Packer Preview: Week 6 vs Bengals

The FANs Dave Sinykin breaks down the Packers game against the Bengals in Lambeau.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time for Packers Preview again.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Bu'm talking about the Packer and the Super Bowl.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
We're gone win again, according to your host David Sinnecon
will win on the road, We'll win at home, will
even win.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
In the US Bank Stadium.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Mike's fans can call it.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
You've got the balls the Packers Preview Show.

Speaker 4 (00:29):
Welcome to year thirty of Packer Preview on the Fan,
now live from the KFA and studios the head cheese himself,
Dave Sinacon.

Speaker 5 (00:42):
Good morning Packer fans, and welcome to the week sixth
edition of Packer Preview on the Sports Leader and the
home of the Vikings KFA N one hundred point three.
Great to be with you on this Sunday morning as
we get set to watch some Packer football after the
bye week. We will catch you up on what's going
on with the squad and look ahead to the post
part of the schedule and see at the pack can

(01:02):
win a game for the first time in a month
and win a game at Lambo where they have not
played in a month. It's a crazy quirky part of
this schedule where over a fifty one day span that's
seven weeks in change. If you're keeping track at home.
This is the only home game over this fifty one
game span. They're on the road the next two weeks.
Of course, they've been off and then on the road
for two weeks before that. So the one chance in

(01:24):
October to play a game at lambeau Field, and here
come the hapless, bungling Cincinnati Bengals, so desperate that they
traded midweek for Joe Flacco.

Speaker 3 (01:34):
Packer's going a chance to beat him.

Speaker 5 (01:35):
Finally, this afternoon three to twenty five kickoff at lambeau
Field today locally televised, of course, you'll be able to
watch that. And on the call, Kevin Harland and Trent Green,
so Packer legend, and of course some of the longtime
Packer executive. Kevin Harland we know him well, former Wolve's
voice on the call today, along with former Hoosier Trent Green,

(01:58):
who's got a little bounce in his as I do.
After Indiana's win on the road in Oregon yesterday, it
was a good day for Davy. Indiana and the Brewers
both take care of business. So I'm feeling good and
I think the Packers should make it a trifecta fourteen
and a half point favorites over a Cincinnati Bengals team
that you know when the schedule comes out and you
look at all the great quarterbacks scheduled to appear at Lambeau,

(02:21):
whether it's Hurts and Daniels and Lamar and Joe Burrow.
But obviously fate has a way of changing some of
those plans. No Joe Burrow on the shelf for most
of the season. It took a two to zero Bengals
start and turned it into a nightmare. They have been
grossly non competitive the last three weeks to a point
where they just couldn't play Jake Browning anymore. They make

(02:41):
the deal for Flacco midweek. He has a chance to
make history. He can spring the monumental upset today. He'll
be the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era to
beat a team twice while starting for two different teams.
We don't expect that to happen. It would be the
most stunning loss of course NFL season. And you know,

(03:01):
the Packers have to be ornery and frustrated and annoyed
by what they've shown at the end of the last
two games they've played and took what probably should be
a four and zho start and just made a couple
of key special teams mistakes and that turns into a
two to one and one record, and we have to
deal with that tie as we talk about the record
all season long, which is so annoying. But as we remember,

(03:25):
Packers were down lucky to win there to tie that
Dallas game, the way things were down the stretch. But
you to forget some of the good parts of that game,
and in particular how Jordan Love answered the bell every
single time, you know, got the ball five times in
the second half at overtime trailing and scored points every time,
three touchdowns, two field goals, no matter how much time

(03:45):
was left on the clock.

Speaker 3 (03:47):
He was terrific in that game. And he's been terrific
through four weeks.

Speaker 5 (03:51):
And as he gets his weapons back and his offensive
line gets healthy, we'll talk about all the health with
Green Bay. He talked and sort of reflected earlier this
week about the Packers start through the first four weeks
four games of the season.

Speaker 6 (04:04):
Yeah, No, I think there's there's been a lot of
good and there's been stuff, some stuff we want to
you know, improve on. Still I think, you know, team wise,
you look at it, I still think you know, we
haven't played our most you know, complete complimentary game in
all three phases. So, you know, I think some of
our early wins, I think we we were showing really
good signs of that, and I think our last two games,
you know, it wasn't the same.

Speaker 3 (04:22):
So I think we got to get back to that.

Speaker 6 (04:24):
I think on an offensive standpoint, like I said, we've
done some good things. You know, I think third down wise,
we've done really good, uh just putting up points, you know,
I think we've done good minus the Cleveland game.

Speaker 3 (04:33):
So I think there's a lot of.

Speaker 6 (04:34):
Stuff to keep building on, and it just is about
the consistency, uh, the details, you know, trying to trying
to uh, you know, lock in on every play and
just limit you know, all the negative plays. The penalties.

Speaker 7 (04:45):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (04:45):
We we haven't you know, given the ball away too
many times yet early on, So that's a you know,
really good sign. But just keep doing that, keep staying
away from negative players.

Speaker 3 (04:53):
Yep, not beating yourself would be a good way to start.
And obviously the way.

Speaker 5 (04:56):
The schedule is broken out with Cincinnati today and then
a day in Arizona next week, where it looks like
Kyler Murray may miss that game, so the Packers might
get a bit of scheduling. Luck Murray, dealing with a
foot injuryganal miss today's game, and it sounds like it
might extend beyond this week. Packers have been very good
out of the bye under Matt Lafleur. They've won three
of the last four games following the bye week. We

(05:19):
expect that to continue today, but was frustrating as it
seems like every year Packers appear to be more injured
coming out of the buy than they were going into
the buy.

Speaker 3 (05:29):
And I'm not sure how that's possible. Well, yes I do.

Speaker 5 (05:31):
It's when you get guys injured during practice during the week,
and that happened for the Packers, most particularly with kicker
Brandon McManus, who injured as quad. I'm sure you've seen
this in practice on Thursday. Kind of interesting back and
forth where Matt Lafleur sounded the alarm and sounded very
concerned and McManus countered with, yeah, no, it's I'll be okay,

(05:52):
like this has happened before. I expect to play on Sunday.
Don't worry about it. Packers are somewhat worried about it.
They wanted to let yesterday kind of see how he
woke up, how he felt, and they did decide to sign.
They worked on a couple kickers, including Greg Joseph, Packer
legend Greg Joseph, but they ended up signing lucas have Resik,
who's been around for a few years. He was in

(06:13):
Indie for a while. They promoted him to the active
roster today. They didn't have to make any other moves.
They had an open spot, so it's not like they
had to make a big decision by adding a second kicker.
They had a spot, so they put have Resick on
the active roster. McManus still believes he will kick today
from the latest reports I saw, and maybe it'll be
let's see how he feels in warm ups. That is

(06:36):
a concern, obviously, when you don't have your kicker now. Again,
when you're a two touchdown favorite, maybe you know the
kicking game is not your biggest concern on a week
like this. But mister Blake Moore, as we weave you
in this morning, your level of concern if Brenda McManus
can't go today.

Speaker 8 (06:52):
I guess not high for this particular week. But that's
how they lure you into a false sense of security
when you may need him most this week, if something
miraculous happens. It's everything about this game screams that it
should be just a walk in the park at home
against a walking, wounded Bengals team, which puts a little

(07:14):
bit in the back of my head of like, oh boy,
let's just get this over with and have a good
I mean, I hope it's done in the first quarter,
But as far as McManus goes, I think he'll be okay.
If he's not sounding the alarms and as saying that
Laflour needs a Nusassaurus, then that's fine.

Speaker 5 (07:28):
Yeah, we'll see how that goes as the day goes on,
and if McManus is able to go today. As far
as the other injuries, there are six packers who are
listed as questionable this week.

Speaker 3 (07:38):
McManus among them.

Speaker 5 (07:39):
Most important are the three offensive linemen, and by all accounts,
Zach Tom and Aaron Banks sound like they're good to
go after really not playing the last two games. This
offensive line has not been intact since the beginning of
the Cleveland Browns game. We really haven't seen them. The
five preferred starters play more than a game in an half.

(08:00):
It feels like through four games, but it sounds like
those two guys should be good to go, borring any
setbacks today. They practiced throughout the week, all reports sound
like they'll be back on the field. And there's Rashid
Walker who's also dealing with an injury, a quad injury
that it's been bugging him for a couple of weeks.

Speaker 3 (08:19):
I think it heard it.

Speaker 5 (08:20):
Maybe it was early in the Dallas game that he
started feeling it, and he's kind of been downgraded throughout
the week and he is expected to go today. If not,
Jordan Morgan will get his shot at left tackle.

Speaker 3 (08:32):
And it's an.

Speaker 5 (08:33):
Interesting situation because the one guy on the Cincinnati Bengals
team defensively that you fear is Trey Hendrickson, who is
in that Micah Parsons mold. And we've talked about Green
Bay seeing all the great other pass rushers kind of
early in the season, Miles Garrett a couple of weeks ago,
Hendrickson today, TJ Watt in a couple of weeks. Hendrickson's great.

(08:54):
He's one of the top pass rushers in the league.
He's got four sacks and twenty one pressures through five games.
He's the one bright shining line of that defense and
he lines up almost exclusively over the left tackle. So
if Rashid Walker is not today, the Packers may have
to do some stuff to protect him a little bit,
make sure Hendrickson doesn't blow things up. And if Walker

(09:15):
can't go today, it's an interesting situation for Jordan Morgan
because by all accounts, Green Bay is unlikely to keep
Walker beyond this season.

Speaker 3 (09:24):
He's a free agent.

Speaker 5 (09:25):
They've drafted a couple of guys they think could be
left tackles Morgan one of them, Anthony Belton, the rookie another,
and if Morgan does get pressed into service, you'll get
a really good look at how he does against an
elite pass rusher. It might give the front office some
more data points as they look at what to do
with the offensive line moving forward. So just a position
to watch with Rashid Walker's injury today, whether he can

(09:47):
go and if a Green Bay can handle their business against.

Speaker 3 (09:51):
That great pass rusher Hendrickson.

Speaker 5 (09:54):
On the plus side, with those injured linemen, the Packers
did not call up any guys from their practice squad
on the offensive line, so that gives you I think
a pretty good idea that they feel comfortable with the
health of their starters. You know, if they had brought
up a guy again just for protection, they might be
more concerned. So sounds like the Packers might have the
preferred offensive.

Speaker 3 (10:13):
Line back for the Bengals today.

Speaker 5 (10:15):
Bengals injury wise, they've got some injuries to their rookie
first round pick Samar Stewart's doubtful with an ankle injury.
He's the guy who signed at the very last minute,
just sort of working himself into shape, but starting to
show that he knows what he's doing just a bit.
They're without their left guard Dylan Well, he's questionable. Dylan
Fairchild is questionable today. Right guard former Viking Dalton Reisner

(10:36):
also nursing injuries. We'll talk about the offensive line. It's
the soft underbelly of this Bengals team. It's terrible and
it's one of the great advantages Green Bay will have today.
But the interesting part about this game, of course, is
Joe Flacco coming over from Cleveland. The Bengals call all
around the league looking for a backup quarterback. They settle

(10:56):
on Flacco, and of course you get the reports he
fit right in. He knows the playbook. It's like he's
been here for weeks. He's dropping dimes to Jamar Chase
and t Higgins in practice. But man, Brett, when you're
a quarterback who gets traded midweek, he joined the team
on Wednesday and suddenly it's like, hey, here's the playbook,
and they're saying, you know, we read him a play

(11:16):
and he instantly spouted it right back to us, like
he picked it up and knew it.

Speaker 3 (11:20):
That's great. He's a smart guy. He's forty.

Speaker 5 (11:23):
We're happy for him. Yeah, super Bowl champ. You've had
a really nice career out of Delaware. It's all good.
But you just joined the team on Wednesday. And if
you think he's got full command of the playbook, if
you think he's got chemistry with those all world receivers,
after a couple of days of practice, I don't know
what to tell you.

Speaker 3 (11:40):
He was the.

Speaker 5 (11:41):
Lowest ranked quarterback in the NFL the season, the lowest
passer rating. He managed I think about one hundred and
forty yards against Green Bay in the first meeting with Cleveland,
got sacked a couple of times through the pick to
Zavier McKinney. He gets credit for the win, although the offense,
as you know, did absolutely nothing. It was Packer turnover
in the red zone. It was blog field goal. We

(12:02):
don't have to revisit the Browns game, but my point
is settling on Joe Flacco is basically putting all your
chips in the middle and saying, all right, let's look,
we got to try something. Our quarterback is not able
to compete. We saw what happened to Minnesota a few
weeks ago when the Bengals came here was an absolute disaster.
Cincinnati had to do something. They land on Joe Flacco

(12:23):
and he will get a chance to at least try
to steady the ship. But obviously the odds are very
deep and very long against a green Bay Packers team
that is itching to show that they are much more
than what they've shown the last couple times they were
on the football field. Green Bay has been very good
in October. They've been very good against the AFC under
Matt Lafleorid. Obviously they're always very good at lambeau Field.

(12:45):
When we come back, let's talk about the Packers defense
against that Cincinnati offense and what is in store today.
Packers two touchdown favorites and their return to Lambo. You're
listening to Packer preview on the fan.

Speaker 7 (12:57):
The people across the west say, I love my Green Bay.
Packers won the first superpos ever played.

Speaker 9 (13:10):
I love my Green Bay.

Speaker 10 (13:11):
Pack the Land jumping games and the seats, the match kids,
Sam's Cheeza scream again, down with.

Speaker 7 (13:23):
The Sea, the.

Speaker 10 (13:28):
Landleague ended up and crush by the way, by the
feeling great, the jump stop the packs ahead.

Speaker 1 (13:36):
Of time, they stop, but the Lamb hold.

Speaker 3 (13:40):
All right back with you seven seventeen.

Speaker 5 (13:42):
If you're listening live this morning on KFA and it's
Packer preview as we get you set for Packers Bengals
a three twenty five kickoff at Lambeau Field. You're two
one and one Packers looking to get back into their
winning ways, looking for their first win since Week two,
uh as they play their one home game here in
the month of October. Should be a nice day at
Lambeau mid sixties mostly Sonny, could be windy though, win

(14:05):
us up to twenty one. If your kickers experiencing some issues,
you might have to go with a new guy. That's
just something to pay attention to, not just for field goals,
but obviously on kickoffs, so just something to watch as
far as the wind. Today, let's talk about the matchup
of the Bengals offense against the Packers defense. When you
talk about the Bengals offense without Joe Burrow, you still

(14:26):
talk about really one guy, and that's Jamar Chase, who
is one of the top three or four receivers in
football as you know, e electric. They will do everything
they can to find the ball in his hands, whether
it's taking deep shots or just running bubble screens or
even end to rounds. Just getting Jamar Chase involved will
be a focus for a Bengals offense that has just

(14:47):
been miserable without their leader. They can't run the ball
with Chase Brown. He was looked at, as you fantasy
players know, as one of the most productive, potentially productive
running backs this season, he has not been able to go.
They can't get the running game going. They've built their
roster in a different way. They've paid all their fantasy
football guys. You know, they paid Burrough, they paid Chase,

(15:07):
they paid t Higgins at the expense of their offensive line,
which they just can't get right. I mean, that's just
been a common refrain for this organization for so long.
I'm not going to go back to the Anthony Munoz days,
but it's been a long time since the Bengals have
had a decent offensive line. You can make a case
they have the worst offensive line in football. Orlando Brown,

(15:28):
the left tackle, has surrendered the third most pressures of
any tackle in football. Right guard Dalton Reisner, former Viking
left guard Dylan Fairschild, their center, all of them have
given up like top ten most pressures at their position
this season. It means Joe Flacco is going to find
himself on the ground quite a bit today because this

(15:49):
Packer pass rush, as you know, is just finding its
groove and Micah Parsons and Rashaan Garry have been a
problem for teams, and I just don't see an answer,
you know, for the Bengals today against this Packers pass
rush with a quarterback, you know, the center quarterback exchange
is going to be different. They're going to have to
simplify their calls, I think, and shorten the playbook for

(16:12):
a guy that just got here a few days ago.
But they do have weapons. They're dangerous if they get
the ball in their hands. They're really good after the
catch and head coach Matt Lafleur talked about those two
prized wide receivers earlier this week.

Speaker 11 (16:24):
You can cover those guys and they still might go
make the play, or like I was mentioning the other day,
just in terms of they can get the ball to
Jamar in a variety of different ways. It could be
a run alert where he's running a bubble screen or
just a little flat route and it looks like it's
bottled up and the next thing you know, he gets

(16:44):
out the back end, he takes to the house. So
both those guys are extremely dangerous. Tea as good as
anybody in fifty to fifty balls. I mean, it's not
even a fifty to fifty ball when he's out there,
So you got to be super conscious about what you're calling.
You got to, I think, get to try to keep
him as off balance as possible, throwing different looks at
those guys and just be hyper aware of where they

(17:07):
align on each and every play.

Speaker 5 (17:09):
Chase did pop up on the injury report earlier. I
guess it was Thursday. He came down with a sickness
mispracticed Thursday, return Friday limited. All reports are that he
will be good to go. Whether he's one hundred percent
remains to be seen, but a good test always for
a cornerback like Kyshawn Nixon, who is off to a
really good, solid start. He has had a couple of
really nice games so far, and now he gets a

(17:30):
chance to go up against Number one and see if
he can prevent the big play. And again it's going
to come down whether Flacco has time against the pack
Micah Parsons had talked before the Browns game that Joe
Flacco is a quarterback he has yet to sack and
looking forward to it.

Speaker 3 (17:46):
He still has yet to sack Joe Flacco.

Speaker 5 (17:47):
We'll see if he takes advantage of that opportunity today
against those overmatched tackles. The one concern for the Packers defense,
it's a big one, not so much today necessarily, but
Devonte Wyatt being out with the knee injury being considered
weak to weak.

Speaker 3 (18:04):
They would know what that means. None of us do.

Speaker 5 (18:06):
But he's obviously not out there today and you know,
small snapshot, but when he went out second quarter against
the Cowboys, I mean that defense was almost unrecognizable in
the second half, and you can't expect a defense to
collapse just because one guy leaves. But Wyatt has been
quietly off to an outstanding season. The coaches, his teammates
can't talk enough about how dominant he has been. They'll

(18:28):
miss him certainly today and hopefully not much longer. But
he's not in so that means, you know, Carl Brooks
gets more run. They're going to give Warren Brinson, the rookie,
his first opportunity. It's that one part of the defense
pret that you know when you trade Kenny Clark and
you go, all right, you didn't build your team for
this season not expecting to have Kenny Clark there. He
didn't load up at nose tackle. I mean, yes, they

(18:49):
took they picked up in the ear stackhouse the undrafted rookie.
He got a little play against Dallas. It wasn't really good,
But there's not a lot of depth after Clark because
you didn't think he wasn't going to be around. So
a number of young guys getting an opportunity. We'll see
if anybody can step into that void. It's really the
only significant injury on that side of the ball, and
Nate Hobbs is questionable with that concussion. Don't know that

(19:10):
he will go today. I don't know that he's irreplaceable.
He hasn't proven that yet, and again against a team
that figures to have a hard time moving the football today,
I don't know that he'll be missed that much, but
the wide injury something to watch, and you know, certainly
hope to have him back, maybe by Pittsburgh is the
schedule starts to toughen up a little bit with that

(19:31):
one on a Sunday night against Aaron Rodgers, it'd be
nice to have Whyite back. Then they'll miss him anxious
to see if anybody can step into that void today.

Speaker 8 (19:39):
Well that's what they were signing up for when when
you get rid of Kenny Clark and they thought they
had guys and they still do, young guys that they
liked at that position and thought could fill that void.
But yet DeVante Whyaett was one a in that list.
So the run defense and up the middle hasn't been terrible.
I wouldn't say it's been like world class, but it

(19:59):
has been like such a massive issue that it's a
huge problem and we regret doing anything and getting rid
of Kenny Clark. I think the biggest thing on defense
is going to be Nixon and co and Valentine being
able to guard for long enough, you know, because you
have those explosive guys. But it's going to be a
race against time, against between Micah Parsons or Shaun Gary

(20:21):
and a really bad offensive line versus Jamar Chas and
Coke getting open. So I think that's where and you
know that they're going to do get the ball out
fast concepts, slants, just things to make sure there's no
chance that anyone in the Packers pass rush can get
to Joe Flacco's got it. That's the only way they
could probably move the ball today. Just how bad their

(20:42):
offensive line is.

Speaker 5 (20:43):
Yeah, we saw for Viking fans, saw how quickly Aaron
Rodgers got rid of the ball knowing that the Steelers
were going to be overmatched against the Brian Flores defense,
and how effective that was. And I think, you know,
it's a blueprint when you know you're outmatched, whether it's
your offensive line, your quarterback, whatever it might be, try
to make things as simple as possible. You know, Flacco
is the kind of opposite of what you know Green

(21:04):
Bay has faced of late as far as like, you know,
young quarterbacks, you can fluster, you're not gonna fluster Joe Flacco.
He's seen everything, but he hasn't seen these guys. He
hasn't seen this playbook. So I have to think Zach
Taylor is going to just as you say, just try
to make things as easy as possible, because if he
gets hurt, they got nothing. You can't go back to

(21:26):
Browning for sure. So yeah, the pass rush might be
frustrated today because they are just getting rid of the
ball as fasts they can. But on the other hand,
Flaco throws a nice Steve ball. Those receivers can beat you.
They'd love to take some shots. I just don't know
if they have the luxury to be able to do
that against Green Bay, especially again with Orlando Brown, who's
allowed four sacks and seventeen pressures. Bottom five right tackle

(21:49):
Amarius Simms, former number one pick a couple of years ago.
He's given up a couple of sacks and a ton
of pressures. There's just not a strength up front, and
this defense just has to be licking its chops. I
just Jeff Hafley was being paraded as a head coach
in waiting after Week two, and now we're coming off
a forty point performance. Well, okay, thirty eight if you

(22:11):
don't call the two point turnaround on the block field goal. Still,
the defense took some shots and you know, they want
to show there much more than what they showed against Dallas.
And part of that was Dak was great that night.
You know, Dak was terrific and they had a good
game plan again, same thing, get rid of the ball quickly,
take the pass rush out of the ball out of
the game. That's going to be the blueprint for Cincinnati today.

(22:34):
What I'm most interested in, I know Packer fans are too,
is is this the week? And I do believe it
will be that this team gets multiple takeaways. You know
that we've been scratching our head. This is the calling
card for this defense a year ago is creating turnovers.
Xavier McKinney had what six picks the first six weeks
something like that. The team was among the best in

(22:55):
taking the ball away. It was a big time focus
during training camp about it all throughout the summer. The
focus on knocking the ball out, taking the ball away,
that's a calling card for this defense. And a lot
of folks from outside the organization looked at the Packers
defense said well, that's not gonna that is not repeatable.
You're likely to regress when it comes to turnovers. Most teams,

(23:17):
when they get a ton of turnovers one year, they
don't get at the next. It's like when you win
a ton of one score games one year, typically it
goes the other way, and we've seen that with teams
like the Vikings and now Washington. I feel like this
is the day that this team takes the ball away
a couple of times.

Speaker 3 (23:34):
They only have two turnovers through four games.

Speaker 5 (23:37):
One was that McKinney pick against Cleveland that was really
almost like a punt.

Speaker 3 (23:41):
He just kind of threw it away.

Speaker 5 (23:43):
So how surprised are you, Brett that this defense who
has made it known that that's what we do. We
take the ball away. We've got guys that can knock
the ball. They haven't forced a fumble yet through four games.
And again it's just four games. There's a lot left
and they tend to come in bunches. Is it a
big area of concern or do you think these things
just kind of even out?

Speaker 2 (24:04):
Well, you hope they even out.

Speaker 8 (24:05):
I don't know if we can make a one week
trade for Isaiah Rodgers because after his performance against the Bengals.
We'll take those turnovers any day of the week. It
seemed like they were not very secure with the ball,
easily punch out a ble and I think that there is,
you know, a pass rush induced interception waiting to happen

(24:26):
in this game if they can get in time.

Speaker 2 (24:29):
And again the Bengals Woll line. It's just not good.

Speaker 8 (24:31):
You hope that, you hope that it evens out over
the long term, but it's just what we've been waiting
and dying for, just anything as far as takeaways.

Speaker 2 (24:41):
So hopefully we see that today.

Speaker 8 (24:42):
I think it's very likely given the way the Bengals,
the track record of them giving the ball away is
very high.

Speaker 5 (24:47):
That's what I was just going to say. They are
last in the league. They've given up the most balls,
eleven giveaways. Most of that is Browning throwing terrible interceptions.
I think he had half of them against the Vikings.
So I don't know that you can kind of Flacco
to be that much that benevolent with the football, but
this team has not been good protecting the ball. It
feels like a day maybe it's not a pick six,
but maybe he is a couple of interceptions that just

(25:08):
keeps the route going. I mean, this is, you know,
the one game on the schedule the rest of the way,
maybe Carolina in a few weeks. Although that's a better
team than you think. Their defense is better and their
quarterbacks getting better. That's the other game on the calendar
where you go, Okay, those are a couple of home games.
The way things have fallen into place that you should
feel pretty good about your chances. I mean, imagine, if

(25:29):
you're playing Philly this week. You know that looks like
the toughest game on the schedule and a Monday night
and about a month. But Philly looks completely lost right now.
A month from now, they might look like an entirely
different team. So we can talk about yeah, Carolina, that
should be easy. Well maybe not Cincinnati though, what they're
going through. Man, they get up to a two and
zero start, and they're daring to dream in Cincinnati that

(25:50):
all right, we've got our guy, we've got our receivers,
things are clicking, and then he goes down and it
just just destroys your season. And that's what since and
that he's going through right now. And the last place
they want to go is to a team that is
rested coming off of buy that's angry, that has it
won in a few weeks, that's looking to take out
their frustrations on anybody.

Speaker 3 (26:11):
They're going to get the packed today when we come back.

Speaker 5 (26:13):
Let's look at the Packers offense against the Bengals defense.
Let's look at the special team situation, some possible trade
stuff to talk about, and when will we see Christian Watson?
All that coming up. Final segment Packer Preview after these Well.

Speaker 1 (26:27):
I'm proud to be a Packer than the best football
fans and all the land got a Packer.

Speaker 2 (26:34):
Fangs and it's a Packer fan eye.

Speaker 9 (26:52):
The energy see me here today? Used to be ju say.

Speaker 5 (27:42):
Oh yeah, I'm going to be back at Lambeau for
the first time in a month. As I mentioned, the
only home game in the month of October for the
Packers is the Bengals come to town three twenty five,
kickoff today locally televised. I'll remind you to listen to
our Packer Review podcast every Monday following up Packer games.
Brett and I do a podcast every Monday morning gets posted,

(28:03):
so check in for that. Just head to the iHeart
app search for Packer Preview, where You can listen to
this show as well as our Packer Review podcasts, available
every Monday, as we break down what we see on
the field today. Of course, Packers and Bengals going up
against each other of another AFC battle where Matt Lafleur
has feasted as Packer coach over the years. Let's talk

(28:25):
about the Packers offense against the Bengals defense. We've spent
a good chuck of time talking about how this defense
for Green Bay should have its way with an overmatched
offensive line and a brand new quarterback all that stuff.
There is a bigger discrepancy on the other side with
the Packers offense against the thirtieth ranked Cincinnati defense. They

(28:45):
moved on from their defensive coordinator Louis Morello, who's doing
a nice job in Indy. Al Golden comes in and
it has gotten worse. It's funny. The Bengals have a
bit of a Packer feel to their defense. We know TJ.
Slayton landed there in free agency. Mike remember him, He's
on the team, Orrin Burk's former Packer linebackers on the team,
so they got some familiar faces, you know. Talking about

(29:08):
the DeVante wide injury, maybe they just asked TJ. Slayton
to stick around after the game. I wouldn't mind swinging
a deal to get Slayton back. I'm sure he's looking
at the team around him, going all right, I got paid,
but man, oh man, I didn't sign up for this.
It's been a disaster for the Bengals defense. They can
stop nobody outside of their all world pass rusher Trey Hendrickson.

Speaker 3 (29:30):
We talked about him.

Speaker 5 (29:32):
Their secondary gets torched on a weekly basis, and this
Packer offense. Although the Cincinnati or the sorry the Cleveland
game obviously against that defense, the offense did absolutely nothing.
But the other three times we've seen this offense, they
have moved the ball very effectively, mostly through the air.
We still haven't seen the ground game goal like we
saw last year. We certainly saw it perk up against Dallas,

(29:55):
especially in the second half, whether it was Josh Jacobs
or Emmanuel Wilson. Green Bay finally got that running game going,
and Brett Jacobs talked this week about you know, if
you look back at my.

Speaker 3 (30:04):
Career, it always takes me three four weeks to.

Speaker 5 (30:08):
Kind of get in that groove and feel like on
myself again and get the running game going, and certainly
you can point to the issues up front and the
revolving door of the Packers' offensive line through the first
four weeks. They haven't had their preferred unit, you know,
in a few weeks now, and to be honest, when
they were healthy the first two weeks, the running game
wasn't great either. But again Jacobs has talked about where

(30:30):
that's kind of how it goes for me. When we
get to week five, six seven, now I'm starting to
get into my groove. We'll talk about the passing game,
which should just do what they want today. But I
do think this is a day where Josh Jacobs gets
that one hundred yard day, that the Packer running game
looks like it did in twenty twenty four, and that's
what's going to open everything up for this offense. So

(30:51):
I'm really anxious to see this Packer running game against
Cincinnati today.

Speaker 8 (30:55):
You know, I felt the same way. I do feel
the same way that it has been slow. But I
was looking just at his fantasy numbers, and fantasy numbers
don't mean everything, but fourteen points, fourteen points, twelve points
against Cleveland or and then thirty one points against the
Cowboys I mean, he has been a producer and then
the stats are okay, but it just feels like there
wasn't that explosiveness. The you know, the run against Miami

(31:19):
last year where he makes a guy miss has a
textbook juke that looks like straight out of Madden and
goes for like forty some yards. There just hasn't been
that breakout run, dominant run yet. So hopefully that is
the case because it has been an issue. Has it
been an achilles heel? I wouldn't say so, but you'd
like to see that, especially that being them of our
offense last year.

Speaker 5 (31:39):
Yeah, I think today is where it starts. And I'm
anxious to see Marshall Lloyd get a little run. I
know I keep sort of hanging on to what he
might become, and he just might be one of those
guys that's always injured, but he's working his way back
into shape. I don't know if he's ready yet, but
I'm anxious to see him get a little run. But
Emmanuel Wilson certainly looks like a guy that can be
that second guy if it never does step up to

(32:01):
the plate. So we'll see the other running game goes.
As I mentioned, Love has been just short of spectacular.
He is back in the MVP conversation. Just look at
the stats, passer rating, touchdowns to interceptions, third down efficiency.

Speaker 3 (32:14):
He's been great. And again you go back to that
Dallas game, whether.

Speaker 5 (32:17):
There's forty seconds left and you got to get a
field goal, whether you're trailing again, you got to move
down the field and score. He did that three times
last week where the Pack was trailing, or two weeks
ago where the Pack was trailing and he scored a touchdown.
A couple times he led them to field goals. I
mean five times he got the ball second half down
and led the team to points. So he is moving
into his groove and feel feeling good about what he's got.

(32:40):
And of course we know he's not got his full
compliment of players, not just the receivers, but when you
don't have offensive linemen that you know you can trust,
it does change how Lafleur calls a game and how
Love executes on the field. And the fact that it
looks like you'll have his lineman back today, he should
feel more comfortable and shouldn't feel too stress by Cincinnati.

(33:01):
As far as the playmakers go, we expect Tuckerkraft to
be productive as usual, Romeo Dobbs coming off the three
touchdown performance. The common question Packer fans ask and NFL
Nation asks is when is the.

Speaker 3 (33:14):
Matthew Golden breakout game? Coming?

Speaker 5 (33:17):
You know, I keep he pointed in games because because
Dallas is thought, all right, this could be the one,
because Dallas their secondary is getting healthier, but they're not
very good and it could be a shootout, which it was,
and we didn't see Golden go crazy. And I'm not
expecting Golden to go crazy, but it feels like they're
asked a question so often that at some point Green
Bay is going to say, let's just take some shots,
let's get him some stats, and let's not be asked

(33:39):
a question about Matthew Golden. I am zero concerned as
I watched guys like Ibuka from Tampa Bay, another rookie
running a receiver who's off to a fantastic start. They
have no other receivers. They're all hurt over there in Tampa.
He's gotten a great opportunity and I love him. He's
going to be a great wide receiver. It might very
well be much better than Golden down the road, but
Golden hasn't got those opportunities yet. We'll talk about his

(34:02):
special team's prowess or lack thereof in a moment. But
as a receiver, you know, again, if you get up today,
the script might not call for a game where you
have to take deep shots to Matthew Golden, but at
some point I feel like they're going to try to
force that into the game plan because again, what makes
him different is the speed. And we know he's got
great route running, great hands, he's got all those things

(34:23):
you want. He's also got the speed that until Watson
comes back and we see if he's one hundred percent,
nobody else has that. I do want to see if
they just try to stretch the field and try to
hit on some big plays with Golden today, it.

Speaker 8 (34:35):
Would be fun. It might get into a game management mode.
That's the hope, right. The hope is that it's boring
by the second quarter and we won't even need to
take shots at Golden because the offense moves the ball
so well. The thing for me with Golden, yeah, it
hasn't happened. As a Golden fantasy owner, that stinks. But
last week or not last week, two weeks ago in
Dallas game on the line, fourth down, who'd they throw

(34:58):
to Matthew Golden and makes a diving kind of sliding
catch Ice cold and that saves the game once again
for the pack So the fact that Love has that
amount of confidence in him, uh, he did. They say
he has the best hands on the team. So it's
I think it's only a matter of time. I don't
want to be the boy who cried Golden and call

(35:19):
for it every week, but he's just so talented it's
only a matter of time for the user.

Speaker 3 (35:23):
Yeah, so that's something to watch today.

Speaker 5 (35:25):
You know, again, without Reid, without Watson, there are still
opportunities for these other guys to step up and make
plays and show that there's room for them. When those
guys get back, it's going to be a while for
Reid obviously, probably you know, Thanksgiving ish, it sounds like
around that time of year. With Watson, we know he
returned to practice this week. He had said several weeks
ago that if the Packers were at a playoff game,

(35:46):
he would be ready to play.

Speaker 3 (35:47):
He feels one percent, and.

Speaker 5 (35:49):
Even coming out of practices this week he said, you know,
I do feel like I'm one hundred percent it's all
about stacking those one hundred percent days. The team wants
to see me feel that way for a week before
they turn me loose. And so they opened up the
twenty one day window, which means they have three weeks
to decide whether to put him on the roster. And

(36:10):
you know, if you think about the Packers' history, they
tend to use most of that time just to be
absolutely sure. He's still just nine months removed from a
torn a cl and he's a guy that relies on speed.
So you know, if he's close to being back but
doesn't have that speed, well then you're missing a key
component to what makes him special. So I'm in the

(36:31):
camp where all right, look at the schedule, right, it's Cincinnati, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Carolina.
You know what's the worst case scenario over those four
weeks three and one? You know, the Pittsburgh game's obviously
the mediast I know you're shaking your head up me
like day.

Speaker 3 (36:47):
Why are you doing that? But we're just asking for
trouble now, I know.

Speaker 5 (36:51):
But I do think this team is special and they're
not going to drop the ball today. They're not going
to drop the ball in Arizona, especially if Kyler Murray's
not playing. It's the team that just three touchdown lead
to Tennessee at home. They're not you know, the Packers
should have their way with these next two opponents. Pittsburgh
on a Sunday night against Aaron Rodgers and all that
comes with that and that defense. That's a tricky game,

(37:11):
no question. And then you get Carolina at home, I guess.
And then we know after Carolina it's Minnesota, if Philly Detroit,
you know, it gets meaty. Even the Giants game art, Yeah,
even the Giants game suddenly looks like it might be
kind of tricky the way the Giants seem to have resurrected.
So again, there's no need to force feed Christian Watson,

(37:33):
you know, if you tell me right now, if it
were up to me, and I am an owner, so
I'm waiting for a call. I'd love to see him
come back for Carolina at Lambeau. Just sprinkle him in,
just get his feet wet, run him ten to fifteen,
twenty plays, knock the rust off, because that's what he's
talked about too, obviously, as I'm played football in a

(37:54):
long time. And then you know, if he's feeling good
coming out of Carolina. He's full go for Monday Night
against Philly, and it'd be nice to have him and
Golden on the field because again that's when they drafted Golden.
What we dreamed about was all right, if and when
Watson gets back and becomes that speed guy. Now, this
offensive wide receiver room which just lacks speed, that's the

(38:16):
one component they didn't have. Now could have two guys
that you can send down the field, and how do
you defend two guys that are faster than anybody on
the other side of the field. I just want to
see that element on this team for the last third
of the season. So I'm in no hurry to see
Christian Watson on the field, even though I know he's
dying to get out there.

Speaker 8 (38:33):
Yeah, I kind of feel a little bit of the opposite.
I wouldn't put him out there this week and just
followed here you go. But I don't think we have
a turf game until the Giants November.

Speaker 3 (38:43):
Sixteenth, and that's a bad field.

Speaker 2 (38:45):
It's a really bad field.

Speaker 8 (38:46):
So I think everything else is grass as far as
Arizona is, Pittsburgh is, oh Carolina might be a turfield regard.

Speaker 3 (38:51):
No, that's at Lamba.

Speaker 2 (38:52):
Oh, that's right, that's at Lambo. That's right.

Speaker 8 (38:55):
I just I think if he thinks he's ready, I
mean they put him out. They put Tom out and
he was not ready and it cost him. So I
guess that's more evidence to go to the contrary. I
just think you need the if he's ready to go
and rearing to go, even if you give him a
snap count. Micah Parsons esque, I'd be okay with. But
I think overall, I'm not saying I'm out. They've got

(39:18):
to win me back. It's more of I'm cooling the
super Bowl contender. Like I looked at the odds earlier,
Doctors are the third highest odds to win the Super Bowl.
Right now, Bill's Lions, Packers. I still have to cool
the rhetoric for at least these next four games. I
want to see him get through and take care of
business against you know, three pretty bad teams and one

(39:39):
okay team in the Steelers. If they can do that
and come out four and oh, three and one, then
I'll start to get the delusional rhetoric that I'm known for,
and we'll bring that back.

Speaker 5 (39:49):
In close circuit to Max and River Falls, who texted
in saying make him knock on wood Brett Dave's jinxing
as hard. Yes, I don't have that power to jinx
the power. I'd like to think I have that kind
of power.

Speaker 3 (40:00):
I don't. I'm just looking at this is a very
good team. As you said, we.

Speaker 5 (40:04):
Don't feel great about them because they haven't won a
game in a month, but they're still the third pick
to win the Super Bowl and Jordan Love is still
a top five MVP candidate as a very talented team
that needs to clean things up on special teams, which
is where we will go next, because that's how you
let a team like this feel good and feel like
they have life. If your special teams implodes and until

(40:24):
they play a clean game, I will worry about special
teams on every level, except when Daniel Wheelin's on the
field punting, because I don't worry about him. We talked
about Randon McManus's injury. Whether he goes today, that's obviously
a concern. It doesn't sound like a long term concern.
Let's start with the concerns on the punt return units.
They have put the two rookies back there. Savinn Williams

(40:45):
returning kicks, Golden returning punts. It was an abject disaster
against Dallas. It basically turned the game. Do they roll
out those same two guys? Have they? Todd Savinn Williams
the kickoff rules during the bye where he understands what
he's supposed to do. And I'm not knocking the rookies.
Neither one of them were big time return guys, and
Green Bay doesn't have one. And maybe Keyshawn Nixon though

(41:08):
he doesn't want to return kicks anymore, and he's you
number one corner, you don't really want to expose him.
And maybe today's not the day. But maybe as this
thing goes along and the games get more serious, they
decide to turn to their veterans. Bo Melton was out
there a little bit as well, so maybe they make
some changes. But again, when you feel like you have
a chance to compete, to go late into January, the

(41:30):
last thing you want to worry about is your special
teams and starts with the returners. You can go with
the kick return the kick coverage units as well, giving
up big returns, you know, and even you know, just
knowing where to kick the ball off. Look, how good
Brandon Aubrey was for Dallas. Putting that ball in the
perfect spot be helpful. If Green Bay could be more
adept at that. It all turns back to rich Bisacia

(41:50):
not really delivering on not only his paycheck, but just
showing progress not only week to week, but year to year.
It's a constant refrain from us, from acker fans everywhere.
Special teams are an adventure. And if they learned anything
over this bye week, Brett, I hope they've figured out
a way to block field goals, you know, put those

(42:11):
starters out there and that roll out, you know, guys
that don't normally play on those plays. Let's get that
figured out, and let's just make the return game just adequate.
I don't need Desmond Howard like returns here. Just handle
your business. Be an average. Your your offense and defense
are so solid that it's special teams that can turn

(42:32):
you pair shape. So that's what I've been thinking about
during bywek.

Speaker 8 (42:36):
Well, you mentioned Brandon aubreying his ability to put it
on the one yard line. Thankfully we have veteran kicker
who should be able to do Okay, Well, maybe we
don't believe that's how that goes to me, it's the
kickoff blocking is my biggest buggaboo. I mean, obviously the
block kicks go without saying the blockfield goals, that's number one.
But the fact that against Dallas against Cleveland, it felt

(42:58):
like every time best case area, the Packers got the
ball to twenty, if not worse, just by taking a
touchback and.

Speaker 2 (43:04):
Bringing in the end zone.

Speaker 8 (43:06):
Every single time the opponent got a kickoff, we're talking
thirty five, maybe forty, even past the forty, it's a disaster.
I don't know if that's you know, kicking it left
and pitting them, or if it's doing the Brandon Aubrey
trying to land it on the one, but I just
don't think they're good enough to do that. And then
the blocking and trying and pursuit is just terrible. So
that's I'm actually looking. I'm probably gonna focus on the

(43:29):
kickoffs more than I've ever focused on the kickofs today
at three twenty five.

Speaker 5 (43:32):
Yeah, you hate to go to the minutia like, well,
special teams is a disaster, but it has been and
you got to clean that up, all right. Last couple
of minutes. Trade deadlines three weeks away one name is
bubbled up in the last couple of days that teams
have reportedly been calling the Packers about kings Lee and Nigbari,
who has kind of seeing his role diminished. She's only
played twenty eight snaps the last two weeks. Obviously, you

(43:52):
bring in Micah Parsons, you want to give Lucas fan
nes Moore Roun, You've got Rashan Gary. That's three guys
right there. You drafted Sorel from Texas, so you like
and so there might be an opportunity there to move
on from Enigbari, who has had his moments. He's certainly
a really nice special teams player as well, and even
when he's been forced into pass rushing duty last year,
he had some nice place But I am all four

(44:15):
if a team's willing to give you a mid round
draft pick or whatever it might be. I don't see
a runway for him as a free agent after this season,
so he's not going to be on the team next year.
I think it sounds like the NFL is gonna have
a lot of trades these next few weeks. I don't
know if Green Bay will be involved. After making the
biggest one in years but I have no problem moving
on from fifty five.

Speaker 8 (44:34):
You well, they regained some draft capital that they lost.
It wouldn't be the biggest defensive player in this matchup
to potentially get traded. Talking about Hendrickson, maybe I'm fine
with it. I'm I don't like giving up depth, especially
how injury prone this team and just football in general
makes people.

Speaker 2 (44:54):
But if they get some capital back, I'm okay with it.

Speaker 5 (44:57):
Yeah, they've got four Breton is still a nice player
as well. They've got four or five guys. I think
there that's one position they could move on from. All right,
I'll let's wrap her up. How are you feeling? What
do you expect to go down at Lambeau this afternoon?

Speaker 8 (45:12):
It should be an easy win. It should be a
take care business at home, no less three twenty five kick.
Their old line is terrible. They've got a quarterback who
just got there who's old, and a statue, and you've
got a defense that has holes in it.

Speaker 2 (45:30):
Besides Hendrickson, it is really good.

Speaker 8 (45:33):
There's no reason the Pack shouldn't cover that spread and
then some today. But I'm still just hedging, you know,
just give me a little bit of that confidence boost.
I need just a little bit to go from They
should win, and I hope they do win. I think
they will too. They're definitely gonna win, and we're going
all the way and we're going to the big Game.
So we need a little bit more confidence going here.

(45:53):
And it's as good of an opportunity as ever.

Speaker 3 (45:55):
Yeah, I'm with you.

Speaker 5 (45:56):
You could read my preview as always at zonecoverage dot com.
Click on the pack helmet and look for the head
cheese page. You'll see my preview along with a lot
of other really nice writers covering the Green and Gold.
I've got it, Pack thirty one Bengals ten today. I
expect the defense to strut. I expect the defense to
take the ball away multiple times. This should be the
easiest game left on the schedule. And I know they're

(46:18):
not not all you know, loser proof. Look at Cleveland.

Speaker 3 (46:21):
I get it.

Speaker 5 (46:22):
This team is on a whole different level than this
Bengals team, and Joe Flacco is going to be in
for a world of hurt. He might beat the team
once or twice with a deep throat to number one
or two, number five. They're two stud receivers, but the
Packers are not going to slip up at Lambeau in
October against an AFC team where Lafleur's record stands alone
against the AFC. Packers win this one, they start looking

(46:44):
again like that team we expect to see. It's time
to start stacking wins against teams you are expected to beat.
You get a break by not facing Joe Burrow today,
You may not face Kyler Murray the next week. Then
here comes Aaron Rodgers on Sunday Night Football. Take care
of the football. Micah Parsons and Rashan Gary should feast today,

(47:05):
and Jordan Love and Josh Jacob should as well. This
is just one of those games. We're Green Bays hitting
a team at the right time. Enjoy the game at
three twenty five today and reminder, listen to Packer Review
tomorrow with Breton me. We'll have the podcast up in
the morning as we reflect what we hope is a
big time Packer victory and a three to one and
one record as they hit the road for a couple

(47:27):
of weeks. Enjoy your football today. Thanks for waking up
early and listening to us.

Speaker 3 (47:31):
We'll hear you. We'll listen to you tomorrow morning.

Speaker 5 (47:33):
We're back next Sunday, enjoy the game and as always
go pack