#341 Packers Unscripted: Up next

this San Francisco team a little bit. I know, when the schedule came out in April, I was really looking forward to this game because I thought it would be Aaron Rodgers against Jimmy Garoppolo. Obviously that is not the case. Jimmy Garoppolo out for the season with a knee injury unfortunately, and C. J. Bethard, the former Iowa quarterback, has stepped in. What are your impressions at this point as far as Bethard running that offense? Yeah, I mean he could throw

the ball. I think that's the one thing he's really shown in three games, two starts this season. Last week and that lost to Arizona three nine yards through the air. Uh he I actually be honest with you, Mike Um. I thought he did some good things for them last season. Ultimately, especially after Garoppolo had been in the scheme for a little bit, You're like, it needs to be Garoppolo. You need to see what you have here before he becomes a free agent. But I actually thought it went okay.

Six ft two fifteen pounds and he's not the biggest quarterback you've ever seen, not the most elusive in terms of, you know, what he can do outside the pocket. But that being said, I mean he has a live arm, and he can move the offense, and when you're dealing with a backup quarterback, I think those are ultimately the intangibles you're looking for, because really there there's a reason

why those type of guys are not starters. So um, he knows Shanahan and the scheme that he runs, he's familiar with it, and they they're rolling with him right now at quarterback. The big thing is going to be that backfield and and if they're gonna have breed to available or not. Yeah, the the I was gonna say rookie is actually not a rookie. Second year running back Matt Brita, Georgia Southern. I believe where he came from.

Undrafted player, really lively, dynamic looking running back, but sprained his ankle against Arizona last week, and the initial reports are the ankle sprain is not as bad maybe as they initially feared it would be, but his status for Monday night's game at lambeau Field very much in question. If he can't go, it looks like it would be Alfred Morris, the veteran who formerly of Washington, of Dallas, and I'm probably missing some other Yeah, you're missing a

big one, Mike Florida Atlantic. Oh okay, I could do a whole show on Alfred Morris. I knew everything about him, followed him every single game he played at Florida Atlantic. Would ended up being I believe Howard Shellenberger's last season there. We don't talk much about. I forgot about that. But here's the thing. In all kidding aside, Alfred Morris is a guy that remember the first week of August being like,

how is this guy still a free agent? And I get Dallas and there's certainly kind of a stigma attached to those running backs. Well, how much is at the running back? How much is at the offensive line? At least that's how it's been historically. I thought he was really effective last year. With all the issues that they had and and certainly the suspension and and you know, all the off the field stuff trying to swirling around with Zeke Elliott, he stepped in and did his job.

And I when they lost um, I believe it was Jerick mckinning right at the beginning of the season. Yeah, McKinnon was kind of their big free agent signing coming from Minnesota. He was he was the running back receiver out of the backfield, all that that they wanted in the Shanahan offense. And then they lost him in the preseason. He goes down and they go and sign Alfred Morris. I thought that was a really smart signing for him. It's a good veteran that they can build that running

back tandem off of. Actually they're leading Russia right now with sixty two attempts now. Doesn't have the explosiveness that Brida has, but is still a really down in distance type of guy that can help you move the chains.

They have weapons there for me personally, I think in two thousand eighteen, their biggest weapon is George Kittle, a good solid tight end and I think people are finally starting to catch up with and understand that this guy not only was a guy that came on late last season with Jimmy Garoppolo, but he's had a rapport there

with Bethre too. So U don't take the lightly. I know they lost to Arizona and it certainly raises some red flags there because of you know, the slow start that the Cardinals have been off too, But they have tools to be able to move the football in this offense. Yeah. I've watched highlights of a few of their games this season against Minnesota, against Detroit, and then this past week against Arizona, and if there's one thing that has stood

out about their offense, it's been that tight end George Kittle. Now, the interesting thing, he's not only a downfield threat, but he'll he'll take screen passes as well. Bethard Bethard, particularly against Arizona, the screen pass for him was really effective, throwing to the fullbacks and to the tight ends on screens. And Kittle and Bethard were a a pass throwing catching

combination at Iowa together. They've played together a ton, so that's something that becomes He's not only a threat for Bethard in this offense, but a security blanket type of guy too for a backup quarterback. Now, the biggest problem with Bethard has been the turnovers. He's had ball security problems in the pocket, He's thrown some interceptions. If Shanahan can get him to clean things up in the turnover department, I think this offense starts to function a little bit

more smoothly. But that being said, this Packers defense is looking for some turnovers. They've got to take advantage if Bethard gives them some opportunities. Monday night. Yeah, you look at him right now. Attempts, he has four interceptions. He also had two lost fumbles last week and three total fumbles on the season. That pairs with last season when six and five stars he had six interceptions and two

fumbles lost. So protecting the football's paramount. We talked about it on yesterday's show with Mike McCarthy and the emphasis their play sing on it. The interesting thing is, though, going back to his connection with Kittle, Kittle was sort of a late riser at Iowa. I mean, I don't think people really caught onto him. He end up being a fifth round pick. I don't even think people from Wisconsin realized that this kid was actually born in Madison, spent most of his life, I believe in Iowa, but

actually was born in Madison. Six ft four, two seven pounds. He has everything you look for. So as far as beth are getting back comfortable in the offense, that's been his security blanket. He also has pr Garzon. The Packers are familiar with him and what he brings to the table certainly, so yeah, he can move the football, but ultimately this is the I think the big thing for the Packers in this contest is going to be trying to take it away and get those momentum changing plays

well the forts with or without Garoppolo. They've had their share of games this year where they've put up some points, but they've also given up a ton of points. Now, it's interesting West because from a yardage standpoint, their defensive rankings are not all that bad. They're kind of middle of the road. But as far as points allowed, I believe every opponent has scored at least twenty four points and and four of their five opponents have scored twenty

seven or more. So they've had a problem keeping teams off the board. And I know, I think they've had some of the turnovers they've had offensively have led to either immediate scores or short fields and those kinds of things that that all teams deal with. But they did get Richard Sherman back at corner from his injury. He was back on the field against Arizona, and uh, I

tell you what. By all accounts, Richard Sherman has come back from that achilles injury that many people last year thought that might be the end of Richard Sherman, and he's come back and proven to be a pretty darn effective cornerback at age thirties, and he's needed to be for the San Francisco secretary for the San Francisco defense. I mean, the one reality is and it's inescapable. This isn't the Vic Fangio defense from six five, six years ago. They don't have that kind of veteran sort of tilt

to it. They don't have the the linebackers that they had at that time, more the pass rushers that they had, so they've had to kind of stitch things together. Fortner's only have one interception this year, and I think when you look at the the giveaways that they've had. That's where it's hurting them in terms of the takeaway margin. But Richard Sherman is still one of the best shutdown corners in this league. You have to be mindful of where he's at. Certainly him and Aaron Rodgers have had

some really good battles over the year. Over the years, and and seeing exactly how they use him in this matchup with a really young secondary overall is going to be one of the big telltale signs of who comes up victorious. Yeah, one thing I haven't had a chance to really zone in on with regards to Sherman because he did miss some time already this year with an injury. Is he still playing one side of the field like he did in Seattle or is he flopping back or

do you have any sense of how they're employing him. No, I don't, And I think that goes along with you know, my guess would be and this is just pure speculation. People watching this are probably like, I mean, you're gonna be kidding me, But I would probably still think his home is going to be on the left side. And I don't know at age thirty, and maybe he still can be that shutdown type corner that that you know,

you could potentially move around. It seems like Seattle did a little bit more of that towards the end, or maybe out of necessity, but yeah, later later on. But when remember when that legion of Boom was in was in its heyday, he was he was lined up on that left side and that was that was his spot.

And you remember that. I think it was what it was at the beginning of the fourteen season where the package they parked Jordy Nelson on one side, they've had Richard Sherman on the other, and it was kind of who was going to blink first. The Seahawks just ended up basically taking away that side of the field with Jared Boykan and obviously ultimately came out on the winning side of it. So uh, yeah, he's still is a

guy that you're gonna to be mindful of. Personally. I'd love to see him get some snaps against Davante Adams. I think that would be a fun matchup with Adams sort of coming on in his career, uh and seeing exactly what happens with Sherman now at age thirty. As you said, but the biggest thing for this defense now Mike is going to be seeing exactly what they can

offer in terms of the takeaway numbers. I was trying to look it up quickly and not having a lot of success with it at this time being in terms of what they've looked like in with their takeaways. But overall, I think ultimately that's what this thing comes down to, is who's going to take away the football, Who's gonna

move the football and win that field position battle. Yeah, well, certainly not not the stakes that people expected maybe in this game when it first came out on the schedule, but it is worth remembering a mid October Monday night game back in Packers forty niners at lambeau Field. I still remember watching it on TV at the time. Chris Jackie ends up winning the game for the Packers with a fifty three yard I believe it was fifty three yard field goal in overtime to pull out a huge

Monday night win for Green Bay. Obviously, in ninety six, they were on their way to a Super Bowl championship that year. Some folks thought if this was gonna be Aaron Rodgers and Jimmy Garoppolo and Monday Night in mid October, you know, I'm not sure how much we'll we'll see the old highlights from that from that ninety six game, but it's an important game for the Packers West to two and one. You got the bye week coming up after that. You absolutely do not want to be below

five HUD at the bye week. With having four road games in five weeks coming up after the bye, Packers have to get this one, get on the plus side of five as far as the win loss column goes, and go from there they do. I mean, it's huge.

I mean, this is a critical game because not only is it important to win your home games, we talked about that until we're blue in the face, but it's the bye week, so I mean, you're gonna have a lot of time to think about it, and you need to have some momentum going into that game against the Rams. You just do. That's just the reality of this league and a team like that what you could potentially do to kind of even leap frog yourself into those situations.

Getting back to the point I was trying to make earlier, and I was I was trying to find the regular season standings are dead last right now and turn over margin minus eight on the season so yeah, trying to find a way to take advantage of that because they have moved the football their fifteenth and total offense their eleventh, and total defense their seventh against the run. They've done

good things this year. But as we saw last week and against Detroit, you can have twice as many offensive yards as the other team, but if you don't take care of the football and you put them in advantageous situations, that's gonna be what changes the tide of the entire football game. That is the ultimate thing that you're trying to go for. And yeah, if they've been putting the ball on the ground, if they've been exposing the football,

the Packers defense has to take advantage of it. It's imperative. Yeah, this, uh, this Packers team needs to get that turnover margin flipped the other way. And it's on both sides of the ball. It's about the offense protecting it better, special teams for that matter, protecting it better. After the the incident with the with the punt in Detroit and uh, the defense

getting some more takeaways. We've seen how Clinton dis obviously has three interceptions, but you're always waiting for that moment when the turnovers start to come in bunches, because that's

usually the way it happens in this league. And the Packers haven't hit one of those stretches defensively yet, and uh, you know they're going to need let's face it, West, I mean, with the schedule coming up after the by the road games, the opponents that are in those road games, the Packers are going to need to start winning the turnover battle consistently in order to be able to win these games because because quite frankly, the some of the expectations on the outside are going to be that the

Packers are underdogs in some of these road And I'm gonna ask you this question, Mike. If I would have told you going into week six that the Packers are tenth and total offense their fourth and total defense in second against the past, you would think that that has them in the division lead, right where they want to be in the driver's seat, because it shows you that defensively you've been able to have some stops and offensively

you're moving the ball. But the thing is they're tied for twenty three right now if minus two in the turnover margin. So again, I think this really does come back. This is the perfect week for Mike McCarthy to stress the fundamentals because it comes back to who's going to make less mistakes and you have to be able to take advantage of that. And you're back at lambeau Field.

The Packers, other than maybe what the last fifteen minutes of that game against the Vikings, the first twenty of that, you know, you know, thirty minutes against Chicago, they've had really dominant stretches at home against opposition. So forty Niners are coming in there reeling. They lost to potentially the worst team in the league if you look at the NFL Power Kings, if you will, Packers need to take

advantage of this. Yeah, well, as we as we move ahead here during the week, the Packers, because the Monday night game, they've shifted their on field preparation schedule. Normally the three practices during the week are Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. That's been shifted to Thursday, Friday and Sunday. If I

get my days all straight there um. But what that means for us in terms of information is that when it comes to Jairo, Alexander Randall, Cobb, Geronimo Alice and these players who have been on the injury report and missing some time. We won't really know until very late in the week just what the status is because of everything with the preparation being pushed back. It's a good thing that Packers have an extra day here maybe to

get some of these guys back. Aaron Rodgers, he took that that kind of ugly tackle on that scramble early in the first quarter against Detroit. Didn't look good. He came out of it okay, but he did say, you know, he's probably gonna have to continue to wear that knee brace, you know, not gonna be able to shake that. So an extra day here concern helped the Packers, and then you have the bye week afterward. But we'll find out as this week wraps up later on just just where

the Packers are with their injury situation. And there's a lot to figure out. The biggest thing I took away from Mike McCarthy's uh you know what at the beginning of the week um was him mentioning that jayro Alexander uh probably does have a good chance to play in this game. It appears like Kevin King came out okay from the chin injury. There was no uh you know, setback with the growing It just strictly was him getting

stepped on with the space, which is just devastating. I know you've had some pretty gnarly baseball injuries in the past. I haven't had in a situation where someone stepped on me with a cleat before, let alone my face, so you can only imagine how that felt. But Packers in that regard are getting healthier. The big question is going to be where they are they're at with their receiving corp. Can Randall Cobb potentially be back? Where's Geroni Wayles and

the concussion protocol? They saw what their young receivers can do. But the Packers, I mean, where they want to go with this offense is those veterans that have been working with Aaron Rodgers here for the last three or four or five six seasons. All right, well, we're real quickly west before we go some sponsor business here 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 ask for Campbell's Chunky Soup, official sup partner of the Green Bay Packers. With that, I think 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, See you next time.