November 24, 2025 • 38 mins
The FAN’s Dave Sinykin and Brett Blakemore break down the Week 12 win against the Vikings.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You have found Packer Review a KFA in production. I
am Dave Sinekid, joined as always by Brett Blakemore, as
we review what we saw at lambeau Field on Sunday,
A dominant defensive performance by the Green Bay Packers as
they put down the Minnesota Vikings twenty three to six
to improve to seven to three and one, and maybe
most importantly, a season after going zero to four against
(00:22):
the Lions and Vikings, they're off to a two and
zero start, with another huge one coming up obviously in
a few days. Brett, if I had told you twenty
four hours ago when we were doing Packer preview that
the three game balls being handed out by Matt Lafleur
would go to Emmanuel Wilson, Isaiah McDuffie, and Zane Anderson,
(00:42):
what would your reaction have been.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
It's defense, defense, defense, And that was the story that was,
I mean, the most dominant the defense looked all year.
I mean SANMS week.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
One for sure.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah, so even even with week one, it it's such
a change of pace for us as Packer fans too,
because I ended the game and I knew how dominant
the defense was. I knew that they were the stars
of the show. And yet I still felt like, man,
I wish Love would have just thrown for like three touchdowns,
(01:16):
and you know what I mean, they didn't have to,
and so that's kind of what I wanted. I still
feel almost not conflicted, but like I don't know, I
just wish I would have seen a little bit more
because my big concern was the consistency of the offense,
and we didn't really that wasn't really answered because they
ran the ball forty two times. But it's not Lafleur's
job to answer my doubts. It's his job to win
(01:37):
football games, and he did what he had to do
to win football games. So everything else was absolutely great.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Okay, a couple of things on that. As far as
the best defensive performance of the season, I'll still take
Week one just because of who they played against. Right
to shut down the Detroit Lions is one thing. To
shut down JJ McCarthy, that's the proverbial grain of salt
because of who you're playing against. But still they made
it a completely one dimensional game, particularly in the second half.
(02:03):
Let's talk about the offensive play calling, because there was
some griping among Packer fans about the conservative nature, you know,
running the ball. You know third and one, the shotgun
running play, which apparently Jeordian Love changed the line to
a running play. I'm gonna go on record, I have
absolutely zero problem with how Matt Lafleur called this game
(02:23):
for a number of reasons. Most importantly and maybe biggest,
is you're going into this game with a quarterback dealing
with a sprained ac joint on his non throwing shoulder.
You're without Josh Jacobs, You're without four of your top
six pass catching targets, only Dobs and Watson. You know,
I'll put Wicks seventh because you know you obviously take
(02:45):
Craft in there and read and golden all those guys out,
so you are shorthanded offensively. You've got a short week
with a huge division road game coming up in four days.
If you could do anything to take it easy on
your banged up players, you'd do it. And if you're
able to move the ball on the ground. And again,
it wasn't like they were averaging sixty yards at carry.
(03:05):
I didn't get after forty two carries. They ended up
rushing for three point eight. But they were moving the ball,
they were scoring points. It was clear the Vikings were
not going to keep up. I like the fact that
McCarthy took his foot off the gas and just wanted
to make sure that whatever he could do to keep
his guys as fresh as possible for next Thursday. Great. Now,
(03:25):
if we're doing Packer Review, which next week will be
our actual show on Sunday morning, and we're talking about
Lafleur being conservative against the Detroit Lions, then I've got
an issue. I think we're going to see an entirely
different kind of game called on Thursday against Detroit based
on the competition and obviously the situation. Yeah, I had
no issue with the conservative nature. I even heard some
(03:46):
booing when he went for the field goal to go
up seventeen. You know, when you're clearly moving the ball
and you're probably going to get a first down. No,
you go up three scores and you just put the
exclamation point and you know, let McManus do his thing.
That's another thing. McManus made all five of his kicks
first time. He was perfect since week one. That's a
nice development. So yeah, I this was the kind of
(04:07):
game where you are really banged up. You've got maybe
your biggest game of the season. In four days on Thanksgiving.
Do all you can to keep your guys fresh.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Yeah, I get that. It's it's mostly comes from a
selfish point where you know, we deal with all the
love is terrible comments and texts that I wish he
would have just stunted on him and you know, threw
for four touchdowns and three hundred yards. But again it's
you're one hundred percent right. He They did what they
and it was working the run. Why abandon it if
it was working? And it was they had no answer
(04:38):
for it. And Emmanuel Wilson won a game. Shout out
to anyone who picked him up on Fantasy when they
saw that Josh Jacobs went out of the game because
last week. Yeah, it just And also I have a
little Jordan love theory as well. Have you ever seen
him wear sleeves in a cold.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Weather the first time I could remember?
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Right, I'm pretty convinced this is conspiracy theory central that
he had to have been either wearing one of those
Carson Wentz Transformer sleeves under there or a lot of tape,
you know, the Canisio tape. Something was going on with
his shoulder. I think that's why the sleeves came out
because he's worn no sleeves from much golder games than
(05:18):
fifty degrees. So I definitely think he was hurting more
than I couldn't believe that. I think it was a
Greg Olsen on the call that why is he handing
off with his other hand? It's like, hurt, dude, Yeah,
he's no question that was part of the deal. So
he was definitely hurting and he looked wounded for sure.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
And he made maybe one of the best throws he's
made all season. For me, that the one that sticks
out was the one where Blake Cashman had a free
run right up the middle. Remember that one was I
think a third down play where he had I mean
the Love had no time. He just had to unleash
the ball and he throws it up to Dantevian Wicks
over the middle for a completion that just showed you
(05:58):
again Love's ability when the play is completely blown up
to deliver. We've seen that over and over. He didn't
have to do it a lot on Sunday, but that play,
I mean, that was a wild play to me, Like,
how do you not appreciate a quarterback that can get
off a ball like that with Cashman basically in his face.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
I thought he made a lot of good throws, Like
there were about three that he could have made a
better throw on three misses, but and maybe a couple
of them, or at least one or two were intentionally
out of the sidelines just to you know, play it safe.
But he made some really good throws to Watson on
the sideline, just a lot of really clean efficients I
(06:37):
mean game manager esque throws. But they were prettier than
a game manager throw.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
I'll tell you that, no doubt. All right, play the game,
early third quarter, you know, Packers get the ball up
ten six. First of all, the will record field goal
at the end of the half. I think had us
all just going, man, we feel pretty good at halftime,
but it's ten to six. I mean, just letting them
stick around. This is what we've done all season. And
then you get ball and you go three and out
or maybe it was one first down, but a quick
(07:03):
opening drive and Wheeland comes in with the punt, and
obviously that was the play of the game, when Miles
Price muffs the punt and Zane Anderson recovers. Anderson caused
the muff as well. I've watched the play several times,
just really good coaching, really good performance by Anderson, understanding
that when Price moves into engage Anderson to see if
(07:24):
the ball will then bounce into the end zone. That
allows Zaane to say, Okay, I'm gonna push you right
back toward the football. And again, a lot of luck
involved that the ball took the bounce that made it
hit Miles Price, but a terrific execution by the special
teams player who then lands on the ball. Two plays later,
Wilson takes it in and now suddenly it's seventeen to six,
(07:46):
and I think all of Packer Land thought, okay, good
luck score in seventeen. Today, Vikings, I feel pretty good.
I mean, we forget the way the second half went,
and we'll talk about the defensive dominance in a second.
That game was very much in doubt until that play.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Yeah, it didn't feel comfortable. I would not in.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Doubt, but yeah, comfortable is probably a better way to
put it.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Yeah, after that play was comfortable as far as the
it was a lucky bounce or was it? Because as
we know, card carrying member Daniel will in Appreciation Society,
what a punt. The fact that you can backspin it
like that and you know, made the play as well.
The whole specialty. It really was a three dimensional, complimentary
(08:29):
football cliche, but it was I mean, and Micah Parsons
just embarrassed. I couldn't believe how much I know, I'm
kind of jumping around. I couldn't believe how much they
lined him up Darrisaw. I thought for sure they would
avoid him to an extent, and they did. They moved
around at center where he just bulldozed.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Center.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
But he it didn't matter who it was against it, Darisaw,
anybody bo. He was running around him, left, right and center.
It was a thing of beauty. But yeah, that special
teams played Daniel Wheeling unbelievable and that really did turn
the game clean.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Special Teams day for the Packers, which is not something
we say very often. I think the only thing I
could think of was, you know, Romeo Dobbs is not
a punt returner, and it's still an adventure and just
makes you cringe every time against the ball. But they
just don't have anything anybody on the roster, which needs
to be addressed. I've been saying that forever, itever would
be nice for them to finally realize how important it is.
Look at the Vikings who like Miles Price, but he's
(09:28):
had a couple of key turnovers. He had one against
the Ravens that kind of turned that game upside down
a couple of weeks ago. That's the kind of thing
that can cost you. It costs the Eagles on Sunday.
So that's why whatever Wheeland or whatever, the Packers are
receiving a punt. Like many Packer fans, I'm holding my
breath and I don't need production, just security. And the
Vikings felt the wrath of that. With Miles Price, Let's
(09:53):
start with the defense you referenced. Micah will get to
him in a second. You've all seen the stats. You
watch the game. Four yards of offense for the Vikings
in the second half, one hundred and forty five yards
total for the game. You no great assault department. We
understand JJ McCarthy's a young, developing, very much struggling quarterback,
but he's also a kid that's won NFC Offensive Player
(10:16):
of the Week twice this season. So he's shown moments,
and we talked about it before the game that he
has saved his best moments for divisional road games. Which
made me a little more nervous than maybe I should
have been. Threw the ball five times all game, ten
plus yards past the line of scrimmage. In those five passes,
two for five thirty four yards, two picks, a thirty
(10:36):
four point two pass a rating Jeff Hafley's defense utterly
confused and dazed JJ McCarthy. It was the first multiple
takeaway game of the season for the Packers defense. We've
been waiting all year for that to happen. And I mean,
there were so many stars, but it does start with
Micaeh Parsons, who is funny. I'm watching with my son Jackson,
Who's like, yeah, well, we got the best left tackle
(10:57):
in football. He said that several times early in the game,
which gave me the oh. I had some fun with
that one, Like, man, that's the best left tackle. And
Michah Parsons should get his bust carved right now because
he just completely embarrassed Dari Saw a number of times.
Of course, Dara Saw left later in the second half
of a foot injury, and school had absolutely no chance.
(11:18):
Once he came in, first double digit sacker for the
Green Bay Packers. He has ten. Now, who's the last
packer with double digit sacks in a season? Can you
come up with that off the top of your head.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
I mean, I've got a guess. Let's hear it.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
It would it?
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Could it be the Ministry.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Perhaps Reggie No, no, no, no, Zadarias Smith five years ago,
Zadarias Smith.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Anytime, there's an answer, just for the record, if there's
ever a who is the last packer to blank sacks?
I'm going Reggie until further until.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
That's going back away for a double digit sacker. But
Micah Parson's now the second player in history to open
a career with five straight double digit sack seasons. The
other was the Minister of Defense, Reggie White. So the
Hall of Fame career marches on for Micah Parsons, who
was a complete game wrecker against the Vikings, as you said,
whether it was against Daris, whether Halfley moved him over
(12:14):
Ryan Kelly, where that one play where he just flattened Kelly,
allowing DeVante Wyatt to get a sack. Wyat a two
sacked day. He hadn't had a sackson this week two.
We were complaining, whining about the lack of production for
guys like Wyatt, Rashan Gary. They were both outstanding yesterday.
Gary was noticeable evident. It was his pressure that allowed
(12:36):
Isaiah mcduffey to get his first career interception. And this
was against at least for the first two and a
half three quarters, the Vikings preferred five starting offensive linemans,
something they hadn't had together since Week one, and it
didn't matter. The Packers' defense completely overwhelmed that offensive line
and that quarterback. Five sacks, three turnovers, one on special teams. Obviously,
(13:03):
it was an absolute dominating performance by the Green Bay
Packers defense, and you know, we're not going to get
too caught up and enthralled by it because the challenge
gets a whole lot tougher in motor City on Thursday
against the Lions team that really struggled and almost lost
that game to the Giants, so they've got issues. It's
not a dominant Lions team. But you saw what Jamir
Gibbs did on Sunday, I think fifty five fantasy points
(13:26):
for the standard scoring leagues, maybe one of the best
offensive performances we've seen. So the challenge is going to increase,
obviously exponentially on Thursday, but on this day against this team,
the rival that came into this house having won two
straight at Lambeau. It couldn't have looked better or felt
better to see what they did to that Vikings offense
(13:47):
in the second half.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah, and I mean they tried to run the ball
da being Minnesota, I mean, it wasn't.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
They did it in the first half pretty well.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Yeah, they did so, And I get the Packers defense
for the most part bottled up Saquon, but you mentioned it.
I mean, and Gibbs at this point in time right
now is just you know, a different monster that they're
gonna have, So it's it's gonna be a huge challenge.
But yeah, it was a satisfying you know, I did
feel a little like incomplete with the offense, just because
(14:16):
I really wanted it to be a stick it to
you type game. But at the end of the day,
you can't complain about a win where the defense looked unbelievable,
the special teams were more than competent, and the offense
that they needed to do and put points on the
board they could have. There was probably points left on
the board as far as Yeah, if you go for
that fourth and three that you mentioned where they kicked
(14:37):
the field goal and there were some boo birds out,
you probably could get a score. I'd like Jordan Love
throwing the ball in that situation. He's done it before,
he could do it there, and you're really at that point,
in my opinion, playing with house money. So there probably
were some points left on the board. But at the
end of the day, what was it four yards in
the in the second half for the Vikings, you can't
(14:59):
complain with. It was a brilliant win.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
I understand this, Toyota than season. You want Jordan Love
to shine. We all know the way the schedule maps
out the rest of the year, they're gonna need Jordan
Love to shine. The offense is going to have to
do a whole lot more against the opponents on the schedule.
I saw a stat somebody posted on an x on
Sunday night that the four December opponents the Packers have
are currently all unbeaten in the month of November. So
(15:24):
they're going to be playing some hot flat like the
Broncos and the Ravens. They're going to be playing some
very difficult opponents. They're gonna need Jordan Love in that
passing game, and you know, hopefully by then, Golden's healthy,
Reeds healthy, and the offensive passing game is able to
do something. The entire defense got a game ball on Sunday,
as well as the three players that I mentioned at
the beginning of the show. For Isaiah McDuffie, first career
(15:47):
interception in his last two games filling in for Kway Walker,
twenty tackles, two half sacks, the interception. You know, they
voted him a captain before the season for a reason,
because he's that veteran. You know, five years in we
all know he played for Halfway at Boston College. They
stuck with him in this offseason, moved on from Eric Wilson.
Wilson's been dynamic for the Vikings. I've been feeling a
(16:11):
little bit uneasy about that decision, like why you stick
with McDuffie just because you'd known him since he was
a kid, Like, what's the deal? But clearly he took
advantage of his opportunity, and you know, I saw him
in the locker room talking man, and he's so grateful
for the opportunity to stick with this team and get
a chance to do what he did. I just I
(16:31):
was very concerned about not having Kay Walker in this game,
and to be honest, I'll still be concerned against the Lions.
I want Quay out there against that offense. But for
McDuffie to take advantage of that opportunity, hold off the
young kid hopper and say no, I'm I'm the steady
guy you want in the middle of your defense with
the green dot on my helmet. He delivered all afternoon
on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
He jumped off the film one hundred percent. Have you
ever seen TJ. Hawkinson you know, and I'm not talking
Brian Branch style dirty play, dirty player taken out hisse
just a clean right through his mid section hits. Have
you ever seen TJ. Hodgson get laid out like that?
Speaker 1 (17:08):
The guy that that was fun. It was a thing
of it.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
And the poppet made was great too. He played really
well and they had a whole feature on on the
broadcast about him being a captain and the pick, Yeah,
I mean did it get tipped right into his hands. Yes,
But you got to be there to make the play
and you got to catch the ball, and uh, you
don't have to. We can forget about the time that
he clobbered bullards and took away an interception from him.
(17:34):
That's all you know, You've made up for that and then.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Some the subject of the day seems to be unlikely
Packer heroes. That that to me felt like the theme
of the day beginning of course with Emmanuel Wilson will
get more to the offense in a second. A couple
other defensive guys I want to at least key on,
and that was to be in with Kamal Hadden, who
when Kashawn Nixon went out with a stinger. I think
most of us dood Bowl Melton was going to come
(17:57):
in and be that next cornerback. But Packer should all
of us, I believe by putting young Camal Hadden in.
I didn't see him get again. I understand SJG. McCarthy
and they had no passing game. But he held on.
He did his thing, He did not give up anything.
He looked like he belonged. Listening to Laflor after the
game talk about his development, He's not seen a guy
(18:19):
grow and develop as quickly as this kid has and
work as hard as he does, and happy he is
for him to get that opportunity. That's a huge development. Man.
We know how thin that cornerback group is already down,
Nate Hobbs Nixon goes out. You look at that depth
chart and you go, oh, my goodness, Hadden and Melton
are your two guys that you got to choose between.
The one of them have ever really played. And again,
(18:41):
if Hadden's up against Aman Ross Saint Brown on Thursday,
I'm not real likely to be happy about what might happen.
But in his first real game action, Hadden was terrific.
And then rookie Warren Brinson, another guy who hasn't really
gotten on the field much yet plays fifteen snaps, gets
five pressures on the day. Maybe this young Georgia rookie
(19:02):
is a guy that just needs an opportunity. So to me,
that was the theme of this defense. Mike is the star.
McDuffie takes over, you know, for Quay and does great.
But a couple of these young kids stepped into major
roles and at least again I guess an overmatched offense
did everything you want them to do.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Yeah, even Gary got in the action. I think he
had at least a half a second at some point
and then woulden as well. I mean everyone on that defense,
Williams with his pick, everyone just played their part and yeah,
unlikely Heroes is correct, but it was really just a
total unit domination. And you know, I don't know. The
(19:43):
question will be probably all week. Was it the Vikings
offense inability or was it the Packers defense dominance. I
think you could make a decent case for both, but
I would go with more so of the defense dominance
because at least McCarthy has shown and he's got wet galore.
You know, there's still Justin Jefferson running around out there.
(20:05):
I just think the pressure, the schemes, and the pass
rush just made it a disaster for them. So I
would go Packers defense dominant.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Of course, Well I think you have to. I mean
you do, and we do understand that you're dealing with
a quarterback who has looked overmatched more often than not,
and that certainly ways into the equation. But there's no
you take nothing away from that defensive performance. They were
still facing a Vikings offense that had I think every
preferred starter on the field, you know, and outside of
(20:34):
the quarterback position, that's a pretty good roster. I mean,
heading into the season, you looked at that veteran team
and said they put all the pieces around JJ McCarthy
and all those pieces were out there, all the receivers, Hawkinson,
the two running backs, the five offensive alignement, that the
ten starters around McCarthy were all out there. And a
lot of times an offense, especially with a quarterback whisperer
(20:55):
like Kevin O'Connell, can you know, make do with a
quarterback that's not ready by you know, making things somewhat
easy for them. And you know, first half, I was
a little concerned that Jordan Mason's plowing through and Aaron
Jones is doing his patented first down gesture, and they
were moving the football. And that's why the special teams
play early in the third quarter just changed everything because
now they're down two scores and any thought of trying
(21:16):
to control the clock and run the ball are out
the window. And after that possession, I think that's when
the Packers started loading up the sacks. I think Parsons
and Wyatt went back to back and they're at the
one yard line and punting, and now the game got
away from them. So yes, the defense gets all the flowers.
But as excited as we are again, get back to
me Friday morning, and if I'm still feeling really good
(21:38):
about this defense, then the stretch run starts to look
really exciting.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
And I mentioned points left on the board. Offensively, I
mean we were It's a game of innches. I mean,
how close were we to four more points potentially, if
not more? Setting up the offense get the ball back
with those safeties, I mean, if he's not ruled down
the one where I think it was Wyatt kind of
threw him back into the end zone, that's not a safety.
(22:03):
But the other one, I mean, that was close. They
could have ruled that a safety if they wanted to.
So it's just it could have been even more dominant
on the scoreboard. But clearly it was dominant. It may
as well been thirty eight to six by the way
it was going out and the way it was playing.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
All right, let's talk about the offense a bit, which
basically was a running running game. Magicalore said afterwards, I mean,
I've never called forty what forty two running plays? And
they were all the same, Like he didn't have to
change anything. They were getting three four five yards, they
were chewing up the clock, and he was just content
to do that again against an overmatched opponent in a
game that wasn't in doubt. Emmanuel Wilson wakes up in
(22:43):
the morning, not knowing he was going to get his
first NFL career start. Former undrafted player, he's trying to
make his mark all these years, gets his opportunity against
a very good defense and has the very first one
hundred yard rushing day for the Green Bay Packers this season.
It was not Jacob's. It was a manual Wilson. We've
seen him, you know, obviously in the last couple of
(23:03):
years look very capable when getting a series or two
to spell Jacobs. There's always gonna be a drop off,
and you know what, I have Josh Jacobs, But it
didn't feel like a cataclysmic drop off at all whenever
a Manuel Wilson came in and he was absolutely outstanding
on Sunday, And you got to just feel so good
for a kid who's awarded a game Ball on his
first start, goes over one hundred yards, had one hundred
(23:26):
and forty what did he have? One hundred and twenty
five yards on thirty touches, two touchdowns. I thought there'd
be more of a share with Chris Brooks, but you
know what, they didn't need Chris Brooks to pass protect
much because they didn't have to pass protect. So just again,
feel really good about that kid's opportunity. Josh Jacobs swears
he'll be ready for Thursday, and we want him out there.
(23:48):
But it is nice to know that you've got a
kid now that can handle the rock if you need
it to. As just an eye opening performance by number
twenty three.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Yeah, I run nine to noon Tuesdays. When they're at
TCO and PA during a break talk down to me
down the line, he goes, what do you think of
Emmanuel Wilson? Like, I think he's solid. I mean, he's
a solid number two. He's fine. I like, I'm not
worried about it at all. I did not think. I mean,
he looked like a competent NFL starter there. He looked
(24:18):
very good and he all the stuff you talk about
with the you keep churning your legs and you keep
fighting for extra yards and you know, he reached across
the goal line for one of his touchdowns. He looked
really good and so yeah, I mean, obviously, Josh Jacobs
is Josh Jacobs for a reason, and you pay him
that money for a good reason. But he looked fine.
He looked more than fine, so and again, you know,
(24:40):
when it comes to the forty two play calls, if
it's working, it's working. And if you're Matt Lafleur, why
you know, when you've got to hurt quarterback, why push
the ball downfield when you know you can just run
right over him and run.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Right up their guts.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
So, I again, I was a little bummed, but I
had no problem with Hi. I think there's a difference.
It's not that oh how calm. It was just I
was a little bombed. I just wish that we got
a little Jordan Love show. But I'm not going to
complain about a win.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Yeah, I think it's kind of a generational thing for
us old guys. It's like, this is old school football, man,
this is the you know, NFC Central Black and Blue
Division football. The weather's turning a little bit, and you
can just run it down their throats. Let's just do it.
I think the biggest development for the Packers offense on
Sunday was the offensive line and the changes that happened
during this game that really might sort of shine a
(25:32):
light on what this offense might become down the road.
And you know that was the the plan early apparently
was to rotate Jordan Morgan and Anthony Belton that right guard,
and the second series, Belton comes in and he never
left the game. He ended up being the right guard
the rest of the game and was moving people. Now,
remember this is a massive human being that was a tackle.
(25:52):
Like He's never played guard ever. He only started practicing
guard the last few weeks in practice, so he's still
learning this position, and he was outstanding yesterday. I mean,
he is the new right guard, there's no question. And
that to me is so encouraging because I think a
lot of us have read all the scouting reports about
Jordan Morgan. He is a tackle. That is what he is.
(26:14):
I understand you got a left tackle, but you drafted
him to be your future left tackle. And I want
to see him now. Maybe work in some series with
Rashid Walker and see if there is a difference when
Morgan's out there, Just settle in. Make him a tackle.
That's how his body is built, that's where his skills lie.
That's where he was at Arizona. He is a tackle.
Belton just might be a guard. He might be a
(26:35):
tackle down the road too, but he might be your
best right guard. So the fact that we may have
some clarity up front now in the middle, Sean Ryan
in his second start looks very capable at center. He
is starting to look like a guy that wants this
job permanently and very well might earn another contract because
no issues to me, no step back, you know, from
(26:56):
Jenkins to Ryan. I think he looks more physical than
Jenkins look the last few weeks so really interesting. And
then I didn't realize this until I read about it afterward.
Darien Conward played twenty one snaps as a sixth offensive lineman.
Twenty one snaps. That's like half a game almost typically,
So that's what the plan was. Go big, you know,
(27:17):
go physical, go heavy, and see if the Vikings can
stop you. So very encouraged from a position group that
I was so worried about two weeks ago. With the
changes so far, so good, Very very encouraged by what's
happening up front right now.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
I mean, how many times did we see, especially early on,
where it was a classic Brian Flores look right where
they would just have so many guys on the line
of scrimmage you have no idea where it's coming from.
Jordan Love's checking out of things and calling different things,
changing the protection and how many times did we see
(27:52):
Love drop back and that entire wave of Vikings devenders
just get stuffed. They picked it all up. So and
that a lot of that's on I mean, a new
center picking up constant blitzes and a gap muggs. The
fact that they were able to do it and weather
the storm relatively well. The blitz at least to get
(28:13):
some passes off I thought was really good. And that
a lot of that's on the line. Some of it's
on Love as well for calling it out. But you
still got to be able to block the guys and
matchup physically. So I thought they were really good today.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
All right, So mission accomplished against the Vikings. You get
the win. It's in comfortable style. Twenty three to six.
You're seven three and one. We mentioned two and zero
now against the Vikings and Lions. This was the beginning
of the three game divisional stretch that we all believed,
certainly I did, would define the Packer season. That you
have to me go at least no worse than two
and one in these three games. And they got the
first one, the one that again on paper, perhaps the
(28:45):
easiest because the Bears just keep winning and we'll see
them obviously in a couple of weeks, but let's just
devote our last minute or two looking ahead to Thanksgiving Day.
We're not going to have an opportunity to do a
show between now and then the Lions Giants game. For
much of the time I was watching Packers Vikings, I
had red Zone on, and I was watching a lot
of that Lions Giants game, and Giants gave him the game.
(29:07):
I mean, the Giants should have won that game. They
made an inexplicable decision to not kick a field goal
late when they could have gone up a couple scores.
It's fourth and goal from like the six or seven.
I'm like, what you're expecting Jamis Winston to score a
touchdown on the road. Just kick the field goal, and
it ultimately was the difference. They probably wouldn't that game
in regulation, but for a lot of that game they
(29:29):
had double digit lead on the Lions. Wandel Robinson looked
like Randy Moss in the first half. They couldn't stop
the passing game of Winston and the Giants. And you
know the fact that it went to overtime, and granted
it wasn't a long overtime, But the fact the Lions
had to play extra time with another game on Thursday
gives green Bay just a teeny little bit of an edge.
(29:51):
I think the fact they had to play such a
hard game where green Bay didn't. You know, again, we're
looking for the edges here of the margins on. You know,
how do you t to go in there and beat
the Lions a second straight time on Thanksgiving Day? Just
the way the games went yesterday gives me a little
bit of optimism that green Bay is catching Detroit. That
may be a vulnerable time.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
They certainly looked vulnerable, at least on the defensive side.
I mean, this should be an opportunity for Love and co.
Maybe Jayden Reid if I'm being optimistic, Probably not, but
it's an opportunity for him to really air it out
and let it go because he had no problems in
week one. They bottled up Hutchinson, you know, fairly easily.
(30:33):
I don't think he made really any impact on the
game whatsoever, and Love threw it over the top and
threw it consistently so defensively. If you're gonna let Jamis
do that and control the game, I like our chances
offensively if they play to the way that they can defensively.
Is where it's like, obviously, I know they're on fire
right now, but I'm worried about Gibbs. I just think
(30:56):
he is such a good runner, and he's explosive and
when he gets any bit of you know, an inkling
of light and space, he's gone. So he's very dangerous
and it just turns the game on its head when
they can't stop the run. So I'm I wouldn't say
I'm optimistic or pessimistic. I'm just excited to watch what happens.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
That's fair. Yeah, I don't have any concerns about Green
Bay's offense moving the football on the Lions watching that
defense on Sunday, that to me is not the issue.
The issue is, and what's going to be exciting is
what does this Packers defense do now for an encore
when the competition gets ratched up immensely, at least offensively.
Obviously the playmakers the Lions have, that's gonna be interesting
(31:36):
to see that. What does the defense do the next
week now with all those playmakers and you know, again
you'd like to have a couple of guys back against Detroit.
But what we watch Sunday gives you, I think, a
measure of confidence that maybe it doesn't necessarily matter the
offense is when you've got playmakers like Michaeh Parsons, DeVante Whyt,
Gary McDuffie, those guys can tip a game with one
(32:00):
or two plays. We didn't mention the skull chant by
the defense. By the way, what an enduring image trolling
the Vikings with when Evan Williams got the pick, terrible pass,
maybe McCarthy's worst pass of the day when he sailed
it into Evan Williams hands, and I guess Javon Bullard
I think it early in the week said if we
get one, uh, let's do the skull chant. And that
(32:20):
shot from behind the defense where you see the crowd
all do with the skull.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
Chant, except for the Vikings fans who were not.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
They suddenly were sitting on their hands. But yeah, that
was kind of an enduring image from that game and
fun to see the defense finally get a couple of
picks and and have some fun. Yeah, it's an ultimate
challenge against Detroit and after that one, obviously you get
a sort of a mini buy as the Bears will
because they play Friday in Philly to get set for
the big one against Chicago, the first of two games
(32:47):
against them in a three week span. I'd like to
see the Bears. We'll see the Bears finally play a
real quarterback there. I think five of their maybe their
last five or six wins have all come against non
preferred starting quarter so they haven't really met their face
an offense yet. We'll see what the Bears can do
in Philly. That's for another day. Packers Lions Thanksgiving Day.
(33:08):
I don't know about you, but for me and I'll
be hitting Milwaukee my brother's house with all his kids
and my kids, and they're all Packer fans. There's nothing
like a Packer's Lions game to kick off Thanksgiving Day.
I am so excited. It's my favorite day of the year,
whether the Packers are playing or not. I love Thanksgiving.
I love everything about it, all kinds of family traditions.
(33:28):
I get to go home to the hometown and be
among a whole bunch of Packer fans, and I cannot wait.
I was just thinking back to two years ago, how
fun that was and how surprising it was to see
Green Bay go in and just dominate the Lions and
kind of the Jordan love coming out parties first year
as a starter. So yeah, I'm so amped for Thursday,
(33:48):
and I know you are too.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
It just seems right. The only thing is if the
Lions would wear those stupid just silver helmets with nothing
on it like they used to for Thanksgiving every year,
the little throwbacks. It just feels right. Going to Detroit
playing the Lions on Thanksgiving. Yeah, I'll be in the
middle of nowhere, Iowa to watch that game.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
But that could be anywhere in Iowa pretty much.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
Yeah, except to Moine even that probably for most people
is a nice town.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
Yeah it is. It's a good spot. So its ames.
I got a kid going to school.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
So yeah, that's the big unifier is I've got you know,
Hawkeye fans and Cyclone fans and you know, on my
dad's side obviously Badgers. But that's the big unifier when
I go to really middle of nowhere, Iowa to see
some family is we're all Packer fans. We're all watching
the game. So I can't wait for that. And uh again,
I think the Packers are at the very least in
(34:44):
with a good chance to win the game. If not
the preferred they won't be favored. Maybe they will be
after that performance against the Giants last week.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Today, as we sit here, I wonder that's fair to me,
That's that's what I would have guessed it would be.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
They didn't look all that great.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
Yes, yeah, but that's here's the thing. And people forget
about this. You know last year, you remember the Bears
basically craped the bed and could have beaten the Lions
and couldn't handle clock management and allowed the Lions to escape.
That's sapped a seven game losing streak for Detroit on
Thanksgiving Day. They granted a lot of those teams five
four or five six seven years ago were terrible, but
(35:21):
they traditionally do not play well on Thanksgiving Day. And
that also gives me hope. And there's all that expectation.
You're at home on a short week. Packers, to me,
deserve not to be favored in this game. They've got
to go prove it. And obviously it's a revenge game.
And from Week one where the Packers kind of opened
up everybody's eyes, so pressures on Detroit. They're expected to
(35:45):
win this game. Be nice for the Packers to have
won a couple of those games they gave away to
have some of that leeway, but taking care of business
on Sunday to you know that if you lose Thursday,
you're seven to four and one with extra time to
get ready for the Bears and then a couple of
road games, you know, tough road games coming up at
Denver in Chicago. They've set themselves up for the stretch run.
(36:06):
What we're all gonna be interested to see is how
does Lafleur call this game Thursday. Does he open it up,
does he put the ball in Jordan Love's hands. I
expect all of that to happen. I do expect a
Jordan Love toyota than kind of performance on Thursday. And
if it's another day where he's just playing it close
to the belt and running it and not taking chances,
we'll have a very different conversation on Sunday morning.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
I mean, if they win doing that, like they won
the way they won against the Vikings, where sure, then
it's fine. All's fair. I would like to know because
they're not really saying like, is it an ac joint sprain?
Is it a you know, like, is it just a
stinger that won't go away is it? I would like
to know. I understand why they're not saying it. It's
(36:50):
the very hockey player move of they could just say
upper body injury and just leave it at that. I'm
curious how healthy actually is and can it recover, you know,
because we had a full week and it wasn't clearly
wasn't recovered. So what will another three days do? Not sure?
So I'm worried about that because it needs to be
(37:11):
a toyota than Jordan Love showing. It needs to be
that two years ago and Thanksgiving when he got snubbed
for a turkey leg showing. Can he do that? I
think he can, but it's just risky because you leave
him vulnerable to potentially getting crushed in the pocket or
downfield if he has to throw, you know, scramble out.
So I just want to know what his health is
(37:32):
and a little bit more transparency would be great.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
Yeah. I thought I saw a report that it was
a sprain day se joint, and I'd have to go
back and look, but I thought I did see that somewhere.
I mean, bottom line is your point is very valid.
I don't think it's an expectation that he is going
to be one hundred percent four days later. You know,
hopefully he didn't irritated more on Sunday that he didn't
wasn't in harms way very much, so I can't imagine
that he did. But it's also not the kind of
(37:56):
injury that's just kind of oh, I feel perfect today,
so that the play calling might somewhat be dependent on
how comfortable they are with his health. But you know,
I saw enough throws on Sunday when he had to
make them where he looked pretty capable. It's probably a
pain tolerance thing. And just be careful when you're running
the ball. Do not put yourself in a position where
(38:17):
you might land on that shoulder and do more damage.
But yeah, I think I think it's fair not to
be too transparent in the NFL if you can avoid it.
And again, just hoping he's healing quickly and he's able
to stay out there. This is not a day where
we needed any Elik Willis packages like i'd hope to see.
We just got to see garbage time Elik Willis, and
(38:38):
that's the deal. Time to see number two. All right,
let's call it a day. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody, have a
wonderful day. Enjoy the Packers and Lions. We'll be back
Sunday morning for Packer Preview on Kfan. It'll be a
review edition, looking back at the Vikings and Lions games
and looking ahead to the final quarter of the Packers season.
Have a great holiday and we'll talk to you on
(38:58):
Sunday
You have found Packer Review a KFA in production. I
am Dave Sinekid, joined as always by Brett Blakemore, as
we review what we saw at lambeau Field on Sunday,
A dominant defensive performance by the Green Bay Packers as
they put down the Minnesota Vikings twenty three to six
to improve to seven to three and one, and maybe
most importantly, a season after going zero to four against
(00:22):
the Lions and Vikings, they're off to a two and
zero start, with another huge one coming up obviously in
a few days. Brett, if I had told you twenty
four hours ago when we were doing Packer preview that
the three game balls being handed out by Matt Lafleur
would go to Emmanuel Wilson, Isaiah McDuffie, and Zane Anderson,
(00:42):
what would your reaction have been.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
It's defense, defense, defense, And that was the story that was,
I mean, the most dominant the defense looked all year.
I mean SANMS week.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
One for sure.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah, so even even with week one, it it's such
a change of pace for us as Packer fans too,
because I ended the game and I knew how dominant
the defense was. I knew that they were the stars
of the show. And yet I still felt like, man,
I wish Love would have just thrown for like three touchdowns,
(01:16):
and you know what I mean, they didn't have to,
and so that's kind of what I wanted. I still
feel almost not conflicted, but like I don't know, I
just wish I would have seen a little bit more
because my big concern was the consistency of the offense,
and we didn't really that wasn't really answered because they
ran the ball forty two times. But it's not Lafleur's
job to answer my doubts. It's his job to win
(01:37):
football games, and he did what he had to do
to win football games. So everything else was absolutely great.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Okay, a couple of things on that. As far as
the best defensive performance of the season, I'll still take
Week one just because of who they played against. Right
to shut down the Detroit Lions is one thing. To
shut down JJ McCarthy, that's the proverbial grain of salt
because of who you're playing against. But still they made
it a completely one dimensional game, particularly in the second half.
(02:03):
Let's talk about the offensive play calling, because there was
some griping among Packer fans about the conservative nature, you know,
running the ball. You know third and one, the shotgun
running play, which apparently Jeordian Love changed the line to
a running play. I'm gonna go on record, I have
absolutely zero problem with how Matt Lafleur called this game
(02:23):
for a number of reasons. Most importantly and maybe biggest,
is you're going into this game with a quarterback dealing
with a sprained ac joint on his non throwing shoulder.
You're without Josh Jacobs, You're without four of your top
six pass catching targets, only Dobs and Watson. You know,
I'll put Wicks seventh because you know you obviously take
(02:45):
Craft in there and read and golden all those guys out,
so you are shorthanded offensively. You've got a short week
with a huge division road game coming up in four days.
If you could do anything to take it easy on
your banged up players, you'd do it. And if you're
able to move the ball on the ground. And again,
it wasn't like they were averaging sixty yards at carry.
(03:05):
I didn't get after forty two carries. They ended up
rushing for three point eight. But they were moving the ball,
they were scoring points. It was clear the Vikings were
not going to keep up. I like the fact that
McCarthy took his foot off the gas and just wanted
to make sure that whatever he could do to keep
his guys as fresh as possible for next Thursday. Great. Now,
(03:25):
if we're doing Packer Review, which next week will be
our actual show on Sunday morning, and we're talking about
Lafleur being conservative against the Detroit Lions, then I've got
an issue. I think we're going to see an entirely
different kind of game called on Thursday against Detroit based
on the competition and obviously the situation. Yeah, I had
no issue with the conservative nature. I even heard some
(03:46):
booing when he went for the field goal to go
up seventeen. You know, when you're clearly moving the ball
and you're probably going to get a first down. No,
you go up three scores and you just put the
exclamation point and you know, let McManus do his thing.
That's another thing. McManus made all five of his kicks
first time. He was perfect since week one. That's a
nice development. So yeah, I this was the kind of
(04:07):
game where you are really banged up. You've got maybe
your biggest game of the season. In four days on Thanksgiving.
Do all you can to keep your guys fresh.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Yeah, I get that. It's it's mostly comes from a
selfish point where you know, we deal with all the
love is terrible comments and texts that I wish he
would have just stunted on him and you know, threw
for four touchdowns and three hundred yards. But again it's
you're one hundred percent right. He They did what they
and it was working the run. Why abandon it if
it was working? And it was they had no answer
(04:38):
for it. And Emmanuel Wilson won a game. Shout out
to anyone who picked him up on Fantasy when they
saw that Josh Jacobs went out of the game because
last week. Yeah, it just And also I have a
little Jordan love theory as well. Have you ever seen
him wear sleeves in a cold.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Weather the first time I could remember?
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Right, I'm pretty convinced this is conspiracy theory central that
he had to have been either wearing one of those
Carson Wentz Transformer sleeves under there or a lot of tape,
you know, the Canisio tape. Something was going on with
his shoulder. I think that's why the sleeves came out
because he's worn no sleeves from much golder games than
(05:18):
fifty degrees. So I definitely think he was hurting more
than I couldn't believe that. I think it was a
Greg Olsen on the call that why is he handing
off with his other hand? It's like, hurt, dude, Yeah,
he's no question that was part of the deal. So
he was definitely hurting and he looked wounded for sure.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
And he made maybe one of the best throws he's
made all season. For me, that the one that sticks
out was the one where Blake Cashman had a free
run right up the middle. Remember that one was I
think a third down play where he had I mean
the Love had no time. He just had to unleash
the ball and he throws it up to Dantevian Wicks
over the middle for a completion that just showed you
(05:58):
again Love's ability when the play is completely blown up
to deliver. We've seen that over and over. He didn't
have to do it a lot on Sunday, but that play,
I mean, that was a wild play to me, Like,
how do you not appreciate a quarterback that can get
off a ball like that with Cashman basically in his face.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
I thought he made a lot of good throws, Like
there were about three that he could have made a
better throw on three misses, but and maybe a couple
of them, or at least one or two were intentionally
out of the sidelines just to you know, play it safe.
But he made some really good throws to Watson on
the sideline, just a lot of really clean efficients I
(06:37):
mean game manager esque throws. But they were prettier than
a game manager throw.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
I'll tell you that, no doubt. All right, play the game,
early third quarter, you know, Packers get the ball up
ten six. First of all, the will record field goal
at the end of the half. I think had us
all just going, man, we feel pretty good at halftime,
but it's ten to six. I mean, just letting them
stick around. This is what we've done all season. And
then you get ball and you go three and out
or maybe it was one first down, but a quick
(07:03):
opening drive and Wheeland comes in with the punt, and
obviously that was the play of the game, when Miles
Price muffs the punt and Zane Anderson recovers. Anderson caused
the muff as well. I've watched the play several times,
just really good coaching, really good performance by Anderson, understanding
that when Price moves into engage Anderson to see if
(07:24):
the ball will then bounce into the end zone. That
allows Zaane to say, Okay, I'm gonna push you right
back toward the football. And again, a lot of luck
involved that the ball took the bounce that made it
hit Miles Price, but a terrific execution by the special
teams player who then lands on the ball. Two plays later,
Wilson takes it in and now suddenly it's seventeen to six,
(07:46):
and I think all of Packer Land thought, okay, good
luck score in seventeen. Today, Vikings, I feel pretty good.
I mean, we forget the way the second half went,
and we'll talk about the defensive dominance in a second.
That game was very much in doubt until that play.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Yeah, it didn't feel comfortable. I would not in.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Doubt, but yeah, comfortable is probably a better way to
put it.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Yeah, after that play was comfortable as far as the
it was a lucky bounce or was it? Because as
we know, card carrying member Daniel will in Appreciation Society,
what a punt. The fact that you can backspin it
like that and you know, made the play as well.
The whole specialty. It really was a three dimensional, complimentary
(08:29):
football cliche, but it was I mean, and Micah Parsons
just embarrassed. I couldn't believe how much I know, I'm
kind of jumping around. I couldn't believe how much they
lined him up Darrisaw. I thought for sure they would
avoid him to an extent, and they did. They moved
around at center where he just bulldozed.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Center.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
But he it didn't matter who it was against it, Darisaw,
anybody bo. He was running around him, left, right and center.
It was a thing of beauty. But yeah, that special
teams played Daniel Wheeling unbelievable and that really did turn
the game clean.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Special Teams day for the Packers, which is not something
we say very often. I think the only thing I
could think of was, you know, Romeo Dobbs is not
a punt returner, and it's still an adventure and just
makes you cringe every time against the ball. But they
just don't have anything anybody on the roster, which needs
to be addressed. I've been saying that forever, itever would
be nice for them to finally realize how important it is.
Look at the Vikings who like Miles Price, but he's
(09:28):
had a couple of key turnovers. He had one against
the Ravens that kind of turned that game upside down
a couple of weeks ago. That's the kind of thing
that can cost you. It costs the Eagles on Sunday.
So that's why whatever Wheeland or whatever, the Packers are
receiving a punt. Like many Packer fans, I'm holding my
breath and I don't need production, just security. And the
Vikings felt the wrath of that. With Miles Price, Let's
(09:53):
start with the defense you referenced. Micah will get to
him in a second. You've all seen the stats. You
watch the game. Four yards of offense for the Vikings
in the second half, one hundred and forty five yards
total for the game. You no great assault department. We
understand JJ McCarthy's a young, developing, very much struggling quarterback,
but he's also a kid that's won NFC Offensive Player
(10:16):
of the Week twice this season. So he's shown moments,
and we talked about it before the game that he
has saved his best moments for divisional road games. Which
made me a little more nervous than maybe I should
have been. Threw the ball five times all game, ten
plus yards past the line of scrimmage. In those five passes,
two for five thirty four yards, two picks, a thirty
(10:36):
four point two pass a rating Jeff Hafley's defense utterly
confused and dazed JJ McCarthy. It was the first multiple
takeaway game of the season for the Packers defense. We've
been waiting all year for that to happen. And I mean,
there were so many stars, but it does start with
Micaeh Parsons, who is funny. I'm watching with my son Jackson,
Who's like, yeah, well, we got the best left tackle
(10:57):
in football. He said that several times early in the game,
which gave me the oh. I had some fun with
that one, Like, man, that's the best left tackle. And
Michah Parsons should get his bust carved right now because
he just completely embarrassed Dari Saw a number of times.
Of course, Dara Saw left later in the second half
of a foot injury, and school had absolutely no chance.
(11:18):
Once he came in, first double digit sacker for the
Green Bay Packers. He has ten. Now, who's the last
packer with double digit sacks in a season? Can you
come up with that off the top of your head.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
I mean, I've got a guess. Let's hear it.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
It would it?
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Could it be the Ministry.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Perhaps Reggie No, no, no, no, Zadarias Smith five years ago,
Zadarias Smith.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Anytime, there's an answer, just for the record, if there's
ever a who is the last packer to blank sacks?
I'm going Reggie until further until.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
That's going back away for a double digit sacker. But
Micah Parson's now the second player in history to open
a career with five straight double digit sack seasons. The
other was the Minister of Defense, Reggie White. So the
Hall of Fame career marches on for Micah Parsons, who
was a complete game wrecker against the Vikings, as you said,
whether it was against Daris, whether Halfley moved him over
(12:14):
Ryan Kelly, where that one play where he just flattened Kelly,
allowing DeVante Wyatt to get a sack. Wyat a two
sacked day. He hadn't had a sackson this week two.
We were complaining, whining about the lack of production for
guys like Wyatt, Rashan Gary. They were both outstanding yesterday.
Gary was noticeable evident. It was his pressure that allowed
(12:36):
Isaiah mcduffey to get his first career interception. And this
was against at least for the first two and a
half three quarters, the Vikings preferred five starting offensive linemans,
something they hadn't had together since Week one, and it
didn't matter. The Packers' defense completely overwhelmed that offensive line
and that quarterback. Five sacks, three turnovers, one on special teams. Obviously,
(13:03):
it was an absolute dominating performance by the Green Bay
Packers defense, and you know, we're not going to get
too caught up and enthralled by it because the challenge
gets a whole lot tougher in motor City on Thursday
against the Lions team that really struggled and almost lost
that game to the Giants, so they've got issues. It's
not a dominant Lions team. But you saw what Jamir
Gibbs did on Sunday, I think fifty five fantasy points
(13:26):
for the standard scoring leagues, maybe one of the best
offensive performances we've seen. So the challenge is going to increase,
obviously exponentially on Thursday, but on this day against this team,
the rival that came into this house having won two
straight at Lambeau. It couldn't have looked better or felt
better to see what they did to that Vikings offense
(13:47):
in the second half.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah, and I mean they tried to run the ball
da being Minnesota, I mean, it wasn't.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
They did it in the first half pretty well.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Yeah, they did so, And I get the Packers defense
for the most part bottled up Saquon, but you mentioned it.
I mean, and Gibbs at this point in time right
now is just you know, a different monster that they're
gonna have, So it's it's gonna be a huge challenge.
But yeah, it was a satisfying you know, I did
feel a little like incomplete with the offense, just because
(14:16):
I really wanted it to be a stick it to
you type game. But at the end of the day,
you can't complain about a win where the defense looked unbelievable,
the special teams were more than competent, and the offense
that they needed to do and put points on the
board they could have. There was probably points left on
the board as far as Yeah, if you go for
that fourth and three that you mentioned where they kicked
(14:37):
the field goal and there were some boo birds out,
you probably could get a score. I'd like Jordan Love
throwing the ball in that situation. He's done it before,
he could do it there, and you're really at that point,
in my opinion, playing with house money. So there probably
were some points left on the board. But at the
end of the day, what was it four yards in
the in the second half for the Vikings, you can't
(14:59):
complain with. It was a brilliant win.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
I understand this, Toyota than season. You want Jordan Love
to shine. We all know the way the schedule maps
out the rest of the year, they're gonna need Jordan
Love to shine. The offense is going to have to
do a whole lot more against the opponents on the schedule.
I saw a stat somebody posted on an x on
Sunday night that the four December opponents the Packers have
are currently all unbeaten in the month of November. So
(15:24):
they're going to be playing some hot flat like the
Broncos and the Ravens. They're going to be playing some
very difficult opponents. They're gonna need Jordan Love in that
passing game, and you know, hopefully by then, Golden's healthy,
Reeds healthy, and the offensive passing game is able to
do something. The entire defense got a game ball on Sunday,
as well as the three players that I mentioned at
the beginning of the show. For Isaiah McDuffie, first career
(15:47):
interception in his last two games filling in for Kway Walker,
twenty tackles, two half sacks, the interception. You know, they
voted him a captain before the season for a reason,
because he's that veteran. You know, five years in we
all know he played for Halfway at Boston College. They
stuck with him in this offseason, moved on from Eric Wilson.
Wilson's been dynamic for the Vikings. I've been feeling a
(16:11):
little bit uneasy about that decision, like why you stick
with McDuffie just because you'd known him since he was
a kid, Like, what's the deal? But clearly he took
advantage of his opportunity, and you know, I saw him
in the locker room talking man, and he's so grateful
for the opportunity to stick with this team and get
a chance to do what he did. I just I
(16:31):
was very concerned about not having Kay Walker in this game,
and to be honest, I'll still be concerned against the Lions.
I want Quay out there against that offense. But for
McDuffie to take advantage of that opportunity, hold off the
young kid hopper and say no, I'm I'm the steady
guy you want in the middle of your defense with
the green dot on my helmet. He delivered all afternoon
on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
He jumped off the film one hundred percent. Have you
ever seen TJ. Hawkinson you know, and I'm not talking
Brian Branch style dirty play, dirty player taken out hisse
just a clean right through his mid section hits. Have
you ever seen TJ. Hodgson get laid out like that?
Speaker 1 (17:08):
The guy that that was fun. It was a thing
of it.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
And the poppet made was great too. He played really
well and they had a whole feature on on the
broadcast about him being a captain and the pick, Yeah,
I mean did it get tipped right into his hands. Yes,
But you got to be there to make the play
and you got to catch the ball, and uh, you
don't have to. We can forget about the time that
he clobbered bullards and took away an interception from him.
(17:34):
That's all you know, You've made up for that and then.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Some the subject of the day seems to be unlikely
Packer heroes. That that to me felt like the theme
of the day beginning of course with Emmanuel Wilson will
get more to the offense in a second. A couple
other defensive guys I want to at least key on,
and that was to be in with Kamal Hadden, who
when Kashawn Nixon went out with a stinger. I think
most of us dood Bowl Melton was going to come
(17:57):
in and be that next cornerback. But Packer should all
of us, I believe by putting young Camal Hadden in.
I didn't see him get again. I understand SJG. McCarthy
and they had no passing game. But he held on.
He did his thing, He did not give up anything.
He looked like he belonged. Listening to Laflor after the
game talk about his development, He's not seen a guy
(18:19):
grow and develop as quickly as this kid has and
work as hard as he does, and happy he is
for him to get that opportunity. That's a huge development. Man.
We know how thin that cornerback group is already down,
Nate Hobbs Nixon goes out. You look at that depth
chart and you go, oh, my goodness, Hadden and Melton
are your two guys that you got to choose between.
The one of them have ever really played. And again,
(18:41):
if Hadden's up against Aman Ross Saint Brown on Thursday,
I'm not real likely to be happy about what might happen.
But in his first real game action, Hadden was terrific.
And then rookie Warren Brinson, another guy who hasn't really
gotten on the field much yet plays fifteen snaps, gets
five pressures on the day. Maybe this young Georgia rookie
(19:02):
is a guy that just needs an opportunity. So to me,
that was the theme of this defense. Mike is the star.
McDuffie takes over, you know, for Quay and does great.
But a couple of these young kids stepped into major
roles and at least again I guess an overmatched offense
did everything you want them to do.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Yeah, even Gary got in the action. I think he
had at least a half a second at some point
and then woulden as well. I mean everyone on that defense,
Williams with his pick, everyone just played their part and yeah,
unlikely Heroes is correct, but it was really just a
total unit domination. And you know, I don't know. The
(19:43):
question will be probably all week. Was it the Vikings
offense inability or was it the Packers defense dominance. I
think you could make a decent case for both, but
I would go with more so of the defense dominance
because at least McCarthy has shown and he's got wet galore.
You know, there's still Justin Jefferson running around out there.
(20:05):
I just think the pressure, the schemes, and the pass
rush just made it a disaster for them. So I
would go Packers defense dominant.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Of course, Well I think you have to. I mean
you do, and we do understand that you're dealing with
a quarterback who has looked overmatched more often than not,
and that certainly ways into the equation. But there's no
you take nothing away from that defensive performance. They were
still facing a Vikings offense that had I think every
preferred starter on the field, you know, and outside of
(20:34):
the quarterback position, that's a pretty good roster. I mean,
heading into the season, you looked at that veteran team
and said they put all the pieces around JJ McCarthy
and all those pieces were out there, all the receivers, Hawkinson,
the two running backs, the five offensive alignement, that the
ten starters around McCarthy were all out there. And a
lot of times an offense, especially with a quarterback whisperer
(20:55):
like Kevin O'Connell, can you know, make do with a
quarterback that's not ready by you know, making things somewhat
easy for them. And you know, first half, I was
a little concerned that Jordan Mason's plowing through and Aaron
Jones is doing his patented first down gesture, and they
were moving the football. And that's why the special teams
play early in the third quarter just changed everything because
now they're down two scores and any thought of trying
(21:16):
to control the clock and run the ball are out
the window. And after that possession, I think that's when
the Packers started loading up the sacks. I think Parsons
and Wyatt went back to back and they're at the
one yard line and punting, and now the game got
away from them. So yes, the defense gets all the flowers.
But as excited as we are again, get back to
me Friday morning, and if I'm still feeling really good
(21:38):
about this defense, then the stretch run starts to look
really exciting.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
And I mentioned points left on the board. Offensively, I
mean we were It's a game of innches. I mean,
how close were we to four more points potentially, if
not more? Setting up the offense get the ball back
with those safeties, I mean, if he's not ruled down
the one where I think it was Wyatt kind of
threw him back into the end zone, that's not a safety.
(22:03):
But the other one, I mean, that was close. They
could have ruled that a safety if they wanted to.
So it's just it could have been even more dominant
on the scoreboard. But clearly it was dominant. It may
as well been thirty eight to six by the way
it was going out and the way it was playing.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
All right, let's talk about the offense a bit, which
basically was a running running game. Magicalore said afterwards, I mean,
I've never called forty what forty two running plays? And
they were all the same, Like he didn't have to
change anything. They were getting three four five yards, they
were chewing up the clock, and he was just content
to do that again against an overmatched opponent in a
game that wasn't in doubt. Emmanuel Wilson wakes up in
(22:43):
the morning, not knowing he was going to get his
first NFL career start. Former undrafted player, he's trying to
make his mark all these years, gets his opportunity against
a very good defense and has the very first one
hundred yard rushing day for the Green Bay Packers this season.
It was not Jacob's. It was a manual Wilson. We've
seen him, you know, obviously in the last couple of
(23:03):
years look very capable when getting a series or two
to spell Jacobs. There's always gonna be a drop off,
and you know what, I have Josh Jacobs, But it
didn't feel like a cataclysmic drop off at all whenever
a Manuel Wilson came in and he was absolutely outstanding
on Sunday, And you got to just feel so good
for a kid who's awarded a game Ball on his
first start, goes over one hundred yards, had one hundred
(23:26):
and forty what did he have? One hundred and twenty
five yards on thirty touches, two touchdowns. I thought there'd
be more of a share with Chris Brooks, but you
know what, they didn't need Chris Brooks to pass protect
much because they didn't have to pass protect. So just again,
feel really good about that kid's opportunity. Josh Jacobs swears
he'll be ready for Thursday, and we want him out there.
(23:48):
But it is nice to know that you've got a
kid now that can handle the rock if you need
it to. As just an eye opening performance by number
twenty three.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Yeah, I run nine to noon Tuesdays. When they're at
TCO and PA during a break talk down to me
down the line, he goes, what do you think of
Emmanuel Wilson? Like, I think he's solid. I mean, he's
a solid number two. He's fine. I like, I'm not
worried about it at all. I did not think. I mean,
he looked like a competent NFL starter there. He looked
(24:18):
very good and he all the stuff you talk about
with the you keep churning your legs and you keep
fighting for extra yards and you know, he reached across
the goal line for one of his touchdowns. He looked
really good and so yeah, I mean, obviously, Josh Jacobs
is Josh Jacobs for a reason, and you pay him
that money for a good reason. But he looked fine.
He looked more than fine, so and again, you know,
(24:40):
when it comes to the forty two play calls, if
it's working, it's working. And if you're Matt Lafleur, why
you know, when you've got to hurt quarterback, why push
the ball downfield when you know you can just run
right over him and run.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Right up their guts.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
So, I again, I was a little bummed, but I
had no problem with Hi. I think there's a difference.
It's not that oh how calm. It was just I
was a little bombed. I just wish that we got
a little Jordan Love show. But I'm not going to
complain about a win.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Yeah, I think it's kind of a generational thing for
us old guys. It's like, this is old school football, man,
this is the you know, NFC Central Black and Blue
Division football. The weather's turning a little bit, and you
can just run it down their throats. Let's just do it.
I think the biggest development for the Packers offense on
Sunday was the offensive line and the changes that happened
during this game that really might sort of shine a
(25:32):
light on what this offense might become down the road.
And you know that was the the plan early apparently
was to rotate Jordan Morgan and Anthony Belton that right guard,
and the second series, Belton comes in and he never
left the game. He ended up being the right guard
the rest of the game and was moving people. Now,
remember this is a massive human being that was a tackle.
(25:52):
Like He's never played guard ever. He only started practicing
guard the last few weeks in practice, so he's still
learning this position, and he was outstanding yesterday. I mean,
he is the new right guard, there's no question. And
that to me is so encouraging because I think a
lot of us have read all the scouting reports about
Jordan Morgan. He is a tackle. That is what he is.
(26:14):
I understand you got a left tackle, but you drafted
him to be your future left tackle. And I want
to see him now. Maybe work in some series with
Rashid Walker and see if there is a difference when
Morgan's out there, Just settle in. Make him a tackle.
That's how his body is built, that's where his skills lie.
That's where he was at Arizona. He is a tackle.
Belton just might be a guard. He might be a
(26:35):
tackle down the road too, but he might be your
best right guard. So the fact that we may have
some clarity up front now in the middle, Sean Ryan
in his second start looks very capable at center. He
is starting to look like a guy that wants this
job permanently and very well might earn another contract because
no issues to me, no step back, you know, from
(26:56):
Jenkins to Ryan. I think he looks more physical than
Jenkins look the last few weeks so really interesting. And
then I didn't realize this until I read about it afterward.
Darien Conward played twenty one snaps as a sixth offensive lineman.
Twenty one snaps. That's like half a game almost typically,
So that's what the plan was. Go big, you know,
(27:17):
go physical, go heavy, and see if the Vikings can
stop you. So very encouraged from a position group that
I was so worried about two weeks ago. With the
changes so far, so good, Very very encouraged by what's
happening up front right now.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
I mean, how many times did we see, especially early on,
where it was a classic Brian Flores look right where
they would just have so many guys on the line
of scrimmage you have no idea where it's coming from.
Jordan Love's checking out of things and calling different things,
changing the protection and how many times did we see
(27:52):
Love drop back and that entire wave of Vikings devenders
just get stuffed. They picked it all up. So and
that a lot of that's on I mean, a new
center picking up constant blitzes and a gap muggs. The
fact that they were able to do it and weather
the storm relatively well. The blitz at least to get
(28:13):
some passes off I thought was really good. And that
a lot of that's on the line. Some of it's
on Love as well for calling it out. But you
still got to be able to block the guys and
matchup physically. So I thought they were really good today.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
All right, So mission accomplished against the Vikings. You get
the win. It's in comfortable style. Twenty three to six.
You're seven three and one. We mentioned two and zero
now against the Vikings and Lions. This was the beginning
of the three game divisional stretch that we all believed,
certainly I did, would define the Packer season. That you
have to me go at least no worse than two
and one in these three games. And they got the
first one, the one that again on paper, perhaps the
(28:45):
easiest because the Bears just keep winning and we'll see
them obviously in a couple of weeks, but let's just
devote our last minute or two looking ahead to Thanksgiving Day.
We're not going to have an opportunity to do a
show between now and then the Lions Giants game. For
much of the time I was watching Packers Vikings, I
had red Zone on, and I was watching a lot
of that Lions Giants game, and Giants gave him the game.
(29:07):
I mean, the Giants should have won that game. They
made an inexplicable decision to not kick a field goal
late when they could have gone up a couple scores.
It's fourth and goal from like the six or seven.
I'm like, what you're expecting Jamis Winston to score a
touchdown on the road. Just kick the field goal, and
it ultimately was the difference. They probably wouldn't that game
in regulation, but for a lot of that game they
(29:29):
had double digit lead on the Lions. Wandel Robinson looked
like Randy Moss in the first half. They couldn't stop
the passing game of Winston and the Giants. And you
know the fact that it went to overtime, and granted
it wasn't a long overtime, But the fact the Lions
had to play extra time with another game on Thursday
gives green Bay just a teeny little bit of an edge.
(29:51):
I think the fact they had to play such a
hard game where green Bay didn't. You know, again, we're
looking for the edges here of the margins on. You know,
how do you t to go in there and beat
the Lions a second straight time on Thanksgiving Day? Just
the way the games went yesterday gives me a little
bit of optimism that green Bay is catching Detroit. That
may be a vulnerable time.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
They certainly looked vulnerable, at least on the defensive side.
I mean, this should be an opportunity for Love and co.
Maybe Jayden Reid if I'm being optimistic, Probably not, but
it's an opportunity for him to really air it out
and let it go because he had no problems in
week one. They bottled up Hutchinson, you know, fairly easily.
(30:33):
I don't think he made really any impact on the
game whatsoever, and Love threw it over the top and
threw it consistently so defensively. If you're gonna let Jamis
do that and control the game, I like our chances
offensively if they play to the way that they can defensively.
Is where it's like, obviously, I know they're on fire
right now, but I'm worried about Gibbs. I just think
(30:56):
he is such a good runner, and he's explosive and
when he gets any bit of you know, an inkling
of light and space, he's gone. So he's very dangerous
and it just turns the game on its head when
they can't stop the run. So I'm I wouldn't say
I'm optimistic or pessimistic. I'm just excited to watch what happens.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
That's fair. Yeah, I don't have any concerns about Green
Bay's offense moving the football on the Lions watching that
defense on Sunday, that to me is not the issue.
The issue is, and what's going to be exciting is
what does this Packers defense do now for an encore
when the competition gets ratched up immensely, at least offensively.
Obviously the playmakers the Lions have, that's gonna be interesting
(31:36):
to see that. What does the defense do the next
week now with all those playmakers and you know, again
you'd like to have a couple of guys back against Detroit.
But what we watch Sunday gives you, I think, a
measure of confidence that maybe it doesn't necessarily matter the
offense is when you've got playmakers like Michaeh Parsons, DeVante Whyt,
Gary McDuffie, those guys can tip a game with one
(32:00):
or two plays. We didn't mention the skull chant by
the defense. By the way, what an enduring image trolling
the Vikings with when Evan Williams got the pick, terrible pass,
maybe McCarthy's worst pass of the day when he sailed
it into Evan Williams hands, and I guess Javon Bullard
I think it early in the week said if we
get one, uh, let's do the skull chant. And that
(32:20):
shot from behind the defense where you see the crowd
all do with the skull.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
Chant, except for the Vikings fans who were not.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
They suddenly were sitting on their hands. But yeah, that
was kind of an enduring image from that game and
fun to see the defense finally get a couple of
picks and and have some fun. Yeah, it's an ultimate
challenge against Detroit and after that one, obviously you get
a sort of a mini buy as the Bears will
because they play Friday in Philly to get set for
the big one against Chicago, the first of two games
(32:47):
against them in a three week span. I'd like to
see the Bears. We'll see the Bears finally play a
real quarterback there. I think five of their maybe their
last five or six wins have all come against non
preferred starting quarter so they haven't really met their face
an offense yet. We'll see what the Bears can do
in Philly. That's for another day. Packers Lions Thanksgiving Day.
(33:08):
I don't know about you, but for me and I'll
be hitting Milwaukee my brother's house with all his kids
and my kids, and they're all Packer fans. There's nothing
like a Packer's Lions game to kick off Thanksgiving Day.
I am so excited. It's my favorite day of the year,
whether the Packers are playing or not. I love Thanksgiving.
I love everything about it, all kinds of family traditions.
(33:28):
I get to go home to the hometown and be
among a whole bunch of Packer fans, and I cannot wait.
I was just thinking back to two years ago, how
fun that was and how surprising it was to see
Green Bay go in and just dominate the Lions and
kind of the Jordan love coming out parties first year
as a starter. So yeah, I'm so amped for Thursday,
(33:48):
and I know you are too.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
It just seems right. The only thing is if the
Lions would wear those stupid just silver helmets with nothing
on it like they used to for Thanksgiving every year,
the little throwbacks. It just feels right. Going to Detroit
playing the Lions on Thanksgiving. Yeah, I'll be in the
middle of nowhere, Iowa to watch that game.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
But that could be anywhere in Iowa pretty much.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
Yeah, except to Moine even that probably for most people
is a nice town.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
Yeah it is. It's a good spot. So its ames.
I got a kid going to school.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
So yeah, that's the big unifier is I've got you know,
Hawkeye fans and Cyclone fans and you know, on my
dad's side obviously Badgers. But that's the big unifier when
I go to really middle of nowhere, Iowa to see
some family is we're all Packer fans. We're all watching
the game. So I can't wait for that. And uh again,
I think the Packers are at the very least in
(34:44):
with a good chance to win the game. If not
the preferred they won't be favored. Maybe they will be
after that performance against the Giants last week.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Today, as we sit here, I wonder that's fair to me,
That's that's what I would have guessed it would be.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
They didn't look all that great.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
Yes, yeah, but that's here's the thing. And people forget
about this. You know last year, you remember the Bears
basically craped the bed and could have beaten the Lions
and couldn't handle clock management and allowed the Lions to escape.
That's sapped a seven game losing streak for Detroit on
Thanksgiving Day. They granted a lot of those teams five
four or five six seven years ago were terrible, but
(35:21):
they traditionally do not play well on Thanksgiving Day. And
that also gives me hope. And there's all that expectation.
You're at home on a short week. Packers, to me,
deserve not to be favored in this game. They've got
to go prove it. And obviously it's a revenge game.
And from Week one where the Packers kind of opened
up everybody's eyes, so pressures on Detroit. They're expected to
(35:45):
win this game. Be nice for the Packers to have
won a couple of those games they gave away to
have some of that leeway, but taking care of business
on Sunday to you know that if you lose Thursday,
you're seven to four and one with extra time to
get ready for the Bears and then a couple of
road games, you know, tough road games coming up at
Denver in Chicago. They've set themselves up for the stretch run.
(36:06):
What we're all gonna be interested to see is how
does Lafleur call this game Thursday. Does he open it up,
does he put the ball in Jordan Love's hands. I
expect all of that to happen. I do expect a
Jordan Love toyota than kind of performance on Thursday. And
if it's another day where he's just playing it close
to the belt and running it and not taking chances,
we'll have a very different conversation on Sunday morning.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
I mean, if they win doing that, like they won
the way they won against the Vikings, where sure, then
it's fine. All's fair. I would like to know because
they're not really saying like, is it an ac joint sprain?
Is it a you know, like, is it just a
stinger that won't go away is it? I would like
to know. I understand why they're not saying it. It's
(36:50):
the very hockey player move of they could just say
upper body injury and just leave it at that. I'm
curious how healthy actually is and can it recover, you know,
because we had a full week and it wasn't clearly
wasn't recovered. So what will another three days do? Not sure?
So I'm worried about that because it needs to be
(37:11):
a toyota than Jordan Love showing. It needs to be
that two years ago and Thanksgiving when he got snubbed
for a turkey leg showing. Can he do that? I
think he can, but it's just risky because you leave
him vulnerable to potentially getting crushed in the pocket or
downfield if he has to throw, you know, scramble out.
So I just want to know what his health is
(37:32):
and a little bit more transparency would be great.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
Yeah. I thought I saw a report that it was
a sprain day se joint, and I'd have to go
back and look, but I thought I did see that somewhere.
I mean, bottom line is your point is very valid.
I don't think it's an expectation that he is going
to be one hundred percent four days later. You know,
hopefully he didn't irritated more on Sunday that he didn't
wasn't in harms way very much, so I can't imagine
that he did. But it's also not the kind of
(37:56):
injury that's just kind of oh, I feel perfect today,
so that the play calling might somewhat be dependent on
how comfortable they are with his health. But you know,
I saw enough throws on Sunday when he had to
make them where he looked pretty capable. It's probably a
pain tolerance thing. And just be careful when you're running
the ball. Do not put yourself in a position where
(38:17):
you might land on that shoulder and do more damage.
But yeah, I think I think it's fair not to
be too transparent in the NFL if you can avoid it.
And again, just hoping he's healing quickly and he's able
to stay out there. This is not a day where
we needed any Elik Willis packages like i'd hope to see.
We just got to see garbage time Elik Willis, and
(38:38):
that's the deal. Time to see number two. All right,
let's call it a day. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody, have a
wonderful day. Enjoy the Packers and Lions. We'll be back
Sunday morning for Packer Preview on Kfan. It'll be a
review edition, looking back at the Vikings and Lions games
and looking ahead to the final quarter of the Packers season.
Have a great holiday and we'll talk to you on
(38:58):
Sunday
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