#567 Packers Unscripted: Focus up front

Green Bay is eight and three, trying to get to nine and three at the three quarter pole of the regular season. So let's get right into it. What is it going to take? What are the keys to victory here for green Bay against Philly. Well, I like that you said three quarter pole. We always do the first quarter pole, and it seems like we always abandoned it. I did that just for your benefit. Thank you. I appreciate that. Um, you know, for the green Bay Packers,

I look at this matchup a lot. In a lot of ways, Mike, is very similar to last week's game against the Chicago Bears and what they need to do and what has to happen now. The interesting thing about Philadelphia is for is up and down as their seasons has been. For as many injuries as they've had, specifically on the offensive side of the ball and even more specifically on the offensive line, they've kind of been in the front running spot of the division for most of

the season. Now they finally fall out of that. So you can look at the records, you can talk about the records in the NFC East. The truth of the matter is that the standpoint of where we're talking, there's still very much in the playoff hunts. So I think green Bay in this matchup, it really comes down to again establishing the run, being able to get yards off of a Philadelphia defense that is you wrote about, you know,

has still been playing pretty well this year. Doug Peterson even mentioned during his conference called with Green Bay media on Wednesday that, you know a lot of ways they've been the ones that have sort of paced this year when you talk about playing you know, full complete football. Uh, it has really been that the defense that has set the tone. But for green Bay, I just thought they

really set the blueprint last week. You start out fast, you you'd be efficient with the ball, you protect the football, you get a couple of takeaways. Greenby has had at least one now in the last four games a total. During that time, Carson Wentz has been turning over the ball at a pretty prolific rate for two thousand and twenty. There's so many things in this matchup that I think all signs point to Green Bay, but you actually have to go out there and execute that the way they

did against the Bears in order to take that a reality. Yeah, it's interesting that you draw the parallel with the Bears game because I see that as well from the standpoint that this Philadelphia Eagles team has a legit top ten defense and the Chicago Bears at last week, the strength of their team in trying to stay in the playoff fronto the NFC has been their defense. On the flip side, it's an offense that has struggled in Philadelphia. They haven't

really found their footing. You know, you mentioned the injury reason on the offensive line. They've also just in terms of establishing who are the really who are the go to guys for Carson Wentz um as the quarterback of this Eagle's offense, they haven't really found that. And you know, much like the Bears have been struggling on offense for the bulk of the season. When I look at this game, I look at a couple of statistics that jump out at me. One is that Carson Wentz has been sacked

forty six times this year, which leads the NFL. The other is that the Philadelphia Eagles defensively have thirty six sacks, which is tied for second in the NFL. So, as I mentioned on our Three Things video yesterday, this game just kind of kind of jumps out at me from a matchup perspective, as protect your quarterback, get after the other guy's quarterback. That that's what That's what this game,

you know, kind of screams at you. And you know, I like the Packers chances in that respect because we've seen Green Bay's offensive line handle injuries, position, shuffling, everything else throughout the course of the season, and Philly's offensive

line has has not handled that nearly as well. I think the Packers have a big edge in the in the trenches in terms of the offensive lines in this matchup, and I think that's really what should what should hopefully carry green madea victory well, and this is what hurts for for the Eagles too, is that Mike, you know you and I mentioned There's a lot of different shuffling and injuries that have happened with the line this year, but for the most part, they've been able to get

most guys back. Lane Taylor obviously was lost for the season to his knee injury in Week one, but you know, as David Bactieri was out of the line up for a little bit, Billy Turner missed a game. Now you're dealing with Corey Linsley and the knee injury, but again the Packers are hopeful that he won't be done for the season. For the Eagles, they have been so fortunate. Now they just lost Lane Johnson again. And the other side of things too. You go back to Andre Dillard

missing time. I mean, Brandon Brooks has been out still on pup hasn't played this season. That those are three big components of their line that they've not had throw and Zach Ertz and these other issues. But that the statistics, Mike, when they when you look at them, they just their mind boggling for the Eagles this season. I mean, you

have Carson Wentz at forty six sacks. I think the next closest is Brussel Wilson with maybe thirty five the takeaway numbers fifteen interceptions, there's three other quarterbacks that are tied with eleven. Uh. You know, from Doug Peterson's perspective, he boiled it down to three things. It comes down to takeaways, there's been too many of them. He comes down to injuries, and then he mentions it's just the overall execution. When they have protected the football, they just

haven't produced enough. So seeing exactly what this game plan is gonna look like for them, you know, do you see Jalen Hurts in this matchup? Are they more committed to Miles Sanders in this game? And they get Travis Fulham going again after he had an impressive part of

the season. But it's kind of gotten quiet here. There's so many different things that play into this, but ultimately it's going to come down to the turnover margin and whether or not Green they can keep their takeaways coming and also prevent take you know, giving up the ball to a very talented Philadelphia and experience. Yeah, and the other thing when you talk about injuries. Now, at the time we're taping this episode on Thursday morning, we don't

really know a whole heck of a lot. But Fletcher Cox in the middle of that defensive line for the Eagles. He missed practice on Wednesday. He cropped up on the injury report with a neck injury. Not a whole lot of information right now is to how serious. It is not entirely unusual for a team coming off of a Monday night game to add some guys to the injury report, and maybe they won't practice until later in the week,

so we'll see what happens. But you know, the Packers caught a break when a Chem Hicks was not available due to his hamstring injury for the Chicago game. If Fletcher Cox is not available for the Philadelphia Eagles, you know, that's that's another potential stroke of good fortune here. Now that being said, I think, you know, Philadelphia certainly has the edge rushers with Brandon Graham and Derek Barnett. You know, Javonna Hargrave is the other defensive tackle in the middle

of that front four. Those guys are no slouches either. But again, the you know, the Bears have a heck of a front four, and when a Chem Hicks was missing, the Chicago Bears just didn't look the same. And you wonder if Fletcher Cox is unable to go. How much of a change to this Philly defense, which is ninth in the league in total yards, which is fifth in the league I believe, or tied for fifth and third down defense. You wonder how much that would change things

based on what we saw with Chicago last week. And there's just no way to replace him that. That's the other thing with Hicks, you know, there's just there's there's no guys that played the position the way that Fletcher Cox plays it. I'm not talking about in Philadelphia, I'm talking the National Football League right now. He is among a handful of defensive tackles that can not only stop the run, but can also get after the past or two. Remember Mike exactly where he is on sacks for them

this season? Yeah, he he has five and a half. He's second right now behind Brandon Graham and sacks. I mean, that's the dimension he brings to this thing. He is just such a force in the middle of that defense. As you said to neck injuries are so weird when they pop up on the injury report because they can be you know, your basic stingers or those type of things where guys just take a day off. I think Kamal Martin had a neck injury on the Packers injury report.

Not a big deal, or it can be something that crops up like Daniel Hunter did, where at first they're thinking, Okay, maybe this is something they can play through. Next thing you know, they're talking about fusion surgery. So it's so vague and ambiguous. We don't know when we're talking about this right now, exactly what the week is going to forecast for him, but certainly Cox being on there. It was a short injury report for the Eagles, but a

lot of guys on that list that are their premier players. Yeah, well, quickly here West before I forget some sponsored business. Serious x M NFL Radio channel is the only radio outlet dedicated to the National Football League seven days a week, three hundred sixty five days a year, and Packers fans score up to five hundred dollars for your devotion to the pack when you open a Packers checking account from Associated Bank. Learn more at Associated bank dot com. Um

backslash Packers. All right, another thing we we should uh talk about here before we move on to the rest of the schedule in the NFL. For this week, Packers have a new addition to their offense, and I'm talking about wide receiver Tavon Austin. Packers have signed him, brought him into the mix. He did a zoom call with

reporters on Wednesday after practice. This is an interesting addition here West because much like last year, at this time, the Packers are looking for some kind of a boost on special teams, some kind of a spark for the return game, because the Packers just had not been able to uh, you know, to bust any explosive you know,

impactful returns so far this year. And we saw last year when Tyler Irvin was the guy who came in and early December and provided that Matt Lafleur wasted no time whatsoever in getting him involved in the offense and the jet motions and having some packages for for Irvin down stretch in um this green Bay offense. So what are your thoughts, I guess at this point on Tavon Austin and perhaps what we might see not only potentially on Sunday, but as the month of December rolls on

here for green Bay. Yeah. I like the move for green Bay and I like the time in which they made the move because right now Mike. The Packers are actually been relatively healthy. It looks like al Lazard got through whatever that issue was at the end of the game after that hit he took from Jalen Johnson. He was limited on Wednesday with the Corean troum, but nothing new on that. Cleared to return, he just didn't because

of the game situation. Appears like Mark Wesveld is scantling after a little scare with the achilles appears to be okay, Ecunimia st Brown is getting healthier, and Tyler Irvin certainly coming back from the rib injury. Is something we have to continue to monitor. But all things considered, the Packers offense is if the skill positions is as healthy as it's been all season long. So what is guy like Tavan Austin add to this unit? He adds another option. He adds a guy that not only can help you

potentially on returns, specifically punt returns. He's done it every year he's been in the National Football League, but he also could potentially fit into this Matt Lafleur scheme. It's sort of that motion guy, the pre snap guy coming across the line. He joked about he did not run a forty during his workout with Packers, but still feels

like he can run a four three. Now, all those things being said, him learning this offense and understanding the nuances of it, that's going to be a big challenge here. But you look at what Tyler Irvin did last season, coming in late getting claim from the waivers from Jacksonville. He brought a lot and by the time the season was over, he not only had been the guy that helped rejuvenate the return units, he also become kind of

an interesting gadget player in this offense. I think with having a guy like Austin in the fold now with his experience and also having some of those, you know, those traits that Irvin has, it's another guy that's in this equation for Matt Lafleur to play with during the final stretch of the season and if injuries crop up down the stretch or in the playoffs, here's another veteran presence that you have too potential to be able to

take the workload off some young guys. Yeah, Austin a guy who he's dealt with some injuries the last few years and kind of derailed his career a little bit. Now he does have some experience obviously with with Matt Lafleur when la Fleur was the offensive coordinator with the Rams, also with with Ben Sermons, the Packers running backs coach. Um has some experience with him as well. Um, I'll be interested to see just just what he brings to

the table, because you know, all the athletic ability is there. Maybe, as he said, maybe he's not a four two guy in the forty anymore, but he thinks he can still run a four three. But this is a guy, this is a guy with a lot of talent, came into the league with a lot of pedigree as a top ten pick, and quite frankly, he's looking for the restart in a sense to his career. He's he's he's looking

to get things back on track. And maybe Green Bay is uh is just the right opportunity with an offense like Matt Lafleur's well, and that's where my battle Fleur has had. This might as touch Mike for finding these types of players and being able to find a niche for them in the offensive role. And that was something that Aaron Rodgers kind of alluded to during his conference call with the reporters on Wednesday. The fact that, yeah, I mean, is Tavon Austin gonna be a guy that

is gonna be playing sixties snaps offensively a game. Probably not, not at least right away. But if you can find something that he does well and build packages off of it. You saw what Tyler Irvin adds to this unit, especially when he's been healthy here. I just that's the intriguing aspect to me with this whole thing. You look at the body types that the Green Bay Packers have on

the offensive side of the ball. You have your Mercedes Lewis is of the world, just amazing physical specimens, Uh, Robert Tany in the tall tight end, tall receivers, and now some of these guys that fit on the other side of the spectrum. When you look at it in your game planning, you're creating these types of things for opposing defenses. That's another thing that they have to think about. But first things first, he has to get healthy here.

He has to get back in football shape, as he said, and show that when that opportunity comes he's still very much that first round pick that he was seven years ago. Yeah, that's definitely his objective. No, question about it. Well, I want to get your thoughts West on a handful of games across the league. UM, in the NFL here as we head into the weekend, because there there are some interesting matchups. First right in the NFC North, the Detroit

Lions at the Chicago Bears. UM. Some are calling this the you know, the last stand for the Bears to to say, you know, hey, we are going to be a contender. We're going to be in this thing down the stretch. They're facing a Detroit Lions team that now has an interim head coach, the former Wisconsin Badgers Rolls Bowl winning quarterback former Packers assistant coach Daryl Bevil now taking the reins in Detroit. What are your thoughts on this NFC North matchup? Must win game for the Bears, Uh,

in so many different ways. First off, to be six and six and still keep yourself in the outside, you know, part of the division equation, the playoff equation, you have to get this win. But more importantly, Mike, this slide that they've been on here. Uh, you know, now five and six and this losing streak and not being able to really right the ship, and they thought that maybe they had the answer with Nick full and obviously he led him back in that one game. But the you know,

kind of the downfall here in the month of November. Uh, it has them really reeling here and seeing exactly where they're going to be able to fit and if Matt Nage can kind of corral the horses here and get this thing turned back in the right direction, because on the other sideline that's gonna be at your own home field, you're seeing a Detroit Lions team that just went through an incredible amount of upheaval. Now we've covered enough of these interim coaches, Mike, We've seen it enough in the

National Football League. These things go one of two ways. Either teams come together or they fall apart. Very rarely is it somewhere in the middle. It's a big gut check for both of these squads, but especially the Bears, who still want to be in that conversation for a playoffs about here in two thousand. Well, speaking of interim coaches, the Atlanta Falcons will be hosting the New Orleans Saints

this weekend. And now the Falcons under Raheem Morris, who took over for Dan Quinn if Todd Gurley falls down the one yard line against the Detroit Lions, the Falcons would be five and one under Raheem Morris. And now this is a Saints team that is a top the NFC nine and two, one game ahead of the Packers in the Seahawks for the best record in the conference. But the Saints do not have Drew Brees back yet

at quarterback. The Falcons coming off of a blowout win over the Raiders last week, with many people pegging the Raiders as a playoff contender in the a f C, having beaten the Chiefs earlier near and taking the Chiefs to the wire in the rematch. So an interesting one year with the Saints trying to stay in that top spot in the NFC against a division rival without Drew Brees. Yeah,

and that's the biggest question here, Taysom Hill. Now that teams have had a chance to get a couple of weeks of film on him, how are they going to defend him? Because I always think it's too simplistic to say, well, if someone's been figured out, if a guy is good enough, he're not going to be able to figure him out. He's gonna be able to pivot and do other things. Differently, but last week was certainly a little bit more adversity than what he'll had grown accustomed to facing, specifically as

a passer. So how does he fare in a matchup like this against an Atlanta Falcons team that whose defense you know, still is what it is, but now seems to have a little bit more of its own swagger back. And they have this game and at home in their own dome. So, uh, this is gonna be one of

these teams down the stretch. I think with the Falcons that the record might not indicate that they are obviously going to be in the playoffs or they're even a contender at this point, but with Matt Ryan, with those weapons, it still makes you think a little bit. So the New Orleans Saints have had some ups and they've had some downs this season, but seeing how they're able to stem this tide to win Drew Brees gets back in the lineup, that's gonna be their ultimate test and squarely

that's gonna fall on the shoulders of Payom Hill. One more in the NFC I want to get your thoughts on. Then also one in the a f C. The Rams are at the Cardinals, now just a couple of weeks ago, the Cardinals win a big game over Buffalo on a hail Mary. They're riding high. The Rams get a big win over the Seahawks. They're riding high. But now since those wins, both of these teams kind of starting to

head in the wrong direction a little bit. But yet they're both still very much in playoff contention in the NFC, And you know, you don't want to say it's a must win for both teams, so to speak, at this stage. I think that's a little bit of a stretch. But this is an important game in uh in the NFC West, with Seattle sitting on top and both of these teams

trying to stay within striking distance of the Seahawks. Yeah, it's really interesting kind of paradox that those two teams find themselves in because from the airline the Arizona Cardinals perspective, this is a team that I think is going to be good, and I think they are going to be a team. If I'm the Green of Packers, I meany

of these squads. I don't want to see the Cardinals in the playoffs, just because it has a lot of that two thousand nine sort of feel to them where they can put up points against anybody, but they still haven't quite reached that upper echelon where it's like, okay, every single week you can count on them for these points for this production to be favor Uh, there's still sort of in many ways, especially with Kyler Murge still

learning how to win at this level. Then you look at the Rams, who very much felt like last year they could have needed for a title, and this year they still feel like they're built to heat, you know, even though they've had to make a few changes on both sides of the ball. This is another one of those games Mike that if you look at it from

l A's perspective, they're going into Arizona's home field. Can they find a way to get that eighth win of the season, Because not only does that keep you then in striking distance of the Seahawks, but there's going to be some tight matchups here down the stretch and both

conferences to get those wild card birds. Even though they expanded to seven, I still think there's a chance that you're gonna end up seeing a decent team or two not able to crack that field if it does stay at fourteen teams, so yeah, division implications, everything else that plays into it. It's definitely a Markett matchup. One game in the a f C. I want to get your thoughts on Cleveland is at Tennessee. Now we've seen the Titans. The Titans got off to a hot start this year,

went through a bit of a lull. They lost three out of four games. Now the Titans have come out the other side of it, and they look like they're looking a lot like that team that was making that run last January all the way to the a f C title game. The flip side with the Cleveland Browns. If you want to announce to the a f C and announced to the football world that you're to be taken seriously as an a f C playoff contender, this is a huge opportunity for Cleveland. They have a winning record,

they are in the mix for a playoff spot. But there are a lot of people that are skeptical. They don't really quite believe in the Browns. They're not really sure what to think of the Browns. Well, Cleveland, here's your chance. Well you shouldn't believe in the Browns because I think they've started to find their identity offensively. I think when you look at Baker, Baker Mayfield doing a better job of protecting the ball this season. I think he's shown more of the promise that he showed off

the bat. He's been able to recapture that. And they have a really potent one to punch in their backfield with, you know, Kareem Hunting able to kind of get his career back on track, and Nick Chubb also has been one of the more consistent reliable running presences in this league. To me, if you're the Cleveland Browns, that's the ticket. Doesn't matter if it's two thousand twenty, doesn't matter if

it's two thousand en Uh. You play in in the Midwest, your your blue collar city, find your running game and build things off of that. You don't need to be Hollywood. You just need to be black and blue in that division. So I like the direction they've gone. Now that being said, you're going up against a team that does it as well as anybody, with Derrick Henry and certainly Ryan Tannehill, who has had one of the more unheralded seasons this here as far as playing the quarterback position, how he

has reinvented himself in Tennessee. Uh there there, It's something that people down the line are going to have to look at. When he played for as long as he did with Miami not being able to fulfill his potential, he got that prove it deal, that backup deal that we often talk about with quarterbacks that don't work out at their first stop, and it actually ended up turning into a franchise quarterback a franchise contract. So it's a good matchup in on the other side of this, Mike.

Like I mentioned with the last the last thing, there's probably gonna be a team with a winning record that doesn't make the a f C playoffs. Up until last week, I think Cleveland was still on the outside looking in until they got their eighth win in terms of how the projected you know, slots are right now in seatings. So yeah, they're both teams that are both eight and three, but there's still a lot on the line here and be able to pick up that that next win and

ensure themselves of a winning season. Well, I think the reason there's there is the skepticism about the Browns is because the last time earlier this year, they had a game where they were this hyped and you know, going into play the Steelers, they got smacked and you know, they got knocked down pretty hard. So this is this is definitely a prove it type of game for Cleveland. And what's fun for them too is they're gonna have

a chance to show that that wasn't them. I mean, they're gonna be able to host the Pittsburgh in that finale. Now people will see if whether or not even the starters are going to be in that game for Pittsburgh. Are they gonna be going for sixteen and all things we're gonna have to figure out. But if you look at the way the schedule lines up for them, Mike, they get Tennessee, they're gonna be taking out a Baltimore team that's had a lot of adversity, and then they

go to New York teams back to back. This thing set up for Cleveland, have a ten win season, ten plus win season, and make that run, that that long anticipated run to a playoff birth that I think everybody has been sort of hoping for here the last four

years and in that part of the country. Yeah, alright, 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 on Packers dot com and all of the coverage of Sunday afternoons big game from lambeau Field against the Philadelphia Eagles. It will all be there for you on Packers dot com for Wes. I am Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody. Let's see you next time.