October 27, 2025 • 34 mins
The FAN’s Dave SInykin and Brett Blakemore break down the Week 8 win over the Steelers.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You have found Packer Review Akfan Production. I have Dave Sinakin,
joined as always by Brett Blake Moore as we reviewed
the packs scintillating second half performance last night, taking care
of the Steelers thirty five twenty five to improve to
five one and one. It was all about the quarterbacks,
mister Blake Moore, the old gunslinger against his mentee. If
(00:21):
you will, how about what Jorda Love showed the world
Sunday night in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I mean, if if you're not convinced at that now,
there's not much more we can say. That was a statement.
You know, it's hard for a guy in his third
year who's been in the playoffs twice, won a playoff
game to have a coming out party game that felt
like a coming out parting game of that caliber. Man
(00:48):
was he good?
Speaker 1 (00:48):
There?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
He was?
Speaker 1 (00:49):
What was it?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Twenty straight completions? It? It was electric? Tucker Craft as well.
I mean, there's so many people that I want to
get to, but we've been singing the praise of Jordan Love.
We've been consistent on it, and it paid off in
a big way last night. It was a thing of beauty.
Took me an hour and change to calm down after
the game just to go to bed.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
It's one of those nights when you just can't consume
enough content after the game. Whatever medium you want, right,
it's whether it's NBC or SVP or online. Yeah, I
soaked it up as well. It was tough to turn
the brain off and try to shut my eyes on
Sunday night. Yeah, I mean it was in light of
the spectacle around this game, right in light of the
(01:28):
storyline that was built up Rogers against the Pack and
how would Rogers do? And you know, you and I
were both cautious and somewhat pessimistic about the packs chances,
just in light of the spot, you know, Pittsburgh long
delay after a Thursday night game, of thinking about a
bad loss, thought they'd get their best effort, and obviously
they had a two possession lead heading into halftime. We'll
(01:49):
get to the rhythm of the game and all that,
but the spectacle of what Love dealt with the questions
all week, you know, it takes you back off the
way five years to when he was drafted and just
the whole profit it all bubbled up this week. Everybody
reminded him, and everyone knew that everyone's eyes would beyond
Aaron Rodgers on Sunday Night, and Jordan Love just once
(02:10):
again showed the world that he is a top five
caliber quarterback. I mean, we are now seven games into
this season. He has not had a lot of his
preferred pass catchers for most of the year. His offensive
line's been in flux. You have through seven games, he's
fourth in the league in passer rating. He has one
hundred and twelve point eight passer rating through seven games,
(02:31):
thirteen touchdowns, two picks, and the second half, you know
when he comes out and that offense comes out after
a very slow second quarter with those two three and outs,
that really left a bad taste in your mouth. And
then you finally get a little thing going on the
final thirty seconds to get the field goal try for
McManus and he misses, if what forty four yarder, and
(02:52):
now you're still down nine, and you're going into halftime
thinking they get the ball to start the second half.
This could get away from Green Bay quickly. But Jordan
Lov had other ideas. Since the Packers score touchdowns on
their first three drives. As you mentioned, the twenty straight
completions ties bred far from I think twenty oh six
or twenty oh seven, and I think the Packers figured
(03:14):
it out, like, Yes, the Steelers have given up a
ton of explosive plays. You can beat them deep, but
they have good pass rushers. And if you just let
Love dissect them and get rid of the ball quickly
and put the ball in the hands of his pass catchers,
let Tucker Craft cook this just in Tucker Craft cooked
on Sunday night. Did you see the stat Brett that
(03:36):
he had one hundred and thirty one of his one
hundred and forty three yards after the catch. That is
the most by a tight end in the NFL since
the twenty eighteen season. If most of the world that
maybe doesn't play fantasy football didn't know who Tucker Craft was,
he let the world know on tight end Day, didn't he.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah, I mean that was one of the most I mean,
there were some breaks that went against Green Bay, but
there also were some breaks that bounced our direct as
any football game, that particular play was one of the
luckiest scene in a long time.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
That was the play that turned the game really hot
in my mind.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Yeah, but it was a lucky play, but at the
same time, it was an effort play from Craft. To
come back and get it. So it was your guy
going and making a play and then the effort on
top of that to then get all the yak Do
you like Kraft yak and cheese? Do you like that
or not? I'm still kind of out on it, but
(04:29):
it's it's accurate, if nothing else.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
As a guy that whose kids would say, I'm one
of the guys that loves dad jokes more than most,
I feel like that fits my personality. I do like
yak and cheese. That works for me. Yeah, that play
the the it looked like a heave. I mean, he
had away with a little bit of a push off,
but that's that's football. And that play turned everything because
(04:53):
the pack was about to punt and that fifty nine
yard play ignited the offense. It just woke everything up.
And man, I mean, how do you just not love
watching Tucker Kraft ply his craft? Not sorry to use
a pun there, but because he's not just a yack
monster and a George Kittle two point zero. He does
so much work in the run game. He blocks his
(05:13):
butt off. I mean, you talk about the top tight
ends in football, and he's put himself in that conversation
now with the production, but it's the all around play
that gets noticed. I think around the league. You know,
Trey McBride gets all the love because he's a great
pass catcher. The next time he lays a block will
be the first time. That's not what he does. Kraft
is that Kittle type tight end that's going to give
(05:34):
you everything. I saw him on the sideline he got
I think it was Sean Ryan give him a little
head bump with his helmet and Kraft wasn't even wearing
a helmet. I'm like, dude, let's just settle down a
little bit. We want you to be cognitive through your career.
But man, when he's out there doing his thing, and
he was helped in part by the presidence of Christian Watson,
and we're going to get to that next. But the
(05:57):
identity of this Packers off it is becoming clear that
you know, it might be a Chiefs thing, it might
be a Kelsey type offense where you know it runs
through Travu Tucker Craft and if you pay too much
attention to him, watch out for the guys on the outside.
I just it was a coming out party. We've watched
him now for a couple of seasons and have gotten
so excited about what he might bring to this team.
(06:19):
It's all out there now. He is. He is the
focal part of the focal point of this offense. And
you know, I really do believe this guy's the limit
for him as a player.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
I mean, if you just think of the weapons and
the number I'd get, you know, you're still gonna get
the well, but you don't have the number one wide receiver.
You don't have the guy. But they've got so many
weapons that are so good. And I thought Golden had
a good game, still not the breakout game, Watson. We're
gonna discuss because I have thoughts all good, but man
Crafts has just emerged even more of a weapon than
(06:49):
we thought he was. And it just felt like in
that first half when the broadcast was raving about how
great the Steelers corners are, how great their pass rush is,
so they're going to play man and they're gonna come
after you and you're not gonna have any time to
get it rid of it, And it just felt like
the second half the Packers said, all right, well, we're
just going to dissect you anyways. We don't really care.
(07:10):
It was a masterclass from everyone involved in the second
I thought essentially the whole game. I mean, yeah, there
was a lull, but man, besides McManus, who is counting
his lucky stars at the offense just exploded in the
second half, because that would have been a huge talker.
But yeah, it just from play calling to Craft to
(07:31):
Love to yeah, it was unbelievable. It's a great game.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Yeah. I mean to your point about beating man coverage.
You know, the first half was you got that early
touchdown and the offense looked like it was going to
have a day and then kind of went into a shell,
couldn't run the ball. I didn't score obviously, to the
rest of the half, they go into the locker room
and figure things out and decide to change things up
and let Love get rid of that ball. They ended up.
(07:54):
Love ended up going thirteen for seventeen against man for
two hundred and thirty two yards and all three of
his touchdow. That's the most production for a quarterback versus
man coverage in the NFL this season. So I want
to credit the coaches too for understanding, look, we can
beat this. We may not want to go deep and
try to beat them with the explosive plays like we
thought we were going to do. But if this is
(08:15):
how they're going to play us, I mean, yeah, they've
got a lot of name value in the backfield on defense,
but those guys are getting up there in age a
little bit. And you can beat Ramsey, you can beat Sligh,
you can beat Poor. Those guys are very aggressive and
they take chances, and the Packers made them pay with
just an outstanding second half performance offensively. And we'll get
(08:36):
to the defense too. There's a lot of stories there.
But let's talk about Christian Watson. You've been waiting, waiting
all season, dying to get number nine back on the field.
As we talked about it in the last few weeks,
I really thought next week was going to be the game,
you know, back home against a team you should beat,
you know, to put him out there on that questionable
playing surface in Pittsburgh. Nine months from the surgery, I
(08:59):
figured Outkay, you know, they'll drop him in for ten
or twelve snaps. Let him get his feet wet, let
him knock some rust off. No, they had other ideas.
He was out there for thirty six snaps fifty six
percent of the offensive snaps, four catches eighty five yards.
He caught all four of his targets, a thirty three
yard catch, the twenty eight yard or the one late
in the game where again it looked like Love was
(09:19):
thrown across his body, up in the air and it
just drops effortlessly into Watson's hands. Not to mention the
block he sprung on Tucker Craft's touchdown. I mean, he
changes everything when he's out there for this offense. And
I was really surprised, not only you know, at how
productive he was, but just that he was out there
for more than half the snaps in his first game back.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Yeah, I remember it was one of the first plays
that he was targeted, and yes he caught the first
pass of the game, I think exactly, and it just
felt like, okay, well here we go. They're not gonna
there's no training wheels on him. Immediately out of the gates.
That one play, the long bomb. The floater thought that
was picked, especially when the safety starts backpedaling like he's
(10:07):
returning a punt. Bad news. But Watson is there and
it drops right, and Love just has this magic where
he can make those throws out and we see it
time and time again. That's the type of stuff that
we weren't getting, those those big line I mean, you
can see a shot to Dobbs here or there. I
can think of a shot to Watson in the Commander's
(10:28):
game that almost connected, but you just don't. I mean,
Watson had to come back for the ball because he's
so fast. So it's just when you stretch him out
like that and the blocking, he just adds a different flavor.
And you saw it all night long, especially on that play.
It just the magic felt like it was in full force,
especially in the second.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Yeah, man Craft is one of the biggest beneficiaryas of
having Watson back on the field because defenses have to
account for Watson's speed. That's going to open stuff up
underneath for Craft and all the other guys that they
count on in some other heroes offensively, I don't want
to lose sight of I thought Malik Heath had some
really big plays, some big catches, some big blocks. He's
just one of those guys that is on the end
(11:10):
of your depth chart. You don't really think about him
when you think about the packs wide receiving Corps. But
on a night when Wicks was out, they're still without
Jayden Reid, you're working Watson back. Somebody had to make
a few big plays, and I like that they do
throw to Heath. He's not just out there to block.
He's paid big plays in past seasons two for this team.
I thought he was important. You know. Getting Savion Williams's
(11:32):
first touchdown on that little gadget play was nice to see.
If you would have told us that Savian would have
the first touchdown among the pack of rookie receivers, we
probably wouldn't have believed that. Golden just four yards, you know,
three catches, four yards, targeted three times, caught them all.
Wasn't a big part of this offense. We're still gonna
have to wait for that. But on the passing attack,
(11:55):
Love found you know, whoever was open, he found his guy.
He was outstanding on a night when the Packers still
struggled to run the football. I mean, I have to
believe Josh Jacobs is hurting. It doesn't look his explosive
self at all. What did he end up thirty three
yards and thirteen carries. I mean, that's that's not Josh Jacobs.
And you see a Manuel Wilson come in in the
(12:16):
third quarter and you got to credit him as Collins,
where it seemed to do breathlessly throughout the night. He
just couldn't believe. I mean, Wilson's a perfect pack up
running back. And I'm still waiting for Marshawn Lloyd's career
to start. I want to see what he's got, but
Wilson may not give him a chance. Eleven carries sixty
one yards showed some juice again. Unsung heroes on a
(12:38):
night when love and Craft were the stars, there were
a number of players that made big plays that won't
show up and you won't think about them a whole
lot the next day.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Yeah, I think Wilson would be the number one for me,
unsung hero. Everything else you said is entirely accurate, but Wilson,
it almost felt like the defense when Jacobs was out there,
they were sending extra guys to try to stop the run,
and it felt like when Wilson was out there, they're like, well, look,
surely they're throwing because Jacobs isn't out there. And then
there's one play in particular where Wilson cut it to
(13:08):
the outside. It was later on it ran right by TJ. Watt,
who almost felt like he's like, oh crap, they're running,
Like we didn't even think about that. Like I don't
know if it was just a scheme thing or they
were so convinced we were throwing the football. But Wilson
made them pay when he had the ball every single time.
It felt like it was a big, productive four to
(13:29):
five at least yard run. And those runs make it
third and manageable and love is I thought the third
down speaking of were I mean, that was the biggest difference,
you know, the drop in the first half where they
just couldn't sustain a drive because they weren't good on
third down, which had been all year, and it completely
turned around in the second obviously.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Yeah, they ended up I think five for twelve on
third down, where Pittsburgh I think was one for ten.
So Packers defensively, and we'll get to the defense in
a minute, but they were terrific on the plays that mattered.
Last thing the offense. Let's just talk quickly about the
offensive line, which we know has the five preferred starters.
Back Jordan Morgan was in it right guard, but he
ended up rotating with Sean Ryan throughout the night. Is
(14:11):
they're just trying to find I think run blocking combinations
that are effective. I thought Ryan did play well. They
have to figure out what to do with Jordan Morgan.
Is he a full time starter? Is he here left
tackle eventually? Is he your right guard? Is Ryan a
guy you're going to hang on to? All in all,
the line was very good. Did not allow the quarterback
(14:31):
to get sacked. I think Love got hit five times
in the game against one of the top pass rushing
defenses in football. So I thought the the old line,
while the running game wasn't great, I did pick up
in the second half. Only ninety four yards rushing for
this team, but seventy five came in the second half,
so you know, you you know, that's you know two
of those, that's one hundred and fifty yard rushing day.
(14:52):
You'll take that all day long. So it feels like
they figured something out. But a clean game by the
old line against you know, a really good front seven
that's been really productive so far this year, and you know,
we look at Love's scintillating numbers and they're spectacular. The
O line was great and they kept TJ. Watt, Hayward, Herbig,
all those guys away and led Jordan Cook a couple.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Of notes on the line. One we got extremely lucky
with Zach Tom. I was I don't know about you,
but when they were showing the slow mo of before
his injury, I was looking at every single muscle in
the back of his leg, like, where's the pop, you know?
Or are we looking at an achilles or a hamstring?
Speaker 1 (15:31):
And I thought it was a non contact injury at
first when you showed that replay and it's like, well,
nothing happened. There must have been non contact. That could
be the worst possible news, yep. But then you see
the other angle where he actually got stepped on and
that was the issue, and I thought, all right, that
might not be as bad as I thought.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Well, my gal was like, well I saw his hamstring
pop like I saw it from like laser focus. But no,
it was just.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Now, she's a biking fan, she's looking for the worst.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Yeah. So, but it was just him bouncing around and
then getting stepped on. So that was also a pro tip.
Let's not one complaint. Let's not block people into the
back of Jordan Love's legs ever again, that would be
great because he got tabletopped and there was no flag
for it because he got blocked into Jordan Love, So
(16:16):
let's if we can avoid that, we should be good. Overall,
they were really, really good.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Yeah, that was one of those hits on Love where
you do worry because two guys combo platter where he
bends in a way you're not supposed to bet, and
then you're thinking in your head, well, the field is
so bad. If his cleat stick when he gets hit,
I mean, this could be disaster. But obviously he was
just fine. So offensively, very sluggish second quarter, you go
(16:41):
into halftime, very negative, and boy did they come out
firing in the third quarter to take control of that game.
That was amazing to watch. Let's talk about the defense.
What stood out to me instantly where I had my
eyes focused when the game started. Is Valentine going to
be out there? Or is Hobbs going to be out there?
And clearly the Packers coaching staff listens to us. They
(17:03):
must be Packer preview subscribers as well as the rest
of Packerd nation that was screaming to let Carrington Valentine
have a chance at outside cornerback whose Nate Hobbs was
a disaster last week and he has not been good. Look,
he's a slot corner. There's no shame in that. Green
Bay obviously believed that they could put him in as
an outside cornerback could be just fine. I don't think
(17:24):
that's gonna happen. I don't think he's gonna get another
chance to prove it can happen. Valentine played ninety eight
percent of the snaps at outside corner. He's just physical
and he's aggressive, and yeah, you know he might get
beat by DK Mackott metcalf for a garbage touchdown at
the end of the game, which he again competed really
hard against a really big, strong, tough receiver. He was
(17:48):
noticeable throughout this game, giving this team something it lacked
on the night when Keyshawn Nixon was terrible. And we'll
talk about his game in a number of directions. There,
Valentine's presence I thought was a site for sore eyes.
To me, he's locked up that spot. Give him a chance.
I don't care if he was a seventh round pick
or wherever you got him. He is a starting cornerback. Yeah,
(18:10):
he's not going to go to Pro Bowls. He's not
gonna hurt you. And I think that's where I want
to start with this defense was they put Valentine in there,
and he made them very happy that he was out there.
He was great last night.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
The first pass breakup he had, I thought of our
conversations like, there he is. It would be exactly what
we're talking about. And he just has the level of
compete that I feel like Hobbs doesn't have right now.
He's got the level of h for lack of a
better term, like a bulldog energy, you know, or he
just goes and goes and goes, and he's got the
physicality and the grit. He just plays at that little
(18:44):
bit of edge, and that's something the entire defense was
lacking the past four or five weeks that I thought
they really had tonight. And from the first couple of
tackles where you started to see what we saw in
week one week two, which is three Packers like a
tidal wave, one Steeler just tackling him because they're swarming
to the ball. It felt like a vintage and by
(19:06):
vintage I mean week one and week two defensive performance
for the most part of the game. It was really encouraging,
and especially they got the ball. I mean I texted
you the Packers got the ball in before the first
quarter was over the same amount of times they got
it in the entire first half in the Cardinals game.
So they were getting off the field, they were getting
(19:28):
stops on third down, they're making plays. Happened, lots of
PBUs and lots of pressures as well.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Yeah, and that was the story, was getting off the field.
We talked about it. One for ten on third downs
for Rogers and the Steelers, and you know, making them
settle for three field goals in the first half was
the game because that game could have gotten away from
Green Bay very easily if they're able to convert a
couple of those into touchdowns. The defense did great on
third down. I thought that getting DeVante Wyatt back was huge.
(19:59):
He was noticeable. They're different defense when he's in the middle.
They just, you know, obviously you traded Kenny Clark, so
now you really need Wyatt because you don't, you know,
Wooden Brinson Brooks. They have their moments and they're getting better,
but they're not going to scare an offense. Whyatt was
just he plugs everything up in the middle and it
was just really nice to see him back. He played
just over half the snaps. The run defense still gave
(20:22):
up over five yards per carry five point four yards
fifteen for eighty one. I think the Steelers were thankfully
they didn't run the ball too much. They got away
from it, and that's something we've seen. When you have
Aaron Rodgers as your quarterback, sometimes you just say, look,
let's let this guy have do his thing and let
him make the calls. And I think he changed a
lot of running plays into passing plays. So I'm still
(20:43):
not totally set on this run defense. I want to
see more, and I think they'll be challenged. You know,
the Panthers love to run the ball. Next week they
don't really have a quarterback, so we'll see how the
run defense looks next week and then Sakuon Barkley comes
to town. But having Wyatt back, I just think it's
a huge, huge element for this defense. They really miss
him when he's not there.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Yeah, one hundred percent. One of my favorite moments of
the game was them showing Warren's offseason training and on
the beach and pulling a soccer goal behind him, dragging
it as he's running, and then they cut to play
and there gets Warren gets the ball and who just
plows him Angbari just destroys him on the first play,
(21:26):
like there goes your soccer goal. Then no need for that.
I thought for the most part they were fine, but yeah,
they still gave up when they had long, sustained drives.
It felt like it was because of the run game
of the rung D so that it's got to improve.
And there's much better running backs on the horizon with
Detroit again with Philly, so you gotta be careful.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Bottom line to the second half, that defense uh three to
three and outs in the first four possessions for the Steelers,
who could not match the Packers' explosiveness. In the second half,
the defense really got after it. Rashaun Gary had a
big game, a couple of sacks, a couple tackles for loss.
Parsons gets a sack, three hurries. Gary sort of has
(22:08):
woken up the last two weeks, don't you think. You
know he had the strip last week, starting to make
big plays. He's starting to understand with Parsons on the
other side, what that does for him. You mentioned enig
Bari's big play. You know, I still think he's a
trade candidate here in the next few days. I could
see teams making calls for Green Bay. Who might say, well,
van Ness will be back, Sorell looks good, Mostby was activated.
(22:28):
We've got guys. I like Anik Bari, though it feels
like whenever he's given a chance, he makes big plays,
and I don't know, I'd like to hang on to him.
He doesn't get a lot of opportunities. He says all
the right things. I think he's good enough to be
a starter in this league, and he doesn't make a
ton of plays, but he makes important plays and ones
that sometime change outcomes or change momentum one hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
I really like his play. I just my big takeaway
from the defense was just how good. I mean, the
pass rush felt like the vaunted pass rush that we
talk about every week. It truly felt like that when
you were watching, because I've never had more confidence over
a third and ten, a third and twelve than I
did last night. Felt like every time they forced Rogers
(23:11):
to check down. I mean, he had the happy feet
one hundred percent on any play longer than five yards.
It just felt like no matter what they did, whether
it was Micah going on the right guard the left guard,
I love when he lines up over center and just
doesn't let you know where he's going. It's brilliant, but
they have to account for that, and then someone like
Gary or hopefully in the future van Ness or Kingsley
(23:34):
are going to have to pick up the slack, and
Gary mostly did. But why it was really good too.
The whole pass rush is just as good as you
could ask for.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Let's talk about some of the things that were a
little ugly to me. It does begin with Keishawn Nixon's night.
Who you know, he started off the season, had that
huge game against Detroit. He's been kind of up and
down a little bit. He was terrible last night. I mean,
it didn't cost the Packers the game, but he got torched.
I mean, I think back to that play where Rogers
just threw up a heave because the pressure is bearing
(24:04):
down on him and Nixon gets called for the PI
on that third and long play that ends up they
end up scoring. I mean, just turn around you there
was no chance on that play if you just don't
make that contact. So he he felt kind of lost
last night. And then they throw him back as a
punt returner and he muffs the punt and fortunately z
and Anderson was there to land on it, but still
(24:26):
can't find a guy to return punts. Romeo Dobbs is
kind of humorous as he took the baton after the
muff by Nixon, and he kind of does what Jayden
Reid does. He pauses for a second or two before
he goes and it's like, Romeo, do you know you
are supposed to go forward once you have the ball
in your hands? Correct? Yea. So we'll talk about that
in a second. But man Nixon, you know he wants
(24:48):
to be a number one corner and the Packers want
him to be a number one corner. I'm a little
concerned about how his play has taken a hit the
last couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
I feel like he's has enough equ at least this
season to have a stinker. But when you start to
line him up, that's the problem. But a lot of
times it's giving up on plays for me. Besides the
one that he drew a PI where he actually didn't
give up, but there was one where they threw it
right over his head. It was early on and he
(25:18):
stopped running. He's like plays over surely and Rodgers throws
it right over his head and it's a big play.
I think to Austin is his name regardless it it
just was an uncharacteristic night. And then of course special
teams always rears its ugly head. It tried to cost
the Packers the game as much as it humanly could.
Thank god it didn't. But the other question is do
(25:42):
we have a kicking controversy? I mean, are we Are
we at that point where you can't come up short
on a fifty seven yard or when your other guy
made a sixty one. But I also am like he's
still young and he could be more erratic closer in,
so I'm kind of leaning McMahon.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Still, it's a curious topic. It's one that's going to
be talked about this week. I don't know how healthy
McManus is. You know, they didn't know he was going
to play until warm ups. They had him, you know,
out there kicking and how do you feel? And I'm
sure he watched haversick last week and said, I'm fine,
don't worry about me. I'm fine as he grits his
teeth dealing with the pain in his quad. I think
(26:20):
it's a legitimate controversy right now, I do. I mean,
haver six is not a kid he's twenty six, you know, yeah,
hasn't had a ton of opportunities, but he kicked for
a while with the Rams, and you know, he's been
around the block a little bit. I'm not ready to
kick McManus to the curb. I want to know what
his health situation is. You can't keep two kickers on
your roster forever. They're going to have to figure something
(26:41):
out pretty quickly. But I'm I'm leaning toward Wait a minute,
you know, Haver six, twenty six, you know, maybe he's
your kicker for the next twelve years. You know, maybe
you know McManus is what thirty three, thirty four, You know,
he still could kick six with seven eight more years
as well. But you know, as sure as I was
about that spot three four weeks ago, now I'm thinking
(27:02):
man Harsick proved what he I mean that that kick
at the end of the half last week, where everything's
rushed and maybe you just don't even have time to
think about what a kick it was. That kind of
sold me that they already can handle that pressure. That
that that situation, that says a lot about him. So yep,
that's a talker coming out of this game. The two
missed field goals forty four yarder at the end of
(27:24):
the half. I was as down. You know, I did
take my dog out at halftime. I take my dog
on walks at halftime, and I was pretty low heading
out for the walk last night after that missed field goal.
I mean, you do all everything right in thirty seconds
to move into field goal range, including the TJ. Watt
face mask that gives you a chance, and you try
(27:45):
out for a forty four yarder with your you know,
veteran kicker that even shouldn't be a question. So yeah,
that that halftime, I was feeling pretty down, you know,
down nine, Pittsburgh's going to get the ball. What kind
of answered as Green Bay have? They have not been
great on the road this season. We know the environment,
we know the situation with Rogers. They had shown me
(28:05):
very little to believe that what we were going to
see in the second half was going to happen. But
sure enough, the flip the switch was flipped. Kudos to
the floor in that offensive staff are figuring out how
to unlock Jordan Love in that second half, because I
mean that third quarter it just makes you believe that, Okay,
this quarterback can lead you where you want to go.
(28:25):
This team has the players that can meet anybody in
a given night. They still haven't given us sixty solid
minutes of football, maybe since Week two, But I think
what they proved in Pittsburgh was, look, Pittsburgh's not a
great team. We know that they're not a great team.
They're on top of me really bad division right now
and they'll likely make the postseason, I think, unless the
(28:46):
Ravens really turn things around. But that's a quality win
for green Bay right to go on the road in
a place like Pittsburgh against that organization that we talked about.
You know, had been kicking themselves for letting one get
away ten days early in Cincinnati. They were going to
be focused for their guy to get a win against
Green Bay, give him a win against all thirty two teams.
(29:07):
But the Packers showed that, yeah, they do have the
ability to go on the road and to a division
winners leader's house in a really tough stadium and play
to a point where Aaron Rodgers has to go to
a silent count because the go Pack go chance are
so loud. That happened in Pittsburgh. It's one thing to
happen in Arizona. You expect that, you know that's gonna happen.
(29:27):
For that to happen in Pittsburgh. Man, that's as good
as it gets, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (29:31):
One hundred percent? It was absolutely a special night. On
one of my favorites, Mina Kimes a couple of weeks ago,
was talking about the Packers and said, they're like the
girl at school that you know is hot but never wears,
you know, makeup, and she's always got glasses on. You
just we know you're hot. Just be hot, you know.
And they looked sexy last night, especially in the second half.
(29:54):
No one as hot as Jordan Love it. That's the
type of team and performance you can get in. That's
what fuels the you know what you know, the fan
listeners will call delusion or smugness, but that's the type
of performance as a fuel that because we've seen the
potential of this team and how good Jordan Love can be,
how good of a play call of a floor can be,
(30:15):
and how good of a defense the Packers defense can be.
So it just that's what fuels the confidence and the
smugness and what we hope for the future. And it
could be a very special twenty seven marred year for us.
That's the hope anyways, So long way to go, but
what a great step in the right direction.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
Yeah, the biggest takeaway is what a night for Jordan
Love maybe his second greatest game outside of the Cowboys
playoff win. Just in light of everything around this game,
you throw all that in there. On a Sunday night
in primetime on the road against Daron Rodgers, he had
the third highest passer rating of his career against a
talented defense, not a great defense, but a talented defense,
(30:56):
and he was nearly perfect for three hundred and sixty
yards and three touchdowns, no picks. He was spectacular and
again just maybe reminded the football world who he is.
I can't tell you how many people come up to
me in my life. It happened. I was in Ames
over the weekend, visiting my son, hanging out at bars
with parents and college kids, and a number of people said,
(31:18):
so where are you with Jordan Love? Like do you
think he's the guy? Like do you really like him?
And I'm like, do you watch him? We wee get
in and week out, like I do. He to me,
and I tell everybody may not be a top five
quarterback just yet. But he's knocking on the door. He
is between five and ten, and I'm pretty sure there
(31:39):
are twenty seven or twenty eight other teams that would
trade for Jordan Love to be their guy right now.
I don't know what more you have to see. I
think for a lot of the football world, especially where
we live up here in the Twin Cities, the idea
that Green Bay hit on a third straight quarterback is inconceivable.
There's just no way it doesn't happen. You might think
it's happened, you might like him in pieces, but he's
not going to deliver what the other two guys did.
(32:02):
That remains to be seen. He's just getting started in
his career. But the arm, talent, the between the ears,
the confidence, the leadership. As a young, you know, kind
of quiet player playing in the shadows of Aaron Rodgers.
To see what he's become and what he can do
on giant stages like this, I don't know what more
you have to see. The Packers have a quarterback that
(32:23):
can lead them as far as they want to go.
He proved it against Sunday Night, and you know, we're
just getting going in the season. There's some huge games,
all the division games. You got to go to Denver,
you got to play Lamar Jackson, you got the Eagles
coming in. There're gonna be more big tests, but this
was a huge test and he passed it with flying colors.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
I mean, I'm not gonna say no one knows more
than me. But every time that I fill in, whether
it's nine to noon or Barrera wherever, and they throw
the softball packers talker just to get me involved in
the show, the first question is always, oh, Jordan Love
can't get it done, Like he's not really your guy
still to this, like that's just the fact of the mat.
(33:02):
And you know, I was walking in the office and
Meat Sauce comes up to me and says, your QB
is terrible, you know, And the Texter is saying it's
one of the worst deals of all time. And he's
so overpaid and he's an overrated quarterback. Watched watch the tape,
watch him week after week. We've seen every single throw
he's made in a competitive football game since he's been drafted,
(33:25):
not a lot of them have disappointed. Twelve touchdowns, two interceptions,
He's on great passer rating pace. The guy is special
and He's cold blooded. He doesn't get flustered. He you know,
you see him get blitzed and pressured and hit, and
it just is the same confident game face he's got
on all the time. The guy is special and uh,
(33:47):
I'm going to continue singing it because it's true.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Thirty five twenty five your final score. Packers leave Pittsburgh
sitting atop the NFC, just like they were when they
entered Pittsburgh, five one and one for the season. Here
come the Carolin of Panthers. Off a blowout loss on Sunday,
coming to Lambeau for the first of two. The big
Monday Nighter follows against the Eagles, kind of like where
we're sitting here at five to one and one. Very
(34:10):
nice statement performance in Pittsburgh. Your Green Bay Packers sit
atop the NFC seven weeks into the season. Thank you, Brett.
It was fun as always. We will let chat with
you next Sunday Packer Preview. Getting set for Packers Panthers.
Packers win thirty five twenty five. It's going to be
a good week in Packer Land. Have a great week, everybody,
You have found Packer Review Akfan Production. I have Dave Sinakin,
joined as always by Brett Blake Moore as we reviewed
the packs scintillating second half performance last night, taking care
of the Steelers thirty five twenty five to improve to
five one and one. It was all about the quarterbacks,
mister Blake Moore, the old gunslinger against his mentee. If
(00:21):
you will, how about what Jorda Love showed the world
Sunday night in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I mean, if if you're not convinced at that now,
there's not much more we can say. That was a statement.
You know, it's hard for a guy in his third
year who's been in the playoffs twice, won a playoff
game to have a coming out party game that felt
like a coming out parting game of that caliber. Man
(00:48):
was he good?
Speaker 1 (00:48):
There?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
He was?
Speaker 1 (00:49):
What was it?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Twenty straight completions? It? It was electric? Tucker Craft as well.
I mean, there's so many people that I want to
get to, but we've been singing the praise of Jordan Love.
We've been consistent on it, and it paid off in
a big way last night. It was a thing of beauty.
Took me an hour and change to calm down after
the game just to go to bed.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
It's one of those nights when you just can't consume
enough content after the game. Whatever medium you want, right,
it's whether it's NBC or SVP or online. Yeah, I
soaked it up as well. It was tough to turn
the brain off and try to shut my eyes on
Sunday night. Yeah, I mean it was in light of
the spectacle around this game, right in light of the
(01:28):
storyline that was built up Rogers against the Pack and
how would Rogers do? And you know, you and I
were both cautious and somewhat pessimistic about the packs chances,
just in light of the spot, you know, Pittsburgh long
delay after a Thursday night game, of thinking about a
bad loss, thought they'd get their best effort, and obviously
they had a two possession lead heading into halftime. We'll
(01:49):
get to the rhythm of the game and all that,
but the spectacle of what Love dealt with the questions
all week, you know, it takes you back off the
way five years to when he was drafted and just
the whole profit it all bubbled up this week. Everybody
reminded him, and everyone knew that everyone's eyes would beyond
Aaron Rodgers on Sunday Night, and Jordan Love just once
(02:10):
again showed the world that he is a top five
caliber quarterback. I mean, we are now seven games into
this season. He has not had a lot of his
preferred pass catchers for most of the year. His offensive
line's been in flux. You have through seven games, he's
fourth in the league in passer rating. He has one
hundred and twelve point eight passer rating through seven games,
(02:31):
thirteen touchdowns, two picks, and the second half, you know
when he comes out and that offense comes out after
a very slow second quarter with those two three and outs,
that really left a bad taste in your mouth. And
then you finally get a little thing going on the
final thirty seconds to get the field goal try for
McManus and he misses, if what forty four yarder, and
(02:52):
now you're still down nine, and you're going into halftime
thinking they get the ball to start the second half.
This could get away from Green Bay quickly. But Jordan
Lov had other ideas. Since the Packers score touchdowns on
their first three drives. As you mentioned, the twenty straight
completions ties bred far from I think twenty oh six
or twenty oh seven, and I think the Packers figured
(03:14):
it out, like, Yes, the Steelers have given up a
ton of explosive plays. You can beat them deep, but
they have good pass rushers. And if you just let
Love dissect them and get rid of the ball quickly
and put the ball in the hands of his pass catchers,
let Tucker Craft cook this just in Tucker Craft cooked
on Sunday night. Did you see the stat Brett that
(03:36):
he had one hundred and thirty one of his one
hundred and forty three yards after the catch. That is
the most by a tight end in the NFL since
the twenty eighteen season. If most of the world that
maybe doesn't play fantasy football didn't know who Tucker Craft was,
he let the world know on tight end Day, didn't he.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah, I mean that was one of the most I mean,
there were some breaks that went against Green Bay, but
there also were some breaks that bounced our direct as
any football game, that particular play was one of the
luckiest scene in a long time.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
That was the play that turned the game really hot
in my mind.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Yeah, but it was a lucky play, but at the
same time, it was an effort play from Craft. To
come back and get it. So it was your guy
going and making a play and then the effort on
top of that to then get all the yak Do
you like Kraft yak and cheese? Do you like that
or not? I'm still kind of out on it, but
(04:29):
it's it's accurate, if nothing else.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
As a guy that whose kids would say, I'm one
of the guys that loves dad jokes more than most,
I feel like that fits my personality. I do like
yak and cheese. That works for me. Yeah, that play
the the it looked like a heave. I mean, he
had away with a little bit of a push off,
but that's that's football. And that play turned everything because
(04:53):
the pack was about to punt and that fifty nine
yard play ignited the offense. It just woke everything up.
And man, I mean, how do you just not love
watching Tucker Kraft ply his craft? Not sorry to use
a pun there, but because he's not just a yack
monster and a George Kittle two point zero. He does
so much work in the run game. He blocks his
(05:13):
butt off. I mean, you talk about the top tight
ends in football, and he's put himself in that conversation
now with the production, but it's the all around play
that gets noticed. I think around the league. You know,
Trey McBride gets all the love because he's a great
pass catcher. The next time he lays a block will
be the first time. That's not what he does. Kraft
is that Kittle type tight end that's going to give
(05:34):
you everything. I saw him on the sideline he got
I think it was Sean Ryan give him a little
head bump with his helmet and Kraft wasn't even wearing
a helmet. I'm like, dude, let's just settle down a
little bit. We want you to be cognitive through your career.
But man, when he's out there doing his thing, and
he was helped in part by the presidence of Christian Watson,
and we're going to get to that next. But the
(05:57):
identity of this Packers off it is becoming clear that
you know, it might be a Chiefs thing, it might
be a Kelsey type offense where you know it runs
through Travu Tucker Craft and if you pay too much
attention to him, watch out for the guys on the outside.
I just it was a coming out party. We've watched
him now for a couple of seasons and have gotten
so excited about what he might bring to this team.
(06:19):
It's all out there now. He is. He is the
focal part of the focal point of this offense. And
you know, I really do believe this guy's the limit
for him as a player.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
I mean, if you just think of the weapons and
the number I'd get, you know, you're still gonna get
the well, but you don't have the number one wide receiver.
You don't have the guy. But they've got so many
weapons that are so good. And I thought Golden had
a good game, still not the breakout game, Watson. We're
gonna discuss because I have thoughts all good, but man
Crafts has just emerged even more of a weapon than
(06:49):
we thought he was. And it just felt like in
that first half when the broadcast was raving about how
great the Steelers corners are, how great their pass rush is,
so they're going to play man and they're gonna come
after you and you're not gonna have any time to
get it rid of it, And it just felt like
the second half the Packers said, all right, well, we're
just going to dissect you anyways. We don't really care.
(07:10):
It was a masterclass from everyone involved in the second
I thought essentially the whole game. I mean, yeah, there
was a lull, but man, besides McManus, who is counting
his lucky stars at the offense just exploded in the
second half, because that would have been a huge talker.
But yeah, it just from play calling to Craft to
(07:31):
Love to yeah, it was unbelievable. It's a great game.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Yeah. I mean to your point about beating man coverage.
You know, the first half was you got that early
touchdown and the offense looked like it was going to
have a day and then kind of went into a shell,
couldn't run the ball. I didn't score obviously, to the
rest of the half, they go into the locker room
and figure things out and decide to change things up
and let Love get rid of that ball. They ended up.
(07:54):
Love ended up going thirteen for seventeen against man for
two hundred and thirty two yards and all three of
his touchdow. That's the most production for a quarterback versus
man coverage in the NFL this season. So I want
to credit the coaches too for understanding, look, we can
beat this. We may not want to go deep and
try to beat them with the explosive plays like we
thought we were going to do. But if this is
(08:15):
how they're going to play us, I mean, yeah, they've
got a lot of name value in the backfield on defense,
but those guys are getting up there in age a
little bit. And you can beat Ramsey, you can beat Sligh,
you can beat Poor. Those guys are very aggressive and
they take chances, and the Packers made them pay with
just an outstanding second half performance offensively. And we'll get
(08:36):
to the defense too. There's a lot of stories there.
But let's talk about Christian Watson. You've been waiting, waiting
all season, dying to get number nine back on the field.
As we talked about it in the last few weeks,
I really thought next week was going to be the game,
you know, back home against a team you should beat,
you know, to put him out there on that questionable
playing surface in Pittsburgh. Nine months from the surgery, I
(08:59):
figured Outkay, you know, they'll drop him in for ten
or twelve snaps. Let him get his feet wet, let
him knock some rust off. No, they had other ideas.
He was out there for thirty six snaps fifty six
percent of the offensive snaps, four catches eighty five yards.
He caught all four of his targets, a thirty three
yard catch, the twenty eight yard or the one late
in the game where again it looked like Love was
(09:19):
thrown across his body, up in the air and it
just drops effortlessly into Watson's hands. Not to mention the
block he sprung on Tucker Craft's touchdown. I mean, he
changes everything when he's out there for this offense. And
I was really surprised, not only you know, at how
productive he was, but just that he was out there
for more than half the snaps in his first game back.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Yeah, I remember it was one of the first plays
that he was targeted, and yes he caught the first
pass of the game, I think exactly, and it just
felt like, okay, well here we go. They're not gonna
there's no training wheels on him. Immediately out of the gates.
That one play, the long bomb. The floater thought that
was picked, especially when the safety starts backpedaling like he's
(10:07):
returning a punt. Bad news. But Watson is there and
it drops right, and Love just has this magic where
he can make those throws out and we see it
time and time again. That's the type of stuff that
we weren't getting, those those big line I mean, you
can see a shot to Dobbs here or there. I
can think of a shot to Watson in the Commander's
(10:28):
game that almost connected, but you just don't. I mean,
Watson had to come back for the ball because he's
so fast. So it's just when you stretch him out
like that and the blocking, he just adds a different flavor.
And you saw it all night long, especially on that play.
It just the magic felt like it was in full force,
especially in the second.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Yeah, man Craft is one of the biggest beneficiaryas of
having Watson back on the field because defenses have to
account for Watson's speed. That's going to open stuff up
underneath for Craft and all the other guys that they
count on in some other heroes offensively, I don't want
to lose sight of I thought Malik Heath had some
really big plays, some big catches, some big blocks. He's
just one of those guys that is on the end
(11:10):
of your depth chart. You don't really think about him
when you think about the packs wide receiving Corps. But
on a night when Wicks was out, they're still without
Jayden Reid, you're working Watson back. Somebody had to make
a few big plays, and I like that they do
throw to Heath. He's not just out there to block.
He's paid big plays in past seasons two for this team.
I thought he was important. You know. Getting Savion Williams's
(11:32):
first touchdown on that little gadget play was nice to see.
If you would have told us that Savian would have
the first touchdown among the pack of rookie receivers, we
probably wouldn't have believed that. Golden just four yards, you know,
three catches, four yards, targeted three times, caught them all.
Wasn't a big part of this offense. We're still gonna
have to wait for that. But on the passing attack,
(11:55):
Love found you know, whoever was open, he found his guy.
He was outstanding on a night when the Packers still
struggled to run the football. I mean, I have to
believe Josh Jacobs is hurting. It doesn't look his explosive
self at all. What did he end up thirty three
yards and thirteen carries. I mean, that's that's not Josh Jacobs.
And you see a Manuel Wilson come in in the
(12:16):
third quarter and you got to credit him as Collins,
where it seemed to do breathlessly throughout the night. He
just couldn't believe. I mean, Wilson's a perfect pack up
running back. And I'm still waiting for Marshawn Lloyd's career
to start. I want to see what he's got, but
Wilson may not give him a chance. Eleven carries sixty
one yards showed some juice again. Unsung heroes on a
(12:38):
night when love and Craft were the stars, there were
a number of players that made big plays that won't
show up and you won't think about them a whole
lot the next day.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Yeah, I think Wilson would be the number one for me,
unsung hero. Everything else you said is entirely accurate, but Wilson,
it almost felt like the defense when Jacobs was out there,
they were sending extra guys to try to stop the run,
and it felt like when Wilson was out there, they're like, well, look,
surely they're throwing because Jacobs isn't out there. And then
there's one play in particular where Wilson cut it to
(13:08):
the outside. It was later on it ran right by TJ. Watt,
who almost felt like he's like, oh crap, they're running,
Like we didn't even think about that. Like I don't
know if it was just a scheme thing or they
were so convinced we were throwing the football. But Wilson
made them pay when he had the ball every single time.
It felt like it was a big, productive four to
(13:29):
five at least yard run. And those runs make it
third and manageable and love is I thought the third
down speaking of were I mean, that was the biggest difference,
you know, the drop in the first half where they
just couldn't sustain a drive because they weren't good on
third down, which had been all year, and it completely
turned around in the second obviously.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Yeah, they ended up I think five for twelve on
third down, where Pittsburgh I think was one for ten.
So Packers defensively, and we'll get to the defense in
a minute, but they were terrific on the plays that mattered.
Last thing the offense. Let's just talk quickly about the
offensive line, which we know has the five preferred starters.
Back Jordan Morgan was in it right guard, but he
ended up rotating with Sean Ryan throughout the night. Is
(14:11):
they're just trying to find I think run blocking combinations
that are effective. I thought Ryan did play well. They
have to figure out what to do with Jordan Morgan.
Is he a full time starter? Is he here left
tackle eventually? Is he your right guard? Is Ryan a
guy you're going to hang on to? All in all,
the line was very good. Did not allow the quarterback
(14:31):
to get sacked. I think Love got hit five times
in the game against one of the top pass rushing
defenses in football. So I thought the the old line,
while the running game wasn't great, I did pick up
in the second half. Only ninety four yards rushing for
this team, but seventy five came in the second half,
so you know, you you know, that's you know two
of those, that's one hundred and fifty yard rushing day.
(14:52):
You'll take that all day long. So it feels like
they figured something out. But a clean game by the
old line against you know, a really good front seven
that's been really productive so far this year, and you know,
we look at Love's scintillating numbers and they're spectacular. The
O line was great and they kept TJ. Watt, Hayward, Herbig,
all those guys away and led Jordan Cook a couple.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Of notes on the line. One we got extremely lucky
with Zach Tom. I was I don't know about you,
but when they were showing the slow mo of before
his injury, I was looking at every single muscle in
the back of his leg, like, where's the pop, you know?
Or are we looking at an achilles or a hamstring?
Speaker 1 (15:31):
And I thought it was a non contact injury at
first when you showed that replay and it's like, well,
nothing happened. There must have been non contact. That could
be the worst possible news, yep. But then you see
the other angle where he actually got stepped on and
that was the issue, and I thought, all right, that
might not be as bad as I thought.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Well, my gal was like, well I saw his hamstring
pop like I saw it from like laser focus. But no,
it was just.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Now, she's a biking fan, she's looking for the worst.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Yeah. So, but it was just him bouncing around and
then getting stepped on. So that was also a pro tip.
Let's not one complaint. Let's not block people into the
back of Jordan Love's legs ever again, that would be
great because he got tabletopped and there was no flag
for it because he got blocked into Jordan Love, So
(16:16):
let's if we can avoid that, we should be good. Overall,
they were really, really good.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Yeah, that was one of those hits on Love where
you do worry because two guys combo platter where he
bends in a way you're not supposed to bet, and
then you're thinking in your head, well, the field is
so bad. If his cleat stick when he gets hit,
I mean, this could be disaster. But obviously he was
just fine. So offensively, very sluggish second quarter, you go
(16:41):
into halftime, very negative, and boy did they come out
firing in the third quarter to take control of that game.
That was amazing to watch. Let's talk about the defense.
What stood out to me instantly where I had my
eyes focused when the game started. Is Valentine going to
be out there? Or is Hobbs going to be out there?
And clearly the Packers coaching staff listens to us. They
(17:03):
must be Packer preview subscribers as well as the rest
of Packerd nation that was screaming to let Carrington Valentine
have a chance at outside cornerback whose Nate Hobbs was
a disaster last week and he has not been good. Look,
he's a slot corner. There's no shame in that. Green
Bay obviously believed that they could put him in as
an outside cornerback could be just fine. I don't think
(17:24):
that's gonna happen. I don't think he's gonna get another
chance to prove it can happen. Valentine played ninety eight
percent of the snaps at outside corner. He's just physical
and he's aggressive, and yeah, you know he might get
beat by DK Mackott metcalf for a garbage touchdown at
the end of the game, which he again competed really
hard against a really big, strong, tough receiver. He was
(17:48):
noticeable throughout this game, giving this team something it lacked
on the night when Keyshawn Nixon was terrible. And we'll
talk about his game in a number of directions. There,
Valentine's presence I thought was a site for sore eyes.
To me, he's locked up that spot. Give him a chance.
I don't care if he was a seventh round pick
or wherever you got him. He is a starting cornerback. Yeah,
(18:10):
he's not going to go to Pro Bowls. He's not
gonna hurt you. And I think that's where I want
to start with this defense was they put Valentine in there,
and he made them very happy that he was out there.
He was great last night.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
The first pass breakup he had, I thought of our
conversations like, there he is. It would be exactly what
we're talking about. And he just has the level of
compete that I feel like Hobbs doesn't have right now.
He's got the level of h for lack of a
better term, like a bulldog energy, you know, or he
just goes and goes and goes, and he's got the
physicality and the grit. He just plays at that little
(18:44):
bit of edge, and that's something the entire defense was
lacking the past four or five weeks that I thought
they really had tonight. And from the first couple of
tackles where you started to see what we saw in
week one week two, which is three Packers like a
tidal wave, one Steeler just tackling him because they're swarming
to the ball. It felt like a vintage and by
(19:06):
vintage I mean week one and week two defensive performance
for the most part of the game. It was really encouraging,
and especially they got the ball. I mean I texted
you the Packers got the ball in before the first
quarter was over the same amount of times they got
it in the entire first half in the Cardinals game.
So they were getting off the field, they were getting
(19:28):
stops on third down, they're making plays. Happened, lots of
PBUs and lots of pressures as well.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Yeah, and that was the story, was getting off the field.
We talked about it. One for ten on third downs
for Rogers and the Steelers, and you know, making them
settle for three field goals in the first half was
the game because that game could have gotten away from
Green Bay very easily if they're able to convert a
couple of those into touchdowns. The defense did great on
third down. I thought that getting DeVante Wyatt back was huge.
(19:59):
He was noticeable. They're different defense when he's in the middle.
They just, you know, obviously you traded Kenny Clark, so
now you really need Wyatt because you don't, you know,
Wooden Brinson Brooks. They have their moments and they're getting better,
but they're not going to scare an offense. Whyatt was
just he plugs everything up in the middle and it
was just really nice to see him back. He played
just over half the snaps. The run defense still gave
(20:22):
up over five yards per carry five point four yards
fifteen for eighty one. I think the Steelers were thankfully
they didn't run the ball too much. They got away
from it, and that's something we've seen. When you have
Aaron Rodgers as your quarterback, sometimes you just say, look,
let's let this guy have do his thing and let
him make the calls. And I think he changed a
lot of running plays into passing plays. So I'm still
(20:43):
not totally set on this run defense. I want to
see more, and I think they'll be challenged. You know,
the Panthers love to run the ball. Next week they
don't really have a quarterback, so we'll see how the
run defense looks next week and then Sakuon Barkley comes
to town. But having Wyatt back, I just think it's
a huge, huge element for this defense. They really miss
him when he's not there.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Yeah, one hundred percent. One of my favorite moments of
the game was them showing Warren's offseason training and on
the beach and pulling a soccer goal behind him, dragging
it as he's running, and then they cut to play
and there gets Warren gets the ball and who just
plows him Angbari just destroys him on the first play,
(21:26):
like there goes your soccer goal. Then no need for that.
I thought for the most part they were fine, but yeah,
they still gave up when they had long, sustained drives.
It felt like it was because of the run game
of the rung D so that it's got to improve.
And there's much better running backs on the horizon with
Detroit again with Philly, so you gotta be careful.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Bottom line to the second half, that defense uh three to
three and outs in the first four possessions for the Steelers,
who could not match the Packers' explosiveness. In the second half,
the defense really got after it. Rashaun Gary had a
big game, a couple of sacks, a couple tackles for loss.
Parsons gets a sack, three hurries. Gary sort of has
(22:08):
woken up the last two weeks, don't you think. You
know he had the strip last week, starting to make
big plays. He's starting to understand with Parsons on the
other side, what that does for him. You mentioned enig
Bari's big play. You know, I still think he's a
trade candidate here in the next few days. I could
see teams making calls for Green Bay. Who might say, well,
van Ness will be back, Sorell looks good, Mostby was activated.
(22:28):
We've got guys. I like Anik Bari, though it feels
like whenever he's given a chance, he makes big plays,
and I don't know, I'd like to hang on to him.
He doesn't get a lot of opportunities. He says all
the right things. I think he's good enough to be
a starter in this league, and he doesn't make a
ton of plays, but he makes important plays and ones
that sometime change outcomes or change momentum one hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
I really like his play. I just my big takeaway
from the defense was just how good. I mean, the
pass rush felt like the vaunted pass rush that we
talk about every week. It truly felt like that when
you were watching, because I've never had more confidence over
a third and ten, a third and twelve than I
did last night. Felt like every time they forced Rogers
(23:11):
to check down. I mean, he had the happy feet
one hundred percent on any play longer than five yards.
It just felt like no matter what they did, whether
it was Micah going on the right guard the left guard,
I love when he lines up over center and just
doesn't let you know where he's going. It's brilliant, but
they have to account for that, and then someone like
Gary or hopefully in the future van Ness or Kingsley
(23:34):
are going to have to pick up the slack, and
Gary mostly did. But why it was really good too.
The whole pass rush is just as good as you
could ask for.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Let's talk about some of the things that were a
little ugly to me. It does begin with Keishawn Nixon's night.
Who you know, he started off the season, had that
huge game against Detroit. He's been kind of up and
down a little bit. He was terrible last night. I mean,
it didn't cost the Packers the game, but he got torched.
I mean, I think back to that play where Rogers
just threw up a heave because the pressure is bearing
(24:04):
down on him and Nixon gets called for the PI
on that third and long play that ends up they
end up scoring. I mean, just turn around you there
was no chance on that play if you just don't
make that contact. So he he felt kind of lost
last night. And then they throw him back as a
punt returner and he muffs the punt and fortunately z
and Anderson was there to land on it, but still
(24:26):
can't find a guy to return punts. Romeo Dobbs is
kind of humorous as he took the baton after the
muff by Nixon, and he kind of does what Jayden
Reid does. He pauses for a second or two before
he goes and it's like, Romeo, do you know you
are supposed to go forward once you have the ball
in your hands? Correct? Yea. So we'll talk about that
in a second. But man Nixon, you know he wants
(24:48):
to be a number one corner and the Packers want
him to be a number one corner. I'm a little
concerned about how his play has taken a hit the
last couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
I feel like he's has enough equ at least this
season to have a stinker. But when you start to
line him up, that's the problem. But a lot of
times it's giving up on plays for me. Besides the
one that he drew a PI where he actually didn't
give up, but there was one where they threw it
right over his head. It was early on and he
(25:18):
stopped running. He's like plays over surely and Rodgers throws
it right over his head and it's a big play.
I think to Austin is his name regardless it it
just was an uncharacteristic night. And then of course special
teams always rears its ugly head. It tried to cost
the Packers the game as much as it humanly could.
Thank god it didn't. But the other question is do
(25:42):
we have a kicking controversy? I mean, are we Are
we at that point where you can't come up short
on a fifty seven yard or when your other guy
made a sixty one. But I also am like he's
still young and he could be more erratic closer in,
so I'm kind of leaning McMahon.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Still, it's a curious topic. It's one that's going to
be talked about this week. I don't know how healthy
McManus is. You know, they didn't know he was going
to play until warm ups. They had him, you know,
out there kicking and how do you feel? And I'm
sure he watched haversick last week and said, I'm fine,
don't worry about me. I'm fine as he grits his
teeth dealing with the pain in his quad. I think
(26:20):
it's a legitimate controversy right now, I do. I mean,
haver six is not a kid he's twenty six, you know, yeah,
hasn't had a ton of opportunities, but he kicked for
a while with the Rams, and you know, he's been
around the block a little bit. I'm not ready to
kick McManus to the curb. I want to know what
his health situation is. You can't keep two kickers on
your roster forever. They're going to have to figure something
(26:41):
out pretty quickly. But I'm I'm leaning toward Wait a minute,
you know, Haver six, twenty six, you know, maybe he's
your kicker for the next twelve years. You know, maybe
you know McManus is what thirty three, thirty four, You know,
he still could kick six with seven eight more years
as well. But you know, as sure as I was
about that spot three four weeks ago, now I'm thinking
(27:02):
man Harsick proved what he I mean that that kick
at the end of the half last week, where everything's
rushed and maybe you just don't even have time to
think about what a kick it was. That kind of
sold me that they already can handle that pressure. That
that that situation, that says a lot about him. So yep,
that's a talker coming out of this game. The two
missed field goals forty four yarder at the end of
(27:24):
the half. I was as down. You know, I did
take my dog out at halftime. I take my dog
on walks at halftime, and I was pretty low heading
out for the walk last night after that missed field goal.
I mean, you do all everything right in thirty seconds
to move into field goal range, including the TJ. Watt
face mask that gives you a chance, and you try
(27:45):
out for a forty four yarder with your you know,
veteran kicker that even shouldn't be a question. So yeah,
that that halftime, I was feeling pretty down, you know,
down nine, Pittsburgh's going to get the ball. What kind
of answered as Green Bay have? They have not been
great on the road this season. We know the environment,
we know the situation with Rogers. They had shown me
(28:05):
very little to believe that what we were going to
see in the second half was going to happen. But
sure enough, the flip the switch was flipped. Kudos to
the floor in that offensive staff are figuring out how
to unlock Jordan Love in that second half, because I
mean that third quarter it just makes you believe that, Okay,
this quarterback can lead you where you want to go.
(28:25):
This team has the players that can meet anybody in
a given night. They still haven't given us sixty solid
minutes of football, maybe since Week two, But I think
what they proved in Pittsburgh was, look, Pittsburgh's not a
great team. We know that they're not a great team.
They're on top of me really bad division right now
and they'll likely make the postseason, I think, unless the
(28:46):
Ravens really turn things around. But that's a quality win
for green Bay right to go on the road in
a place like Pittsburgh against that organization that we talked about.
You know, had been kicking themselves for letting one get
away ten days early in Cincinnati. They were going to
be focused for their guy to get a win against
Green Bay, give him a win against all thirty two teams.
(29:07):
But the Packers showed that, yeah, they do have the
ability to go on the road and to a division
winners leader's house in a really tough stadium and play
to a point where Aaron Rodgers has to go to
a silent count because the go Pack go chance are
so loud. That happened in Pittsburgh. It's one thing to
happen in Arizona. You expect that, you know that's gonna happen.
(29:27):
For that to happen in Pittsburgh. Man, that's as good
as it gets, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (29:31):
One hundred percent? It was absolutely a special night. On
one of my favorites, Mina Kimes a couple of weeks ago,
was talking about the Packers and said, they're like the
girl at school that you know is hot but never wears,
you know, makeup, and she's always got glasses on. You
just we know you're hot. Just be hot, you know.
And they looked sexy last night, especially in the second half.
(29:54):
No one as hot as Jordan Love it. That's the
type of team and performance you can get in. That's
what fuels the you know what you know, the fan
listeners will call delusion or smugness, but that's the type
of performance as a fuel that because we've seen the
potential of this team and how good Jordan Love can be,
how good of a play call of a floor can be,
(30:15):
and how good of a defense the Packers defense can be.
So it just that's what fuels the confidence and the
smugness and what we hope for the future. And it
could be a very special twenty seven marred year for us.
That's the hope anyways, So long way to go, but
what a great step in the right direction.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
Yeah, the biggest takeaway is what a night for Jordan
Love maybe his second greatest game outside of the Cowboys
playoff win. Just in light of everything around this game,
you throw all that in there. On a Sunday night
in primetime on the road against Daron Rodgers, he had
the third highest passer rating of his career against a
talented defense, not a great defense, but a talented defense,
(30:56):
and he was nearly perfect for three hundred and sixty
yards and three touchdowns, no picks. He was spectacular and
again just maybe reminded the football world who he is.
I can't tell you how many people come up to
me in my life. It happened. I was in Ames
over the weekend, visiting my son, hanging out at bars
with parents and college kids, and a number of people said,
(31:18):
so where are you with Jordan Love? Like do you
think he's the guy? Like do you really like him?
And I'm like, do you watch him? We wee get
in and week out, like I do. He to me,
and I tell everybody may not be a top five
quarterback just yet. But he's knocking on the door. He
is between five and ten, and I'm pretty sure there
(31:39):
are twenty seven or twenty eight other teams that would
trade for Jordan Love to be their guy right now.
I don't know what more you have to see. I
think for a lot of the football world, especially where
we live up here in the Twin Cities, the idea
that Green Bay hit on a third straight quarterback is inconceivable.
There's just no way it doesn't happen. You might think
it's happened, you might like him in pieces, but he's
not going to deliver what the other two guys did.
(32:02):
That remains to be seen. He's just getting started in
his career. But the arm, talent, the between the ears,
the confidence, the leadership. As a young, you know, kind
of quiet player playing in the shadows of Aaron Rodgers.
To see what he's become and what he can do
on giant stages like this, I don't know what more
you have to see. The Packers have a quarterback that
(32:23):
can lead them as far as they want to go.
He proved it against Sunday Night, and you know, we're
just getting going in the season. There's some huge games,
all the division games. You got to go to Denver,
you got to play Lamar Jackson, you got the Eagles
coming in. There're gonna be more big tests, but this
was a huge test and he passed it with flying colors.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
I mean, I'm not gonna say no one knows more
than me. But every time that I fill in, whether
it's nine to noon or Barrera wherever, and they throw
the softball packers talker just to get me involved in
the show, the first question is always, oh, Jordan Love
can't get it done, Like he's not really your guy
still to this, like that's just the fact of the mat.
(33:02):
And you know, I was walking in the office and
Meat Sauce comes up to me and says, your QB
is terrible, you know, And the Texter is saying it's
one of the worst deals of all time. And he's
so overpaid and he's an overrated quarterback. Watched watch the tape,
watch him week after week. We've seen every single throw
he's made in a competitive football game since he's been drafted,
(33:25):
not a lot of them have disappointed. Twelve touchdowns, two interceptions,
He's on great passer rating pace. The guy is special
and He's cold blooded. He doesn't get flustered. He you know,
you see him get blitzed and pressured and hit, and
it just is the same confident game face he's got
on all the time. The guy is special and uh,
(33:47):
I'm going to continue singing it because it's true.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Thirty five twenty five your final score. Packers leave Pittsburgh
sitting atop the NFC, just like they were when they
entered Pittsburgh, five one and one for the season. Here
come the Carolin of Panthers. Off a blowout loss on Sunday,
coming to Lambeau for the first of two. The big
Monday Nighter follows against the Eagles, kind of like where
we're sitting here at five to one and one. Very
(34:10):
nice statement performance in Pittsburgh. Your Green Bay Packers sit
atop the NFC seven weeks into the season. Thank you, Brett.
It was fun as always. We will let chat with
you next Sunday Packer Preview. Getting set for Packers Panthers.
Packers win thirty five twenty five. It's going to be
a good week in Packer Land. Have a great week, everybody,
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