#324 Packers Unscripted: Fit to be tied

Field and West. I'm not quite sure where to start here on a Monday after that game Sunday afternoon at lambeau Field, but I will start by saying, you have permission to call me a liar because I said all last week only one team in the NFC North would be two and oh at the end of week two and nobody the Packers and the Vikings one oh and one after a nine tie. And uh boy, I don't know that that was. That was some game. It was

some game in here's the tragedy in this, Mike. Uh this is a really good football game, especially through the first three quarters. I know for Packer fans that's easy to say, but just in terms of the overall mechanics of a football game, I thought it was just it was two bulls clashing horns, Aaron Rodgers playing through the knee.

Everyone's taking pictures of the brace before the game, the way the Packers offensive blind blocked, particularly in the the you know, the first three quarters of that you have the Vikings Kirk Cousins having a hard time getting going early. Their defense is doing some good things, but yet the Packers are kind of getting yards against the run with them. They're just so many elements to it. And what hurts is it was in officiating. You know, I don't want to call to ball under you take it for what

it is. Everyone has their own opinion, but this is Mike where you said you're a liar. I have to admit I was wrong, and at this time I haven't started working on Insider Inbox yet for Tuesday, but I'm gonna have to put in there I was wrong because I said during the preseason the rules emphasis emphasies are going to work their way out the referees hopefully we'll use common sense and we'll get past this. And it's not working out that way. No, it's not. It's not.

And unfortunately, you know the game, it always has a way of happening like this that you complicate the rules, you make things difficult on the officials, and certain calls are going to happen at the crucial moments with the game on the line, the Packers think they have the Game one, when Jayra Alexander makes a heck of a play on the ball. Let's not forget about that. I was a Willie Mays over the shoulder catch. Somebody put him on the deep fly to center field. Yeah for real.

I mean I don't know how he made that catch. And that's one of the things that it just it doesn't it's not a story. So the Packers think they have the game one, but the flag is out on

Clay Matthews and we find out after the game. Tony Currenti, the referee, spoke with ESPNS Rob Dmowsky for a pool report, which, for those who don't understand, that's where one reporter gets to talk to an official and then his interview is dispersed to all the media so that it's not a press conference with all sorts of reporters per se with a referee. But he does answer some questions and then

his explanations get distributed. So from the pool report, the ruling, according to Karente, was that Matthews lifted and planted Kirk Cousins into the ground. Essentially, now there was because before that there was all sorts of speculation was that the body weight rule. Did he actually think that hit was too late or you know, because it was to the midsection, it didn't seem like it was late. So now after you get the ruling, then you go back and look at it. And this is the simplest way I can

put it. It looks to me like Cousins comes off the ground because of the momentum of his throw, like trying to launch that deep ball is when his feet come off the ground. That happens to be when Matthews hits him. So CURRENTI sees it as Matthews lifting and throwing into the ground, which really is not what happened. So I'm simply going to say what I said an insider inbox this morning and answering all these questions from

the fans. If the NFL is going to make the rules this complicated, and they're going to protect players and especially protect quarterbacks, then they also need to protect the results of the games and let these controversial calls be looked at on replay. I don't see how the league has any other choice to eventually, at some point, I don't know when, but to allow plays like that to be reviewed, because one look at the replay and it's like, hey,

Clay Matthews didn't do anything wrong. That play should have stood as called. Yeah, I agree, and I understand there is a time element to it. I understand that they always want to pick up the speed of play, they want to keep people interested. But at the end of the day, this is about winning and losing coaches, players, It's about having a league that people believe the results are just and that the results are fair and they're not just arbitrary. Right. But I mean, like this is

this is a big thing, Mike. Then they're at a crossroads in this in my opinion, because now you're you're looking at I mean again, for for Mike McCarthy is in his thirteenth year here, He's been through all the highs and lows of this thing. There aren't there are teams out there that aren't that well established. There's teams that you know, coaches are trying to cement their system and trying to cement their foundation working with these players for the first time, and I don't know what they

tell him. On Monday morning during the film review, the only question to Mike McCarthy's credit, he he didn't want to make his postgame news conference about the comments he did say, though, when I believe it was. Dave Schrader asked him from w B A Y, is there any other way to coach? And he said, I don't believe so. So um in the two other elements I want to touch on other than the instant replay, because I think

you're right. If this is the route they're gonna go, there's ramifications of that, and this should be one of the responses to it. I now fully I'm on board with that, but I thought, and I tweeted this after the game. Kenny Clark and the story that I wrote for our website had such a great articulated point that wasn't emotional, but he just said, listen, we're coached too.

Move your head to the side so you're not hitting him in the helmet, proceed through the player's body with your feet and take them down with wrap up with the arms, and whatever happens, that's what happens. But the game is moving so fast now that it's tough for referees the process that in his Clark said, He's like, do we have to demonstrably twist our body in the sack? Now? And I think you actually saw Sheldon Richardson do that,

but he was outside the pocket with Aaron Rodgers. When you're in the heat of battle, you're then putting the defensive player at a position where they're compromised. Mike Daniels talked about this too, the play where it appears like he lets up at the end of it with Mike Reamer's is blocking him. He said, one of the reasons why he didn't follow through is one, you're not sure Cousin is gonna get the ball out. In two if he proceeds through the tech, you have a three pound

guard that's gonna fall on top of you. Well, what's the ref gonna do. It's a difficult position for them to be in. Yeah, and then and again this is where and I go back to what I've said about a lot of these calls over the last several years, even going back to last season, I think what the league is asking the officials to do on the field is unfair. These guys, these guys are big, they are fast,

they are strong. Things happen at full speed, and for these games to hinge on calls that are very very difficult to make at live speed that I think for to to avoid these types of controversies, and you're not going to completely avoid them. I shouldn't say avoid, but to reduce. I think you can greatly reduce the number of controversies if you allow more things to be reviewed. Now, nobody wants four hour games, nobody wants everything to be

stopped by replay. But at some point, if player safety and all of this and protecting quarterbacks and everything is going to be paramount, and I don't disagree with that, then there has to be a tradeoff, and the tradeoff can't be well, you just have to live with these controversial calls. As as a fan of the game, I'm not talking about this is sitting here wearing my Packers shirt. As a fan of the game, I don't accept that

as a trade off. The tradeoff needs to be the results need to be just and fair and baseball Baseball

postseason games are getting very difficult to watch. But as I as I also said in Insider Inbox this morning, there won't be any more Don Denking or moments that decide a World Series championship because Baseball has decided replay is important enough that you can't have everybody talking about what should have been The calls need to be right, as often as possible, and I think the NFL is eventually going to have to decide that that's what they

need to do. Yeah, And and then just you know, kind of sum up that point to Mike as we proceed now going forward, I mean, I don't know how they're going to go about this, handling this, you know, day after day, game after game, A lot of questions are gonna have to answer. But I'll say this, Mike, the NFL officials office in New York is as well positioned to handle something like that as they've ever been. We've seen more stuff go to a centralized replay system.

There's a possibility there for them to be able to absorb that. The question is going to be what's the trade off. Yeah, And as I'm looking at my colleague here, I'm realizing that Don Danking or reference from the Cardinals Royals World Series is before you were even born, right over my head. So, okay, I know that one that happened though, with the kid grabbing the ball. I think at Yankee Stadium? Was it or was it that was Jeffrey Mayer? That was Yankees Orioles? Yeah, that was Richie Garcia.

I got that one line. Yeah, that was yeah now, don Denking, or was before you were born, but you can google it. World Series call it first base changed everything anyway at Homer Here in the stands West, we all know that Green Bay fans give it. They're all and that takes a lot of energy. So grab a warm bowl of Campbell's Chunky Soup. It's meaty goodness fuels the greatness of Packers fans everywhere. Try the delicious classic

chicken noodle soup. Just visit your local supermarket and ask for Campbell's Chunky Soup, the official sup partner of the Green Bay Packers. Okay, controversy aside. I think what really sting is about this game for the Packers is as well as they played for such a large portion of the game and having numerous opportunities to put the game away and it didn't happen. Aaron Rodgers, I thought, played

a tremendous game on his bad left knee. Was definitely more mobile than he was in the second half against Chicago the previous week. That was a good sign um he really the Packers really moved the ball pretty darn well overall against one of the league's best defense. Is what was the league's best defense a year ago. And uh, but it was just an inability to finish in the red zone. Kicking too many field goals, you have an opportunity to win the game at the end of regulation.

Mason Crosby makes the first one, but the time out was called before the snap, and then he misses the second one. UM. The Vikings obviously blow two field goals in overtime. We know all about that as well. UM. Just a tough one to swallow, because it would be nice if we were talking about the Packers finding a way to put this game away and not worrying about what happened with Matthew. The end result really didn't fit what the overall storyline was, the narrative of that football game.

I think that's the tough part because one of the things I wrote on the Insider Inbox on Saturday was that regardless of rather or not Rogers played, And as it turns out, Mike McCarthy said he ended up taking most of the practice reps on Saturday, he was out there. But regardless, everybody needs to elevate their game. I thought the offensive line, especially early on, played really well, given

him a manageable pocket. You saw Geronimo Allison. He had six catches for sixty four yards and he blocked that punt. I mean watching that play, Mike, he put his hand out there, he put his body out there. He was everything to extend and Josh Jackson ends up grabbing the touchdown. Gives him a huge jolt of energy. Early on, Jimmy Graham had an exceptional game, six catches for I believe

it was eighty five yards. Maybe you can make the arguments, should maybe make the argument should have been even more. That play gets called back due to probably a pretty questionable holding call as well, and then he goes and makes that big catch near the sideline that actually set it up for Mason Crosby to try the game winner. Crosby, he mentioned that was going down to his best game

in the regular season, and the narrative changes. Yeah, he's five, He's five for five, which ties his career high for made field goals in a game, goes out there for the fifty two yard or and you know, after what I thought was very similar to the Rogers to Jared Cook play in Dallas in the playoffs. You know where where the time is running out, you just don't think the Packers have enough time to get in field goal range. Rogers makes a connection with the tight end along the sideline,

big gainer. Then you're in position, and Crosby's having having the game of his life. And as I said, he makes the first one, but it doesn't count. He plays the exact same line with the wind blowing to the right, and on the second one, the wind just didn't blow it back in like it had with all his other kicks during the day, and uh um. And so the game goes to overtime, and just just unfortunate because it would have been it would have been really something to

see the Packers pull out. And as you and I were talking about before, and Danny Carlson going out there, Daniel Cardinal Sinex used me he was having trouble with that same end zone ball pushing right, three miss field goals, kicking to that particular side of the stadium. Tough position for both sides. And and I mean both of these teams afterwards, and I wrote about it a lot of

mixed emotions because it's a big game. I mean, it's NFC North, it's one of the as I mentioned before, two of the top teams I think in this conference and for it to end this way, there is that feeling of just sort of an unresolved outcome, and that's sometimes tough to process. Yeah, it's unresolved in the rematch in Minneapolis is more than two months away. You're talking about the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend before these teams are

going to uh meet again. But it's interesting. And I don't want to get all back into the Matthews controversy

because I think I think we've discussed that plenty. But it's interesting to me how the perception of everything that went on in this game changes with that one call, Because if you look at Kirk Cousins, and I take nothing away from, you know, the way Kirk Cousins performed in this game and that fourth quarter rally and everything, but if the flag isn't out on Matthews and the inner option with Alexander stands, and that basically ends the game.

Kirk Cousins ends up with about two hundred and eighty yards passing because he had about a hundred and forty yards after the interception was nullified, has three touchdowns, two interceptions. Is passer rating is certainly under a hundred with the second interception, and all the headlines in Minnesota are They're wondering, why did we really get our money's worth work with Kirk Cousins. He throws two interceptions late in the fourth quarter with the game on the line. Instead, what are

the headlines in Minnesota? This is why the Vikings signed Kirk Cousins because he ends up with four five yards, four touchdowns, twenty two points in the fourth quarter to pull a game into overtime that the Vikings seemingly were out of and um give the Vikings defense credit. They stopped a lot of those opportunities where the Packers did have a chance to put it away, especially after Clinton Dix's deflected interception the balls at the thirteen yard line.

I said to you write when it happened because of the clock in Minnesota's time outs, I was like, this game is not over. The Packers either need a touch down or a first down. They could add a first down at the three yard line. They need a touchdown or a first down to be able to put this game away. A field goal will not do it, and we'll give the Vikings another chance. And then that that's

exactly what happened. The Vikings got one more chance, and and uh, it's just it's interesting to me just how the how the narratives completely flipped because we'd be talking about the Packers being two and oh they just got a leg up on the Vikings and you know everything else. And but that's that's the way of this league. Sometimes you just have to shrug your shoulders and smile and

laugh a little bit because it's two games in. There's four team more of these to go, and a lot is going to happen between now and the new year, right and one of the other things I think would have been a big storyline probably would have been a sidebar at least the notes lead to my my coverage was the fact that that sub base defensive Packers turn to actually worked out pretty well early on. I think there was a little bit of attrition there towards the

end they lose Kevin King. That's a big one. Him exiting that game with the groin injury. I think you've seen with him Jackers. Packers missed him in the fourth quarter, there's no question. Literally right before he goes out, Mike, he makes a picture perfect coverage. I believe it was on Stefon digs along the sideline. He's with them step for step on third down with no help over the top, just showing you the kind of athlete he is. And the other side of that is with Devon House going in,

they didn't really have another backup defensive back. After that, they moved over to their sub nickel package, so they started with Corey Tumor as the other inside linebacker. They shift over to Jermaine Whitehead with Josh Jones, um, Deonte Burton, and Raven Green all down. That was the Packers defense. When they went seven dbs or six dbs, they were pretty much up if they were so It's just it is.

It's tough how things changed because I thought we saw exactly what I was thinking we might see with Mike Petton, and that we saw so many dbs early on, and then they shifted a lot of base, a lot of sub base where you have Mohammed Wilkerson playing a five technique defensive end without an outside backer on his shoulder. They made the right adjustments to to compensate for Delvin Coke,

who only had thirty eight rushing yards. It's just that at the end of the day, I think with the weather conditions and everything else that happened, and obviously trying to fight back from the the callback interception. Um, those are a lot of plays and it was pretty hot for September Day. Agree in Green Bay. I think the guys, when you look at that defense, played exceptional. I mean in terms of giving it their full effort the whole way.

But I mean it's that's they basically played five quarters. Yeah, that defense was clearly out of gas at the end

of the game. I thought Minnesota's defense was was just as out of gas and in that respect, and you know when I laid out all of the missed opportunities for the Packers in my editorial after the game, whether you want to look at the overtime possession second and one from the thirty seven yard line, Rogers thinks he's got a great call with the read kind of the read option keep, but Jamal Williams is kind of trying to grab the ball, doesn't know Rogers wants to pull

it back. It causes a fumble. Rogers recovers it, fortunately, but you lose three yards. So you go from second and one to third and four. Now you're kind of out of fuel. Goal range, you need to get something bad to give Mason Crosby another shot. You end up taking a sack on third down and you have to punt, which then leads to the Vikings getting their one last shot at the field goal, which then was missed. But the missed opportunities also started in the third quarter with

the Packers up seventeen to seven. They think they have the touchdown to Jimmy Graham to put them up three scores, which really was going to put the pressure on Minnesota. You make this a three score deficit for them, but the holding call on Lane Taylor calls that back and then the Packers end up kicking a field goals, so instead of twenty four to seven, seventeen points, it's twenty

seven thirteen points, just two touchdowns. The Packers never got that three score lead, and uh and then in the fourth quarter never got it back to that to score advantage because they kept kicking field goals while the Vikings were scoring touchdowns. Just a lot of a lot of

missed opportunities. And I asked Aaron Rodgers in his postgame press conference, Okay, all of those field goal drives, you know, was there any one of those where you walked off the field and just said, man, that really really should have in a touchdown. And he just said every single one of them, you know, he just he he felt like he felt like the Packers kind of gave this one away because they couldn't finish drives. And as I said, Minnesota's defense, you know, they are who they are, and

they have the rankings they have for a reason. But the Packers had their chance. The positive thing and again trying to pull silver lining from this was the Packers locker room afterwards. As much as guys were disappointed about the outcome, I didn't really see anybody that was demoralized. I mean, Joyr Alexander was kind of almost laughing off the fact that he got his interception called back. I mean, just the amount of confidence that he has that, yeah,

I'll get another one. It's not a big deal. Uh. He said, He's been there before and and that's what happens on defense. You know. The game, and Tremon Williams, as he always does, I think, summed it up best better than anybody in saying that Packers are going to have games like this down the stretch if they want to, if they're gonna go where they think this team can go this year. They're gonna have tightly contested matchups with

really high level opponents. And he believes how things ended last week with the comeback against the Bears and then how this game down to the wire where there really was no you had no room for let up, you know, for seventy minutes. He thinks that's something in the long run is going to benefit them. Yeah. Well, we mentioned

the great play on the ball that Alexander made. The other the other play that someone gets forgotten that you know is a good sign for the Packers going forward is the touchdown to Graham that was called back on the tailor holding. That was an absolutely perfectly timed back shoulder, almost indefensible play from the other side of the ball. And uh, that's one of those we haven't seen the last of that, No, And I asked Doronimo Allison about that in the locker room afterwards, and he said, I mean,

Jimmy Graham has been so consistent throughout his career. He's coming along. You're seeing him be able to really get himself immersed in this offense. And there's gonna be games where you know you're gonna be it's gonna be one guy. It's gonna be his big game. But the Packers can see, they've seen it in practice of their seat in games. I mean, Jimmy Graham is gonna be a big part of this offense. I think the wider viewing public got

a taste of that on Sunday afternoon. Yeah. Well, I know we normally spend a portion of our Monday show talking about the way things look around the lead. Let's save that for Tuesday. We have the Bears in the Seahawks playing Monday night football matchup in the NFC, so we'll we'll carry that over. But the one thing I will say is, as frustrated as Packers fans are about the one oh and one and not being two and oh, there are only two two and oh teams in the

NFC after two weeks. The Los Angeles Rams not a surprise at two and oh, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a huge surprise at two and oh. But everybody else in the NFC, nobody else in the NFC, I should say, has two victories after two weeks. So the Packers have that going for And I'm gonna get your Ryan Fitzpatrick's outfit as a Christmas gift. I want to see you bring that to a postgame, said I was. I was a year early on the Buccaneers. I was all bullish on him in I forgot about him, and now here

they're lightening it up. Anyway, with that, we'll call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team on Packers dot com on Twitter. He's at west Hot I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody. We'll see you next time.