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OPE Season 3 Episode 18 Packers vs Texans, The Dairy vs The Lone Star
21 Plays18 hours ago
Aloha and welcome to another episode of OPE! on this episode we preview the upcoming Week 8 game against the 5-1 Houston Texans
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Transcript
Intro
Packers vs Texans Preview
00:00:31
Speaker
Aloha and welcome to another episode of the AHANA Packer Edition podcast, the podcast where we're previewing one of the biggest match-ups of the season for the 2024 Packers as we welcome the Houston Texans back into Lambo for the first time in eight years. Joe, this one is a, this one is a marquee game. You're already seeing a lot of people complaining, bitching and moaning that it should have been flexed and all that kind of stuff, but It's a good testing spot for the Packers at this point.
Uniform Controversy
00:01:00
Speaker
And we're this is another one of those measuring stick games where it's like, we're going to find out what you're made of. And ah ah yeah, we'll see what happens with this game.
00:01:11
Speaker
Well, that's not the only thing people are complaining about. It's, this is the first game that they're going to use their, uh, winter is coming uniforms. And well, why are you doing it now? Why are you doing it at noon? It should, well, kind of player safety. You don't want all white uniforms in a snow storm, you know, that just, that's asking for trouble, but I get it. You, it should be in prime time, but.
00:01:40
Speaker
You know, it is what it is. And I know the prime time games are ugly as shit. So I get that too. But what's the flex rules anymore? It's like 12 days out, isn't it? Something like that. So it's they're they're too close in or whatever. So it would have had. Well, I wasn't thinking of that. I was trying to think of what the Packers was looking at like 12 weeks ago or 12 days ago.
00:02:06
Speaker
Yeah, 12 days ago. Sorry. Oh, no, no. You're basically like a week from when we were recording because it's like 12 days ahead of the game. So like a week ago yesterday or something like that. So I guess they were. They were, you know, coming off of a bounce back win against the Rams, but it's like, well, we just read up and stuff. So yeah.
00:02:30
Speaker
Because it's 12 days ahead of the
C.J. Stroud's Potential
00:02:31
Speaker
game. Yeah, I don't know. so Like I said, I get what they're saying. Right. So I get what they're saying about complaining that it should be flexed, but whatever. I mean, enjoy the noon game. Half of you are going to be crocked anyway by the time noon hits around. So it doesn't matter what time it is. And if you're not, you'll be, but yeah, it should be a big test. No shit. but yeah, it should be a big test. It, I know the, they didn't look great against the Vikings.
00:03:06
Speaker
but they went like five and oh, since then, uh, Stroud is obviously he, he shut me up in a way. I did like him a little bit better than a lot of the other Ohio state quarterbacks. Uh, I know that was one thing Nick used to call me out on is, you know, don't helmet a scout, but you know like I kept telling people until you give me a reason not to say it that I'm going to say it and so far Alabama's still holding true but Stroud seems to be uh seems to be what's the word for it uh breaking the mold yeah he's he's busting the mold there you go yeah and you know it it wasn't just
00:03:58
Speaker
the whole like it's just the helmet but it made sense because it was the whole okay you're there these guys were all really touted prospects when they came out of high school they were good college players but you know, there is something to be said where you play with the best wide receivers against subpar, of you know, subpar opposition. and And how does it look when your skill players are on an even playing field, but Stroud's his innate abilities as a passer definitely have played up as a professional. And yeah i'm i'm I'm glad for him because, you know, as a Michigan fan, you know, we had to face him and it was always a big matchup. And
00:04:41
Speaker
To his credit, know, he was never like, you never hated him as an Ohio State player. It was more just like, we've got to beat that guy kind of thing. And it was more of a, he was more on the respect side of the rivalry than like a true like, oh, this guy's a douche or anything
Kicker Replacement Drama
00:04:56
Speaker
like that. But before we get even get into the Texans, Packers also made one other big change heading into the game. They They jettisoned Narveson, brought in Brandon McManus, which has its own can of worms that you you know some people are completely looking past and some people are keeping an eye on and stuff. Yeah.
00:05:19
Speaker
i'm more in the camp I'm not super comfortable with the move because you know his lawyer is saying that his case got dismissed. or you know he used It's resolved, I think is the phrase he used. And Goot said that the team did their due diligence. They didn't just rely on the league's investigation. But my whole thing is like, okay,
00:05:42
Speaker
and And so I think everyone needs to get their reality, you know, their, their expectations checked too, because you know, man, he's been a solid NFL kicker, but it's not like he's a eight high eighties low nineties kicker. And I know that that's not the norm for anyone, but you know, he's in line with Mason's average. And I've seen some people also say like, Oh, he's a proven playoff.
00:06:07
Speaker
performer but I'm like he hasn't been in the fucking playoffs since the Bronco he was on the Broncos team that won the Super Bowl but the Broncos didn't make the playoffs since they won the Super Bowl so it's like that was nine years ago and you're telling me that that's supposed to be a um um tell of how he's gonna do if like they're in the preseason the postseason again so a lot of different expectation shifts that need to happen but you know Basically, it's kind of came down to, you know, all the science points, to it came down to what the two of us have been talking about in terms of Nervuson. You know, it would have been better if he missed kicks in different ways, but he kept missing the same way every time. And he's, you know, he, I forget, I think it was Huber, he had an article where he said like, oh, no, no, it was Brett, Paul Brett. He had an article where it's like, oh, talk to Nervuson. And he talked about how, oh, like, yeah, we've identified this thing.
00:07:04
Speaker
But he just didn't get it fixed and the straw broke the camel's back multiple times and it was done. Well, I think they said that he did get it fixed, but it wasn't in games. He was it was able to get fixed during practice, but it wasn't happening during the games. And for all of that. And and honestly, it's like that doesn't matter. Like it doesn't matter if it's not translating over to the game. It's one of those. I'd rather have the good game day player than the practice player, because it's like practice. who Like there's a certain point where. All right, cool. It gets into that Parcel's realm of like your your
00:07:40
Speaker
What did he say? Your potential is going to get me fired. So it got into that realm of like, can't be afforded to lose opportunities because you're missing kicks anymore. So Brandon McManus.
00:08:00
Speaker
so I want to say it was on Twitter. I saw this it could have been on reddit too I don't remember a lot of my stuff is mixing together anymore But they put it perfectly They said we basically brought back an older Anders Karlsson And Everybody seems to act like this is our Super Bowl maker our Super Bowl maker right here This is the final key in be be realistic, okay? I don't want to play Debbie Downer. I really hope that they can get it settled out. They can get it figured out, whatever. But you also got to remember he's not going to be our savior. Yeah, he may miss fewer than Narvison did. He may miss
00:08:44
Speaker
If you go by career wise, he's going to miss technically more than Anders did last year, yeah because he's a career 81.4%. He's going to miss one out of every five kicks. Right. And, and Anders was an 81.8% field goal kicker. So it it's one of those things that.
00:09:10
Speaker
In the end, they should have just held on to Anders. Yeah, it's on the Ramage show. Or was it on this one that I said that the way that I would have handled things was I would have kept Anders and sign, uh, nervous into the practice squad. I mean, you could have kept, uh, uh, what's his face from Australia as your IP. Yeah. Well.
00:09:36
Speaker
Uh, you know, sign Narvison to your, your practice squad. If things went south with Anders, he got Narvison and that at least gives him time to work on things in practice and all that shit. And you still have the extra motivation factor. Like they're all jockeying for position kind of like Hale is the one that's definitely lowest on the totem pole. Cause it's like, yeah, like he literally.
00:09:58
Speaker
not I want to say literally but he basically doesn't cost anything against the roster because he has that exception the international player exception but yeah it's like you said and And then e who knows, like, even if it's the whole, like, oh, Anders is missing kicks in practice kind of thing, but Narvesen is perfect. It's like, okay, you like elevate him and have him kick in a game. It's like, oh shit, he just shanked two of them kind of thing and stuff. So yeah, like,
00:10:30
Speaker
This is where like roster construction forces your hand. you like And you know, Gudukun's kind of lamented like, oh, should he have had more patience, this and that. But that's the damned if you do, damned if you don't about specialists is like, you really only can carry one of them on your roster and on your active roster. And then it's just whatever you can get creative with in terms of practice squad and all that kind of stuff. But what it really just shows is like, there is a,
League-wide Kicker Struggles
00:10:58
Speaker
There is a deficiency there's a market deficiency on kickers in the league. you know There's 32 rosters, but there aren't 32 kickers because and like half the league is complaining about their kicker all season. it's like oh like you know As much as Green Bay fans want to like complain about it, we're not the only ones that are like, fuck, just go for it because we don't trust our kicker to go out there right now. so believe and Uh, Justin Tucker's having a down year, isn't he? Yeah. And he, you know, and father time waits for no one. Like, yeah. and Right. There's some under 40 kicks. So yeah. just goes to show it's not an exact science, but, and then keeping with the team you had. Well, I do want to finish out yeah go for on on top of that with McManus. You also got the fact that he's a giant douche bag and.
00:11:52
Speaker
You know, not only does he have the allegations against him, but it is common knowledge throughout the league that he is just not a good person. He's, he's a fucking, uh, uh, cool. Uh, he, he thinks high and mighty of himself. Uh, a lot of people have said that over the years. So it really does.
00:12:15
Speaker
take him out out of what Green Bay normally brings into, and that just kind of shows how desperate they are for things. The move reeks of desperation. like they They don't want to say that it does, but it really does. And it makes me wonder what the hell is wrong with what Riley Patterson.
00:12:37
Speaker
And because he's not in, as far as I know, he's not in the league anywhere and he's got a better, uh, he's got a better, field goal percentage than all of them. He did struggle with extra points, but that's what you got. Basaccia, you know, you're paying Basaccia all that money for help and make him figure it out. But.
00:13:02
Speaker
i I'll be honest, I don't really like the move. I understand moving on from Narveson. I just don't like the fact that it's Brandon McManus. Yeah. Like you said, even without the allegations and you know his lawyer stating that it's it's resolved, which like you just read that and it's like, ah ah like that word, like, hit.
00:13:25
Speaker
It's it's and you know there's a lot of people that are th dumping their chest like his what happened to be innocent until proven guilty in this country but. We've seen it so many times well isn't it. He is the criminal aspect is resolved but the civil aspect is still in play.
00:13:43
Speaker
Yep. Yeah. So I mean, I get the whole, uh, innocent until you're proven guilty thing, but it's just not a good situation. Yeah. It's not a good situation. And it still shows that he's that kind of douchebag that, you know, he's that something, everything comes from some kind of situation. Yeah. Did he actually do it? We don't know.
00:14:12
Speaker
But something happened to make those women want to, uh, go against him. yeah So whether it was just a shakedown, like I think the lawyer was quoted as saying, whether it was, there's a reason why this is all going on, whether it's his fault, their fault, whatever. That just shows if it's not his fault and it's their fault, he put him in that situation, himself in that situation.
00:14:40
Speaker
yep but you know that's why that's it's the whole women prefer would rather be around a bear than a man type thing yeah it's like you said there's numerous reasons why it's hard to get excited from it and like i said not that it would make it okay but even from just a pure football perspective It's not like this dude had the golden leg or anything like that. so But to stop circling around how uneasy, dislikeful we disliking we have for this move. Packers had a pretty good first practice back after the game.
00:15:19
Speaker
only three DNP's, Wyatt, Wooden, which not great, being another D lineman. And then Kenny, or not Kenny, I'm sorry, Elton was a DNP, but he hasn't participated on a Wednesday in a few weeks already at this point. I know they listed as a knee, but I feel like it's kind of just a way to give him veteran rest because he's been, he doesn't even have a designation by the time it comes to Friday, the last couple of weeks. So I think it's much to do about nothing.
00:15:48
Speaker
But then, but well, I got a question for you. yeah So, and just opinion, whatever. Cause it just made me think about something because, and who knows what their, their plans are, but it says Jonathan Ford was a full participant and he's got to be coming up on. Needing to be activated or whatever.
00:16:14
Speaker
So do you think they're just holding off on putting Devontae Wyatt on IR until? No, i I think that would be so stupid because honestly, it would be better to run it 52 players than to play this waiting because to me, it's like you keep saying that it's a week to week injury kind of thing, but if you wait two weeks and then put him on IR but then it's like so could he have been back in two more weeks or is the injury really worse than you let on kind of thing so like either way it's like I think it's stupid to like play it that way I just think it's a it's a poor use of ro roster um roster um resources because
00:17:00
Speaker
if he was bad enough to go on IR you put him on IR already and whether Ford is ready or not or you do like you bring Robert Rochelle back or something like that because your cornerback depth is iffy or whatever so I think I don't think it's tied to that if any and I don't think they're gonna like unless Woodens injury is bad enough I don't think it's him or Wyatt that goes on IR I think they just cut someone like Cox or something like that who has not been active at all, you know, he hasn't been activated any game this season. And I think you're at the point in the season where, you know, it's week seven. And at this point, it's like someone would or like you don't
00:17:41
Speaker
If he gets lost on waivers at this point, it's like, okay, like he wasn't good enough to be activated on game days, doesn't play special teams, all that kind of stuff. I think they have avenues to get forward up, especially if Woodin and Wyatt are not available for this week. But I don't, I would be shocked if it comes at the expense of Wyatt going on IR unless he had some kind of setback.
00:18:06
Speaker
I just, it makes me wonder because right now, if with Wyatt DNP, wooden DNP, that really whittles down yeah the- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And yeah and this is what's it called? This is, I believe this is the last week of Ford's 21 day practice window. So I think I think they technically have until Monday to activate them. so But I do think that it if Wooden and Wyatt aren't available, they'll activate for it. And then it's a matter of who they cut at or who they release or at a different position. I don't think it'll be putting, like I said, unless Wooden's knee is bad enough that he can go on IR, I don't think it'll be him that goes, I don't think it'll be Wyatt that goes on IR.
00:18:59
Speaker
so Yeah. and They must really think something of Ford to have him use up one other day oh yeah spot. Yeah. Which I like Ford. I thought he played well during last year's preseason. And I thought he wasn't his rookie year that I thought it was. He did well in that preseason too. And then he he was on the roster all year and didn't really get any. He was never activated. So I think he would match up well.
00:19:29
Speaker
Uh, he would be another one of those that would, would clog up, you know, the run lanes and stuff. But if they're going to use him on, you know, use one of their limited designations on them, then you know, that we're going to bring them back. They're not just going to cut them. Yeah. yeah yeah so no it makes sense yeah it's more just the mechanism of how than it is the do they or don't they because yeah now that they've limited the number of guys you can dr r from ir yeah like you said he'd have the leg would have had to have fallen off kind of thing so do think he'll be back this week especially with wooden and wyatt in question and the biggest good news is that dontavian
00:20:11
Speaker
it seems like they caught a um massive break. They got lucky with his shoulder so he's on track to potentially be available this week but that's the situation for the Packers going against the Texans who themselves are looking to be missing some key pieces so I believe They basically already ruled out two key members of their secondary in Kamari Lassiter, one of their corners, and Jimmy Ward, who's a longtime foe, used to be with the Niners for the longest time. he's a versatile player. you know He can play safety slot, little bit of cornerback too. And so he's been around the block quite a while in the league. So he would be kind of a big blow for the Texans. Another one because of suspension.
Texans' Key Players Missing
00:21:01
Speaker
Yeah, and then the big, big one is that Niko Collins will not definitely not play in the game because this is his second game that he'll have to miss for injury reserve. So that's the big one for the Texans.
00:21:17
Speaker
Also not participating for them, Al Sayyir, one of their starting inside linebackers, Henry Totoo, one of their contributors at linebacker, and then Robert Woods missed some time with the foot. So know you're looking at their their wide receiver depth is getting dinged up.
00:21:34
Speaker
They're still pretty loaded at that spot. you know They're bringing Stefan Diggs, Tank Dell, and then John Michi to the field who are all healthy if Woods also can't go. And Mixon is dealing with an ankle as well. So you know the Texans' primary offensive weapons are dinged up a little bit.
00:21:56
Speaker
but You know, Stroud has proven himself to be a solid quarterback and their o-line has been pretty good and outside of that Vikings game. So do wonder if.
00:22:07
Speaker
Halfly is going to try and employ some of the same things where you know the the Flores' is bare front really screwed up the the Texans in terms of pass protection. They had a hard time diagnosing who was coming, and Flores was able to get his defensive ends on their tight ends often in that game. I think it killed at least two of Houston's drives in the red zone. So I do expect Halfly to do similar things on offense and on to that Texans offense and it's important too because they are the fifth best passing game in terms of yardage but their rushing offense is very middle of the pack so want to see Halfly's defense be able to stifle that that passing game to keep the you know to be able to attack their weaker run
00:22:57
Speaker
Yeah, I think Mike's getting arrested right now because all the sirens behind them. So those are ambulances Well, Well, well yeah, and they're gonna be missing a Few other guys too. I just looked it up. They they lost Mario Edwards for four games So this will be his first that's right. That's who it is. Yeah Yeah I want to say they, wasn't he just came back from suspension or whatever, but that fully Fatukazi, uh, he either was suspended or he, they already said he was out.
00:23:37
Speaker
Uh, so yeah, they're going to be down some and then Laramie tonsil is a limited participation with ankle, but that could be something similar to like the Elton and, and Kenny Clark thing. Yeah. I think it's more of that rest kind of thing. Cause he's of the same age as our guys. So yeah, I, I, I wouldn't read too much into that unless he has a, he, what's it called? He has a decrease in his participation level as the week goes on.
00:24:05
Speaker
So, and I think stat wise, he's been held holding up pretty good. i I want to say he hasn't allowed a pressure this year or something like that. Is that what I read correctly or he's been in a lot of those, this week didn't give up a pressure kind of thing. I think he has given up a couple so far, but, I mean, tonsil remains one of the best pass blocking tackles in the league.
00:24:29
Speaker
One thing to watch out for is this whole line has had its issues with the new the what's they call it areas. of and With the with this areas the officials the officials they prime in on specific um penalties to call I forget what the phrase the the phrase that they call it They did they have gotten dinged saw it in the Bears game I heard it happened a bunch in the Vikings game where their tackles but primarily right tackle got called for that, you know lined up in the backfield thing and stuff so that's something to watch out for but
00:25:06
Speaker
Like I said, I think one of the keys is for Halfly to mix up his pass rush looks, not necessarily having to blitz a whole bunch, but just testing you know poking and prodding this O-line to see how they're going to respond to different pre-snap looks and movement and things like that. Because, they like I said, they did have issues with it against the Vikings a couple weeks ago.
00:25:29
Speaker
And one of the weird things is as much as this offense has been touted and they do have good, like if you just look at their overall stats, you know, they're. you're kind of like, okay, this is a solid, you know, this should be a solid offense and stuff, but, you know, they only ranked 14th in points per game. They're 16 yards per game, but there's a lot of areas where they're just kind of middle of the pack. And like I said, you watch that Sunday night game against the Bears, and you know, the Bears defense has been pretty good since, you know, the back half of last season and into the start of the season, but for an offense that's supposed to be, you know, to have the firepower to have the Texans on the brink of being a potential player,
00:26:08
Speaker
championship contender in the AFC, they've kind of underwhelmed so far this season. So it's on Halfly and his unit to keep the pressure on them and not let this be the game where they find their footing going forward.
C.J. Stroud's Rookie Challenges
00:26:21
Speaker
I think a lot of it might be Stroud just being a young quarterback. He is completing 68.3 of his passes or percent of his passes.
00:26:33
Speaker
Uh, he has given up the ball a little bit. He's thrown four interceptions. He's been hit sacks 16 times. Right. And that is a lot like that. That's a lot, a lot, a lot so far in a season. That's that's on par with some of Rogers. Like I, you know, his early starter season where he was getting sacked like 50 times in a season kind of thing. That's the pace that Stroud is on right now.
00:26:58
Speaker
And did you say they were saying Mixon was out for this game? No, no, no. He's just dinged up. I know that he's been dealing with an ankle injury. So like, even last week you didn't tell, he just doesn't have his breakaway speed right now, but even more reason you've got to be disciplined and, know, don't let him feel good about himself early in the game kind of thing. Like just, you know, nothing dirty, but you got to bang him, you know, you got to hit him, get him down and stuff. So, you know, take advantage of him not being at full throttle.
00:27:27
Speaker
Yeah. Cause he's averaging pretty good. He's 5.5 average. So obviously, you know, their ah offense has some weapons to it. You know, Niko's out. So that really hurts a lot of it, but you know, they still have the shell of Stefan digs down there tank Dell.
00:27:50
Speaker
Again, i but I was trying to think of who was talking about it, but how they wanted to see, or who they wanted to see Jair on, and they said, oh, Stefan Diggs, Stefan Diggs. No, I think he matches up better with Dell. Dell's going to be the guy that needs to be zeroed in on, because that seems to be Stroud's safety valve. And he's got the shiftiness and the speed And you know he's tiny. He's another one that has made me shut up on things because I said I love his talent. But he's like five foot nothing, 100 nothing. And you know how's he going to be able to handle the NFL? Outside of a couple of injuries, you know he's held handled it pretty well. And you know like I said, he's he's
00:28:42
Speaker
He seemed to be Stroud's safety valve when it comes to things. So with Jair being the speedy shorter type guy, I would, I would put, I would wish to have Jair's shadow tank a little bit more. And then you can throw, you know, the mixture of Keyshawn, Stokes and Carrington out on Stephon. Yeah. I do wonder, you know,
00:29:10
Speaker
Valentine isn't, you know, Valentine and Nixon and well and Stokes, they are all not on the injury report. So I do wonder how much. you know Jair's status in terms of his groin will kind of like alter there because like you said Del is one of those like shifty explosive kind of kids so you know and a lot of change in direction and stuff like that so you know so if he's if Jair is on him a lot that's a good sign for where his health is you know that groin's health is at so whereas opposed to if like they put him on digs it's kind of like uh
00:29:43
Speaker
I know he's had success against Diggs in the past. And also like maybe they're just worried like you know if he steps wrong on the turf or something, he might aggravate that groin and all. So we'll see. But Green Bay should have the pieces to match up pretty well. And it will be another game where the safeties that McKinney and then the rookie duo of um Bullard and Evan Williams are gonna be you know it's going to be on imperative that they're tasks, sure, because the Texans run a lot of like intricate screens and things like that. So you've got to read out what you're seeing in front of you. And then, like I said, with Mixon, like he's doesn't got his breakaway gear right now because of the injury, but you've got to take good angles on him. He's a strong runner and you've got to like, you know, you got to gang tackle him because he he he has the strong lower body that he, know, can break ankle biter attempts and things like that. So you've got to come fundamentally sound and
00:30:39
Speaker
it'll get you know Like I said, this is another good test for the the the Packers. know like i said I know the Texans haven't lived up to their billing so far, but this is just another opportunity for this defense to prove, like yes, like we are turning a corner.
00:30:55
Speaker
the production is real and let's see if there's another you know good quarterback in the NFL that we can fluster with you know Halfly's disguise coverages, his kind of amoeba pressure packages and things like that. So good measuring stick game.
00:31:11
Speaker
And then as far as the Texans defense, you know D'Amico Ryan's unit and kind of mirroring their offense, they are strong against the pass.
Texans' Defensive Strengths and Weaknesses
00:31:24
Speaker
They give up the third fewest yards per pass, the fourth fewest passing yards per game. They have the the fourth sa fourth ranked sack percentage in the NFL.
00:31:37
Speaker
but against the run they've been middle of the pack so You know, we've been saying like, are they going to just run it, run it, run it for the last couple of weeks? I think what we're going to see, especially with Jordan feeling healthier, we're going to see not necessarily 40 rushes per game, but you combine rushes with play action plays. And I think the company or an RPOs and all that kind of stuff. And I think those combined are going to add up for like 40 plus plays in this game, because, you know, if you're a team that's not good against the run, you have to
00:32:14
Speaker
account for extra resources to play the run. That means like you fire up your linebackers on run actions and things like that. And, you know, if a guy like Touou Touou can't play or um what's it, or if all Shire can't play, that's hampering their ability to play the middle of the field because their inside linebacker depth is not great at this point. It's a lot of young and unproven guys. So you can attack that, that's a good way to go. So i' I'm really curious to see what LeFlore's game plan is gonna look like this week.
00:32:48
Speaker
This is gonna be, Whoa, ambulances. And now it's aliens, uh, kingdom hearts. but This is going to be a real test for the Packers offensive line. Anderson's got five and a half sacks. Daniil Hunter has two and a half. And then you've got, well, Edwards will be out, but then you got Barnett and settle with two each. And
00:33:19
Speaker
They're not really creating the turnovers too much. One, two, three, four, five interceptions and four forced fumbles. So they're not really winning the the turnover battle too much on their end.
00:33:38
Speaker
But if they get to Jordan, you know, that, yeah, that's where this line's really got to step up. And, and, you know, it's going to be a real test for Rashid who's been pretty solid. Yeah. They all have been playing better, but Eldon's banged up Meyers is banged up. Uh,
00:34:01
Speaker
So you got to hope that everybody's at least healthy enough to handle what this defensive line or this front seven is going to throw at them. If they can get the run game going, I hope it sets up the play action a little bit. We haven't really seen a ton of the play action yet.
00:34:23
Speaker
Uh, I do think that is a function of loves, his health. So we've seen him bright moving around better and better. So I'm hoping that this is the game where.
00:34:35
Speaker
You see more of the hard play action, but I think there's just going to be a lot of misdirection in this game. Like you said, but you've got to keep that you got to keep that pass rush off balance and whether it's by running at the edges or know throwing screens and stuff. And LeFlore has just really been so multiple in his looks this season. and so just willing to throw the kitchen sink at at in any game, even the ones with Malik starting. So I'm pretty pleased with where we're at in that regard. And yeah, it's i do I don't think it's going to necessarily be any one thing. I don't think you want to just put it on the O-lines back to be able to do it on their own. You want to protect them as well with misdirection, play action, screens.
00:35:21
Speaker
tire this and because the the Texans do have some depth at their edges as well you know you have Anderson and Hunter starting but Danico Autry is a good player Derek Barnett is still a solid player too and Hunter so keep your head on a swivel with him around but Yeah, we just gotta, you know, and the Packers have done it for the most part is obviously they had to lean on the run game a lot in weeks two and three because you were with your backup quarterback, but the floor has done a good job, you know, and the Viking game was not really his fault because just so many things happened that it took the run game off the table, but against the Rams and the Cardinals the last two weeks, we've seen him utilize the run game to,
00:36:07
Speaker
enough to set up the rest of his offense. And with love just that much more healthy, I think that it's going to just allow him that much more flexibility of you know of opening up the playbook even more at this point.
00:36:21
Speaker
For sure. So like I said, I would, I would probably lean heavier into the gimmick stuff, you know, the end arounds, the touch passes, the screen passes play action, really dig a little bit into the playbook to, to stifle this, this defense, yeah especially because the Texans are going to be, you know,
00:36:42
Speaker
because I forget which one of the Texans beat writers said it, but because Ward and Lassiter are out or expected to be out, you're leading on a lot of depth players in that secondary. And so the sweeps, the you know the runs to the outside, the jet reverses,
00:37:00
Speaker
just plain old double reverses, things like that, where you've got to have your corners set the edge or your safeties have to be disciplined. know, one of the guys who potentially is going to be getting snaps back there is Kalen Bullock, who I know a lot of Packers fans wanted, but that was for the ball-hocking side, the tackling side. I saw him play in the preseason and I'm like, yep, that's still the same guy he was at USC diving at air. So, you know, it's, I do think it sets up for Lafleur to just dig deep in the coffers for this one and just empty the playbook as much as he wants here. know Unfamiliar, you know irregular opponent. Like I said, Texans haven't been to Green Bay in eight years. And just throw the kitchen sink out there, get this win, and move. yeah Because you've got to keep pace with the rest of the division, since no one looks like they want to lose any games this year in the NFC North.
00:37:57
Speaker
for sure. It's going to be a tight. The the division battle is going to be a tight one. The game itself is probably going to be really tight. It's going to be, you know, as good old JR would say a slobber knocker. So it's And I didn't even look, the weather's supposed to be pretty decent. I think just a little bit chilly. Yeah. So the field should be all right. Green Bay is a minus three and a half right now at this point. So slight favorite at this point in time. Oh, well, it's supposed to be nice up there. 72 degrees and with only 13% chance of any kind of precipitation. Yeah. a Far cry for what it was today. So yeah, can't complain too much.
00:38:46
Speaker
Yeah. So it's going to be, it's going to be a hell of a game. I, you know, it's going to be a battle. Like I keep stumbling over things because I, this is the one during the, the post, the, the pre-season schedule that I just kept kind of waffling on. Cause like, well, if they play like they did last, you know, the the Texans play like they were last year. I, you know, I just, I didn't like it.
00:39:17
Speaker
But hopefully we'll see what the Packers did it against the Cardinals wasn't a fluke and they'll come out firing on all cylinders. Yep. So got all your weapons. Basically all your weapons look like they're going to be available this week and you got to use them, but we'll see where it goes. But you got your over unders for this week.
00:39:41
Speaker
what but a lot of the same ones just because it seems like every week we need to do the same ones because they're either not happening or, you know, somebody else steps up and does something and, and it, so but let's go over under rushing yards for Jacobs at, we'll set it at 65 and a half.
00:40:07
Speaker
I'm gonna say under because they seem really intent on splitting his reps with with Wilson and Brooks even.
00:40:15
Speaker
so over lean on him a little bit more since he's played the Texans more often in his career. So maybe they'll lean on him a little bit more since he knows a little bit more about the team than the Packers do. So I'm going to say over.
00:40:35
Speaker
oh
00:40:37
Speaker
going to skip the Xavier one because we lost the street, but I am going to go. Over, under, half interception for this Packers defense as a whole.
00:40:51
Speaker
I'm going to see. I'm going to say yes. because Halfly does not to the extreme that Flores does, but he does a lot of similar things where he'll show a bare front, show double A gap blitz. And like I said, the Texans struggled with that really bad against the Vikings. And I think Halfly is going to get this Texans offense befuddled a little bit and you know get
00:41:22
Speaker
Stroud in positions where he's not hucking and ducking the ball but just little jittery a little bit too amped up kind of thing and you know throws it where he thinks he has him. And then, you know, not having Collins out there. He is by far their biggest wide receiver. I think after that, it's Robert Woods, depending on who you where you look, he's listed at six one or six two. But Diggs is like generously listed at six foot. I don't think Nietzsche is six foot. And then like you said, Dell is a little shrimp. So I'm starting to a lot of smaller targets this week. And we'll see.
00:42:00
Speaker
Xavier Hutchinson Hutchinson is six three. Oh, I got thrown off because he's listed on a different line. but But yeah, we'll see. we'll see how And then they've they've got Schultz who's been a big weapon for yeah them. So that that one they'll have to keep an eye on too. I'm going to say over just because I think one of the rookies is due, yeah whether it be Williams or Bullard or whatever.
00:42:31
Speaker
I do think one of them is due, so I think I'm going to go over with it too. I think you're right. I think Bullard is due for one. Williams got his tip drill off of that Hail Mary the other week, so I think Bullard is due for one as well. I'm going to also throw this last one out there as just because of what we were just talking about with their offensive line and how much under pressure he's been. And this front seven for the Packers is due for something. So over under one and a half sacks for the Packers. I'm going to go over and I think, you know, some people were discouraged with the the Cardinals game, but that was the Cardinals trying like hell to get the ball out of Kyler's hands in two seconds or less.
00:43:16
Speaker
And you saw guys getting pressure. Rashawn was going to more of a pressure a power game, which is he needs to, because that's his best attribute. Lucas was breaking through more often. Preston got a few pressures. They were getting pressure, but the ball was just gone kind of thing. And like you know if it's a more standard passing game, it's there and stuff. And you're hoping with better field conditions. Valentine's not on the injury report at all.
00:43:42
Speaker
that they're going to be a little more aggressive in their coverage. You're hoping Jair is another week removed from, you know, and feeling better.
Packers' Defensive Strategy
00:43:49
Speaker
So you're hoping that because everyone's a little healthier, field conditions will be a little better, that you'll be more aggressive in your coverage. And by being tighter in coverage, your password has that much more time to get home. So I'm hoping from that point of view that they'll hit the over there.
00:44:09
Speaker
Well, we're not going to disagree on anything this week because I'm going to say the overtude just because, like I said, when I introduced it, they're due. Yeah. All of them are getting pressures or they were getting pressure against the Cardinals. I think it's starting to work itself out where they are getting more comfortable in the system. So yeah, they're due. I'm going to say over. All right. And now your favorite segment.
00:44:37
Speaker
Well, I got a couple of them this week. Uh, one's a tweet and it just so happens to bounce off of what we were just talking about with Lucas. I saw this tweet and immediately my bias went out or I mean went off, but I do think it's kind of a shit take one way or the other.
00:45:00
Speaker
This is from c at Seeds of Jake. He tweeted something last year about Lucas, and then he just doubled down on it this year. The one last year was, I feel bad saying this because it's way too early to make judgments, but LVN really does move like Dean Lowry.
00:45:19
Speaker
And then he doubled down on he double down on it with this one after some careful consideration I'd like to re-examine. Took a lot of heat for this and I stand by it. Elvian is a faster Dean Lowry. So obviously my bias went off immediately when I read it because it's like no you can't put Elvian's name with Dean Lowry. But then once my bias went out of it I still said you can't put Lucas Van Ness up against Dean Lowry.
00:45:48
Speaker
two completely different styles of player, two completely different athletic profiles. At least Lucas is in there putting pressure and filling the right gaps. Dean was such a frigging hot and cold player that one week he would do absolutely nothing and end up on, you know, on his ass.
00:46:13
Speaker
at all game and the next week he may get one or two pressures. Lucas has been pretty consistent that he's at least breaking the pocket down. Yeah, the numbers haven't hit there yet, but I put that more on scheme than anything right now.
00:46:31
Speaker
But he's still showing that he's got the quickness in and out of, you know, he's, he's helped a lot against the run. He's collapsing the pocket, like I said. So for you to make the, if anything, he reminds me more of a campman.
00:46:48
Speaker
And the the numbers aren't, and I know it's two Iowa guys, but the numbers aren't there yet, but his play style is reminiscent of Campman more than anything, where they've got the one trait to him, they just haven't been able to develop the second one yet. And once Van Ness does the second one, you forget, he's only in his second year right now. and So let him get a little bit of time there. So basically, seeds of Jake, shut the fuck up.
00:47:16
Speaker
Yeah, it's, you know, everyone just wants to look at the sack numbers for McDonald and just, it's just a totally different role in their defense and, you know, the, the, pass rush production that McDonald is playing with versus what the breasts of the Green Bay Lion has done this year. It's just not comparable. So yeah, it's,
00:47:38
Speaker
dean lowry Not Will McDonald, Dean Larrow. Oh, no, no. Because I've seen a lot of people compare, you know, they're like, they should have picked McDonald last year and all that kind of stuff. And You gotta give- I know, but we're arguing about the Dean Lowry comp. Yeah, but yeah, no. I think, and the Dean Lowry side of it is, I'm just like, okay, like you're just trying to say like, uh, who's the worst white D lineman I can think of right now off the top of my head. Oh, it's that guy we finally got rid of recently. So yeah, it's it's a, it's a placid take, honestly. I'm just,
00:48:15
Speaker
I don't even know what other description to put with it. But yeah, that's that's one that doesn't hold any water. And then this other one that I got is a tick tock and I got some audio here. Now this was obviously before the game against the Cardinals. So here we go. Let's see if it'll play.
00:48:36
Speaker
So that's some creator, Kendrick Strumbus and his partner, Ryan Bilers. And Ryan Bilers was the one talking. And it's obviously about the Romeo Dobb situation. He, you know, if he's still throwing a temper tantrum, everything that it's pointing to is it's nothing to do with but what Bill Huber originally called it.
00:49:06
Speaker
It's Romeo is having some kind of issues. and i It may have a little bit to do with on the field stuff, but it for sure has to do with off the field stuff. And he even came out and said that that there's something going on off the field.
00:49:25
Speaker
He had to call in the family. There's a family issue going on. So to call it a kit temper tantrum and call him a diva and all this shit is getting ridiculous. You don't know the story. None of us know the full story.
00:49:42
Speaker
This has never happened before for him. All the teammates are there for him. You could see that during the game when he would when he scored his two touchdowns. They were celebrating with him. They were happy for him. They were taught you know they were pumping him up. Yeah, he looks upset, but but it's not upset with his role. It's upset with something's bugging him off the field.
00:50:09
Speaker
So again, he's not a diva. He's not throwing a temper tantrum. This isn't an Antonio Bryant. This isn't a Terrell Owens. This isn't a Chad Ocho Cinco. This is some kind of maybe not mental health thing, but there is some health thing going on. That's happening off the field. So what I call you Ryan Bilers, shut the fuck up. Yeah, like
00:50:42
Speaker
This is the stupid part of like social media and stuff is people, or you know, they they latch on and there they have all their preconceived notions. And what's really dirty about the Dobbs thing is like, once it came out that, oh, he's unhappy with his role. What was the first thing everyone went through? It's like, he's like the fourth or fifth best receiver. So he should just be grateful that he's here kind of thing and stuff. And it's that kind of stuff that just makes you roll your eyes when you have a little more level-headedness and sensibility about any of these kind of issues and
00:51:18
Speaker
Like you said, the way that the team celebrated with Dobbs, celebrated, like would not even with him, just celebrated Dobbs himself after his two touchdowns, said it all, all support him. And the way that even LaFleur has handled it is it's like, you know, both sides have said like, we wish that it had worked out better, but you know, for and LaFleur has more been like, yeah, like we can't have that happen. And you know, for the good of the team, you can't let anybody just,
00:51:46
Speaker
skip practice for whatever reason kind of thing and you know we we should have worked out differently but we had to suspend him and then with Dobbs he flat out said like I should have handled it differently better you know all that kind of stuff you know responsibility for it accountability and responsibility and also if you're gonna try and mock the Romeo you know if you're gonna try and mock Shakespeare at least say the fucking line right it's thou not thy I don't know what fucking stupid ass other european shit you're recounting but god damn it if you're gonna act the nerd part at least get the fucking line right you both are wrong it's romeo oh romeo where for art thou romeo oh my bad see yeah at least i'll admit that i was reading the fucking cliff notes in high school so or watching the leonardo dicaprio version of the movie yeah yeah i just
00:52:40
Speaker
I said it from the beginning, I really am not happy with the way Bill Huber did it. he He just wanted to get the story out there because the source was saying something. And instead of waiting to find out what's really going on or get some kind of hint of what's going on, he just threw the story out there and people everywhere blew it up and you get takes like this from a lot of the different people or you get like you said where oh well he's not even that good anyway why is he you know he's only two years in the league three years in the league why is he pulling diva stuff now and they forget that these are actual like people these aren't just figures on a video game these aren't just posters on a wall these are actual people they all have their issues
00:53:31
Speaker
They all have something going on outside of our, off the field, outside of work. If they, if what he said is true, where he had to, ah ah where the family had to gather, that tells me there was some bad news somewhere in the family, whether it was a death, whether it's a health issue, whether something's going on there, the way he's stoic about everything, the way he's upset, the way he's looking during his, during his locker room time.
00:54:01
Speaker
I'm going to point to there's a serious health problem going on out there with a family member, or there's a death of a family member. And yeah, so again, stop with these fucking takes.
00:54:16
Speaker
It's not an Antonio Brian. It's not a Torello ones. It's not a Chateau Chocinco. It's not one of them fucking it's not a diva moment. So shut the fuck up.
00:54:29
Speaker
Yep, Mike's dealing with kids again in agreement. So, but that's all we've got for this week's preview
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00:54:36
Speaker
show. That's going to wrap, we're going to wrap this one up. So please check out our website, Ohana Packers.org. Uh, please, support our two initiatives right now, cancer awareness and, troop support.
00:54:50
Speaker
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00:55:18
Speaker
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00:55:41
Speaker
Packers are looking to keep stride in the very competitive NFC North against a tough Houston Texans team. Check it out Sunday, early kickoff on Sunday, Packers Texans, go Pack Go at Aloha.