#340 Packers Unscripted: Issues at hand

took away from his remarks. He's really focused on two things with this team. Handling the football, which includes obviously the turnover ratio, but also dropped passes that kind of thing, and then penalties. These are the things that Mike McCarthy really wants to focus on cleaning up here with his football team to get things back on track. Yeah, and it makes sense too, because I mean, here's another thing too, Mike.

We talked so much about Tom Brady and Bill Belichick and the success the England Patriots have had, but I mean, historically, if you look at the Patriots, they're one of the least penalized teams in the NFL. As much as it is about talent and ability and scheme and and all these things, it is it's funny and that it always goes back to fundamentals. And I know for fans that isn't as you know, attractive as talking about how do we dial up more a D R past plays and

things like that. But the realization is the teams that make the fewest mistakes across all, you know, all three

phases are the ones that are gonna win. And you and I discussed it yesterday a little bit and that the Packers just had too many of those, whether it was on the kickoff return of Montgomery, whether it was you know, the taunting penalty on defense, the personal fouls, one of which that end up leading to the Packers have and you know, they were able to pooch pun it and the Packers brought it out and ended up

only getting to the fifteen yard line. It's small things like that that affect the field position battle and field position in time of possession. We talked about it over and over again, but ultimately, if you want to be able to turn the tide in a football game, that's how you do it. And the lines were able to accomplish that Sunday. Yeah, I think a very disconcerting thing about how some of the things unfolded in that game Sunday. And obviously, Aaron Rodgers doesn't fumble the ball twice in

a game very often. He did not have a good day handling the ball. Mason Crosby obviously had the worst day of his career. But when you look at some of those personal files like you mentioned West, there's either a lack of discipline emotionally or a lack of discipline

with technique that leads to those kinds of penalties. And fifteen yards is fifteen yards if you if you take a touchback on a kickoff and you get the ball to twenty five yard line, fifteen yards is twenty five or excuse me, of the seventy five yards you need to go for a touchdown. That's just making it way too easy on the other team. And the Packers had the drive, uh or I should say sorry, the Lions had the drive where started out with a pass play.

I believe it was too golden. Tatie gets a first down to over thirteen yards, but then a fifteen yard face mask penalty is tacked onto it. That's just that's technique discipline, because there's no reason to be grabbing a face mask when you're trying to tackle an NFL player. It just those are the kinds of things that the Packers have to clean it up because when you talk about self inflicted wounds, they were all over the stat

sheet in Detroit, Yeah, Mike. And then the other issue is to you talk thirteen yards and fifteen yards, that's twenty eight yards. That's an explosive play, right to put that in comparison for you. I mean they only had what was it, four plays over twenty yards total? Packers had six. I believe in this contest, Packers actually we're able to beat them in a lot of the categories that can determine victory. But the Lions got them in the artery of of this football game. They got him

with the turnovers, They got him with the penalties. They got them with the being able to capitalize on those penalties and capitalize on those turnovers. And it's something you have to clean up because I think you go back to that game against Buffalo, what did the Packers do really well? They played all four quarters and yeah, they made some plays along the way, you have to in order to win a football game. But they were relatively

clean in what they were able to do. You can talk about what you want to do as far as execution, but in terms of there weren't those situations where they were hurting themselves. There's just too many of them. And you and I stood in that stadium, like we heard that crowd. When you have that kind of energy in there, all that does it just feeds even more into it. So, as you and I discussed yesterday, the San Francisco forty niners are going to come in here on Monday night.

You have to put that behind you because this is a big game. Now. You have to learn from what you did. You have to protect the football. You have to be able to minimize those penalties because if you don't do that, then you have a bigger issue going to the boy. Yeah. Another thing McCarthy pointed out from a statistical standpoint and it and it certainly is a reflection of the penalties, especially on special teams, and then

also the missed field goals. He calculated the Packers were somewhere in the neighborhood of three hundred yards behind in field position. Total in terms of what they lost to the Lions. That's a heck of a lot to have to make up. We talked about it yesterday. We just when you just look at the average starting field position of each team for their number of drives, you multiplied by the number of drives. That's how you get a

statistic like that. And you know, the only time I can remember the Packers feeling like they had any field position whatsoever was when Prator missed that long field goal and the Packers took over on the forty five yard line.

But the Packers obviously missed multiple field goals which gave gave the Lions the ball, you know, at plus thirty or you know, on the plus side of the thirty yard line, and the two fumbles by Rogers were you know, both in Green Bay territory, so they take over in positive position there and and it's it just creates such a huge mountain to have to climb, and then you add you add in the fact that you're playing on

the old and and all of that. It just it feels like we're back to, you know, talking about some of the same issues that we're going on with the Washington game, where you're digging yourself a big hole. They kind of did it in a different way. But um, but starting games like this, whatever the reasons are, it's it has to stop where these these road games are not going to change, right. And the other thing is too, is that when you pass the ball fifty two times,

you run the ball twenty times. When you have offensive plays. One of the basic arithmetic of this game is that every single play you're exposing the football to summer guard. And for the Detroit Lions, I mean you look at it. They were able to win the field position battle, which means they don't need to stitch together as long a drives, which means you don't have to expose the football as much. And that's where that all comes into play. And I

think that's a really good point. When you look at three some yards whatever it ended up being, they basically got seventeen points given to them in some reguard in terms of working with short field position. That's where you're getting the big difference. Yeah, alright, Well, a little bit of sponsored business here West because I neglected my duty again yesterday. But at home or here in the stands, we all know that Green Bay fans give it their 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 asked for Campbell's Chunky Soup. Official sup partner of the Green Bay Packers. Okay, Another thing that definitely deserves to be discussed here that should not be overlooked in terms of what's happening with this Packers offense is the start through five games that receiver Davante Adams is off to here.

Not only is he yon pace for significant career highs for himself in terms of receptions and yards. And I know five games is not sixteen. It's not simple math um to to do the projections, and it's a long projection when they're still eleven games to go. But if he does keep up this pace, there is a Packers single season receptions record that has stood for quite a while sterling Shark one and twelve. Davante Adams is actually on pace to break that eighteen right now. And as

you said, it is a long season. But what I think is interesting is he had what a lot of people would consider to be a breakout year in two thousand sixteen, and he really doubled up on it again before that concussions. At the end of two thousand seventeen, Davante Adams is just way above both of his starts from both of those seasons fourner and twenty five receiving yards. I believe it was somewhere around. I think he was two eighty five last year and to fifteen the year

before that, almost doubling, uh, those amount of plays. And and yeah, you and I talked about yesterday. I'm sure he wants to have that deep ball back um in

that game against the Lions. But really, what's what I thought as I watched that game is that Davantae Adams made a lot of tough catches, made a lot of competitive you gotta have them catches where if he doesn't come up with it, sure it might have been scored as a drop, but I don't know if anybody would have been sitting there gone, ah, you know, he should have caught that. I mean, there was some real difficult ones that caught along the course of that game that

he was able to come through with. That that play in the third quarter the one that stands out to me the most, and I forget exactly the down in distance, but it was fourth and ten plus and it was I believe it was on the opening drive of the third quarter of Packers are down twenty four nothing, they've got to go for it on fourth down, and quite frankly,

he wasn't open. Aaron Rodgers put the ball in the only possible spot that he could have and Davante Adams made an absolutely tremendous catch and to me, able to make that play on fourth down to move the chains and keep your team alive at that point when you're down two to zero, otherwise you're turning it over in good field position again for the Lions. I thought it

was just an incredibly clutch play. And I know Rogers said, you know, Adams would say he wishes in the fourth quarter he had caught that one down by the goal line. But I tell you, if you want to, if you want something that's a real treat to watch on film, because I did this for my What You Might Have Missed segment, which is on the website for anyone who wants to check it out, and and Larry McCarron did

some on video as well. Just watch on some of these catches of Adams his footwork at the line of scrimmage. He was going against Darius Slay pretty much the whole game, and I think Slave might be the best, certainly the most accomplished cornerback. I would say, one of the top two in the NFC North and maybe in the whole NFC, along with Xavier Rhodes from Minnesota. This is a this is a really really good player. They call him big

play Slave for a reason. The Lions lean on him a lot and uh and for the number of times that Adams was able to win that battle and get separation with his footwork, it really is something to watch on film. Yeah, what stands out to me too, Mike, And this is not to take anything away from Kenny Golladay. He had a really fine day, but he had four catches for yards. Sixty of those came off that one played on the sideline. Davante Adams was absolutely surgical in

this game. His longest reception was thirty yards and the average fifteen point six per catch in this contest. What does that tell you? That tells you that when he was getting the football in his hands. It wasn't is these short out roads and he's getting out of bounds or a stop ro for eight yards. He was getting the ball and he was running after catch. Now I don't know exactly what the final total ended up being, but one of the adjustments the Packers made, and he

talked about it after the game. Without having Randall CoV in this game, without having Druny Ellison, they moved him around a lot. He was working a lot of the slot. He did a lot of the underneath concepts doing you know, being able to work some slants, and he was producing off those slants. And certainly the third yard catch that was a big one at a big point in the game.

I think it was third and seven. Packers were not able to convert into points, I believe, but he really was able to keep pushing and powering the offense forward. I think when you look at the second half specifically with then being able to get on those drives, a lot of those started with an early catch and run from Davante Adams, And yeah, he's he's at the peak of his powers. He's twenty five years young at this point, he's going to be making a difference in this league

for a long time. And I know for him, he probably wasn't gonna be thinking about receptions, records or things like that. But if everything stays how it should, I think you're looking at the guy who not only is gonna be looking at that for es thousand yard season, but looking at getting that respect that everybody in Green Bay feels like he deserves because he is one of

the top ten receivers in this league. Now, yeah, not that, not that we had any questions about it, but certainly living up to the new contract that he no no issues there whatsoever, showing uh, he's a true professional with his arrows still pointing up. Because you said he's at the peak of his powers and there might be another peak yet for him to reach. And you know, I was talking to him. We've mentioned this a few times now with the offseason story that I did with that

was in the Packers yearbook. One of the things he said is there's no complacency with him. There's guys that they get contracts and they want to be on television, They want to be you know, they want to have their brand out there. They want to sell you know, cologne. I add that in myself. But I mean, you know what I mean. They they go and want to become their own business. He is all about football. Football is

his business. This is a thing that he wants to perfect, that he wants to show that he can be the best at this thing. And I've just been really impressed with the start he's gotten off to and how consistent he's been because he has four receiving yards. But other than this, it's just been one consistent performance after another. It hasn't had any of those you know valleys yet. So speak al right, Well, another bit of sponsor business here West, because it is time to enter the Cousins

Subs Best Seats in the House promotion. You and a guest could win a chance to kick back on the fifty yard line in style. Two pairs of lucky Packers fans will be chosen prior to each home game for this v I P experience. Enter daily now through December sixteen by completing the entry form and submitting. For complete rules and eligibility, go to Packers dot com slash Best Seats Cousin Subs. We believe in better. Okay, before we go here, a couple of other milestone type of items

to talk about. Aaron Rodgers past forty passing yards on Sunday, and if I read things correctly, in terms of the number of games played in the NFL, he was the fourth fastest to do it. Now, if you combine forty yards with three touchdowns, he is the fastest. He got to three hundred touchdowns. I believe it was in Yeah, he got to three hundred touchdowns, way faster than anybody else,

Like it wasn't even close. Um, But it's interesting now as we just saw Drew Brees on Monday Night Football break the all time passing yardage record and he now sits at number one. Aaron Rodgers, within the next week or two has a chance to pass guys like Johnny Unitus and Joe Montana on that list. And I know that's not what Aaron Rodgers is thinking about. It's not

what the packers are thinking about. They're thinking about getting a victory, trying to get healthy over the by and and get things going here into the meat of the schedule. But if you just step back for a second and you start talking about names like Uniteds in Montana, and you look at what Drew Brees has done and the yardage that he's put up. Um, it's a pretty special time to be watching what these quarterbacks can do in

the NFL. Yeah, it is Mike because he's still got Tom Brady playing at a high level at forty one years young. Certainly, Ben Roethlisberger, what he's accomplished in this game, the points that he puts up every single week. And Aaron Rodgers, to me, still is in the league of his own in terms of the total package of the position. We have a guy that can scramble, he can extend plays,

he has a bullet for an arm. There's just so many things that he does exceptionally well that I don't think this league has seen before in terms of having them all together as a single attribute. So yeah, I really do appreciate this time. And I'm sure there's gonna be the Carson Wentzes and you know, Jared Goffs in the next generation that will eventually, you know, take that

torch and and really run with it. But this, in a way, the Breeze, Rodgers, Roethlisberger, Brady, when Manning was still here, that quarterback club, I think it stood, it stood the test of time in what they were asked to do. And this is not taken anything away from the Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Brett Farve done Marino era. But there's just so many more things that are on the quarterback now today than ever before, and for them

to actually play at that level really impressive. Yeah, it's funny when I think about and watching Drew Brees set the record on Monday Night football. The Saints now four straight wins after the week one lost their four and one, they're certainly looking like the team that's right up there with the Los Angeles Rams in terms of announcing themselves as a as a team to beat in the NFC.

But in watching in watching Breezes like I still remember my first newspaper job, wassa daily Harold got off work, was at a was was at a bar on a Saturday night watching Wisconsin against Purdue at Camp Randall Stadium. And that's the game that Drew Brees had eighty one pass attempts is at the n C a record for past attempts in one game. And I remember sitting there thinking, what is this guy gonna do in the NFL when he gets there? And low and bold, here we are

twenty years later or whatever it is. And uh, and he's throwing for more yards than anybody in the history of the game. The cradle quarterbacks, right, I mean he was the ultimate baby that came out of that program, a little boiler baby. Yeah, but no. But that being said, Mike, Uh, it is incredible what he's becoming. For my money, I think you can go with either him or Reggie White.

I think they're one or two one A one B as far as the greatest free agent signings of all time when you look at not only what he meant in terms of winning football and sat in with the Saints and in New Orleans, but what he meant to that community after Hurricane Katrina, them winning that Super Bowl, how he's been really the focal point. And the other

thing is too. Just from a pure football fan aspect, it's great to see him have a resurgence here because there were some years where they were seven and nine and things weren't looking so good. The football league is better when the New Orleans Saints are able to put some points on the board and able to throw the football around, and it's made for some really compelling football here early on. And it's gonna be fun to see where it goes from here. But the nice thing is

to Aaron Rodgers at thirty four. You know, he's certainly is going to have his sights on a lot of those records too. Sometime in the future. It'll be interesting to see where Brees and Brady and some of those guys put them. Yeah, and the the officials on Monday Night Football still couldn't help but penalize the Saints for excessive celebration after Drew Brees sets the record with a sixty two yard touchdown pass. But whatever, that's just how it goes though, right it is there had to be

something it probably fitting. That's as fitting as it gets in the NFL. But with that, we'll call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted and I will turn over the sign off today to you. Well, thank you, Michael. You're a true pro and Mike Spofford does this better than anybody. But I wanted to mention one quick thing. We've been doing this now for what three and twenty

six episodes? Thing something like that. Um, first one, we're not having our biggest fan watching us, and that's my grandmother, Monica hot Cave. Make sure I get the name right. I always I always get this, um my number one supporter through all these years. And it was actually funny turned over a box to my dad last month that I was given yesterday that actually had all my clippings from the Press Gazette during my ten years at the Press Gazette. She passed away, worked all the way up

to her her final day on this planet. Google's cheese Shop. Lena Wisconsin. UM and an amazing person. Everything that I have in this world I think for her and um. She was also Aaron Rodgers biggest fan too. I gotta throw that in. I always got the update on Aaron Rodgers. But a phenomenal woman. We're gonna miss her, but fortunately now she has the best seat for this show going forward. Sounds good. With that, we will sign off. Thanks for watching, everybody, We'll see you next time.