#352 Packers Unscripted: Keys to victory

the cameras offers there more to talk about. It was funny because I mentioned this in our Final Thoughts video to Jamal Williams was asked in the locker room on Wednesday about, you know, trying to come out on top of this and what it means to be a part of the you know, the Brady versus Rogers game. How infrequently this has happened in NFL history, and Williams said, I just love the answer. He said, you know, my job is to make sure the green twelve beats the

Blue twelve. That's his only focus going into this thing. But certainly you think of all the Markey matchups, right We love icons, we love celebrity athletes. We love being able to watch something on television or be a part of something that even if you don't have an affiliation to the rivalry, if even if you're not a Packers fan or a Patriots fan, you want to watch Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady play football and against each other in that's setting Sunday Night football. It doesn't get any

better than that. So, yeah, from looking at a much needed victory standpoint, though, Packers need Aaron Rodgers to be on his a game, They need this offense to be moving the football because you know, on the other side of things, while Mike Patton does have a history against Bill Belichick, there's only so much you can do to some extent with what Brady is able to accomplish and what James White has been doing in this season. So you gotta get your points, you gotta get your production.

You have to consistently move to football, and you need to finally get out of there with a road victory. Yeah, the Packers definitely need a road victory. Oh and three on the road so far this year, and uh, you know, some ugly performances. Frankly in Washington Detroit Packers best performance of the season, whole more road for my money in Los Angeles last week just came up a little bit short it. They need to repeat it West, They need

they need to play like that again. You need to prove that how you played in Los Angeles last week is a better reflection of who you are than what went on the first six games and all the up and down and the roller coaster in the inconsistent play prior to the bye week. This is a This is

a huge opportunity for the Packers. Obviously a win would get them back above five, but more so it's about continuing and building on what you did last week because they established a level of play that we hadn't seen for a four quarter game. My point was, I said this during the Packers pregame radio appearance that I did. I thought you need to go one and one in this stretch. I thought, you need to steal one of these games. Whatever you know term you want to use,

Packers came close last week. But I gotta be honest with you, Mike. I think if the Packers can go into Gilette Stadium and get a victory over Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and what I think a lot of people are considering to be the front runner in the a f C right now for potential Super Bowl birth and still have that performance in your back pocket against the Rams, while disappointing, I think that gives you a huge jolt of the momentum now into the second half, into this

third quarter of the season. Because the thing is, Mike, is that you do get the Miami Dolphins at home after this, and yeah, you're going on the road, you're playing in Century Link on short rest against Seattle, but you know, the Seahawks have been up and down to the real big gauntlet that the teeth of this stretch that they're in was the Rams and the Patriots. You can go into the reasons why, I think everybody at

home knows. They don't need us to say it. But if you're able to be able to pick out a victory here, if you're able to knock off the Patriots who are writing a five game winning streak into this matchup, it changes the narrative very quickly. Yeah, and let's let's be honest, it's been a bit of a tumultuous week around here. At a really really tough loss in Los Angeles,

a lot of turmoil obviously over how it ended. The trading deadline comes on Tuesday, and to establish veterans on this team are shipped out for a number of different reasons. If you can come out of Gillette Stadium with a big victory over Tom Brady and the Patriots, all of the tumult, if you want to call it, that just gets shoved that much farther into the review mirror and that much more quickly, and you're moving on with where

you hope to be headed in. It's the first step towards getting into what you hope to be a new direction in terms of being able to build up some consistently consistency, get some back to back wins together, feel what it's like to be on a winning streak again. That's what you're looking for, And to be honest with yeah, I don't think this is the week where you know, Davante Adams mentioned a number of weeks ago where hey, you know, we don't want to have a heart attack

every time. This still might end up being one of those games. I think you have to be ready for that. But if you come out on the winning side of that, then maybe there's a chance to start. You see the top of the hill and you start to see in the decline from there, so you know, being able to you know, get the wheels spinning a little bit, not working, uh, you know, and trying to scratch and claw your way to some of these victories, find a way to start

making things happen. Because Mike, you and I have talked about it for a number of weeks. Now, once the calendar churns to December, things change, records change, You're starting to get more of these teams at home. You're starting to get these teams that aren't necessarily playoff contenders at this point. That is going to be the big catalyst, I think towards trying to get the Packers to make a push at the end of the season. But you've got to get the work done now. You gotta get

some wins in November. First off, And uh, let me throw a question at you West, all right, and I think both agree that. And you brought up Eddie Lacy from the game here against the Patriots and Belichick's defense. You and I both agree that Aaron Jones is going to play a very big role offensively in this game. So My question for you is, does Aaron Jones get his first one yard rushing game of this season on Sunday night? Oh Michael, you put me on the spot.

Um gosh. And I don't usually like to have no sound on this show, so I'm trying to think here where the let's look here once. I want to give you an intelligent answer. The Patriots are fourteen right now and run defense giving up a hundred and five yards per game. I'm gonna say no still, but I don't necessarily mean that is a bad thing, if you know

what I'm saying. I think if the Packers can get another fifteen touches out of Jones and he has ninety rushing yards, that's still a really good day for this offense because I think we're still going to see a lot of Jamal Williams in this game as well. What I do like, though, and I talked to Jones about this week, and in hearing some of Jamal Williams comments, is that there's a little more clarity to this situation

now they know there's two guys. And yeah, no disrespect to Tray Carson, he's up on the fifty three man roster too. But in a matchup like this and him coming in on a short week after being on the practice squad. It's going to be Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams. That isn't a secret. I think that clarity is going to help them in the long run because if you look at their their styles of being a running back,

they really do complement each other really well. When you look at the thunder lightning approach, that's what they can potentially be. Now, whether or not that equates to a hundred yard contest, I can't say that definitively, but I will give you what I What I will add is that if the Packers are going to win this game, Aaron Jones needs to be a big part of it. Yeah, I agree with that. I think Aaron Jones needs needs

to definitely be a big part of the offense. And I'm gonna throw another thing at you that I think is somewhat the hidden narrative of this game that will lot of people are ignoring. And obviously it's it's about Brady and Rodgers and the Belichick well almost but going against the Belichick defense and and Mike Patton and his history against the Patriots and what the Packers maybe do defensively. I think special teams is gonna play a huge role in this game. And I can rattle off all kinds

of reasons, but but what's that? But you go back, go back to the two thousand ten, the Matt Flynn game at Gillette Stadium. A seventy yard kickoff returned by an offensive lineman for the Patriots that set up a touchdown was a huge play in that game. The Patriots this season, as I mentioned earlier this week, two special teams touchdowns that Soldier Field to beat a Bears team that really did go toe to toe with them offensively

and defensively. But a kickoff returned for a touchdown by Cordrell Patterson and a block punt returned for a touchdown by New England special teams and the Patriots win that game by seven. The Packers have had their issues on special teams on the road this year. It was a bad day on special teams in Detroit, very costly and a loss to the Lions, and a couple of really key mistakes down the stretch against Los Angeles last week that that cost the Packers a shot at what what

could have been a really big road victory. So do the Packers. Whoever the kick returner is that replaces Time Montgomery, Does that guy make a big play? Do the Packers down a punt inside the five yard line once or twice like the Rams did to the Packers last week? Something like that. Cordorrell Patterson did fumble a kickoff in Chicago before he had the runback for the touchdown that set up a score for the Bears. So do the Packers special teams make a play like that and get

a turnover somewhere along the line. I think something like that has to happen. The Packers cannot keep losing the battle on special teams, especially in these road games. They've got to hold up their end and give them an edge at some point here. You know what I like the most about Bill Belichick because you know, sometimes Mike he gets sort of a bad rap uh. You know people they show that the news conferences in New England. He says two or three words. It feels very ters.

But he's a very He's one of the smartest guys who's probably ever walked this earth when it comes to professional football, for one. But he is really analytical about how he breaks things down. On these conference calls, and I was a part of one of those this week with the opposing team media. Now, if you want to ask him about Chris Hogan or if Patterson is going to be in the running of running back again this week,

he's not going to answer those questions. But what was really interesting is getting back to your point about special teams, is how much it means to him. And I know he has some family ties of special teams. That was sort of where his roots were as well. But for so many people it's a forgotten phase. It's the Okay, I'm gonna go up and get some cheetos and I'll come back and then it'll be first down. But for Belichick, he was breaking down the formations that ron Zook uses

on punts. He was talking about the different amount of personnel that they roll out. It is a very important focal point to him, and I think it stands to reason why they've consistently been one of the top performers year in a year out in that phase, despite how many accolades their offense and defense and those coaches get. For Belichick, though, going into this matchup, what's interesting is that you're right, it is those small things. It's the

punt returns. It's you know, guys like Matthew Slayter that have been perennial Pro Bowl type players because they do all the little things right. It's about being able to maintain an established field position. None of that is lost on Belichick and it's why he doesn't overlook it. For the Packers. Getting back to your original point, they need to do a better job there. They have to clean things up depending on who the kickoff returner is going to be, depending on who the punt returner is going

to be. There are a lot of things that they need to shore up on that side of things because they're just not going to give you a lot of opportunities. They're going to be able to capitalize. They execute and all three phases very efficiently. Packers need to be able to turn that a little bit and make sure that they don't of that away as an advantage to New England.

And in his Friday news conference, Mike McCarthy even reference to Bill Belichick and his special teams when he was the head coach at Cleveland, which is sort of the forgotten, you know, era of his as a head coach when things didn't go so well before he got to New England, but he had that reputation with regards to special teams, you know, all the way back then. So I think it's uh. I think it's going to play a big

role in this game. Defensively for the Packers. We saw last week how all the different pressure packages that Mike Petton threw at the Rams. Most of the time it was a five man pressure. It wasn't like some sort of all out blitz, you know, a zero blitz, no safety coverage, you know, any of that, But it was it's always about which five guys are coming, you know, and and disguising you know who, who's coming, who's dropping

into coverage, all that kind of stuff. It seemed to get Jared Goff off his game certainly through the first quarter, quarter and a half he was he was really struggling. The coverage was there. The Packers were getting home and getting sacks when the coverage was holding up. You're not necessarily going to be able to do that to Tom Brady. He's going to have quicker answers to what he sees because he's seen it before. He's going to know exactly

where he's going with the ball. So defensively, what is the key to this game for the Packers? Do you think there are three keys? For me? One? You do need to be able to get pressure. You can't just let him sit home and feel comfortable and move inside the pocket. As Mike Petton said, you can talk all you want about his you know, mobility outside the pocket,

but inside the pocket there's no wasted motion. He makes everything count and he's a shifty guy, even at forty one years old, so you can't allow him to get comfortable. I don't care if it equates the Saxon outs. He's only been sacked eleven times this year in what dropbacks it's gonna it's gonna be difficult to sack up, but you need to make sure that you make the pocket warm and not allow him to get into a rhythm in that way. My second point is this is a

big game for the secondary. I don't think there could have been a bigger opportunity for Gyro Alexander to really get into a rhythm, get into a flow, and get some confidence than what he did with against the Rams. He said, even going back to Louisville, he didn't have five pass breakups in a game He also mentioned that if he has five pass the defense, he wants to make sure that one of those at least an interception too.

He wasn't happy about that aspect of it. Kevin King what they do with Trumon Williams that is going to be an important focal point for this and what the Patriots are able to do downfield and underneath. Mike. I don't know how they're going to defend James white but the Packers have to have an answer there. I don't know if it's like Martinez. I don't know if it's Germaine Whitehead or Josh Jones or who exactly, maybe one

of the cornerbacks. They need to be able to contain him because if you let him run loose, a guy that's on pace for a hundred and ten receptions this year, he not necessarily gonna burn you, but he's going to keep that chain moving. Sometimes it's just as worse he's he's the chain mover, because he's he's not he's not just the safety valve and all that, but he's he's kind of the Mr. Clutch you know, for for Brady out of the backfield, and Mike Petton mentioned it when

he spoke with the media on Thursday. You can come up with bracket coverage is on a guy like Gronk or on a guy like Chris Hogan or Julian Aidelman in the slot, it's really hard to double team or running back. You're you're going to be left with really only one guy that you can assign to that running back.

And as you said, whoever it is, if it's if it's Martinez, or if it's or In Burke's or if it's one of the safety's, that guy has to be on his p's and q's, so to speak, and be able to tackle because when it's one on one like that in space, one mis tackle can be the difference between a five yard reception and a fifteen or eighteen yard reception. So the Packers really need to be really need to lock things down in that respect. And to make one more point, one thing that Packer's defense didn't

accomplish last week was a takeaway. They need one here. They need to be able to turn over the football. And to keep in mind, I just want to put out the stat Tom Brady seven interceptions and eight games this year. Mike. I'm not trying to paint a portrait that he's going under anything. But he's on pace for

his most picks right now since two thousand five. So if he's given him away, if he's exposing the football a little bit more, a guy like JayR Alexander, Kevin King, those type of players need to make a play on the ball. Yeah, you gotta get one for sure. Before we go west, let's take a quick look at what else is going on around the National Football League here in week is a Week nine? Is that that's where at already? Okay, UM NFC North Lions against the Vikings.

We've been talking before about how Lions Bears, Vikings. None of them have played each other here as we've reached close to the midpoint of the season. But here's the first one. The Lions traveled to Minneapolis, UM Minneapolis or Minnesota, I should say, coming off of that that tough home loss to the Saints last week, they want to get

back on the right track. And the Detroit Lions kind of in the position they've they seem to be in on a regular basis every time they come up to a division game, like when they played the Packers a few weeks ago. If they get a win they're right there, and uh and you know, an opportunity for Detroit as they as they head into a tough place to play against the Vikings. I was saying, I mean again, you know my stance on must win games, Michael, I'm not a big fan of them. I don't I don't like

the terminology in week nine. But one of the reasons why I think this game is so critical for the Packers isn't necessarily because of just the what it does for you, what kind of boost it gives you if you beat the Patriots. It's also because this division, everybody's just log jam right together. Going around the first turn. You're trying to see exactly who's going to be the team that kind of finally edges their nose out front

a little bit and get some momentum. Nobody's really accomplished that. This week. You know, Mike Zimmer was talking about his own team, and you know, he likes where they are. He feels like, you know, they're starting to come into their own a little bit. But you know, Matt Patricia, they've had some good moments as well, and I have to imagine the Airs are feeling pretty good about where they're at. After sort of beaten, being sort of the welcome matt for a lot of these teams will past

few seasons in the NFC North. So when you look at this matchup with the Vikings in Detroit, it's very interesting to me for two reasons. One, Vikings actually have a chance to get up two games above five hundred, start to feel a little good about themselves and potentially being able to get on a run of their own. The Lions are trying to prove that they aren't just a five hundred or you know, seven and nine type team.

They want to prove that they can contend this year when they hired Mat Patricia and the moves that they made for the most part, I mean, you can debate the golden tape thing, but for the most part, they made those moves because they want to win now. So whoever comes out in there, we know how tough it

is to play in that stadium. It's gonna really, I think, help shape the the landscape of this division somewhat in terms of, Okay, are we pulling everybody back together or are the Vikings starting to to get out there a little bit? Yeah. And the other one in the NFC North, this weekend the Chicago Bears hos sting, I believe the Buffalo Bills. Um, no, sorry, the Bears are on the road. Oh sorry, they're playing the game is in Buffalo, but um,

but they are playing the Bills. So I'm gonna talk about how this is just a sure win for the Bears, because when I did that about a month and a half ago with the Minnesota Vikings, the Buffalo bill shocked everybody and smoked Minnesota and through the division into a tizzy. So the Bears are gonna win this game going away, no problem. We don't even need to talk. So you're an expert out who's the Bills quarterback? Now? Do you even know? Is Derek Anderson out right now? I think

they're I think they're going if and if Anderson. If Anderson is not healthy, then I think they're going back to Nathan Peter. They signed Matt Barkley too. I don't know exactly what their thought process is there. How much longer they're gonna be missing Josh Allen. But the Bills are working through some tough things right now. If you're the Bears, though, other than your terrific your preview there, the Bears, they have to feel like they got to

get this thing done. Oh yeah, this Bill's team could ultimately be the team that ends up deciding who wins the division, I mean for the NFC North. So it's gonna be fun to watch, all right. Um, any other big games from the weekend, You've got your you know the one that I'm kind of excited to see. Well, for all the wrong reasons. Kansas City is playing Cleveland. Will see how that works out. Seattle and in the Chargers is really interesting to me. In addition, you can

we can talk about the Rams and Saints. Everybody knows that story. But yeah, the Chargers feel pretty good about themselves right now. Philip Rivers is having one of the best years of his career. Uh, they've been moving the ball consistently, but we've seen Seattle start to get some momentum going to in their favor. Russell Wilson is the guy that is going to ultimately take that team as far as they're going to get, and he's been playing well recently. So Packers have them coming up here in

two and a half weeks. It's gonna be uh one of those games I think. Before the Packers are on the field, to kind of keep an eye on to see exactly where Seattle's at. Yeah, I think San Diego going into Seattle. As far as one of those cross competence, it's it's an intriguing it's an intriguing matchup. And yes, the Rams against the Saints, the top two teams in the NFC, a Week nine game that very well could decide some things as far as the playoff picture down

the road. Yeah, huge, I mean right now, just taking it for what it is, this is one and two in the NFC, so there's a lot of value in that potentially being able to have that home game. So all right, Well with that, we will call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team and of sunday Nights big game from Gillette Stadium 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.