#804 Packers Unscripted: Narrow victory

The Packers have improved a five and two. There's a lot of ground to cover with regard to this game West, but I think the discussion from this one starts with Jeff Haffley's defense, because while twenty two points is not a number where you go, oh, the defense played great when you watched what happened out there on the field, the defense played great.

blitz packages. And one other trend that some of the guys were talking about after the game is Averra McKinney among them is this idea, and it's a credit to Brian Flores and the Vikings. They were the ones that kind of started this thing of mugging up all these defensive players and then sometimes sending four, sometimes sending seven, sometimes dropping guys. You just never know what you're gonna get, and the quarterback has to be able to make sense

of everything. And I felt like this came in particular. It wasn't just c J. Stroud. Their offensive line had a hard time adjusting to those looks. It helped create four tackles for a loss for Eric Wilson, two sacks, and relief of an injured kway Walker. I think I

absolutely love what they're doing with Rashaun Gary. We talked about the need of trying to get him moving around a little bit more, not just having him come off the weak side, being able to kind of build upon some of the traits that we talked about early in his career with having some positional versatility on the line, and then first and foremost they threw for eighty six yards.

And whether that's opposition being afraid of attacking the secondary now with having Xavier McKinney over the top of it, whether it's just the time clock of the quarterback getting disrupted, what have you. When you are limiting a quarterback, the reigning NFL offensive rookie of the year to under fewer than one hundred passing yards, you're doing something right defensively.

he ends up with over one hundred yards. And the Packers certainly had their challenge there. But you said it, I mean, the reigning offensive rookie of the year in C. J. Stroud comes into lambeau Field throws for only eighty six

passing yards. There's actually a net passing yards of like fifty some because of the four sacks that for like minus thirty one and the quite frankly going through the defensive film and I've got a lot of clips out there on the third downs and by what you might have missed piece for those who want to check that out. The Houston Texans up front, their pass protection, the calls, the communication, whatever it was, they were just not on point.

The Packers were confusing them. The Packers were getting them to hesitate, not quite sure you know who had whom, you know what to do, and it just it led to a lot of frustration for Stroud. Folks were talking about how he tossed his helmet on the sideline and you know, the Texans had the ball right at the beginning of the game at the eleven yard line after an interception by Jordan Love and yet had to settle

for a field goal. They had a chance to, you know, potentially put the game away at the end with a first down in the red zone at the two minute warning, forcing the Packers to use their timeouts on defense there at the end, but the defense got back to back tackles for loss on Joe Mixon and forced the field goal there. The Packers' defense had had multiple takeaways every game through the first six games of the season, almost equaling the number of takeaways from all of last regular season.

Not a single takeaway in this game, and this defense proved that it can succeed, it can play well, it can cause problems for opponents, not just because of the takeaways, but because of some of the other things that Jeff Hafley is learning about his guys and learning how to put them in certain positions to cause the offense problem.

situation that the change of game situation. The defense really thrived in those and I was talking to Kenny Clark about this after the game, and as he said, when you look at an NFL football game, okay, when you are in a spot where you are stepping up and you can stop them. The only time it felt like they were going to be able to score points is when the position was already stacked in their favor. Yeah, if they made the Texans drive, they felt like they

were getting the stop. So the one real I mean, there was a stretch of I think four straight three and oh it's at least three when they were able to mount that challenge late in the Texans were able to get down the field the way they did, that's when the offense stepped up. That's when Brandon McMahon stepped up. I thought this game was a perfect example of different phases lifting each other up at the right time. But the backbone of all of it was the defense holding court the way it did.

up four out of thirteen in the game. But as you said they were just two out of ten before that last drive, and whether and you know, it's another potpoie of individuals stepping up at different times, right, whether it's Evan Williams getting the stop on the two point conversion when they tried to run Joe Mixon from the one yard line, and again that was a two point conversion from the one yard line because of a defensive penalty that actually moved the ball closer. You mentioned Eric Wilson.

He steps in for kway Walker, not only to play the position, but to handle the communication, to wear the green dot, to relay all the signals to everybody. And Wilson not only keeps everybody defensively on the same page, but with those those a gap looks and some of that confusing stuff they were doing up front. He ends up with two sacks, four tackles for loss, a pass

deflection on third down that led to a punt. Edgar and Cooper, we see in whatever role Jeff Hafley is giving him, the rookie linebacker is making an impact when he's out there. Some of this different pass rush stuff. We saw Rashan Gary kind of getting cut loose a little bit. He was getting some you know, some runs at the quarterback because of the you know, the stunting and the looping around and trying to get creative in that regard. So there was a lot a lot going

on defensively that the Texans really had trouble with. And hey, it's a week to week league. Every game plan is going to be different. You know, there are going to be teams, I would say, like the Vikings a few weeks ago, who are going to handle the Packers preuss your packages better than the Texans did. That's going to happen. So then what are your counters, what are your answers, what are the adjustments you're going to make to still

try to do things? And so that's where everything with this defense will be continue to be an evolution going forward. And on the offensive side, I guess just call it an up and down roller coaster kind of day. You know. Jordan Love's touchdown passes to Tucker Craft and Dontavian Wicks were absolutely incredible throws right on the money. Couldn't have put it in a better spot. But he also threw

two interceptions obviously that he'd like to have back. The offense in the second half was backed up three times inside its own twenty yard line and went three and out and couldn't get a first down on three consecutive possessions. So there were all of these ups and downs with the offense. Fortunately, Love was able to put together that two minute drive. Buck forty four on the clock, Packers need a field goal to win. He completes four passes

for thirty nine yards. They get another five yards thanks to a defensive offside and Brandon McManus, the new kicker, comes out to win the game and the Packers get the five and two. But yet are looking at the film on offense going, boy, we could have There's so much more you know that the Packers could have done

in this game. So a lot to learn from. But pulling out a game with a two minute drive right at the end the way Jordan Love did, that's another step forward for that young man at quarterback.

The exciting thing for me is that with the start that he got off to last year and then how steady he was down the stretch, if he can replicate that, I mean, Jordan Love is trending in the right way, especially as he's continually getting himself back into a rhythm. What I loved about this game more than anything, though, is it was another reminder, with the defense playing into this as well, that the Green Bay Packers can win

football games without being perfect. Offensively, they were not perfect. Too many take away or too many giveaways, too many three and outs, special teams not perfect. You had the muff punt that it hits Corey Ballentain's leg ends up being in a turnover. You had the situation late where Jayden Reid ends up catching the ball a little too deep and they have to start deep within their own ten yardland, their own five yard line. Certainly, as Matt Orzek I believe told Jason Wilde after the game. The

snap wasn't where it needed to be. On the final field goal attempt, Daniel Wheelan made it right, Brandon McManus made the adjustment. They banged it through. So many different guys were able to pull through for this football team. They didn't rupture, they didn't lapse, They were able to continue pushing forward. These are the games I feel like, especially when you're playing a five to one football team, that you can learn the most from because Mike, they

didn't do this against the Minnesota Vikings. They didn't do this in the opener against the Philadelphia Eagles. They did this against the Texas. They found a way to get that victory. And now as you press forward and cannot look past the Jacksonville Jaguars, you have to take care of business this week, but they have another one in two weeks on deck against the Detroit Lions. The stakes are going to get higher more and more as you

press through this season. I feel like early crucibles like this are the things that really galvanize a football team.

I mean, if you're averaging fifty plus yards net, punting when you have to punt that many times in a game, that's where your punter is is significantly impacting field position. I mentioned you know the three straight three and outs when the Packers were backed up. Well, the Texans after those three punts from the Packers being backed up, they didn't start any of those drives in front of their

own forty yard line. I believe it was like the twenty five to thirty two and then thirty eight, and the thirty eight at the end was the one where then they put together their drive to get the field goal. But though, when a punter is punting from the goal line, you know with the snap putting him on the on the goal line to kick the ball, teams are hoping to be able to get the ball the forty to

forty five to fifty. That didn't happen any of those times when Wheelan was kicking and then with the hold at the end, of course, everything goes perfectly smoothly with the operation. When the Texans call the time out to try to ice McManus right, everything is, everything is picture perfect. The kick is absolutely right down the middle, splits the uprights, but then you have to do it again and uh

and Wheeland got a difficult snap there for McManus. It wasn't the kick wasn't exactly right down the middle, but it is obviously good hugging right inside the upright there that that hold. Man, I mean, you and I were sitting next to each other in the press box and both of us kind of what you know, when when when we saw that snap, it.

Crosby was here. Mason Crosby was never a pro bowler, and he had a couple down seasons, but for the most part improved throughout his career and was a real stall work for them in that area. If you have confidence in your specialists to fulfill the job, that's the only thing that matters.

here for the Packers, he has. While there's been all this consternation over the kicking position the last year and a half, Daniel Whelan has quietly settled the punting thing, which had been a rotating door for the last decade at that position. Basically since Tim Massday was let go in twenty sixteen, the Packers have been going through one

punter after the next. Yep, Daniel Wheelan's the guy. And it's just been incredible to watch his maturation because it's not that he just won the job and then okay, well now you just roll with him. No. I mean, this guy has become one of the real central characters of this football team with the way in which he's affecting field position.

and at Cousin Subs, we have something for everyone. Like everyone, like our Wisconsin cheese curds, mac and cheese, golden fries, and creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite sub or sub and a bowl a Cousin Subs fifty plus years of better. All right, Well, the good news is the Packers are five and two. The bad news is five and two is only good for third place in the NFC North because the Detroit Lions squeaked it out against

the Minnesota Vikings in a wildly entertaining game. I mean, I obviously wasn't watching it, but I watched the highlights and I was kind of like, wow, did everybody get their money's worth in that one? As well? Detroit beats Minnesota on a late field goal after blowing an eleven point lead in the fourth quarter. Detroit is five and one, Minnesota is five and one, Green Bay is five and two, and the Chicago Bears, who were on their by this

past week, are four and two. There are if I counted it, correctly Wes after Tampa Bay's loss on Monday Night Football to the Baltimore Ravens. I believe six of the eight divisions in the NFL have a team with at least five wins. There are two divisions that do not. Do I have that right? What? Six? Six of the eight yeah, yep, six of the eight have a team with five wins five or more wins. My point is the NFC North is the only one with more than one team with five wins, and the NFC North has three.

The Vikings have played the Lions and the Lions got that win. Those are the only division games that have been played so far. This race for the division title is barely getting started.

You don't You don't necessarily want to be in a situation where you're you're having to be four and two and in fourth place right now. Yeah, But as he said, these are also the games you want to play in. These are this is the type of competition you want to have, especially for a young team like that trying to improve. It is going to be an absolute barn burner to the finish line. I just don't think there's gonna be any scenario in the next month that would

change that. There's gonna be so many division games in the NFC North that are going to really dictate not only who's in the lead of this thing to try to claiming that championship but also trying to get into the playoffs there. So there's a lot that goes into that. I felt the Detroit Minnesota game you mentioned the down to the wire nature of that thing. One, I think it worked out to green Bay's benefit the fact that Detroit won they got that zero finally off of the

Minnesota vikings. But two, it was another reminder that it wasn't like Detroit or Minnesota played poorly. Both of those teams did exactly what they've been doing. Jamiir Gibbs was fantastic in that game. Jared Goff got off to another incredible start, twelve straight completions to start that game. Aaron Jones came back from the hamstring injury to have a very Aaron Jones type performance. Sam Darnold, with the exception

of one in was very efficient for them. Those teams are good football teams, good well coached football teams, and in the Packers are going to have their hands full in two weeks against the Lions. But that being said, the North is as difficult and as treacherous as everybody's

making it out to be. There's just so many playmakers in this division, and honestly, I think a part of that Packers have been what they've been, But all these teams have made really savvy offseason moves, whether it's the drafting of the Chicago Bears, whether it's the Detroit Lions with their process that they've been going through the last four years, or Minnesota just completely overhauling the roster last season.

Lions Vikings game went on Sunday. The Vikings jump on top ten to nothing in the early portion of the game. The middle portion of the game, the Lions completely dominate the Vikings by believe a twenty eight to seven count, because then the score is twenty eight to seventeen heading into the fourth quarter. Then the Vikings score twelve straight points to go ahead twenty nine to twenty eight, and then the Lions sort of they had the ball last kind of thing and end up getting in position to

make the field goal. And actually I saw I don't know the details of it, but I saw some kind of a headline that referred to if it hadn't been for the Vikings getting the Vikings got the ball back with like fifteen seconds to go, and if it hadn't been for some kind of a penalty on Minnesota, they would have had they would have had a chance at a sixty eight yard field legal formation, illegal formation, that's what it was. They would have had a chance at

a sixty eight yard field goal. And apparently they were going to let will Reikerd, the rookie kicker. They were going to let him try it. They're in us, Yeah, they were going to let him try that, and it didn't happen because then they ended up getting backed up another five yards. But my point is we've seen two NFC North Division games so far, and they've both been just these back and forth kind of you know, wild

and crazy type of affairs. So whether it's you know, the Lions and the Bears, the Packers and the Bears, the you know, Lions, and the Packers in a couple of weeks. I think these are the kind of games that we can expect in this division the rest of the way.

all week. They finally got it into play. He scores. That was really cool and noteworthy, and then there was some really nice banter back and forth about it being whether he should keep the football, Tucker Craft giving it to him, him wanting to give it to Jordan Love because it was his fiftieth passing touchdown. We'll see where

that ends up happening. It was even more important, though, the fact that Josh Jacobs had twelve carries for seventy six yards, the reversals, the end a rounds, the receiver stuff. Houston was hipped to it, and the Packers stayed in front of that. Though with how Josh Jacobs ran the football, two Romeo Dobs bawled out on some day, eight catches ninety four yards. I don't know if there was a

single one of them that wasn't meaningless. Every single one of them, including on the final drive to set up the touchdown. Ye insane game by Rome and showed really good hands throughout that. I mean again the possession receiver that I think has become the Jordan Nelson, the DeVante Adams to Jordan Love that Adams and Nelson were to Rogers. Lastly, Stefan Diggs, for all the pomp and circumstance before the games,

had five catches for twenty three yards. I believe this was Bill Rabier who had mentioned this to me while we were waiting to go in the locker room. I believe it was in nine games he has like ten touchdowns against Green Bay.

I'll pay you in paper and coins.