December 8, 2025 • 33 mins
The FAN’s Dave Sinykin and Brett Blakemore break down the Week 14 win against the Bears.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You have found Packer Review, A kfan and iHeartRadio production.
I am Dave Sinekin, joined as always by Brett Blake
Moore as we break down the Packers twenty eight twenty
one victory over the Chicago Bears that has restored order
in the NFC North. The Packers sit atop the division
as we sit here the Monday after a Packer's victory
(00:20):
nine to three and one, four straight wins, and they
have completed Brett Blake Moore the three and oh division
sweep to improve to four and oh so far in
the division this season. That was priority number one after
almost going goose egged last year. Feels really good to
get through that three game division gauntlet three and oh,
does it not.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
It feels really good, especially after last year where you're
potentially a blocked field goal away from going over in
the division. To now flip that, to be undefeated, to
beat everyone, to sweep the Lions, potentially more sweeps on
the way. It's really Yesterday was just delicious almost from
start to finish. Little nail biting at the end, but
(00:59):
that pick just sealed everything and made it great.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Yeah, no doubt there is something for me as a
guy that grew up in Milwaukee. You know, basically taught
before I knew how to count that we hate the
Chicago Bears and we hate everything about them, and our
number one priority every year is to try to beat
the Chicago Bears. It still feels really good to beat
that team for me, and that fan base is just
(01:22):
the chirpiest and loudest and most obnoxious fan base I've
ever come across in any sport. And to have the
complete domination we've had over the last three decades has
been fantastic as a Packer fan. But it's it's clear
the rivalry is back. It's not going anywhere. This team,
this Chicago Bears team, it needs work, it needs help.
(01:43):
It's not complete, but it's coming. And you know, you
don't have to look too hard right now to look
at the future of this division over the next four
or five years. I know things can change, but the
Bears and Packers look like the teams that are most
poised to be on top of this division for the
coming years.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yeah. They As you mentioned the fans, it is most
delicious to beat them. You received a tweet from someone
asking what's your pain threshold? Because it will be more
than what you can handle when the bear claw gets
in your ass. That was Lavelle Neil. It didn't end
up working that way.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
The fan has learned, No, you didn't tweet after the
games to me, as far as I can recall.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Weird funny huh, he's been rather quiet. He has so
that that is some deliciousness going on. It is just
it's something I get Vikings fans who are somehow maybe
listening to this. I mean, they had a great game.
They want it to be the biggest rivalry Vikings Packers,
but the reality is it's just Packers Bears. It's as
(02:39):
big as it gets, it's as hated as it gets,
and that was as delicious as it gets.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Yeah, I mean, it's not their fault. The Bears and
Packers had a four year forty year had start, and
there is something to the history that goes with these
two founding fathers. Basically the NFL still going at it
all these years later. Obviously the last three decades it's
been hotter between the Packers and Vikings because they've been
more competitive and they took our quarterback and made things
kind of interesting for a couple of years. But the
(03:05):
Bears are coming, and look, it was a little too
close for comfort as things closed out, Let's go back
to the beginning, because you know, it was very ominous.
You know, Packers are moving the football down the field.
Jayden Reid's getting touches. I mean they put him right
on the field, They threw it to him, they gave
him the balls, a ball carrier. It was so nice
(03:26):
to have eleven back on the field and they're moving
it into Bears territory. And then Love throws a pass
that we haven't seen from him, I don't know since September,
you know, and he talked about it after the game.
It came off his hand wrong, He was a bad read.
He took ownership. But man, it was one of those moments.
For a second, it was like, this is what the
Bears do. Somehow they get into quarterbacks heads. We haven't
(03:47):
seen Loved airmail Matthew Golden like that in weeks. So yeah,
right off the bat, I'm thinking, this is what they do.
They pick off passes and they somehow figure out a way. Clearly,
you know, they get the ball the thirty six yardlant
of Green Bay and the defense forces of three and
out and says not today, my friend. But couldn't have
a more ominous start for the offense.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah, I was so convinced because it was so weird,
like it had to be a wrong route ran by Golden,
Like that's how odd of an interception, because Love just
doesn't do that. It's what is third of the season,
so it's it's a very rare thing for that to,
you know, even a tipped interception or something doesn't happen,
(04:27):
let alone throwing it right to a guy with no
one in the zip code, Or at least it seemed
on the broadcast. I've since watched part of the All
twenty two. Seems like it was just on Love, to
which he took ownership of it. I thought for sure
it was going to be Golden, but it was Love.
He made up for it, and then some later in
the game.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
He did because his stats for the first half after
that pick twelve for seventeen for one to sixty three,
two touchdowns that pick, and a one fifteen point six
passer rating. Meanwhile, Caleb in the first half six for
fourteen for thirty two yards a fifty point three passer rating.
The Bears had seventy one yards of offense in the
first half. That's the least amount of the yards a
(05:06):
Ben Johnson coach team has ever put up in a
half of football. Packers defense was flying around the football.
I mean that they didn't look at all affected by
the cold. They were making things miserable. The Bears could
not run the ball. It was just a dominant first
half of football by that defense. And I want to
point out the guys that stepped in for Wyatt. You know,
you see Carl Brooks out there after missing a few games.
(05:28):
You have Coolby Wooden now switching from three technique to
nose tackle. They're putting him in there, and he he
did a good job. I mean that first half defense.
And again we'll talk about what happened in the second
half defensively, but that first half to have that fourteen
to three commanding lead in the defense, just suffocating Chicago.
I'd love to know what that locker room was like
as they went in there at halftime.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I mean, that was is a lead of it. I
mean I was like, this is their run game, this
is it. It felt like it was just gonna be domination
start to finish. Caleb was all over the place. Accuracy,
they just had no answer for the Packer defense. And
it wasn't even like a pass rush was causing havoc.
It was just there were shutting him down, swarming the ball,
(06:10):
and that's you like to see that going into this
time of year from defenses.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Yeah, so it's seven to three. They get the field
goal and Cairo Santos kicks the ball out of bounds.
I think it was about a minute twenty to go.
I was a bit surprised. I don't know if you were,
was like a minute fifty and Chicago was gonna have
to settle for a field goal. And Laflour didn't call
it time out with a minute fifty left, and I'm thinking, dude,
you could save yourself thirty seconds. As it turned out,
(06:37):
they didn't need anywhere near that much time, and he
probably figured, well, if I have a minute, a minute ten,
that's really all we need in our offense to get
down the field for a field goal. But Santos kicks
it out of bounds, gives the ball to forty. That
obviously makes things a whole lot easier. And then what
is it three plays later? Wait, bo Melton, that's both
this is the first game all season that Green Bay
(06:58):
has their five preferred top receivers on the field, and
it's Bo Melton who gets past the defense and gets
that forty three yard touchdown to extend the lead to
fourteen three. And I'm sure like most Packer fans, I'm like,
I was told he's a cornerback, Like, what are we
doing with bow Melton? And when we have five healthy receivers,
why is Bo Melton the guy out there? That was
That was pretty sweet and I'm sure just for him
(07:20):
so gratifying to finally get paid.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
If you're a guy that watches love and the protection
in the pocket and he goes back and loads up that,
you know, big bomb, hil Mary pass the moon ball.
The last thing you're thinking is I mean, I'm thinking
Christian Watson's got to be down there somewhere. That's the
guy he's going to. The last person I was expecting
was Bo Melton somewhere. Malie Keith is probably watching in
(07:45):
a little upset because bow Melton is getting touchdown catches.
I still like see Matthew Golden get one, but that's
neither here nor there. What a throw? What a catch?
What a play? I was told you can't take the
top off this bear secondary that was anything but the yesterday.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Yeah. Well, I mean, to be fair, they caught a
break when Kyler Gordon came up with a groin injury
in pregame and they lost one of their top corners.
They don't think they can count on him the rest
of the year. That certainly helped matters. And obviously Malik
Heath's not going to run by anybody that wasn't his bit.
Bo Melton I think almost twenty miles per hour. Watson
he clipsed it on the slant. We'll get to him
in a second. But for Melton to have that moment,
(08:23):
that was huge. It's fourteen to three, and you know,
we're all feeling really good about a double digit lead
heading into halftime and then taking the ball, maybe you
score out of the first possession, and now suddenly the
game's getting away from Chicago and Ben has to throw
off his playscript and just throw. But the Payers get
a three and out, you know, to start the second half,
and then bad special teams penalty, you know, give him
(08:45):
a short field and they score and now suddenly we
have a ball game again. So an opportunity sort of
squandered there. I thought to sort of put them away early.
As long as we're talking wide receivers, Christian Watson gets
the game ball along with Keishawn Nixon. Four targets, four catches,
eighty nine yards. The two touchdowns, the second one the
(09:09):
slant play on third down where the blitz is coming
hard and fast at Love and he just hits Watson
on that slant. Who just I think he went twenty
one miles per hour on that run for Christian Watson,
who eleven months ago on that field against that team
saw his world blow up with a toward acl and
his future completely unknown. Man, how could you not feel
(09:31):
good about what this kid has done for this team.
It's no coincidence that the Packers offense in this four
game winning streak has started humming and is averaging twenty
seven points a game, coinciding with Christian Watson's return. He
has looked every bit the part of a number one receiver.
If you have to have that on your team. Number
nine is absolutely grabbing on to that title. He delivers
(09:54):
whenever you need it. And man, I saw the locker
room afterward as he talked to the team, you can't
get lump in your throat you just have to feel
so good for that kid.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Yeah, one hundred percent. It's it's a game changer, and
he's one of the best deep threat guys on one hundred
percent healthy. You know in football, how about the slant play?
The fact that you know Loves said, it's not about
reading the events, about manipulating the defense, right. He sees
that it's everyone's in, you know, on the line, it's
man cover straight up. He changes the route. You can
see him signal it like we're just gonna run a
(10:24):
slant and have you beat him. It's when you have
a guy who can do that, who's quick enough to
do that, and then you can manipulate the defense like
Love does, it ends up in six. So it was
just the thing in Beauty to watch, and we're really
happy for Watson because he's showing like he is the
number one guy.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
I don't know how many of Love's touchdown passes have
come on third down this year. It feels like every
single one of them, doesn't it say third and three touchdown,
third and ten touchdown. He has been the most productive
quarterback on third down this season and against the Blitz.
I mean I say it every week and you do too,
you know, blitz him at your risk. I mean, blitz
Jordan Love at your own risk. You see a stat
(11:00):
for the game yesterday against the Blitz nine for twelve
one hundred and seventy one yards, three touchdowns, a perfect
one point fifty six point three passer rating. I'm not
sure you can do any better than.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
That well, and that comes down to you know, also
manipulating and picking out and and cadence as well, which
Love does very well, and picking up where the pressure
is going to come from and the protection. It's it's
that's a team stat as well as it is a
Jordan Love stat. He's got to make the throws and
got to read, but it's the pre snap that really
(11:31):
makes the against the Blitz stand out.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
It's a great point. And the offensive line has really
gelled in the last few weeks, and not just in
pass protection, run blocking as well. We will talk about
Jordan Jacobs too in a moment. Even the tight ends.
I mean, there's a reason that Josh Wiley and John
Fitzpatrick are out snapping Luke Muskgrave because they are using,
you know, big lines to protect and make sure that
(11:55):
that Love has every advantage he can have. Musgrave looked good.
He caught a couple of balls, almost had that big catch,
should have, so he started to look like he can
become a playmaker and maybe he'll learn to block a
little bit to earn more snaps. But Fitzpatrick's gonna stay
on the field because that offense hums when they've got
that extra tight end out there doing what's needed to
help protect the franchise. Who was just, you know, outside
of the pick, brilliant on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Yeah, I thought they all played their part. I do
think at some point I want to talk officiating because
I think that was a catch. I didn't see a
clear view out of all the replays they showed live
and sense that the ball moved on the ground. But
I think he got robbed. And there's a couple things
officiating wise that the Packers shot themselves in the foot.
But the tight ends were very good. Wiley hit chipped in,
(12:39):
Fitzpatrick chipped in as well, so they were good checkdown options.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
For love, I'm with you on the musk Grave catch
not catch. I was stunned, absolutely lookly. I mean, yes,
did the ball maybe move a little, but his pen
never came off the ball. I'm told that that's okay.
Like the ball can touch the ground as long as
your hand's on it doesn't move, you keep possession. So
I felt it was too bad because it was maybe
one of the bigger plays he's made, maybe the biggest
(13:03):
this season. It could have been. At least it gives
you hope that you know he's starting to figure things out.
They could certainly use another pass catching option like him
in the middle of the field to unlock everybody else.
A couple things, one more thing on the wide receivers.
Wicks got six snaps, Golden got five yesterday, and reporting
(13:23):
afterwards said they're both still dealing with injuries and they
were on pitch counts, and I'm going to go with that.
I didn't know that Wicks was still nursing anything after
that breakout performance in Detroit. I just figured he was
one hundred percent good to go, but he was not
out there. Golden again just five snaps, So I'm not
going to read too much into that. We all want
to see more production out of Matthew Golden and wait
for that rookie year to finally come alive, and he
(13:46):
there's a lot of football left. We could still write
a story about Matthew Golden's rookie season, but I think
the story that's emerging for me is the magic disappearance
of Romeo Dobbs, who did not catch a ball in
this game. He was targeted twice. He had that one
sideline play that was a tough catch, but I felt
like he could have caught it. I think we all
have seen the writing on the wall looking ahead to
(14:08):
the next season and the seasons to come. I don't
think Romeo Dobbs is a part of this team's future.
And I don't say that lightly because he's been just
a dog for this team and a guy they really
leaned on the first half of the season when Watson
wasn't out there and they were dealing with obviously Golden
trying to figure things out Wicks injured. Dobbs stood up
for that receiving room and was great. But you see
(14:28):
who they got to pay, and they see who's on
this roster, and you see where the ball's being thrown
during these games of late, Dobbs is kind of being
phased out just a little bit. And I don't think
it's just a trend. I think it's going to be
the reality of there's a lot of miles to feed.
I'm not sure he's at the top of the pecking
order when it comes to talent for that receiving corps.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
It's unfortunate, but it's what have you done for me lately? Business?
And lately Dobbs has been inconsistent and dropping passes, and
you know, I can think back to the catchy at
in Seattle. There's been a myriad of catches and great
effort plays that he's made, but lately it hasn't been
good enough. And it shows where Love's going with the
ball and how they scheme and how Lafloor is calling plays.
(15:09):
So I agree with you. When you've got a hot
new rookie receiver who's not getting fed as much as
you should, and you've got a guy who's dropping who
you could, I mean, this is about the time with
those length of players that it's about the time you
either make a decision on them or let them go.
So I agree with you that I don't think he's
long for this green and gold world.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Yeah, Watson, Reid, Golden, Wicks, Williams, those are your five
likely pencil him in, throw it into ink for next
season and then maybe you keep a sixth, maybe you don't,
maybe a draft one. Maybe Melton's your guy. Yeah, I
just I think it's unfortunate, but I think that's the reality.
Last thing, on the offensive side of the ball, there
(15:51):
are a lot of big plays, obviously from Love to Watson,
other big time offensive plays. For me, I don't know
that there was a bigger play in the game than
that third and two run by Josh Jacobs when it
was twenty one. All right, Bears have tied the game.
The Packers need to respond, and they're responding quickly. They're
marching right down the field. But now it's third and
two and they pitch it to Jacobs and you know,
(16:12):
you all saw it. These three guys on him in
the backfield. It looks like he's going to be dropped
for a loss at third and two, and somehow he
wiggles out of them and rumbles on for twenty one yards,
takes it down inside the five scores a few plays
later and it's twenty eight twenty one. There's your margin
of victory. You know. It was a workman like twenty
carry eighty six yard performance for Jacobs on a very
(16:34):
cold afternoon against a not so great Bears run defense,
but man, he made those plays when he had to.
And I'll remember that run for a long time. You
forget some things. There's another key defensive play we'll get
to that might be forgotten, but that run by Jacob
sticks out to me.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Yeah, I mean, that's a standard NFL running backs not
getting out of there. It's just and I thought the
run blocking wasn't very good. For most of the day,
it was fine, and I had moments and there are
moments where Jacob's sprung for a little bit more than
the average two or three yards. There are sometimes where
he just got stuffed behind the line and it put
the packers behind the sticks and forced Love to throw downfield,
(17:13):
which we're okay with. I had no average running back
gets out of that like Jacobs did. And that's where
that's why you pay him the money that you do.
That's why you go out and get a good running back.
And that play was a thing of beauty. Because I
hate those pitch plays. They almost never work. That one
shouldn't have worked, but because you've got Jacobs, you can
to make it work.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Yeah, I think we all hate those pitch plays in
short yard of situations. You're just You're just he's putting
yourself behind an eight ball and hoping some guy can
make someone miss. Usually, all right, So it's fourteen three.
At halftime we talked about Packers go three and out,
and then the Bears wake up. They come out of hibernation,
and they score on three straight second half possessions, including
a ten yard ten play drive and a seventeen play
(17:53):
drive that I mean, you could just see how gassed
that defense is. I make no excuses, but think about
how much time they spent chasing Caleb Williams all afternoon.
Those pass rushers, they haven't had to run like that
all season. I mean, Caleb Williams is going to be
a really nice quarterback. I'm sure that Ben Johnson will
coach him up to teach him how to be a
(18:14):
pocket passing successful quarterback. But right now, all he is
is a guy that escapes the pocket and becomes Houdini.
And just how many times did he get out of
guy's grasp and just get out of it and make
a great play. And so you had guys chasing him
down and they were so tired. And that's why I
think that the Bears offense was able to really get going.
(18:35):
Was they were on the field for over twenty minutes
the Bears offense in the second half, and that's a
lot of plays for that defense on a cold day
when you're trying to catch your breath and that quarterback's
making you run. So I was disappointed that the defense
couldn't hold him like they did in the first half.
But Caleb, he's legit and he's going to make things difficult.
(18:55):
Bottom line is they held that running game in check.
They didn't never run over nine yards. They average four
point four yards of carry. They only got half the
yards on the ground they got week before in Philly.
It was kind of bend but don't break. But Caleb
did impress me with what he did. He's done it
all year in the fourth quarter in this situation, in
this spot, you know, a big game like this. He
(19:16):
definitely impressed me in that fourth quarter.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
I mean, that's apparently Mica needs to practice more being
Caleb Williams because that little trick in practice this week
didn't work as well as we thought. This is what
I was worried about going into it was what if
they just control the ball and run it and be
annoying and escape and just move the sticks little by little,
and I mean it seemed like they were out there forever.
The defense were on the ropes a hundred and if
(19:40):
we didn't have that long drive to set up the
Jacob's touchdown, I fear what would have happened because they
needed time to catch their breath. I don't know if
the interception happens. I mean, that's a whole different world.
It put a lot of pressure on the offense because
they controlled the ball so well. I don't know if
I'd go that far that. I was like floored by
Caleb because I knew he he had the escapability. He
(20:01):
made a lot more consistent throws than he typically does.
I thought I'd say he is a legit, serviceable, competent,
legit quarterback probably their best sense better than Cutler at
this point, right. And I'm not even trying to be.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Snarky, No, I mean, his ceiling is certainly higher. He's
going to get better. He still completed fifty four percent
of his pastes Sunday. That's not acceptable in the NFL.
And he's gonna throw a bunch in the ground too.
What do you make of the whole Micah Parsons gets
held on every play thing because I guess at Lambeau
at the two minute warning, Lafleur went off on the
(20:40):
officials about the previous play where Darnell will right, I
think it was the right tackle basically had him in
a choke hold and almost took him down and they
don't call it. And you know, we've all seen memes
and tiktoks and videos all season long of a plays
where Micah Parsons is being basically assaulted, you know, on
the field, and he never gets a whistle, And I
(21:03):
don't know there was some in live action you could
see like wait, I mean, I understand that holding happens
a lot on both sides of the ball, but when
Micah Parsons demands and gets the attention he gets and
guys are literally holding onto him and he never I
don't because he gotten one whistle against him. I don't
remember one. I just it's gotta be infuriating for him
his coaches, because I don't know what you do. No.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
I mean, at least he just signed his new deal
and his stats aren't gonna matter that much because he's
gonna get paid. But as far as Green Bay, goes.
I mean, I thought Monday Night Raw was on Mondays,
but I'm watching a WWE match. Every time he rushes
the passer, I mean, the sleeper hold is textbook. It's
even when the floor comes out and says, I just
(21:46):
don't know what a holding is anymore, because I thought
I saw it every single snap. It's getting to a
ridiculous point. And I would imagine that we may see
a Micah Parsons holding called next week. I just have
a sneaking suspicion might happen at least once it's I
thought the officiating all night was bad. The fact that
(22:06):
Keishawn Nixon from zero to hero gets choked and not
speaking of choke holds, I mean that's undertaker style, and
he gets a flying for unnecessary roughness. He also did
some other stupid stuff. He ended up redeeming himself, but
the non catch with Muskgrave, the twenty five am exaggerating
(22:27):
missed holdings on Micah to the choke hold not called
on Nixon. It was just a very weird. I'm not
saying that all the ref's route to get us, but
it was just a I thought the refs lost control
of that game.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
I don't disagree. I don't think it was one sided.
Particularly maybe it felt as a packer guy more built
hurting the pack more than the Bears. It did to
me a little bit, but it didn't. I didn't come
out of the game going mad. We got jobbed in
this one. Now, that was I mean, there were some
bad calls on both sides. Still, that one play where
Colston Lovelin, you know, looked like he caught it. Then
it looked like the call the fumble that he recovered
(23:01):
it when clearly Evan Williams recovered it. I still felt
like that was a catch. They said it was incomplete.
It felt like a catch to me, and I don't
think anybody really knows what a catches in the NFL.
It's kind of whatever the officials decided to call. Yeah,
that was a bit annoying watching that throughout. Well, let's
go to the final drive. It's twenty eight, twenty one pack,
here come the Bears, Calebs moving the ball down the field.
(23:23):
Didn't realize this till I read about it after the game,
but Rashan Gary was on the sidelines for a good
chunk of that drive toward the end, Like once they
crossed midfield. It was Enigbari out there and not Rashan Gary,
and that's for a larger discussion down the road about
what do you do with Rashan Gary and his cap
hit next year? And now that you have Micah and
he's not necessarily producing to the level you'd expect, we
(23:44):
can get into all that. Enigbari definitely took advantage of
the opportunity, getting about the same number of snaps as
Gary had thirty nine snaps. Gary had forty parsons by
comparison at sixty one. He was out there virtually the
entire game, just catching his breath, taking a couple of
plays off Ednick Barry was responsible for two of the
(24:05):
biggest defensive plays of the game. Right before halftime, he
gets that great sack on Caleber, He hit him so
hard in the final seconds of the first half to
put any idea of a last second field goal there
to bed. And then the play before the interception on
third and one. Don't let's not forget this play because
it was huge. You know, manang guy, their short yardage guy,
(24:25):
give him the ball on third and one. He is
a tough dude to stop man. He is a bowling ball,
and here's Ednigbarri getting into the backfield and bringing him
down to bring up the fourth and one, and we
all know what happened next. But he can't forget about
that play. And I don't know Enigbarri. Over the last
few years, I feel like even in playoff games, he
tends to step up and be a guy you notice,
(24:48):
and he's earned some playing time and I would not
at all be surprised, Yeah, if he finds himself starting
opposite of MIKEA. Parsons for this team next season.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
I think the theme of this season defensively has been
they may bend, they may give up points, but when
push comes to shove, someone's making a play and he's
and Barre is right there as one of the guys.
Obviously Micah is known as the closer, but when it
comes time to make a big stop, it feels like
they do that. It's a great trend to have going forward,
going into January and the rest of December. It just
(25:20):
seems like when the lights are the brightest, when they
just need to stop, and they the Bears are as
good as anyone at just running swift right down the
middle or an young guy right down the middle and
getting those two yards that they need to continue the drive.
They stop them when they needed to, and they come
up with a big play on that fourth and one
when they really needed to.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Yeah, let's go to the final play. Have you seen
the final play? The video from the back of the
end zone, like watching the play from behind. Yes, it's
so cool to see how the defense reacts on that
play because you've got Caleb rolling to his left. You know,
Cooper's chasing him down, so you know, maybe he gets
the first down if he runs, maybe he doesn't. But
Keishawn Nixon is on the right side opposite DJ Moore
(26:00):
who's going in motion, so he's following Dj Moore across
the field and during the play, you just you notice that, wait,
there's Cole Comet behind me and no one has dropped
to cover him. So he drops off of DJ Moore
and gets back just in time. And you know, look,
Caleb Williams threw that ball a second second and a
half late and obviously a little short, but he makes
(26:22):
the game saving interception. As you say zero to hero bench.
For a couple of plays after the personal file call
gets cooled off and then delivers the play of the
game at the end, his first interception of the season.
He had a couple of past breakups in this game
as well. So again, this is a kid, you know,
a long history, checkered history, and came into the season
(26:44):
saying I could be a number one cornerback, and he's
given us reasons to believe during the year, but also
reasons to scratch our head and go in a perfect world,
he's a number two cornerback and I don't know, maybe
a three. But can't take anything away. He saved the day.
Great awareness in the seconds he had to realize that
a tight end's behind him and make the play. It
(27:04):
was outstanding.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Yeah, he could have had two interceptions. One a touchdown
catch went literally right through his hands diving. It's a
great play. It's just one of those unlucky. It truly
is a game of inches. That interception was the thing
of I don't know what I think of the play
call from Ben Johnson there rolling to the left. I mean,
we've seen the tight end escape play action. That's one
(27:26):
of Lafleur's favorites in the red zone. They were prepared
for at that time and they I just love how
this defense swarms. It's a cliche of that's what you
see in a championship defense is everyone swarming the ball.
But they just do such a good job of that.
So many people were running that video that you reference,
so many Packers are running after Caleb making sure he
(27:46):
couldn't get there. And Nixon came up with the big play.
And you need it the most when you get reamed
by Lafloor, which thankfully he didn't touch him like a
certain Cardinals head coach. When you get reamed like that
and you go and make that play, I mean, I
think he earned the game ball, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Yeah. I mean, for how many years when the Packers
fell off in the playoffs and lost a heartbreaking game
to San Francisco or Tampa Bay, and you watch those
defense as you go, man, they're young, they're fast, they're physical.
We're nothing like that. We've got to become a defense
like that. And the Packers now are a defense like that.
They are a defense that other teams fan bases are
(28:24):
looking at, going, man, that's fun to watch. Look at
those guys, as you say, swarm to the ball and
attack and hit hard. And they're so fast on that
linebacker level. We finally got there. And that's why I
think it gives Packer fans so much hope if they
can stay healthy in the postseason, because any offense they face,
you're gonna, you know, you're gonna have a shot against,
(28:44):
whether it's Matthew Stafford or Jalen Hurst or whoever it
might be. You know, this defense is not gonna be
the worst unit on the field no matter who they're facing.
And that's a long time since we could say that.
And the last time you could say that this team
was hoisting a troll by a former coach's name I
can't recall.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Yeah, I don't know who that might be. I just
think it seems to I mean, this could be delusion,
this could be this audio could come back to bite me.
It just it just feels like the defense is playing
their best. The offense is now starting to play their best.
It seems like things are coming together at the right time.
We don't have we don't control our own destiny for
the one seed. It's not gonna take much help. You
(29:24):
just need either the Rams or the Seahawks to lose,
and then that other team they play each other one
more time. If the other team wins, then you control
your own destiny for the one seed. They certainly control
their own destiny for the division and getting a home
playoff game. It just feels like, and the AFC isn't
really that scary to me. There's two teams, I mean,
the Seahawks and aren't that scary to me? The Rams
(29:46):
are scary, but we've had good history with them and
McVeigh and Stafford, So there's really not anyone out there
now that we've beaten the Bears that I'm like, you know,
really worried about. I mean, maybe the Eagles, but their
offense is broken. So it just feels like everything is
coming together offensively, they're getting healthier defensively or swarming the
ball and making big plays that they need to. Special
(30:09):
teams were not even talking about them. Whence the last
time I've had a special team's blunder knock on wood,
It's been a while, So it just I'm not even
saying anything. I'm just saying it feels like it's all
coming together, that's all.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
All the vibes are good. Vibes are good. Ninety six
percent chance to reach the playoffs, sixty nine percent chance
to win the North after the win on Sunday, a
win that you were eerily, eerily close on our pack
of previews show. I want you to take your bow
for a second, because you you kind of saw what
was going to happen in this game at about eight
fifty am on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Yeah, I'm gonna edit in the audio and post, but
here's what I said, and I'm nailed it. Yeah, I
agree that they're I think they're gonna win. I would
still put it at optimistic and not so much confident.
I think they've got a really good shot at it. Unfortunately,
I think just the way that the Bears play, I
don't I think we're going to see a lot of
Caleb Williams unless to pack it out to a huge lead,
(31:03):
which is possible. I think it's going to be probably
a nail bier until maybe halfway through the fourth or
the Packers pull ahead a little bit to where Caleb
best to throw, and then maybe a late turnover pick
if we can get out ahead. I like their chances.
If I had to put a number on it, i'd
probably go twenty seven to twenty one, I mean one
point off. I had it at twenty seven twenty one.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
I mean you think it would probably miss one right.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Well, or a couple of field goals as well.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Well.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Really, what I was doing, to be honest, was doing
the twenty seven bit because that's the magic number.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
This whole year.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
So I have six twenty seven exactly. So yeah, I'll
peacock a little bit. I had it correct. You.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
Not only did you have a correct you said lay
touchdown for the pack to take the lead, and then
you said in a turnover at the end, maybe to
seal it. I mean, dude, what's gonna happen in Denver
next Sunday? You got anything for me on Monday?
Speaker 2 (31:53):
I mean, I don't know what to make of this.
I mean, the bid is I'm going to fly to
Vegas and take the whatever spread it as for green Bay?
I should actually look up do we have the spread already?
Speaker 1 (32:04):
I saw it last night?
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Go ahead?
Speaker 1 (32:05):
What do you think anything the top of your head?
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Is it crazy that I think green Bay could be
favored by like two and a.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Half or three Packers one and a half point favorites
against a Denver Broncos team who will be at home
and holding a ten game winning streak. I don't know
if it'll end as the Packers will be favored in
this game. We'll see. Can't imagine a team riding a
ten game winning streak at home in December. Has ever
been an underdog? I mean, I can't imagine that's ever happened.
(32:33):
It's gonna be a great test for the Packers in
the Mile High City on Sunday afternoon before the rematch
with Chicago. Matt Lafleur with the win Sunday his seventy
six win. That's tied to the second most wins for
a coach in his first seven seasons in NFL history.
So mock him, push him out the door. He's winning
(32:54):
football games. His team is winning football games, and as
we sit here on December eighth, the Green Bay Packers
are nine three to one, the leaders of the NFC
North and very very close to a top seed in
the NFC. We root for the Chargers on Monday night.
Hope they can knock the Eagles off. That would help
just a little bit, and we'll get set for a
(33:14):
big road test in Denver. You get five or six
days to give me a score, Okay.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
All right, I'll figure something out. We'll maybe book a
flight or two.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Thank you so much for listening to Packer Review for
Brett Blakemore. I am Dave Sinecate. We'll be back Sunday
morning for Packer Preview eight am on Kfan and iHeartRadio
as we get you set for Packers Broncos, the latest
game of the century. Have a great week.
You have found Packer Review, A kfan and iHeartRadio production.
I am Dave Sinekin, joined as always by Brett Blake
Moore as we break down the Packers twenty eight twenty
one victory over the Chicago Bears that has restored order
in the NFC North. The Packers sit atop the division
as we sit here the Monday after a Packer's victory
(00:20):
nine to three and one, four straight wins, and they
have completed Brett Blake Moore the three and oh division
sweep to improve to four and oh so far in
the division this season. That was priority number one after
almost going goose egged last year. Feels really good to
get through that three game division gauntlet three and oh,
does it not.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
It feels really good, especially after last year where you're
potentially a blocked field goal away from going over in
the division. To now flip that, to be undefeated, to
beat everyone, to sweep the Lions, potentially more sweeps on
the way. It's really Yesterday was just delicious almost from
start to finish. Little nail biting at the end, but
(00:59):
that pick just sealed everything and made it great.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Yeah, no doubt there is something for me as a
guy that grew up in Milwaukee. You know, basically taught
before I knew how to count that we hate the
Chicago Bears and we hate everything about them, and our
number one priority every year is to try to beat
the Chicago Bears. It still feels really good to beat
that team for me, and that fan base is just
(01:22):
the chirpiest and loudest and most obnoxious fan base I've
ever come across in any sport. And to have the
complete domination we've had over the last three decades has
been fantastic as a Packer fan. But it's it's clear
the rivalry is back. It's not going anywhere. This team,
this Chicago Bears team, it needs work, it needs help.
(01:43):
It's not complete, but it's coming. And you know, you
don't have to look too hard right now to look
at the future of this division over the next four
or five years. I know things can change, but the
Bears and Packers look like the teams that are most
poised to be on top of this division for the
coming years.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yeah. They As you mentioned the fans, it is most
delicious to beat them. You received a tweet from someone
asking what's your pain threshold? Because it will be more
than what you can handle when the bear claw gets
in your ass. That was Lavelle Neil. It didn't end
up working that way.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
The fan has learned, No, you didn't tweet after the
games to me, as far as I can recall.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Weird funny huh, he's been rather quiet. He has so
that that is some deliciousness going on. It is just
it's something I get Vikings fans who are somehow maybe
listening to this. I mean, they had a great game.
They want it to be the biggest rivalry Vikings Packers,
but the reality is it's just Packers Bears. It's as
(02:39):
big as it gets, it's as hated as it gets,
and that was as delicious as it gets.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Yeah, I mean, it's not their fault. The Bears and
Packers had a four year forty year had start, and
there is something to the history that goes with these
two founding fathers. Basically the NFL still going at it
all these years later. Obviously the last three decades it's
been hotter between the Packers and Vikings because they've been
more competitive and they took our quarterback and made things
kind of interesting for a couple of years. But the
(03:05):
Bears are coming, and look, it was a little too
close for comfort as things closed out, Let's go back
to the beginning, because you know, it was very ominous.
You know, Packers are moving the football down the field.
Jayden Reid's getting touches. I mean they put him right
on the field, They threw it to him, they gave
him the balls, a ball carrier. It was so nice
(03:26):
to have eleven back on the field and they're moving
it into Bears territory. And then Love throws a pass
that we haven't seen from him, I don't know since September,
you know, and he talked about it after the game.
It came off his hand wrong, He was a bad read.
He took ownership. But man, it was one of those moments.
For a second, it was like, this is what the
Bears do. Somehow they get into quarterbacks heads. We haven't
(03:47):
seen Loved airmail Matthew Golden like that in weeks. So yeah,
right off the bat, I'm thinking, this is what they do.
They pick off passes and they somehow figure out a way. Clearly,
you know, they get the ball the thirty six yardlant
of Green Bay and the defense forces of three and
out and says not today, my friend. But couldn't have
a more ominous start for the offense.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah, I was so convinced because it was so weird,
like it had to be a wrong route ran by Golden,
Like that's how odd of an interception, because Love just
doesn't do that. It's what is third of the season,
so it's it's a very rare thing for that to,
you know, even a tipped interception or something doesn't happen,
(04:27):
let alone throwing it right to a guy with no
one in the zip code, Or at least it seemed
on the broadcast. I've since watched part of the All
twenty two. Seems like it was just on Love, to
which he took ownership of it. I thought for sure
it was going to be Golden, but it was Love.
He made up for it, and then some later in
the game.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
He did because his stats for the first half after
that pick twelve for seventeen for one to sixty three,
two touchdowns that pick, and a one fifteen point six
passer rating. Meanwhile, Caleb in the first half six for
fourteen for thirty two yards a fifty point three passer rating.
The Bears had seventy one yards of offense in the
first half. That's the least amount of the yards a
(05:06):
Ben Johnson coach team has ever put up in a
half of football. Packers defense was flying around the football.
I mean that they didn't look at all affected by
the cold. They were making things miserable. The Bears could
not run the ball. It was just a dominant first
half of football by that defense. And I want to
point out the guys that stepped in for Wyatt. You know,
you see Carl Brooks out there after missing a few games.
(05:28):
You have Coolby Wooden now switching from three technique to
nose tackle. They're putting him in there, and he he
did a good job. I mean that first half defense.
And again we'll talk about what happened in the second
half defensively, but that first half to have that fourteen
to three commanding lead in the defense, just suffocating Chicago.
I'd love to know what that locker room was like
as they went in there at halftime.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I mean, that was is a lead of it. I
mean I was like, this is their run game, this
is it. It felt like it was just gonna be domination
start to finish. Caleb was all over the place. Accuracy,
they just had no answer for the Packer defense. And
it wasn't even like a pass rush was causing havoc.
It was just there were shutting him down, swarming the ball,
(06:10):
and that's you like to see that going into this
time of year from defenses.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Yeah, so it's seven to three. They get the field
goal and Cairo Santos kicks the ball out of bounds.
I think it was about a minute twenty to go.
I was a bit surprised. I don't know if you were,
was like a minute fifty and Chicago was gonna have
to settle for a field goal. And Laflour didn't call
it time out with a minute fifty left, and I'm thinking, dude,
you could save yourself thirty seconds. As it turned out,
(06:37):
they didn't need anywhere near that much time, and he
probably figured, well, if I have a minute, a minute ten,
that's really all we need in our offense to get
down the field for a field goal. But Santos kicks
it out of bounds, gives the ball to forty. That
obviously makes things a whole lot easier. And then what
is it three plays later? Wait, bo Melton, that's both
this is the first game all season that Green Bay
(06:58):
has their five preferred top receivers on the field, and
it's Bo Melton who gets past the defense and gets
that forty three yard touchdown to extend the lead to
fourteen three. And I'm sure like most Packer fans, I'm like,
I was told he's a cornerback, Like, what are we
doing with bow Melton? And when we have five healthy receivers,
why is Bo Melton the guy out there? That was
That was pretty sweet and I'm sure just for him
(07:20):
so gratifying to finally get paid.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
If you're a guy that watches love and the protection
in the pocket and he goes back and loads up that,
you know, big bomb, hil Mary pass the moon ball.
The last thing you're thinking is I mean, I'm thinking
Christian Watson's got to be down there somewhere. That's the
guy he's going to. The last person I was expecting
was Bo Melton somewhere. Malie Keith is probably watching in
(07:45):
a little upset because bow Melton is getting touchdown catches.
I still like see Matthew Golden get one, but that's
neither here nor there. What a throw? What a catch?
What a play? I was told you can't take the
top off this bear secondary that was anything but the yesterday.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Yeah. Well, I mean, to be fair, they caught a
break when Kyler Gordon came up with a groin injury
in pregame and they lost one of their top corners.
They don't think they can count on him the rest
of the year. That certainly helped matters. And obviously Malik
Heath's not going to run by anybody that wasn't his bit.
Bo Melton I think almost twenty miles per hour. Watson
he clipsed it on the slant. We'll get to him
in a second. But for Melton to have that moment,
(08:23):
that was huge. It's fourteen to three, and you know,
we're all feeling really good about a double digit lead
heading into halftime and then taking the ball, maybe you
score out of the first possession, and now suddenly the
game's getting away from Chicago and Ben has to throw
off his playscript and just throw. But the Payers get
a three and out, you know, to start the second half,
and then bad special teams penalty, you know, give him
(08:45):
a short field and they score and now suddenly we
have a ball game again. So an opportunity sort of
squandered there. I thought to sort of put them away early.
As long as we're talking wide receivers, Christian Watson gets
the game ball along with Keishawn Nixon. Four targets, four catches,
eighty nine yards. The two touchdowns, the second one the
(09:09):
slant play on third down where the blitz is coming
hard and fast at Love and he just hits Watson
on that slant. Who just I think he went twenty
one miles per hour on that run for Christian Watson,
who eleven months ago on that field against that team
saw his world blow up with a toward acl and
his future completely unknown. Man, how could you not feel
(09:31):
good about what this kid has done for this team.
It's no coincidence that the Packers offense in this four
game winning streak has started humming and is averaging twenty
seven points a game, coinciding with Christian Watson's return. He
has looked every bit the part of a number one receiver.
If you have to have that on your team. Number
nine is absolutely grabbing on to that title. He delivers
(09:54):
whenever you need it. And man, I saw the locker
room afterward as he talked to the team, you can't
get lump in your throat you just have to feel
so good for that kid.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Yeah, one hundred percent. It's it's a game changer, and
he's one of the best deep threat guys on one hundred
percent healthy. You know in football, how about the slant play?
The fact that you know Loves said, it's not about
reading the events, about manipulating the defense, right. He sees
that it's everyone's in, you know, on the line, it's
man cover straight up. He changes the route. You can
see him signal it like we're just gonna run a
(10:24):
slant and have you beat him. It's when you have
a guy who can do that, who's quick enough to
do that, and then you can manipulate the defense like
Love does, it ends up in six. So it was
just the thing in Beauty to watch, and we're really
happy for Watson because he's showing like he is the
number one guy.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
I don't know how many of Love's touchdown passes have
come on third down this year. It feels like every
single one of them, doesn't it say third and three touchdown,
third and ten touchdown. He has been the most productive
quarterback on third down this season and against the Blitz.
I mean I say it every week and you do too,
you know, blitz him at your risk. I mean, blitz
Jordan Love at your own risk. You see a stat
(11:00):
for the game yesterday against the Blitz nine for twelve
one hundred and seventy one yards, three touchdowns, a perfect
one point fifty six point three passer rating. I'm not
sure you can do any better than.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
That well, and that comes down to you know, also
manipulating and picking out and and cadence as well, which
Love does very well, and picking up where the pressure
is going to come from and the protection. It's it's
that's a team stat as well as it is a
Jordan Love stat. He's got to make the throws and
got to read, but it's the pre snap that really
(11:31):
makes the against the Blitz stand out.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
It's a great point. And the offensive line has really
gelled in the last few weeks, and not just in
pass protection, run blocking as well. We will talk about
Jordan Jacobs too in a moment. Even the tight ends.
I mean, there's a reason that Josh Wiley and John
Fitzpatrick are out snapping Luke Muskgrave because they are using,
you know, big lines to protect and make sure that
(11:55):
that Love has every advantage he can have. Musgrave looked good.
He caught a couple of balls, almost had that big catch,
should have, so he started to look like he can
become a playmaker and maybe he'll learn to block a
little bit to earn more snaps. But Fitzpatrick's gonna stay
on the field because that offense hums when they've got
that extra tight end out there doing what's needed to
help protect the franchise. Who was just, you know, outside
of the pick, brilliant on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Yeah, I thought they all played their part. I do
think at some point I want to talk officiating because
I think that was a catch. I didn't see a
clear view out of all the replays they showed live
and sense that the ball moved on the ground. But
I think he got robbed. And there's a couple things
officiating wise that the Packers shot themselves in the foot.
But the tight ends were very good. Wiley hit chipped in,
(12:39):
Fitzpatrick chipped in as well, so they were good checkdown options.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
For love, I'm with you on the musk Grave catch
not catch. I was stunned, absolutely lookly. I mean, yes,
did the ball maybe move a little, but his pen
never came off the ball. I'm told that that's okay.
Like the ball can touch the ground as long as
your hand's on it doesn't move, you keep possession. So
I felt it was too bad because it was maybe
one of the bigger plays he's made, maybe the biggest
(13:03):
this season. It could have been. At least it gives
you hope that you know he's starting to figure things out.
They could certainly use another pass catching option like him
in the middle of the field to unlock everybody else.
A couple things, one more thing on the wide receivers.
Wicks got six snaps, Golden got five yesterday, and reporting
(13:23):
afterwards said they're both still dealing with injuries and they
were on pitch counts, and I'm going to go with that.
I didn't know that Wicks was still nursing anything after
that breakout performance in Detroit. I just figured he was
one hundred percent good to go, but he was not
out there. Golden again just five snaps, So I'm not
going to read too much into that. We all want
to see more production out of Matthew Golden and wait
for that rookie year to finally come alive, and he
(13:46):
there's a lot of football left. We could still write
a story about Matthew Golden's rookie season, but I think
the story that's emerging for me is the magic disappearance
of Romeo Dobbs, who did not catch a ball in
this game. He was targeted twice. He had that one
sideline play that was a tough catch, but I felt
like he could have caught it. I think we all
have seen the writing on the wall looking ahead to
(14:08):
the next season and the seasons to come. I don't
think Romeo Dobbs is a part of this team's future.
And I don't say that lightly because he's been just
a dog for this team and a guy they really
leaned on the first half of the season when Watson
wasn't out there and they were dealing with obviously Golden
trying to figure things out Wicks injured. Dobbs stood up
for that receiving room and was great. But you see
(14:28):
who they got to pay, and they see who's on
this roster, and you see where the ball's being thrown
during these games of late, Dobbs is kind of being
phased out just a little bit. And I don't think
it's just a trend. I think it's going to be
the reality of there's a lot of miles to feed.
I'm not sure he's at the top of the pecking
order when it comes to talent for that receiving corps.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
It's unfortunate, but it's what have you done for me lately? Business?
And lately Dobbs has been inconsistent and dropping passes, and
you know, I can think back to the catchy at
in Seattle. There's been a myriad of catches and great
effort plays that he's made, but lately it hasn't been
good enough. And it shows where Love's going with the
ball and how they scheme and how Lafloor is calling plays.
(15:09):
So I agree with you. When you've got a hot
new rookie receiver who's not getting fed as much as
you should, and you've got a guy who's dropping who
you could, I mean, this is about the time with
those length of players that it's about the time you
either make a decision on them or let them go.
So I agree with you that I don't think he's
long for this green and gold world.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Yeah, Watson, Reid, Golden, Wicks, Williams, those are your five
likely pencil him in, throw it into ink for next
season and then maybe you keep a sixth, maybe you don't,
maybe a draft one. Maybe Melton's your guy. Yeah, I
just I think it's unfortunate, but I think that's the reality.
Last thing, on the offensive side of the ball, there
(15:51):
are a lot of big plays, obviously from Love to Watson,
other big time offensive plays. For me, I don't know
that there was a bigger play in the game than
that third and two run by Josh Jacobs when it
was twenty one. All right, Bears have tied the game.
The Packers need to respond, and they're responding quickly. They're
marching right down the field. But now it's third and
two and they pitch it to Jacobs and you know,
(16:12):
you all saw it. These three guys on him in
the backfield. It looks like he's going to be dropped
for a loss at third and two, and somehow he
wiggles out of them and rumbles on for twenty one yards,
takes it down inside the five scores a few plays
later and it's twenty eight twenty one. There's your margin
of victory. You know. It was a workman like twenty
carry eighty six yard performance for Jacobs on a very
(16:34):
cold afternoon against a not so great Bears run defense,
but man, he made those plays when he had to.
And I'll remember that run for a long time. You
forget some things. There's another key defensive play we'll get
to that might be forgotten, but that run by Jacob
sticks out to me.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Yeah, I mean, that's a standard NFL running backs not
getting out of there. It's just and I thought the
run blocking wasn't very good. For most of the day,
it was fine, and I had moments and there are
moments where Jacob's sprung for a little bit more than
the average two or three yards. There are sometimes where
he just got stuffed behind the line and it put
the packers behind the sticks and forced Love to throw downfield,
(17:13):
which we're okay with. I had no average running back
gets out of that like Jacobs did. And that's where
that's why you pay him the money that you do.
That's why you go out and get a good running back.
And that play was a thing of beauty. Because I
hate those pitch plays. They almost never work. That one
shouldn't have worked, but because you've got Jacobs, you can
to make it work.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Yeah, I think we all hate those pitch plays in
short yard of situations. You're just You're just he's putting
yourself behind an eight ball and hoping some guy can
make someone miss. Usually, all right, So it's fourteen three.
At halftime we talked about Packers go three and out,
and then the Bears wake up. They come out of hibernation,
and they score on three straight second half possessions, including
a ten yard ten play drive and a seventeen play
(17:53):
drive that I mean, you could just see how gassed
that defense is. I make no excuses, but think about
how much time they spent chasing Caleb Williams all afternoon.
Those pass rushers, they haven't had to run like that
all season. I mean, Caleb Williams is going to be
a really nice quarterback. I'm sure that Ben Johnson will
coach him up to teach him how to be a
(18:14):
pocket passing successful quarterback. But right now, all he is
is a guy that escapes the pocket and becomes Houdini.
And just how many times did he get out of
guy's grasp and just get out of it and make
a great play. And so you had guys chasing him
down and they were so tired. And that's why I
think that the Bears offense was able to really get going.
(18:35):
Was they were on the field for over twenty minutes
the Bears offense in the second half, and that's a
lot of plays for that defense on a cold day
when you're trying to catch your breath and that quarterback's
making you run. So I was disappointed that the defense
couldn't hold him like they did in the first half.
But Caleb, he's legit and he's going to make things difficult.
(18:55):
Bottom line is they held that running game in check.
They didn't never run over nine yards. They average four
point four yards of carry. They only got half the
yards on the ground they got week before in Philly.
It was kind of bend but don't break. But Caleb
did impress me with what he did. He's done it
all year in the fourth quarter in this situation, in
this spot, you know, a big game like this. He
(19:16):
definitely impressed me in that fourth quarter.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
I mean, that's apparently Mica needs to practice more being
Caleb Williams because that little trick in practice this week
didn't work as well as we thought. This is what
I was worried about going into it was what if
they just control the ball and run it and be
annoying and escape and just move the sticks little by little,
and I mean it seemed like they were out there forever.
The defense were on the ropes a hundred and if
(19:40):
we didn't have that long drive to set up the
Jacob's touchdown, I fear what would have happened because they
needed time to catch their breath. I don't know if
the interception happens. I mean, that's a whole different world.
It put a lot of pressure on the offense because
they controlled the ball so well. I don't know if
I'd go that far that. I was like floored by
Caleb because I knew he he had the escapability. He
(20:01):
made a lot more consistent throws than he typically does.
I thought I'd say he is a legit, serviceable, competent,
legit quarterback probably their best sense better than Cutler at
this point, right. And I'm not even trying to be.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Snarky, No, I mean, his ceiling is certainly higher. He's
going to get better. He still completed fifty four percent
of his pastes Sunday. That's not acceptable in the NFL.
And he's gonna throw a bunch in the ground too.
What do you make of the whole Micah Parsons gets
held on every play thing because I guess at Lambeau
at the two minute warning, Lafleur went off on the
(20:40):
officials about the previous play where Darnell will right, I
think it was the right tackle basically had him in
a choke hold and almost took him down and they
don't call it. And you know, we've all seen memes
and tiktoks and videos all season long of a plays
where Micah Parsons is being basically assaulted, you know, on
the field, and he never gets a whistle, And I
(21:03):
don't know there was some in live action you could
see like wait, I mean, I understand that holding happens
a lot on both sides of the ball, but when
Micah Parsons demands and gets the attention he gets and
guys are literally holding onto him and he never I
don't because he gotten one whistle against him. I don't
remember one. I just it's gotta be infuriating for him
his coaches, because I don't know what you do. No.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
I mean, at least he just signed his new deal
and his stats aren't gonna matter that much because he's
gonna get paid. But as far as Green Bay, goes.
I mean, I thought Monday Night Raw was on Mondays,
but I'm watching a WWE match. Every time he rushes
the passer, I mean, the sleeper hold is textbook. It's
even when the floor comes out and says, I just
(21:46):
don't know what a holding is anymore, because I thought
I saw it every single snap. It's getting to a
ridiculous point. And I would imagine that we may see
a Micah Parsons holding called next week. I just have
a sneaking suspicion might happen at least once it's I
thought the officiating all night was bad. The fact that
(22:06):
Keishawn Nixon from zero to hero gets choked and not
speaking of choke holds, I mean that's undertaker style, and
he gets a flying for unnecessary roughness. He also did
some other stupid stuff. He ended up redeeming himself, but
the non catch with Muskgrave, the twenty five am exaggerating
(22:27):
missed holdings on Micah to the choke hold not called
on Nixon. It was just a very weird. I'm not
saying that all the ref's route to get us, but
it was just a I thought the refs lost control
of that game.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
I don't disagree. I don't think it was one sided.
Particularly maybe it felt as a packer guy more built
hurting the pack more than the Bears. It did to
me a little bit, but it didn't. I didn't come
out of the game going mad. We got jobbed in
this one. Now, that was I mean, there were some
bad calls on both sides. Still, that one play where
Colston Lovelin, you know, looked like he caught it. Then
it looked like the call the fumble that he recovered
(23:01):
it when clearly Evan Williams recovered it. I still felt
like that was a catch. They said it was incomplete.
It felt like a catch to me, and I don't
think anybody really knows what a catches in the NFL.
It's kind of whatever the officials decided to call. Yeah,
that was a bit annoying watching that throughout. Well, let's
go to the final drive. It's twenty eight, twenty one pack,
here come the Bears, Calebs moving the ball down the field.
(23:23):
Didn't realize this till I read about it after the game,
but Rashan Gary was on the sidelines for a good
chunk of that drive toward the end, Like once they
crossed midfield. It was Enigbari out there and not Rashan Gary,
and that's for a larger discussion down the road about
what do you do with Rashan Gary and his cap
hit next year? And now that you have Micah and
he's not necessarily producing to the level you'd expect, we
(23:44):
can get into all that. Enigbari definitely took advantage of
the opportunity, getting about the same number of snaps as
Gary had thirty nine snaps. Gary had forty parsons by
comparison at sixty one. He was out there virtually the
entire game, just catching his breath, taking a couple of
plays off Ednick Barry was responsible for two of the
(24:05):
biggest defensive plays of the game. Right before halftime, he
gets that great sack on Caleber, He hit him so
hard in the final seconds of the first half to
put any idea of a last second field goal there
to bed. And then the play before the interception on
third and one. Don't let's not forget this play because
it was huge. You know, manang guy, their short yardage guy,
(24:25):
give him the ball on third and one. He is
a tough dude to stop man. He is a bowling ball,
and here's Ednigbarri getting into the backfield and bringing him
down to bring up the fourth and one, and we
all know what happened next. But he can't forget about
that play. And I don't know Enigbarri. Over the last
few years, I feel like even in playoff games, he
tends to step up and be a guy you notice,
(24:48):
and he's earned some playing time and I would not
at all be surprised, Yeah, if he finds himself starting
opposite of MIKEA. Parsons for this team next season.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
I think the theme of this season defensively has been
they may bend, they may give up points, but when
push comes to shove, someone's making a play and he's
and Barre is right there as one of the guys.
Obviously Micah is known as the closer, but when it
comes time to make a big stop, it feels like
they do that. It's a great trend to have going forward,
going into January and the rest of December. It just
(25:20):
seems like when the lights are the brightest, when they
just need to stop, and they the Bears are as
good as anyone at just running swift right down the
middle or an young guy right down the middle and
getting those two yards that they need to continue the drive.
They stop them when they needed to, and they come
up with a big play on that fourth and one
when they really needed to.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Yeah, let's go to the final play. Have you seen
the final play? The video from the back of the
end zone, like watching the play from behind. Yes, it's
so cool to see how the defense reacts on that
play because you've got Caleb rolling to his left. You know,
Cooper's chasing him down, so you know, maybe he gets
the first down if he runs, maybe he doesn't. But
Keishawn Nixon is on the right side opposite DJ Moore
(26:00):
who's going in motion, so he's following Dj Moore across
the field and during the play, you just you notice that, wait,
there's Cole Comet behind me and no one has dropped
to cover him. So he drops off of DJ Moore
and gets back just in time. And you know, look,
Caleb Williams threw that ball a second second and a
half late and obviously a little short, but he makes
(26:22):
the game saving interception. As you say zero to hero bench.
For a couple of plays after the personal file call
gets cooled off and then delivers the play of the
game at the end, his first interception of the season.
He had a couple of past breakups in this game
as well. So again, this is a kid, you know,
a long history, checkered history, and came into the season
(26:44):
saying I could be a number one cornerback, and he's
given us reasons to believe during the year, but also
reasons to scratch our head and go in a perfect world,
he's a number two cornerback and I don't know, maybe
a three. But can't take anything away. He saved the day.
Great awareness in the seconds he had to realize that
a tight end's behind him and make the play. It
(27:04):
was outstanding.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Yeah, he could have had two interceptions. One a touchdown
catch went literally right through his hands diving. It's a
great play. It's just one of those unlucky. It truly
is a game of inches. That interception was the thing
of I don't know what I think of the play
call from Ben Johnson there rolling to the left. I mean,
we've seen the tight end escape play action. That's one
(27:26):
of Lafleur's favorites in the red zone. They were prepared
for at that time and they I just love how
this defense swarms. It's a cliche of that's what you
see in a championship defense is everyone swarming the ball.
But they just do such a good job of that.
So many people were running that video that you reference,
so many Packers are running after Caleb making sure he
(27:46):
couldn't get there. And Nixon came up with the big play.
And you need it the most when you get reamed
by Lafloor, which thankfully he didn't touch him like a
certain Cardinals head coach. When you get reamed like that
and you go and make that play, I mean, I
think he earned the game ball, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Yeah. I mean, for how many years when the Packers
fell off in the playoffs and lost a heartbreaking game
to San Francisco or Tampa Bay, and you watch those
defense as you go, man, they're young, they're fast, they're physical.
We're nothing like that. We've got to become a defense
like that. And the Packers now are a defense like that.
They are a defense that other teams fan bases are
(28:24):
looking at, going, man, that's fun to watch. Look at
those guys, as you say, swarm to the ball and
attack and hit hard. And they're so fast on that
linebacker level. We finally got there. And that's why I
think it gives Packer fans so much hope if they
can stay healthy in the postseason, because any offense they face,
you're gonna, you know, you're gonna have a shot against,
(28:44):
whether it's Matthew Stafford or Jalen Hurst or whoever it
might be. You know, this defense is not gonna be
the worst unit on the field no matter who they're facing.
And that's a long time since we could say that.
And the last time you could say that this team
was hoisting a troll by a former coach's name I
can't recall.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Yeah, I don't know who that might be. I just
think it seems to I mean, this could be delusion,
this could be this audio could come back to bite me.
It just it just feels like the defense is playing
their best. The offense is now starting to play their best.
It seems like things are coming together at the right time.
We don't have we don't control our own destiny for
the one seed. It's not gonna take much help. You
(29:24):
just need either the Rams or the Seahawks to lose,
and then that other team they play each other one
more time. If the other team wins, then you control
your own destiny for the one seed. They certainly control
their own destiny for the division and getting a home
playoff game. It just feels like, and the AFC isn't
really that scary to me. There's two teams, I mean,
the Seahawks and aren't that scary to me? The Rams
(29:46):
are scary, but we've had good history with them and
McVeigh and Stafford, So there's really not anyone out there
now that we've beaten the Bears that I'm like, you know,
really worried about. I mean, maybe the Eagles, but their
offense is broken. So it just feels like everything is
coming together offensively, they're getting healthier defensively or swarming the
ball and making big plays that they need to. Special
(30:09):
teams were not even talking about them. Whence the last
time I've had a special team's blunder knock on wood,
It's been a while, So it just I'm not even
saying anything. I'm just saying it feels like it's all
coming together, that's all.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
All the vibes are good. Vibes are good. Ninety six
percent chance to reach the playoffs, sixty nine percent chance
to win the North after the win on Sunday, a
win that you were eerily, eerily close on our pack
of previews show. I want you to take your bow
for a second, because you you kind of saw what
was going to happen in this game at about eight
fifty am on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Yeah, I'm gonna edit in the audio and post, but
here's what I said, and I'm nailed it. Yeah, I
agree that they're I think they're gonna win. I would
still put it at optimistic and not so much confident.
I think they've got a really good shot at it. Unfortunately,
I think just the way that the Bears play, I
don't I think we're going to see a lot of
Caleb Williams unless to pack it out to a huge lead,
(31:03):
which is possible. I think it's going to be probably
a nail bier until maybe halfway through the fourth or
the Packers pull ahead a little bit to where Caleb
best to throw, and then maybe a late turnover pick
if we can get out ahead. I like their chances.
If I had to put a number on it, i'd
probably go twenty seven to twenty one, I mean one
point off. I had it at twenty seven twenty one.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
I mean you think it would probably miss one right.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Well, or a couple of field goals as well.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Well.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Really, what I was doing, to be honest, was doing
the twenty seven bit because that's the magic number.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
This whole year.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
So I have six twenty seven exactly. So yeah, I'll
peacock a little bit. I had it correct. You.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
Not only did you have a correct you said lay
touchdown for the pack to take the lead, and then
you said in a turnover at the end, maybe to
seal it. I mean, dude, what's gonna happen in Denver
next Sunday? You got anything for me on Monday?
Speaker 2 (31:53):
I mean, I don't know what to make of this.
I mean, the bid is I'm going to fly to
Vegas and take the whatever spread it as for green Bay?
I should actually look up do we have the spread already?
Speaker 1 (32:04):
I saw it last night?
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Go ahead?
Speaker 1 (32:05):
What do you think anything the top of your head?
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Is it crazy that I think green Bay could be
favored by like two and a.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Half or three Packers one and a half point favorites
against a Denver Broncos team who will be at home
and holding a ten game winning streak. I don't know
if it'll end as the Packers will be favored in
this game. We'll see. Can't imagine a team riding a
ten game winning streak at home in December. Has ever
been an underdog? I mean, I can't imagine that's ever happened.
(32:33):
It's gonna be a great test for the Packers in
the Mile High City on Sunday afternoon before the rematch
with Chicago. Matt Lafleur with the win Sunday his seventy
six win. That's tied to the second most wins for
a coach in his first seven seasons in NFL history.
So mock him, push him out the door. He's winning
(32:54):
football games. His team is winning football games, and as
we sit here on December eighth, the Green Bay Packers
are nine three to one, the leaders of the NFC
North and very very close to a top seed in
the NFC. We root for the Chargers on Monday night.
Hope they can knock the Eagles off. That would help
just a little bit, and we'll get set for a
(33:14):
big road test in Denver. You get five or six
days to give me a score, Okay.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
All right, I'll figure something out. We'll maybe book a
flight or two.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Thank you so much for listening to Packer Review for
Brett Blakemore. I am Dave Sinecate. We'll be back Sunday
morning for Packer Preview eight am on Kfan and iHeartRadio
as we get you set for Packers Broncos, the latest
game of the century. Have a great week.
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