#478 Packers Unscripted: Forgettable fizzle

Francisco forty seven to eight. Quite frankly, just dominated in all three phases of San Francisco forty unitiers have stated their supremacy right now on the top of the NFC. The Packers have learned how far they have to go, and these next few weeks will be about trying to close that gap. Yeah, one month to fix it. And you know, we could sit here, Matt Irvin could put our final thoughts video up on the back panel. We could discuss everything in terms of what the Packers need

to execute to win this game. They didn't do any of it. We talked about a fast start, they go out, they have the fumble on the first possession. San Francisco punches in a two yard Tevan Coleman touchdown on their first offensive play. They aren't unable to, you know, consists consistently get good and favorable down in distance on first and second down, leads to the starting offense going over

fourteen on third downs or over on third downs. There are so many different things that you could talk about in this game. The inability to get Aaron Jones going, the inability to get the ball to Jones in space, whether that be through the run or the past. Uh, you know, the missed opportunities, a few strange penalties in the first quarter. The Packers were not able to overcome boiled down. However you want. The San Francisco forty Niners

were the better team. They played discipline, they played well. I tipped my cap to George Kittle was playing through a pretty bad ankle injury. It sounded like still comes up with six catches for a d twenty nine yards, including the sixty one yard backbreaker. Didn't slow him down, and he certainly showed he can still run on that angle. Boy,

he's he's he's dynamic. But that that explosive play came on what was the Packers only offensive score and basically shut the door on any hopes of the Packers pulling some kind of second half miracle. And now they sit at eight and three. Yeah, it was about as rough a start as you could imagine. The Packers get a first down early, Davante Adams gets called for a personal foul over by the forty Niners sideline backs him up fifteen yards, so it's as though the first down never happened.

And then Aaron Rodgers gets sacked on third down and the pile of bodies the ball sports out. The fourty Niners end up with an easy touchdown, and really the bulk of the rest of the first half Packers offense was just struggling. I believe it was five three and ounce. The Packers defense, I thought, was hanging in there until the last couple of minutes of the first half. They hit the forty two yard touchdown pass to Deebo Samuel.

Then when the Packers had their fifth three and out, which gave the ball back to the forty Niners with still enough time, they hit another play and got in position for a field goal to make it twenty three to nothing at halftime. It went from thirteen nothing to twenty three to nothing, just in those last couple of

minutes of the first half. And then, as you said, even when the Packers scored early in the second half, you get a touchdown Davante Adams on the quick little shovel pass, his first touchdown reception of the season, You get the two point conversion, you get it to twenty three to eight. But then the forty Niners go seventy five yards and two plays the sixty one yard George Kittle touchdown, and they basically just said We're not going to mess around with these guys any longer and and

put the Packers away. Um, the whole question, now, West is is how did the Packers come back from this? Now the schedule is favorable. You've got the two bottom feeders in the NFC East the next two weeks, Giants on the road, Washington at home. But I'll say this, and we'll talk about this a little bit as the week goes along. I don't care about the Giants two and nine record coming back from a night game on the West Coast. The way the Packers were just beaten

by a legitimate contender. This is going to be a challenging week to prepare to get ready mentally, physically, everything that needs to go into this game. This is going to be a challenge. The Giants too and nine record and a rookie quarterback and all that aside. The Packers have their work cut out for him to make sure they go out to Jersey and come away with the victory.

You and I back in April when we were breaking down and dissecting the schedule, we looked at this is probably the toughest turnaround of the Packers season, knowing what it was going to entail. And you have to remember, we didn't think the San Francisco forty Niners were going to be the team that they are. Yeah, and we still team to beat right now in the NFC. There's

no question about that. They could be the forty Niners from last year with Nick Mullins, where they're three and nine or whatever, and you're still going to be able to You're gonna be put in a situation you have to make a quick turn around. It's going to be a challenge. Packers could have also won this game forty two to nothing and it would be a significant challenge. So that's why I think it's gonna be really interesting for Matt Lafleur this week to push the right buttons

with his team, not only mentally but also physically. We'll see what Wednesday's practice looks like Thursday with Thanksgiving, how the Packers go about handling that, which is traditionally they're

padded practice for the week. There's a lot of different question marks that are in my head right now, but the biggest thing, and some of the guys in the locker room talked about this afterwards, you have to get back on track now because in some ways this kind of reminds me of the boxer that you know, or you know a fighter that works their way up. They get that championship about and they get knocked out in the first couple of rounds. So what happens after that, Right,

You're gonna end up working your way back up. You're gonna end up probably having some handpicked opponents. Then you've got to get your yourself back in a position where you want to contend. That's where the Packers are right now. You can't look past the Giants, you can't look past Washington, you can't look past the Bears. Despite some of the

Bears struggles this season. You need to pick up the w's that you're supposed to pick up now though, because the only way to kind of take this bad sewer taste out of your mouth is winning the games that are in front of you and then going into us Bank Stadium in a month's time eleven and three and looking to, you know, prove some people wrong. So it's difficult. It's tough. They missed out on their opportunity to be

the top seed in the NFC race. But you know, I know, one of the things Matt Floor pointed to and some of the players talked about as well, is it showed him again where the bar is in what they need to do to attain that bar and right now, whether it's execution, whether it's miscues, whether it's just not being able to find the right efficiency and execution at the right time, Packers just are not at that level

at this point. Yeah, I think the most disappointing things, certainly when you look at the overall performances that the Packers were coming off a bye week and they were healthy. So yes, the fours are very good. They are the top team in the NFC right now. Going out to their place was going to be a big challenge no

matter what. But to really not be competitive in the game when you're a healthy team, when you're coming off a bye week, that's the that's the big red flag with this team right now, because it's the second West Coast trip in a month where the Packers have really fallen flat, and there's you have to be careful now because you have another road game against the Giants. You're going to have back to back road games to Minneapolis and Detroit in the last two weeks of the regular season.

You can't you can't fall into this trap of of being one of these teams that is that's like jackal and hide, where play a certain way at home and then another way on the road. Because the Packers offensive line in these these last two road trips has not held up against fierce pass rushes. The defense has been giving up the big plays, and even when they're not giving up the big plays, they're still giving up drives for field goals. They're not getting a lot of stops

um when they're not playing at at lambeau Field. So there's a lot for the Packers to work through here. But but you said it right now, the whole focus is to get yourself in the position you need to be in when you go to Minneapolis and Weeks sixteen at US Bank Stadium. You're tied right now with the Minnesota Vikings, both teams eight and three. UM. Both teams have three games before that meeting in week sixteen on Monday night, two days before Christmas, two nights before Christmas.

And uh, that's that's really what you have to build towards now, is to build towards that game. Yeah, and you got to hope that, you know, they were able to relatively speak and get out of this game healthy. There is the issue with Brian Bulaga. We'll see what the week holds with him. Tough to lose him after

nine offensive snaps. Alex Light who has played some he played seventy six offensive snaps going into this game, but then he gets thrust in there for seventy one almost matches that in this matchup against San Francisco in a it's not just the fact that they have four or five first round picks in that defensive front. It's how many stunts they run. It's the things that they do

to confuse. Uh. And Robert Salad, to his credit, I thought, really, you know, mixes personnel well and made things difficult on Aaron Rodgers in that offensive front. But yeah, you have to put all that behind you now because the reality is you're going from facing one of the premier, if not the leading horse in the race right now in San Francisco, to a New York Giants team that's really

struggling and struggling to find its identity. They appear to have their quarterback in the future, they have their running back in the future, but beyond that, there isn't a whole lot to point to for New York Green Bays eight and three. You have to, without any question, without blinking, and i without even considering what happened on Sunday night, going there and take care of business against the Giants, try to improve, try to find answers, and honestly, just

build some confidence in swagger here. Get on a run again. You know they've lost two of the last three now, so get on a run. No better way to do it than on the road against New York. Yeah, this is one of those games coming up here. I'm reminded that the thought just occurred to me. You know how big a baseball fan I am as as big a Brewers fan. As I am, I'm reminded of what Now.

The circumstances are not exactly the same, but I'm reminded of a message that Craig Council delivered to his Milwaukee Brewers when Christian Yellich had broken his kneecap and you're in Florida at Miami where you're playing a team that's going nowhere. The stands were practically empty, and Craig Counsel's message was these are the types of games you have to bring your own energy. Now in New Jersey on Sunday, the stadium is not going to be empty. There's gonna

be fans, there's gonna be noise and whatnot. But the Giants are two and nine, they're in a rebuilding mode with a rookie quarterback. The Packers need to try to get their season back on track. You're not going to have the lambeau Field crowd behind you. This is one of those games the Packers are going to have to bring their own energy and it's going to be a

challenge with everything that they've gone through. And as you said, we'll see what happens with Brian Bulaga and if there are any um changes that need to be made on the offensive line. But it's a but it is a bring your own energy game because because the Packers cannot continue to play like this on the road, They've got to find it. They've got to find it within themselves because, um,

because you're gonna have to win. You're gonna have to win at least two, if not if not three road games here down the stretch to be in the position you want to be in. Yeah, and you know, credit to Green Bay at this point. You know, one of the reasons that they're sitting at eight and three is they've won some games on the road, and they've won some games in loud environments like Kansas City. Albeit I know Patrick Mahomes wasn't playing in that game, but there

was an element of adversity they had to overcome. They beat the Dallas Cowboys, who could very well end up being the NFC East representative there. They had those type of games. But you know how this is, Mike, There's gonna be levels to this game. In San Francisco, New Orleans, Seattle, they're kind of on that top tier. Now. Green Bay hasn't had a chance to test themselves against the Saints and Seahawks. But you know the proof is in the pudding.

Minnesota and Green Bay, I think are trying to figure out exactly where they fit into this picture. So this journey to get to that week fifteen week sixteen game, now that's paramount. And again the third step doesn't matter unless the first step is a good one. And that's why the Giants that has to be the focus. Now, yeah, you mentioned the road victories at Dallas and at Kansas City. In the wee hours of the morning on the flight back as I was writing Insider Inbox, I made that.

I made this comment, you take week one and everything that goes into the Chicago trip kind of out of it because weak ones are weak ones. They are what they are. But those two road victories at Dallas at Kansas City were essentially predicated on getting off to the fast start. You were up thirty one to three on the Cowboys. In the third quarter, you jumped out fourteen nothing on Kansas City. Now the Chiefs came back much much quicker, but you got up, you got out fourteen

to nothing. They came back and then you were kind of in a dog fight the rest of the way. The Packers have to find a way on the road that when things don't start well, they have to find a way to to you know, to turn the key and get the engine started. Because these last two, uh, these last two road trips for the West Coast, they've

started poorly on offense and simply never found anything. And you can't you can't end up feeling like you're defeated after one quarter on the road if you don't start well. They've got to find another way to win a road game. And that's that's the thing, because it's really interesting where it's not like this has been a prolonged issue where in eleven games Green Bay has just not been able to get off the fast starts. It's either been red

hot or ice cold. So you know, you obviously want to always steer towards red hot, but if it isn't that, you need to make sure you stay in in the middle and equilibrium and and that's been a challenge for Green Bay. And again this is why I just I look at these games against New York in Washington and you cannot look past them. I mean, they are huge important. We do not want to be sitting here a week from now talking about letdowns I mean, it's just that

it's not the narrative of the season right now. But that being said, this is the opportunity now in front of you. And and if you're the packers, you have your schedule here at the last five and then you look at what San Francisco is dealing with and the challenge that they face in Seattle. You have to be thankful for your lot in life right now and you have to capitalize on those opportunities. Yeah, before I forget

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I mean, you know, it's like a gold glove outfielder, right, I mean, every once in a while, every season, there might be that one that comes out of the glove. Hey, can I before I think we're gonna wrap up here on on some of the other games that the other action that happened. But before we get there, I just want to mention Zadarius Smith, and I wrote about it

his acknowledgement for a member of the equipment staff. I get it it was like the only silver line to this game, but I thought it was meaningful on two different reasons here, and before I get into that, I'll mention this was a gesture that he had come up with with a member of the Packers team equipment staff whose mother has has been battling in illness, and throughout the week when they got back they had discussed this, and when they got back from the bye week, uh,

that equipment staff member, they came up with this idea to do a T shirt an undershirt underneath zadarius jersey that said we heart Eileen. Matt Arvin might be able to bring that up on a on a photo here. But an incredible neat thing that the sun is actually the one that drew that for Zadarius on there, and is after his first sack in the second quarter, actually lifted up the cameras were able to capture it. The

other thing to this that's pretty neat. Zadarius Smith, one and a half sacks moves to ten on the season, him and Presston now over that twenty mark the first time since three the Packers have had two pass rushers over double digits sacks. What an investment they made their Brian Goodkuin's made those two Mike the way that they're trending, in addition to a really nice emotional moment for them, Um, that could very well go down as one of the best signings of Packers I've had here in free agency

over the last twenty five years. Yeah. Absolutely, two guys in double digits and sacks with five games to go. It was Reggie White and Bryce pop In. Was the last time the Packers had two in double digits and a lot of things went wrong for Green beying that game. But I really challenge you if you have a chance to rewatch. I'm sure there's not a lot of Patrickracks that want too. I think you'll probably talk about this somewhat. And one last with h You know what you might

have missed is the Darius oppressing Smith. You talk about two guys whose engines don't stop until the final whistle. Man, again, I'm waiting for the final stats on pro football focused as far as how many pressures that Darius generated. Again in this game, that guy keeps working. Unfortunately, just wasn't enough defensively. Yeah, no, it wasn't. Elsewhere in the NFC where things stand right now, everybody, everybody now has had their bye week. Everybody has five games left to go.

The San Francisco for THEA Enters are ten and one, The New Orleans Saints and Seattle Seahawks are nine and two. The Green Bay Packers in Minnesota Vikings are eight and three. The Saints they they caught a break west um twenty eight yard field goal that's missed. Now, obviously the Saints still would have had a chance to either win with a touchdown or tie with a field goal and get

the game to overtime. But a twenty eight yard field goal missed by the Carolina Panthers with two minutes to go, and then it gives Drew Brees the ball and as predicted, he marches the Saints down the field, puts Will LUTs in position. New Orleans escapes after blowing a two score

lead in the second half to Carolina. So the Saints get to nine into the Seahawks get to nine and two by taking care of business on the road at Philadelphia, Carson Wentz did not really have any of his primary offensive weapons with the exception of Zach Ertz and Carson Wentz frankly just did not play well. And um um and Seattle, Um, they got the victory. It wasn't it wasn't pretty, it wasn't anything spectacular, but um, but they are nine and two and still right on the forty

niners heels in the NFC West. And then um, interesting game tonight with the Los Angeles Rams at six and five, trying to stay in this playoff chase in the NFC with a big home game in prime time against the Baltimore Ravens, the team that everybody is uh um pegging as one of the top teams, certainly one of the top two teams in the a f C, if not the top team right now, and one of the top teams in the league altogether, the most dynamic, explosive team

I think right now in professional football, and and certainly one of the hottest uh in the Ravens. So that's a big challenge for the Rams. Thing that's kind of stinks for Green Bay is they didn't get any help. They really didn't get any help the last two weeks when you look at how this thing when there were a lot of games that were looking like maybe the Packers would get some help, and then they and then

they all they all went the other way. Yeah, and phil It's funny, Philadelphia and Carolina are both five and six, But man, there's a different feeling about both of those. Five and six is Carolina It's like they are just a few plays here. They're away from, you know, being a team that's in playoff contention. And the Eagles, to me, just continue to flounder and as you mentioned, there's a lot of injuries are dealing with, but their inability to fight through some of those things has been a thing

that has plagued them. Seattle finds a way to win, though Russell Wilson only throws for two hundred yards, not one of his better performances, but you know that that's a credit to him. It's a credit to what they do and how they're able to find things. They hit. They hit two big plays and that was a difference in the game. They hit the kind of the flee, flick, flicker,

throwback pass, whatever you want to call it. For the one touchdown, and Rashad Penny breaks off a long touchdown run for their other touchdown, and then their defense did the rest against an Eagles offense that as I said, you know, Jordan Howard, Nelson, aghil Are, those receivers were all out and uh and Carson Wentz just didn't have it. Yeah, and this is actually something I really like about Pete

carroll Um. Rashad Penny has not had a great start to his career with the Seahawks, and obviously Chris Carson is the one that's come up and sort of grabbed that brass ring as they're starting back, but when they've needed to turn to him this season, he's produced for them. Now he's not pushing for the starting spot yet, but I thought this was one game that showed exactly what he adds that at offense. And again, it's just one of those deals where good teams find ways to win

in bad situations, and in Seattle certainly did that. Yeah. Well, it'll be interesting to see tonight with regards to the Rams, because for them, there will be a big difference between being seven and four or being six and five, and uh, you know, regardless of the opponent. But Obviously they have a tremendous opponent here and with right now, you're you know your number basically your your bottom record in a wild card chase in the NFC is at eight and three,

and uh if the Rams. If the Rams get to seven and four, then hey, they're right there. But if they don't and they're six and five, then they're really playing uphill the final month of the season. Very difficult to make the playoffs is the number three team in your division even more difficult to find that second wild card spot when you're hovering around five. The Rams have been better than the Eagles have been this season, but again one of those teams that just has not done

enough to separate themselves from the pack. You know, Jared Goff eleven touchdowns, ten interceptions so far in the season. It's a big, big game for them because as much as we talk about the Ravens offensively, defensively, I'm not saying it's the two thousand five unit or two thousand and six unit, but they are doing a lot of things right. They're gonna make things difficult. Yeah, a very very interesting cross conference game for this late in the season.

That'll be worth watching. But for now we're going to sign off on this edition of Packers Own Script. Would be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team here on Packers dot com, Subscribed to us, like us on iTunes and other podcast services, and do check out the new Packers YouTube channel. All kinds of great video content out there for you. With that, thank you for watching everybody. We'll see you next time.