#815 Packers Unscripted: Difficulty in Detroit

yardfield goal on the last play of the game. I would characterize this as a disappointing loss, but by no means a discouraging loss. When I look at where the Green Bay Packers are, would you agree with that?

did the game at Lambeufield a month ago. I thought you saw some of the corrections that they needed to make. They made those. The problem was, though, as we've seen time and time again, Detroit is one of the most consistent teams in the National Football League in terms of executing what they are looking to do on the field. They run the ball efficiently, they don't take negative yardage plays.

The more comfortable that Jared Goff gets, the less that it's on his shoulders to kind of play hero ball. The better that this team plays indefensively, I absolutely tip my cap to them because for as a defensive front that was as beat up as they were going into this thing. The Lions, I thought, really brought it to Green Bay and the trenches in this game. So there were a lot of positives, there were some areas for improvements,

some negatives. But at the end of the day, and we'll talk about this later in the week with Seattle and what's coming at this loss to the Lions. As long as Green Bay channels did it appropriately against Seattle, against New Orleans, against Minnesota and then Chicago, I mean, this could be something that really helps propel you into the playoffs. They just need to make sure it doesn't snowball the opposite way because green Bay played them really tough.

took it to green Bay, especially in the game. The slow start on offense in a game that turned out to be turned into a shootout, right frankly offensively, the slow start going punt punt fumble on the first three possessions, especially when that second possession was starting near midfield, when the defense for Green Bay had gotten a stop of

the Lions deep in their territory. So you get good field position on your second drive of the game, down seven to nothing, but you don't do anything with it. Then you punt, and then the fumble occurs at the end of an explosive catch and run by Christian Watson, a gain of twenty yards. You're across midfield, but he doesn't protect the football. It comes out and the Lions get it back. They turn that into a field goal, so you've gone punt punt fumble and you're down ten

to nothing. So the slow start there a very big regret. Obviously, fourth downs another regret in this game. The Lions end up converting four out of five on fourth downs. Two of those are fourth and goals that turn into touchdowns, and then obviously the fourth and one call at the end, which allows them to then run the clock out before they kicked the field goal, so the Packers don't get the ball back, and really that was kind of the culmination the biggest regret for me defensively in this game

for Green Bay. You know, you're not going to just shut down the Lions. They're too good, right, They're going to make plays, They're going to get points. What was really the regret defensively in this game for Green Bay was the last two drives. Because the defense had gotten an interception and a fourth down stop back to back in the second half. The Packers offensively turned both of those into touchdowns, which really kind of you know, changed

the whole complexion of the game. But then Detroit's last two drives they were just slowly methodically grinding the clock. They get a touchdown, and then they kill the last three and a half minutes to kick a field goal. Those are the regrets that stay out to me. And then of course you have the the offensive pass interference in the red zone, which the Packers only end up getting the field goal that ties the game instead of a touchdown to take the lead. All of those fall

in the regret category. I'll let you expound on any or all of them if you wish.

let them leak down the field the way they did. Absolutely, But that is this is what Detroit does seventy six offensive plays thirty six minutes a time of possession. They wear on you, they lean on you, they play physically, and then they just try to sort of push you over over the course of a sixty minute game. Not to say that that's what they did at the end. I think green Bay was competitive from beginning, middle and end. But it just shows you when you apply that type

of pressure what the Lions are able to achieve. And this was one game, Mike. For as many regrettable moments as there were for green Bay, Detroit had a fair amount of them. The interception that Jared Goff has that turns into a Keishawn Nixon pick, his first pick of the year, that leads to points them deciding to go for it on fourth and one. I believe it was, or maybe fourth to two at their own thirty one yard line while they're leading twenty four to twenty one.

I mean, that's a controversial decision in the third quarter, and all the other ones, the fourth downs, I agreed with all of them. And you had to read this when I wrote this an inbox, I'd be curious to see your thoughts on it. Matt Lafleur's point about a week or two ago about the red zone and when you're passing deep in the red zone, either the play

is there or it's not. You're going off schedule. The bang Bank nature of it is what ended up happening at the end of the first half, and then obviously the one that they converted late, and credit Jared Goff. He was decisive, they were effective in what they were trying to run, and to me, in addition to the final two defensive stands, that was the difference. If Green Bay keeps them out of the end zone and one or two of those instances, yeah, this thing maybe goes

a different direction. It certainly would have had a different flavor going into halftime.

they might throw it. You know, it can be anything which does make and the Lions know that you know, obviously fourth and goal from the seven, if they decide to go for that, you're going, okay, they're probably gonna throw the ball here right well, fourth and goal from the two, you don't know. And and the Lions use that to their advantage because because those running backs are so tough and are capable of of pounding those balls

in from the goal line. The Packers actually did a really good job stopping the other than the very first one at the beginning of the game, stopping those guys from getting the rushing guests. They made Jared Goff throw

the ball into the end zone. But unfortunately they unfortunately they weren't able to stop those It was really it was really disappointing to see on the second fourth and goal where they scored in the second half, that the Lions came out of the huddle and kind of quick snapped on the Packers and the defense wasn't set and wasn't ready right. That's the kind of thing that can't happen in a crucial situation like that. And and you know, it's not like the Lions been do and hurry up

stuff and this and that throughout the game. It's like boom, they just you know, they came out of the huddle and they're like they rush up to the line and snapped the ball, and you know they caught the Packers to you have to give them credit. And if you're the Packers, you have to say that that can't happen. You have to be ready for the Lions to try something different at any moment, and and they just they That's how Detroit stays a step ahead of opponents most of the time.

not having success. Detroit made the right correction. They tried to sneak it, they tried to run it, they tried everything, and then finally they go back to the pass. They trust their quarterback to make the right lead and he achieves that. The disappointing thing for me is that Detroit finishes this game, Michael, even with an a'man Ross Saint Brown ten yard run, thirty four carries for one hundred and eleven yards three point three yards per carry. Jamiir

Gibbs had forty three yards on fifteen carries. That's the number three in the fan voting for the Pro Bowl right now. Forty three yards on fifteen carries, and one of those went for twenty yards. Green Bay helped them in check a lot of the ways you have to hold them in check. But the difficult thing about facing the Detroit Lions is even if you keep them in third and moderate, there's a chance they're still going to

go for it on fourth down. And when you stretch out four plays like that while trying to get ten yards, I mean, it's an aggressive mentality. We'll see whether or not it's good enough to win a Super Bowl, yeah, but certainly it's something that keeps you on edge the entire time. And in this case, you know, obviously it was probably the difference in the game. It was my key to key to the game.

were throwing out some of the numbers. I went through a few other numbers looking at specifically Montgomery and Gibbs. Twenty nine carries between those two guys, and they didn't have one hundred yards ninety four twenty nine for ninety four. You will take that. I mean, credit to the Lions. They stick with the run because they make you honor it. And that is what helps out Jared Goff so much, is because you do have to invest so much in

stopping the run. But those twenty nine carries between those two backs, only five of them, Only five of those twenty nine went for more than four yards. I mean, twenty four out of twenty nine rushes by those two running backs, the Packers held them to four yards or less. That I think has been the most positive sign for

this defense moving forward. And as the Packers hit the stretch run here and we're going to and again on our next show, we'll talk about Seattle and what they're doing with their running game, But the Packers' run defense has been pretty darn good, and I think, I think if that's something, and you know, Packers are banged up now in the secondary, the injuries to Evan Williams and Javon Bullered, and we'll see how this all shakes out here the final month of the regular season, But if

the Packers can hang their hat on some solid run defense, then you kind of you make the adjustments the rest of the way, right with everything else that you have to do. I thought, I thought green Bay's run defense was darn good in this game.

to generate early down yardage. But you still when you look at what green Bay did the two games going into this, and I don't remember the exact stats, but I think it was thirty carries for eighty three yards. In the two previous games, Packers hadn't had a stretch like that. I think only two stretches like that since like nineteen fifty where they had back to back games where they held teams in check that much. Yeah, without allowing a rushing touchdown. Sure, so that's that is a

positive and I draw a lot from that. I think conversely, green Bay had their own struggles trying to get the run game going, but this game again proved that even if things aren't blocked up perfectly, Josh Jacobs is gonna make you right. My key to victory for this game, Mike, was the Packers need to run the ball better than

Detroit did. They didn't technically do that when you look at the total yardage when you look at some of those things, But again, I will look at Josh Jacobs and what he has done and the way he has been able to really make that running game and own it and make that his own goes over a thousand yards for the season. Now has eight rushing touchdowns in his last four games, a streak that we have not

seen outside of Aaron Jones. This guy is legitimate, and I just think when Green Bay is gonna be if you can keep him healthy, get to the postseason with him. I mean, I think number eight is going to do some real damage. So run defense, run offense. Things did you can correct on both sides of those things. But the more and more I watched Josh Jacobs Mike and I know I went on kind of my own little tangent there. I just green Bay struggled for so long.

And this goes back to McCarthy era. It's not even just on Matt Lafleurke. Sure, they struggled so long on goal to go situations and what do you do when you're at the two or three yard line. You know, John Cohn used to take some of those handoffs, and they tried to, you know, other running backs that aren't always successful with it.

or the Packers might be kicking a field goal. So I totally get where you're coming from.

You have you have Christian Watson where he has the early fumble, but kind of like his game last year against the Lions, I thought Christian Watson was really critical of what green Bay did and if at the very least, I mean we could talk about the OPI if you want to, but the forty six yarder to start the second half, I mean that was huge to be for green Bay to get that play early on, get that score, that response to how the first half ended, and it nearly was enough to pull out this win.

on the concussion protocol. So what Don Tavianooks was able to contribute. We saw Tucker Craft again. He was doing his Tucker Craft things. Three catches forty one yards, gets the touchdown, the twenty one yard reception where he kind of gets labeled there near the goal line, but does the kip up and now he becomes, you know, a social media hero and everything with Sean michaels I Love West has a story on that on packers dot com.

By the way, for those who are interested in what Tucker Craft had to say about all the attention that that play has gotten.

He did not want to let Jack Campbell, Kirby Joseph, any of those guys get any type of jew any type of momentum off that play for laying him out. He wanted to do something that was going to tell them I'm still here. And he got to his feet quicker than Jack Campbell did. Those are the type of ball players you want to have on your team. It's not about what you say. It's not about throwing your helmet at someone's kneecap. It is about how you respond

in moments in which physicality are warranted. Tucker Craft did that, and this dude, man, I'm telling you, when you're talking about heartbeat players, heart and soul players, guys that you want to ride with you want to have your identity built around. It's Tucker Craft because he does it the right way. He's not looking to go out there and injure people. He's not going out there to try to be somebody that is going to become this big quote afterwards. He wants to go play football. He did it that

way in South Dakota. He's doing it that way in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He is going to play the game the right way. And I can't tell you how much respect I had for him. And I got to say this too before you we go is a different direction. The way we handle our things. People that are frequent watches of our shows, read our content, you're at the postgame press conferences. I'm in the locker room. I need

to say this once. Christian Watson again proved why again while you have a heart and soul player like Tucker Kraft, the way Christian Watson handles himself and the emotions that were felt after that game, the fumble, the OPI, he stood at his locker, his visiting room locker, and talked about how it's on him. It's not about the officials, it's not about what happened in the game. It's up to him. If Kirby Joseph steps up and stops and basically sets a screen, He's got to find a way

around it. If there's a fumble after a twenty yard catch, he has to find a way to protect the ball better. Christian Watson, Man, when you're building the culture of team, and I've said a newnumerous times this season, when you been in diversity hits, that really shows the true character

of an individual. I wish my character was stronger. It's not, I'm gonna be honest with you, but I think Christian Watson embodies everything you wanted a professional football player, and that Mike is the end of my diet trip.

to get their points. Right. The Packers' defense in this game had back to back stops in the first half and had back to back stops in the second half. The difference in the game, quite frankly, was what the Packers offense did in those moments. The back to back stops in the second half, the interception and the fourth downstop were turned into two touchdowns. The back to back stops in the first half a punt from midfield and then a fumble, and you get no points off of those.

So in a game where you know your defense is going to be taxed because the Lions are explosive and dangerous and efficient and they will grind you into the earth offensively, the times that the Packers defense had the upper hand, the offense only cashed in on that sort of in sort of half the time instead of all the time, which is what you need to do when your defense does get those stops. And then before we move on, I'm going to make one comment about the officiating.

Oh good, because I thought and I've thought this one through and I'm not even going to talk about other

than to say it right now. The OPI on Watson and the Kirby Joseph collision and all that, I'm leaving that one aside because what bothered me when I looked at this game as a whole, and a lot of people talking about the missed calls in this call and the non call here and what ever, what bothered me the most about the officiating in this game are two calls that were about as inconsistent as you can get

in this league. And what I'm talking about are the opening possession for the for Detroit, they have third and goal in the seven yard line and Keishawn Nixon gets called for illegal contact in the end zone when the receiver runs into him. So the incomplete pass doesn't count.

But then on the last possession of the game, the Packers, after a holding penalty on Detroit have the Lions in second and seventeen and i'man ross. Saint Brown runs a deep end cut, shoves Keishaw Nixon out of the way, and catches a sixteen yard pass to make it third and one. What bothers me the most about NFL officiating is Kishawn Nixon getting called for that illegal contact on the opening drive of the game, which is a four

point call. And then they don't call the push off by the offensive player on the last possession of the game, which instead of they call that it's second in twenty seven from near midfield and instead it's third and one. Yep, it's a twenty six yard swing. So one call is a four point swing, the other call is a twenty six yard swing. And there is zero consistency whatsoever with how those how those two calls are made. So I'll let you comment if you want to. I'm gonna leave

it at that. That is what is the most frustrating thing about officiating in the NFL and how it imps these very important games.

and we'll move on from it. If I don't see a John Hussey officiated game the rest of the season, I'll be totally fine with that.

You can you can throw a flag on every play if you want to at the critical times calling those calling those types of penalties in two though, the overarching thing to all this is just like teams have their own game plans, just like they have their own adjustments, officials need to be understanding of how they are calling a game and stick to that standard. That's six seven, eight people all working together, understanding the way in which

they're going to go through this thing. I deleted this from Insider Inbox on Saturday, but I'm going to say it now. There was not a single call made in that game amongst professional officials that I don't think A four man crew in the WIA and Wisconsin high school football couldn't have made There was nothing I saw in that game. Everything that they called was either a deliberate reaction.

You know, we talk about the Dan Skipper incident there with kway Walker, and I'm telling you this right now, Packer fans layoff kowy Walker. It's going to get corrected. The issues that whatever the coaching staff wants to do with kay Walker, they're going to handle that. What happened in that incident, that could have been any linebacker. I understand Quay shoved him back. I understand that there's a

history there. I get that. Don't tell me that Dan Skipper didn't know that, especially the way that he was handling himself throughout the course of that game, the way that this thing went down. You move past it, You move on. Players aren't going to talk about it. Coaches aren't going to talk about it. Don't want to get fined. I don't think I can get fined. We'll see. But this game, Buy and Large Detroit was a better team. Matt Laflor says it all the time. Yep, you have

to play above the officials. Green Bay didn't. But my god, man, like this was one of those games where I got done with it. I'm just like, this is what the NFL wants, this is this is how they want their game officiated, and yeah that's how it goes.

packers and lines. And I said this with a couple of my comments on Twitter and on inbox the last few days, like this is as cool and as real and as true of a rivalry as I've felt during my time you were there NFC Championship game in twenty ten, I was, and I don't know what that felt like with you know, Jay Cutler and all that. By the time I started coming the team, Jay was sort of

already on the other end of that. But I mean, yeah, it was competitive with the Vikings for a few years, and there's these moments there, But in terms of just the perennialness of this, it feels like this is something that's going to go on for years. And I love that because I think that's when football's at its best. Pro wrestling sells its storylines based on the feelings that it is evoking, and I feel like, especially in my own personality, there's plenty of feelings that I feel right

now between the Scream Band Detroit thing. So we'll see whether or not they see him again this season, but if they do, it's gonna be a boat look fun.

is now wildcard or bust. The good news is the Packers are in very good position to get a wild card. It would appear that if they were at nine and four right now, if they can get to eleven wins, they will almost one hundred percent assuredly be in the playoffs, and they may be able to get there depending on

how some other things fall. They may be able to get there with ten wins, and they will be going for their tenth win this weekend out in Seattle, yet another primetime game Sunday Night Football, and Seattle was certainly involved in one of the more significant results in the NFL. From Week fourteen. They went on the road. Two weeks after beating Arizona in Seattle, they went on the road to Arizona for the rematch against their division rival and they beat them again. So that is now four straight

wins for the Seattle Seahawks. They are sitting atop the NFC West, a division that was kind of a big muddled mess there for a while. Now has a clear front runner, and it is the Seattle Seahawks, and that is the Packer's opponent. We'll get into them a little bit more on our next show. But the way things are shaping up, you know, the Packers are in tremendously good position to get a wild card spot and to try to make another run at this thing like they did last season.

Balls out probably their best rushing performance this season. This is not a great running football team. One of the things the points I'm making an insider inbox for Wednesday is that in this shift to Gino Smith and obviously Pete Carroll's no longer there, but they've changed the complete chemistry of their offense. It went from a very run heavy. This team's every year with Russell Wilson is gonna be a top five rushing offense to like their twenty seventh

or twenty eighth in the NFL. And they are passing at nauseum. Now, some of that's because of the games in which they're playing, but that's also kind of the way that Geno Smith plays this game though illustrated one what happens when Gino doesn't throw an interception. They won the takeaways and they were able to establish the run. A lot of lessons Green Bay is going to be

able to learn from that going into this matchup. But four game winning streak Now for Seattle, a division where they were looking for somebody to sort of claw up to the top of this heap, it's them and it looks like the Rams are right behind him. Now, So yeah, I have an impressive win. And I mean talk about a tone setter within your division to be able to knock back Arizona, knock them out of the lead, and then have them, you know, really push them down a

little bit in a matter of three weeks. Yeah, that was a big momentum changer here for the Seahawks.

there the rest of the way. So you look at just how the Seahawks have have beaten the Cardinals twice in the last three weeks, it's because of it's because of the turnovers, the opposing quarter back, and certainly Jordan Love has done a much better job taking care of the football lately. The fumble we talked about with Christian Wattson was that's the Packers only giveaway only turnover offensively in the last three games, really three and a half games.

Going back, you go back to the first half in Chicago, the interception down by the goal line. The Packers had gone a long stretch without turning the ball over, so that will matter as well. Before we go, just your thoughts quickly. You mentioned the Rams forty four to forty two, highest scoring game in the NFL this year. They pull it out over the Buffalo Bills to keep the Rams

very much in the playoff hunt at this point. And I don't know if you saw the end of that game, I don't know what in the world Buffalo is thinking when you're on the one yard line and you have all three of your timeouts to potentially take on defense with you, and you call a quarterback sneak, which then fails and you have to burn your one time out, which then puts the game entirely on the on sidekick instead of giving your defense a chance to actually give

you one more shot. I don't even know what, because what would possess anybody in that situation to call a quarterback sneak or even yeah, or even just burning the first time out because the quarterback sneak feels you're better off hurrying up, spiking the ball and be having third and goal on the one rather than burning the timeout

that you burn. It was such a it was such a complete cluster of how they managed the clock at the end of that game to they just they they had a chance to pull off an amazing comeback and they blew it because of clock management. It was it was it was disappointing. I I enjoy watching the Buffalo Bills. I enjoy watching Josh Allen, and I was really hoping they might be able to pull that one out.

beat the forty nine ers in this game. Like it's like they go completely away from the run, they fall behind early, they're passing, and then at that very minute, it seems like they always fall into this trap where they forget that Josh Allen. Yes he can run, and yes he can score touchdowns with his feet, but he is a quarterback and he's probably one of the top three guys in the NFL, and they just resort to

these type of things. Well, he's you know, to under and however many pounds he's going to get himself in, he doesn't. And you know, they I thought they, you know, maybe it's the wake up call they needed kind of like I felt like in some ways, you know, Kansas City a couple of weeks ago had a wake up call they needed. But the fact of the matter is is that the Rams and what they did in this game. I thought, Matthew Stafford, this is probably his best game

of the season. Poka Nakua. They're using him in different ways.

the fact that the Rams just gave up forty two. Yes, for sure, So how much does that make you a legitimate playoff.

No matter what, Kansas City is the final boss. You think you got him, you don't got them. You don't got them.

Buffalo loss. Yeah, Kansas City now has a two game cushion with four games to go to get the number one seed and the buy in the AFC of position that the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers were hoping to push for. But now both of those clubs are two games back with four to go because of the bank shot.