Packer Preview: Week 7 at Cardinals

The FANs Dave Sinykin breaks down the Packers game against the Cardinals in Arizona.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time for Packers Preview again. B I'm talking about
the Packer and the Super Bowl.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
We're gone win again, according to your host David Sinnacon.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
Will win on the road, We'll win at home. We'll
even win in the US Bank Stadium.

Speaker 3 (00:22):
Bugs fans can call it, but 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 Sinnakin.

Speaker 5 (00:42):
Good morning, Packer fans. This is the week seven edition
of Packer Preview on the Sports Leader and the home
of the Vikings KFA and Radio. Game Day, another chance
for the pack to stay atop the NFC North. You're
Green Bay Packers on the road this afternoon to take
on the Arizona Cardinals, a three twenty five pick off
as the Pack looks for its first road victory of

(01:04):
the season. I bring in Brett Blake Moore as we
share that we actually have recorded this program a couple
of days ago. I just tried to deal with your
travel plans, make sure that you are taking care of
you are on the road this weekend, so we had
to record this a couple of days early. We wish
you a safe travels as you visit your grandmother and
celebrate her amazing life.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
Sir, thank you very much.

Speaker 6 (01:27):
I appreciate you accommodating me and having you talk some
pack I'm very confident hopefully they look like the superior
form that they did in week one a week two,
because I was a little less than convinced last week.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
And that's where we'll begin.

Speaker 5 (01:40):
We don't do too much looking back on Packer preview,
as you know, and there's now a Packer Review podcast
available the morning after Packer games where Brett and I
react to what the Packers did. But I think we
have to go back for a moment to the Bengals game,
the twenty seven eighteen victory, because I think we all
left wanting a little bit more looking maybe maybe looking
for style points from this team that you know, starts

(02:02):
out defensively and just is mowing everybody over, and then
the second half it looks like an entirely different unit.
We'll get to the defense in a moment. The offense
absolutely held up its end of the deal. Josh Jacobs
had a Josh Jacob's day with one hundred and fifty yards.
Jordan Love was spectacular outside of maybe one play, but

(02:23):
converting on third downs at a clip that virtually no
other quarterback is. Finding Matthew Golden for some key plays,
including the big one that basically put the game on ice.
But like all Packer fans, you come away thinking this
was a one possession game with a couple of minutes
to go at home, against a team that brought in
their quarterback four days ago, that lost its best pass

(02:45):
rusher in the middle of the game. You just you
want style points. You want to put your foot on
a team like this neck and say go away. And
the fact that Green Bay didn't do it and we
kind of had to maybe not hold our breaths but
be concerned till the final gun is not exactly what
we're looking for from this Green and Goal team.

Speaker 6 (03:06):
Right, Yeah, you would think the expectations are higher than that.
But again it's also on the other side, you're going, well,
it's not easy to win in the NFL, and they
get paid to and they have good players as well,
and their elite receivers showed out. So the hope is
that another injured team, another questionable quarterback, you would hope

(03:26):
that you would have a better performance. But if you
want to be negative, you can be negative. If you
want to be positive, you can be positive. I think
there's enough evidence for either side.

Speaker 5 (03:34):
I'd say there are thirty one other fan bases that
are in the exact same boat. There's not one fan base,
not one team that feels just oh my goodness. Maybe
the Colts because they're so surprisingly on top at five
and one, but you get my drift. If you're a
contending team that feels like they have a shot, whether
it's the Bills or the Eagles, the Chiefs, the Ravens,

(03:55):
everybody seems to have problems. And for the Packers it's
been second half defense. We had been complaining about special teams.
It was a pretty clean day on special teams last week,
led by the replacement kicker Lucas Haversik, who was perfect.
Might be needed again today. No big gaffs on returns.
Coverage was okay. So from that standpoint, special teams and offense,

(04:16):
we're fine. Defense has us scratching our head a bit
about a lot of things, and we will get to that.
But we'll look forward to the Arizona Cardinals, a team
I think for me Brett. The big thing today is
matching urgency, matching the urgency of a team that's coming
in riding a four game losing streak, and it's easy
to go, well, this is the same old Cardinals. They're

(04:38):
two and four, they're terrible. They've lost four in a row.
This should be no problem. The four losses that they
have gone through are as heartbreaking as it gets. You
almost can't make it up. If you go back to
week three, they lose by one point to San Francisco
on a walk off field goal. The next week they
lose on a walk off field goal to the Seattle Seahawks.

(05:00):
Five was their meltdown against Tennessee where they're about to
go up twenty eight to six in the fourth quarter,
but they're running back. Let's go with the ball before
the goal line. Colts get the ball, The Titans get
the ball and engineer the most unlikely fourth quarter comeback
and collapse by the Cardinals that started on that play.

(05:21):
And they lose at home to the Tennessee Titans. And
then last week try to put that game behind them.
They go to Indy. They had three fourth quarter leads
on the road against the once beaten Colts, had the lead,
light Indie scored late to take the lead and win
thirty one to twenty seven. Even still, they were marching
down inside the ten yard line to win the game

(05:43):
before they ran out of downs using a backup quarterback.
So four basically heartbreaking losses for the Cardinals, who had
started out two and one and looked like they're going
to still be in the mix and that very tightly
contested NFC West, and maybe they will be, but they've
lost four in a row. It's desperation time, and you know,

(06:03):
I worry a little bit when you're playing a team
that knows maybe their season is resting on this game.
Whereas Green Bay they can't match that desperation factor. They
could be angry about how they performed the last few weeks,
but they're not looking like they're seasons in flux. So
I'm a little concerned about the desperation factor against the
Cardinals today.

Speaker 6 (06:23):
Yeah, we talk about this every seems like every week
all the time is coming out hot and coming out
with a sense of urgency. And it's something that you
say a lot, and it doesn't seem like it happens
all that much. It happens every once in a while,
but it's not consistent enough as we'd like to see.
But even though, like Jacoby brisseaid at a three hundred
and twenty yards, two touchdowns, interception a nine point two

(06:46):
rating last week, it's fine, It's not great. But Love,
I mean, I can't stop singing the praise of Love
this season. I mean, nine touchdowns, two picks, two fifty
one yards per game, and he's a six ranked Power
or Pro Football focused quarterback of the season. I mean,
the guy is not getting enough flowers, despite one bone
headed throw that he made last week. I just think

(07:09):
when you have elite play like that, it's easy to
maybe overcome some of those flaws.

Speaker 5 (07:14):
It is, and when you throw a pick like he
did last week, you tend to focus on that and
not everything else that went around that. To your point
on Joinal Love the stats on third down this season,
he has more completions of fifteen plus yards, fourteen of
them than any other quarterback on third down. He's second
in PFF passing grade on third down, second in yards

(07:36):
per attempt, and first in conversion percentage. Maybe the most
important third down stat there is at fifty one and
a half percent, that laps the field on third down
and if you even go further to like third and
seven or more ridiculous conversion. So on key in key moments,
Love has been spectacular and I can't wait to see

(07:56):
what's ahead. As this team gets healthier, the offensive line
gets healthier, and obviously some of his receivers get healthier
as well.

Speaker 1 (08:04):
Beginning of a two game trip.

Speaker 5 (08:05):
As you know, next Sunday is the game we all
circled when the calendar came out, The Aaron Rodgers game
primetime at Pittsburgh. You know, we'll talk much about that
obviously next week. That's one that I think fans are
more interested than the players. Like as fans, you go, well,
don't look ahead to Pittsburgh. I don't you know. Maybe
some of the old heads in that locker room, the

(08:26):
really close friends of Rodgers, are looking ahead. But I'm
not real concerned that this team is looking past. In
Arizona Cardinals team, they know they have not been great
on the road. They know they have to establish something
away from home, and this is their first opportunity to
do it. The Packers come in as the only team
to have led by double digits in every game this season,

(08:47):
which is pretty remarkable and the fact that they didn't
win two of those games is not so good either.
They are the only team also that does not allowed
a point in the first quarter, so a quick start
is what you expect. That's what we've seen all year,
and in this game against the Arizona Cardinals, we got
history with This series goes back to nineteen twenty one

(09:08):
the Chicago Cardinals. It's the ninety eighth meeting between these
two teams. I'm pretty sure that outside of the division opponents,
this might be the Packers' most common opponent the Cardinals,
which you would not think, but again goes back to
the twenties thirties forties when this team was in Chicago,
when they played twice a year. This is a division
that Matt Lafleur loves to play. He's eleven to one

(09:30):
against the NFC West in the regular season, and Green
Bay comes in, as you all know, one of just
four teams in the NFL with just one loss so far.
As we head into Week seven of the season, and
the key storyline is the health of Kyler Murray, who
as we sit here at the end of the week,
we have no idea if Kyler Murray is going to play.

(09:51):
He is limited in practice both Wednesday Thursday, as far
as we know, dealing with a foot injury. Missed last
week's game. But I think it's safe to sa say
whether it's Murray or Brissett, we're not going to see
vintage Kyler Murray in that the two way threat.

Speaker 1 (10:08):
He's got a foot injury. He's going to be careful.

Speaker 5 (10:10):
He's not going to be full out, one hundred percent
ready to move on that foot. So taking away the
danger element of Kyler Murray makes the Packers defense a
little makes things a bit easier for them. I think
Brissett's a better passer of the football, I do. I
think I think the passing game is more lethal if
Brissett is out there. And you mentioned his stats last week,
a three hundred yard day at Indy, But you gotta

(10:33):
also remember about that the Colts were down virtually their
entire secondary of that game. They had all backups in
a cornerback and so yes, nice day. He's facing a
much different defense today. And when a backup quarterback comes in,
you tend to see them do very well the first
game and then plummet back to earth in game two. Now,

(10:54):
this is not a quarterback that's making his first start.
Brissett's probably started fifty games in this league, but you
always see sort of regression the second week. So I'm
curious whether it's Brissett or Kyler Murray, whether either of
them can have a lot of success against a Packer
defense that by and large, and we'll dive into the defense.
Obviously this morning by and large has been very good

(11:15):
so far.

Speaker 6 (11:16):
Yeah, I was gonna say if even if it was
full strength. I mean, I'm trying to look back at
our schedule. Have the Packers defense really had this version
of the defense had a running quarterback that closest to
be Jayden Daniels. I mean, and Dak Prescott can run.
I wouldn't call him a running quarterback. So, but the
Packers d has a lot of speed. I management Cooper
and Micah Parsons can run down just about anybody. But

(11:38):
I don't think we're even gonna get that even if
Kyler does play because of the foot.

Speaker 1 (11:43):
So if you make him.

Speaker 6 (11:44):
A pocket passer, you know, is it a toss up
between Brissett or Kyler? I don't know. I am confident, Well,
I'm not confident, but I'm hopeful. I'm optimistic that the
defense can show up because the last the last week,
they were okay, but in the second half, I don't know.
They have to figure out something with the second half
because whatever they're doing needs to change.

Speaker 1 (12:05):
Yeah, we'll get to that next segment.

Speaker 5 (12:07):
Let's quickly go through the Packers' injury report as we
know it here a couple of days before the games
we record the show. Lucas van Nest will miss this
game with a foot injury. Sounds like he dodged a
serious injury, which is great. The Packers did bring in
four edge rushers to work out earlier in the week.
That's not all doom and gloom. They cut an edge
rusher off the practice squad, so just looking to replace him.

(12:28):
But certainly know Lucas van Nest today and we'll see
how long he sidelined. DeVante Wyatt will miss another game, though, Hey,
he has returned to individual working out like working himself
back into shape, so it sounds like it won't be
long for DeVante Wyatt. But those two members of the
defense will not be out there. It looks like Javon
Bullard should be fine. There was talk of a concussion

(12:50):
after the game last week. It turns out he was
never in the concussion protocol and he practiced this week.
He should be good to go. Dantevi on Wicks injured
and ankle less, returned to practice on Thursday and should
be good. They get Belting back, the rookie offensive lineman
who's been out since Week three. He is back at
practice and we'll see if he works into the mix

(13:12):
on the offensive line. Zach Tom came through that game
and said he was in so much pain during that game,
like he was a hurting puppy. Mispracticed on Wednesday, but
did come back on Thursday, and you know, unless he
has a setback, it sounds like Zach Tom we'll be
back manning the right tackle spot. Then there's the kicker,
Bretdon McManus, who, as we record this show, is not

(13:34):
practiced this week. Harsick is still with the club, So
it sounds like that quad injury still bugging Brandon McManus.
Just a little bit nice to know Haversick could step
in in a pinch, and if it's another game or two,
let's make sure McManus is squared away, because obviously he
is a big weapon for this team, so all in all,

(13:55):
you know, not the cleanest injury report. There were fourteen
guys listed on Wednesday, but just a few mispractice. As
we move along in the week, nothing real stunning, nothing
real concerning. We want Wyatt in van Ness back as
quickly as possible, but Cardinals are about as banged up
as Green Bay.

Speaker 6 (14:13):
As I say, one thing to watch too that I'm
looking forward to see if Christian Watson can go, Lafleur said,
we'll see. As earlier in the week, he said, it
looks great, trying to build up where we feel comfortable
with him performing, also where he feels he has enough
practice in as well. But we'll see, because I think
last week he said no, just straight up he's not playing,
So we'll see.

Speaker 1 (14:33):
Is an upgrade from a no.

Speaker 6 (14:35):
And I think even in a limited fashion, he would
bring a different element to this Packers offense That would
help a ton.

Speaker 5 (14:39):
Oh, it would help a ton. I'm still of the
opinion we're not going to see him till Carolina in
two weeks. You heard about the field at Akrasher Field
in Pittsburgh. The players talked about it earlier this week
that the field conditions were appalling in last week Steelers game,
and to the point where they pulled the soot out
after the game and replaced it. They're all blaming the

(15:00):
Pittsburgh Panthers college team for wrecking the field. But you know,
if you've got a guy coming off in ACL and
you're concerned at least at one iota about the playing surface,
you don't play him. I'm if you tell me right now,
Christian Watson's full go against Carolina in two weeks. I
can wait because I'm nervous about that playing service in
Pittsburgh next week.

Speaker 6 (15:22):
Well, we get grass the rest of the way. So
I don't know, if I've seen the reports, I don't
know if that's worse than maybe playing at the Giants
or something he'd rather, but it's grass in Arizona.

Speaker 1 (15:34):
I don't know. I just I'm excited.

Speaker 6 (15:35):
I don't want to rush him back, but I am
excited enough to see what he can do. And he
you know, he said if it was an NFC championship
game a couple weeks ago, he'd be playing. So what
does that mean? Because a player can say that easy
for them to say, but the training staff might have
a different idea.

Speaker 5 (15:49):
You know, after the Carolina game. In a couple of weeks,
you know, it goes Philadelphia at the Giants, Vikings, Lions.
You know, here come the Bears Denver. I mean, yeah,
it's it's gonna get tricky. And you know, having a
Christian Watson who feels one hundred percent by then, that's
that's what I'm looking for. So I don't want to
be greedy. I'd love to see him out there today,
my hunches. It's a couple of weeks before before number

(16:11):
nine's back on the field.

Speaker 1 (16:13):
All right, let's pause here.

Speaker 5 (16:14):
Let's dive into what's going on with the Packers defense
as they face a challenged Cardinals offense missing some key players.
We'll talk about that when we come back on Packer Preview.

Speaker 3 (16:24):
Tell all the people across the USA, I love my.

Speaker 6 (16:30):
Green Bandpacker.

Speaker 2 (16:33):
Who won the first Superpose ever played. I love my
Green Baypacker.

Speaker 1 (16:47):
Will here's a charm in Wisconsin.

Speaker 2 (16:54):
It's not quite as big as away.

Speaker 3 (17:01):
We at something don't plagna seems got.

Speaker 2 (17:22):
You Packers Google?

Speaker 1 (17:26):
All right, we are back.

Speaker 5 (17:26):
It's Packer Preview on the fan, getting you set for
Packers at Cardinals three twenty five kickoff this afternoon. It's
a Kenny Albert Jonathan Vilma production on Fox this afternoon,
as Green Bay looks for its first win on the
road this season against an Arizona Cardinals team desperate for
a win, losers of four straight two and four coming
in to this one. Will they have Kyler Murray, Will Lebich,

(17:48):
Kobe Prissett. We are not sure. We do know they will.
They're down to their third running back. They lost James
Connor for the season earlier. Their backup Tray Benson is
on iruh. They don't prevent present much of an issue
as far as the running game goes. It's all about
their passing attack. They've got issues there too. Marvin Harrison
suffered a concussion last week. He's still in the protocol

(18:10):
as the end of the week happened. We'll see if
he's able to go today. Zay Jones, who filled in
in his place last week, hasn't practiced all week with
the knee injury. So passing attack, as it has really
for most of the year, revolves around their tight end.
Trey McBride, who is you know, probably top two tight end.
Brack Bauers exploded out on the scene last year. He's

(18:31):
been injured so far this year, Trey McBride's probably been
the most productive tight end, maybe with apologies to the
rookie out of Indye Tyler Warren. Thirty seven catches, three
hundred and forty seven yards, two touchdowns on fifty three targets.

Speaker 1 (18:44):
Do the math.

Speaker 5 (18:45):
He's being targeted nine times a game, and he is
their most reliable weapon. The Packers will have to keep
an eye on Trey McBride, make sure they have a
plan for him the other guys. As I say, if
Harrison and Jones don't go, Michael Wilson, Greg Dortsch, it's great.
And what also is not great is their offensive line.
It's average at best. Maybe their best offensive lineman's their

(19:07):
former first round pick, left tackle Paris Johnson. But they
don't protect their quarterback very well. Jacoby Brissette got hit
twelve times by the Colts last week. It's a very
middling offense. It should be advantage Green Bay defense all
day long against this team. Not a lot of playmakers,
especially if Murray and Harrison are out. It's just not

(19:30):
a very star stunded unit. They poured a ton of
money into their defense in the offseason. We'll talk about
that next segment, but for this week, the Packers defense
should have the edge big time over the Cardinals offense.
So let's talk about what's going on with this Packers
defense because it's sort of been a familiar story the
last few games. They come out and shut offenses down early.

(19:53):
Right Cincinnati, I think first four or five series had
one first down. Again, they haven't given up point in
the first quarter all year. They haven't been as good
in the second, but it's the second half where we
have major concerns. If you go back to the fourth
quarter of the Browns game and look at the last
twelve defensive possessions in the second half or overtime of

(20:15):
their games, twelve possessions, six touchdowns, given up, four field goals,
one missed field goal, and one count them, one punt.
In the last three games, they are giving up eighteen
point three points per game after halftime. That's the second
worst in football. And Okay, as Lafleur, when he was

(20:35):
asked about it, quickly said, we'll throw out the Browns game.
We gave him the ball inside the ten yard line.
Of course, the defense is going to give up points,
and that's fair. But if you just look at the
last two games. It's like a freight that teams have
either scored or missed a field goal against the Packers defense.
And if you go back to last Sunday, Brett and
you think about how dominant they were in the first half,

(20:57):
and you're feeling so good, and they're coming out to
start the third quarter and here comes Joe Flacco and
the Bengals.

Speaker 1 (21:04):
Do they still have the ball this morning at this point?

Speaker 5 (21:06):
Because that drive went on forever, it was a ten
plus minute drive, I.

Speaker 1 (21:10):
Think eight seventeen eighteen plays.

Speaker 5 (21:12):
Suddenly it was like a whole different team, Like they
made some adjustments and now we can't stop them, and
that kind of set the table for what the second
half became a defense. Maybe that that long drive just
tired everybody out. They were on the field for so
long and it really hurt their stable with and they
just couldn't But whatever it was, it's become a common refrain.

(21:33):
We saw it in Dallas, you know, we saw it
last week. It's it's not good. And I don't really
know if Jeff Hafley has answers, but he's gonna have
to find answers because if teams can come in in
the second half and just run you up and down
the field.

Speaker 1 (21:48):
It's gonna be hard to hold onto some leads.

Speaker 6 (21:50):
You know, as you were running through the offense. I mean,
outside of McBride, who's really good, there's not really a
weapon that scares me. And then the thought came into
my head that I think think i've said for Batam
in the last three episodes of Packer Preview, all the
evidence says this should be advantage Green Bay defense. They
should come out and have their Browns, Cowboys Bengals. Every

(22:11):
one of those offenses. Cowboys without Ceedee Lamb, that's got
to be a big win. Bengals with a statue for
a quarterback and a terrible old line, that's gotta be
a big win. Browns goes without saying and again the
Browns not so much. But it just seems like it's
easy to say that and on paper they should dominate,
but it's another thing to go out and do it,

(22:32):
and it just doesn't feel like they have. I don't
know if if they lost the killer instinct or they
just lose it over the course of the game. Early
on that Bengals game, they were swarming like it was
week one, and it looked very encouraging. All of a
sudden that just went away. I don't know why, but
it's hard for me to keep saying, well, it should
be a get right game. All the evidence is there,

(22:53):
but they actually have to go out and do it.
So I'm a little concerned about.

Speaker 5 (22:56):
Yeah, that game last week in the second half, I
like any of you were probably saying, would it be
too much to ask to take the ball away once?
Like that game felt like one takeaway is just going
to shut everything down.

Speaker 1 (23:08):
Just take it away once. Cut their momentum.

Speaker 5 (23:10):
They're not taking the ball away, and it's you know,
it becomes a talker. After a couple of weeks, Well,
it's two takeaways through six through what five games? I
guess it's week seven, but they played five games. Two
takeaways won the Evan Williams interception in Week one and
Xavier McKinney's pick of Flacco the first time we've played
Flacco in Cleveland where he just kind of threw it

(23:31):
up in the air and it was almost like a punt,
which is just so bizarre because again, last year, this team,
it was their calling card all off season. They hung
their hat on we take the ball away. We're going
to punch the ball out. The ball is a lifeline.
You want the ball, and you know, maybe they take
three or four away today and then we just stopped

(23:51):
talking about it. But I thought last week was going
to be the game. Cincinnati has been very adept to
giving the ball away. Maybe that was because they had
a terrible quarterback and they at least moved to a
one who understands how important it is to keep the
ball in his hands. But two turnovers, no bueno. What
has been good, obviously, the defense has been very good overall,

(24:12):
very good on third down, stopping teams, ending drives, very
good against the run. No team has run the ball
well against Green Bay yet, and again part of that
is a function of the offenses they're playing against, but
those are key things you want from a good defense.
They've allowed twenty two points in the first half all
season in five games.

Speaker 1 (24:30):
Do the math.

Speaker 5 (24:31):
That's four points something points per game they're giving up
in the first half, and it just makes you wonder,
all right, all the pieces that are there to be
a defense. I mean, after Week two, I was like
many Packer fans saying, this is the identity of this team.
Now this is a championship contending team because they have
a defense that can shut down anybody. They shut down

(24:53):
the lines and commanders. So here they go, not feeling
that way yet not saying I won't, but what you said,
look at the offenses they've played. If you can't just
dominate those offenses for sixty minutes, what will happen when
you do have to play teams with really good offenses?
And you know, the way the season's gone, I don't
know how many great offenses the Packers are gonna have

(25:14):
to face. Maybe Baltimore in December will look like Baltimore again.
But I'm looking at at the teams on the schedule
within the division outside of Detroit, the teams are not
great offensively. You're going to Denver in New York, so
they're not playing a lot of high powered offenses the
rest of the way. And you know, I think we'll
all feel a lot better if they can step up

(25:34):
today against the Cardinals, a very offensively challenged team and
look like that defense we expect, and that means finishing plays,
not just affecting the quarterback, putting the quarterback on the ground.
And you know, they had one sack against Joe Flacco.
That's just not acceptable.

Speaker 6 (25:51):
Yeah, you mentioned a couple names. I'm trying to remember
who they were, Evan Williams, Xavier McKinney. I mean, I
haven't heard these names.

Speaker 1 (26:01):
And it's one of those things too.

Speaker 6 (26:02):
It could very well be that. You know, it's the
same reason that IDPs and fantasy are stupid, because if
you have a great shut down corner, they're not throwing
the ball over there, so he's not gonna get any points.

Speaker 1 (26:11):
Right, So is it that situation.

Speaker 6 (26:13):
Where McKinny is so good that he's not getting any
chances or is he just a rumor and he's having
a little bit of a you know, a downgrade compared
to last year where he was lights out and historically good.
So I don't know, but it feels like the only
guy in pass coverage that has really like blown me
away as Keishawn Nixon. Everyone else has kind of been
a rumor.

Speaker 5 (26:34):
Yeah, I think that's fair. I think Nate Hobbs does
not look like a guy that was worth the money
that Green Bay had spent on him. Again, it's only
a few games. He's still working his way into the defense.
I would add that Valentine, when given the opportunity, looks
very much like a starting boundary cornerback to me. I mean,
I think Hobbs absolutely should be a nickel guy. I
think that Valentine and Nixon should be the out outside guys.

(26:56):
I think they've gotten off to a pretty good start.
Let's talk about Michael Parsons for a second, because on
Thursday things kind of blew up a little bit. You
heard Matt Lafleur quoted earlier in the week talking about
Mike and not getting calls and how they've been egregious.
He used the word egregious, which is a nice one.
It's fun to say egregious miss penalties game after game.

(27:19):
That they watched the tape where he's being corralled and held,
and it's not.

Speaker 1 (27:23):
A new thing.

Speaker 5 (27:24):
That was a complaint in Dallas too, that he didn't
get the calls he should have. Holding calls just don't happen.
And then on Thursday, Parsons took to the microphone and
spent about fifteen minutes complaining about more like big picture,
like don't you understand how the NFL's officiated, Like this
is a fantasy football era. They want offense, They want
the offense to score, and so we're not going to

(27:45):
get the calls. They'll call defensive holding, but you're not
going to get the offensive holding calls. But if you've
seen some of the cutups of Parsons being just completely tackled,
basically they're a couple against Cincinnati, and there was a
key play where Chase Brown converted a sixteen yard play
Brown where Parsons was basically tied up and thrown to
the ground by an offensive lineman. I think it was

(28:07):
Orlando Brown. So I'm curious to see if we notice
anything today against Arizona. The officiating takes a look. It's
kind of like the tush push once people complain too much.
Oh yeah, there was early movement. Oh yeah, he was
lined up off sides offensively. Maybe maybe Michael gets a
whistle or too. When you're a great player, you're gonna

(28:27):
get a lot of attention. That's the way it is.
A defense has to make a team pay for putting
too much attention on one guy. Someone else has to
affect the game. They have to start to put some
sacks together and Parsons, those will come, but the other
guys have to, starting with Rashan Gary. He needs to
finish some plays, get some sacks and know that the

(28:49):
attention being paid to Parsons is a godsend for him.

Speaker 6 (28:52):
It's almost the anti Rodgers, right, We heard that a
lot in this town. You know, he gets all the calls.
You breathe on him, you get a call or Mahomes too.
It's almost the opposite of that. Like you would think,
because he's such a marquee name, that you would get
a bunch of holding calls on him, but it's just
not the case. And you know, it's one of those
things where holding calls happen on every play allegedly, and

(29:13):
they could throw the flag on every single play, but
they are such a drive killer that I understand wanting
to be hesitant because one holding call can halt any
offense in this league, period in the game. But he
does get assaulted, and you know, it's just frustrating to
see that. If he's getting that someone else. And van
Ness is still not practicing as of Thursday, So those

(29:37):
guys that can pick up the slack, they're running out.

Speaker 5 (29:40):
Yeah, I don't think we'll see Vans today. I think
Enigbari should get some more run. Breton Cox is still
on I our last I heard, he's getting close, but
he should get some opportunities if Vness misses some time.
I'm still very bullish on this defense. I still think
that the ceiling is really high. This is a very
talented defense that again, where they are now is not

(30:01):
where they're going to be in December and January.

Speaker 1 (30:03):
That's true for every team.

Speaker 5 (30:04):
But the pieces are there, and they are still trying
to figure out what adding something like Micah Parsons does
for that defense. I'm sure it changes everything about how
Halfley designs his scheme knowing that he has a game
wrecker and he's still figuring out how best to make
use of Micah Parsons. That the key is he's healthy,

(30:26):
he's ramped up to full time, and you know the
sacks are going to come in bunches. You know it'll
be a couple of two three multi sac games and
we're going to go, Okay, they're taking the ball away,
they're planting guys, this is what we expected.

Speaker 1 (30:39):
They went through a little little thing there.

Speaker 5 (30:41):
Again, what makes it more obvious is you're just not
playing offenses that should scare you or quarterbacks that should
scare you. You'd think they be racking up the stats
more than they have been.

Speaker 6 (30:52):
Michah Parsons, though the number one rated pass rusher on
Pro Football Focus. Still so yeah, the guy pressures and
I know it doesn't look sexy. And then you can
go and say, well, well we've got this many solo tackles,
but pressures affect the game, and Mica does it better
than anybody.

Speaker 5 (31:06):
I mentioned earlier that the Cardinals spent all their money
on defense, ramping up their defense. When we come back,
we'll talk about if that defense has enough for a
Packers offense that seems to be rounding into gear. When
we come back, the Packers offense versus the Cardinals defense today,
our predictions and more. Final segment of Packer Preview, don't
go anywhere. We'll be back in a minute.

Speaker 2 (31:28):
Well, I'm proud to be the Packer defens football fans,
and all the land a Packer fans, and it's a
Packer fan, all right.

Speaker 3 (31:43):
Come on, let me here for the pack y'all yo,
because the pack let me let me let me he
say defense.

Speaker 1 (32:00):
The good guys just agree.

Speaker 2 (32:01):
Remember that just in case we had face to face
mask contact and the man on deep that's red cheek
one of the guys caught up Baxwell status.

Speaker 5 (32:08):
I always like to let that song go till we
hit the Reggie mentioned and then I can start talking.
It's Packer Preview final segment the Week seven edition, as
we get you set for Packers and Cardinals. As we
mentioned at the top of the show, Brett's on the
road this weekend. So we recorded this show a couple
of days ago. So if you're wondering why I didn't
address some late breaking news item, that is why We'll

(32:30):
be back live next Sunday, getting set for the big one.
Packers Steelers Packers Rogers Sunday Night Football, maybe the most
anticipated game for Packer fans on the twenty twenty five schedule.
First things first, got to deal with the Arizona Cardinals
coming on in a four game losing streak, but as
we talked about, three of those were walk off losses

(32:51):
in the final moments, and then last week on the
road against a good Indie team, they had the lead
in the final four minutes and we're not able to
close the deal and drop their fourth straight. Kyler Murray's
health in question, if not as Jacoby Brissett, maybe as
capable a backup quarterback as there is in the NFL,
So not a big drop off. Maybe not a drop
off at all as far as I'm concerned, especially if

(33:14):
Murray is at all hampered by a foot injury, and
you have to believe he is. He's been limited in
practice all week. Meanwhile, howell the Packers' offense fair against
the Arizona Cardinals defense, a defense that saw tens of
millions of dollars infused in their roster in the off season,
where they spent money on defensive end Josh Sweat. They
brought back the ancient dinosaur like thirty nine year old

(33:37):
Kalais Campbell, who, by the way, has five sacks and
has more pressures than all other defensive linemen on the
team combined.

Speaker 1 (33:44):
He's ageless.

Speaker 5 (33:47):
Dalvin Tomlinson, former Viking, another defensive tackle, was brought in
in the off season. Linebacker or Keem Davis Gaither from
Cincinnati has been very good. They spent money on their
defense and they've got other pieces to the linebacker Baron
Browning is very solid. It all sounds good. They spent
money on all these guys. They're the twenty eighth ranked
defense against the pass. Through five weeks, and again they

(34:11):
haven't faced a gauntlet of quarterbacks. If you look at
you know Daniel Jones and cam Ward Sam Darnold.

Speaker 1 (34:20):
I don't know if it was pretty against San Francisco.
I think it was.

Speaker 5 (34:23):
They have not been very good. They don't get a
ton of pressure on the quarterback. They're still trying to
figure things out defensively. At cornerback, Max Melton starts for them,
Bo's brother, who has not allowed a touchdown in his
coverage so far this year, which is good. He has
allowed two hundred and forty nine yards in coverage, the
most on the team. He's missed seven tackles. We'll see

(34:46):
if Green May goes out of its way to try
to attack Bo's brother. I kind of hope that isn't
the case. We'll see if Bo gets a bigger role
playing against his brother. I'm not sure the coaches care
at all. But we did see Melton on special teams
as a returner last week. I thought he did pretty well.
They used him as a run on a running gadget play.
So they're trying to find ways to keep him interested

(35:07):
because he does miss being an offensive player. He has
said that, but a nice guy to have in your
back pocket. If the cornerback group gets a little banged up,
he's waiting in the wings. Packers offense will and always
will revolve around Josh Jacobs. That's the idea, That's how
Matt Lafleur is wired. It's to be a run first
football team. No matter how good your quarterback is, you

(35:29):
need to be able to run the football. I thought
it was really nice to see Jacobs as proficient as
he was last week. Ninety three yards on the ground,
over five yards of carry, another fifty seven through the air,
which I hope becomes more of a focus. I remember
when he came over to Green Bay, Brett as a
free agent didn't really think of Josh Jacobs as a
receiving running back. He didn't get that opportunity with the Raiders.

(35:51):
He clearly can take that job and run with it.
And you come to find out after the game he
was sick as a dog all day last Sunday. Threw
up before the game, he threw up during the game
multiple times. He threw up after the game. Not that
we need all that information, but the point is he
wasn't feeling himself. But when he got the ball in
his hands. He looked like Josh Jacobs, and that to

(36:12):
me take everything away from last week seeing that running
game performing at that level.

Speaker 1 (36:18):
Again.

Speaker 5 (36:18):
I understand Cincinnati's defense not great, but that was a
really nice sign to see the running game finally moving
like that.

Speaker 1 (36:25):
Cincinnati's defense not great.

Speaker 6 (36:27):
Also, Arizona's defense not great, correct, so hopefully that'll translate.
But yeah, still earlier in the week was limited with
the illness, but it didn't seem to stop him very much.
I don't know if you saw the micd up.

Speaker 1 (36:37):
But I heard he was miked up, but I never
saw the film.

Speaker 6 (36:40):
So every time he got hit, I mean there was
a super cut of every time he went to the ground,
he just started laughing like a super villain, almost like
he was just enjoying the contact and getting hit. So
you got in love when a guy has that kind
of bulldog mentality. I love Josh Jacobs. When he goes,
the rest of the offense goes. It just makes it
easier for everybody. Saw that last week and hopefully continues

(37:02):
against another less than average defense.

Speaker 5 (37:04):
And Emmanuel Wilson has shown that when called on to
take over for a driver too, he can handle his business.
I'm still anxious to see if Marshawn Lloyd gives this
team anything. He is still on ir Lafleur said this
week he's getting closer, which is great, but let's you
see him with a uniform on. I was really excited
about when they drafted him and what was that twenty three? Yeah, Yeah,

(37:26):
he's I think he's been on the field about as
much as JJ McCarthy at this point through a season
and a half of his career, so he's not a
piece of the puzzle yet. But as the season goes on,
I'm curious to see if we ever see what Marshawn
Lloyd gives you on the passing game. Obviously, the brightest
light from a week ago was Matthew Golden, who had

(37:47):
his biggest day as a pro three catches, eighty six yards.
It wasn't just the three catches eighty six yards. It
was the importance of a couple of those big third
down conversions, none bigger than the last one, the play
in the final couple minutes when it's suddenly a six
point game. It's third and long and Love is getting
chased out of the pocket. He's rolling to his left.

(38:07):
Someone's bearing down on him, and he throws across his
body basically and hits Golden and stride thirty yards upfield.
He's making himself available, he's getting open, and he's proving
that he has the chops to eventually be a number
one type receiver if you put that in quotes, because
Matt Lafleur, of course hates that. He doesn't want to
hear about how he needs to force feed Matthew Golden.

(38:30):
That's not the way the offense runs, it's what the
defense gives you whoever's open. Blah blah blah. The point
is Matthew Golden is special, at least when you look
at who else he's competing for targets with on the
Green Bay Packers and seeing not just the fact that
he made a couple of big plays on third down,
the fact that Jordan Love trusted him.

Speaker 1 (38:50):
We saw it earlier in.

Speaker 5 (38:51):
The year on that fourth down play. What game was
that on fourth and sixth the Dallas game, huge fourth
down play. It's Golden who they trust to run the
right route and find a way to get open and
make the play. And I think that's what's so encouraging
about what we saw last week was the trust, and
not just the trust, but he's fulfilling that trust by
taking care of the football and making big plays.

Speaker 6 (39:12):
And I don't think this is a situation where well,
here comes Jayden Reid, so there goes golden targets. Well
here comes Christian Watson, so there goes golden targets. I
think he's going to be a big part of this
offense as soon as those guys come back, and before
and after. He is just that good and his hands
are elite. But you're just not gonna see the Justin
Jefferson like numbers. It's just not how that works. And

(39:33):
it's not, you know, a crutch that you can use
to criticize the Kareem Bay because that's just not how
they operate. They don't force feed targets to go and
that's just their philosophy and it's worked so far for him,
so it's hard to argue with.

Speaker 5 (39:45):
Yeah, it bugs the fantasy football community because they want
to have a guy they can rely on for this offense,
but as you said, that's not the way it's designed.
He'll have his big games, they just won't be every
single game. Just like Tucker Kraft. He scored the touchdown
last week in typical Craft fashion after the catch, but
it was one of just two targets on this day,
he only got targeted twice. He and Trey McBride will

(40:06):
be on the field together today. Those are maybe two
of the top five tight ends in football this season,
especially after the catch they are gifted. McBride's gonna see
ten plus targets. Tucker might see three, four, five. Obviously,
we hope he does a lot with those. But again,
when Kraft is called upon, he delivers every single time.

(40:28):
And as a fan, I don't know how you can't
love watching that guy ply his craft because he does
everything right every single play and you can count on him.
And so we'll see if he has a bigger role
this afternoon.

Speaker 6 (40:39):
You would hope he would. But even in the limited fashion,
he makes an impact and he's a great blocker. He
loves being physical, so he brings a lot. To me
that the biggest thing in the offense is make sure
the old line is okay. And with Zach Tom you
know he didn't practice Wednesday limited Thursday, you hope that
he's trending in the right direction. Jordan Morgan was fine.
You know, I thought he was actually good at the
right guard spot. So if they can at least keep

(41:02):
Love somewhat clean, which they did last week, then he
should be okay. But that to me is the biggest
because I think the receiver room is fine. I think
Craft is great, I think Jacobs is trending upwards. Love
is spectacular. It's just whether the old line can keep
him up right, which and if they're healthy, they should.

Speaker 5 (41:17):
Morgan gets the start today at right guard. He's playing
at home. He's from Tucson. He went to school at Arizona,
so I'm sure he'll have his entire family there as
That feels like that's now his spot, at least for
this season. I think he'll be in the mix to
be the left tackle next year, but he's the right
guard now. Sean Ryan's going to come off the bench,
all right, final moment or two Packers basically touchdown favorites

(41:38):
on the road to get their first win away from home.
They'll be wearing the white jerseys that they wore in Dallas.
Didn't work out very well that day. What's it going
to take for a better outcome this afternoon?

Speaker 6 (41:49):
Well, there really is no reason that the Packers can't
come out and look dominant, and I'm not predicting they
will look dominant. I think, unfortunately, it's probably gonna be
closer than it should, just because they haven't shown that
killer instinct. And I'm still waiting to get delusional until
we get through this four game set, right, I'm waiting
to see if they can go three and one after

(42:09):
the Panthers game heading into I believe the Philly game
after that. If they can go three and one in
that four game stretch, I'll start to get really excited
about this team. They're still first place the NFC North.
The fan has learned despite not having four wins, they
are first place in the NFC North, So I think
they win. Unfortunately, I think it's gonna come down to
because the Cardinals just stay in games. Every one of

(42:30):
their lost all four have been within four points. Like
you mentioned earlier, I think it's gonna be one of
those games again. But I do think the Pack hold
on and win.

Speaker 1 (42:37):
Yeah, I do too.

Speaker 5 (42:39):
I'm gonna put them on twenty seven points because they're
three and zer when they score twenty seven points, so
I'm gonna call it twenty seven to seventeen. I do
think they cover the spread. I do think they hold
Arizona to under twenty. I do think the defense takes
the ball away. I'm gonna keep saying until they do it.
I think we'll see a more focused defense. It's it's football.
It's gonna be tricky. It'll probably be twenty seven seven.

(43:00):
Arizona will have the ball and threatening to make it closer.
But I expect green Bay to take care of business
on this afternoon on the road. This is a division
that Matte Lafleur has owned, It's an opponent that green
Bay has owned over the last fifteen twenty years, and
it's a matchup that whoever the quarterback is, favors the
Packers defense. I think Jacob's Love and the offense score

(43:22):
enough points. Packers get the w to get that fourth win.
Still have one loss, one of four teams in the
National Football League. As we head into Week seven with
just one loss. I'll remind you you can read my
preview of the game as always at zonecoverage dot com.
Brett and I will have Packer review available for you
Monday morning on the iHeartRadio app. Just search Packer Preview

(43:43):
on the iHeart app. It will take you right to
the podcast. It'll be posted sometime mid morning Monday, assuming
your travel goes smoothly and you're back in time to
help me out.

Speaker 1 (43:53):
I'll be recording from Georgia.

Speaker 6 (43:55):
Well, you'll still be there, yes, so I'll still be
there at that point, but we'll get it out that
Monday morning for sure.

Speaker 5 (44:00):
Yeah, we'll be Yeah, we'll do that for sure, So
please listen to that. Let's get a w Packer fans.
Let's look like the team we've seen the first two weeks. Defensively,
Let's make no mistakes on special teams to keep Arizona
in this game. Take care of the football and all
should be well. Look for a Packer victory against Arizona
against a desperate team. Match their intensity, match their urgency,

(44:24):
match their desperation, and we should see a Packer victory.

Speaker 1 (44:27):
Enjoy the game. We'll talk to you next week. Go
Pack