#614 Packers Unscripted: Fantastic finish

we might as well start with the finish. Thirty seven seconds on the clock, no time Out's ball on Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams, Mason Crosby and some really good pass protection get the job done for the Packers. Moments of greatness, reveal themselves, you know, in those clutch moments, and it

it's just it's incredible. Coin back and looking at some of the transcripts, you know from Kyle Shanahan in the locker room for the forty niners thirty seven seconds left, they knew there was too much time left on the clock. Now that's not to say the green By Packers was gonna go down, and at their own will put points up against them, but that's way too much time to

give Aaron Rodgers to make something happen. And even with no time out, even with no time Oh it's and as Rogers said, and he's so eloquently put afterwards, you know, he knew he needed to chunk plays to be able to get downfield. They needed to get within the thirty seven yard line there, basically to give Mason Crosby a chance at this thing. And what are you gonna do. You're gonna look towards Davante Adams, and you know, Adams pretty much imposed his will on San Francisco in the

first half. A lot of injuries in their secondary, pretty banged up. They were having a hard time, you know, trying to defend against him. They eventually shifted to the cover to look giving him a little bit more attention in the second half. But on that final series, I mean, they were content to try to find ways to play a semi prevent defense. They still rushed for but they put guys back and Aaron Rodgers went to work. Man.

I mean that first play, as he talked about later on, something that they kind of even drew up in the dirt at practice on Thursday, for you know, Adams to come across and Roger to put that ball where he did, just over the outstretched outstretched arms of Fred Almost, Fred Taylor, Fred Warner, one of the best in the business inside linebacker right now, to get those twenty five yards right

off the bat. Once they got to midfield, I think everybody felt pretty good about their chances to be able to at least give Mason Crosby a chance to hit the game winner. Yeah, once the ball was on the fifty, as Rogers said, he knew going into it, two chunk plays is what you need. He got the first one. The balls at midfield at that point, you know, I mean Crosby's said afterward, his range was, you know, fifty

four to fifty six yards. Maybe you could push it a little further if you absolutely had to, uh, one more completion, one more chunky yardage there got that kicked to fifty one, and you know that certainly well within

Crosby's range. I thought it was interesting that Adams right after the game said that in some ways the fact that there were no time outs might have worked to the Packers advantage because with no time outs, the Forts were regarding the boundaries they were they were leaving the middle of the field open, thinking that a couple of completions in the middle of the field and the time it would take to go up and spike the ball that maybe the Packers wouldn't quite have enough, And it

turns out they did. They had three seconds to spare, even with the one incomplete pass in between the two completions, the two spikes, three seconds to spare, and uhum, and the Packers get out of San Francisco with with an incredibly uplifting victory. Um. You know, these two teams long ways to go in this season, obviously, but these I think are two teams we're gonna be talking about come December when we're you know, looking at playoff picture and whatnot.

Very much so because the weapons now for San Francisco are more than just their running backs. I mean, you know, Deebo Samuel, he's going to be a problem here for the NFL. I thought, George Kittle when he's healthy, it's him and Travis Kelsey as far as one A, one B for the best of that position. But what it struck me the most about that final drive was the psychology of it. And Rogers explain, you know, you can't be looking for checkdowns there. That's that's bad. But they

also the way they bracketed. The sidelines were basically protecting against allowing any pass in the middle field to get to the sideline. So what does Green Bay do. Davante Adams goes down the first time, gets the seventeen yards, gets down again. Playing with a backup left tackle and all these moving pieces, they managed to set their formation, spiked the ball, and Mason Crosby, for what the ninth time in his career now goes out there and drills

home a game winner. NOE got a little close for comfort in terms of the pass rush or the you know, the attempted block there by San Francisco. But be that as it may, horseshoes and hand grenades, the Green Bay Packers came out. They found a way to win this thing. They had the way to the world on them in

the fourth quarter. So many different circumstances, some questionable officiating, I mean, different variables, but more than anything, San Francisco showed a never say die attitude and they came back to put themselves in that ball game. But ultimately, Mike I said it in Insider Inbox, you and I've talked about this week, the Green Bay Packers were the better football team and Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams were the two best players on the field. That's what showed him

crunch time. Yeah, absolutely, the Packers. The Packers were the better team on the field in this game for the vast majority of I mean the fact that the forty Niners never had the lead in the game until there were thirty seven seconds left on the clock. That says a lot. With the Packers playing on the road. We had talked about it last week, how important it was, Rogers had talked about it after the Detroit game La Fleur as well, how important it was to get off

to a fast start. The Packers were able to do that, getting out to a seventeen nothing lead in the second quarter. The defense was playing really well, the offense was moving the ball. The seventeen nothing could have been even better. Obviously, the Packers had had a failed fourth and one in the red zone there that that left points out there. But they got off to the start that they needed to and for the most part, really up until that final drive by San Francisco, the Packers prevented the San

Francisco Amentum shifts because they were there. There were the shifts, but they prevented them from becoming that that tsunami where the other team just completely takes over and suddenly you're you're totally on your heels and you can't figure out how to how to stem the tide. That never really happened. San Francisco give them credit. They put together Garoppolo puts

together the drive. The big play to Kittle was was really the backbreaker for the Packer defense there and uh and San Francisco gets into the end zone, but Aaron Rodgers had just enough time to go the other way. And in Rogers and Adams have already discussed them just how how talented they are and to be able to have that connection, being able to find a way to win that football game, all the credit to them in

the world. When we saw we saw the back shoulder throws early and then you see the balls over the middle late in the game. I mean, when Aaron Rodgers needs it, it's there's there's no secret you know who's going to get the football. But I'm gonna mention this because he'll be the last person to bring it up. But I mean the game plan that Matt Laflour and his coaches put together, and the way they coached that football team. I thought, really shine through in this game.

Uh first and form do you look at you know you have Yoshneimen making a spot start at left tackle. I went back and did the math Mike. One thousand and forty four days since the last time that young man started in a meaningful regular season game. You have to go back to, you know, his time at Virginia Tech, and here he is protecting the blindside of the NFL's reigning league MVP. Niman did an exemplary job in that game. But it's also Matt Lafleur and his coaching staff being

really smart with their game plan right. They understood you can't put the you can't put everything on this kid against Nick Bosa. There were times where it needed to be that, but Mercedes lewis best blocking tight end the National Football League taken on Bosa sometimes even one on one. Robert Tounyan had that chip block that made all the raves on social media on Monday, where he was able to get the pancake of Bosa down. That young offensive line gives up one sack in this game and Rogers

gets the ball out quickly. It was your Quintus essential team victory in the way they went about this thing and the fact that they were able to establish the momentum that they had despite the fact they were without their top two offensive line. Yeah. Absolutely. You look at and I mentioned this in a couple of different places on our website. You look at that starting offensive line on Sunday night, the two rookies at center and right guard.

You had John Running at left guard as you just mentioned, Josh, and I'man at left tackle. Those four guys, four fifths of your offensive line collectively had five NFL starts to their name heading into that game on Sunday night. Now they have nine. They almost doubled it. They went from five to nine. They all they all added another start, but obviously nine, and it was his first for Running, it was his second. For the two rookies that was their third, having you know, with this being Week three

and then being starters in the opener this year. That was pretty remarkable to me how that group held up throughout the course of four quarters the way that it did. But you also mentioned the game plan. Now I'm not saying obviously that we haven't seen the Kers do this, but the vast majority of the time on third down it was shotgun, empty backfield, spread them out. And you may say, well, aren't you leaving you know, isn't that

leaving the offensive line vulnerable? No, that was a That was a plan on third down to get the ball out of Rogers hands. He was gonna have as many targets as possible. He was going to scan the field before the snap, and he was gonna know where he was going to not leave him vulnerable to that third down pass rush of a Nick Bosa or an Eric Armstead or a d Ford or a blitzing Fred Warner,

whatever the case might be. That was the plan. I I can probably count on three fingers or less the number of times on third down that the Packers did not empty the backfield and go shotgun. The plan was clear about getting the ball out of Rogers hands in those potential pass rush situations, and for the most part, the way the Packers were moving the ball, it was it was hard to argue with the results. Yeah, and and exactly and being able also early on, you know,

I felt like getting off to a fast start. We'll talk about the defense here momentarily, but to get off to the fast start that they did getting out of the gate. Rogers talked about it afterwards. He's been so reiterating how much he wanted them to get off, you know, the energy, to come out the right way. They did

that in this game. And you know they haven't broken a seventy yard run yet this season, but a j. Dillon and Aaron Jones combining carries for a hundred yards just really clean, consistent production and being able to do it against that front. I think that allowed those offensive linemen to get comfortable. I thought you really saw Josh Meyers athleticism in this game and his ability to get to the second level. I think, as I've continued to say on this broadcast, Billy Turner is one of the

most underrated players on this team. And the fact is he's been a really stable presence at right tackle since they put him their last season. Yeah, we sure didn't hear much from de Ford on Sunday night, and that was that was Turner's assignment. And yes there were some chips on on that side as well, but obviously the chipping was mostly focused at left tackle with Nieman and and Uh and Turner. Turner was a country not heard from and that worked out perfectly. And that's exactly what

you're looking for. When you decide we're going to take this one spot that's vacant, and we're gonna put a young player in there that's never started an NFL game. You don't want to have to worry about the right side there. And I thought Turner held up his end

of the bargain. But I'll just close on this. In regards of the offense, for Davante Adams, with all the attention he's received to have twenty five catches, the most catches and franchise history through the first three games of the season, to have three receiving yards already, have you know, come back from a nasty, nasty, vicious hit from Jimmy Ward that should have been a helmet to helmet to do all that and get back on the field and clumb up with two huge catches for forty two yards

in the clutch. Davante Adams, as we continue to see Mike, it's so fun when you can watch a guy ascend to a certain level, but watching him now sustain and elevate from that level and all pro level has been a really treat. Has there been a really big treat? Yeah, no question about it, Absolutely no question about it. Some

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deep ball to George Kittle. Unfortunately, the Packers did not turn that turnover in into points and really west. The unfortunate thing with the way the defense was playing was that that long kickoff return was allowed right before halftime because then the forty Niners only had about thirty yards to go. They were able to get in the end zone. UM and still probably shouldn't have if because I think I agree with Matt Lafleur. I think it was intentional

grounding on Jimmy Garoppolo. I think he was going to throw an interception in the end zone if he actually tried to throw it, and so he spiked the ball into the ground. That aside, the Packers were on their way to a first half shutout, which would have actually

been a four quarter shutout. Going back to the second half of the Monday night game against the Lions, and uh, and you know, this is a defense that obviously knows the Darius Smith lost Chris Barnes to a concussion in the game along the way Kevin King they find out he's ill, and and uh is out for the game. UM on game day, and uh and I thought the defense. I know the final drive was frustrating to a lot of fans. I get it, but that's also the way this the way this thing can work in the NFL.

I thought this Packer defense two, in my eyes, took a big step forward from where it was the first two weeks of the season. It did, and especially from the standpoint of it needed to start fast. I think that was the thing I talked about. They needed to set the temple. They need to stop the run. In San Francisco, a team that ran all over him two years ago could not run the football against him in this game that frankly kind of gave up on it,

even though they weren't. They weren't. They were never out of the Packers were leading the whole time, but they were never It was never a completely abandoned the run situation for an offense, yet San Francisco just never wanted to commit to it at all. So you look at the scoreboard, then I understand that that's the ultimate indicator of where things are at. But that's the reason why Green Bay was able to start pinning its ears back. Gets four sacks in this game after really struggling to

get pressure the first few weeks. I thought Preston Smith had his best game of the season, looked like a stud throughout a lot of pressure uh, Kenny Clark was a man possessed and made one of the biggest players in the game by forcing what ended up being I mean, the game turn really into trying to judge what Jimmy Garoppolo's passes were doing, you know, And it was funny to hear Garoppolo talk after the game about, yeah, you know that was kind of on the refs with my

pass at the fumble unless and maybe someone can't explain it to me, but I grew up underneath the understanding that if it's a pass that goes backwards, no matter which if it goes in directly or if it goes it's it's a fumble. Yeah. The only time it's not is if if if it comes out of his hand forward and the defense bats it backwards, then it's a forward pass to quite frankly, was I think Garoppolo on the play that he fumbled in the fourth quarter, I think he was trying to do the same thing that

he did at the end of the first half. He was trying to basically just spike the ball and get rid of it to avoid the sec Well, that time it cost him because his shoulder got turned, the ball went backwards and it was alive and Deveandre Campbell recovered it for Green Bay. It was funny too when you mentioned the intentional grounding, and I don't disagree. I even

tweeted during the game, this, that's intentional grounding. But of all, out of all the in my own eye botched calls throughout that game, that was the one I at least under stood the rationale for it because the referee said, well, he was trying to throw it to Kittle. Fine, I can understand that, but I want to get into the

call stuff. But between the catch that's a new head, Between the defensive past interference on Eric Stokes, between the hit on DeVante, there was so much about that game that was ob to so that it just it goes without saying. But that being said, the Packers defensively, the reason they won this game is because of how they played in the first half and how they were able to keep San Francisco off the board allow themselves to get off to a fast start. Yes, there was production late, Yes,

there were some injuries there. They lose Chris Barnes, they had to adjust to that. But all that being said, you know, I was really impressed by how this defense has really picked itself up after a rough first six quarters. No one's debating that, no one's denying that, but been able to show more of what it's supposed to look like despite the fact they don't have you know, Zadarius Smith right now. So I thought that was a major

step forward. Yeah, absolutely, and quite frankly, the final drive, Yes, the defense needs to rise up and get a stop there with the score one. Unfortunately, it was a mistake by the third safety and the dime Henry Black that led to the ruptured play with with George Kittle thirty nine yards on that play, Well, that's more than half of the seventy five yards they they they had to defend.

And that's that's the one thing you can't do in those late game you know, whether it's four minute, two minute situations, is you can't give up those huge chunks of yard as you have to give yourself the opportunities down the field at the thirty five, at the forty five, at the at the minus forty five, at the minus forty to potentially get those stops and keep the other

team out of scoring range. The thirty nine yard played a Kittle Suddenly the forty Niners went from needing seventy five yards to get a touchdown to being in complete command with plenty of time on the clock and everything that they that they wanted to do. So that that's that's the one thing. And the Packers the way that the way the last game and a half had been going, they were not giving up explore some plays. They just gave one up at a bad time. Yeah, totally. And

and that's also the rich thing. It's kind of what I find quizzical with his fans will always say, well, why do they do this in two minutes? Well, sometimes the way they play there too minute defenses because they don't want to give up the big ruptured play that not only allows a lot of production but doesn't drain

any time off the clock. That's that's ultimately the game you're sort of playing there a little bit, but you know, overall, you know, for to have as many moving pieces as they've had, you know, jyr Alexander, as you said, as incredible of an interception as you're gonna find a guy going from the boundary position coming are there is absolutely no way Jimmy Garoppolo thought that pass would be in

danger of getting picked off. He threw that deep down the middle to Kittle, thinking either my great tight end is gonna is gonna make this play or it's just going to be an incomplete deep ball, and Alexander comes swooping over and get that such an and yard return out of it to Boot. So yeah, just a tremendous play by jar. The point being with that is Alexander's interception, the four sacks, the act that Devondra Campbell got yet another takeaway this week, which was a fantastic development from

the inside backer position. The Packers are making plays defensively, and that was the main thing in that first game against New Orleans. They just couldn't generate positive plays for themselves. And I just feel like, yes, there's gonna be times where defenses or offenses get yardage, but the way you can always neutralize that is by making plays defensively. And I think you're seeing the studs, the athleticism in this secondary and especially up front starting to reveal itself a

little bit. So I'm excited to see where they go this week now going up against you know, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yeah, for sure. Well, last thing before we go, We'll just take a look at where things stand in the NFC North after three games, the Packers are all lone in first place at two and one. The Chicago Bears in Minnesota Vikings both one and two, having gotten there in

very different fashions. The Bears now they don't know who their quarterback is going to be because of the injury situation. They might end up going to Nick Foles. Here in Week four, the Viking get a big win over the Seattle Seahawks, and as we talked about with the Vikings first two games, they were so close to winning both of those. The Minnesota Vikings are like, you know, fractions

of inches from being a three and o team. Here, um they are one and two with with with an impressive win in the books, and the Detroit Lions oh and three losing, losing in a way that just has to be tremendous gut punch to to Dan Campbell in trying to get his first win as an NFL head coach, allowing the fourth and nineteen, the miss delayed game, the sixty six yard record field goal that bounces off the crossbar, Detroit oh and three, But but but an oh and three,

that's been a pretty darn competitive one. Yeah, and that's the thing Mike, with those a f C, you know, crossover games, those are the times you have to see the FC come through for you. So through the Packers. Yeah, it sucks watching Detroit, which I think they're doing things the right way. I think Dan Campbell is the right voice for them right now. But you know, the Packers have to be happy to see them come up with

an l they're It was incredible watching it developed. I was watching the actual play as in real time and my boss Duke Bober, who had the video the game whatever you call that game station whatever ESPN has where it has like the stat box score thing going on, but they have the percentages on there for what the outcome is, you know, the win probability. And to see it go from Detroit Lions to Baltimore Ravens in just a quick like real time refresh was jarring. And then

to hit that field go. I wrote this an inbox Mike. Pound for pound. I'll debate people if they want to talk about it, but Justin Tucker is the greatest pound for pound kicker that I think we've ever seen this league in terms of the pedigree coming into the league. His power, his accuracy, and the fact that he does come up in those clutch moments. The Baltimore Ravens know what they have in Tuckers, the reason he is the

highest paid kicker in the league. But for him to come in there sixty six yards that think shouldn't had been close to the crossbar, let alone hitting it and bouncing over, and to see that Detroit fans behind it just in disbelief. It was kind of sounds amazing. I think I think you were doing I think you were doing pregame radio at the time. I was. I was watching in the little conference room where where we watched

the um the game against San Francisco Sunday night. I was watching the NBC pregame show, and when they showed that highlight of Tucker's long kick, Drew Brees pointed out, zeroing in on Tucker, how he actually did like a little crow hop, like a like a baseball outfielder, does you know, and trying to throw out a guy at home plate kind of thing. He did a little crow hop with his footwork to get that much more into

that kick. And the fact that a guy can that, a guy can do that, and the thing is dead on accurate. I mean he hit the he hit the crossbar at sixty six yards, but right in the middle of the crossbar. I mean he was straight down the middle with that kick, even adjusting his footwork and everything to try to get a little bit more energy into it. It looked like the guy is is what it looks Yeah,

the guy is. The guy is a phenomenal kicker. Had the sixty one yard or in that same stadium, Ford Field, to help out the Packers in when the Lions were looking like they were going to win the NFC North that year. And now he hits a sixty six yard or at Ford Field. Just unbelievable. Yeah, pretty special moment. But yeah, for the Green Bay Packers too. And one, it's a good place to be right now in a division where there's a there's a lot of teams working

through some early early season adversity right now. Yeah. Absolutely. And the Packers are back at home in Week four against Pittsburgh, which we will talk about on our next show. For that, we're calling it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team all week long on Packers dot com for west On, Mike, thanks for tuning in, everybody, See you next time.