#483 Packers Unscripted: Challenge ahead

at this upcoming opponent. The Washington Redskins are three and nine. But here's the thing. Wes there two and oh in their last two games. And this is a team that two weeks ago they were one and nine with an interim coach, Jay Gruden having been fired at midseason, Bill Callahan takes over as an inner him coach one and nine, six games to go with an interim coach. But they have not just mailed it in there, not laying down.

This is a team that is fighting, and they've gotten wins over the Detroit Lions and Carolina Panthers the last two weeks, and they're coming into Green Bay feeling pretty good about themselves. Yeah, and it's really interesting. I've been reading all the clipping, the clippings and everything out of the Washington newspapers and I'll tell you what, Mike, It's crazy how a performance like Darius Guys and Adrian Peterson, what they did last Sunday against Carolina quickly that can

change a narrative for a season. I'm sure there's a lot of beat writers and media folks out there that were starved for writing for something positive about Washington during a really turbulent season on the field off the field, and here they are this one to punch that. You know, I wrote this an inbox this week. I mean, the Packers are still very familiar with what Adrian Peterson can

do to you. He did it to them in a Week three of last last last season a hundred plus yards a couple of touchdowns when the Packers lost out there at FedEx Field. And there's a certain amount of people out there too that would say that Darius Guys was arguably the best running back in this year's draft class. I mean, he was right up there with all of them.

But he's been hurt for most of the season, so they finally got him together and then the thing I thought was most impressive about that win over Carolina, they did it really without Terry McLaurin. They were able to you know, that's been their big playmaker this season. That's been the real bright spot for this offense. Weekend and week out. Well, they didn't really have the passing game. They went more of a game manager role with Haskins,

and here they leaned on their two running backs. Guys had the sixty yard or Adrian Peterson just a bowl not easy to get down within four yards, and Washington pulled out a victory. Well, certainly you have to believe that Washington's game plan coming into lambeau Field is going to be to try to pound the ball with the run. With Peterson and guys, they combined for what was a two yards correct um combined totals three carries on that,

by the way. Yeah, so basically the two of them together averaging about ten yards a carry against against Carolina in a game that they fell behind for nothing, mind you. So they decided, Okay, we're gonna stick with the run. We're gonna try to limit and this is I think what their plan will be against the Packers as well. Try to limit how much responsibility falls on the quarterback. Get that running game going, keep trying to pound the

run at Green Bay. And then you do have the speedy rookie wide receiver from Ohio State and Terry mclauren. He's averaging I believe it's around fifteen yards of catch, he's got five touchdown receptions on the Ears, having a really solid rookie season, and he is a game breaker type with with his speed, he can he can make some big plays out there. Yeah, give you some statistics here, Michael mclauren right now, forty two catches. That's fourteen more

than Chris Thompson, their their third down back. He has sixty six receiving yards, which is more than three hundred in front of Thompson for first on Washington's roster. Fifteen point four yards per catch in a team high five touchdown receptions. Let's put that in comparison. Mike Washington has the rest of their receivers together have six touchdown receptions, so making up forty four point four percent of that production.

And he's a dynamic football player. And I think you know Greg Bates who writes a column and our our program for us every week did a story kind of looking at the opponent, breaking it down, and I thought he made a really good point. I mean, they've had a lot ups and downs this year, and there are a lot of questions about Washington's upper management where this team is going to go in two thousand and twenty

and beyond. But the thing I like that Bill Callahan has done is he's provided some sense of normalcy here. Dwayne Haskins is going to be our guy through thick and thin, hell and high water. Where that is going to be who we're gonna roll with. And they're building around their young pieces now Adrian Peterson thirty four years old. Now I mean obviously not you know more in the

autumn of his career. But I the one thing I never understood with the way all Washington approached this thing was either had to be all Peterson or no, no Peterson. They just never really could seem to understand or figure out a way to just use him in not a limited fashion, but more in a platoon fashion. That's what they did against Carolina. They got both of those backs, going thirteen carries, ten carries. I don't know why it had to be all or nothing for so long for them.

When Geis is healthy, I think you can see how both of these two guys can really play off each other. I think sometimes, just to be fair to the coaching staff there, I think there were times that Peterson wasn't necessarily comfortable with the whole the type of role that they wanted for him. Now that Darius guys a high draft pick, rookie running back who's shown a lot of promise, he's gotten himself healthy, Um, you can see obviously the

potential that's there with that one to punch. I think Haskins at quarterback as the rookie, As you said, Callahan has made it clear, you know, this isn't gonna be some quarterback carousel here. This is their rookie quarterback. They invested a high first round draft pick. He's the quarterback of the future, so it's time for him to play. I think he's protected the football a little bit better, maybe than Daniel Jones from the Giants last week. But

haskins com Lesian percentage he's barely above. I think he's only a completion so he has some things to uh to iron out there. But in looking at the other phases for Washington, as well, you look at their defense west, there are a lot of numbers that don't look good. They're ranked pretty low against the run, and they're right in the middle of the pack against the past. They do have a fair number of sacks, so there are

there are some stats that jump out at you. But when you just look at they've been really bad against the run, and they've been really bad on third down.

But then you look at the game at Carolina last week, Christian McCaffrey only gets forty four rushing yards against what's supposedly a bad run defense, and the worst third down defense in the league actually stopped ten third downs in a row, allowing them to come back from a fourteen nothing deficit to actually take a two touchdown lead before hanging on to beat the Panthers by by one top down.

So my point is, I think there are a lot of full season statistics and rankings and stuff that don't really apply to what Washington looks like right now and the way they've played these last two weeks. I mean, against the Lions, they had a kickoff return for a touchdown from a special teams unit that hadn't really done much all season long, but suddenly they bust a kickoff return, they end up beating the Lions by three points. Chocoling

up in the wind. Call yeah, and it goes both ways, right because offensively, this is statistically the worst offense in the NFL. Right now, they're right around twenty two and rushing. But then you see what they do in that game against Carolina, which the Packers were very familiar with the Panthers, seeing them a month ago and seeing how competitive they were in that sense. But as you mentioned from the very get go of this show, they've won two in

a row. Now, the feeling change, the temperament changes. One of the reasons why I thought last week was such a critical game for Green Bays because the Giants had lost seven in a row. David Jones hasn't really tasted victory yet. You have to beat that team because that's what everyone says you should. People are gonna go in and Green Bay is gonna be favored in this and then by all means should be. This is a team that's going towards a playoff push. Washington's playing towards the future.

But the mandate is the same between them. You can't take take either of them lightly defensively, They've worked through some very strange things though this year. There's the questions with Josh Norman uh and was he benched? Was he not benched? And then you look at some of these other facets of this defense and exactly what their identity is. But as you said, last week, they pulled every everything together, they played good ball, and now they sit right around

nine total defense. I mean, this is a respectable unit that is going to still be able to find ways to stress this Packers offense. Yeah, I mean, I think there are a lot of things. I mean it really if Matt Lafleur has any concerns, and I don't think he necessarily does, because the Packers went about things last week the right way, I think they'll go about things

this week the right way. But if he has any concerns about trying to get his players attention with regards to this Washington team, all you have to do is is put on the film from that Carolina game. They outscored Carolina like twenty nine to nothing after the fourteen nothing started. I mean, they they didn't just come back. They were dominating that game. Now Carolina obviously they just fired their head coach, and and Ron Rivera is out and they're gonna be looking for a new head coach

in the off season. And things really, quite frankly for Carolina started to go south when Christian McCaffrey doesn't get in from the two yard line at lambeau Field, and suddenly what looked like a promising season for them has has gone the wrong way. But this, uh, this Washington team, I think I think they're gonna pose a bigger challenge quite frankly to the Packers than the Giants did last week. That's just my gun. Yeah, I would agree with that,

especially the way that they're trending. I mean, thirty six right now. As far as tackle or excuse me, sacks pretty spread across the board. Quentin Dunbar four interceptions they brought in Landon Collins was a big signing for them. Uh, these you know over the past year, and I just look at this team is still a way that you know they're gonna be. It's tough to come back from a mentality when you're three and nine like that is a difficult thing to do. There's going to be question marks.

But I listened to Bill Calhan's postgame news conference. You read the clips. As I said off the bat, this is a team that does have confidence right now, and they have confidence and they have nothing to lose. So for green Bay to earn that number ten victory of the season, it's going to come through a very game

Washington team. Yeah, I would agree with you. Um select Cousin Subs locations West are now offering delivery whether you're ordering 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. Okay, As the Packers get prepared here for this week four team game, I'm interested in your take on this West because we've talked

about We've talked about some issues the the Packers. They're trying to show up some things on defense, they're trying to get more impact from the return game. And we'll talk about the new returner of the Packers have acquired in a minute. But here's here's the thing for me. There are a lot of people out there saying, you know, okay, it's December now, the Packers they are what they are, you know, And to a certain extent I agree with that.

But at the same time. I remember three years ago a Packers team that through the month of December started looking better and better and better than where they were at Thanksgiving and where they were just before Thanksgiving. And the fact that now this Packers team has been on the road for four of its last five games and now gets to come home for back to back home games.

You know how this league works, west When you have issues, it is so much easier to try to fix your issues when you're playing at home, no matter which side of the ball it is. Then when you're playing on

the road. I think these next two games, and then you obviously have the Monday nighter in Minnesota coming up after it, but I think these next two home games for the Packers, this is this is your chance to to try to fix some things and and give the team that one more step forward, that one more uptick before the stretch run and hopefully I'll playoff run in January. Yeah, I think it was last week. I used my analogy

about the tuneup fight. If you're a fighter, if you're a boxer, you lose a championship type matchup, you start back down, you pull yourself back up, you try to get some wins back together, you try to make another run at this thing. They started that last week against the Giants, and there was a there's a comment that Adam hohl Heinrich because in Packer's Daily spoiler Alert, we don't always write our own scripts on that, we have people that do that for us. But at Triple H

had written in there. You know, there was no real hangover from what happened in San Francisco, and that's what you wanted to see because as we discussed on Monday show too, I mean, eighteen points, it was a possession game. There really weren't a whole lot of opportunities just blow that thing open. But the Packers did what they needed to do against an opponent that they needed to beat, and that earned you this opportunity against Washington. You beat Washington,

that earns you an opportunity against Chicago. Because you and I both watched the Monday night game with Minnesota, they're not lying over for anybody. I mean, that is gonna be a tough, knockdown, drag out war in week sixteen. That's just the way this thing is looking right now. So Green Bay to have two back to back home games to get people revved up again because we there was a ton of them. You and I covered a ton of them at home here the first two months

of this season. And this is they were just in a stretch of one game in forty eight days or whatever it was at Lambeau so and I think the home stretch early on when we saw the way the Packers came out sputtering on offense in Week one against a good Chicago defense. But after Week one to have that stretch of five home games in six weeks, Matt Lafleur, Aaron Rodgers, the offense, they were able to they were able to work out the kinks. They were able to

really fix some things and work on some things. When you had the stretch of home games, well, now you're always going to have other issues that are going to crop up throughout the season. When you're in a stretch of four road games out of five, it's tough to fix your issues. You're trying to just say, hey, we're gonna try to find a way to survive. We're gonna try to find a way to win games. They fell flat in l a, they fell flat in San Francisco.

They gotta win. They got a road win against the Giants. They got a road win against Kansas City and that stretch of four road games in five weeks. Now they're back home. It's a it's an opportunity to turn some things around and and in looking for a spark on special teams in the return game, Packers are still trying. Traymont Smith has been released. Tyler Irvin, a return specialist.

I guess you might say he's officially running mostly turned in his career, but yes, he's mostly mostly done returns in his career, most recently from Jacksonville claimed off waivers. And it looks like they're just gonna plug him in as the return man and say, all right, kid, you know here you go, this is this is your shot because we're looking for a spark here. Yeah, and they needed the guy. I think that was natural at both

of them. I mean when you look at tray Smith, I mean, certainly he has some pelts on the wall as it relates to the kickoff return, but not as many of them at the pro level on punt returns. In Irvin, you have a guy that has done it both uh, and I just think, yeah, I mean, people have been asking for they want things to be shaken up a little bit, and the Packers have. You've been following them with what they've done over the last month

with special teams. They're doing everything they can and this is an important game to do it, Mike, because Washington special teams are legit. Dustin Hopkins I think, you know, not having his best year, but you know Steven Sims has one brought back for a touchdown this year in the night or whatever that was. They are going to push for field position in this game and the Packers

need to start winning that. And here's the thing. You have four games like I think Packers by no means are looking ahead, but I think at nine and three they feel like they're a playoff team. They feel like they're a contender. This is you know, we talked about these two games at home. These next four weeks are an audition for the playoffs to show exactly where you stack up and how far you could potentially bring this thing and to go where they need to go. The

special teams need to be better. J K. Scott put a huge foot forward, no pun intended last week in New York, especially in those can aditions where he's been kind of struggling a little bit with colder weather. Mason Crosby. We've talked to nauseum about the performance that he had and what he was able to do in those conditions in the season, and he's had in general. Kickoff return, punt return has been the one thing that has been left to be desired since Week one of the season.

So you bring in Irvin, now you see what he has to offer. The great thing about this position and the great thing about special teams this goes back to something that Tim mass they told me in two thousand thirteen. There's really no playbook for specialists in return positions. You can be replaced like that and the guy can go in there and do the job just like that. He needs to know the block and patterns, he needs to have a general feel for the scheme. But returning is

returning and kicking is kicking. Tyler. Irvin has a chance now to come in here and show that he belongs. Yeah, And with regards to the Packers special teams as a whole, Yes, the return game, they haven't gotten the spark there that they've been looking for. Coverage wise, they haven't allowed any real backbreaking returns. A couple of explosive returns here, and they're during the season, but nothing really backbreaking. And yeah,

early earlier in the year than than more recently. Penalties are certainly way down on special teams compared to a year ago, which which was a huge problem. So it's not as it's not as though the sky is completely falling on special teams here. And certainly what j K. Scott did against the Giants, he's been in a slump for about a month. Two of his three punts against

the Giants were really really good ones. I mean, penned them inside the twenty yard line um with you know, high hangers that um that were either fair caught or downed in difficult field position for the Giants. So that's that looks like it's you know, he looks like he's working his way out of that. Any kind of a spark, really, it feels like that the Packers could get from their return game could really make a difference here down the stretch.

If suddenly Aaron Rodgers is starting a few drives at the thirty five or the thirty eight yard line as opposed to the twenty two or the twenty five yard line, things could really start to look different. West and That's what Brian goodacombs to Matt Lafleur after here. That's why they keep changing things around. They're looking for their looking for that spark. And and this is an opportunity with Irvin. He was available on the waiver wire from Jacksonville. They're

going to give him a shot. Yeah. And the thing that I thought this week really proved too is there just aren't There isn't an answer just sitting on the street corner right. For so many weeks, especially Insider in Box more so than this show, we would get question after question, why did they trade Trevor Davis? What was the reasoning that was behind this? Trevor Davis got released this week from Oakland. You hate to see that for him.

He's a good guy, but it goes to show you, I mean, everybody's always looking to get better, especially in the Special Team's phases where guys can be recycled so quickly. Davis has already ended up in Miami, for example. So the Packers, in addition now having a second round pick for next year, I feel like they have a guy that you know, we're gonna probably learn a little bit

more about him later in the day. But to to be able to find answers and be able to find uh, you know in potentially he find something that could push you and propel you into the postseason. All it takes, Sean Menega said it since the very beginning of the season. All it takes is that one big return. The Packers are still waiting on it, and Urvan's gonna be the chance it gets a chance to you know, potentially do it. Yeah. Well, we will see if if they get that that little

extra juice that they're looking for in that phase. But for now, we are going to call it a wrap on this edition of Packers on Scripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team on Packers dot com. Subscribe to us like us on iTunes and other podcast services if you will, and definitely check out the new Packers YouTube channel for wes I Mike. Thanks for tuning in, everybody, We'll see you next time.