#795 Packers Unscripted: Taking on the Titans

bit West. But unless you have been living under a rock, which is maybe I'll try that someday, live under a rock. You are aware that Jordan Love has returned to practice for the Green Bay Packers. He was on the practice field Wednesday on a limited basis. There was absolutely no clarification given whatsoever as to what limited meant. What did

he actually do at practice? Nobody knows except Jordan Love and the players on the but it certainly lends itself to belief that there is a legitimate chance Jordan Love could get medical clearance by the end of this week in order to play against the Titans. Maybe that happens, maybe it doesn't. But regardless the fact that this early

after that knee injury in Brazil. Jordan Love is actually back on the practice field doing something within those workouts with his teammates, a huge positive sign for Green Bay.

football field. But the fact that he's able to get on the practice field look as spry as he did. I had a video that kind of so quote unquote went viral, like all videos do in these day and age, but a lot of engagement with it, you know, with Jordan bouncing around, dancing around, looking like he's having a good time out there, all those things are just so welcomed considering how things look less than you know, two weeks ago. So we'll see what this all means for Sunday.

And you know, Malik Willis talked to his locker as well on Wednesday, and they're gonna be ready for whatever scenario unfolds with this situation. But Jordan Love limited and that's all we learned about what he did in practice on Wednesday. He was limited, team limited limited. But the fact is is that the sire relief and the the the bullet that the Packers appear to have dodged with Love. You just can't talk enough about just the sire relief

that comes with that. And then along along those lines, it was something I wrote about earlier this week, the fact that the Packers were able to create a game plan to win without him. It just only adds to the excitement of what this team could look like with him.

comes his way. So we will see what happens there. What we do know is the opponent will be the Tennessee Titans, and they are zero to two after a couple of very frustrating losses actually by the identical score of twenty four to seventeen, first to the Chicago Bears, then to the New York Jets. And if there's one unit that can't really shoulder a heck of a lot of blame for the Titans starting zero to two, it's that defense. They have allowed just four hundred and thirteen

yards total in two games, which leads the league. That is the fewest yards allowed by any defense in the NFL through the first two weeks of the season. This is going to be whether it is Love or Willis under center, this is going to be a very different kind of challenge for the Packers offensively.

years didn't work. They had a lot of success there too, but it just it seems like the direction that this thing headed with Brian Calahan taken over as the head coach and in giving the reins to Wilson after everything that that Baltimore Ravens did last year. Mike, you and I have talked about it numerous times. I've never seen a coaching staff a particular side of the ball get

gutted the way that the Ravens did. And we're talking head coaches, we're talking defensive coordinators, We're talking about guys moving up in the in the scheme of things with how dominant Baltimore was during stretches last season. So now Wilson comes here, he puts on his own swerve out of this thing. As we were talking about with Matt Lafleur on Wednesday, guy that kind of comes out of that.

Greg Williams sort of tree that aggression, you know, wanting to get after it, but also very calculated and what they've been able to accomplish. So the first two weeks and I watched basically all of that Bears game. If the Titans could have just played defense the entire time and not had to worry about the other two phases, they come out of there with a victor.

that defensive line. He's now paired with is it Tovandre? And I get the first name correctly to and Andre Sweat. So this is, as Larry Mccaerroan likes to say, this is a salty group up front. But where the Titans have had trouble is the mistakes on offense and the mistakes on special teams. They've had a punt blocked in each of their first two games. One of those was returned for a touchdown by the Bears by former packer

Jonathan Owens. Actually, yeah, the other one I can't remember for sure if it's set up a field goal or a touchdown for the Jets, but led to points for the Jets. So two block punts in the first two weeks, and then on the offensive side with quarterback will Levis,

it's just it's been the turnovers. He's turned the ball over five times himself, multiple interceptions, multiple lost fumbles, and really the plays that have been the killers and that have generated so much attention is where Willis has turned the ball. I'm sorry, Levis has turned the ball over trying to be a superhero.

the Jets. They were in the red zone, you know, in position to score points, and he tries a you know, a shovel thing to a running back off to the side while he's getting sacked, and the ball ends up kind of rolling and bouncing on the ground and the Jets recover and the Titans don't get any points out of that drive. And you know, Brian Callahan has not minced any words in terms of how he feels about

his quarterback's lack of protection of the football. So that's that's the area that the Titans are really focused on here, is is getting Levis to play more within himself, you know, let the offense do the work. He has been sacked seven times. They have issues up front, and that's certainly something I'm sure the Packers are looking at here going into this game. But but Tony Pollard, Calvin Ridley, these

guys have weapons. You know, Levis has weapons around him, and it's one of those things that you figure it's probably just a matter of time before they can start to put it together. A little bit more consistently. Hopefully the Packers can keep them on that you know, up and down inconsistent level for at least another week here.

weeks of the season. But as Xavier McKinney was discussing at his locker on Wednesday, there are so many things that give you pause as far as the threats in which the Titans can hurt you. Kelvin Ridley has gotten his career back on track and he got rewarded for it this past offseason. I thought last week against the Jets really showed that he is still every bit of a dynamic receiver that he was earlier in his career. They have Tyler Boyd who's been a consistent performer for years.

DeAndre Hopkins. You know a guy in Treylon Berk said, you and I were talking, what was a potential Packers pick three years ago?

And it was another thing that McKinney touched on for everything that's gone wrong for the Titans the first two weeks, much like the Packers are doing, they're doing their own research, they're doing their own review, They're trying to make their own corrections to make sure that you can avoid that going into this matchup with Green Bay. From the Packers' perspective, it is about generating pressure though, and if Lovice does

give you an opportunity taking the football away. Five interceptions through the first two games of the season, seven all of last year combined. The Packers are feeling themselves a little bit in that regard the confidence, the swagger is there that if the ball is in the air, the secondary is going to make a play.

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And you know that Packers defensive front is waiting for an opportunity like this to get in a little bit more of that pin your ears back mode, or at least when it gets to say third and seven or third nine or something like that, right, because the plan has been, you know, to rush to contain Jalen Hurts and Anthony Richardson, not necessarily rush to sack them. As a result, the Packers have just three sacks through the first two games of the season, which ranks toward the

bottom of the league. But that's been partly the result of the plan, and I would say plan wise, that has worked pretty well when you look at the fact that those two quarterbacks, as I said on our last show, they combined for only seventy rushing yards through the first two games. In at fifty of those seventy rushing yards were in the fourth quarter, So in the first three quarters of those of the first two games, the Packers pass rush plan worked very very well. This will be

a little bit different. Will Levis does have eight carries for seventy four yards on the season, most of those being of the scramble variety, so he will take off and run. He can take off and run. What I caution against in this game is because of everything we just previously talked about with will Levis, where the message is trying to be pounded into him, don't force the ball, don't try to be a hero, only take what's there.

He may be more inclined than he's ever been before to take off and run with the ball if he's not seeing what he wants to see when he's in the pocket. I think the Packers need to be cognizant of that as much as they want to get after him and employ a more traditional pass rush plan against

a quarterback as opposed to the first two weeks. You have to kind of be aware of just the situation and will Levis is in and how these first couple of games have gone for him, because if he thinks he has a chance to get the first down with his legs, he's gonna take it instead of putting the ball in harm's way.

with that. A lot of team mindset played into that. But that doesn't mean now is the time to forsake your rush lanes or to let your gaps go. You still have to rush with a plan. It can't just all be going back with your ears here thinking you're just gonna be going after a statue. That's not the case. So what my message would be, as well as we've performed the last two weeks. This is the plan we're implementing. This is how we want to go about doing it.

Stick to that in the rest will work itself out. Because here's the thing, Michael, You're right, Will Levis is going to be thinking at the beginning of this game, all right, clean slight, no turnovers, let's play good football. But as the punches and the kicks and everything happens throughout the course of the first half and into the third quarter and you get into winning time if it comes down to it, that's where you start going back

on what your preset function is. That's where the things can lapse a little bit, and that's where the Packers have to get to. So, yeah, the first quarter has worked out great for so far for the Packers this season. They've gotten takeaways, they've gotten stops. If you have the opportunities, get them but don't chase them. Is going to be the biggest thing here, because on paper, I think the way the Packers have performed on scale, this would be a game I would expect the Packers to go in

and win, regardless of who is starting at quarterback. But you have to earn it. You have to play smart in order to achieve it.

be just like these other games with the mistakes. And if you can force that kind of a mistake early on, I think it could go a long way offensively, whether it's Love or Willis at quarterback for the Packers. Obviously, you'd like to be able. You'd like to be able to run the ball like the Packers did against the Colts every single week in this league. You'd be a very very difficult team to beat. That's not realistic, you know, fifty plus carries, you know, two hundred and sixty plus

rushing yards is not realistic. But if you can get enough going on the ground and that really gets your play action game going. I mean, I've said it many times, Jordan Love was at the peak of his powers in the second half of last season. It was when Aaron Jones was running the ball really well and the play action pass was just open. Stuff was open for Jordan Love.

So whether it's Love or Willis at quarterback, I think the play action game, the play action game is huge here against a defense that has had a lot of success shutting teams down in the first couple of weeks. Obviously, you have to protect the ball. The Packers have done a pretty decent job of that. Josh Jacobs has put the ball on the ground once in each of the first two games, so the the you know, ball security, the attention to the ball security there is necessary for him.

But I think offensively this comes down to the play action game for Green Bay.

the Packers running back his news conferences. Absolutely, because we got into the discussion towards the end of his presser, remout just exactly what's going on with Jacobs and the analogy he used, and maybe he's spit that it's at us before and I haven't thought much about it, but it was the jaguar analogy, where if jaguar, when he's running as fast as they are, they use their tail

basically to keep their balance when they're cutting fast. With running backs, when a guy is moving quickly, that's where the arms go up because naturally, without thinking about it, that's how your body is responding to make sure that you stay balanced. The job of the NFL running backs coach and the NFL runner is to still keep that

ball in tight when those things happen. What you're seeing with the Josh Jacobs fumble so far, both of them pretty much have been when he's trying to change direction and allowing the ball to get away from his body. Sermons feels like that's correctable. It's something they want to work on with him. But again, it's just something very unique to the way he runs. It's also what makes

him a brilliant running back. It got the Packers so many yards over expectation in that game against the Colts, and so you tip your half to him on that regard. I think this game has won in two different capacities. I think it's one on the ground. I think what Josh Jacob's dealing with a back injury. Yet, we'll have to see where he's at. Emmanuel Wilson Sermons says he feels like he's ready for a bigger role, if that's what's called upon now that Marshawn Lloyd has gone to

injured reserve with the ankle. But conversely, Tony Pollard is the kind of guy that could give you a lot of headaches, especially with the way the Packers and the yards that they're giving up per carry right now, because he's a plotting kind of back. He's up to one hundred and forty four rushing yards on the year, but only along right now of twenty six. He's a guy that's going to continually try to wear you down. The

Packers have to curb against that. The other thing where Green Bay needs to come through here is protecting the football. Tennessee's defense has done so many things well here so far except taking away the football. They have one takeaway so far this season, tied for twenty fourth in the league. Only two other teams have zero so far this year. They have one interception. I believe it is no one

fumble recovery is what it is. No interception So whether it's Love, whether it's Malik Willis, regardless of who's carrying the football, the Packers need to make sure that thing does not get over to the Tennessee Titans because both of these games the first two weeks for Tennessee have been lost by the turnover margin and the points have been generated off them.

them get the upper hand on you. In a matchup like this, the Packers need to win the special team's battle, whether that's Brayden Narvis and having you know, a perfect day kicking instead of having the one miss that he's had, Daniel Wheelan continuing to do what he's done with with pinning opponents inside the twenty yard line with his punts. You know, maybe it's it's Keyshawn Nixon or Jaden Reid, you know, kickoff return, punt return, you know, making something happen.

The Packers need to win that phase because they are going up against a unit that is struggling and trying to fix a bunch of things. So so you got to come out ahead there in the in the field position battle.

any point, the one thing I'll say. And it sort of hit me watching the Monday Night game this past Monday night, after the Eagles kicked the field goal against the Falcons to go up six, and then they kicked the ball off into the end zone, and you know, and the Falcons had plenty of time because of the

drop third down pass and all that. But when you're you know, you've you've got a last ditch two minute drive and you're starting on the thirty matters and instead of the twenty five, it's sort of it's sort of like, oh, you know, and Obviously, as Matt Lafleur had said in Brazil, it wasn't communicated to Nixon to not take that last

kickoff out of the end zone. He lost about five five seconds and about fifteen yards where the Packers could have been able to start that final drive on the thirty yard line where they were just trying to get into hail Mary position, you know. And and conversely, you know, Daniel Wheelan pinning the Colts on the five yard line on that final drive last week, where they did get out into, you know, very close to the hail Mary position.

If they're if that punt is a touchback on the twenty instead of on the five, that final drive perhaps looks, you know, looks different there as well. But before we go, a quick glance at some other key games that we'll be keeping our eyes on in Week three. I think the biggest one is a pair of two and oh teams. Houston is at Minnesota. Minnesota the only two and oh

team in the NFC North so far. Houston c J. Stroud, the second year quarterback, that offense well, and that defense quite frankly, they're you know, they've other than those long passes they gave up to Anthony Richardson in Week one, Houston's defense has you know, been been pretty tough. Obviously, Chicago Bears, you know, their offensive line, as you know, has had its struggles and the Texans took advantage of that.

But a really interesting one at US Bank with two two and zero teams in Week three.

already with a hip. I don't think it's anything that's going to keep him out, but I mean again, he's he's the guy in that backfield and they need weapons right now. So the thing I'm most interested to see though, is how the Vikings offense just excuse me, that Vikings defense handles the CJ Strout effect, because there's something about that offense right now, man, where I just think it's one of the more exciting units in football. It looks like the Joe Mixon thing has been a tremendous signing

for them. I questioned that at first. I just wondered, if you know where Mixing was going with his career, if maybe this was getting towards the end. But they got everything they need to put points up against you, and it'll be a good little track meet over at Minneapolis.

it was et cetera, et cetera. Well, now, combining the wild Card game last January with the Cowboys home opener last week, they not only have lost their last two home games, they have gotten blown out at home in their last two games in Dallas, and they are at home again facing a Ravens team that that's kind of up against it because I know there's a seventh playoff spot. I know there's there's the seventeen games now instead of sixteen.

But zero to three, man, that's a big that's a big hole that John Harbaugh and company are trying to avoid absolutely.

hires as coaches, but the Mike Zimmer defense here. This is a huge, huge test for Yeah, big time because of what they accomplished last year, you know, for them to be able to make this transition this year with the expectations that they have and having their their top cornerbacks back at least in theory we're going to have them back, they they have to be able to respond here against Lamar Jackson in this Baltimore offense, very very intriguing matchup to see exactly how that plays out.

really get something going with Kyler Murray. And as you mentioned on our last show, Marvin Harrison Junior.

the AFC East. Now, I just feel like that team and what they've built. There's been some guys that have come and gone. But in this post, Tom Brady era, I think you got to give a lot of respect to Sean McDermott for what they've built there.

that remains a contender. But the Arizona Cardinals, I mean, that's about as long a flight as it gets, you know, in this league if you're not playing internationally, to go from Phoenix all the way to Buffalo and they jumped all over those guys and Arizona let that one get away. I'm really interested to see what Arizona does at home against.