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S2 Ep6: The Saints Coming Marching In
71 Plays2 years ago
Aloha! What's this? another new episode of OPE? That's right! We are now coming to you 2 times a week! On Todays episode we take a look at the home opener for the Packers and what we are watching for against the Saints.
Please make sure to like and subscribe and drop us a review!
Please make sure to like and subscribe and drop us a review!
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Transcript
Welcome & Packers' Home Opener
00:00:30
Speaker
Aloha and welcome to a new Ohana Packers edition podcast. The podcasts were two dudes from halfway across the world chat about everything green and gold. I'm Mike and that's Iowa Joe. Today we are previewing week three, the Packers 2023 home opener.
Team Practice Updates
00:00:46
Speaker
Joe, I figured we'd start with just the Wednesday practice updates. The good news is that
00:00:51
Speaker
Christian Watson return, limited participant, but good to see him back out on the field. Hopefully that's a sign that he's ready to return as soon as this Sunday's game. And Aaron Jones, he stretched but did not come out with the team, came out of Hudson Center. I believe that's the same thing he did on Friday.
00:01:13
Speaker
And Bakhtiari and Jenkins were both riding the bike on the side of practice. And then both our edge dudes, Lucas Van Ness and Rashawn Gary, were both limited participants. So good that Lucas got out of the game without too bad of an injury. I think they listed it as an elbow bruise. And Rashawn is just going to be on the injury report every week this season. Well, I don't know about every week, but at least until he's off the pitch count,
00:01:42
Speaker
Yeah, but otherwise relatively clean bill of health and hopefully it'll continue to trend that way.
Player Health Concerns & Expectations
00:01:51
Speaker
But Joe, what's on your thought, what's on your mind first off going into this game on Sunday? Health. I know the rumor is, or I saw the tweet that the guy put out the, you know, per his sources, Bakhtiari is not going to play, but
00:02:08
Speaker
I'm not going to listen to it until it actually happens. Yeah. Jenkins is most likely a two to four week injury. They're saying Lucas actually, and I didn't realize it until I think it was Andy Herman pointed it out.
00:02:22
Speaker
that Lucas actually went back in to the Falcon game late. He just was wearing the elbow brace. So it must just be like a hyper extension or whatever where it's not like a major concern. And, uh, Rashawn, like I said, he's going to be on the limited and on the list until he's off this pitch count.
00:02:42
Speaker
But, you know, like you said, good news that Watson is working out more. I saw some of the videos where he was actually running and he had the sleeve on the legs. So, you know, hopefully the compression sleeve can help out a little bit and put him on a pitch count because it's really going to be all, you know, they're going to need everybody that they can out there on the field for the offense because
00:03:06
Speaker
You know, even though it's starting to get to be an older defense there, the Saints defense is pretty good. You got Marshawn Latimore that I guess was saying that would the Packers fans disrespect him or something or NFL disrespects him or whatever. And, uh, and then, uh, which one is it? It's cam, uh, Jordan, uh, has always been a dominant force. So they've got the guys on defense that.
00:03:37
Speaker
they're going to need everybody they can get. And if both Bakhtiari and Jenkins are out, then that's going to really hinder a lot of the stuff the Packers can do.
2017 Packers vs. Saints Reminiscence
00:03:49
Speaker
But as long as Watson can return and maybe even a short amount of Jones, it's going to help out tremendously.
00:03:59
Speaker
Uh, this is what the first time, well, no, I don't have to say what this is the first time the Packers have faced the saints at home since 2017. Well, let's hope they had a, have a better game than they did that game. I was actually there in 2017. Um, that was the first Sunday week, I think. Right. Yeah. And it really sucked because I had bought my ticket early on in the year. Like.
00:04:28
Speaker
during training camp or something. And then the Vikings game happened. Rogers's collarbone broke. I paid like $250 for the ticket. And after his collarbone broke, you were getting tickets for like a hundred bucks. And then it was a miserable day. It was, it was kind of the temperature was colder.
00:04:53
Speaker
but it was humid. So even if you had like, uh, and it was, it had just rained a little bit. So even if you had on a coat for the, uh, colder temperature, you were sweating to death because the humidity was hitting it. So, and then to have Hanley go out there and just be a frigging, uh, a lump. I think he had zero touchdowns and one interception on like 107 yards or something like that.
00:05:23
Speaker
Now it was an Aaron Jones breakout game. He went for 120, I think 120 plus, but that was horrible. So I'm really hoping that this game will be a lot better than that one.
00:05:35
Speaker
Yeah, weather-wise, that's here without the cooler temperature. That's how it is in the spring. It rains, and it's still 80% plus humidity. So yeah, used to that. But no, yeah, like you said, the same steam.
Statistical Analysis & Strategies
00:05:50
Speaker
So I know it's early in the season, but DVOA is the advanced stat that I do prefer to use. I think it does a good job of representing
00:05:59
Speaker
you know, it does a good job of ranking the teams in terms of their overall on field efficiency and proficiencies. So Green Bay is actually ironically doing well on DBOA, even defensive DBOA. So for reference, Green Bay is sixth overall in total DBA. They are sixth on offense and eleventh on defense, which
00:06:21
Speaker
after you watch last week's game it's like yeah I know it's some early season noise and stuff but it's still it's still impressive to see them ranked at high and I bring that up because they are playing the ninth overall ranked team in the Saints this week.
00:06:37
Speaker
Their offense is a paltry 21st, but they are fourth on defense. And like you said, that does speak to the skill that is still on that defense. I couldn't name who their linebackers are if you had a gun to my head right now. But like you said, Cam Jordan is still the centerpiece of that defense. And one of them is Pete Werner, isn't it? I believe you might be right. I can name one and you can.
00:07:06
Speaker
Quater Alexander! But the secondary is young. Lattimore I think is the oldest player now at like 27 and then Paulson Adebo is the other corner and he's a third-ish year player at this point. So the Green Bay, it's gonna be, like you said, it's gonna be another measuring stick game for multiple parts of the roster.
00:07:33
Speaker
just in terms of for the offensive side, you know, that secondary is going to be a test. You've got Adebo and Lattimore. It'll be interesting to see if Watson's back, who covers who because they are more of a man-match team. And it'll be interesting to see if they use Lattimore on Watson or if they kind of let Adebo go and cover Watson since he'll likely be limited and they'll let Lattimore cover
00:08:03
Speaker
cover Dobbs, who watching the film back last week, Dobbs I thought had a pretty good game. He was open more than he was targeted. He actually had some really good reps against AJ Tyrell. And it'll be interesting to watch how the refs call this game because they let Tyrell get away with Legion of Boom level of contact and holding on the back end.
00:08:26
Speaker
You know, it's one of those where it's not a complaint. It's just more as long as they're consistent with it. So be it. There's the Green Bay receivers have to figure out how to deal with it and. That's just part of the learning curve for these guys, but it was good to see that Dobbs kind of got a full complement of snaps last week and he's not even on. You know he's a guy that's not even on the injury report going into this week, so that's a good sign for Green Bay. Like you noted,
00:08:55
Speaker
that O-line, we're not going to know what the configuration is going to be. I'd hope it would be really good for the team if Bach is able to get out there this Sunday, but just going under the assumption that he's not ready to roll this week,
00:09:15
Speaker
I
Offensive Line Challenges
00:09:16
Speaker
think they're going to roll with Rashid Walker at left tackle. I know that they rotated last week, but what's your thought on that? I thought it was partly because it was a road starting a dome, but I wasn't a really big fan of that against Atlanta. I'm not a fan of rotating it, period, because there's no continuity to it.
00:09:35
Speaker
you know, you've just got to roll with your punches. Now, if, if they wanted to do like half by half, but not like every other play, if they wanted to play like the first half with Walker second half with nine men, you know, Hey, go for it, but not rotate back and forth, back and forth. Because like I said, there's no continuity to it. And the, you're going to,
00:10:00
Speaker
In my opinion, and I'm not an, I'm an untrained person. I'm just a guy watching and you know, the common sense tells me that your quarterback's not going to be able to get into rhythm because he's going to get used to one guy. Then he's got to jump to the next guy and then, you know, back and forth where, okay, well,
00:10:17
Speaker
I know I'm protected over here, so I can do this. But now on this play, you know, it's a little bit less likely that, you know, not saying that they're horrible tackles. Let's face it. Nyman's really stepped up as an undrafted free agent. Rasheed Walker, for being a seventh round pick in his second year, has looked solid for what he's done. But he's still a young guy. He's still making some mistakes.
00:10:44
Speaker
It doesn't help when you put the revolving door of Roy snowman beside him. So, it, it just, I don't, I don't see the reasoning behind rotating your tackle like that. Now if they really wanted to.
00:11:02
Speaker
In my mind, my configuration, I would probably slot, if you're gonna use Walker slot, John Runyon beside him, then put Myers as your center and then put the revolving door at right guard and Zach Tom at tackle. That way you have a little bit of balance there. You have uncertainty, certainty,
00:11:31
Speaker
whatever the fuck Myers is anymore, uh, uncertainty, certainty. So I mean, it's not like, okay, well, your whole left side is gone because we don't know what's happening. Or your whole right side is gone because we don't know what's going to happen. So I would, to balance things out, I would put good by bad, if that makes sense.
00:11:54
Speaker
Yeah and I'm of the other mindset and this is just being in some coaching rooms and stuff and it sounds counterintuitive because I know a lot of people would go with what you said where you try to you try to spread the wealth in a sense but what I've heard is that they
00:12:11
Speaker
alignment
Countering Saints' Defense
00:12:12
Speaker
and quarterbacks actually prefer if you just put the unknowns on the same side because then from like a play call and a protection standpoint you can slide your protections to help kind of thing you can send your back that way and stuff so it's it's easier to send help when you're
00:12:32
Speaker
you're kind of not conceding, but you're under, you're understanding that one side and it's a little spooky because it's your quarterback's blind side, but that's what I'm thinking. It would be a lot different if we're saying, Oh, well, Zach Tom's not very good and John Runyon's not very good. So we're going to slot those guys over there because then Jordan can see it for sure coming. But we're talking the blind side and I wouldn't mess with the blind side for nothing. Cause that's when you get knocked out.
00:13:02
Speaker
Yeah and I seen some people, you know, some people were asking if you would move Tom this week and I said I wouldn't but if they do that's telling me something about what box injury outlook is moving forward because I would think that like you said in the the name of the game on O-line is continuity so you do want to keep Tom and Runyon you know next to each other kind of keep those guys operating together because they have done good things together
00:13:32
Speaker
And then whatever you do on the left side, I got into it with Perrone a little bit, and we're kind of going back and forth. And he said that he would start Newman because Newman is the devil you know, and Ryan is still a complete unknown in terms of play. But it's kind of like what we were talking about with, and we'll get into it when we talk about the defensive side, but it's like we were talking about on the review show with Anthony Johnson Jr., where
00:14:01
Speaker
at some point you just got to see what you got and we know exactly what Newman is and to me it's one of those you put Ryan in
00:14:09
Speaker
and you see if the dude can sink or swim and you don't gotta wait that long to find out. I believe Sheldon Rankins is still one of the Saints defensive tackles. He's gonna get a healthy test early on in this game. So you're gonna find out if he can fight his way through it or like you said if he's an even faster revolving door than Newman is which
00:14:33
Speaker
I have a hard time believing, honestly, at this point. And especially if Green Bay wants to get back to the run game, Ryan proved himself to be the much better run blocker in the preseason than Newman was. But that's one of those weekend
00:14:49
Speaker
project, prospect, whatever, put the tee leaves down, but we're not gonna know until they roll out with the Sunday, the pregame warmup. So that'll be one of those, we'll see when we get there kind of things, but it is something that does need to be earmarked for the game because like we said, they're gonna move Cam Jordan up and down that defensive front. And the big thing that Dennis Allen likes to do is he likes to,
00:15:18
Speaker
simulate pre-snap that double A gap shot that double A gap look that um you used to see like Jim Johnson's defenses uh the Erlacher and Briggs Bear's defense used to do it a lot um especially
00:15:31
Speaker
because Jenkins is likely out and then you're probably getting Walker starting at left tackle. So it's a lot of pre-snap communication and New Orleans is going to want to see what Green Bay does on third down. So it's really important to get good yardage on first and second down this week to stay out of third and long because Allen is going to light up this O-line with a bunch of weird blitzes this week. You can count on that. Rankins is not with the Saints anymore. He's with Houston.
00:16:02
Speaker
But I mean, that doesn't mean they have any less of a challenge there. Cause they've still got Isaiah Foskey, Carl Granderson, Cam Jordan. I have no idea how to pronounce his name. Uh, Kyle Phillips, Malcolm Roach, Brian Breece, Kaitlyn Sanders, Nathan Shepherd. I guess I can try it to know Kappa Sano.
00:16:28
Speaker
you saw no, I think. Yeah. Yeah. And then on your model was there one of their bigger, um, one of their bigger, uh, what's it called? Free Asian ads this off season. So they've got, they've got, um, they've got some skilled players up front. And yeah. Yeah. There's going to be, this is going to be tough. This is, this is going to be the same. Yep. Brian Brazilian old friend, Jack Heflin.
00:16:59
Speaker
I think he's practice squad. But yeah, so they're going to present some challenges for this for Green Bay. And like I said, it's going to take a lot of pre-snap discussions and awareness to make sure that everyone's on the same page.
00:17:17
Speaker
just because
Roster Concerns & Player Impact
00:17:18
Speaker
you don't want to see plays like that, um, that one on the third down in the second drive where Walker is sliding out too far and just let someone right. Come right up the B gap and just has a B line on love. So those are the kind of mental errors that they got to iron out this week because, um, guarantee that Dennis Allen saw that on tape this week. So gotta show that up. You know, Jason Perrone, I love you, man. You're really, really ridiculously good looking.
00:17:44
Speaker
and all that, but I'd side more with Kawano than I would that because yeah, Newman is the devil, you know, but
00:17:58
Speaker
We also saw in the preseason that Sean Ryan was putting up better reps than Newman was. So if this is just going to be a test year anyway, and you're just going to run with what you got, you might as well throw them out there and, you know, for a game or two.
00:18:15
Speaker
Yeah. This isn't, you would have rather have thrown them out there for the bears or something, but you know, she got to do it. And you know, like we were going to talk about here in a few, Anthony Johnson, Jr. Needs to be out there. I'm tired of the Rudy for, you know, Rudy solid special team or thumper probably is better suited for that hybrid linebacker safety role than actual safety.
00:18:42
Speaker
But yeah, you know, you might as well throw what you got out there. If Bhaktiari can't go, you know, Jenkins isn't going to be out there. You've got to throw what you can out there and you can't let Jordan get killed. And Newman is going to get Jordan killed. I still have no idea why he is on the roster. It's
00:19:09
Speaker
Yeah. He's got to have like naked pictures of Gudakunst or something that, and I don't know. And I love Brian Gudakunst. He's been a great GM since he's been here. You know, some people are going to say, oh, well, he didn't do this right. And he didn't do that right. But I think he handled everything as well as he could. But for some reason, it's that old Ted Thompson way where they just hang on to the guys that they shouldn't be hanging on to.
00:19:39
Speaker
And Newman is that guy. Yep, so like we said, we can only hope that they'll go with the youth movement and like you said, bridging it over onto the defense. It'll be a
Secondary vs. Saints' Receivers
00:19:52
Speaker
big test for our secondary this week because
00:19:55
Speaker
New Orleans is gonna roll in. Granted, Derek Carr is the quarterback, but he's still gonna hit open guys and Chris Olave and Michael Thomas are two guys that can get open. Thomas has looked a lot better so far this season that I thought he would after coming off of.
00:20:11
Speaker
his basically two years of weird angle ankle injury and just not playing football basically for, you know, over 700 days, and a lot of a has been has translated every bit as well as you could have imagined, coming out of Ohio State into the NFL.
00:20:31
Speaker
I'll be curious to see if they do match up this week. I kind of want them to because you don't want Resul, whether it's in zone or in match zone on Olave. That's just not the kind of player that he's good against. I know that you can't go man every play or like you can't match every play because, you know, they're going to move them around, put them in the slot and stuff like that. But for as much as possible, I think it's on, it'll behoove Barry to keep
00:21:00
Speaker
the cross matches as in Green Bay's favor as they like. And moving back to safety, like you said, I think we both agree that it's time for the forward experiment to end and just roll with what you got with Anthony Johnson Jr. because he's at the point where mental reps aren't going to do him any good. You just got to start putting stuff on fit. He's just got to be out there and just learn on the job.
00:21:26
Speaker
And I could understand, you know, like we've said before, I could understand when he was on the injury, injury report, you know, if he's dealing with a little ticky tacky injury, you know, don't force him to go out there, but now he's off the report. Now, you know, he's theoretically fully healthy. There should be no reason. And you know, he can splay, play special teams too. He's raw. He's got talent.
00:21:53
Speaker
And is it better? You know, I know it's that whole like Peron said with Newman, the devil, you know, but the devil, you know, is getting the hell beat out of him. You might as well go with the one that you don't know because you don't know how he's going to react to it.
00:22:10
Speaker
He could be. No, you're right. And the thing with Ford is it's like last year we were at least getting really good tackling from him and you have it so far. I know it's only two games and stuff, but he's gotten juked and run over and road killed a couple of times. And like you said, he probably is better off in that like Raven Green mode.
00:22:32
Speaker
that Raven Green role that they had under Patton and stuff. But playing deep safety, it's not something that fits him. So yeah, just get Johnson out there, let him play the high pivot safety, and that'll let you get Savage kind of more into that pseudo nickel role where he has been better playing as well. So I think it just puts the whole secondary in better positions to produce.
00:23:02
Speaker
Like I said, they're going to need it this week because New Orleans always has a lot of firepower in their special, their their their specialty positions. But what does help Green Bay is Alvin Kamara is still serving his PED suspension. I believe this is the last week, but whatever week it is, it doesn't matter. He's not playing green green Bay. And unfortunately, old friend Jamal Williams pulled his hamstring in the Monday night game and.
00:23:29
Speaker
All reports are that he's not going to make it back for this week. And even if he is, he's going to be in a diminished role. So that does help. But obviously,
00:23:41
Speaker
The big thing for Green Bay is that they're going to have to man up and put Carr in third and long situation because that's where he's always faltered as a quarterback. But you have to get him there. And you got to do the dirty work to get to third and long. And they didn't do it last week in Atlanta. So it's a new week. And time to do better. There's no real other way to put it. You just got
Anticipation for Home Game
00:24:06
Speaker
to do better this week.
00:24:08
Speaker
there's no doubt. And especially at home, I mean, you can't go out and lay an egg at home. Well, I mean, you can, but you don't want to go out and lay an egg at home. You want to go out and for your home opener and you want to give the, the, the fans a show. I I'm really looking forward to this game just to see how everybody handles the home game.
00:24:33
Speaker
Um, not only the players, but the fans, you know, because you know, it's a new era. This is the first game in green Bay that Jordan Ludd loves led the team. So it's going to be interesting to see the kind of reaction he gets coming out. I mean, it should be positive. I don't think anybody's going to give him, you know, theoretically they're going to give him shit, but, um, you never know. People are fickle.
00:25:00
Speaker
Just in relation to when Rogers took over, you think of what the situation in training camp was like. And Rogers was getting food in training camp and at family night. Whereas love has been, not universally, but it's been a lot different tenor for love as opposed to what Rogers dealt with. So like you said, you can never tell, but you'd like to think that it'll be a much more even. And I bring that up because by the time week one game, everyone was cheering for Rogers and you figure,
00:25:28
Speaker
just on where they were at the same check marks they've hit that love is going to get that home cooking and that favorable home crowd reception. But yeah, it'll be kind of interesting to see, is he under control or has he come out a little bit too wound up, too hyped and stuff? So you never know when it's that first home cooking, the first home game that you're the starter for. So like you said, lots to watch out for on that side of it too. Definitely.
00:25:57
Speaker
And, you know, I am looking to looking forward to see how Jair rebounds after the Falcons game. Cause it, I mean, he was doing well and then all of a sudden it just went away. So what was the reason why it went away? So I, you know, it's going to be like you said, real test with Olave and Thomas, but you know, it's,
00:26:21
Speaker
I think you could easily put Resul on Thomas. I think Resul's got that too. He could handle Thomas, but you know, this is where I wish we had Eric Stokes back because Eric Stokes had the speed that he could keep up with almost everybody. Jair's got the speed that he can almost keep up with everybody. And I want to put this out there. I've seen people post this and I've, and I heard a couple other people talk about it. Jair would have had a pick six easily.
00:26:51
Speaker
that drop he had, I know they're saying, oh, well, there was a guy there and all that. Jair with the type of, with the momentum he had and the type of speed he has, he easily could have had a pick six.
00:27:04
Speaker
Yeah, no, that that receiver in the flat was like still half running a route and kind of looking for the ball. So I think Jair picks it and he might have to juke that guy at some point, but his path was pretty clear down the sideline. And I think, you know, you can't get into the psychology of it, but
00:27:24
Speaker
it probably, you know, missing that play. And then especially when your offense doesn't score a touchdown, we only got a field goal out of it. It does, it does kind of wear on you as opposed to like Quaze one where Quaze dropped the interception coming out of the half, but Greed base still came down and scored a touchdown anyway. So it doesn't sting as much kind of thing. Well, and Quaze seemed like it was like, I didn't know it was coming to me until it came to me.
00:27:47
Speaker
Yeah. I think Jair is a little bit too. Well, Jair had it red because at least he broke on the ball to make the play. Whereas Kway
00:27:59
Speaker
I don't think he thought he could reach it. I know what you're getting at though, because he was jumping for it. And I think it caught him by surprise that he was like, oh, it's not that high. I've got it in my hands kind of thing and stuff. And kind of the thought, oh my God, they threw it at me again. Because it was almost the same play that he made last week in week one, I should say. Yeah. But no, it's...
00:28:24
Speaker
Like I said, I want to see how the defense rebounds because then this is another thing a lot of people have been bringing up. Joe
Defensive Strategy Critique
00:28:31
Speaker
Barry wasn't as bad as people are making out to be against the Falcons.
00:28:37
Speaker
That's true. But in my eyes, and again, I'm not an expert. I, you know, I'm not going to break down games or anything, but with what I was seeing, it looked like, yeah, he had a solid game plan and it was working for the first few quarters. But then it looked like he was struggling to adjust when Atlanta just started throwing shit at the wall and hoping something stuck.
00:29:00
Speaker
Oh, absolutely. Go, Barry. And this is one of those things with, especially older defensive coordinators, they have their identity, and they do not like to bend the wave, especially when
00:29:12
Speaker
in Barry's case his defense hypothetically is built to play with a lead and it's you know it's playing smaller sub package units getting more athleticism so you can rush the passer but he was too slow to adjust in my eye you know people were like oh there's yeah there were missed tackles missed assignments Jair dropped the pick six
00:29:34
Speaker
But when you walk out there with underman fronts because you want to play sub package against 13, you know, three tight end personnel groups and leave your defense out leveraged. It's like you're just asking for trouble and.
00:29:49
Speaker
By the time he made adjustments, it was too late. Bijon and that O-line were in a rhythm and the floodgates were open at that point. And you weren't sticking the genie back in the bottle at that point. Right. And you said it yourself, Bijon was hitting a stride. Well, that right there shows you that Barry was struggling to adjust because we were even getting Devondray Campbell covering Bijon Robinson.
00:30:15
Speaker
Now I love Devondre. He's, you know, he's an athletic backer, but when you put Bajon Robinson out there in the flat, you've got to have somebody else than a linebacker covering him. I mean, if you're going to put a linebacker, put Kway out there because you know, Kway's quicker.
00:30:36
Speaker
and that than what Devondre is. But that's when you need to move. And I hate to say it, but at least he would have been able to hit him, Rudy Ford out there to cover Robinson. So that's what I mean.
00:30:53
Speaker
He had a great game plan. And of course, you know, the defense was wearing down because the offense went stagnant in the second half, but it's the adjustments. And that's going to, that's what's going to hurt him in this game. Is Joe Berry going to be able to adjust to anything that the saints throw at him?
00:31:13
Speaker
Yeah, that's a big one. It's just a big bounce back game all around because like you said it wasn't. It's not not their fault, but it's also not totally their fault in that the offense set for so long because Barry's defense couldn't get you know the offense goes up 24 to 12. I think there's like a minute left in the third quarter. Let's say and then
00:31:34
Speaker
Barry's defense can't get off the field for over four minutes of game time, which you add in the quarter changeover and all the crap that goes with it. That's like 30, 45 minutes of real time and expecting your first time starter quarterback on the road to cold start your offense is asking a lot in that scenario.
00:31:54
Speaker
Just all around, you know, bounce back for everyone, bounce back for the defense, Barry LaFleur managing the clock, the pre-snap clock situation, all those kinds of things, you know.
Inconsistency in Performance
00:32:07
Speaker
It's the frustration with last week's game is it was the adults in the room who let go of the role, you know, as much as... I mentioned this in the Lombardi Bar chat room or chat during their stream that
00:32:24
Speaker
We had the floor go out and be super progressive with the flea flicker that he had. And, you know, the Jaden Reed touchdown and stuff like that. But then in the second half, when they're up, he goes the other way and goes super, super conservative. And it's like, you're not playing to win. You're playing to not lose.
00:32:50
Speaker
which always means you're playing to lose. Right. So, I mean, this is the same issue that we've been having with the Packers forever is they can never play a complete game. They only play half a game. If they play a shitty first half, they play an amazing second half and you know, or it's the other way. And it's like, you guys got to play complete.
00:33:15
Speaker
The Bears game in a way was a complete game, but you also got to take a look at the team that the Packers were playing. It was the Bears there. You know, we can mention that a little bit. They're in a complete, you know, meltdown right now. Their defensive coordinator resigned. The Justin Fields is calling out the coaching and, you know, who knows what's going on. I even saw a joke tweet that we won't get into that because, uh,
00:33:45
Speaker
allegations that were made in that tweet, they were just really, really bad. No, no, I'm talking I saw a joke tweet where the per sources, the the owner of the bears was going to transfer the bears to the XFL. Starting in 2024. And it's like, so long story short, it
00:34:11
Speaker
You know, they weren't the Packers weren't playing the best team. There is now we're going to be playing, you know, we played the Saints or I mean the Falcons, they weren't the best team, but they were a better team. Now we're playing the saints who are a better team. We're like progressing. So we went from sucky team to
00:34:33
Speaker
All right, team to decent team. It's a good team. Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, it's good to see how the Packers can handle the progression. Yep. Yep. It'll be interesting to see how they handle it, but it is good that they're playing at home. But we're going to start to bring this one to a close tonight. So we're going to get to some of our projections for the game. We have our yes, no's for the week.
00:35:01
Speaker
So, Christian Watson, Aaron Jones, yes or no for either or both playing.
00:35:08
Speaker
Watson, I'm going to say, yeah, but I think he's on a pitch count. Um, they're going to rotate them in slowly just to see how the hamstring handles. I imagine he's going to probably be a game time decision unless something happens on the injury report on Friday where they either take him off or he's full participation or whatever. So I imagine he's going to get a few snaps. Um,
00:35:32
Speaker
Jones is a 50 50. I think again, it's going to be a game time decision, but I think it's going to go either way. He sounded like he was doing a little bit more work today in practice, but still wasn't fully participating.
00:35:56
Speaker
So it's gonna be close, but if I had to choose between the two of them, I think Watson's gonna play and Jones will probably sit. But again, it's gonna depend on how the Friday practice looks.
00:36:13
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. But hey, that's why we're making these projections now because it's so up in the air.
Expectations for Key Players
00:36:22
Speaker
But I'm with you. I think Watson is going to play. And I think that Jones is out another week, especially with next week being the short week into a Thursday night game. I think they kind of just play it cautious with Jones and try to have him for a divisional game next week against Detroit because it'll be a short turnaround.
00:36:43
Speaker
move on to your over unders. So on the Packer side of the action, Joe, over under, Jordan Love at 225 passing yards. I'm trying to think. I don't think he's hit over the 225 mark yet. I think he went close in the Bears game, but he was definitely under in the Falcons game.
00:37:13
Speaker
But I think if Watson is there, they're going to hit at least one deep bomb. And I think it'll put him over the 225. So I'm going to take the over.
00:37:26
Speaker
Yeah, I'm going to take the over to just because I don't think they're going to, it's kind of curtailing into another one of your over unders, but I think they're going to see similar production on the ground as they did last week. But I think they hit on some of those plays where they got DPI heritage last week. So I think he'll hit over on, um, over to 25, um, week one, he was over to 25. He had, um, he had.
00:37:54
Speaker
two 45. So yeah, he has been over that. So I'm going to take over the over unders cause these are mine. Um, I'm not a betting man. Go for it. Well, I'm not a betting man either, but when, um, Nick and I were doing it, I got pretty damn close with my over unders. So it, you know, I, I, I'm kind of rusty since this is still the start of the season, but I, I,
00:38:23
Speaker
I think I'm going to do pretty good with it. So my next one is Jair Alexander over under half an interception. He's been super close so far twice this year. No, he had the one in the Bears game. And he dropped one in the Saints game.
00:38:47
Speaker
So no, right? Last year's fair game. No, it was only only or wasn't Resul that had it in the. No, resume had the first one in the Falcons game. Only quite picked off fields this year. OK, so yeah, but I think he had he was close to one.
00:39:05
Speaker
Yeah, he was close. Yeah, I think he's been close to one both games. So yeah, he's he's due. He's got the talent for it. But for some reason, he just can't hang on to it. So over under half an interception. Yeah, I'm going. I'm going under just because I get the feeling that they're going to just
00:39:32
Speaker
Tom passes to Michael Thomas and I think Rizool is going to be covering Thomas. So I don't know how many opportunities Jair is going to get to get his hands on one. I'm going to take the over. Like I said, it's, it's, it's due. I mean, he's been so close so many times it's due. So that one's an easy one for me. I definitely take the over on that.
AJ Dillon's Performance Concerns
00:39:57
Speaker
Uh, so my next one is Rashawn Gary one and a half sacks over under, um, you know, he's going to be start ramping up because he's getting the game time, you know, in hand. I think he definitely played more staff snaps against the Falcons and he did the bears. So I see, unless there's a setback, see him taking even more snaps against the saints. So what do you think one and a half sacks for Rashawn Gary?
00:40:24
Speaker
I say under just because I think they're going to have him on Ramzac, the right tackle. He's still a really good pass blocker. And I think they're going to... I don't remember him flipping sides too much this past game, but if he does get more reps against Penning... Ah, screw it. I'm going with the over. I'm going with the over. I just think the edge...
00:40:53
Speaker
Ignac Berry had a, had kind of a rough game against the Falcons, but it just feels like the pass rush is really hitting their stride. You know, I think my boy Lucas is really starting to get comfortable. Uh, Rashawn, like I said, his, his, uh, snaps are going up. Preston is doing Preston things. Even Justin Hollins and is in there getting pressures.
00:41:20
Speaker
I think I'm going to go the over two. It might be optimistic of me to go over, but I'm going to do it just because I think there's going to be enough opportunity there with, and this isn't saying the saints have a bad O line. I just think right now what the Packers are offering with pass rush is just, it's going to be impossible not to get multiple sacks this game. Um, so.
00:41:51
Speaker
I'm going to go ahead and do this one. I'm trying to think, I think of if I want to keep it in or not, but I think I'm going to just go ahead and do it. This one's disappointing to me, and especially if we're considering Aaron Jones isn't going to be playing, and that leaves this guy as the featured back again.
00:42:12
Speaker
I was really thinking about making a joke one for him to say over under two and a half trips over himself. A.J. Dylan, 45 and a half rushing yards. I'm going under. I just think they're going to have issues blocking up front, especially if Bock and Jenkins are both out this week. I'm going to go under just because I don't think period A.J. Dylan is going to hit over 45 and a half yards.
00:42:40
Speaker
I think they could have the friggin' Hall of Fame O-line of the Lombardi era and AJ Dillon is still not gonna get 40 and a half yards. So yeah, I'm gonna go under on it. And I know I keep saying this, but it's not that I don't like AJ Dillon. I was excited for him when they drafted him. I think he has tremendous potential, but there's something not there clicking for him.
00:43:09
Speaker
And I have to repeat this with every where that I'm posting it. His pad level isn't there. His balance isn't there. His bowling ball tendencies aren't there. He's not driving a pile like he should be able to drive.
00:43:25
Speaker
there's something not clicking there. And I don't know what it's going to take to make it click. I don't know if we need to get somebody out there, whether I got a newspaper and smack him in the back of the head every time he doesn't do what he's supposed to. I don't know if they need to like get like a pit bull or something to chomp on his ass and get him to go. I don't know, but something needs to happen because he's definitely not living up to all the hype that we thought there could be.
00:43:55
Speaker
Um, my last Packer one, and I've got a couple of the saints, but my last Packer one is one and a half TDs for Reed. Jayden Reed. I, I mean, he's been amazing so far. You know, we were kind of hype on him, uh, when he was drafted, there was a lot of talk about how he was a, uh, basically, uh,
00:44:19
Speaker
Jason Jackson JSN light where he didn't have the pedigree. He didn't have the.
00:44:30
Speaker
the talk like JSN had, but he still was going to be able to do the things JSN did. And I think he's even outdid what the expectations for JSN were. So I really think this could be a multiple TD game for Reed. So I'm just going to go ahead and say I think it's over for one and a half. But what do you think, Mike? One and a half TDs for Jaden Reed?
00:44:54
Speaker
I think under just because I think we're going to see Musgrave get his first career touchdown. And I think I just think there's going to be more targets to spread the ball around to. And they might score from farther out, whereas I think Reid is there down in the red zone, guys. So just get the feeling that we're going to see. I think Love will still get like two to three touchdowns, but I think they're going to be more spread out, even more spread out this week.
00:45:19
Speaker
Oh, I agree that he, the ball's going to get spread more, but I just have this feeling that Reed has the ability to get himself open that he's just going to, you know, be out in the flat or do it like a curl or something, get the catch and immediately juke out his defender and be gone because he's got that kind of, he's not like a Christian Watson fast.
Saints' Defensive Threats
00:45:44
Speaker
but he's got speed to him. So that's my thinking behind it is I think he's going to get like, he's going to break a tackle and just bust it. But so I'm only going to do a couple of these saint ones, uh, two and a half sacks for the saints defense overall, everybody on this. So it could be like a corner rush. It could be a safety blitz. It could be an edge rusher. It could be a, uh,
00:46:10
Speaker
Uh, tackle, but I said it kind of low because you know, Jordan love is a little bit more mobile than what Rogers was. So, you know, two and a half sacks for the saints defense. Uh, I think under, I think they might get two, but I don't think they'll get more than that.
00:46:32
Speaker
It hurts, but I'm going to go over and slightly over because I have a feeling that you're going to get that first initial hit.
00:46:42
Speaker
And then you're going to get a couple of the fluke sacks where, you know, there's going to be like a bobbled snap from Myers or something. And it allowed a rusher to get in or, uh, you know, some kind of, or, you know, love rolls out and doesn't get the ball out of his hand in time for the corner to, or a safety to hit him. So I think there's going to be a few, uh, uh, flukey sacks, but I'll take the slightly over.
00:47:13
Speaker
And the last one I'm going to do in this one is kind of a jokey one, but it's also a serious one just to because, like we mentioned earlier, Kamara's out, Jamal's out.
Taysom Hill's Rushing Potential
00:47:26
Speaker
I know who's the one that's just coming back, Kendra. Yeah.
00:47:34
Speaker
So they're not going to be completely bare at the running back position, but they're definitely going to need all the help they can get at the running back position. And this guy's still on their team as a gadget player. I know he's on the injury report with like, I think a knee injury. So he might not get a ton, but over, under four and 45 and a half rushing yards for Taysom Hill.
00:47:58
Speaker
I think under, I think he's mostly going to be a red zone guy and I don't think he's going to have the ability to get, he might run laterally 45 and a half yards, but I don't think you'll record that many in the stat book. I don't know, man. I really don't. Cause I think I really, you know, I don't feel comfortable taking the over, so I'm probably not going to take the over. And I said it a little high just because it was a more of a jokey over under, but I just.
00:48:26
Speaker
I have this feeling that they're going to do something weird because they're down running backs. And whether that's Jamis come out and run like a wildcat for a couple of plays or, uh, you know, Taysom comes out and is running like flea flicker style plays. They're, they're going to get really innovative with their offense because of their lack of running backs.
00:48:51
Speaker
So I'm going to go under, but it wouldn't surprise me at all with the way things are going if he went like for 150 yards or some shit like that.
00:49:02
Speaker
So that's going to wrap up our preview for week three.
Closing Remarks
00:49:08
Speaker
As usual, Mahalo for joining us on this week's Ohana Packers edition podcast. You can find us on Twitter at Kawano Mike and Joe at Iowa underscore Joe 86. Find the show at Ohana underscore Packers. New episodes are dropping now every Tuesday and Thursday, except when the team plays on oddball nights and we'll adjust the preview accordingly.
00:49:32
Speaker
Please make sure to subscribe to the podcast. Give us a like if you're enjoying what you're hearing. Also, please do leave us a review. Hoping for a good opener for the Packers this season. It's week three, baby. Go Pack Go and aloha.