September 16, 2025 • 37 mins
Mike and Wes review the victory over the Commanders, including the defensive effort vs. QB Jayden Daniels (:54) and TE Tucker Kraft’s standout performance (10:48). They also discuss the injuries on offense (17:26), WR Christian Watson’s status (23:04) and the NFC North standings after two weeks (30:58).
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hi, everybody. Welcome back to another edition of Packers Unscripted
from Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as
always by my trusted colleague Wes Hodkoitz. We're coming to
you here from our studios at Lambeaufield and West. It's
actually been a week since we sat in these chairs
because last week was a different sort of week around
here with Thursday night football against Washington. But the Packers
(00:28):
pulled it out an impressive twenty seven to eighteen victory
over the team that was one of the last two
standing in the NFC last year. And I think when
you look at this game, we talked as much as
we could on our previous show in previewing this game
and what the Packers are going to be up against
with Jaden Daniels, that young quarterback for the Washington Commanders.
(00:51):
But the defensive effort against Daniels was really outstanding pretty
much from start to finish.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Okay, so I'm gonna get my phone out here. I
want to because i want to get the stat right.
I don't know if you saw what I tweeted out
this morning, but I thought this was pretty remarkable. The
NFL does a tremendous job with their research department, yeah,
of providing some context for some of these performances. So
just to give you an idea of the performance that
Green Bay had against the reigning NFL offensive rookie of
the Year, the Commanders eighteen points tied for their fewest
(01:18):
in any of Jaden Daniels' twenty two career starts, including
the playoffs, and also the fewest total yards two hundred
and thirty yards per play, three point five rushing yards,
fifty one and fifteen first downs in a Daniels start.
They had them completely bottled up.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Yeah, and for green Bay too.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
They allowed seventeen rushing yards to Daniels, they only allowed
fifty one for the entire game. The downfield options, they
didn't really even have an explosive play until the fourth quarter.
I was blown away by what we saw, Mike, because
it took everything that Green Bay did well against the
Detroit Lions, and they carried everything over on four days
notice to do it again against the Washington Commanders. The
(02:00):
game again, as Matt Lafloor talked about on Monday, probably
a little bit closer and you want it to be,
particularly in the second half, but be that as it made.
These are not easy football teams. Ask the Chicago Bears
what they think of the Detroit Lions right now, right
these are two very good football teams that are going
to be in the hunt all season long. And the Packers,
for all intensive purposes, really handed.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
It to them.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Yeah. The seventeen rushing yards by Daniels, I think is
what jumps out at me, because I mean, this is
a guy he finished second in the league in terms
of quarterback rushing yards, behind only Lamar Jackson last year
in winning that Offensive Rookie of the Year honor. And
I put together a quick piece that posted Monday on
(02:43):
our website. I've sort of called it like the crazy
stat from the game. And when you look at it,
so four sacks against Jayden Daniels, outstanding job by the
pass rush. But it wasn't just the four sacks. It
was that they got twelve quarterback hits on a very mobile,
elusive quarterback. I mean, they punished him in a lot
(03:04):
of ways. And I took a look back at the
last couple of years and I had counted up and
I listed in the story over the last two years
fourteen other games in which you could classify the opposing
quarterback as a mobile or elusive quarterback. So I'm not
talking about the Sam Darnold's and the Jared Goffs of
the world, right We're talking about Jalen Hurts and Russell
(03:26):
Wilson and guys like that over the last couple of years.
And when you look at the quarterback hits that the
Packers had in those games against mobile, elusive quarterbacks in
those fourteen games, it was an average of like four
and a half per game, and the Packers got twelve
against Jayden Daniels. That just shows you where this pass rush,
how disruptive Green Bay's pass rush is right now. And yes,
(03:50):
Micah Parsons is having a huge part to do with that.
But when eight different guys in a game get a
quarterback hit, as you rack up twelve on a quarterback
who's not exactly easy to track down, that says something
about the collective effort. And that's really what's been most
impressive about it.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
And for me too, looking into those numbers, only one
of those guys was not an absolute defensive front player,
Edrin Cooper. There were many times last year where it
was it was safeties, it was inside backers. No, it
was the defensive line getting after Jaden Daniels.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
And when you think about.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Those mobile type quarterbacks, ultimately, that's what it comes down to, right,
It's the guys up front that can you not only
collapse the pocket, but can you make life very difficult
on those players eight pressures according to NFL next Gen
Stats for Micah Parsons three quarterback hits a team high
in this game. And obviously you had the sack there
(04:46):
as well with Edrin Cooper, but it was watching Rashaan
Gary get after it when number one wasn't on the field.
It was seeing Lucas Vanes starting to grow into his
game more and more, and then not forsaking the run
defense in that pursuit either. I mean, when you look
(05:08):
at what Washington had done a week earlier two hundred
and thirty rushing yards against the New York Giants, the
Packers more than quartered that in this match. Yeah, so
the defense set the tone and somebody, an insider inbox,
I don't know if you've caught this or not. Insider
inbox made a really good observation when when the Packers
punt the ball, you don't really feel like everything is lost.
(05:31):
There's almost like a swagger now when the defense goes
on the field.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Here comes the defense like like, you're not worried about it.
Let's see what happens here.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, you're not worried about Hey, are they going to
put up some points or anything. It's like, hey, is
there a potential pick six? Is there a fumble recovery?
Is there going to be a turnover? Is there going
to be a three and out? This is a situation
green Bay has not been in a lot during my
fourteen years covering this team. Remarkable output in this matchup.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Yeah, and it was as you said, it was a
continuation defensively from the opener against Detroit and now in
two straight games, two of the best offenses from twenty
twenty four in the NFL, neither one could find the
end zone against green Bay until the fourth quarter. So
that's happened now in back to back games, and before
(06:17):
we shift gears to the offense to stick with the defense,
we would be remiss if we didn't mention the performance
by Keishawn Nixon at cornerback. He ends up with five
passes defense or passes broken up, whatever phrase you'd like
to use. PBUs for short. The last Packers defensive back
to have five PBUs in a game, you have to
(06:39):
go back to Jiu Alexander's rookie season in twenty eighteen,
which was a game against the Rams at the Old
LA Coliseum. To find a Packers defender with five PBUs
in a game. What I saw was Jayden Daniels in
some ways getting frustrated with not being able to move
(07:00):
the ball consistently, and he kind of started to lock
in on Terry mclaurin's number one target and in some
respects was trying to force the ball into his best
receiver's hands, and Kishawn Nixon just wasn't having it. He
just wasn't letting it happen. And and hats off to Nixon,
but again, this when you see that kind of work
(07:21):
in the back end, it is a it's it's an
illustration of how much the rush and the coverage go
hand in hand when you play good defense. Because Keishawn
Nixon is out there not feeling like he has to
cover receiver for three and a half or four four
and a half seconds. He knows that either that quarterback
is going to get hit in a couple of seconds
(07:42):
or that ball is going to come out, and when
the guys in the back end can can have that
as part of their internal clock and the way they
react and the way they play and the way they
break on the ball, that's that's where the rush in
the and the coverage become very coordinated. And I thought
we saw that in annumber of instances, the way Nixon
was defending his man.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
The thing that stood out to me the most with
this performance two things. One the fact that they kept
testing key Sean and he kept deflecting these passes. Yes,
they could not get anything going, but Daniels threw the
ball forty two times and had two hundred passing yards.
And that's including that kind of garbage time series at
(08:24):
the end of the game you were mentioning, I'll just
bring up these stats, Terry McLaurin. Five catches on nine targets, Yeah,
for forty eight yards. Noah Brown one catch for nine
yards on four targets. I think the other three that
were deflected that didn't I think we're all breakups by
Keyshawn Nixon and then Jalen Lane one catch for two
(08:45):
yards on four targets. The Packers secondary went to work
in this game, and we were talking with Xavier McKinney afterwards,
and he did say, it's tough right now because it's
getting a little boring.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
And I'll be honest with you, As.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
I'm watching Russell Wilson threw up a five hundred hail
Mary at the end of that game against Dallas, as
I'm watching Caleb Williams just just give an absolute gift
to Kirby Joseph. I'm like, man, yeah, you wish that
Zaber McKinney would get some of these balls. I mean,
Zavery McKinney had to earn a lot of his interceptions
last year and that those passes just haven't been there
(09:18):
this year. But when you factor in how he's performing,
the interception that Evan Williams had last week, the way
that I thought Javon Bullard looked in the slot, and
how physical he played, and then they used a rotation
at the other cornerback position between Carrington Valentine and a
returning Nate Hobbs, and I thought both of those guys
balled out were given their opportunities, which isn't easy to
(09:40):
do when you're not in an every down rhythm. Certainly,
Keishawn Nixon was a headliner in this matchup. Five PBUs,
the most in seven years. That's remarkable. But I thought
that secondary by and large played really really well.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Yeah, I thought so too well. Shifting gears to the
offensive side of the ball. Maybe the biggest, you know,
the only disappointment as far as early on in this
game is that the Packers just barely misfired on the
opening possession, you know, looking for that fast start again
like they had against Detroit. They decide to pass on
the long field goal. They go with a quick snap,
(10:15):
thinking maybe they've got you know, the twelve men on
the field for Washington. That didn't happen. It's fourth down
and Matthew Golden is open, but unfortunately Jordan Love underthrows
it just a little bit, so the first possession comes
up fruitless. But the Packers still took command of this game.
And by you know, whatever, it was the middle of
(10:35):
the third quarter or so, I mean, you're, you know,
you're sitting at seventeen to three and and the Packers
are are are in a pretty good spot. And the
guy who was you know, sort of I guess you'd
call him the unstoppable force in this particular game was
tight end Tucker Craft.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
One of the most aspiring performances I've seen from a
Packers tight end in the fact fact that Kraft does
this from a place of being completely well rounded. Jermichael
Finley in credit to Jermichael for what he accomplished here,
but he was always more of a slash receiver, right.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
There was even a debate.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
At one time when his franchise taking him, we're coming
up as if he's going to be a receiver a
tight end. Tucker Craft is your tried and true, blue
collar tight end, but he's rounded out his game in
such a way that I mean, we're watching as I
joked about and said last week and Insider Inbox, there
isn't a comparison for me for Tucker Craft. To me,
(11:33):
he is the guy that the next guy is going
to be compared to to have the most receiving yards,
have the most productive day through the air for a
Packers tight end since the Richard Rogers Hail.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Mary Gain the Hail Mary Detroit.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Yeah, that shows you how productive he was in this matchup.
And as cool as that fifty seven yard catchdown the
scene was, and it was awesome. Third longest catch of
his career, by the way, not even in the top
two yet. But when the Packers and needed that response late,
Tucker Craft came through. When you talk about putting in
sealing this victory, it was Tucker Craft. It was Josh Jacobs.
(12:09):
He's a finisher man and he does not blink. You
look back to what happened against Detroit. He gets his
helmet ripped off. The next play, he's running right at
Brian Branch to the end zone for a fifteen yard touchdown,
catching it and just taking whatever ramifications come with it
in this game. To be this productive, to come up
in these type of situations, this guy's made of the
right stuff, dude, And it was remarkable to watch.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Yeah, what I like best? What I like best about
this Packers offensive performance, and it was flawed. Had There
were a couple of false starts in the game, one
on Tucker Craft. Actually, there were multiple holding calls, one
of which on right tackle Anthony Belton, which we'll get
into more of that in a minute, but it was
on that first drive of the game, Belton gets called
(12:52):
for holding and it wipes out a touchdown pass to
Jayden Reid, which unfortunately was a play where Jayden Reid
broke his collar bone, and we can get into that
more it as well. So it was a flawed offensive performance.
But what I like best about it is that in
a game that the Packers were seemingly in command and
in control for the bulk of it, when Washington did
(13:14):
find the end zone early in the fourth quarter, suddenly
it's seventeen to ten. So now you're at the point
where there's still whatever it was, twelve thirteen minutes left
on the clock. It's a one score game, and the
offense has to answer the bell because it's one thing
for the opponent when they've been behind by multiple scores
to get it to a one score game. It's another
(13:35):
thing for that opponent to get the ball back and
still only be down one score. So the Packers get
the ball after Washington cuts it to seventeen to ten,
they need to answer the bell, and what do they do.
They go sixty five yards down the field in nine plays,
finishing it off with a really nice play action touchdown
(13:56):
touchdown pass to Tucker Craft. We saw some creativity in
the run game with Stavion Williams, you know, taking a
direct snap going one way, then the very next play,
you run the end around with Matthew Golden going the
other direction, so you're stretching the defense laterally as you
as you're moving the ball down the field, and then
you hit them with the play action pass for the
for the touchdown. So suddenly then it's twenty four to
(14:19):
ten and you're midway through the fourth quarter, and for
the most part, you've put the game away there because
you didn't allow Washington to get the ball back only
down one score. They when they got it back, they
were still down two scores again. And that's that's how
you win games in this league, because because a lot
of things can go right and wrong and whatever through
the first three quarters, but when you need to put
(14:42):
together a fourth quarter drive, the Packers did that offensively,
and it was what put this one away.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
First thing, just on the touchdown by Craft. It shows
you the brilliance not only a Matt lafleur, but also
just with Green Bay using the two tight end sets
the way they use, which an insider Inbox even made
the comment that this is almost in a way becoming
the base offense for this now that you have Luke
Musgrave back. I mean, Musgrave is playing, but you also
have John Fitzpatrick almost as seen as many snaps as
he have, just based on what they can do on
(15:09):
the field together and on that particular play, the two
big plays. When you look at Craft's game, there was
an option for another tight end to be involved too.
The fifty seven yarder. He said, yeah, if they cover me,
then Musgrave's open on the touchdown. The way they're able
to seal off on the outside, that is what is
allowing Tucker Craft to sneak by and leak into the
end zone for the touchdown. Just amazing production. Again, the
(15:30):
most productive day, tied for the most productive day by
Packer tight ends since the merger in nineteen seventy. It
just so happens the two thousand and nine team had
the same one hundred and fifty six yards receiving against
Brett Favre's Minnesota Vikings. That being said, that drive was critical,
I leaned over to you and I said, this is
(15:51):
a pivotal point of this game. For Matt Lafleur, for
Jordan Love, they needed a response in what I liked
about the way that Lafleur called it. He showed not
only creativity but faith in his young playmakers. Sadie On
Williams has not practiced a lot. He certainly has not
played a lot due to some injuries. They've been dialing
up a lot of different concepts for him, though that
(16:12):
are not the traditional receiver sets. This is a guy
that did end the rounds.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
He ran the ball.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
He played some quarterback at TCU and they just put
their hand directly into that cookie jar and pulled something
out and got a sixteen yard run out of it.
But if he stays on his feet, who knows how
much that could have broke. For Okay, that was a
fun play. On the very next play, they run the
sweep over to Matthew Golden for nine yards. The Packers
didn't just say, okay, well, we'll run a slant or
(16:37):
a stopper here to Romeo Dobbs, or we'll do something
in the flat.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
For Tucker Krapt.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
They went deep into their offensive playbook at a time
in which they really needed a response, and they were
rewarded by these young players. That is the exciting thing
about this team. It's not about how many guys catch
the ball. It's about the threat of how many guys
could possibly catch the ball or touch the ball and
the rookies made Matt Leafluir look really smart.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Yeah, and that says something when you're putting the ball
in the hands of your rookies with a big game
on the line in the fourth quarter and whatnot. As
you said, it shows, it shows the faith and what
they believe these guys can contribute now. And obviously then
it's these opportunities and cashing in on these opportunities that
will build on what's to come for young players like
(17:21):
Williams and Golden. Unfortunately, the bad news on the offensive
side is the injuries I mentioned Jaden Reid. He ends
up breaking his collarbone on what was a tremendous throw
and catch that unfortunately wasn't a touchdown because of a
holding penalty on Anthony Belton, and so Reid is going
(17:41):
to be out for an extended time. Here. On the
offensive line, the Packers were down two starters in this game.
Aaron Banks, the left guard was out with a ankle, slash,
ankle and groin injuries, and then at right tackle, Zach
tom also not able to make it back on the
short week with the oblique injury. So we saw Jordan Morgan,
(18:05):
last year's first round pick. He stepped in for Banks
at left guard and then at right tackle. It was
a rotation for a while between the rookie Anthony Belton
and then the newcomer, the new veteran acquisition and Darien Kinard.
But then other than that holding penalty on the opening
drive of the game, Anthony Belton really held his own
(18:26):
and the Packers kind of turned it over to him
in the second half and let him. Let the rookie
second round pick ride this thing out and we'll see
what happens injury wise as far as these guys on
the offensive line for this week's trip to Cleveland, but
the Packers felt pretty good about the way they came
out of this game and the way the depth on
(18:48):
their offensive line came through.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
First and foremost, Jordan Morgan, My hat goes off to him.
This is a guy that has played right guard, he's
played left tackle. He ends up being in the left
guard spot, and for the better part of that game
you didn't.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Even hear his name, right. I mean, he came in.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Clutch in a huge because we knew something was going
to be up, probably with Zach Tom From the moment
that he went out. That was not a great looking
injury against Detroit. The Aaron Banks thing happened late, so
then you're kind of in this thing of okay, well
it's an ankle, the groin. Where is he going to
be at? Is he potentially in the cards for Green Bay?
And it ends up being Jordan Morgan having to play
that position at with no real practice rep So your
(19:24):
hat goes off to him. Anthony Belton proved something to
me in this game and that if he makes a mistake,
he's going.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
To make the corrections to it. He made the.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Mistakes in Indianapolis where he had the multiple penalties and
you know, ends up finishing strong in the second half.
The same thing happened in this game that could have
been something that sort of disheveled him. And he even said,
he's like, you know, if stuff happens like that, you
let it affect you, It's only going to make things worse.
He made the adjustments. And the thing I love about him, Mike,
I don't know if you saw some of these highlights
(19:53):
on Twitter, but like these these little bumps he's doing.
The guy is so naturally powerful that if some but
a pass rusher is off balance, he is going to
put you on the ground six foot six, three hundred
and thirty six pounds from the day that they drafted him.
You and I have talked about how this is not
the standard Packers tackle. This guy is a monster at
that position, and when you use that type of physicality
(20:15):
and when you have that type of approach to your game,
the possibilities the right tackle position. That is, he played
it the way that historically the right tackle position has
been played in this league a mauler, and I think
it showed the Packers that Zach Tom is their franchise.
He is their cornerstone, He is their pillar. He has
proved himself to be that. But if you're gonna be
without him, especially with the stretch that the Green Bay
(20:37):
Packers are approaching here this week, I thought Anthony Belton
really put his best foot forward.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Yeah, I thought he did too, And I remember talking
We talked a lot on this show and I wrote
about it as well after the preseason game in Indy
when he had the multiple different kinds of penalties and
all this in the first half and he's kind of
getting berated by Matt Lafleur as they're coming off the
field at halftime, and you you knew in that moment
(21:04):
when the Packers coaches left him out there in the
second half at Indian said all right, shake it off
and go play. And that's exactly what he did. And
you you knew coming out of that that that could
end up being a really really important game and important
building block for a young player that for all the
mistakes that he was making in the first half of
(21:26):
that game, the coaches didn't just yank him out and
sit him on the bench. They put it. They they
left him out there and said, young man, go play.
And and the Packers are seeing the fruits of that
approach much earlier in the season than maybe then maybe
we thought, but you just you never know when those
injuries are going to strike and when you're gonna call
on your depth uh to come through for you. In
(21:47):
in this case, that happened to be on a short
week with a big time opponent coming into lambeau Field, primetime,
under the lights, the whole thing, and h and after
the first drive of the game the one mistake that
he made, Anthony Belton delivered.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
This is probably the number one argument for preseason games. Yes,
this is a guy you talk about Packers offensive linemen
that have kind of had to earn their stripes in
training camp in preseason, the guys that play one hundred
and fifty two hundred snaps in the preseason. That's why
you invest that into it, because you might be in
a situation like this and now it's not new to you.
You're not learning having to learn those lessons in the
(22:22):
biggest situations possible. And for Belton, I'll tell you this,
I've watched a lot of offensive line play over the years.
Couldn't grade it for you, but I've watched a lot
of it. If you gave me the choice between a
guy that makes some mistakes and draws a few flags
early on but has his makeup or the guy that
maybe does everything right but physically cannot hold up to
(22:43):
the position and is getting beat, I'll take the former.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
Yeah, and I think he showed the Packers why.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Yeah. You can coach, you can coach technique, you can
coach your way through mistakes. There are certain things in
this game about players in their makeup that can't be coached,
and that's what you find out. You find out if
the if young players have what it takes. One other
injury update West before we got to pay some bills
around here. Christian Watson, he talked with reporters at his
(23:09):
locker after Monday's practice, kind of the bonus practice when
the team comes back from the mini buy on the
weekend off and we know this receiving core now will
be without Jayden Reid for a while. Christian Watson is
not back yet. You have the three veterans, Dobbs, Wis,
Malik Heath had a great catch on the overturned replay
(23:31):
review against Washington. We talked about the rookies working in
now with Golden and Williams. So the Packers have the depth,
They have what they need to withstand this absence of
Jaden Reid, however long it is. But it sounds like
Christian Watson might be back awfully soon. He's not eligible
(23:52):
to come back until after the first four games of
the regular season. He's not eligible to practice until then
because he started the regular season on the pup list,
And then after those first four games, the Packers actually
have their bye week. So it's a matter of I
guess watching with intent interest when the Packers return from
there by, are we going to see Number nine out
(24:12):
there on the practice field? He he talked about having
kind of the pressure taken off by being able to
sign that that short term contract extension. So he's not
he's no longer in a contract year at this point
because he's now under contract for next year with Green
Bay as well. But he basically told the reporters that
(24:34):
he's done everything there is to do in his rehab
and to get back and be ready to play except
to practice. Practice is the is the next step for him,
and it sounds like it sounds like Number nine is
going to be back here before too much longer.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
It was great listen to Christian at his locker on Monday,
because a couple things here. This guy's a natural born
later we've all known that stand up Guy award winner
for the Packers Media Corps already at one point. I'm
sure at some point in his career i could see
him being a NFL Man of the Year type guy.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
This is what is.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
This is what the guy presents as a ballplayer. So
when I say this, it doesn't come from a point
of how he was ever immature, That's not it, but
the maturity that he showed while being at his locker
and explaining, yeah, I've come back quick a lot of
times this time. I want to be one hundred percent
Christian Watson when I'm back on the field. I don't
want to be ninety I don't even want to be
(25:30):
ninety five. I want to be one hundred percent. I
want to be the player that everybody knows he can be.
And it's not just about being healthy, It's about being
ready and being healthy. And I don't know when Christian
Watson's gonna be back.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
I couldn't give you a guess as far as which
game he's going to be active for.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
The first time for Green Bay.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
But I'll tell you this, this guy is going to
have an important, key, pivotal role to play for the
Green Bay Packers in twenty twenty five. The Jaden Reid thing,
it muddles the water a little bit because this is
a guy that is is their leading receiver the past
two seasons. As Matt Lafor said, he is the spark
plug of this offense. But at the same time, this
is not Randall Cobb coming back from the collarbone in
(26:10):
twenty thirteen. They are not asking Christian Watson to get
out there and save them. They have so many receivers
that can turn to. They have so many running backs
that can turn to, and they have two tight ends
who both can be featured guys if they need to be.
They have the resources.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
To get through this here until Watson is ready to
be on the field.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
But boy golly, when he is seeing what Matthew Golden presents,
seeing the way that Dantavian Wicks has played so far
early on in the fact that Chucker Craft is in
the middle of this breakthrough, A dangerous offense becomes more
dangerous when number nine is on the field.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
And I think we saw and this is actually something
we haven't really touched on yet, although we talked about
Matthew Golden so much throughout training camp and everything. Those
two plays against Washington, the one I mentioned on the
opening drive of the game, the ball was just under thrown.
Another one in the second quarter where you know, he
basically roasted the entire secondary, was behind everybody and Jordan
(27:07):
Love was not going to underthrow this one, but he
just barely overthrew it and Golden couldn't quite get to
it with a with a full extension dive down deep
down the middle of the field. My point is, it
just feels like the big breakout of Matthew Golden in
the regular season. You know, for him to put his
(27:29):
rookie stamp on his impact on this offense, it feels
like it's coming, doesn't it.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
I saw all I needed to see from Matthew Golden
on his catch from Malik Willis against Seattle thirty nine yards.
As Malik even said, the pass was not thrown perfectly.
It was thrown to the inside rather than keeping it outside.
Matthew Golden had to make a correction while operating at
that speed to come back to that ball and to
make a play on it. My point being when I
say that is there were very close to a pass
(27:59):
not needing to be perfect for Matthew Golden to be
able to make a big play. And ultimately, that's what
the best receivers of the National Football League do, not
the guys that just have a thousand yards or a
handful of touchdowns. The guys that can take this game over.
Matthew Golden has those traits. I'm sure Jordan Love is
kind of, you know, biting himself a little bit for
not having that ball down the scene maybe exactly where
(28:21):
he needed to be. Obviously, the fourth down play as well,
but there is going to come a time where Matthew
Golden and his internial calculus there is going.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
To be able to make those plays right.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
And I think it's going to be a lot sooner
than what you would think for him being a rookie.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Yeah, I think so too. Well, we do need to
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slash Wonders. Welcome back to Packers Unscripted West. Before we go,
a quick look at where things stand in the NFC
North after two weeks. It's pretty simple. Packers are two
(29:39):
and zero. The Lions and the Vikings are both one
and one. The Chicago Bears are zero and two, the
Lions one on one and the Vikings one on one,
though both look and feel a heck of a lot different.
Detroit just dismantled Chicago, bouncing back from the loss at
lambeau Field, putting up fifty plus, looking like the Detroit
(30:02):
Lions of the last of the last couple of years Minnesota.
They escaped Chicago in Week one with that victory on
Monday Night football, they did not look ready for prime
time in Week two against the Atlanta Falcons, only six
points on the board. The Falcons, we're in control of
that game and post a multi score victory there, and
(30:24):
now the Vikings are going to be without there. I
was about to say rookiees not a rookie, but their
new starting quarterback JJ McCarthy for what sounds like multiple
weeks with an ankle injury. He got rolled up on
on a hip drop ish type of tackle on a
scramble play on Sunday night against Atlanta. So there's a
(30:46):
you know, a lot of a lot of consternation, I
guess you'd say at the bottom of the division right
now with Minnesota and Chicago, whereas Green Bay and Detroit
feeling like that, you know, they're in a pretty good spot.
And Detroit certainly regrets using at lambell Field, but they're
not sweating. They're not sweating that one loss.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
No, let me power through the vikings here very quickly,
because I'd like to talk about the Detroit Chicago game more.
Kevin O'Connell's been in this situation before. Yep, he's been
in a situation where a quarterback has come in in
the eleventh hour and had to make him a starter
and win football game.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
So I have no concern about that.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
I think the bigger thing for them is going to
be you lose JJ McCarthy, you lose Aaron Jones. They're
already going through a bit of a transition with their
backfield to begin with, Can you do you have the
offensive firepower that you're gonna need with maybe a defense
that isn't gonna be as dominant as last season. That's
gonna be the test here the next couple weeks if
McCarthy's down for a minute, with Carson Wentz taken over
(31:38):
at that spot. The Detroit game was incredible to watch,
and I watched most of it. Jared Goff twenty three
of twenty eight, three hundred and thirty four passing yards,
five touchdowns at one to fifty six passer rating. Gibbson
Montgomery both had a rushing touchdown one hundred and seventy
seven rushing yards altogether. The Detroit Lions are not going anywhere,
and when the Packers face them the next time, it
(31:59):
is going to be an slute battle, as Tucker Craft forecast.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
And it'll be on National TV on Thanksgiving Thanksgiving at
Ford Fields.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
And the fact is that Detroit's a good team. So
there's nothing to take away from the Chicago Bears here.
But I raise this in Insider Inbox. There is so
much talk every off season about the Bears, and I
am so worn out by it at this point because
ultimately the only thing that matters the proving ground is
(32:29):
when the games start in September, and that is where
Chicago continues to come up short. It's great to talk
about taking over the NFC North, It's great to talk
about not giving it back. It's great to talk about
how good Caleb Williams is, and it's great to talk
about how every single move they make in the offseason
is going to bring them back to contender status. They're
ower and two, They're O and two again, and you
(32:51):
never know where the season is going to go. It
is just two games, But this is not the type
of start you're thinking about if you're Ben Jonson coming
in setting the tone that he set, Ryan Poles getting
a contract extension, and here they are once again. The
Detroit Lions played them out of the building. Yeah, it
wasn't just that they put up fifty two points in
all this, it's a fact that it never even looked competitive, right,
(33:15):
And I think there's a lot of soul searching that
the Bears have to do.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
Yeah, I don't know what to make of the Bears
right now. Obviously there's there's going to be a learning
curve in a process with Ben Johnson and his quarterback
Caleb Williams and all that. We know, we know that
there's a you know, there's a learning curve to that
and how that relationship develops, and a coach learning what
(33:40):
his quarterback does best and what he's most comfortable with
and all that kind of stuff. What I can't figure
out is is the first three quarters of the season,
the Chicago Bears defense gave up six points and had
to pick six and in the last five quarters they've
given up seventy plus points. What do you make I
don't know what to make of that. Because if because
as as Ben Johnson is trying to figure this out
(34:03):
with Caleb Williams, if that defense on the other side
of the ball, that Dennis Allen is coordinating, if that
if that unit can't hold up, if they're just gonna
get steamrolled by a quality offense like Detroit, that I
don't know where the Bears go from here? Like you,
what do you have to look forward to at this point?
So it's it's early, it's two weeks, it's a week
(34:23):
to week league. I think the Bears offense, with Johnson
and Williams, they're going to figure some things out. If
I'm a Chicago Bears fan, what I'm more concerned about
than anything is what's going on on defense.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
And guess who's coming to Soldier Field this week. I
mean the Dallas Cowboys and Dak Prescott and that offense.
That is a high powered offense, and it looks like
they have some answers to their backfield now too. It's
this is a this is a as week three matchups go,
and I know they got the Raiders after that, but
as week three games go, this is a major, major
(34:56):
gut check.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Yeah, I feel like for Chicago last thing before we go.
A bunch of two and O teams across the league
right now, the Packers being one of them. A lot
of people talking about the Packers obviously with the two
teams they've beaten. Who are the other two and O
teams that kind of jump out at you for me?
For me, so far, I've been impressed with the Philadelphia Eagles.
I've been impressed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and what
Baker Mayfield has done in crunch time of the first
(35:20):
two games of the season, both of those on the road. Actually,
now that I think about it, him pulling out clutch
touchdown drives on the road. And you know, I've been
impressed with the Los Angeles Chargers at two and oh
as well.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
Yeah, for sure, in some ways, a lot of those
are expected, right. I mean, Harboss set the foundation last year, Herbert.
They're getting done what they need to get done against
these opponents. Philadelphia showed that there was no this team
right now. Where the Eagles are at are in a
different stratosphere than the Chiefs. Yeah, it wasn't that they
just caught them on a bad day at the super Bowl.
Now there's something they've built there that is going to
(35:56):
be the standard here that everyone else in the NFL
is chasing.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
I take it the other way in.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
Terms of the two and o's the fact that San
Francisco has had to work through this stuff that they've
worked through. Mac Jones was spectacular on Sunday. My hack
goes off to him, Kyle Shanahan for them being able
to keep that ship afloat Arizona looks really explosive. Marvin
Harrison is realizing some of his potential. But the Indianapolis
Colts haven't punted yet.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
And for everybody.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Leaving that team to die to be in a position
where they've played the way they've played and beaten the
teams that they've had to be, it's very difficult to
win in this league. Mike ask the Giants. How difficult
it is to win in this league, and that what
happened against Dallas. So you give your cap and you
give your credit to the guys that can get it done.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
Sometimes you catch a big break along the way, right,
I mean the Indianapolis Colts. The sixty yard field goal
is missed, but the Denver guys called for the leverage
penalty fifteen yards. The kicker gets the untimed down, another
crack at it from forty five, he puts it through,
and they knock off the Broncos. Sometimes those are the
kind of things that happen that can you know, you
don't know what that's going to start for a team
(37:06):
like the Indianapolis Colt. So we'll see.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
What especially when everybody is counting them out from day one.
Daniel Jones thing. I mean, just people were giving them
no chance. And I'd even throw myself into that category
to an extent.
Speaker 3 (37:18):
And you win football games, you got to keep it going.
Speaker 2 (37:22):
There's fifteen more of these things, ye, but it's a
lot easier to be at two and oh than be
at zero and two, Like you know, the Chicago Bears
currently are.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Yeah, definitely, well with that, we'll call it a rap
on this edition of Packers Unscript. You'd be sure to
continue following all of our coverage of the team on
Packers dot com. The upcoming road trip to Cleveland this
week in Week three, and we will preview that game
on our next show. So for Wes, I am Mike,
thank you for tuning in everybody, and we will see
you next time.
Hi, everybody. Welcome back to another edition of Packers Unscripted
from Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as
always by my trusted colleague Wes Hodkoitz. We're coming to
you here from our studios at Lambeaufield and West. It's
actually been a week since we sat in these chairs
because last week was a different sort of week around
here with Thursday night football against Washington. But the Packers
(00:28):
pulled it out an impressive twenty seven to eighteen victory
over the team that was one of the last two
standing in the NFC last year. And I think when
you look at this game, we talked as much as
we could on our previous show in previewing this game
and what the Packers are going to be up against
with Jaden Daniels, that young quarterback for the Washington Commanders.
(00:51):
But the defensive effort against Daniels was really outstanding pretty
much from start to finish.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Okay, so I'm gonna get my phone out here. I
want to because i want to get the stat right.
I don't know if you saw what I tweeted out
this morning, but I thought this was pretty remarkable. The
NFL does a tremendous job with their research department, yeah,
of providing some context for some of these performances. So
just to give you an idea of the performance that
Green Bay had against the reigning NFL offensive rookie of
the Year, the Commanders eighteen points tied for their fewest
(01:18):
in any of Jaden Daniels' twenty two career starts, including
the playoffs, and also the fewest total yards two hundred
and thirty yards per play, three point five rushing yards,
fifty one and fifteen first downs in a Daniels start.
They had them completely bottled up.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Yeah, and for green Bay too.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
They allowed seventeen rushing yards to Daniels, they only allowed
fifty one for the entire game. The downfield options, they
didn't really even have an explosive play until the fourth quarter.
I was blown away by what we saw, Mike, because
it took everything that Green Bay did well against the
Detroit Lions, and they carried everything over on four days
notice to do it again against the Washington Commanders. The
(02:00):
game again, as Matt Lafloor talked about on Monday, probably
a little bit closer and you want it to be,
particularly in the second half, but be that as it made.
These are not easy football teams. Ask the Chicago Bears
what they think of the Detroit Lions right now, right
these are two very good football teams that are going
to be in the hunt all season long. And the Packers,
for all intensive purposes, really handed.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
It to them.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Yeah. The seventeen rushing yards by Daniels, I think is
what jumps out at me, because I mean, this is
a guy he finished second in the league in terms
of quarterback rushing yards, behind only Lamar Jackson last year
in winning that Offensive Rookie of the Year honor. And
I put together a quick piece that posted Monday on
(02:43):
our website. I've sort of called it like the crazy
stat from the game. And when you look at it,
so four sacks against Jayden Daniels, outstanding job by the
pass rush. But it wasn't just the four sacks. It
was that they got twelve quarterback hits on a very mobile,
elusive quarterback. I mean, they punished him in a lot
(03:04):
of ways. And I took a look back at the
last couple of years and I had counted up and
I listed in the story over the last two years
fourteen other games in which you could classify the opposing
quarterback as a mobile or elusive quarterback. So I'm not
talking about the Sam Darnold's and the Jared Goffs of
the world, right We're talking about Jalen Hurts and Russell
(03:26):
Wilson and guys like that over the last couple of years.
And when you look at the quarterback hits that the
Packers had in those games against mobile, elusive quarterbacks in
those fourteen games, it was an average of like four
and a half per game, and the Packers got twelve
against Jayden Daniels. That just shows you where this pass rush,
how disruptive Green Bay's pass rush is right now. And yes,
(03:50):
Micah Parsons is having a huge part to do with that.
But when eight different guys in a game get a
quarterback hit, as you rack up twelve on a quarterback
who's not exactly easy to track down, that says something
about the collective effort. And that's really what's been most
impressive about it.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
And for me too, looking into those numbers, only one
of those guys was not an absolute defensive front player,
Edrin Cooper. There were many times last year where it
was it was safeties, it was inside backers. No, it
was the defensive line getting after Jaden Daniels.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
And when you think about.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Those mobile type quarterbacks, ultimately, that's what it comes down to, right,
It's the guys up front that can you not only
collapse the pocket, but can you make life very difficult
on those players eight pressures according to NFL next Gen
Stats for Micah Parsons three quarterback hits a team high
in this game. And obviously you had the sack there
(04:46):
as well with Edrin Cooper, but it was watching Rashaan
Gary get after it when number one wasn't on the field.
It was seeing Lucas Vanes starting to grow into his
game more and more, and then not forsaking the run
defense in that pursuit either. I mean, when you look
(05:08):
at what Washington had done a week earlier two hundred
and thirty rushing yards against the New York Giants, the
Packers more than quartered that in this match. Yeah, so
the defense set the tone and somebody, an insider inbox,
I don't know if you've caught this or not. Insider
inbox made a really good observation when when the Packers
punt the ball, you don't really feel like everything is lost.
(05:31):
There's almost like a swagger now when the defense goes
on the field.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Here comes the defense like like, you're not worried about it.
Let's see what happens here.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, you're not worried about Hey, are they going to
put up some points or anything. It's like, hey, is
there a potential pick six? Is there a fumble recovery?
Is there going to be a turnover? Is there going
to be a three and out? This is a situation
green Bay has not been in a lot during my
fourteen years covering this team. Remarkable output in this matchup.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Yeah, and it was as you said, it was a
continuation defensively from the opener against Detroit and now in
two straight games, two of the best offenses from twenty
twenty four in the NFL, neither one could find the
end zone against green Bay until the fourth quarter. So
that's happened now in back to back games, and before
(06:17):
we shift gears to the offense to stick with the defense,
we would be remiss if we didn't mention the performance
by Keishawn Nixon at cornerback. He ends up with five
passes defense or passes broken up, whatever phrase you'd like
to use. PBUs for short. The last Packers defensive back
to have five PBUs in a game, you have to
(06:39):
go back to Jiu Alexander's rookie season in twenty eighteen,
which was a game against the Rams at the Old
LA Coliseum. To find a Packers defender with five PBUs
in a game. What I saw was Jayden Daniels in
some ways getting frustrated with not being able to move
(07:00):
the ball consistently, and he kind of started to lock
in on Terry mclaurin's number one target and in some
respects was trying to force the ball into his best
receiver's hands, and Kishawn Nixon just wasn't having it. He
just wasn't letting it happen. And and hats off to Nixon,
but again, this when you see that kind of work
(07:21):
in the back end, it is a it's it's an
illustration of how much the rush and the coverage go
hand in hand when you play good defense. Because Keishawn
Nixon is out there not feeling like he has to
cover receiver for three and a half or four four
and a half seconds. He knows that either that quarterback
is going to get hit in a couple of seconds
(07:42):
or that ball is going to come out, and when
the guys in the back end can can have that
as part of their internal clock and the way they
react and the way they play and the way they
break on the ball, that's that's where the rush in
the and the coverage become very coordinated. And I thought
we saw that in annumber of instances, the way Nixon
was defending his man.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
The thing that stood out to me the most with
this performance two things. One the fact that they kept
testing key Sean and he kept deflecting these passes. Yes,
they could not get anything going, but Daniels threw the
ball forty two times and had two hundred passing yards.
And that's including that kind of garbage time series at
(08:24):
the end of the game you were mentioning, I'll just
bring up these stats, Terry McLaurin. Five catches on nine targets, Yeah,
for forty eight yards. Noah Brown one catch for nine
yards on four targets. I think the other three that
were deflected that didn't I think we're all breakups by
Keyshawn Nixon and then Jalen Lane one catch for two
(08:45):
yards on four targets. The Packers secondary went to work
in this game, and we were talking with Xavier McKinney afterwards,
and he did say, it's tough right now because it's
getting a little boring.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
And I'll be honest with you, As.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
I'm watching Russell Wilson threw up a five hundred hail
Mary at the end of that game against Dallas, as
I'm watching Caleb Williams just just give an absolute gift
to Kirby Joseph. I'm like, man, yeah, you wish that
Zaber McKinney would get some of these balls. I mean,
Zavery McKinney had to earn a lot of his interceptions
last year and that those passes just haven't been there
(09:18):
this year. But when you factor in how he's performing,
the interception that Evan Williams had last week, the way
that I thought Javon Bullard looked in the slot, and
how physical he played, and then they used a rotation
at the other cornerback position between Carrington Valentine and a
returning Nate Hobbs, and I thought both of those guys
balled out were given their opportunities, which isn't easy to
(09:40):
do when you're not in an every down rhythm. Certainly,
Keishawn Nixon was a headliner in this matchup. Five PBUs,
the most in seven years. That's remarkable. But I thought
that secondary by and large played really really well.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Yeah, I thought so too well. Shifting gears to the
offensive side of the ball. Maybe the biggest, you know,
the only disappointment as far as early on in this
game is that the Packers just barely misfired on the
opening possession, you know, looking for that fast start again
like they had against Detroit. They decide to pass on
the long field goal. They go with a quick snap,
(10:15):
thinking maybe they've got you know, the twelve men on
the field for Washington. That didn't happen. It's fourth down
and Matthew Golden is open, but unfortunately Jordan Love underthrows
it just a little bit, so the first possession comes
up fruitless. But the Packers still took command of this game.
And by you know, whatever, it was the middle of
(10:35):
the third quarter or so, I mean, you're, you know,
you're sitting at seventeen to three and and the Packers
are are are in a pretty good spot. And the
guy who was you know, sort of I guess you'd
call him the unstoppable force in this particular game was
tight end Tucker Craft.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
One of the most aspiring performances I've seen from a
Packers tight end in the fact fact that Kraft does
this from a place of being completely well rounded. Jermichael
Finley in credit to Jermichael for what he accomplished here,
but he was always more of a slash receiver, right.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
There was even a debate.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
At one time when his franchise taking him, we're coming
up as if he's going to be a receiver a
tight end. Tucker Craft is your tried and true, blue
collar tight end, but he's rounded out his game in
such a way that I mean, we're watching as I
joked about and said last week and Insider Inbox, there
isn't a comparison for me for Tucker Craft. To me,
(11:33):
he is the guy that the next guy is going
to be compared to to have the most receiving yards,
have the most productive day through the air for a
Packers tight end since the Richard Rogers Hail.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Mary Gain the Hail Mary Detroit.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Yeah, that shows you how productive he was in this matchup.
And as cool as that fifty seven yard catchdown the
scene was, and it was awesome. Third longest catch of
his career, by the way, not even in the top
two yet. But when the Packers and needed that response late,
Tucker Craft came through. When you talk about putting in
sealing this victory, it was Tucker Craft. It was Josh Jacobs.
(12:09):
He's a finisher man and he does not blink. You
look back to what happened against Detroit. He gets his
helmet ripped off. The next play, he's running right at
Brian Branch to the end zone for a fifteen yard touchdown,
catching it and just taking whatever ramifications come with it
in this game. To be this productive, to come up
in these type of situations, this guy's made of the
right stuff, dude, And it was remarkable to watch.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Yeah, what I like best? What I like best about
this Packers offensive performance, and it was flawed. Had There
were a couple of false starts in the game, one
on Tucker Craft. Actually, there were multiple holding calls, one
of which on right tackle Anthony Belton, which we'll get
into more of that in a minute, but it was
on that first drive of the game, Belton gets called
(12:52):
for holding and it wipes out a touchdown pass to
Jayden Reid, which unfortunately was a play where Jayden Reid
broke his collar bone, and we can get into that
more it as well. So it was a flawed offensive performance.
But what I like best about it is that in
a game that the Packers were seemingly in command and
in control for the bulk of it, when Washington did
(13:14):
find the end zone early in the fourth quarter, suddenly
it's seventeen to ten. So now you're at the point
where there's still whatever it was, twelve thirteen minutes left
on the clock. It's a one score game, and the
offense has to answer the bell because it's one thing
for the opponent when they've been behind by multiple scores
to get it to a one score game. It's another
(13:35):
thing for that opponent to get the ball back and
still only be down one score. So the Packers get
the ball after Washington cuts it to seventeen to ten,
they need to answer the bell, and what do they do.
They go sixty five yards down the field in nine plays,
finishing it off with a really nice play action touchdown
(13:56):
touchdown pass to Tucker Craft. We saw some creativity in
the run game with Stavion Williams, you know, taking a
direct snap going one way, then the very next play,
you run the end around with Matthew Golden going the
other direction, so you're stretching the defense laterally as you
as you're moving the ball down the field, and then
you hit them with the play action pass for the
for the touchdown. So suddenly then it's twenty four to
(14:19):
ten and you're midway through the fourth quarter, and for
the most part, you've put the game away there because
you didn't allow Washington to get the ball back only
down one score. They when they got it back, they
were still down two scores again. And that's that's how
you win games in this league, because because a lot
of things can go right and wrong and whatever through
the first three quarters, but when you need to put
(14:42):
together a fourth quarter drive, the Packers did that offensively,
and it was what put this one away.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
First thing, just on the touchdown by Craft. It shows
you the brilliance not only a Matt lafleur, but also
just with Green Bay using the two tight end sets
the way they use, which an insider Inbox even made
the comment that this is almost in a way becoming
the base offense for this now that you have Luke
Musgrave back. I mean, Musgrave is playing, but you also
have John Fitzpatrick almost as seen as many snaps as
he have, just based on what they can do on
(15:09):
the field together and on that particular play, the two
big plays. When you look at Craft's game, there was
an option for another tight end to be involved too.
The fifty seven yarder. He said, yeah, if they cover me,
then Musgrave's open on the touchdown. The way they're able
to seal off on the outside, that is what is
allowing Tucker Craft to sneak by and leak into the
end zone for the touchdown. Just amazing production. Again, the
(15:30):
most productive day, tied for the most productive day by
Packer tight ends since the merger in nineteen seventy. It
just so happens the two thousand and nine team had
the same one hundred and fifty six yards receiving against
Brett Favre's Minnesota Vikings. That being said, that drive was critical,
I leaned over to you and I said, this is
(15:51):
a pivotal point of this game. For Matt Lafleur, for
Jordan Love, they needed a response in what I liked
about the way that Lafleur called it. He showed not
only creativity but faith in his young playmakers. Sadie On
Williams has not practiced a lot. He certainly has not
played a lot due to some injuries. They've been dialing
up a lot of different concepts for him, though that
(16:12):
are not the traditional receiver sets. This is a guy
that did end the rounds.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
He ran the ball.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
He played some quarterback at TCU and they just put
their hand directly into that cookie jar and pulled something
out and got a sixteen yard run out of it.
But if he stays on his feet, who knows how
much that could have broke. For Okay, that was a
fun play. On the very next play, they run the
sweep over to Matthew Golden for nine yards. The Packers
didn't just say, okay, well, we'll run a slant or
(16:37):
a stopper here to Romeo Dobbs, or we'll do something
in the flat.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
For Tucker Krapt.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
They went deep into their offensive playbook at a time
in which they really needed a response, and they were
rewarded by these young players. That is the exciting thing
about this team. It's not about how many guys catch
the ball. It's about the threat of how many guys
could possibly catch the ball or touch the ball and
the rookies made Matt Leafluir look really smart.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Yeah, and that says something when you're putting the ball
in the hands of your rookies with a big game
on the line in the fourth quarter and whatnot. As
you said, it shows, it shows the faith and what
they believe these guys can contribute now. And obviously then
it's these opportunities and cashing in on these opportunities that
will build on what's to come for young players like
(17:21):
Williams and Golden. Unfortunately, the bad news on the offensive
side is the injuries I mentioned Jaden Reid. He ends
up breaking his collarbone on what was a tremendous throw
and catch that unfortunately wasn't a touchdown because of a
holding penalty on Anthony Belton, and so Reid is going
(17:41):
to be out for an extended time. Here. On the
offensive line, the Packers were down two starters in this game.
Aaron Banks, the left guard was out with a ankle, slash,
ankle and groin injuries, and then at right tackle, Zach
tom also not able to make it back on the
short week with the oblique injury. So we saw Jordan Morgan,
(18:05):
last year's first round pick. He stepped in for Banks
at left guard and then at right tackle. It was
a rotation for a while between the rookie Anthony Belton
and then the newcomer, the new veteran acquisition and Darien Kinard.
But then other than that holding penalty on the opening
drive of the game, Anthony Belton really held his own
(18:26):
and the Packers kind of turned it over to him
in the second half and let him. Let the rookie
second round pick ride this thing out and we'll see
what happens injury wise as far as these guys on
the offensive line for this week's trip to Cleveland, but
the Packers felt pretty good about the way they came
out of this game and the way the depth on
(18:48):
their offensive line came through.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
First and foremost, Jordan Morgan, My hat goes off to him.
This is a guy that has played right guard, he's
played left tackle. He ends up being in the left
guard spot, and for the better part of that game
you didn't.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Even hear his name, right. I mean, he came in.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Clutch in a huge because we knew something was going
to be up, probably with Zach Tom From the moment
that he went out. That was not a great looking
injury against Detroit. The Aaron Banks thing happened late, so
then you're kind of in this thing of okay, well
it's an ankle, the groin. Where is he going to
be at? Is he potentially in the cards for Green Bay?
And it ends up being Jordan Morgan having to play
that position at with no real practice rep So your
(19:24):
hat goes off to him. Anthony Belton proved something to
me in this game and that if he makes a mistake,
he's going.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
To make the corrections to it. He made the.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Mistakes in Indianapolis where he had the multiple penalties and
you know, ends up finishing strong in the second half.
The same thing happened in this game that could have
been something that sort of disheveled him. And he even said,
he's like, you know, if stuff happens like that, you
let it affect you, It's only going to make things worse.
He made the adjustments. And the thing I love about him, Mike,
I don't know if you saw some of these highlights
(19:53):
on Twitter, but like these these little bumps he's doing.
The guy is so naturally powerful that if some but
a pass rusher is off balance, he is going to
put you on the ground six foot six, three hundred
and thirty six pounds from the day that they drafted him.
You and I have talked about how this is not
the standard Packers tackle. This guy is a monster at
that position, and when you use that type of physicality
(20:15):
and when you have that type of approach to your game,
the possibilities the right tackle position. That is, he played
it the way that historically the right tackle position has
been played in this league a mauler, and I think
it showed the Packers that Zach Tom is their franchise.
He is their cornerstone, He is their pillar. He has
proved himself to be that. But if you're gonna be
without him, especially with the stretch that the Green Bay
(20:37):
Packers are approaching here this week, I thought Anthony Belton
really put his best foot forward.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Yeah, I thought he did too, And I remember talking
We talked a lot on this show and I wrote
about it as well after the preseason game in Indy
when he had the multiple different kinds of penalties and
all this in the first half and he's kind of
getting berated by Matt Lafleur as they're coming off the
field at halftime, and you you knew in that moment
(21:04):
when the Packers coaches left him out there in the
second half at Indian said all right, shake it off
and go play. And that's exactly what he did. And
you you knew coming out of that that that could
end up being a really really important game and important
building block for a young player that for all the
mistakes that he was making in the first half of
(21:26):
that game, the coaches didn't just yank him out and
sit him on the bench. They put it. They they
left him out there and said, young man, go play.
And and the Packers are seeing the fruits of that
approach much earlier in the season than maybe then maybe
we thought, but you just you never know when those
injuries are going to strike and when you're gonna call
on your depth uh to come through for you. In
(21:47):
in this case, that happened to be on a short
week with a big time opponent coming into lambeau Field, primetime,
under the lights, the whole thing, and h and after
the first drive of the game the one mistake that
he made, Anthony Belton delivered.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
This is probably the number one argument for preseason games. Yes,
this is a guy you talk about Packers offensive linemen
that have kind of had to earn their stripes in
training camp in preseason, the guys that play one hundred
and fifty two hundred snaps in the preseason. That's why
you invest that into it, because you might be in
a situation like this and now it's not new to you.
You're not learning having to learn those lessons in the
(22:22):
biggest situations possible. And for Belton, I'll tell you this,
I've watched a lot of offensive line play over the years.
Couldn't grade it for you, but I've watched a lot
of it. If you gave me the choice between a
guy that makes some mistakes and draws a few flags
early on but has his makeup or the guy that
maybe does everything right but physically cannot hold up to
(22:43):
the position and is getting beat, I'll take the former.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
Yeah, and I think he showed the Packers why.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Yeah. You can coach, you can coach technique, you can
coach your way through mistakes. There are certain things in
this game about players in their makeup that can't be coached,
and that's what you find out. You find out if
the if young players have what it takes. One other
injury update West before we got to pay some bills
around here. Christian Watson, he talked with reporters at his
(23:09):
locker after Monday's practice, kind of the bonus practice when
the team comes back from the mini buy on the
weekend off and we know this receiving core now will
be without Jayden Reid for a while. Christian Watson is
not back yet. You have the three veterans, Dobbs, Wis,
Malik Heath had a great catch on the overturned replay
(23:31):
review against Washington. We talked about the rookies working in
now with Golden and Williams. So the Packers have the depth,
They have what they need to withstand this absence of
Jaden Reid, however long it is. But it sounds like
Christian Watson might be back awfully soon. He's not eligible
(23:52):
to come back until after the first four games of
the regular season. He's not eligible to practice until then
because he started the regular season on the pup list,
And then after those first four games, the Packers actually
have their bye week. So it's a matter of I
guess watching with intent interest when the Packers return from
there by, are we going to see Number nine out
(24:12):
there on the practice field? He he talked about having
kind of the pressure taken off by being able to
sign that that short term contract extension. So he's not
he's no longer in a contract year at this point
because he's now under contract for next year with Green
Bay as well. But he basically told the reporters that
(24:34):
he's done everything there is to do in his rehab
and to get back and be ready to play except
to practice. Practice is the is the next step for him,
and it sounds like it sounds like Number nine is
going to be back here before too much longer.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
It was great listen to Christian at his locker on Monday,
because a couple things here. This guy's a natural born
later we've all known that stand up Guy award winner
for the Packers Media Corps already at one point. I'm
sure at some point in his career i could see
him being a NFL Man of the Year type guy.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
This is what is.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
This is what the guy presents as a ballplayer. So
when I say this, it doesn't come from a point
of how he was ever immature, That's not it, but
the maturity that he showed while being at his locker
and explaining, yeah, I've come back quick a lot of
times this time. I want to be one hundred percent
Christian Watson when I'm back on the field. I don't
want to be ninety I don't even want to be
(25:30):
ninety five. I want to be one hundred percent. I
want to be the player that everybody knows he can be.
And it's not just about being healthy, It's about being
ready and being healthy. And I don't know when Christian
Watson's gonna be back.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
I couldn't give you a guess as far as which
game he's going to be active for.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
The first time for Green Bay.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
But I'll tell you this, this guy is going to
have an important, key, pivotal role to play for the
Green Bay Packers in twenty twenty five. The Jaden Reid thing,
it muddles the water a little bit because this is
a guy that is is their leading receiver the past
two seasons. As Matt Lafor said, he is the spark
plug of this offense. But at the same time, this
is not Randall Cobb coming back from the collarbone in
(26:10):
twenty thirteen. They are not asking Christian Watson to get
out there and save them. They have so many receivers
that can turn to. They have so many running backs
that can turn to, and they have two tight ends
who both can be featured guys if they need to be.
They have the resources.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
To get through this here until Watson is ready to
be on the field.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
But boy golly, when he is seeing what Matthew Golden presents,
seeing the way that Dantavian Wicks has played so far
early on in the fact that Chucker Craft is in
the middle of this breakthrough, A dangerous offense becomes more
dangerous when number nine is on the field.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
And I think we saw and this is actually something
we haven't really touched on yet, although we talked about
Matthew Golden so much throughout training camp and everything. Those
two plays against Washington, the one I mentioned on the
opening drive of the game, the ball was just under thrown.
Another one in the second quarter where you know, he
basically roasted the entire secondary, was behind everybody and Jordan
(27:07):
Love was not going to underthrow this one, but he
just barely overthrew it and Golden couldn't quite get to
it with a with a full extension dive down deep
down the middle of the field. My point is, it
just feels like the big breakout of Matthew Golden in
the regular season. You know, for him to put his
(27:29):
rookie stamp on his impact on this offense, it feels
like it's coming, doesn't it.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
I saw all I needed to see from Matthew Golden
on his catch from Malik Willis against Seattle thirty nine yards.
As Malik even said, the pass was not thrown perfectly.
It was thrown to the inside rather than keeping it outside.
Matthew Golden had to make a correction while operating at
that speed to come back to that ball and to
make a play on it. My point being when I
say that is there were very close to a pass
(27:59):
not needing to be perfect for Matthew Golden to be
able to make a big play. And ultimately, that's what
the best receivers of the National Football League do, not
the guys that just have a thousand yards or a
handful of touchdowns. The guys that can take this game over.
Matthew Golden has those traits. I'm sure Jordan Love is
kind of, you know, biting himself a little bit for
not having that ball down the scene maybe exactly where
(28:21):
he needed to be. Obviously, the fourth down play as well,
but there is going to come a time where Matthew
Golden and his internial calculus there is going.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
To be able to make those plays right.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
And I think it's going to be a lot sooner
than what you would think for him being a rookie.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Yeah, I think so too. Well, we do need to
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all the wonders of Wisconsin at Travel Wisconsin dot Com
slash Wonders. Welcome back to Packers Unscripted West. Before we go,
a quick look at where things stand in the NFC
North after two weeks. It's pretty simple. Packers are two
(29:39):
and zero. The Lions and the Vikings are both one
and one. The Chicago Bears are zero and two, the
Lions one on one and the Vikings one on one,
though both look and feel a heck of a lot different.
Detroit just dismantled Chicago, bouncing back from the loss at
lambeau Field, putting up fifty plus, looking like the Detroit
(30:02):
Lions of the last of the last couple of years Minnesota.
They escaped Chicago in Week one with that victory on
Monday Night football, they did not look ready for prime
time in Week two against the Atlanta Falcons, only six
points on the board. The Falcons, we're in control of
that game and post a multi score victory there, and
(30:24):
now the Vikings are going to be without there. I
was about to say rookiees not a rookie, but their
new starting quarterback JJ McCarthy for what sounds like multiple
weeks with an ankle injury. He got rolled up on
on a hip drop ish type of tackle on a
scramble play on Sunday night against Atlanta. So there's a
(30:46):
you know, a lot of a lot of consternation, I
guess you'd say at the bottom of the division right
now with Minnesota and Chicago, whereas Green Bay and Detroit
feeling like that, you know, they're in a pretty good spot.
And Detroit certainly regrets using at lambell Field, but they're
not sweating. They're not sweating that one loss.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
No, let me power through the vikings here very quickly,
because I'd like to talk about the Detroit Chicago game more.
Kevin O'Connell's been in this situation before. Yep, he's been
in a situation where a quarterback has come in in
the eleventh hour and had to make him a starter
and win football game.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
So I have no concern about that.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
I think the bigger thing for them is going to
be you lose JJ McCarthy, you lose Aaron Jones. They're
already going through a bit of a transition with their
backfield to begin with, Can you do you have the
offensive firepower that you're gonna need with maybe a defense
that isn't gonna be as dominant as last season. That's
gonna be the test here the next couple weeks if
McCarthy's down for a minute, with Carson Wentz taken over
(31:38):
at that spot. The Detroit game was incredible to watch,
and I watched most of it. Jared Goff twenty three
of twenty eight, three hundred and thirty four passing yards,
five touchdowns at one to fifty six passer rating. Gibbson
Montgomery both had a rushing touchdown one hundred and seventy
seven rushing yards altogether. The Detroit Lions are not going anywhere,
and when the Packers face them the next time, it
(31:59):
is going to be an slute battle, as Tucker Craft forecast.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
And it'll be on National TV on Thanksgiving Thanksgiving at
Ford Fields.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
And the fact is that Detroit's a good team. So
there's nothing to take away from the Chicago Bears here.
But I raise this in Insider Inbox. There is so
much talk every off season about the Bears, and I
am so worn out by it at this point because
ultimately the only thing that matters the proving ground is
(32:29):
when the games start in September, and that is where
Chicago continues to come up short. It's great to talk
about taking over the NFC North, It's great to talk
about not giving it back. It's great to talk about
how good Caleb Williams is, and it's great to talk
about how every single move they make in the offseason
is going to bring them back to contender status. They're
ower and two, They're O and two again, and you
(32:51):
never know where the season is going to go. It
is just two games, But this is not the type
of start you're thinking about if you're Ben Jonson coming
in setting the tone that he set, Ryan Poles getting
a contract extension, and here they are once again. The
Detroit Lions played them out of the building. Yeah, it
wasn't just that they put up fifty two points in
all this, it's a fact that it never even looked competitive, right,
(33:15):
And I think there's a lot of soul searching that
the Bears have to do.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
Yeah, I don't know what to make of the Bears
right now. Obviously there's there's going to be a learning
curve in a process with Ben Johnson and his quarterback
Caleb Williams and all that. We know, we know that
there's a you know, there's a learning curve to that
and how that relationship develops, and a coach learning what
(33:40):
his quarterback does best and what he's most comfortable with
and all that kind of stuff. What I can't figure
out is is the first three quarters of the season,
the Chicago Bears defense gave up six points and had
to pick six and in the last five quarters they've
given up seventy plus points. What do you make I
don't know what to make of that. Because if because
as as Ben Johnson is trying to figure this out
(34:03):
with Caleb Williams, if that defense on the other side
of the ball, that Dennis Allen is coordinating, if that
if that unit can't hold up, if they're just gonna
get steamrolled by a quality offense like Detroit, that I
don't know where the Bears go from here? Like you,
what do you have to look forward to at this point?
So it's it's early, it's two weeks, it's a week
(34:23):
to week league. I think the Bears offense, with Johnson
and Williams, they're going to figure some things out. If
I'm a Chicago Bears fan, what I'm more concerned about
than anything is what's going on on defense.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
And guess who's coming to Soldier Field this week. I
mean the Dallas Cowboys and Dak Prescott and that offense.
That is a high powered offense, and it looks like
they have some answers to their backfield now too. It's
this is a this is a as week three matchups go,
and I know they got the Raiders after that, but
as week three games go, this is a major, major
(34:56):
gut check.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Yeah, I feel like for Chicago last thing before we go.
A bunch of two and O teams across the league
right now, the Packers being one of them. A lot
of people talking about the Packers obviously with the two
teams they've beaten. Who are the other two and O
teams that kind of jump out at you for me?
For me, so far, I've been impressed with the Philadelphia Eagles.
I've been impressed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and what
Baker Mayfield has done in crunch time of the first
(35:20):
two games of the season, both of those on the road. Actually,
now that I think about it, him pulling out clutch
touchdown drives on the road. And you know, I've been
impressed with the Los Angeles Chargers at two and oh
as well.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
Yeah, for sure, in some ways, a lot of those
are expected, right. I mean, Harboss set the foundation last year, Herbert.
They're getting done what they need to get done against
these opponents. Philadelphia showed that there was no this team
right now. Where the Eagles are at are in a
different stratosphere than the Chiefs. Yeah, it wasn't that they
just caught them on a bad day at the super Bowl.
Now there's something they've built there that is going to
(35:56):
be the standard here that everyone else in the NFL
is chasing.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
I take it the other way in.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
Terms of the two and o's the fact that San
Francisco has had to work through this stuff that they've
worked through. Mac Jones was spectacular on Sunday. My hack
goes off to him, Kyle Shanahan for them being able
to keep that ship afloat Arizona looks really explosive. Marvin
Harrison is realizing some of his potential. But the Indianapolis
Colts haven't punted yet.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
And for everybody.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Leaving that team to die to be in a position
where they've played the way they've played and beaten the
teams that they've had to be, it's very difficult to
win in this league. Mike ask the Giants. How difficult
it is to win in this league, and that what
happened against Dallas. So you give your cap and you
give your credit to the guys that can get it done.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
Sometimes you catch a big break along the way, right,
I mean the Indianapolis Colts. The sixty yard field goal
is missed, but the Denver guys called for the leverage
penalty fifteen yards. The kicker gets the untimed down, another
crack at it from forty five, he puts it through,
and they knock off the Broncos. Sometimes those are the
kind of things that happen that can you know, you
don't know what that's going to start for a team
(37:06):
like the Indianapolis Colt. So we'll see.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
What especially when everybody is counting them out from day one.
Daniel Jones thing. I mean, just people were giving them
no chance. And I'd even throw myself into that category
to an extent.
Speaker 3 (37:18):
And you win football games, you got to keep it going.
Speaker 2 (37:22):
There's fifteen more of these things, ye, but it's a
lot easier to be at two and oh than be
at zero and two, Like you know, the Chicago Bears
currently are.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Yeah, definitely, well with that, we'll call it a rap
on this edition of Packers Unscript. You'd be sure to
continue following all of our coverage of the team on
Packers dot com. The upcoming road trip to Cleveland this
week in Week three, and we will preview that game
on our next show. So for Wes, I am Mike,
thank you for tuning in everybody, and we will see
you next time.
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