeks, and then you finish in week
eighteen at Minnesota. So five of your six division games
(12:43):
are essentially from Thanksgiving week to the end of the year,
really really backloaded in terms of those NFC North matchups,
and that's where they're intriguing piece to this schedule.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
It definitely is. And again we were trying to find
some information on this as far as if there's ever
been anything where it's been that backlogged. The only other
time they played five games in the last seven weeks
was since O two the ray alignment was twenty twelve.
But to have this many in that tide of a
window is remarkable. And to go two and a half
months without playing your division, it seems like I couldn't
(13:14):
give you the exact year on this. It seems like
they've actually done this a couple times now, at least
during my time covering the team, where they go these
elongated stretches without playing the NFC North and then everything
kind of feels funneled there at the end. Again, we'll
have to wait and see. Packers took care of business
last year against the AFC South. I think they might
have cleared out the AFC South by the time they
played Minnesota. Was it there was like one team I
(13:35):
don't think they had faced yet.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Yeah, I believe that's true.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
By the time they had already wrapped up their four
games against the celt So it's just the way schedules go,
you know, the way you got to build a schedule somehow.
Not everybody's always going to be happy for me personally,
but neat to see another mid season by. I enjoyed
the mid season by as someone that you know is
trying to formulate a life out of in addition to
having a career. But be that as it may, Yeah,
(13:58):
it's it's gonna be a vallenge and something that Packers
have to tackle.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Yeah, that the early bye is not ideal. We've we've
talked about that plenty of times in previous years. The
Packers have certainly had their fair share of early bye weeks.
And it's interesting because back in twenty twenty two when
the Packers went to London in Week five, I believe
it was the league gives you the option after an
international trip that you can take your bye the next week,
(14:24):
and the Packers chose not to because they felt that
week six was too early. They wanted to have the
bye later in the season. So the Packers have turned
down that early bye, Yet there's all these other years
where the league just hands it to them anyway and
says year week five, week six, here's your buye. This
is when you get your week off.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
And the year they got that London game. They turned
down the Week six by next Oh, here you go
Week thirteen, enjoy yourself, or in December, enjoy your break. Yeah,
they put it.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
They put it at the extreme extreme. On the other end,
I'll take care of a little bit of sponsor business
here West and then we'll get back to it. Serious.
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Subs fifty plus years of better. All right, we talked
about some general themes and whatnot with regard to the schedule,
but let's just highlight some individual games that catch your eye,
that get the old metaphorical circle on the calendar, what
(15:32):
jumps out at you.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
I'm really interested to see the Cincinnati Bengals come in
here after the bye. We haven't in all the content
you and I have done so far, we really haven't
talked much about that yet. But the Joe Burrow show
there with Daniels and obviously you know T Higgins and
everything he's done in this league. This is gonna be
our Jamar Chase excuse me, yeah, Chase. This is going
to be a huge, huge challenge trying to slow them down.
(15:56):
I mean, people forget they just missed out of making
the playoffs, but there might not have been a hotter
team down the stretch last season than the Bengals once
they started getting everything together. Yea, it looked like I
mean in a lot of ways, Mike, it's really hard
for a guy to be in like legitimate MVP contention
when you're not on a playoff team. But I mean,
Joe Burrow, a case could be made that he was
the most important player to any team last year based
(16:17):
on what that could have potentially been like for Cincinnati
had he not been around. But they were able to
get some moment at the end of the season. Packers
have a tough stretch, and we've talked a lot about
that early stretch, but coming out of the by and
then immediately getting that greatest show on what Kentucky Bluegrass
down there in Cincinnati, that is not going to be
(16:38):
an easy task at all.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Yeah, and I'll say I'm looking forward to seeing Joe
Burrow and Jamar Chase like in person for the first
time because the only other time in the era of
those two stars for Cincinnati that the Packers have played
them was during one of the two I guess it
would have been twenty twenty one, one of the COVID
(17:00):
seasons when we actually weren't traveling, so that ended up
being the crazy overtime game in Cincinnati with the missed
field goals and everything else, and then the Packers ultimately prevailed.
But you and I have never seen Joe Burrow Jamar
Chase in that offense like live, you know, like.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
We didn't eve get a chance to see him in
the joint practices. Yeah, no, that's true.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
We did.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
It's them with that too, because of his calf injury
or whatever.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
It was. Yeah. Interesting, interesting tidbit I'll throw at you though,
because obviously the Packers and the Bengals don't play each
other all that often. The last two times Green Bay
and Cincinnati have played in the regular season, the game
has gone to overtime.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Oh wow, yeah, twenty seven. I didn't know that.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
In twenty twenty one, and now here we are again
in twenty twenty five. But sticking with the AFC North,
I don't have to explain myself here, but certainly the
game in Pittsburgh under the lights, primetime game along the
Allegheny there in Pittsburgh, it's a great setting for football.
(17:58):
It's a wonderful stadium, that's a really neat place. And
if what we think is going to happen at the
quarterback position for that matchup, of course that that game
against Pittsburgh has ori. And then speaking of parking Rudolph right, yeah, yeah, exactly,
speaking of players that we haven't gotten to see live, Lamar.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Jackson, Yeah, finally.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Now, of course it's going to be at the end
of the season. Who knows where things could be injury wise.
Anything can happen in this league. But in week seventeen,
the Packers will be hosting the Baltimore Ravens either on
Saturday or Sunday. It's one of those games that could
that could end up being chosen for either day. But
the only time in the Lamar Jackson era that the
(18:40):
Packers and the Ravens have met was in twenty twenty one,
and Lamar Jackson was hurt and Tyler Huntley was the
quarterback for the Ravens in that game. Another one that
we were not there for in Baltimore, and another one
that was kind of crazy coming right down to the
end and the Packers had to stop a two point
conversion in order to win the game as the as
Huntley was leading this like two touchdown comeback in the
(19:01):
fourth quarter. But I'll be I'll be really intrigued to
potentially see Lamar Jackson, you know, live and playing for real,
not just in a preseason game, but uh but live
and here we go.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Yeah, it was just it was impressive just watch him
in the you know, the joint Yeah, the joint practice,
you know. And just I mean the guy moves different,
he throws a ball different, and just he is he
is a specimen in every every way you could put
it in, one of the more unique skill sets of
this generation of quarterbacks. Yeah, So it'll be really neat.
It's it's also curious that it's going to have that
sort of December flavor to it as well, seeing how
(19:37):
those elements could potentially affect the game. The last week
of twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Five, Yeah, and the Ravens have certainly played their share
in the cold in the AFC North, and not only
in Baltimore, but Pittsburgh and Cleveland and Cincinnati and all
that they've they've played their share of cold weather games.
And uh, I almost think like Lamar Jackson would be
even more dangerous in the cold.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
For sure.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
He's already hard enough to tackle, and then you add
you add the element into it, and it could it
could be even more difficult there. Yeah, your thoughts also
on the defending Super Bowl champs and the team that
knocked the Packers out of the playoffs last year coming
to Lambeufield. The Eagles will be in Green Bay for
(20:16):
a Monday night contest and that will be in November,
November tenth.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
If we're we're getting close here to the end of
May here, So we'll see what happens as far as
these tush push guidelines, and you know, the NFL tabled
the discussions. It'd be interesting to see if the Philadelphi
Eagles get a different reception to what they've been giving
out as it relates to that, if that happens to
make its way into the season in the schedule and
still being allowed in that particular form, this season, I'd
(20:43):
be curious, you know, Packer fans would respond to seeing it.
That being said, it's a very good opponent, very tough opponent,
and one of the more well rounded teams in the
National Football League in terms of their construct I really
like how Howie Roseman has built this team. Huge offensive lines,
athletic offensive lines, but they have been as good as
anybody in the National Football League. When you're talking about
(21:05):
why does this team become a super Bowl champion, Well,
it's because they've drafted well and they've signed players very well.
Howie Roseman has not missed a lot of his swings lately.
It just seems like things have kind of fallen their
way in a lot of regards, and this will be
a huge test for the Packers. I mean, again, there's
a reason why, Mike, when we were going into this week,
you were talking about I think it's what the fifth
or sixth most difficult schedule based on last year. Yeah,
(21:28):
that Green Bay has and that doesn't necessarily tell you
it's going to be that way again. Things can change quickly.
It happened a few years ago for the Packers where
I think it was the twenty twenty two season. It
looked like it was going to be really yah.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Supposedly it was an easy schedule based on the records
from the prior year, and then everything kind of flipped
in terms of the expectations for certain teams.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Yeah, I think it was. Was it the East? One
of the teams has just played out of their mind
relative to what everybody thought. Well, the Giants were one
of them.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
They beat the Packers in London and ended up going
on to win road playoff game in Minnesota. When, yes,
when that season was all said and done. The other
thing that you were talking about the Eagles, We were
talking about the Lions earlier and losing both coordinators. The
Eagles are an interesting story because a few years back,
they go to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
They lose a.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Close one in the Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Right at the end of the game, they lose both
of their coordinators to head coaching jobs. They come back
the next year and they start ten to one. They're
looking like they're headed for the number one seed in
the NFC playoffs. Everything completely unravels over the last two
months of the regular season. They end up getting into
the playoffs as a wild card. They go one and
(22:36):
done and they're out, and then they come back the
next year and they win, and they win the whole thing.
So you just you just never know in this league.
And whether any of that will apply to the Detroit
Lions and what they're going to be going through this year,
who knows.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
But we've done so many shows. I can't remember if
you brought this up on this one or if it
was on the Live Q and A. We did too,
But your point about the Denver Broncos too, and the
fact that the Packers could potentially play a cold weather
at no game at elevation is very interesting.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Yeah, at Denver, at Denver in the middle of December.
It's very rare, for rare in this franchise's history, or
at least in the last you know, forty years of
this franchise's history, to play a road game in the snow. Now,
we don't know if it's going to be a snow
game in the mountains that day, that day out in Denver,
but it would really be It would really be interesting
(23:27):
to see the Packers, you know, wearing the road uniforms
and yet having all the snow falling around, because we've
seen it so often at Lambeau, but it doesn't happen
away from home very often.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
And I forgot the point I was trying to make
with the Baltimore Ravens. By the way, I found the
stat and I think it was our communications department. I
create my superlatives, they do theirs. Never this is the
point I was trying to bring it back full circle.
Lates the Packers have ever played the Ravens too in
the season week seventeen, Week seventeen, late in the season.
So if the Ravens are who everybody thinks they are,
and they've been the last few years, and the Packers
can continue to capitalize on their youth and their optimism
(23:58):
and obviously their upside, that could be a really interesting
intraconference game that late in the season.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Yeah. Absolutely, well with that, we will call it a
rap on this edition of Packers Unscript. It'd be sure
to follow all of our coverage of the team on
Packers dot com and if you want anything on the schedule,
we've got stories. There's a great schedule release video. Hats
off to our social media team and all the folks
that were involved in that had a lot of fun
doing it. We don't take ourselves too seriously as you
(24:28):
can probably tell, but stories, videos, everything with regard to
the schedule, graphics, cool stuff you can print out, put
it on your refrigerator and gear up for when September
rolls around. But with that for Wes, I am Mike,
thank you for tuning in everybody, and we will see
you next time.
Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
by my trusted colleague Weston Hodkowitz. We're coming to you
here from our studios at lambeau Field West, fresh off
of the schedule release for the twenty twenty five season.
The Packers' schedule is out there, The entire NFL schedule
(00:30):
is out there, and we're going to spend the bulk
of this episode talking about it. And I'm just going
to start with your thoughts. When you first glanced at
the schedule, what was the first thing you noticed.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
My eyes went to one thing, and it was what's
happening Week one? And that's the green Bay Packers are
back at lambeau Field for the first time since twenty eighteen,
the first time as Matt Lafleur in the position of
Packers head coach. The Green Bay Packers will play a
home opener at lambeau Field in Week one, and I
(01:05):
just felt like this was important because I know you're
the big baseball buff I'm not, but I will say
I always felt like when opening Day happens in Major
League Baseball, if you're playing the home at home during
opening Day, that's a big deal. There's been so many
times I can't tell you where the Brewers will start
on a road trip and then eventually they have their
home opener, and my attention has already gone off to
(01:26):
some other places. The NFL the season, every weekend, every
Sunday is huge, and I'm not saying it's not. And
we've had some awesome Sundays the last few years. Obviously,
Jordan Love I'll never forget his first home opener as
the starting quarterback against the New Orleans Saints two years ago, right,
But I just think there's something special about actually having
that first game right out of like the eight. What
(01:47):
I did not anticipate was oh, hey, four days later,
we're gonna do this again. Who wants to play again?
Because they'll welcome in a very talented, very deep, very
dangerous Washington Commanders team. But the fact that Green Bay
did I only get that opener. They're going to take
on the Detroit Lions the first time I think in
twenty four years they're hosting the Lions and an opener.
I think it's the first time since five that they're
(02:08):
playing them at all. That that is a fitting way,
I feel like to at least start off what is
somewhat of an uneven but always going to be imperfect schedule.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
It is kind of crazy that it took this long
into Matt Lafleur's tenure for the Packers to get a
week one home games.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Because longest stretching franchise history.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Yeah, the Packers had opened their one hundred season in
twenty eighteen with a home game against the Bears, and
then they did not open another season at home until
season one oh seven, which is what this one.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
And they requested that one, Yeah, in eighteen.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
It's been actually just straight up booked for one since seventeen.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Yeah, well you and you hinted at it as well.
It's it's an interesting one to two right off the
bat when you're playing actually two teams that played each
other in the NFC Divisional Playoffs last year, the Lions
and the Commanders. It'll be back to back, both games
at Lambeau five days in a span of five days.
(03:05):
The two games are just four days apart, a late
Sunday afternoon and then a Thursday night game. And it's
very interesting to me that it fell that way in
a year in which the NFC, which of course includes
the Packers, has the eight home games and the nine
road games, that when you actually have one more road
game on the schedule that you would start out with
(03:27):
back to back home games, Because now that leaves you
with nine road games out of your last fifteen, it
becomes a bit unbalanced in that regard. But starting out
against Detroit and Washington, two playoff teams from a year ago,
two teams with Super Bowl aspirations, it's a tremendous opportunity
(03:48):
getting both of those teams at home right out of
the gate. It's a tremendous opportunity for the Packers to
make a statement of sorts as to where twenty five
might be headed for green Bay. The other intriguing thing
I think, just with opening against the Lions in particular,
is they have a new offensive coordinator, a new defensive coordinator.
(04:10):
Both of their coordinators from last year got head coaching
jobs elsewhere. There's obviously plenty of confidence in Detroit on
both sides of the ball that they can keep this
thing rolling with Dan Campbell and the players they have
and everything they've got going. But sometimes you just never know,
and there's gonna be a lot of unknown with regard
to there always is with a week one game, but
then a Week one game against a team that has
(04:32):
brand new coordinators on both sides of the ball. I'm
not sure that I can recall anything like that happening
in recent years around.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Not where you lose both. And obviously some of that
is somewhat telegraphed because Ben Johnson probably could have left
for a job last year. Oh sure not to yeah,
But so my point being with that comment is the
Lions obviously have been bracing for his leaving here at
some point and obviously had their plans in place for
how are going to go about handling that. I will say, though,
(05:03):
especially as it relates to the NFC North, a really
interesting question Insider Inboxes past week asking about the probability
of the Chicago Bears not taking a step forward with
Ben Johnson taking over as the head coach, but also
the Detroit Lions taking a step back without him as
their offensive coordinator. That is an interesting way to look
(05:24):
at it, because what is the probability of those two
things both happening. Is Chicago going to make a big jump,
but is Detroit going to take a step back. Is
Detroit going to keep the training on the tracks, But
is Chicago going to become this giant that everybody's been
thinking they were going to be for the last I
don't know decade that they've been billed as a lot
of times during the off season. We'll have to wait
and see. But past happenings don't always indicate future success.
(05:50):
So I'm just very interested to see if Detroit can
legitimately stay on top of the mountain in if Chicago
can actually claw itself back into this thing. In either case,
with the Packers standpoint two very intriguing matchups against the Lions,
and that they open the season and they also travel
there for Thanksgiving again second time in three years. And
then in Chicago's case, you actually won't see Ben Johnson.
(06:11):
You won't be a part of that rivalry yet until
what week fourteen. Yeah, they start that stretch of two
games in three weeks, two very interesting ways to go
out tackling one of the two of the Packers' biggest rivals.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Well, you mentioned the Thanksgiving game in Detroit, and that
was the other thing that really caught my eye right away,
and it's what I wrote about on the website. In
my column, you wrote the ten things about the schedule,
and I kind of focused on this one particular element,
which is that the Packers have two Thursday games, so
you have two short weeks, and so that gives you
(06:46):
two different segments of your schedule. War you're playing two
games in a span of five days, but the two
games in five days are Lions Commanders and then Vikings
Lions the week of Thanksgiving. The Packers have nine games
on their schedule in twenty twenty five against teams that
made the playoffs a year ago. Four of those nine
(07:08):
are in these like Sunday Thursday, these two games within
five days things. We've been a part of these before
West because every team has to deal with it when
you play a Sunday followed by a Thursday. And yeah, sure,
there's plenty of times where you win when you lose one,
and that's how this league goes. But man, you can
really set yourself up with a lot of momentum if
you can win both of those games, and you can
(07:31):
really find yourself, you know, struggling and needing a reset
if you drop two games in a span of five days.
These are inflection points in any given NFL schedule when
you have to when you have to cram two games
into such a short timeframe. There and the fact that
all of the matchups, the four matchups in these two
(07:54):
five day spans that the Packers are dealing with, one
in September, one in November leading into things giving the
matchups are huge, they're going to have made the major
implications because of the teams that the Packers are facing
in those in those matchups.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
An excellent point by you, And I mean, is there
any better example of what you just talked about than
the twenty twenty three Packers. I mean, their season was
at a crossroads when they hosted the Los Angeles Chargers.
They beat the Chargers, and then they surprise the world
and they beat a streaking Detroit Lions, completely turned the
season around, and the week after that beat the Kansas
(08:30):
City Chiefs, who end up going on and winning the
Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Right.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Yeah, I mean that's that's the difference that the team
that went from four and six to suddenly being right
there at six and six by a matter of just
taking care of business. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Absolutely, it's a as as I said, these are these
are crucial stretches and the fact that the Packers have
two of them on the schedule and the matchups that
they're facing in those are are going to have such
big implications in the NFC picture if things go somewhat
as we expect with teams like the Lions and the
(09:02):
Commanders and the Packers and the Vikings staying as contenders.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
So before we shot this, and we also did our
little Q and a video as well beforehand, I have
a one guy. There's one human being that I will
always say yes to an interview. It's Mike Keller, good
friend of mine, do the pregame radio show with them,
works for iHeartRadio to Milwaukee. And I told him like,
this today is the only day I was like. I
was like, I wasn't, but it was because of Mike.
I'm like, I'll do it for you. We have enough
(09:27):
other stuff going on, I'll do it for you. So
the point I'm illustrating with that is we got into
an interesting discussion. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts
on this, because the question came up about all of
us thinking that we were going to be playing the
Gremit Packers will be playing on Christmas here based on
the fact that they were going to take on Chicago
Bears on that Saturday in week sixteen.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Yeah, December twentieth.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
So my question for you is, and then I'll tell
you what my response was this, would you rather be
home on Christmas for a game or be in Detroit
for Thanksgiving? Or be on the road doesn't have to
be Detroit, but just be on the road for Thanksgiving
or home on Christmas.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
US. Given my druthers, I would probably say home on Christmas.
But I will say this play playing on Thanksgiving. I
don't mind. I don't mind the Detroit game because A
it's a quick flight and B it's the earliest game
on things true. So you know, I mean I have
(10:22):
I've covered. I'd have to count it up. I think
I've covered four or five of the Packers Thanksgiving games
in Detroit in my tenure. And now this year they
moved the kickoff back to noon Central. It used to
be eleven thirty and uh and with that eleven thirty kickoff,
like I'd be I'd be walking back in the door
at home at like six thirty for a late Thanksgiving
(10:43):
dinner with my family. You know, can't quite get back
that early now because they've they've moved the kickoff back
to twelve. But but I I've never minded that the
Thanksgiving game in Detroit because because of how close it is,
and because it's the early one last year hosting Thanksgiving,
you know, with the night game, you know, eating all
(11:06):
the turkey during the day and then having to work
really really late hours with.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
All of our Yeah, we were super productive.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
That was that was That was tough. That was tough,
and it was the uh, that was the if I'm
not mistaken, that was the start of what was at
four night games in a row or whatever last year.
So at least there's nothing like that that's on the
twenty twenty fifth schedule.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
If I never have to eat turkey in the ford
Field press box again in my life, though, I wouldn't
necessarily well upset.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
And and that's the thing is when I know that
I'm coming home to have Thanksgiving dinner, like I just
don't even eat the turkey and the press.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Well good because it's usually gone by the time you
end up getting and.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
I don't even I don't even worry about it, you know,
I just maybe grab a couple of side dishes that
I know aren't going to be back at home.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
But I I just it was something the question I
come up with Mike and we're doing the show on
because it was like I kind of, you know, dodged
a little bit of a fiasco there and not having Christmas.
I'm like, ah, I think I would have taken Christmas
over being in.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Yeah, home on Christmas is always a good thing. The
other thing I want to mention though, with regard to
that Thanksgiving game, So you have the Vikings on the
Sunday before Thanksgiving at Lambeau, then you go to Detroit
for Thanksgiving. That begins the final seven weeks of the
regular season, in which five of the Packers NFC North
(12:21):
games are in those final seven including, as you mentioned earlier,
playing the Bears twice in a span of three weeks
there in December. So you have Vikings Lions on Thanksgiving week,
you got the two games with the Bears in a
span of three weeks, and then you finish in week
eighteen at Minnesota. So five of your six division games
(12:43):
are essentially from Thanksgiving week to the end of the year,
really really backloaded in terms of those NFC North matchups,
and that's where they're intriguing piece to this schedule.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
It definitely is. And again we were trying to find
some information on this as far as if there's ever
been anything where it's been that backlogged. The only other
time they played five games in the last seven weeks
was since O two the ray alignment was twenty twelve.
But to have this many in that tide of a
window is remarkable. And to go two and a half
months without playing your division, it seems like I couldn't
(13:14):
give you the exact year on this. It seems like
they've actually done this a couple times now, at least
during my time covering the team, where they go these
elongated stretches without playing the NFC North and then everything
kind of feels funneled there at the end. Again, we'll
have to wait and see. Packers took care of business
last year against the AFC South. I think they might
have cleared out the AFC South by the time they
played Minnesota. Was it there was like one team I
(13:35):
don't think they had faced yet.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Yeah, I believe that's true.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
By the time they had already wrapped up their four
games against the celt So it's just the way schedules go,
you know, the way you got to build a schedule somehow.
Not everybody's always going to be happy for me personally,
but neat to see another mid season by. I enjoyed
the mid season by as someone that you know is
trying to formulate a life out of in addition to
having a career. But be that as it may, Yeah,
(13:58):
it's it's gonna be a vallenge and something that Packers
have to tackle.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Yeah, that the early bye is not ideal. We've we've
talked about that plenty of times in previous years. The
Packers have certainly had their fair share of early bye weeks.
And it's interesting because back in twenty twenty two when
the Packers went to London in Week five, I believe
it was the league gives you the option after an
international trip that you can take your bye the next week,
(14:24):
and the Packers chose not to because they felt that
week six was too early. They wanted to have the
bye later in the season. So the Packers have turned
down that early bye, Yet there's all these other years
where the league just hands it to them anyway and
says year week five, week six, here's your buye. This
is when you get your week off.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
And the year they got that London game. They turned
down the Week six by next Oh, here you go
Week thirteen, enjoy yourself, or in December, enjoy your break. Yeah,
they put it.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
They put it at the extreme extreme. On the other end,
I'll take care of a little bit of sponsor business
here West and then we'll get back to it. Serious.
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(15:09):
mac and cheese, golden fries, and creamy shakes, all paired
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Subs fifty plus years of better. All right, we talked
about some general themes and whatnot with regard to the schedule,
but let's just highlight some individual games that catch your eye,
that get the old metaphorical circle on the calendar, what
(15:32):
jumps out at you.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
I'm really interested to see the Cincinnati Bengals come in
here after the bye. We haven't in all the content
you and I have done so far, we really haven't
talked much about that yet. But the Joe Burrow show
there with Daniels and obviously you know T Higgins and
everything he's done in this league. This is gonna be
our Jamar Chase excuse me, yeah, Chase. This is going
to be a huge, huge challenge trying to slow them down.
(15:56):
I mean, people forget they just missed out of making
the playoffs, but there might not have been a hotter
team down the stretch last season than the Bengals once
they started getting everything together. Yea, it looked like I
mean in a lot of ways, Mike, it's really hard
for a guy to be in like legitimate MVP contention
when you're not on a playoff team. But I mean,
Joe Burrow, a case could be made that he was
the most important player to any team last year based
(16:17):
on what that could have potentially been like for Cincinnati
had he not been around. But they were able to
get some moment at the end of the season. Packers
have a tough stretch, and we've talked a lot about
that early stretch, but coming out of the by and
then immediately getting that greatest show on what Kentucky Bluegrass
down there in Cincinnati, that is not going to be
(16:38):
an easy task at all.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Yeah, and I'll say I'm looking forward to seeing Joe
Burrow and Jamar Chase like in person for the first
time because the only other time in the era of
those two stars for Cincinnati that the Packers have played
them was during one of the two I guess it
would have been twenty twenty one, one of the COVID
(17:00):
seasons when we actually weren't traveling, so that ended up
being the crazy overtime game in Cincinnati with the missed
field goals and everything else, and then the Packers ultimately prevailed.
But you and I have never seen Joe Burrow Jamar
Chase in that offense like live, you know, like.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
We didn't eve get a chance to see him in
the joint practices. Yeah, no, that's true.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
We did.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
It's them with that too, because of his calf injury
or whatever.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
It was. Yeah. Interesting, interesting tidbit I'll throw at you though,
because obviously the Packers and the Bengals don't play each
other all that often. The last two times Green Bay
and Cincinnati have played in the regular season, the game
has gone to overtime.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Oh wow, yeah, twenty seven. I didn't know that.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
In twenty twenty one, and now here we are again
in twenty twenty five. But sticking with the AFC North,
I don't have to explain myself here, but certainly the
game in Pittsburgh under the lights, primetime game along the
Allegheny there in Pittsburgh, it's a great setting for football.
(17:58):
It's a wonderful stadium, that's a really neat place. And
if what we think is going to happen at the
quarterback position for that matchup, of course that that game
against Pittsburgh has ori. And then speaking of parking Rudolph right, yeah, yeah, exactly,
speaking of players that we haven't gotten to see live, Lamar.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Jackson, Yeah, finally.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Now, of course it's going to be at the end
of the season. Who knows where things could be injury wise.
Anything can happen in this league. But in week seventeen,
the Packers will be hosting the Baltimore Ravens either on
Saturday or Sunday. It's one of those games that could
that could end up being chosen for either day. But
the only time in the Lamar Jackson era that the
(18:40):
Packers and the Ravens have met was in twenty twenty one,
and Lamar Jackson was hurt and Tyler Huntley was the
quarterback for the Ravens in that game. Another one that
we were not there for in Baltimore, and another one
that was kind of crazy coming right down to the
end and the Packers had to stop a two point
conversion in order to win the game as the as
Huntley was leading this like two touchdown comeback in the
(19:01):
fourth quarter. But I'll be I'll be really intrigued to
potentially see Lamar Jackson, you know, live and playing for real,
not just in a preseason game, but uh but live
and here we go.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Yeah, it was just it was impressive just watch him
in the you know, the joint Yeah, the joint practice,
you know. And just I mean the guy moves different,
he throws a ball different, and just he is he
is a specimen in every every way you could put
it in, one of the more unique skill sets of
this generation of quarterbacks. Yeah, So it'll be really neat.
It's it's also curious that it's going to have that
sort of December flavor to it as well, seeing how
(19:37):
those elements could potentially affect the game. The last week
of twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Five, Yeah, and the Ravens have certainly played their share
in the cold in the AFC North, and not only
in Baltimore, but Pittsburgh and Cleveland and Cincinnati and all
that they've they've played their share of cold weather games.
And uh, I almost think like Lamar Jackson would be
even more dangerous in the cold.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
For sure.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
He's already hard enough to tackle, and then you add
you add the element into it, and it could it
could be even more difficult there. Yeah, your thoughts also
on the defending Super Bowl champs and the team that
knocked the Packers out of the playoffs last year coming
to Lambeufield. The Eagles will be in Green Bay for
(20:16):
a Monday night contest and that will be in November,
November tenth.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
If we're we're getting close here to the end of
May here, So we'll see what happens as far as
these tush push guidelines, and you know, the NFL tabled
the discussions. It'd be interesting to see if the Philadelphi
Eagles get a different reception to what they've been giving
out as it relates to that, if that happens to
make its way into the season in the schedule and
still being allowed in that particular form, this season, I'd
(20:43):
be curious, you know, Packer fans would respond to seeing it.
That being said, it's a very good opponent, very tough opponent,
and one of the more well rounded teams in the
National Football League in terms of their construct I really
like how Howie Roseman has built this team. Huge offensive lines,
athletic offensive lines, but they have been as good as
anybody in the National Football League. When you're talking about
(21:05):
why does this team become a super Bowl champion, Well,
it's because they've drafted well and they've signed players very well.
Howie Roseman has not missed a lot of his swings lately.
It just seems like things have kind of fallen their
way in a lot of regards, and this will be
a huge test for the Packers. I mean, again, there's
a reason why, Mike, when we were going into this week,
you were talking about I think it's what the fifth
or sixth most difficult schedule based on last year. Yeah,
(21:28):
that Green Bay has and that doesn't necessarily tell you
it's going to be that way again. Things can change quickly.
It happened a few years ago for the Packers where
I think it was the twenty twenty two season. It
looked like it was going to be really yah.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Supposedly it was an easy schedule based on the records
from the prior year, and then everything kind of flipped
in terms of the expectations for certain teams.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Yeah, I think it was. Was it the East? One
of the teams has just played out of their mind
relative to what everybody thought. Well, the Giants were one
of them.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
They beat the Packers in London and ended up going
on to win road playoff game in Minnesota. When, yes,
when that season was all said and done. The other
thing that you were talking about the Eagles, We were
talking about the Lions earlier and losing both coordinators. The
Eagles are an interesting story because a few years back,
they go to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
They lose a.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Close one in the Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Right at the end of the game, they lose both
of their coordinators to head coaching jobs. They come back
the next year and they start ten to one. They're
looking like they're headed for the number one seed in
the NFC playoffs. Everything completely unravels over the last two
months of the regular season. They end up getting into
the playoffs as a wild card. They go one and
(22:36):
done and they're out, and then they come back the
next year and they win, and they win the whole thing.
So you just you just never know in this league.
And whether any of that will apply to the Detroit
Lions and what they're going to be going through this year,
who knows.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
But we've done so many shows. I can't remember if
you brought this up on this one or if it
was on the Live Q and A. We did too,
But your point about the Denver Broncos too, and the
fact that the Packers could potentially play a cold weather
at no game at elevation is very interesting.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Yeah, at Denver, at Denver in the middle of December.
It's very rare, for rare in this franchise's history, or
at least in the last you know, forty years of
this franchise's history, to play a road game in the snow. Now,
we don't know if it's going to be a snow
game in the mountains that day, that day out in Denver,
but it would really be It would really be interesting
(23:27):
to see the Packers, you know, wearing the road uniforms
and yet having all the snow falling around, because we've
seen it so often at Lambeau, but it doesn't happen
away from home very often.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
And I forgot the point I was trying to make
with the Baltimore Ravens. By the way, I found the
stat and I think it was our communications department. I
create my superlatives, they do theirs. Never this is the
point I was trying to bring it back full circle.
Lates the Packers have ever played the Ravens too in
the season week seventeen, Week seventeen, late in the season.
So if the Ravens are who everybody thinks they are,
and they've been the last few years, and the Packers
can continue to capitalize on their youth and their optimism
(23:58):
and obviously their upside, that could be a really interesting
intraconference game that late in the season.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Yeah. Absolutely, well with that, we will call it a
rap on this edition of Packers Unscript. It'd be sure
to follow all of our coverage of the team on
Packers dot com and if you want anything on the schedule,
we've got stories. There's a great schedule release video. Hats
off to our social media team and all the folks
that were involved in that had a lot of fun
doing it. We don't take ourselves too seriously as you
(24:28):
can probably tell, but stories, videos, everything with regard to
the schedule, graphics, cool stuff you can print out, put
it on your refrigerator and gear up for when September
rolls around. But with that for Wes, I am Mike,
thank you for tuning in everybody, and we will see
you next time.
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