#792 Packers Unscripted: Back from Brazil

It was just a trip full of regrets for the Green Bay Packers. Quite frankly, the way the way things ended.

not able to do it. When you get three takeaways that the way they did two of them right off the bat, but you only get six points when you seem like every single time there was an opportunity to really separate yourself in this matchup, the Packers fell short.

And then certainly the last fifteen seconds of the game, Jordan Love goes down with the knee injury, and I just remember sitting there, beautiful stadium, beautiful night, but I just remember sitting there in my chair thinking, like, man, it really happened again, just like with Aaron and the thumb. You hope it doesn't linger the way it did with Aaron. But right at the very end, you get got to that game relatively healthy as a team, and then unfortunately Jordan goes out.

out for this Sunday against the Colts. But you know, I took that not as much about what maybe this weekend, what might or might not happen this weekend, but that there seems to be a lot of internal optimism that Jordan Love's injury is not going to keep him out too awfully.

be back on the field sooner than later. The Packers want to make sure that he's going to be all the way back and he can protect himself and he's not at risk of any greater injury to that knee. But in the meantime, the Packers are going to prepare Malik Willis, who just got here a couple of weeks ago. They're going to prepare him to start against the Indianapolis

Colts in place of Jordan Love. And it's kind of how this league goes sometimes, right, you never know what is going to happen week to week in this league, and suddenly the Packers season in week two, what we're looking at right in front of us just looks completely different than maybe what we expected.

be in the sprain or whatever would have you. This is something that obviously Matt Leffler said they're not going to put him in a position where he can't protect himself. They're not going to put them in a position where they're mortgaging their future for the short term, especially in Week two. You don't want to go down that road.

For Malik Willis. I think this is a golden opportunity if he is ultimately the guy that steps out there on the field and leads the Packers into the home opener against the Indianapolis Colts, because for so long he was looking for that opportunity and that chance to show how he's grown since just getting his feet wet and being thrown into the fire as a rookie in twenty twenty two, barely played last season, and now here he is.

He comes to Green Bay, has off of strong training camp, strong preseason, but they were going with will Levis and they wanted Mason Rudolph as they're backup Tennessee, so then

Willis was available. Here he is now in this offense, and with Matt lafluor Tom Clemens, there is going to be an encyclopedia throne at him this week, I would imagine, But ultimately it's on the coaches to find a digestible game plan that he can function with he can administer in the Green Bay Packers very much are still expecting to win this game on Sunday.

that the Packers are going to take into this game. No, he won't have that encyclopedic knowledge of the offensive system that an Aaron Rodgers or Jordan Love would have with the experience that they bring with Matt lfuor and with this system to the tape. But that's not what matters. It's about the game plan that's going to be taken into that game on Sunday. And when you look at this, you look at what Malik Willis will will have at his disposal. Yes, you know, there were a lot of

regrets from the Eagles game. With regard to the mischances in the red zone, the goal to go after, the turnovers, all that kind of stuff, the penalties, there's a lot for the Packers to clean up there on the offensive side of the ball in particular. But a couple of things. One we saw the massive explosive playability of Jaden Reid.

He ends up scoring two touchdowns in this game, one rushing, one receiving the thirty three yard end around for a touchdown, and then the seventy yard catch and run for a touchdown. So that is certainly something for the Packers to hang their hat on. And aside from the end around for a touchdown, the Packers really got their running game going.

It was a tough slot early they had to make some adjustments against the Eagles, but after Josh Jacobs was held to just six yards i'm sorry, four yards on his first six carries against the Eagles, after that, Wes Emanuel Wilson and Josh Jacobs combined for one hundred and twenty six yards on fourteen carries. That was nine yards per carry basically from the second quarter on against the Eagles.

That kind of running game, if the Packers can bring that kind of running game into the home opener against the Colts with Malik Willis at quarterback. That's going to go a long way for that young man trying to get a victory here in Jordan Love's play.

And the thing that you can take some solace in now going into this is it seemed like they were functioning better as a unit in the second half. And it's not just okay, well Philly was wearing down. No, guys were just fulfilling their assignments. And that's always the nice thing about being able to talk to Mattlin floor on a Monday and just being able to get away

from the game a little bit. See the film Take the Emotions Out of it in the locker room afterwards, as Matt Steimond pointed out and his question to Matt, a lot of guys were talking about the scheme change they made and things that they did differently in the second half, And as the floor pointed out on Monday, it's wasn't so much that it was just guys blocking better, being able to take out linebackers at the second level rather than them shooting gaps and being able to stall

the running backs. And be really honest with you, I thought one of the biggest plays and I can't remember exactly how many yards I went for, but there was one of those moments right there early in the third quarter. I believe it was where Josh Jacobs was sort of dead to rights in the hole and he made a guy miss. And then once they started being able to get some of those ten and eleven yard plays, the ball started bouncing a little bit more. Emmanuel Wilson, Dude,

I've said it time and time again. This guy can just run the football. And I had asked Josh Jacobs about him two weeks ago and he said, if you watch him on film, he doesn't look like he's that fast, but that guy can move like when he's on the field and you're playing the game of football. He is a very difficult guy to bring to the ground with his size and his speed. And they don't have aj Dillon.

But I'll tell you what, man, especially with Marshawn Lloyd still working his way back from this hamstring, Emmanuel Wilson is a really good complimentary back in Mike. Before I throw this back to I will just say one last time. Twenty thirteen, the Packers lost Aaron Rodgers to the collar bowen for the first time. Matt Flynn was a godsend coming in from Buffalo after he got cut and was able to manage the offense for the next month to be able to get the Packers in a playoff position.

But the reason why the Packers were still alive when Aaron Rodgers came back in Chicago was because of how well Eddie Lacy ran the football and how well that offensive line block for him. However long Jordan Law gone zero games, one game, four games, who knows. Yeah, that running game is going to be very important for Green Bay now moving forward and being able to have a second half like they did in Brazil.

you know, they weren't playing traditional run defense. They were shooting gaps and playing really aggressively, and it was throwing off the timing of the Packers blocking where you start with a double team or a combo block and then a guy shifts off to go pick off the linebacker. My point is this is not as simple as saying, oh, look at as soon as Emmanuel Wilson went in the game, the Packers started to run the ball better. You know, so why isn't it just give the ball to Wilson

instead of Jacobs. Well, take a look at the film, because when Wilson did first go into the game, and the Packers also did change what they were doing where they they instead of just doing strictly the zone scheme runs, they were doing some gap scheme runs. They were pulling Sean Ryan from right guard. They were pulling Tucker Kraft from the right side at tight end to come over and make blocks. So they were changing up their blocking scheme.

That got the Eagles on their heels a little bit to say like, okay, we can't just charge straight up my field against this running game. So then when the Packers went back to the zone scheme later in the game, and again these clips are in the what you might have missed, then you saw the Packers had. The Packers

timing was a little bit better. They were kind of in some ways ignoring the combo blocks getting to the guys on the second level right away so that they couldn't shoot those gaps, and the running game just continued to produce. And so at the end of the day, you know the It's one of those things about Week one, right, the Packers didn't know the Eagles were going to come out and just shoot gaps with their linebackers against the run in the first quarter. It took them a quarter

to adjust it. Unfortunately, it was during that quarter when the Packers were getting the turnovers. They were in the red zone and gold to go situations, but had to settle for field goals because they couldn't get the running game going in those moments. So it's just part of how these games play out, and you just never know the fact that the Packers still put twenty nine points

on the board in this game. When you look at how many points they sort of left on the board with the red zone failures and the one extra point where they tried to go for two didn't get it. You had a missed field goal in there. The Packers put twenty nine on the board and had, you know, legitimate opportunity for forty, you know, or at least upper

thirties in this game. So there is something for the Packers to take into this game with Malik Willis at quarterback, and then potentially, you know, you throw in the wrinkle of a guy like Willis who might have some runs designed for him as a quarterback, right, the kind of thing that you don't necessarily design for Jordan Love. But

Malik Willis is a different type of quarterbacks. So I'll be curious to see exactly when we talk about the game plan and what Malik Willis has to digest, what exactly the game plan is going to look like come Sunday afternoon.

there in pre season on Sean. People really don't know what to expect what the Green Bay Packers want to do with right Willis contrast to what he was doing in some of the things he was asked to do in Tennessee. Again, we did the five things story. We talked to him after he came here. This is a guy that is a dual threat quarterback. A lot of people said coming into the league, the more you can draw up for him based off of run action is

going to be really benefit him. In addition to having a really good downfield arm towards the sideline, he could win. Malik Willis was one of the top quarterbacks in that twenty twenty two for that reason. It's just now going to be a question of how quickly can you catch the train? And that's where we're gonna have to find out potentially on Sunday, exactly where he's at in this whole thing. But the Green Bay Packers went out, Mike,

we said it. They didn't rest on their laurels. They felt they needed to get better at that position, and Milik Willis potentially could have a big opportunity to show that.

on a seventy yard touchdown. When that guy is in open space, he's not as big as a running back, but he sure runs like one. Yeah, and his ability to break ankles. Again, I don't want to get into the wide receiver one two, three, four five, talk, but I thought this was an excellent example that when the pads are on and the bolts are flying, this kid is special.

definition of an electrifying player. There is something, there is something special, something different about the ball when it is in his hands, when the ball is headed towards him through the air, he brings a different dimension to things. And I do think that is something the Packers can whether it's Jordan Love or Malik Willis at quarterback, I think that is something that the Packers are going to look to maximize on here moving forward.

next play. Everybody forgets about. It's not talked about. It's kind of lost within the box score. Jayden reed just catch radius in addition to just what he does when he gets the ball in the open field. Kids got it, man, Yeah, he's a lot there for the Green Bit Packers to work with.

Fifty years fifty plus years of better Defensively for the Packers, it was not the debut of Jeff Haflee and his defense as the new defensive coordinator. Was not the debut that anybody was hoping for. Thirty four points by the Eagles. It started out tremendously with the Xavier McKinney interception, a great early moment for a brand new Green Bay Packer, Then the fumble recovery on the Eagle's second possession, and then jay r Alexander had an interception later in the

game for the three takeaways. Now the Eagles are a talented offense. You know, this is the team that's been to the Super Bowl. They are a perennial playoff contender. Jalen Hurts is a really really difficult quarterback to handle that receiver combination AJ Brown DeVante Smith, and then you throw Saquon Barkley into the backfield. We talked about him all of last week. And that offensive line certainly didn't look like without Jason Kelcey at center, that it had

even skipped a beat. That looked like a pretty darn good unit. That that gave the Packers some trouble.

the second or third play of the second half. The Packers had done a decent job of keeping the explosive plays, you know, at least in check a little bit during the first half, but then boom, they hit you for that big one. It goes all the way for a touchdown, sort of answered the seventy yard er that Jaden Reid had had in the second quarter for Green Bay. And then the other one for me was the final drive. You know, the Packers, they bogged out on an offense.

There's you know, still eight minutes left on the clock basically, and Matt Lafleur in close decides, okay, not going to go for it on fourth down. Here kick the field goal to get within two points. Because you're only down five, get within two. There's eight minutes on the clock. You should have a chance to get the ball back. And

the Packers defense couldn't get off the field. The Eagles killed seven minutes and twenty five seconds out of seven minutes fifty two seconds in the fourth quarter, ran that clock all the way down, kicked the field with goal to go back up by five, and the Packers did you know, just had those those few seconds left. Those were the two things that I think were the most troublesome, where the one long touchdown that was allowed and then that final drive when Green Bay couldn't get off the field.

Those are the you know, you limit explosives and you don't let a team control the football for fifteen sixteen plays, right, Those are the kinds of things that get you beat defensively in a very offensive league. So I think that's that becomes the focus moving forward because I think that, you know, the tackling is going to get better.

of the totality of league history. I think there was like a dozen or some two dozen or something like that.

Green Bay really struggled in the goal to go situations and the red zone opportunities and just weren't able to convert. Whereas when you get a sixty seven yard touchdown like he did with aj Brown to start the second half, the Packers went into halftime ahead. I believe they might even went into the fourth quarter ahead too, if my

memory serves me correctly. At least it was close, and it just was that the Eagles kept applying the pressure and if you could just find a way, you don't have to go get an interception or a fumble recovery on every single series. But after those two takeaways, that's when Jalen Hurts found his rhythm. He started finding Smith,

he started finding Brown and Saquon Barkley, Mike. Like I say, every freaking time the Packers play Saquon Barkley, they bottle them up early, and then he breaks those two or three carries that one make his stats look a lot more impressive than they probably were, and two really translate in the box score in terms of the wins and the losses and the touchdowns. He again was efficient when his team needed him to be efficient, just like last

December when we were in East Rutherford. So for Green Bay, it's about trying to figure out what exactly the answers are going to be to this. Xavier McKinney came to the podium after the game. He felt like a lot of the things the Packers did incorrectly are correctable. I think there's still a lot of optimism, still a lot of hype, still a lot of energy about this defense and what's going to happen under Jeff Haffley. But what they have to find that balance with is you can

get a lot of takeaways. The twenty eleven defense led the league in takeaways. They also were thirty second and total yards allot Yeah, you have to be able to strike the balance there In Green Bay, I thought the front played well at times. It sounds like from the pass rushing perspective, the guys executed the assignment they wanted to contain Jalen Hurts. They largely did that.

a push and pull, there's a give and take. You try to take something away, and it's then what does the opponent do to try to compensate for that? And it was the combination of the explosive plays and then the one long sustained drive at the end when the Packers are desperately wanting to get the ball back. You're only down by two, get it back, get another field goal, and you know, you take the lead, you have a chance to win, and it just never materialized.

to get out of there with a victory. The part that I think that's funny, though, Mike Night, we can cover this league for so long, and as much as coaches don't want to give a gooway game plans, they don't want to talk about, you know, what's what's going to happen. How many times is it where you go back and look and see what happened the last time between two teams in the adjustments that those teams make, right, whether it was the way the Packers defended Hurts or

as Keishawn Nixon talked about last time. He absolutely killed them in that game in twenty twenty two. Yeah, in the kickoff returns, I think he averaged like thirty one yards of return or something one hundred and fifty two yards total. And in this game, they weren't messing with it every single time man is booting it through the end zone. It's those type of things. Now, talking quickly about some silver linings here to come out of this. I thought Edrin Cooper got eleven snaps, He had three

tackles in a pass deflection. When you're talking about guys maximizing their minutes there, Matt Lafour even said on Monday, he's probably warranting more opportunities here moving forward.

The benefit of that speed, especially for a young players, it's going to allow you to maybe make some mistakes, but allow your athleticism will compensate for that. Matt Lafleur said, it wasn't perfect. There's some communication stuff that Cooper has to work out. You have to be able to get those reps, you have to be able to be thrown

in the fire a little bit. But when the Packers are looking for an improving defense throughout the course of the seat, and I'm not playing depth chart here, but I'm just telling you there's a reason why they drafted him and in Tron Hopper. I mean, these are the guys that were Day two picks. They see as fundamental guys that you can build with in the future. And giving him an op some opportunities I think is going to be really pivotal here moving forward.

how you win games in this league. And to me, complimentary football in this league is when your defense is able to do something positive the offense has to capitalize on to maintain control of the game. And when you look at how this game unfolded, the defense got the two turnovers early, but the offense was only able to put six points on the board. In the second half, the defense got back to back three and outs, back

to back three and outs. After the Eagles had established quite a bit in the second quarter offensively and put some points on the board, the defense gets back to back three and outs, but then the Packers offense goes punt interception on those two following possessions. That's not complimentary football, and that's not what That's not how to win games

in this league. You have to be able to capitalize when your defense does good things, because there are going to be bad things that happened to your defense all the time in this league. That's how it's generated, that's how it's oriented. It's about offense, it's about scoring points. And the Packers weren't able to capitalize on the good things that they're defense.

in the second half with them. You have to be able to finish those opportunities, especially early on when you're getting it inside the scoring territory of the other team. Now again, I think you want to look at silver linings the fact that green Bay got out of this thing defensively healthy. You know, we were able to now face a team and Anton Richardson coming in that challenge that that's going to present in a very similar type of quarterback and he's going to do things unorthodox. He

completed and we'll talk about this later this week. I mean, he completed nine passes for two hundred yards. He isn't exploding play waiting to happen, but isn't your traditional quarterback. It's not going to get easier, is my point. Green Bay's defense is going to have to have a gut check here, have to look in the mirror, and it's going to have to make sure they say to themselves, Okay, we had did some really good things in the preseason,

We did some really good things during training camp. How do we make those things happen on Sundays other than just getting some takeaways early?

that is definitely searching for answers. The Lions, they blow the lead on Sunday Night Football to the Rams, and the Rams actually have a chance to put that game away. They have a first down with two and a half minutes to go, and but the Lions get the stop, they get the tying field goal, then they just ran

the ball down. The Rams throats in overtime. So Matthew Stafford didn't, you know, basically from the two and a half minute mark where Stafford has a first down for the Rams and a chance to put the game away, basically Stafford didn't get the ball back. The Lions drove and kicked the field goal to tie, and then in the one possession in overtime, and then the Bears their defense and special teams overcame a very shaky debut from

Caleb Williams at quarterback. So everybody else in the NFC North is one.

I've still I've gone so many different ways on Sam Donald. Mike. I mean, he did put together some good football last year for the forty nine ers. I mean he stepped up. He did need him to do. I thought that that was a questionable signing for them to give him ten million dollars and to have him go to Minnesota as you know, this starter holding you know, the seat warm, and then he did exactly nineteen of twenty four, did exactly what he needed to do to help the Vikings

win that game. The Lions quickly one hundred and sixty three rushing yards Mike.

was always short lived. Right then, as soon as as soon as there's enough out there, then teams figure out, okay, this is what Kevin O'Connell in this offensive system is doing with this quarterback, and then defenses are able to start to buckle down. They make life more difficult, and ultimately, you know, the Vikings faded in the end. What will happen now with Sam Darnold Because this was another new guy.

Kevin O'Connell was able to strut his stuff. And I'm not being critical of O'Connell here in terms of how the Vikings, he's a good gun, did last year. I'm being complimentary that he takes these quarterbacks that nobody expects him to be able to win with. He puts together these game plans and gets those guys executing the level

where they can. It just hasn't proven to be sustainable when you don't have that franchise quarterback guy, right, So I'm very curious to see what happens with the Vikings in that regard moving forward. The other thing I want to say is coming out of Week one, and I know mostly my brain is always focused on the NFC. I don't look at the AFC all that much as the regular season goes on, but I was most impressed by three teams in the NFC, one being the Eagles.

the forty nine Ers. I thought both of those, especially especially the Cowboys being on the road in Week one at Cleveland, a team that was the best defense in the league last year statistically in several categories, and the Cowboys really took it to them and kind of got a runaway blowout victory in Week one, right after Dak Prescott signs the big new contract and all that. So things are looking up down there in Dallas, at least the way the season is starting.

he's ever had since high school. Guy played at Georgia Tech, and he didn't have that many carries right right, and to be able to perform the way he did finish with one hundred and forty seven rushing yards helped me win. My fantasy game was sam But the fact that they were able to run as dominant and play as dominantly as they did against that forty nine or the Jets defense, I think speaks volumes about those I've talked a.

Last night was the first time Monday Night against the Jets, the first time that it felt to me the forty nine ers were missing one of those big three on offense and you couldn't tell. You couldn't tell, and that that was in my mind what was so impressive about that performance.