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00:00:01
Week 12 Preview I'm All Alone
20 Plays2 days ago
Aloha and welcome to OPE! on this episode Joe is all alone. This is a quick preview talking about the injury report and what its gonna take for the Packers to defeat the Vikings
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Transcript
Introduction and Game Preview
00:00:01
Joe Pearson
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of OAP. We are the Ohana Packers Edition podcast. I am Iowa Joe, and i'm all by myself. Mike is still under the weather, so I'm going to try to stumble my way through a preview of the upcoming divisional game between the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings.
00:00:20
Joe Pearson
This is the beginning of a long stretch of rivalry games to finish out the season, and the Packers have to be better than what they've been against in previous games the vikings while still aren't the greatest team in the world are going to play a lot harder because it is a rivalry game uh this one i believe is yep it is at lambeau field so it is a home game so
00:00:53
Joe Pearson
That'll give the Vikings an even more bigger thing to play for to take down the Packers in the Packers home stadium. So
Packers' Offensive Challenges
00:01:04
Joe Pearson
while the win against the Giants was a good win to get your self-confidence back that you can go out and be a good team.
00:01:16
Joe Pearson
they are goingnna have to step the offense is to have to step up and be better because the Vikings do have a relatively good defense.
00:01:27
Joe Pearson
So with that being said, let's go ahead and jump in like we would on a normal episode and talk about the injury report.
00:01:44
Joe Pearson
So...
Injury Report: Packers
00:01:47
Joe Pearson
the On the Packer side of things this is a laundry list of injuries listed it kind of reminds you of a Walgreens or CVS receipt so like Mike normally does he'll break down the DNPs that did not practice as first and those will be Carl Brooks with an ankle Nate Hobbs with a knee, Josh Jacobs with his knee, Quay with his neck, and Savion with a foot.
00:02:22
Joe Pearson
Now, I guess I really didn't pay attention to it, so I don't know, but a lot of people are saying that Savion was in a walking boot leading all the way up to... game time so there's something to be of concern a little bit because if he's dealing with an issue but still can play limitedly you know what is it could it be a uh plantar fasciitis type thing where He can play through it, but it's not going to be the most comfortable thing in the world to do it. Or they can use some orthotics in his cleats to kind of help him out there.
00:03:04
Joe Pearson
Quay went out with the stinger. Hopefully that's not going to be a... This is just kind of a cautious thing for them, hopefully. But you know you never know when you're dealing with a neck.
00:03:18
Joe Pearson
ah Jacobs and Hobbs, we both know about the knee issues or we know about the knee issues with both of those guys. ah Jacobs, you're hoping he can, I believe LeFleur said that, and other reports have said that Jacobs is not any kind of structural damage.
00:03:39
Joe Pearson
So hopefully he is just on some rest for the week and is a good to go for Sunday. Hobbs is still dealing with his knee injury. They said it could be a couple weeks.
00:03:51
Joe Pearson
you know A lot will be said if
Player Participation and Kicker Questions
00:03:54
Joe Pearson
he starts practicing Thursday and Friday. Obviously, this comes out Thursday before we can actually get into a decent, before we know what goes on at practice. So we don't know if he's practiced yet or not. But as of Wednesday, he has not.
00:04:12
Joe Pearson
So that gives you an idea for the DNPs. Just to kind of make it a little bit quicker, we'll give you some of the, or I'll give you some of the fully participated. Jordan Love, left shoulder.
00:04:26
Joe Pearson
He obviously went out missed a play or two, or missed a drive basically with his shoulder injury after taking the hit that he took. Came back in, was able to play.
00:04:39
Joe Pearson
Has them listed as a full participant. So obviously it doesn't seem like there's anything too major there They just have to list it to be in compliance with the league rules The other full participant is I don't know if you want to call it fortunately unfortunately Brandon McManus um Obviously Haversick has struggled against the Giants But like I said in the game review with Brian, the weather had a lot to do with that. and Even the Giants kicker was struggling kicking in that in that swirling wind.
00:05:18
Joe Pearson
So was Haversick regressing or was it just the the the weather that was causing him fits? But McManus is working his way back front with his right quadricep that obviously he's been dealing with for a while.
00:05:36
Joe Pearson
I don't know. I mean, it's one of those things you're damned if you do, you're damned if you don't. I would probably throw Haversick out there one more time just to see what happens and you can always go back to McManus after that.
00:05:53
Joe Pearson
Now for the long list of things. The
Injury Concerns and Linebacker Woes
00:05:55
Joe Pearson
limited participants. So bear with me as I list through these things. Normally I would just let Mike write rant on about it so um It's a little bit different for me to do this stuff. So you got Javon Bullard with an ankle, Edron Cooper with a foot, Romeo Dobbs with his wrist, Matthew Golden with shoulder and wrist, Keyshawn Nixon with an illness, Micah Parsons with his pectoral, Zach Tom with the back, Lucas Van Ness is continuing to practice even if it is on a limited participation
00:06:36
Joe Pearson
ah designation with his foot. Christian Watson is obviously going to be on it for probably the rest of the season with his knee, being he's coming back from such a major knee surgery.
00:06:48
Joe Pearson
Dontavian Wicks with his calf, and that that gives you an idea where we're at. it it It's not good, but you know a lot of them you know are going to be able to play because they've been dealing with these injuries for a while, and they are going to be on limited bases just to keep them healthy for this for the games heading or going forward. so ah The big thing is is having both Edron Cooper and Quay Walker hurt.
00:07:19
Joe Pearson
Not ideal. and you know Those are your two starting and inside linebackers. and you know Right now, we don't know what Tyron Hopper's got.
00:07:33
Joe Pearson
We know what Isaiah McDuffie is, so it it really... it With that question mark, you it's not great to see both your starting linebackers injured at the moment. And I forgot to mention Christian Welch is in there too, and you know he's mainly used for special teams, but what we've seen and from him in the preseason, both last year and this year, is there a possibility he can come in and play if need So...
00:08:02
Joe Pearson
so That's it for the Packers injury report, taking a look at Minnesota's.
Vikings' Struggles and J.J.'s Performance
00:08:09
Joe Pearson
Their DNPs was William frize Fries, however you want to pronounce his name, with a knee.
00:08:15
Joe Pearson
And their linebacker, Jonathan Grenard, did not practice with a shoulder injury. ah Their full participations was Christian Derisaw, Aaron Jones, and Ryan Kelly.
00:08:30
Joe Pearson
So... Obviously, they don't have as many injuries that they're dealing with.
00:08:38
Joe Pearson
And, you know, they are getting some of their guys back. And I don't know if that's going to help them or not. Obviously, Aaron Jones still has capability of being a solid playmaker.
00:08:52
Joe Pearson
And that should help out J.J. McCarthy. But that offense still does not look great. Yeah.
00:09:04
Joe Pearson
close out some of these tabs here so I can communicate a little bit better here.
00:09:15
Joe Pearson
Looking at some rankings and I'm not very good at it. So again, normally I let Mike handle some of this stuff, but right now,
00:09:31
Joe Pearson
like I said, their offense is not doing very well. They were starting Carson Wentz. J.J. was starting, got injured. Wentz came in got injured. J.J.' 's back starting.
00:09:46
Joe Pearson
And, you know, he's got six touchdowns to eight interceptions ah for only 842 yards.
00:09:58
Joe Pearson
so There are big question marks with him still. I mean, obviously he was a rookie last year, but he missed all over last year because of the knee injury. This year is kind of technically his rookie year, even though it is his second year in the league.
00:10:14
Joe Pearson
The big thing is is he's been sacked 15 times in his five games started. So if you can get to him, you can rattle him, and that's what the Packers defense really needs to do. Get to him, rattle him.
00:10:28
Joe Pearson
Now, with that being said, the the Vikings do have their weapons that if they can't rattle JJ, JJ should has the the weapons to be able to do some damage.
00:10:43
Joe Pearson
to the Packers defense and in some key spots that the Packers have struggled with. Justin Jefferson, Jordan Adderson, TJ Hawkinson, the corpse of Adam Thielen, and then looking at their running backs, they have Cam Akers, Jordan Mason, and of course Aaron Jones.
00:11:06
Joe Pearson
So Mason has been the key guy so far. But the Packers have, I know some people are saying they they've struggled with the run game now. Yes, against the Giants, they struggled against the run game.
00:11:18
Joe Pearson
But they've been pretty solid when it comes to the run oh
00:11:26
Joe Pearson
for most of the season. So...
00:11:31
Joe Pearson
Try to get some of this stuff backed up back up. I accidentally closed too many of them. Like I said, I Trying to do an episode by yourself is not great, but you know you do what you do when you're your co host is Not doing what not feeling good so I'm using AI to help me out with some of these talking points, but the Vikings on offense are 22nd when it comes to points per game, 24th when it comes to total offensive yards per game, 22nd in passing yards, 25th in rushing yards, and 32nd in time of possession per game, and 16th when it comes to points per play.
00:12:15
Joe Pearson
Well, you know, whatever on that one. But the big one there is if they're 32nd in time of possession, then that means they are giving up or they are either scoring quick or getting off the field quick.
Defensive Strategies: Packers vs. Vikings
00:12:35
Joe Pearson
And if the Packers defense can be stout, give If our DBs can control Addison and and Jefferson and Hawkinson, if our pass rush can get to McCarthy,
00:12:53
Joe Pearson
If the run defense can hold up, which look ah I'll pull up them stacks those stats here real quick, Packers are sixth in total yards allowed per game, seventh in points allowed, tenth in passing yards allowed per game, and seventh when it comes to rushing yards allowed per game.
00:13:12
Joe Pearson
So if the Packers rushing a rushing defense can hold up, if they're passing – oh defense can hold up, there is no reason the Packers should lose this game.
00:13:29
Joe Pearson
However, that being said, it's all going to depend on how the Packers offense can match up against the Vikings defense. Defensively, the the Vikings are 16th in points allowed per game, 11th in total yards allowed per game, 7th in passing yards allowed per game, and 22nd in rushing yards allowed.
00:13:51
Joe Pearson
They also rank 29th in interceptions and 13th in sacks. So they are having some success against quarterbacks, but they are struggling against the run.
00:14:02
Joe Pearson
So... As much as it pains me to say this, heavy doses of Josh Jacobs, heavy doses of Emmanuel Wilson, heavy doses of Chris Brooks.
00:14:15
Joe Pearson
Push those guys. Hopefully the offensive line can hold up. Hopefully they get something figured out with that, that this offensive line can hold up a little bit better than they did against ah the Eagles and even somewhat with the, with the giants. I mean, they held up enough to let Jordan, Jordan love do what he needed to do, but it still didn't look great.
00:14:41
Joe Pearson
You know, it didn't pass the eye test, even though maybe some of the advanced advanced stats say different really, but You know, offensively, the Packers are 13th in points per game, 13th in total offensive yards a game, 13th in passing yards, and 19th in rushing yards per game. So there's they're about mid mid-pack pardon the pun midpac of of offensives in the league. So...
00:15:13
Joe Pearson
you know Like i said, i figure that you're going to see a ton of rushing a tag, depending on what Josh Jacobs' health is. ah I should look at that real quick.
00:15:26
Joe Pearson
I think they still have Pierre Strong Jr. on the practice squad, and that's it it for running backs?
00:15:38
Joe Pearson
of Bear with me here. Yeah, they have Pierre Strong Jr.
00:15:45
Joe Pearson
Still on their practice go squad when it comes to running back. So, I mean, if Jacobs is down, I figure the that Pierre will be, ah they'll use one of his call-ups and you'll see a heavy dose of all three of those guys.
00:16:01
Joe Pearson
But... Really what it's going to come down to is that battle up front.
Offensive Line Issues and Defensive Handling
00:16:07
Joe Pearson
Is the ramshackle offensive line of the Green Bay Packers going to be able to handle what the Minnesota Vikings defense can do to them?
00:16:18
Joe Pearson
big And it goes back to, again, the big question marks when it comes to injuries because, you know, what is it? One, two...
00:16:30
Joe Pearson
three, four, five, basically five of your wide receivers are all on the injury report for some reason or another. So can they come in healthy? Can they drive down the field?
00:16:45
Joe Pearson
Will the offensive line give enough time for Jordan to throw? All those questions. And then you got Malik Heath. What's going on with Malik Heath? You know, obviously they've been pretty tight-lipped about it.
00:16:57
Joe Pearson
It's not good when he gets left behind as a healthy scratch. You know, usually that's a disciplinary thing, and that that means that
00:17:11
Joe Pearson
speculation is is he's not happy that Bo Melton is being used more than he is, which I can understand that because you've got a guy who's been ah wide receiver, has been solid when he gets put out there and both in pass ah both and run blocking and when he's called upon when it comes to receiving.
00:17:30
Joe Pearson
Versus a guy who is, you know, is a former wide receiver, but has been ah practicing as a corner since, you know, the offseason.
00:17:41
Joe Pearson
So there is questions there as why they would choose Melton over Heath. You know, I get that Melton has more of an athletic um profile than maybe Malik does, but Malik has been...
00:18:00
Joe Pearson
In my opinion, and this could be biased because I am a Malik believer that, you know, there is a possibility that, not possibility, in my belief, he's a better receiver than Bo Melton, even though Bo may have a better ah profile athletically. So lots questions there, lots of injuries to deal with.
Key Player Returns and Pass Rush Importance
00:18:27
Joe Pearson
ah What am I looking at time? I'm hoping to at least hit the 20 to 30 minute mark. So like I said by myself Not used to it trying to get through things but I'm not gonna do any over-unders Because I just it I don't know doesn't seem fitting when you don't have somebody else to go against on those things but I do think that JJ is going to get pressured. I think Mike is going to get home.
00:18:56
Joe Pearson
I know there's a big thing against Gary with the talk about limited snaps and stuff like that, but it is what it is with him. Maybe we can get Lucas back this week.
00:19:09
Joe Pearson
And, you know, again, the injury reports on Thursday and Friday are going to be big tells on who's going to be in and out on, uh, for Sunday's game. But, you know, get Lucas back, get the three-headed monster back when it comes to the pass rush. Not that Enigbare has been bad, but, you know, he's limited in what he can do, ah you know, and go from there. Now, speaking of returns, Jaden Reed did kind of tease out something on his on his social media, so maybe he'll be back sooner than...
00:19:50
Joe Pearson
uh sooner than later i really don't know if it'll be for this game or not um but you know keep an eye out for that you've still got guys like and and leflore kind of said that marchaun lloyd is looking you know things are looking better for him right now so maybe we're going to see marchaun lloyd return pretty soon ah you know And you've got Brenton Cox that can that you know he's on injured reserve. We're you know not sure what's going on there, if he's healthy enough to come back or not.
00:20:29
Joe Pearson
And then you've got guys like Colin Oliver and John Williams that are still on the pup list. um i gotta I'm not sure what the rules are on that, but I think they have to be I don't know. Maybe they can ride the pup all season, but I wouldn't think so. I'd have to, that's another disadvantage of not having Mike here that we can't back bounce that back and forth with each other. But, you know, it is what it is.
00:21:00
Joe Pearson
You've got to get something figured out. You've got to get to JJ. You've got to make, make him make mistakes. And at the end of it,
00:21:12
Joe Pearson
you got to believe the Packers can come out with a victory on this one. But again, with the way the Packers season has been going so far this year, who knows what's going to happen.
Upcoming Game Schedule Challenges
00:21:24
Joe Pearson
all you can do is hope. All you can do is play the game. You know, that I know it's so so cliche, but any given Sunday,
00:21:34
Joe Pearson
let's write it out. This is going to be, what is it? It's like three games in 12 days or some something like that. So they go from Minnesota or they home against Minnesota to away at Detroit and then back home against Chicago.
00:21:50
Joe Pearson
So there's going to be a tough stretch just right there in those three games. Chicago has been playing better, but who knows what they can do.
00:22:03
Joe Pearson
Detroit, obviously, is is in a place where they want to get revenge for week one.
00:22:12
Joe Pearson
Again, get to JJ. Come out of the game healthy. Offensive line, step up, whether they reshuffle it or not. Do your job. Execute properly.
00:22:26
Joe Pearson
the floor needs to call a good game. Don't let up. If you're scoring at will, score at will. I would rather see you guys win 55-0 another 27-20 game and... another twenty seven to twenty game and Let's let's go on from there. So that's all I basically got for you guys.
00:22:50
Joe Pearson
ah I know Mike would usually ah go on his long rants, but I'm not quite as long-winded as Mike is when it comes to those things.
00:23:02
Joe Pearson
But, you know, make sure you go over, check out our website. I know we haven't been as active over there as we have in the past, but, you know, go over, check out some of the stuff going on over there.
00:23:15
Joe Pearson
Maybe I'll make Mike write something up since he's missed the last two episodes. But go over, check out all those ah past articles, past episodes.
00:23:26
Joe Pearson
Click the shop button. Go over, check out our merchandise. ah Help support the podcast by, you know, buying merchandise, you know. oh Somewhere around here, I got my Soul Stealer shirt.
00:23:42
Joe Pearson
We've got the Tucker Crafts shirt. We've got a couple Micah Parsons shirts. Go over, get you some merch, shirts, hoodies, mugs,
00:23:54
Joe Pearson
oh pint glasses. Starting to put some hats out there. go over, get you something. Rep the Ohana Packers Edition podcast. Help spread the word um so we can get more people in and do the things you guys want us to do.
00:24:13
Joe Pearson
oh
Community Engagement and Giveaways
00:24:15
Joe Pearson
Drop us comments, you know, like, subscribe, wherever you get your favorite podcasts. oh You know, let us know what you think. You know, are we doing a bad job? Are we going doing a good job?
00:24:26
Joe Pearson
Drop us whatever you want. Like I said, Sunday, you know, say something like I like turtles, you know, then I can be like, yeah, I like turtles too, man. You know, I'm especially Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are amazing. You know, I like cookies, obviously, you know, I'm a big guy. I like food.
00:24:46
Joe Pearson
um Just drop us whatever you want over there. Just say something. Let us know that you're actually out there listening. Be on the lookout. We are going to be doing some giveaways here pretty soon. I'm waiting on some stuff to come in Then we can really start pushing the the giveaways. But if you want to get a jump on things, go over and follow us on Facebook, Ohana Packers Edition over on Facebook.
00:25:10
Joe Pearson
We're going to do some drives to help push us to the 100 follower mark on Facebook so we can start doing live streams over there. Also going to start pushing for followers on YouTube just so we can start building up over there. So there are going to be two drives here pretty soon. As soon as I get the stuff together, four giveaways. So be on the lookout for that. Follow us on Facebook.
00:25:35
Joe Pearson
The ah Elon Machine at Ohana Packers or Ohana underscore Packers. Follow me on. I'm on Twitter and I'm on Blue Sky Iowa underscore Joe 86 Elon Machine. And it's just Iowa Joe dot BSK dot APP over on Blue Sky. um Instagram's Ohana Packers edition. ah YouTube is Ohana Packers.
00:26:04
Joe Pearson
ah You know, be sure to go over, follow us on everything. we try to follow back. We try to interact as much as we can.
00:26:13
Joe Pearson
I'm
Shoutout and Memorabilia Shop
00:26:14
Joe Pearson
totally rambling at this point, but i also want to give a shout out to... ah John Delray, again, he's he's opened up a memorabilia shop in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. If you are looking for things, I know he said he's going get a website up here pretty soon where you can purchase stuff from the site. But if you're ever in Sheboygan, go over, check John at Clubhouse Sports.
00:26:38
Joe Pearson
Gets you some merchandise from over there, signed stuff, photos, canvases, stuff like that. John's good guy helping us out with some things. He's donated something for the giveaways. Like i said, once we get it all together, we'll we'll start giving information on that. But check him out.
00:26:59
Joe Pearson
ah Give him follow on his socials, Facebook and all that stuff. And if you're ever in Sheboygan, stop by and check him out. Say, i would tell you to mention that you heard him heard about it from us, but he'd probably charge you double for it. So I wouldn't I wouldn't I wouldn't mention us. So.
00:27:16
Joe Pearson
I think I'm done rambling. As Mike would say, go Pack Go and aloha.