#468 Packers Unscripted: Carolina coming to town

late afternoon and a chili one. It sounds like this weekend at lambeau Field. Um, the sun is gonna be gone by a halftime the way with the whole clock change things, So it's gonna be pretty cold in the second half with the in the dark. You know. It's how It's how I know it's a cold game. We're getting into the cold weather season. When I go home to eat dinner with my parents on Tuesday and my mom says, I'm not interested, you can give your tickets

away or were something else. She's mahat's out. So that's how you know the season changes when Mahat is at the games and when she decides not to start attending the games, and you got that difference. That's the true midpoint of the season. Yeah. Well, the Carolina Panthers are coming in. They are five and three. They are right in the thick of the postseason chase in the NFC.

Not just five and three West, but five and one in their last six games after an O and to start unknown, to start with Cam Newton, then Cam Newton who is now on injured reserve, replaced by Kyle Allen and five wins in the last six games. But for a solid job as Kyle Allen has done. This offense is powered by one guy right now, and that's Christian McCaffrey. Yeah. I mean that's what they needed. And I wrote this an Insider inbox this week. Kyle and Allen needed to

be a game manager. That's what they're asking him to do. And certainly, if you know anything about his story, this is a guy has a massive chip on his shoulder, feels like he was underrated, undervalued, and you know it was transferred from Texas A and m went to Houston got bench there. So he has a lot to play for in this league. But let's be honest, Mike, they want him to pay play as mistake free football as

possible because Christian McCaffrey is just different. And you know, we had a feeling about this, and I think you and I probably tracked Christian McCaffrey a little bit more than maybe other beat writers around the NFL because Max was here for a while. His older brother, Blake Martinez

played with him at Stanford UM this. But when you look at his skill set, his makeup and the player he's become in this league, his dad had a phenomenal career in the NFL, and Christian McCaffrey has a chance to surpass that at an early age when you look at not only what he offers as a running back or what he offers as a receiver, just an all around threat in the one thing, when you look at this stretch of winds that they've been on, ABS sent a couple of games against Tampa Bay which were sort

of some anomalies in this whole equation. He's been unstoppable. When you get the ball in his hands, he's going to make plays. So to be at five and three right now, to rally the way they have behind the backup quarterback says a lot about this team it's makeup. But Christian McCaffrey is in the chase right now to be a legitimate m VP candidate, and he's personally changed

my opinion on it. Three weeks ago, I would not have told you that a a running back on a three and two team would have been a real contender for this. But as you start to realize how he's affected these football games for the Panthers, you have to tip your cap to him and acknowledge this is arguably the best playmaker in the league right now. Yeah, he is the best playmaker in the league right now. I totally agree with you. He leads the NFL with thirteen

touchdowns combined rushing and receiving scores. And you know me, West, I don't like to do comparables very often, but when I see Christian McCaffrey and I look at the highlights of what's going on with him and how much this Panther's offense is revolving around him. I'm not trying to put Christian McCaffrey in the Hall of Fame at the tender age of twenty whatever three, but I see a lot of Marshall Falk. You know, I agree that this guy,

this guy is he is. He is so dynamic and is given the ball in so many different ways and lines up everywhere. Now, the Panthers don't have the offensive cast around McCaffrey that that Rams and The Greatest Show on Turf had with Isaac Bruce and Kurt Warner and all those guys. But what McCaffrey means to the offense is and how he's used just reminds me of how the Rams and and that Dick Vermeil Mike Martin's era, the way they used Marshall Falk and and he's just

a tough matchup for any defense. He's hard to get a handle lot. Yeah, he's kind of a mesh between I would say the Colds, Marshall Falk and the Rams Marshall Faults somewhere in there, because they do have some nice pieces. Like It's not to say they're just completely void of right, No, And I don't I don't mean, I don't say that, but I get what you're saying. That was a legendary group of offensive players that they

had with the Rams. But what I like about where Caroline is at is Curtis Samuels as a tweener type player, he's been really effective for them. D J. Moore doesn't have all the touchdowns, but as a guy well on his way to a thousand yard season. And then oh, by the way, you have your Greg Olsen's, you have you know, these different guys that kind of fit into this vision of what the Panthers offense has become. But make no mistake, the centerpiece of this whole equation is

Christian McCaffrey. And in two thousand nineteen, with the way that the running back position has played, he offers you the best of all worlds right now. He can pass block, he can catch out of the backfield, he can catch and run. He's good between the tackles, he's good open in space. These are things we knew about him the

last two years. But seeing him become an every down threat now in the dimension he adds as just a running back, not a playmaker, but as an actual running back, I think is what is really well rounded out his game and allowed him to be off to this start that he has been off to. Yeah, well, with Kyle Allen when he first stepped in back in September for Cam Newton. First couple of games, he was lighting the world on fire, hundred plus passer ratings, and everybody was like, wow,

you know, where did this guy come from? Where he is right now passer rating of eighty seven point eight in his six starts. So he's fallen off the pace that he started. Obviously, nobody expected him to just put up hundred passer ratings, you know, all the time. His last I guess I'd say three or four games, the numbers have been a bit more pedestrian. Obviously, he had a rough game against San Francisco. Who hasn't had a rough game offensively against that San Francisco defense so far

this year. To the Panthers, credit, to Allen's credit as a team, they bounced. They bounced back from getting you know, really kicked pretty hard by that San Francisco team fifty one to thirteen I believe was the final score. But they shook it off. They bounced back. They had a home game against a pretty tough Tennessee team last week.

They took care business, got things back on track. They're right, they did exactly what the Packers and to do now, um, bouncing back from a rough loss, just a bad outing. It was clearly that game in San Francisco was Carolina's worst game of the season, I think, even worse than the other two they lost earlier with Newton. And obviously the Packers are coming off of their worst games, so it can be done. But this is this is a Carolina team that that doesn't just have its site set

on bouncing back from the San Francisco loss. They have their sights set on getting into the postseason and making

a run with what they're building around McCaffrey. Yeah. So Allen's last three weeks are really interesting, right because you go to that game against Tampa Bay, he helped them win that game because for whatever reason, and I don't know what it was, I didn't have the time nor the inclination actually go back and watch those Buccaneers games, But the Buccaneers both times they were able to whatever

Todd Bowls is doing. They shut down McCaffrey and both of those ball games, and when it needed to be on Allen's shoulders, he and the complimentary parts were able to get them that victory that they didn't get when Cam Newton was first getting injured in that first match up. But then you go back the next week and you get San Francisco and you get tossed back down to reality.

You see the dimensions, the challenges that that that defense presents to a young quarterback that hadn't had any turnovers, hadn't had any interceptions, I should say, and then they all just come at the same time. Last week. Though

that's a really good Tennessee defense. I think that's a group that plays together, plays well, and verybel has a vision for them that has allowed them to be able to stay in some of these games even despite some of the quarterback issues, and Alan played pretty well considering that. So I don't look at this as a layup at all for Green Bay. I look at this guy as someone who knows where Christian McCaffrey is at all times, but he also has the the outlets to be able

to diversify that offense when he needs to. That's what makes them dangerous. I got to mention this too, because it's not going to get brought up organically. Starting guard right now for the Carolina Panthers, one of them is Greg Van Roten. I don't know if you remember Greg Van, but on the day at the pack, Ivy leaguer I believe out of pen pen the year that the day that they cut Charlie pepp bro This is how far

this goes back. They signed Greg Van Roten. He ended up being on the practice squad, made the roster, made the roster the next year, and eventually was like, go this is a guy that bounced around the Canadian Football League. He resurfaced last year or two years ago with Carolina, played every single snap for their offensive line last year. Some questions about whether or not he get replaced this offseason. He's still there, He's still contributing. A nice guy. I

really enjoyed talking to him back in the day. I doubt he would ever remember me at this point. I'm sure he wouldn't remember me either, But I mean just the career that he's carved out for himself in a league that very easily spits you out, and he never remembers you. Greg then wrote in part of that offensive line that the Panthers have put together pave in the way right now for Christian McCaffrey. Yeah, all right, Well, I want to talk a little bit about the Panthers

defense as well. But first, select cousin subs locations are now offering delivery. Whether your order and catering or your favorite sub they're delivering right to you when you order online at Cousin Subs dot com. Cousin Subs. We believe in better all right, well West for all the focus on Christian McCaffrey, and rightly so, with what he has done for the Carolina Panthers. You look at what this

defense is doing for Carolina. Thirty four sacks lead leading the league, twelve interceptions, which is second in the league. And this is what jumps out to me. I was looking at these numbers earlier today. Nine players with two or more sacks for Panthers and seven players with three or more sacks. And in the interception category, you're talking four different guys with multiple interceptions on the season. This defense. Luke Keikley, the middle linebacker, he's the centerpiece of it all.

He's been the centerpiece of Carolina's defense, of this Ron Rivera defense for a number of years now. But this defense is getting plays from a lot of different guys, and the way they're racking up the sacks and the interceptions and everything, they're helping out a backup quarterback. And it's a big reason along with McCaffrey that the Panthers are chalking up wins. So I know you didn't play Madden. I'm not trying to bring up anything about how you

played Madden. I did, but they had a feature in the Madden Games, especially when I was a kid, where it was like you did a fantasy draft where you didn't really start with all the teams as they were constructed. You draft them and you build your own team. So if you're Mike Spoffer and the Green Bay Packers, you draft Aaron Rodgers and then maybe you draft Khalil Mack. You do all these different things. Right. That's kind of what the Carolina Panthers defense reminds me. It's been a

handful of everything here. I mean, they bring in Gerald McCoy, you steal him away from a division rival, right, Um you have I mean just the different names that have joined keek Lely in those trenches. Um, that really stand out to me at this point in time. But the thing that sticks, you know, don Terry po I mean

you look at Bruce Irvan came in. There's a number of different guys, but what stands out to me the most eric read among them, uh, is the fact that they've gotten contributions from across the board at young positions to uh, you know, a guy like Brian Burns was someone I was really high on coming out of the draft. He you know, he was sort of a late riser.

We were looking at him a lot at the combine and everything, wondering because he was he was one of these guys that was being talked about as you know, high second, maybe late first, and then as the pre draft process went along, it was like, oh, this guy could be top twenty, this guy could be top ten, and the Panthers got him, I believe it was it at sixteen sixteenth overall picks. So, yeah, one of these guys that um and and what does he have four

and a half a rotational defensive end right now. I mean he's not an every down player. I mean Mario Addison is still the guy. Six and a half sacks for him on the season. But as you were saying, Mike Bruce serving three and a half, uh, Don Terry po has three, Eric Reid has three. Shack Thompson has three. Shack Thompson I remember, yeah, he from out of Washington. Yeah, so just to be able to get those many contributions from players and as you mentioned, also twelve tame takaways.

I would be remiss though, if I did not talk about Luke Keickley because what I love the most about his game, And it's easy to say a five times six time Pro Bowler All Pro is a is a good player, and to expound on why he's a good player, but Luke Kickley has evolved his game. It's not just based on athleticism anymore, and yet he is still one of the best athletes at that position, the inside linebacker,

mike middle linebacker. Let's just be honest. The way this league has trended, they're trying to wash those type of players out a little bit. You're putting more in you're putting more safeties into the box, and tweeter players trying to defend. Keikley is the total package. He's what everyone aspires to be at that spot, and he's continued to be incredibly effective and durable here for the Carolina Panthers.

You don't replace a player like that. So yeah, they might sign some guys, they might draft some guys, but as long as he's kind of patrolling that middle of the field, that's a problem. For opposing offenses. And Keickley, now what seven eight years into his career, still playing at an incredibly high level. It's amazing what he's been able to turn himself into. Yeah, I think I think

what we've seen with Keik Lee over the years. When he first came on the scene, it's an old cliche, but he was as good a sideline to sideline linebacker with that speed as you would find. He was so fast that he could cover so much ground. And he's still I'm not trying to say he's slowed down. I don't think he's maybe quite he's twenty eight, you know, I don't think he's quite as fast as he was when he was twenty one or twenty two, but he

still has plenty of speed. And now what he has with all of the experience and the smarts and everything, is he diagnoses plays and he knows what is coming instantly. He just he knows what's coming before anybody else on the defense does. And so the combination of that speed and the quick diagnosis and everything, he's he's always he's just he's always in the right place, and he's always

impacting plays. You can't you can't scheme for this guy because it's always it's it's almost like he's always a step ahead. I guess that's what I'm trying to shack. Thompson is a great player. He's leading them in tackles right now. We talked about his sacks a minute ago, and he is going to be in this league for a long long time. Just that combination when you have someone like keek Lee playing next to you and where he can stress an offense, that's just such a that

is such a field tilter for a defensive unit. And I gotta give a lot of credit to the Panthers in their front office and what they've done. I mean, they went out and they got Eric Read. He's been sort of a revelation for that secondary. They have guys when you look at the way that they're structured, you know, young draft picks. You know, Thompson was a first rounder, Vernon Butler was a first rounder. U Dante Jackson was

a second rounder. They've gotten production from their recent drafts and they've also augmented the spots where they need help with free agency. I think that's set kind of the template here for how you want to build a defense. And it's the reason why. I think they've been able to find a way back to five and three even

though they got off to that and two start. Yeah, they've been a franchise over the years that seems to go back and forth between making the playoffs and then maybe falling short the next year, and then they get back into the playoff picture. You know, they've been kind of one of these back and fourth teams. My question for you before we go here, getting back to McCaffrey and what the Panthers are doing on offense. I know

you're not a defensive coordinator. Neither am I we're not XS and ose experts description I thought so, but what do you think? How do you how do the Packers go about dealing with McCaffrey because there isn't you mentioned Tampa Bay. They've done a good job on him both times, but really nobody else in the league has been able to put the clamps on this guy. So how do you go about it? Yeah, and you know, for no

Mike Patton has done everything. I mean you look a couple of weeks ago, they ran a base defense where they had za Darius Smith playing an edgepot as a defensive end with his hand down in the dirt. They've mixed and matched their personnel. The one thing, I'm very curious to see what happens this week, and I'm not guaranteeing anything. For all I know, he could end up being a game day inactive. But Abrahim Campbell was returned to the fifty three man roster on Tuesday. Tim Williams

was released. Here's the thing about Campbell, we don't really truly know a lot about the guy. He only played three games, but there was a lot of trust there with Mike Petton, and he played pretty darn well for being a guy that was signed off the street and had to play that box safety role. I really would Again,

I'm not a defensive coordinator. I still think this defense is at its best when Adrian Amos has been the back end, when he's playing the safety spot and they try to do some different things in the box next to Blake Martinez. We saw will Redman in there a little bit. But I think, man, if if you could get Campbell back in that role and get him playing the way he did last year, that would be such a big boost for this defense right now. There's a reason the Packers went out and signed him in August.

He didn't come back until November. Mike Packers could have waited and bided their time. They went and got that guy. They put him back in the house. They oversaw his development in his turn from that a c l injury just you know, suffered last December. So I don't know how they defended, whether it's Amos, whether it's maybe Traumont Williams, you know, if they try to do some things with

the inside linebackers, Martinez in Goodsin. I just think the little wrinkle here this week and moving forward is Abrahem Campbell, and he gives you the guy that I think Raven Green could have been for this defense had he not suffered that ankle injury in week two. Yeah, I think that's definitely a possibility here, and we'll just have to see how things evolve and how quickly Campbell potentially is active on game day, whether it's this Sunday or whether

it's another Sunday down the road. I do think though, as I said an insider inbox, Mike Patton is going to have a plan for Christian McCaffrey, but I think he's going to stress and those players in the locker room are going to be aware of the plan. The scheming is not going to get the job done. You still have to diagnose plays, you have to get off blocks, and you have to make tackles. You can't let this guy break tackles and turn four and five yard runs

into two all in fifteen yard runs. So whatever plan Petton comes up comes up with, it's still on the players and and this Packers defense, Let's be honest, Wes, it needs to start playing better because yes, holding them, holding the Chargers to field goals for a while last week certainly kept the team in the game, but they were still giving up a lot of yards. The charges

were dominating time of possession. This Packers defense needs to needs to write the ship a little bit, and it's gonna be a tough task to do it against a guy like McCaffrey, But that's the task in front of them, because you want to be able to go into the bye week feeling a lot better about where you are on the defensive side of the ball than how the Packers have looked in the last couple of years. Yeah, they need a breather. You and I have talked about that.

I think the bye week is going to give that to them, but you're not getting any help right now. You need to be able to step up to this challenge, and it's gonna be a difficult challenge at that. There is one other thing I want to throw out there, and it's not really a version. I mean, we've seen different versions of defenses that Mike Petton used and I

don't offer this. This is just speculation. It's just a thought in my head, but I wonder if this is a game where you could see more base defense, and that kind of goes against a lot of things when you think of Samuel's and in in McCaffrey and how they can hurt you in open space. But there was

a package that Dom Caper's used for a bit. I called it the thirty, even though that was not the given name, but that's how I wrote down in my notes, which is instead of having a second cornerback, they used to use Sean Richardson as that who was number twenty eight, as a third safety, and that gave them some flexibility that, okay, you can sell out to try stopping the run between the tackles, but you have a safety there instead of

an inside linebacker or a cornerback. Matching up with the potential receiving threat or a potential, you know, out of the backfield running back that can do things. I don't offer that as anything they're gonna do, but I wonder if you can use some of those principles, because I do think one of the things that hurt them in that game against Carolina they just went light a lot.

There was a lot of hybrid nickel, and you just weren't able to kind of stack the box maybe the way you needed to against the guy like Melvin Gordon. This is an entirely different running back, but I think there is personnel here you have to stop a guy like Christian McCaffrey. It's just gonna be a matter of how you utilize it and what you're willing to give up, you know, and maybe the passing game in other areas

with the receivers to defend a guy like this. But first and foremost, Mike, this is what your attention has to be on. Yeah, well, we will see over the next couple of days what the players say about Christian McCaffrey in the locker room after practice these next few days, because they're gonna be asked a lot of questions abottom and we'll just see where it goes from here. But for now we will sign off on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage

of the team on Packers dot com. You can subscribe to us, like us on iTunes and other podcast services. 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.