#625 Packers Unscripted: The latest challenge

Jordan's love will be making his first NFL start on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium, and it's another week where the Packers just have to adjust and roll with the punches, you know. Matt Lafleur spoke to the media for fifteen sixteen minutes after um all this news happened on Wednesday, and I really appreciate a lot of what he said, but one thing that stood out to me in particular is this is just something you just have to learn to deal with. UM. We've always known about the injury

side of things, and in the month of December. In the past, there's been the flu bug that has been passed around the locker room. Packers had a big boat of that back in two thousand nineteen. But you know, the realities of COVID now are that one week, you may not have your defensive coordinator, you may not have your you know, you're all pro receiver, and in this particular case, you're not gonna have your three time MVP quarterback.

But the ability to adjust, I think, in my opinion, on top of Lafleur's offensive brilliance, on top of the creativity of this coaching staff, the way the Packers have been able to adapt and build winning game plans despite whatever they're missing, has been one of the hallmarks of his you know, two and a half year run now is the head coach of the Packers. I couldn't agree more. This is not an easy opponent, This is not easy circumstances.

But in a lot of ways, Mike, we talked about it all the time with young quarterbacks throughout the National Football League. The Packers have invested a year and a half now into Jordan's love. This past summer he took all the reps, almost every single one of them, in meaningful team periods for the Packers. It's been on the back burner now. He's been the scout team quarterback for the last eight weeks. But this is the first round caliber talent that now is going to get his first

opportunity to lead an NFL offense. Yeah, and I appreciate what you said about Matt Lafleur and his two and a half seasons. Here the challenges that he has dealt with, even as big a challenge as last week was without your top three receivers and all the news that was happening with those guys, and you're on a short week and you've got a two thousand mile flight and and all of that kind of stuff, This one, I think

is is the biggest one that he's faced. And not only because it's Aaron Rodgers and you're having to put in a quarterback who has not started an NFL game in his place. But this news with Rogers did not come to light until Wednesday morning. And you know Monday afternoon, Tuesday's that that's the coaching staff's game planning time. The players are off on Tuesdays, the coaches are putting together

the entire game plan. So you get all that ready to go to give to the players on Wednesday, and then the first thing you're telling the players in the in the Wednesday morning team meeting is that the starting quarterback is out and UH and the backup, Jordan's Love is going to take over. Now. Obviously it's not as though you take the entire game plan and throw it in the trash and you're starting over from scratch, but it does. It does speak to the challenge here that

that the Packers have. And hopefully from a receive from a receiving standpoint, we've seen al Lazard, Marquis Velda scantling at practice thus far this week. Matt la Fleur is indicatd He's hoping that Davante Adams will be back um here as the week continues. So you hope that from an offensive perimeter group standpoint that that Jordan's Love will have everyone everyone at his disposal except for Robert Tunyan

who's now out for the season. But um, but to have to adjust like this on the fly and UH and get ready to play. And yes, the Kansas City Chiefs have had their struggles, but this is still the team that's represented the a f C in the Super Bowl in back to back years and they still have plenty of time left to get their season back on track. Well, Mike, and let's be honest. I mean, Patrick Mahomes is the run that he's on right now that's not going to last forever. This guy is a quintessential m v P

quarterback who's played this game at the highest level. He's won the biggest prize at one of the most youngest youngest ages for you know, a premier quarterback. I'm not anticipating the guy with the ten picks and in the you know, the issues this year. I'm expecting the best version of Patrick Mahomes in this matchup. I think, I think when you're the Packers, that's how you have to

look at it. Absolutely now. The one thing that you have to look at though, being fair on both sides, is the way Kansas Cities defense has played this year. There's still plenty of weapons there. You know, Tyrone Matthews has Tyron Matthew excuse me, has two interceptions already this season. They have guys that can pressure the quarterback. But the stats are what they are right now, their twenty nine and total defense, you know, their second to last uh

in sacks allowed. I mean, there's been a lot of things that we're not really common during their Super Bowl run that have sort of kind of bubbled up to the surface. So if I'm Jordan's Love and I'm Matt Lafleura, I look at this week in terms of being able to re establish the run game again. Aaron Jones, much like two years ago, could very easily be his best friend in this game. I mean, he had a big

game at arrowhead back in yards, receiving two touchdowns. They need that version of Aaron Jones again, the guy that makes plays in space. A j. Dillon has been just an absolute wrecking ball in the middle of the field,

breaking tackles, getting yards after contact. And also, Mike, I know Matt Lafleur said it this week, you don't really know what the West Coast offenses again, but I think it goes back to a lot of the real fundamental principles of that scheme, short passing games, winnable down and distance, and moving the ball down field. They need Jordan's Love to be able to manage this thing and then go from there once the plays emerge. It's about that that whole group of eleven me together and not just the

number ten quarterback that that's taken the ball from Lucas Patrick. Yeah, I mean, I had said shortly before we sat here at these tables and turn the cameras on. We were filming our weekly Three Things segment with Larry and I said in in that segment, and I'll say it here again, it feels like the formula for victory for the Packers here is really not any different than it was a week ago when you were missing your top three receivers

and on a short weekend everything. How did they go into Arizona with those limitations and beat the previously undefeated Cardinals. They ran the heck out of the ball and which which not only was about yardage and moving the chains, but controlling the tempo of the entire game. It was about limiting the possessions that Kyler Murray was going to have on the other side. And then when Kyler Murray

did have the ball, the Packers got some turnovers. They got a turnover on special teams, they got the one turnover on defense early in the second half, and then obviously the turnover at the end that sealed the victory. You're replacing Aaron Rodgers with Jordan's Love. You're hoping to get those receivers back, but it feels like the formula for victory is still the same. You've got to get Aaron Jones and a J. Dillon have to be the guys that control this football game for Green Bay and

on the defensive side the Kansas City Chiefs. The stats are what they are. They lead the league in giveaways offensively this year, the Packers have to be able to take the ball away, steal some possessions from Patrick Mahomes and uh and use that ground game to control tempo. Yeah, and I know we'll probably talk about the defense here in a second, but I do it is worth pointing out a lot of two shell looks this year for

Patrick Mahomes in this Kansas City offense. In some ways, there's a lot of similarities between the way teams are wanting to defend him in what the Packers have seen over the years. Now with the two shell against Aaron Rodgers. Yeah, just go back to two thousand twelve when Rodgers was coming off of his first m v P season. The Packers were fifteen and one and all that, and then suddenly everybody just played two safeties deep and they're like, we're not going to let you. We're not gonna let

you just smoke us with all these big plays. We're gonna make you grind out drives, We're gonna make you pound the ball with the run. And it took a while for the Packers to to adjust to that. And and here the Kansas City Chiefs are dealing with that and their four and four halfway through the year. And that's the point I was going to draw to, is the fact that the Packers have overcome that this season

to be seven and one. You've seen a ton of production, whether it be running or catching the ball between a J. Dillon and Aaron Jones. Kansas City has had a real difficult time establishing that so far. You know, Clyde Edward Edwards h layer with the MCL. He's out right now. I don't think at this time that he's going to be back. We never get injury reports based on guys that are on injured reserve, so like that that's kind

of out of the question. Yeah, when they're when they're on injured reserve and not on the active roster, there their practice status and how much they're working out and stuff is not is not officially reported. Yeah, so you know, Darryl Williams is the one that was kind of a bell call for them. Then obviously last week you saw Gore and being the next guy. Kansas City hasn't really been willing to commit to the run, and to be honest, that's sort of been something that's happened over the years

with them. I know, Edwards Hilaire was his debut game, a lot of people got excited about it, but ultimately they kind of shifted back to Tyreek Hill, to Travis Kelsey being able to get the downfield passing game going. More teams are threatening Kansas City to run this season. I'm interested, from green based perspective, how they go about

defending that. Yeah. Absolutely, And I think what part of part of what Kansas City is dealing with two, whether whether it's been injuries or other personnel turnover and whatnot. Everybody is sort of focusing their defensive game plans on Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelsey and the Chiefs haven't really found that next guy to to, you know, to step

up and carry the mantle, so to speak. Now, I think McCole Hardman, who's a you know, I sort of liken him to a to an unaccomplished or less less accomplished Tyree Hill in terms of his size and his speed and what his potential is. But he hasn't become that player yet. He's he's a very dangerous guy with the ball in his hands, and the Packers are certainly going to be aware of him. But he's one to watch here as as the Chiefs try to figure this out with so much attention on on Kelsey and Hill

as they try to run their offense. If you'd have told me a year ago, kind of like the Edwards Hilaire thing, I would have thought hard Been would have been a bigger household name. At this point. I just he's a shifty guy, he's explosive, and I can't sit here and tell you I watch a lot of you know, Kansas City football. I don't really know exactly everything that's played into that, but he's really been still more of a complimentary guy than a featured guy and and everything

that plays into that. But from Green Bay's perspective, the other idea of this too is that they've faced all these guys that are mobile quarterbacks and it seems like they've been building towards the Patrick Mahomes game in terms of guys that have the athleticism, but maybe don't have the arm or have the athleticism and don't have the pedigree. Have the athleticism, but maybe they rely too much on it.

They got Kyler Murray two weeks ago. Now you get Patrick Mahomes, Guys who can extend plays, Guys that can make plays outside of the pocket. That's going to be a big challenge too. But as Kenny Clark mentioned when he addressed the media on Wednesday, green Bay has been really apt at being able to take the ball away this season. That is something that has been sort of

coming in stretches for them. They are coming off a big October and obviously got to see how everything works out with Dean Lowry and what the health of this team is going into Sunday. But this is seems to me like a really solid opportunity once again for green Bay to be able to come out, turn over the football and get it back to Jordan's love in the offense. Yeah, and when you talk about what's been going on defensively for the Packers through the month of October, uh, Deveandre Campbell,

the inside linebacker. We've talked about him a lot on this show. Obviously he's been a revelation for the Packers defense. And he was just named the NFC's Defensive Player of the Month for the month of October. And there's only four of those guys. There's only four of those guys the entire season. I mean, yeah, you look at something else. You at what he You look at what he has done.

It's it's not just the tackles where you expect an inside linebacker to be, you know, amongst your league leaders or your team leaders and whatnot in tackles, But throughout the course of the year, he's had multiple secks, He's had multiple interceptions, you know, other turnover plays regarding fumbles, tackles for loss, and just being that leader in the middle of Green Bay's defense, taking over the communication responsibilities and whatnot for a guy, as we've talked about, who

did not show up until basically there was one week left in the off season program, so he had to learn as much of the defense as he could on his own time during that break between the office season program and the start of training camp, and then take over that leadership and all of the communication and everything throughout the course of training camp and then and then

in the early weeks of the regular season. He's been a phenomenal player for this Green Bay defense, and and they're going to continue They're going to continue to lean on him because he's he's an impact player right in the middle of everything going on in an incredibly intelligent human being, not just about what he does on the football field. Like I wrote about two weeks ago, there was a plan. There was a method to this madness

with how he approached this offseason. A lot of people look at him signing on June nine, is well, why didn't anybody sign this guy? No, this was a case in which the COVID restrictions with the cap, you know, the salary cap room is deflated across across the league. Inside linebackers like him, a guy that was coming off a one year, eight million dollar contract, That money wasn't

there this time. So he looked for what was going to be the best opportunity for him, with the understanding that Okay, you play, you make some money this year, but you get back on the market in twenty nine next year and have a chance to really get that big deal. He signed with Green Bay. Yes, he had the relationship with Matt Laflour, but also there was that opportunity for him to actually be the featured guy, and and if he earned it, I mean, it wasn't gonna

walk in and just be the MiCT right away. He had to actually, you know, claim that position. But since he has Mike. For a guy like me that's covered the team for ten years, I didn't get the Desmond Bishop era. I got the end of the A. J. Hawk era, and AJ had a phenomenal career here, But I haven't seen a sideline to sideline inside backer like Campbell. This guy is good against the run, he fills gaps well, he diagnosed as well, he knows his assignments fundamentally sound.

But the athleticism factor with him is what really jumps off the page and Mike. With seventeen games, this guy is on pace for a hundred seventy five tackles this year. I mean, that's the type of season Devandre Campbell's having. So to see him get rewarded a really silent kind of you know, hunter out there on the field. It was a cool thing for him, and the Packers are going to need him in the second half of the season. Yeah,

I don't know for sure. The last time a Green Bay Packers defensive player earned a Defensive Player of the Month award. Again, this is that's what I heard Clay Matthews in two thousand and ten. This is obviously very different from defensive player of the week. And and I know in two thousand nine Charles Woodson somewhere along the way, if not multiple months, when he was on his way to Defensive Player of the Year, that he got Defensive Player of the month. But yes, it might have been

Clay Matthews in in two thousand and ten. Since a Green Bay defensive player got an award like this, Campbell's on the like he's on a trajectory to make a Pro Bowl here and like all provo question, this is more than just the dude that walked in the door in June, signed a one year deal and then played out the season. Devonja Campbell is really doing himself a lot of favors this season. Yeah, well, we'll get a

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a little bit already. West, but the keys to victory here for Green Bay on Sunday going to Arrowhead, which it's right up there with Seattle in terms of the noise factor at an outdoor stadium in this league. Kansas City in Seattle, in my mind, is certainly as far as having been too pretty much everywhere in the league, this one. This is a tough place to play. Yeah, and they have less speakers. I mean, it's impressive with the with the crowd. Actually it's actually it's actually more

natural crowd. They're not there's no auto tuning. They're singing with the real you know. No. But I mean you and I have been there, and I've talked to players over the years. I remember talking to like Justin McCrae and Brian Blog, an offensive lineman, about how difficult that environment is for an offensive lineman to play at. Packers have played really clean football from a false start perspective.

From a penalty perspective, that's going to be challenged this week, especially with how energized this team is going to be in this type of matchup. Those fans are going to know, Okay, Aaron Rodgers is not out there, we get the backup. That's fresh meat for us. They're gonna be ready for this thing. For green Bay's perspective, though, I think it

really comes down to shortening this ball game. I don't know the exact stats on thirty five or thirty four plus minutes in terms of time of possession, but when green Bay controls the football and finishes and executes, you gotta do all that eventually have to score points. But when they control the tempo of a game, the green Bay Packers win. That's how Matt Lafleur got more wins in the modern era than any other coach in his first forty games. They need to be able to do that. Again.

That means running the football. That means whoever is available in that receiving corps, whether it is Davante Adams, Marquisvelda Scantling, you know you're gonna have Alan Lazar back. They have to be able to push the football down field. But it comes down to winning between the first down in the next first down, right, just moving the football. I think that's gonna be the main catalyst here and again,

playing mistake free football and Jordan loves first start. Yeah, And on the defensive side of the ball, I've already talked about the turnovers. But the other thing, clearly when you're facing this Kansas City Chiefs defense and Patrick Mahomes, is you can't get gas for the big play, right, you have to make and and this is what Kansas City has struggled with. They're always looking for the big

shot down field. They want they want to punch you in the mouth with that long fifty yard bomb to Tyreek Hill or the thirty yards scene passed down the middle to Travis Kelsey. You've got to be able to defend against those, because that's why the Chiefs have struggled offensively, is when they've been forced to grind it out, to grind out the long drives, they've made a mistake somewhere along the way. The opening drive last week Monday Night Football a few nights ago against the New York Giants

was the perfect example. The Chiefs take the opening kickoff, double digit play drive, everything looking smoothly working well, they're taking more than seven minutes off the clock. And then they get in the red zone and a ball gets deflected and picked off and the Giants have the ball back and the Chief's got nothing out of that possession except to turn over. Why because the Giants didn't give up a fifty yard pass, right they made up you know,

And that's what the Packers. That's what the Packers have to do, because that's what's going to give you the opportunities for the turnovers, is to make them grind out a drive. And it's it's the old Dom Caper's thing.

Maybe it's because that was my first defensive coordinator that I covered, but I just remember all those times standing in the podium and Dom talking about the more plays that they have to play on a drive and the fewer you know, big penalties that you give up the fifteen yarders, the better statistically your opportunity is going to be to take away the football and also to stop them.

That's where green Bay needs to get to now. Fortunately for green Bay, it would appear that Joe Barry could be back in the fold here for this game on Sunday. That's huge. I mean, Jerry Are, Jerry Gray, Kirk, Livadaddy. You give them all the credit in the world for the job they did with all Barry, but to have that whole group together in a defense that buy and Large again, we got to see what happens with this hamstring injury with with Dean Lowry, but Buying Large is

getting healthier. Kevin King was a full participant in practice on Wednesday. This is a huge opportunity for them. Now you need to get the Darius back, You need to get You're back at some point, but to have the core there for them that this is they've They've played well all season. Now you get to start getting your heavy hitters back. What can you do from there? Yeah, a couple of thoughts to get from you with regard

to the NFC North here before we go. It's interesting, it's the it's the cross conference week he has in a sense with the Packers. Packers are at Kansas City, Minnesota is at Baltimore, and the Chicago Bears are at Pittsburgh on Monday Night football. So um some rare matchups in in that respect. The Packers have the three and a half game lead but obviously right now you don't have Aaron Rodgers. You don't know how long necessarily Rogers is is going to be out given the COVID situation.

So um, it'll be interesting to see here Minnesota. Minnesota coming off of that really really rough loss to the Dallas Cowboys at home with Cooper Rush making his first start at quarterback for the Cowboys. Now they have to go on the road and deal with Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens. This is uh, this is going. This is an opportunity here, quite frankly, for for the Packers to you know, tighten the stranglehold of sense on the

NFC North. If you can go in and do do what you did in Arizona, run the ball, get some turnovers, maybe escape Arrowhead with a victory with Jordan Love at quarterback, then you sit back and see what what your other NFC North brethren are doing on the road against a f C teams as well. Chicago is a team that

I think can probably play with most teams. It just comes down back to that takeaway sort of margin I think defensively, you know, they could very easily be in this matchup with Pittsburgh depending on you know, what happens on the other side of the ball. Minnesota, I really don't like this matchup for them. I feel like this is not only what happened last week, but Lamar Jackson

is going to stress them. They have an older linebacker corps now you know you're gonna have some some and the Vikings have lost their best pass rusher for the season now da Neil Hunter is done for the year. Yeah, and that's in Obviously Hunter has been a kind of a rough go for him now the last two and

a half years. But I think this is the game where Minnesota's offense, as which is we've always talked about the Zimmers defense, Minnesota's offensive has to be able to generate some some opportunities here for them, because I don't think this is a game that you can win if you're not putting up twenty five plus points. So Green based perspective, you're sitting in a great position absent all

the realities of that position. But in terms of the actual standings, the statistics this is, this could not have been a better scenario for Jordan's Love to move into. But seeing how the rest of this division kind of shakes out, here is going to be fascinating to watch because this is a massive month of November. Uh, four teams not only trying to stay in the division race, but you know, right now at four and four, Carolinas the wild card team. So you know, any win here

for Minnesota and Chicago keeps them in that race as well. Yeah, that extra wild card team having that seventh playoff spot in the NFC, that's uh, as we knew. We saw

it last year but then but I can't. Also this year, they're going to be a whole bunch of teams in the NFC down the stretch that may not have a shot at the division championship because of all these one lost teams that we're seeing right now in the NFC, but they're still going to be in the playoff hunt and and playing for their season, trying to get that coveted eighth victory to make the playoffs. I can't. I

can't wait for that in years to come. All right, Well, with that, we'll call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team. Will have everything for you from Sunday's big game in Kansas City on packers dot com for West, I'm Mike. Thank you for tuning in. Everybody, We'll see you next time.