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Packers Preview: Week Seven Showdown Against the Arizona Cardinals
23 Plays23 hours ago
In this episode, we preview the Green Bay Packers' upcoming Week Seven matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. Join us as we break down key player matchups, discuss what the Packers need to do to secure a victory, and offer our insights on the game.
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Transcript
Intro
Introduction and Game Announcement
00:00:21
Speaker
Aloha and welcome back to another episode of the Ahana Packers Edition podcast. Today we have our week seven opponent preview as the Packers head to the west, head west to take on the Arizona Cardinals. It's going to be a, you know...
Packers' Schedule Overview
00:00:40
Speaker
The Cardinals are not good, but this is a rough road trip for the Packers. And then to a weird part of the schedule where they're going to travel all the way west, play this game in Arizona, and then they come back to Lambeau or they go back to Green Bay.
00:00:57
Speaker
Then they're on to Pittsburgh the following weekend at Sunday Night Football. And the twist there is that the Steelers are playing later today, Thursday. They're the Thursday night game. The Packers will have a cross-country trip while the Steelers will be coming off the
Importance of NFC Win
00:01:11
Speaker
mini-buy. So even more reason to snag this game. Make sure you have this one in the bag.
00:01:17
Speaker
Secure another NFC win. And, you know, it's... They're in the time and true section of the season where you should be racking up wins.
00:01:28
Speaker
And some of these are the ones that they've struggled to lock down, including this season. You you had the Browns game. I've, you know, at the time before the Browns game, I said, this is another one that falls into one of those, like,
00:01:40
Speaker
deceptively difficult games for the Packers. So you just, you know, got to go in with both eyes open, head on a swivel and take care of business.
Injury Impact Discussion
00:01:49
Speaker
Any initial thoughts before we go into the injuries for you, Joe?
00:01:53
Speaker
No, it's, we'll talk about it with the injuries, but it's going to depend on a lot of things against the Cardinals. And, you know, it's,
00:02:04
Speaker
injuries on both sides of the, or both teams and what kind of defense are the Packers going to put up and stuff like that. So no big, no big things yet.
00:02:18
Speaker
Yeah. So I guess with the injury report, we'll start with the DNPs. So, LaFleur went in saying that Zach Tom was going to miss today. He would see how he feels the rest of the week before proceeding.
00:02:32
Speaker
They're hoping there's a out there. don't even want to say outside. There is a they're hoping that Wyatt is going to be able to practice this week. And they did say that, you know, Lucas isn't ruled out already. But, you know, it's maybe a little bit more of a long shot for him to get on the practice field this week. And one note, McManus did not kick today, not participate.
00:02:53
Speaker
Usually he kicks on Wednesdays and Fridays, but he already shuffled that last week with the quad injury. To be fair with having the other kicker, I would rather have him get the work than force it on McManus.
00:03:09
Speaker
Yeah. So, you it wouldn't be the worst thing for Havritsuk to get more time with the guys.
Player Injury Updates
00:03:15
Speaker
Limited participants, alphabet soup. You had Aaron Banks with the groin and knee. Anthony Belton returned to practice from the ankle that he suffered right before the bye.
00:03:24
Speaker
Josh Jacobs still under the weather. But good news is that the... The ankle that he previously had is not part of his listing. So that's a good thing to see that, you know, that injury is off the books for him.
00:03:40
Speaker
Jacob Monk and Christian Watson, the two guys still in their 21-day Monk, the... designated to return from IR, Christian from PUP.
00:03:49
Speaker
They're both continued to be limited participants. Jordan Morgan with a knee, Dontabian Wicks with an ankle, which is a good sign after he was not referenced in LeFleur's Monday press availability. So it was good that Wicks was out there at practice.
00:04:05
Speaker
Oh, and I missed. Oh, no. And then for the full participants, so Warren Brinson got his first action and also is getting his first injury designate, his first injury report listing.
00:04:17
Speaker
But he was a full participant, abdomen, neck, probably the whole like hasn't played in the game in almost a year kind of thing. So the body has to readjust to it. Javon Bullard. He got mugged during the game. So, you know,
00:04:32
Speaker
he was carrying more than just his body weight. Yeah. Javon Bullard dealing – It's interesting that they put concussion evaluation, even though he said it was a stinger.
00:04:44
Speaker
But I guess that is the whole, they're just erring on the side of caution. You know, he probably did do the baseline testing during Sunday's game, and they just went back and rechecked the points to make sure that, you know, he didn't drop below the baseline testing.
00:04:58
Speaker
Golden on here with the shoulder, which I don't believe is what he had before. drawing a blank. This is great. Blank. This is great podcast. Yeah, honestly, this is the first time I remember seeing him on the report. Yeah.
00:05:13
Speaker
But the good news, Jordan Love is not listed at all. So, you know, another of lengthy report for the Packers, but nothing too alarming. You know, the Tom one,
00:05:27
Speaker
I know it's going to raise eyebrows, but honestly, I'm not surprised after his post-game comments that he said he blacked out in the second half of the game because of the pain that he was kind of gritting his teeth through.
00:05:41
Speaker
have any thoughts on that one?
00:05:44
Speaker
I don't know. Just because that's not what you want to hear for sure that if he's in that much pain, he blacked out from it.
00:05:57
Speaker
But I mean, again, there must be something there that we're never going to find out because we know how conservative the Packers medical team is.
00:06:10
Speaker
And we know how conservative the team overall can be. So if he's, you know, if they're saying that there's nothing there, it's just a, I don't want to say nothing there. It's not torn. It's not damaged. You know, you're just going to have residual.
00:06:26
Speaker
I don't know. This is where I wish I would have spent the dozen years in medical school to learn some of this shit. Then I could be a little bit more with it. But it's weird. It really, it's a whole weird situation because if he's that out of it, then he doesn't need to be playing.
00:06:46
Speaker
Yeah, they did. You know, LeFleur has reiterated that he, to which I don't understand how, but that he hasn't made it worse and that I believe it was before he played in the Cleveland game, there was comments that he couldn't make it worse. I'm not really sure how that's the case.
00:07:06
Speaker
But if that's the case, then it's already torn because. And they did say it's already torn. So like because they I believe that was when LaFleur made the two comments that it can't get worse and that from here out, it's a pain tolerance issue. So, you know, I know that there's going to be.
00:07:25
Speaker
pun intended groin pains for Zach getting back into action with, you know, he's going to, this is going to be one that's going to nag him for the rest of the season.
Offensive Line Strategy
00:07:33
Speaker
That's just the way that, you know, core muscle things work. And it remains to be seen how long it's going to, know, really dog him for.
00:07:42
Speaker
Hopefully, you know, this is the worst of it. Well, the Cleveland game, I guess, is the worst of it where it was one play and out kind of thing. But hopefully, you know, he is tracking towards a return.
00:07:54
Speaker
We'll see. Like you said, it's so hard to say. I
00:08:00
Speaker
just don't want to pick at it any further than that because we're not in the room. We're not doctors. We're not Zach. So we don't know exactly how he's feeling. Could he be kind of like embellishing it a little or what kind of...
00:08:14
Speaker
Because I do find it hard to believe that an offensive lineman can black out and perform as, you know, assignment sure as he did in the second half of the game. We don't want to say that because we know the guys in the 60s and 70s were doing some weird stuff that they probably were blacked out.
00:08:29
Speaker
So it is possible.
00:08:33
Speaker
That's true. But, you know, he just... I can't think of the guy's name, but the pitcher that... pitched like a complete game no-hitter on LSD or whatever. Oh, Darryl Strawberry, right?
00:08:45
Speaker
No, no, the pitcher, not the... Oh, not yet. Yeah, Strawberry was a cokehead. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, yeah, right? That's where it's good that Belton is back healthy.
00:08:57
Speaker
Dinard isn't even on the injury report. I think he had a little brief show-up. And that's weird that we're not seeing more of him. You know, I know they were doing the rotation with with Ryan and Morgan and there were issues, but we haven't seen a lot of him involved in any of it.
00:09:17
Speaker
I think it's one of those where he got added to the roster so late, they don't want him to move kind of thing. I think they just said, you're here to back up right tackle. you know, if the Belton is ahead of you, you know, we want to get the rookie reps, but at the same time, we need you ready at the drop of a dime to play right tackle for us. I, that's just how I kind of, that's sort of the, the pulse I get from not, like you said, not seeing him at another position.
00:09:47
Speaker
I'm just going to leave it at that. Cause I, I still don't really get the right guard rotation with Jordan Morgan. I know that no one person who's not in the room can really speak for anything, but it is really interesting to see grading sites, a lot of fans say certain things.
00:10:06
Speaker
And then Mike Wall, who by his own admission and disclaimer says he could be totally wrong, he doesn't know everything, but by his book, he thinks Ryan is playing the position better than Morgan is. I know there's a little bit of old school to what Wall says where, you know, he doesn't like that Morgan just can't move people vertically in the run game as a guard.
00:10:28
Speaker
And I think – and on top of it, Mike was not pleased with Rasheed Walker's play. So I think there was a bit of like, why is that the guy you took out? don't think any of us were really – because this was a bad game for both Tom and Walker.
00:10:47
Speaker
Tom made a little bit, got a little bit going more towards the second half. But, you know, like we said during the review, was that because Trey Hendrickson went out with an injury? Or was that the, you know, quote unquote blackout and he was playing without even knowing it?
00:11:06
Speaker
And, you know, Rasheed Walker's dealing with the quad injuries. He's still on the injury board. didn't see that. No, he's off the injury. Weird. Like, just weird that he was basically a game-time decision, and now he's not on the report. So, who knows?
00:11:24
Speaker
And that's the thing. To the Hendrickson point, Hendrickson only plays right end, so he only plays over the left tackle. So, Walker was the one who really benefited from...
00:11:36
Speaker
Hendrickson leaving the game and Tom, I think, you know, that's where, like I said, the negatives with him is like, you know, is he so in pain that it's hindering his performance, all that kind of stuff.
00:11:48
Speaker
And at the same time, like I said, this is an injury that no matter how healthy he gets over the season, it's going to be an it's going to be a hindrance, at minimum, a hindrance to him. And so it is the whole.
00:12:01
Speaker
okay how much is it you know you rest him and how much is it he needs to learn how to play compromise this season kind of thing and so i do think over the course of the game you saw him adjust and you know make concessions and figure out how to do his job at less than 100 kind of thing and stuff so we'll see how it continues to go this week That's the thing.
00:12:27
Speaker
Yeah. Well, and that's the thing is you're flying cross country and I don't know, you know, if the flight's going to make, you know, it's not an ankle and it's not a like knee or anything like that, but it's still a muscle and I don't think they have live flats on their plane. So, you know, he's going to be in a seated position for a while. So, yeah, it again, I don't know the whole, you know, I'm not medical or anything like that, but I think a lot of it has to do with How much shit now the word just fell out of my head.
00:13:01
Speaker
God, now I can't think of the word.
00:13:04
Speaker
Never
Cardinals' Injury Report and Offensive Struggles
00:13:04
Speaker
mind then. I can't think of the word. It was right in my head and now I can't think of it. How much... Swelling. Oh, yes. If there's any swelling going on, that'll make a big difference when it comes to flight and stuff like that. Because I know that's the big issue when they, you know, like if somebody has a concussion, they don't want them flying because of that shit.
00:13:27
Speaker
And So, and like you said, he's going to be sitting in a certain position for, you know, however long it takes to get from Austin Straubel to Phoenix, I guess. So, you know, obviously they can lean back a little bit. I imagine they have, like, they're in first class. They're definitely not going to be flying coach for nothing.
00:13:51
Speaker
So, you know, that'll help a lot too. But I don't know. I mean, can keep going in circles with him, but it just – his whole situation is just really weird.
00:14:05
Speaker
Yep. We will leave it at that for now. On the Cardinals side of things, they have two – so they didn't have a practice. They just held a walkthrough on Wednesday. To which they had the weird, so they have two guys who are listed as not injury related rest, but Calvin Beacham was a DMP and Bilal Nichols was a full participant.
00:14:29
Speaker
I don't know how you do that. I don't know if that's a typo. Probably typo, but here's the one thing that I found funny is there's just the Packers and the Cardinals both have 14 guys listed on their injury reports.
00:14:43
Speaker
the same amount of people on their injury reports.
00:14:46
Speaker
Yep. Make that as you will. Also DNP for the Cardinals were Imari DiMarcado, the running back who had the sideline incident with his coach.
00:14:58
Speaker
He was a DNP with an ankle. And slot wide receiver Zay Jones was a DNP with a knee issue. Limited participants, safety Ketan Crawford. I think he's a rookie. Linebacker Akeem Davis Gaither, the former Bengal.
00:15:13
Speaker
Is he listed as limited? Because on the Packers site, there's two guys that have no designation. Yeah, he's limited. Okay, him and Sam Knight have no designation on the Packers website.
00:15:27
Speaker
Okay, Knight is also a limited participant with a knee. What's it? Where was it? Darren Hall, quarterback Darren Hall with a quad was limited.
00:15:39
Speaker
Marvin Harrison Jr. is in the concussion protocol. So they'll have to track how he gets through the protocol as the week goes. Kyler Murray did participate, but his status is still unknown.
00:15:50
Speaker
Rookie first round pick Walter Nolan is a limited participant with a calf.
Packers' Defensive Strategy Against Cardinals
00:15:55
Speaker
they're uncertain of when he's really going to make it back. Defensive end Darius Robinson was a limited participant with a pectoral.
00:16:04
Speaker
Safety, Deidrean Taylor-Demerson with an ankle and wide receiver Michael Wilson. So one, two, three, I think there are three preferred receivers were all some kind of limited or DNP in practice today. So not a great thing for the Cardinals. We'll see where they're at, you know, weeks end, but we'll go a long way to helping the Packers.
00:16:37
Speaker
You know, like I said, just avoid some weirdness on this road trip. And, you know,
00:16:44
Speaker
I guess the part we can just dive into the preview is that the quarterback situation, Kyler has regressed. All the things you say about Caleb Williams, you can kind of say about Kyler.
00:16:57
Speaker
Doesn't throw over the middle, holds the ball too long, doesn't see the field well. Doesn't study the playbook when the new black Call of Duty comes out.
00:17:08
Speaker
And that'll be coming out here pretty, think, within the next month. Yeah, fortunately not now. But what's it called? Like, the thing is, is that I know that there are two different kind of athletes.
00:17:23
Speaker
But if Kyler can't go, Jacoby Brissett will be the starter. And they are both mobile quarterbacks. I know Kyler is more of us, is like explosive athlete mover whereas brissette is like a power power runner kind guy but i bring that up as reasons halfley may still be playing with a zone with more eyes in the backfield not blitzing as much this this week
00:17:52
Speaker
We'll see. I do hope that we're going to see Edge and Quay get set on blitzes this week to affect the pocket, get whichever one of them off their spot.
00:18:04
Speaker
And... I do think this is the week where, like I said, Kyler doesn't see the field good. So if you get pressure in his face on him, you can get him to do some bad things with the football.
00:18:15
Speaker
It doesn't count that he's only like two foot tall either. I know. He's like my height. And then with Brissette, Brissette is like... Sort of Flacco-like where he's going to try to get rid of the ball if he senses danger.
00:18:28
Speaker
But he still has some like mobile quarterback brain in him where it's like, I can maybe get out of this situation and he might kind of run himself into trouble and stuff. So we'll see. hope that they pick their spots to be aggressive, but I don't expect them to light it up on every play kind of thing. Unless, unless...
00:18:50
Speaker
the Packers are able to get an early substantial lead in this one and just really lean on the Cardinals and force them into advantageous positions for the Packers defense.
00:19:02
Speaker
And Brissette's never really been premier quarterback either. He's had his moments, but he's a journeyman, you know,
00:19:13
Speaker
And there's a reason why he's a journeyman. You know, if he was a premier quarterback, he would have had his stay with, you know, a single team for a good amount of time. But, you know, there's a reason that he's a journeyman quarterback.
00:19:30
Speaker
So work on him, get pressure on him. I would even kind of disagree with you that With having Edge and Quay, you could spy one of those guys and still play your man coverage with your corners.
00:19:47
Speaker
And because it also helps that Micah is there with his speed that he can even act as spy because you know he's going to get after him.
00:19:58
Speaker
And Brissette, while he's a scrambler, doesn't have like... 435 speed. Kyler's got a little bit better speed to him, but Micah still has his speed.
00:20:13
Speaker
So use Quay or Edge your spy and you can still play your press man with your corners. Yep. And, you know, the interesting kind of chess mess is what they're going do, especially if, you know, any or all of Harrison Jr., Wilson and Jones, you know, the top three receivers miss the game because whether they're in or not, tight end Trey McBride probably probably the top target on this offense regardless know he's the one that's been healthy but uh he is i know he's only averaging like nine and a half yards of reception but they just target him up and down the line you know he's already got 53 targets in six games for the cardinals so
00:21:00
Speaker
I'm really curious to see how Halfley is going to decide to defend him. Like I said, I do expect some relatively heavy use of man, maybe a little bit of zone.
00:21:16
Speaker
Maybe you can go to a little more man if Brissette is the starter just because, you know, he's while he can run, he's not the, you know, elusive jitterbug kind of mobile quarterback that Kyler is.
00:21:27
Speaker
So, you know. The pass rush is going to have to be really, you know, they're going to have to have good rush lane integrity this week. They've done it.
00:21:37
Speaker
You know, the last couple times they played Kyler, he hasn't really done well, you know, rushing against the Packers. So they've done a good job there. Their O-line isn't great by any measure. Paris Johnson Jr., their top 10 pick from a few years ago is all right.
00:21:54
Speaker
The rest of that line, though, it's a bunch of retreads. Former giant Will Hernandez and former Bengal Jonah Williams on the right side. You have Jolt Froholt at center and Evan Brown at left guard. And, I mean, Packers should be able to – get some some rush you know like as mobile as Kyler or Brissette are the Cardinals ranked 25th in sack percentage there you know they're getting their quarterback sacked eight percent of the time so there should be opportunities for the Packers you know that's why I say that you're probably this would be a good time to run more of your press man because that would stop Brissette and
00:22:40
Speaker
or Kyler from being able to do what's been killing the Packers' defense. The three-step drop, quick throw. Yeah, especially against Grissett. With Kyler, you can be a little bit more...
00:22:55
Speaker
like with kyler i wouldn't press as much because i think they're gonna do more screens with kyler you know do more of his like spread air raid look college offense kind of stuff and but if he's in like a traditional drop pack game he's not an on-time thrower he's a guy that's gotta like see it to throw it kind of thing so you This is a week where you hope to see like Edge or Quay or X or Xavier get an interception because, like said, if Kyler's starting, he's a guy that's, you know, he's not gonna, you like Jordan, he'll hit the top of his drop and just wing it out there and trust his guy to get to a spot or like Flacco was doing just like,
00:23:38
Speaker
I'm pretty sure this is what this route is. I'm just going to hit the top of this drop and it's gone kind of thing. That's not how Kyler plays. Brissette, like I said, is a little better at it, but he still has his moments where he's going to hold on to the ball and try and wait for a bigger play kind of thing. So the pass rush should have its moments. And I do think they should have some turnover opportunities. We're going just try and will that to existence here.
00:24:04
Speaker
Statistically wise, you know, this, this, this Arizona offense, they're bottom third. They're just a bottom third, uh, unit in the league, uh, in terms of points per game, they're averaging 20, just like 21 and two thirds points, uh, just over 300 yards per game.
00:24:24
Speaker
and at five yards per play, the one area they're good at is converting, uh,
Game Expectations and Analysis
00:24:30
Speaker
downs. You know, they're at, just under 44% on third down percentage, which is like sixth in the NFL, and 80% fourth down conversion rate.
00:24:39
Speaker
But I do think that's a function of them... having issues like they're in catch-up mode late in games kind of thing, and the opponent is sort of letting bleed clock.
00:24:50
Speaker
I know they had some success against the Colts last week, but the Colts' defense is kind of a sham. They had their second corner retire because he couldn't hack it anymore.
00:25:03
Speaker
They... You know, Anarumo is still new there and trying to implement his system. And the Cardinals probably could and maybe should have won that game last week. But because they just make too many mistakes, don't have enough talent, they just couldn't pull it off at the end. But...
00:25:20
Speaker
It'll be really interesting to see, you know, what they're able to do. I don't want to say this should be a get right game for the Packers, but this is one where, you know, like we were kind of saying how last week the spread was so large, you know, 14, 14 and half point spread depending on when you get And that's such a large spread that...
00:25:38
Speaker
There is no like satisfying win kind of thing because it's like if the Packers blow them out, like it's the whole like very snarky Bravo. That's what you're supposed to do against a shit team.
00:25:49
Speaker
And then, you know, the other positive outcome for the Packers is they win like they did where it's like, oh, why was that game so interesting? Is something wrong with Green Bay kind of thing? And it's.
00:26:02
Speaker
never as simple as people want to make it. There's always a few more layers to the onion than anyone wants to report on their being. Everyone wants just the five second cliff note version of explanation, but to each their own. And I do think that because of how much discipline you're going to have to play with as a Packers defense, if they are able to lock down this Cardinals offense, that would be a really good sign moving forward. Because, you know, like I said, I'm expecting lot of like college BS this game from the jump.
00:26:35
Speaker
And you want to see them respond positively. And, you know, You see, like, one of the things I heard Domovsky, I forget whose show it was on, but he kind of said is, like, the thing that the coaches are harping on right now is it's the fine details that the team is missing up on.
00:26:51
Speaker
And you want to see them start to resolve some of those issues as they move forward. You know, as the calendar turns to November, you start to hit the halfway point of the season. So, you know, just that's the thing is, like,
00:27:05
Speaker
The things that we've been getting frustrated about with the Packers, they're things where it's like we're seeing these as potential long-term issues, whether they're spillovers from the previous season or things that we're concerned with becoming long-term issues for this team for the whole run of the season.
00:27:21
Speaker
And at the same time, I don't expect this team to play its best football now. You just don't want that to be the case because you never want peak in October or September. So you do want to see them play better than they did last week.
00:27:35
Speaker
for the Packers defense, that's just, you know, getting back to the fundamentals, you know, getting in your rush lanes, putting pressure on the quarterback.
00:27:44
Speaker
If Wyatt can go, that would be a massive help this week just to get more interior push because with these kind mobile quarterbacks, it's that interior immediate pressure that really gets them off their spot. So that'd be really good to see.
00:27:57
Speaker
And then for the Cardinals defensively, they're... Their stats are really weird. So like points per game, they're only allowing 21, but I want to say, hold on.
00:28:12
Speaker
That's because, so they're two and four, right? And
00:28:18
Speaker
so, you know, they've let up.
00:28:23
Speaker
They've held some... So they've held the Saints to 13 points. The Saints suck. They held the Panthers to 22 points when the Panthers weren't, you know, doing anything well.
00:28:34
Speaker
And then... They lost to the Niners by one, but that was the first Mac Jones game, if I'm recalling correctly. Or that was the game Purdy came back and started.
00:28:44
Speaker
And then they've scored 20, 21, and 27. So this is a game that I'm hoping the Packers can keep them to under 20 points. And that's the thing is, for as much as everyone was like, oh my god, the second half against the Bengals, it was bad, bad, bad.
00:29:01
Speaker
You still gave up under 18 points. It's not great how it happened, but it does just go to show that it took Jamar Chase being the absolute elite player he is for them to get 18 points on the board.
00:29:20
Speaker
And it took Flacco... just being whether you want to say it was lucky or just trusting his guys or whatever adage you want to put on it. It took all of those things to conflate together in the second half to get them to score all of 18 points. It's not like they gave up 30 and a half or anything like that. Like it's, you know, it's not acceptable or good, but it,
00:29:45
Speaker
Did the job and it and this is one of the games where if you hold the Cardinals to 14 or 17 points, you should win this game. Like it's this isn't a situation like the Browns game where there's a chance you might not score more than 10 points against them.
00:30:01
Speaker
You're going to get you're going to score some points on this Cardinals team. So. You know, they're like I said, they're 14th in points allowed, but they're 24th in yards allowed. So teams are moving the ball on them.
00:30:15
Speaker
They're not stopping the rush. Well, you know, teams are averaging 4.2 yards per carry. They're. almost dead middle the pack in rushing defense it's the past defense that's the problem opponents aren't getting a big chunk per play but they're giving up the 28th most pass yards and they're 19th in interceptions forced at 27th in sack percentage so Opponents are just kind of using the pass game as their run game against this defense. And, you know, part of that is a function of the fact that this Cardinals defense is banged up. You know, they are getting healthier. There was a point where they had like no cornerbacks.
00:31:01
Speaker
But, you know. the Packers should be able to move this front around. The ends aren't very big. Oftentimes, what they do is they use Baron Browning, their backup linebacker, as like an edge rusher.
00:31:16
Speaker
And so if you see number five on the field, you should run at him. And he's only 240, I think. So you should try to take advantage of him there and I'm kind of annoyed saying this now, but I do think this is one where LeFleur is going to try and hit this lighter Arizona front in the teeth and build the pass game off of that. And as much as doesn't is not the way I want to see them play football, this might be the week because the one way you cannot let this game get off the rails is to allow Baron Browning to like have a, like those three snaps where he just jumps the snap count and runs around whichever tackle and gets a strip sack or anything like that, or puts you behind the chains and messes up your drive. So I do think that you've just got to, you know, attack this defense head on and, you know, just kind of mano a mano and,
00:32:11
Speaker
win the line of scrimmage kind of game. Yeah, I mean, the thing about them is they have some young, talented corners, though. You know, Will Johnson, Max Melton.
00:32:24
Speaker
They do have Denzel Burke. And guys like that, they still have Buda Baker back there as their deep safety. So they have guys. And, I mean, they have Josh Sweat. He's leading them with five sacks. So you've got to be kind of careful, kind of eyeful of him.
00:32:45
Speaker
They got old man Campbell out there. Good for him, playing at 39 years I wish I could have been playing out there until I was 39 years old, but the way I feel, I couldn't have played out there for a game at 21 years old. They have guys, but like you said, it's not a cohesive unit, more so to say.
00:33:12
Speaker
If you can hit their weaknesses, then you should be able to take advantage of them.
00:33:22
Speaker
And, you know, I know people aren't going to like this, but this is where your end of rounds are going to work out a little bit more, your jet sweeps, your stuff like that, because you're a little bit more beefier up front in your offensive line than they are with third defensive line.
00:33:40
Speaker
So if you can get some of that stuff going, you know that that might help out a lot so you know use a savi on use a a golden held do the
00:33:55
Speaker
the uh bow melting end around or whatever but you know change it up a little bit don't be predictable That's the main one is like this game, you just don't want to like fall into it.
00:34:11
Speaker
Honestly, this might be one where they actually don't do many end arounds. You've shown it so many times the past few weeks that you kind of just hit them right in the like I said, you kind of just hit them between the B gaps in this game.
00:34:24
Speaker
So yeah, I am curious to where they're going attack. That's the thing, though, is And at the same time, I agree with you that the end rounds might be a thing because know Zayven Collins tested really well, but he doesn't always play to his athleticism.
00:34:38
Speaker
And Mack Wilson is more of a tackle-to-tackle linebacker than like a true sideline-sideline demon kind of thing. The thing I remember about Zayven Collins was nobody knew what position he was going to be able to play.
00:34:51
Speaker
Was he going to be an end? Was he going to be an inside backer, outside backer? What was he going to be? Because he's got the size, but he's got the athleticism to him. So what's he going to do?
00:35:05
Speaker
Yeah. So we shall see. Any other matchups that you're looking at in this game? want want to see.
Wide Receiver Matchups
00:35:16
Speaker
Matthew Golden versus one of their top, like Will Johnson or Max Melton. Not that they haven't played some decent corners, but I think that's going to give them the real test because from what I'm understanding, Will Johnson's playing pretty...
00:35:34
Speaker
pretty good so far this year. Yep. He was their first round pick this year, right? No, he fell to the second. So he made it all way to like 51 or 52 or something like that.
00:35:46
Speaker
But he's been playing real well. Max Melton, haven't heard about what he's been doing, but he's another one that they had high hopes for. So, you know, this...
00:36:01
Speaker
If he can continue what he's doing, this should be Matthew Golden's breakout game.
00:36:10
Speaker
Yep, with you. This will be his test in his breakout game. I agree with you. Like, it's...
00:36:17
Speaker
Gannon runs like kind of a, it's sort of a play on the Fangio style of defense, but I think he plays a little more man, but I think that plays into what the Packers want. I think that, especially if Watson is able to go this week,
00:36:37
Speaker
I think you know and you're not going to get like 30 snaps out of Watson this week but you just need him to run five five go routes kind of thing and just you know at one point just you know do the thing where it's like just throw one up to him early in the game just to kind of like show that okay he is as healthy as we're saying and we are going to throw to him and even if you don't throw to him the rest of the game you've established we're throwing to him today and we're trusting him to get open deep kind of thing So like I said, no guarantees.
00:37:11
Speaker
Run my favorite play in NCAA where you have two streaks on each side then you have the crossers in the middle.
00:37:20
Speaker
Yep. Like you set that play up. You started out with just Watson going deep and then you set up that double crosser route with like Tucker and Golden being the ones crossing in the middle of the field kind of thing. Well, I was thinking you'd have Golden streak on one side, Watson streak on the other, and then you'd have like Wicks or Dobbs and Tucker do the crossers.
00:37:42
Speaker
That works too. So we'll see. Like I said, this should be a favorable matchup for the Packers, especially if you can get Watson's speed back on the field. I think that's just going to add a totally different dimension to this offense that opponents just aren't going to be ready for. And I'm excited to see it. I, I do think that that's another thing that's going to help both the rest of the receivers on this roster, but also help the run game because, you know, Watson's the threat of Watson's
00:38:15
Speaker
the Packers don't leave the same guys on the field all the time, but that means they have more guys who can threaten you deep and more reasons you've got to keep two safeties back. Like you can't just be like, Oh, Watson's off the field or, Oh, golden's off the field. It's like, Oh, golden went off. Oh shoot. Christian's on kind of thing and stuff. So, kind of just keeps the, keeps the pressure on the defense and, you know, you want to have them wrong footed as often as you can to create the favorable matchups in the, uh, for the Packers. So,
00:38:46
Speaker
And the big one is, we touched on it in the injury report, how much healthier can this O-line get? How much healthier can Zach be? I think Banks looked pretty good. He looked like he was moving better than he did in the Cleveland game. So I do think that, I know he's listed on the injury report, but I don't think he's laboring out there. He looked to be moving pretty well in pass protection.
00:39:06
Speaker
just get some continuity in this O-line, you know, whether, you know, hopefully the left side of the line is fine, you know, from center to left tackle is fine.
Offensive Line Health
00:39:15
Speaker
And then, you know, whatever it is, you know, as much as you and I aren't a fan of the Morgan at right guard thing, just settle on one, stop the damn rotation, just frigging pick one and stick with it.
00:39:25
Speaker
And, you know, hopefully Zach Tom can go so that, you know, you can – carry over some of that rushing success you had against the Bengals to this game and just propel you into what should be a couple bigger games in the following weeks. You go after this game.
00:39:42
Speaker
It's kind of a funky next four games where it's like let down chance against the Cardinals, the revenge game with Rodgers in Pittsburgh. Then it's the Panthers and then the big measuring stick game against the Eagles and stuff. So it's like...
00:39:57
Speaker
you can't afford to fall in the pitfall in those two games in between, especially because they're both conference matchups for the Packers. And, you know, get this thing started off on the right foot, get the win, and, you know, get the ball rolling, figuratively and literally.
00:40:11
Speaker
Don't forget, this is the Josiah DeGuara revenge game. They just signed him to the active roster. I know. What a crock. But,
00:40:21
Speaker
Any other thoughts for you or you want to just head into our over-unders? I think we can just head into the over-unders because I don't want to talk it up too much because I feel like we do that then we get let down at it when the game actually starts because on paper, this is a definite win for the Packers.
00:40:45
Speaker
no matter who's starting, whether it's Kyler starting, Jacoby starting, it just, the Packers have the better on paper team. But for some reason, they played down to their opponents.
00:41:02
Speaker
So, you know, I, I'm hoping
00:41:07
Speaker
Something kicks them. I really do. I hope something punches them in the mouth and they get pissed off and they just go off in this game. But don't know.
00:41:19
Speaker
I'm not holding my breath for it.
00:41:21
Speaker
All right. Let's get into our over-unders. What you got for us this week?
Predictions and Speculations
00:41:26
Speaker
So I wanted to leave this one the same, but I got to thinking that, no, if the refs still don't call it when Micah gets – mugged on the field, then it's hard to predict what he's going to do. So I just went and really against the Bengals and their beat up offensive line, they still only managed one sack. So I went with the whole defense for sacks over under two and a half.
00:41:54
Speaker
All right. I'm going to eat the bullet for us. And I'm going to say under just for the sake of, God damn it, make me wrong, please.
00:42:04
Speaker
And I'm going to say they're only going to get one. So I am really milking it for all it's due on this one.
00:42:11
Speaker
See, I'm all kinds of torn with it because for
00:42:16
Speaker
we don't know who's going to be in and who's going to be out. Is Lucas going to play? Inigbare really hasn't been on the field as much and really hasn't produced as much.
00:42:32
Speaker
Rashawn, we talked about him during the review of the Bengals game, and he's not really even taking advantage of certain things.
00:42:45
Speaker
So I'm going to go over, but it would not shock me if it's an under.
00:42:52
Speaker
And if they do go over, it'll be only like a three-sack game. Got it.
00:42:59
Speaker
Next? My next one, I'm going to keep the same as last week's with Jordan Love, passing yards over under 235.5. I'm going over.
00:43:12
Speaker
I think that they're going to have some success against this Cardinals passing defense.
00:43:20
Speaker
going think he – I'm going to go over. I think it's only going to be like 260 or something, though. I'm going to go over because I'm hoping this will be Golden's breakout game.
00:43:31
Speaker
You know, get him 115 with a touchdown. So I'm going to go over. So it's going to – I'm thinking about 240, 245. Well,
00:43:45
Speaker
I know what you're going for the next – for the last one. Yeah. Yeah, I should change that because he definitely went over. Can you change that real quick? Change the receiving to about 65 and a half.
00:43:57
Speaker
Okay.
00:43:59
Speaker
So while Mike's fixing that, the next one I got is golden receiving yards over under 60 and half. Did I say and a Obviously, I'm going over with it because, like I said, I'm hoping that we can get him to – he was close. He was at, what was it, 86 yards this last game. 86 yards, yeah.
00:44:21
Speaker
Yeah, so he's due for a 100-yard game. I'm really thinking it's going to be this one because – I hope this is the game that they can scheme him to be able to beat what these good young corners of Arizona,
00:44:42
Speaker
their abilities. I just remembered who Will Johnson was because I was picking on you the whole time during the draft that he wasn't going to get drafted.
00:44:53
Speaker
So it's good to see that he's healthy and he's producing. I think Golden's the better player no matter what.
00:45:03
Speaker
And as long as they can scheme it, and who knows, maybe if Watson activated and plays, that'll take a lot of it off of Golden. So it will open him up to produce more. like said, I'm thinking about 115 and one touchdown.
00:45:22
Speaker
Sounds good. all right
00:45:27
Speaker
well that's it for our over unders he didn't do yours oh i've got him an over but not as much i think that i think he's gonna get like 75 or something like that i think i think they're gonna be a little more know just I think they're going be kind of balanced again like they usually are. But I get the feeling he might end up with more catches, but not as many yards kind of thing. I just think that they're going to get him his touches, get him his targets.
00:45:55
Speaker
But this secondary is probably better than the Bengals one. So we'll see, though. I would love to be wrong. Should we throw a couple yes-nos out there just to see, you know, is Christian Watson going to be activated in play?
00:46:11
Speaker
Sure. What do you got? I don't think he is. think they're going to save him for the Pittsburgh game. Really, the next two games are going to be on not so great of fields, but I think they're going to be more open to it.
00:46:29
Speaker
because Pittsburgh has more of a natural grass, whereas Arizona still is using a turf. And I don't know if they want to bring – because realistically, this is still way early in Christian's recovery.
00:46:45
Speaker
I don't know if they want to rush it onto this field. I think yes for the opposite – Hines, or whatever the fuck they call it now, it's been really bad this season. I joke that it's the second worst to Soldier Field.
00:47:04
Speaker
It might be on par with Soldier Field this year. It's been that bad of a playing surface this season.
00:47:11
Speaker
Yeah, but I mean, like I said, think because there's been so many problems on turf fields with injuries, I just don't know if they want to rush him back for a turf.
00:47:22
Speaker
Fair enough. You have any more yes, noes?
00:47:27
Speaker
Yeah, I had one, but now I can't remember it, so it's not important. Everybody's got to remember, we're recording this central time at like 1 o'clock in the morning, and I just have gotten off work, so my mind is mush.
00:47:41
Speaker
I haven't had my shower. haven't had my meal. don't know.
Game Analysis and Strategy
00:47:49
Speaker
in that case i think we'll put a bow on this one like this is this is one where because we don't know who the quarterback's gonna be for the cardinals because we don't know what receivers are gonna play for the cardinals uh we don't know what running back is gonna play for them it's hard to say like what to really expect from this team you know expect the offense to be a little more flashy if kyler is in there but also more mistake prone because kyler you as much as like everyone's like oh jordan and the bone brain play kyler has that one where like he ran around in the backfield and threw it to nowhere kind of thing and stuff and it was a fun it was a bet it ended being like a backwards fumble kind of thing or something like that and he did it from his own like five yard line or something so yeah his on-screen radar wasn't working he
00:48:39
Speaker
So this is the whole, you know, all the stuff they say about Jordan, Kyler is actually the quarterback they're talking about. So if there's ever a week to get the turnover thing going, this might be it because, like I said, you know, the last couple weeks you've faced, you know,
00:48:59
Speaker
Two out of the last three weeks, you've played Joe Flacco, who, no, he's not great. He never was great. But, you know, he's still a long-term veteran who knows what to do with the football.
00:49:09
Speaker
And on top of that, he's an old veteran who doesn't want to get hit. So he's inclined to just dirt the ball to avoid getting hit or sacked. And Dak was unconsciously good in the second half of that game in Dallas before the bye.
00:49:25
Speaker
Neither of these guys, these options for the Cardinals is anywhere close to that or anything like those two last quarterbacks you've got. And these receivers are neither George Pickens or nor the Bengals duo of Jamar Chase and T Higgins.
00:49:40
Speaker
Like I said, The tight end is Trey McBride. He is dangerous. He's a guy that I kind of wanted the Packers to look into in 2022, but obviously didn't have a pick in the range where he went because you moved them to go get Christian Watson. And we haven't seen them really deal with a primary option tight end yet this season.
00:50:05
Speaker
Laporta is kind of that, but Amin Ra is still the guy that they look for first at most points of their passing game for the Lions.
00:50:13
Speaker
I know Zach Ertz scored, but that was when the game was really mostly out of hand at that point. And he's not a focal point. Dallas was looking more for pick, you know, more their stuff came from pick ins. I know Ferguson had a touchdown, but that was lined out wide and stuff. So I do want to see, you know, when McBride lines up in line, how they're going to handle true, like, uh,
00:50:37
Speaker
stereotypical like by the book tight end in mcbride so i do want to see how they handle his play and like said on offense just continue to get i you know as much as i as much as i crow over the pace of that they that they play at and you know whether lafleur should lean more into the pass My expectation is that he's going to do more of the same and he's banking on internal improvement that, you know, they're already efficient offense gets more efficient and more proficient by way of better O-line play, better O-line continuity and that angle. So,
00:51:16
Speaker
We'll see where it goes from there. And, you know, like I said, the spread is big this week, but it's not 14 points big. I think it's six and a half was the last one that I saw.
00:51:27
Speaker
So, you know, it's still a pretty big spread, especially for a road team coming in. But they should win this game by a touchdown. Like, they really should win this game by a touchdown. And, you know, just tune in.
00:51:39
Speaker
We'll have the recap on Sunday after the game. I do want to say that... There have been things going around on the social medias about certain... Well, actually, there's a couple things.
00:51:55
Speaker
Tom Pellisaro, you need to get your fucking facts straight. You know, I don't know which receiver you thought was doing But even you came back and said that you misunderstood what was going on.
00:52:08
Speaker
So you just wanted your fucking viral moment. So knock it off. And number two, while I still think it's possible that they could move on from Enikbare depending on what they can get out of him and compensation for him, but now the rumors going around is that they've been – asked about Rashawn Gary, and that's not going to happen, at least not this year.
00:52:36
Speaker
One, you don't know the availability of Lucas. Two, I'm going to say his contract is not movable this year.
00:52:47
Speaker
So, and he's still a leader on the team right now. So unless something majorly happened, unless they can get a package like they got they gave up for Micah Parsons,
00:53:02
Speaker
I don't see it happening. And Roshan, you know, Roshan is a really good player. He's not going to command that kind of return. And like you said, the injuries that they're sustained, you know, the unknown about Lucas, you don't have Wyatt.
00:53:17
Speaker
You just can't afford to move that kind of piece at this point of the season. I know Ken Ingles is kind of going off. He's doing his, like, precog, I told you so tweets and stuff that...
00:53:28
Speaker
That move can't happen until the offseason at the very earliest. I know the Packers will never admit that they're all in, but this is about as all in as they're going to be in a season.
00:53:39
Speaker
And you're not going to move a key point of your defensive unit unless, like you said, unless the return is so incredible, There's... And I don't think you can move Rashawn for just picks.
00:53:54
Speaker
That's the thing. I don't think you can move it for just picks because... you need another credible rusher. And like you said, it would be one thing if Lucas was healthy.
00:54:05
Speaker
I would buy into it a little bit more if Lucas was healthy. And Burton talks and, you know, you had people there that you could rotate in. Yeah. It feels like this is a... I don't doubt that people have called to ask and be like, hey, you know, what are the chances you guys are thinking of moving here? You know, like that kind of thing.
00:54:25
Speaker
And then... you know oh you know we're not moving him now but you know if you give us the right thing for enigbare who's a pending free agent you know we might consider it you know i can see the conversation going that but i do not for a second believe they are realistically moving rashawn now because it just doesn't make sense for the timeline of this team especially where you know I know people are, you know, we're not particularly pleased with how the Packers have played the last month.
00:54:54
Speaker
And at the same time, the rest of the league hasn't taken off and left them behind. Like, if anything, the rest of the league has been like, hold our beer. It will be worse than you guys have been. So, I mean,
00:55:07
Speaker
I'm not going to go so far as to like Andy Herman's kind of saying like, hey, be grateful they got a nine-point win. I do agree with the sentiment that Andy is going for that thing, but I'm not going to go so far. And Andy's not saying to be satisfied with this win either. He's not anywhere nearly saying that.
00:55:23
Speaker
But... I do think that Packers fans have to remember, like, as frustrating as some of the things the Packers do, the other guys are still paid to play football.
00:55:36
Speaker
They do care. In the case of the Bengals, Jamar Chase is elite of elite. Flacco at least knows what he's doing and stuff. This is one of the first weeks where you're facing, like, bad,
00:55:50
Speaker
you know, bad quarterback on a team that could be
Final Insights and Conclusion
00:55:53
Speaker
bad. Like, that's the thing is, like, the Browns still had an elite defensive front that could screw up your game plan, screw up your game kind of thing.
00:56:02
Speaker
The Cowboys have a what should be an MVP candidate, but his record sucks this season in Dak Prescott. And then with the Bengals, you have a capable quarterback with an elite of elite receivers. Like, that's the thing is, like, there's nothing the Cardinals do that's elite.
00:56:20
Speaker
or even like collectively very good. Like, yes, you can't sleepwalk because you can't you can't let, you know, you can't poke the bear or like chance it, you know, you don't you don't disrespect the sports gods or anything like that.
00:56:34
Speaker
But at the same time, this is the like the travel is the thing that i bring back more to than anything this cardinals team does like that's just where i am with this game and like even more so they have to be hyper focused attention to details all those adages because like the only just like the browns game the only way you're gonna lose this game is by mental mistakes and self-inflicted wounds like you are just better than this cardinals team bar none so yeah that's where they're at yeah but we're gonna let joe go eat dinner
00:57:15
Speaker
Take another shower. Get some sleep tonight. won't even do the spiel tonight. We'll just get Joe off to bed. Please support us. Check out the website.
00:57:26
Speaker
Support the channel. But that's Iowa Joe. I'm Mike. It's been an hour. Pack Go and Aloha.