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Green Bay Packers Insights: Week 5 Recap with Rob Demovsky
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Join us as we dive into the NFL with special guest Rob Demovsky from ESPN! In this episode, we take a closer look at the Green Bay Packers' performance during the first four weeks of the season. We'll discuss key highlights, analyze player performances, and share our thoughts on the team's prospects moving forward.
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Transcript
Intro
Interview with Rob Demovsky
00:00:21
Speaker
Aloha and welcome back to another episode of the Hana Packers Edition podcast. Today, Iowa, Joe and this is, for those of you from some behind baseball slice, this is like on NBA on TNT when Ernie does his EEJ stat of the night and he actually has a sponsor.
00:00:36
Speaker
For once, we have legitimate guest. We are joined by ESPN's Rob Demoski today to help us kind of recap the first quarter of the Packers season as the Packers are on a bye today. And so, Rob...
00:00:47
Speaker
I know you don't have much time, so that's your intro. And we wanted to say thank you for joining us today. It's my pleasure, guys. I'm glad we could work it out. I'm sure Joe told you that I ran into him before after a training camp practice this summer. And that's sort of how this all got started. So I'm glad we could do it.
00:01:06
Speaker
You should have asked Wes, because I'm notorious for stalking Lambo to find people that'll come on to the show. But yeah, we're grateful for you to join and all that stuff. And I'm not to inflate your ego or anything, but there are only like two sports writers that I really follow a lot on the socials.
00:01:28
Speaker
And that's you and Wes, because you guys seem to be more level headed, more, you know, based than certain other ones that I've gotten into Twitter fights with over the years.
00:01:40
Speaker
I try. try to keep it. Uh, Somewhat sane, but every once in a while, I'll lose my mind. And that's typical. I mean, trust me, if it wasn't for Mike being the technical guy, I don't know how long this podcast would last because I would just go on rants and call people out and white night shit. But yeah, I try to keep, because like I said, you guys seem to be really based in all that. So I just, you know, I appreciate the way you guys approach things.
00:02:07
Speaker
Well, thanks. I appreciate that.
Packers Season Analysis
00:02:10
Speaker
So Rob, just how, how is the beat popping? You know, the Packers got off to a really exciting 2-0 start to the season and the stove has cooled a little bit over the past two games, but you know, how, how is the beat feeling at the moment in terms of, you know, where the Packers sit into the buy at this point? Yeah. I can only speak myself. I still think this is a pretty good, a really good football team.
00:02:33
Speaker
You know, seasons have, They have ebbs and flows to them. You know, the one thing I've sort of learned over the years, think this is year 28 or 29. I can't remember covering this team. And it's like you every time you think you have a team figured out and something else changes and throws you for a loop a little bit. So, you know, I'd like to say that, you know, this team is not as no team is really a finished product after a month of the season.
00:03:04
Speaker
I think there are some things that we've seen that he probably would like. And then there's some things that, you know, are of concern. And to me, the injuries on the offensive line and the offensive line production, the way they perform, is a concern. And, you know, I do think tied into that, the running game maybe hasn't gotten going quite as good as it did last year.
00:03:26
Speaker
You know, I thought they were really good on defense, and, you know, I still think they are. Dallas sure let him up. But when I went back and watched that game, you know, I sort of think Micah Parsons' assessment was correct.
00:03:38
Speaker
The Dak was just really, really good in that game against the Cowboys game. I mean, they had pressure on him. They really, you know, watching it live, it didn't seem like they pressured him much. Going back through it and looking at their pressure numbers,
00:03:51
Speaker
They actually pressured Dak quite a bit. He just handled it really well. So, you know, obviously it was a disappointing couple of weeks going into the bye, especially after the way they started with two really good wins.
00:04:03
Speaker
But I do think their problems aren't catastrophic problems. Unless, of course, we don't want to talk about special teams, which Matt LeFleur used the word catastrophic, right?
00:04:14
Speaker
But I've sort of come the point where – You know, not that I've accepted that they're always going to have special teams issues, but it does seem like certain organizations struggle at certain things. The Bears can't get the quarterback right, right? I mean, you know, the Packers seem to not be able to get special teams right. It doesn't make any sense because it's different general managers, different coaches, different special teams coordinators, different players. But I guess if you had to give someone a choice to whether they'd have trouble getting quarterback or trouble getting special teams figured out,
00:04:45
Speaker
I suppose you'd choose special teams as the lesser of two evils.
Post-Bye Week Adjustments
00:04:50
Speaker
Yeah, I know. It just digs deep because, you know, the last few times, you know, within the last decade, smidgen to 11 years, you've seen special teams really bite the Packers in the rear when it comes to playoff losses. But like you said, we're in this we're at this point of the season where everyone comes out with their opening salvo. And then it's all about how you adjust to the league, adjusting back to you. So really curious to see how the Packers are able to get out of the bye.
00:05:16
Speaker
Rob, from your point of view, you know, you're more of a, you know, correct me if I'm wrong, but I've always seen you as more of even with ESPN, you're more of like you're tied to the Packers. You know, you're following more of a team, maybe a little bit of NFC North around. So on a buy, what's happening for you? Like, you know, the team's not doing much. They're not really officially practicing. What's the what's a general buy week for you? That's really good question, Mike, because you're right. Like when you cover one team, you don't really get to watch.
00:05:44
Speaker
know, everyone always wants to ask me, what do you think of this team? What do you think of that team? Well, when your team is playing, let's say your team is playing in the early window at noon, there's a bunch of games going on at the same time.
00:05:55
Speaker
When that game's over in the 325, I'm speaking central time here, the 325 games are starting. We're writing, we're working, we're doing our TV hits. You know, I'm probably not done until,
00:06:06
Speaker
maybe seven, eight o'clock at night. And if it's a road game, by the time you get back to the hotel, sometimes I don't get back to the hotel until like halftime of the Sunday night game. And then by that point, I've probably got a 7 a.m. flight the next morning to head home and, you know, really don't watch a lot of football. So I would say, you know, today watched a decent amount of the Vikings over there in London.
00:06:28
Speaker
You know, watch some of the 12 o'clock games did get outside, enjoyed the weather. We're having 80 degree weather here, which is pretty crazy for October 5th. And then sort of just caught a little bit of the late games, the afternoon games. So like it's it's you know, it's sort of a chance to on a Sunday anyway, to actually watch some games that you don't ordinarily get to see from an actual coverage standpoint, like the last thing we had of access was Matt LaFleur's press conference on Tuesday.
00:06:57
Speaker
So, you know, not a whole lot going on there. Kind of just taking the week to gather some ideas for stuff I want to do, know, as we get into the next few weeks, couple of months here. So it is a little bit of a chance to catch your breath, but it's going to be a long haul from here to the end for everybody, players, for us, coaches, fans.
00:07:17
Speaker
It's going to be a long stretch of, what, 13 regular season games.
Inside Press Conferences
00:07:22
Speaker
so i have a question for you about press conferences and i've been notorious about this for the last i don't know year and a half and i understand from your point of view what you you know the press conferences give you a chance to talk to know coaches players that kind of thing but i've gotten to the point where i've thought maybe the press conferences have kind of become obsolete just because
00:07:47
Speaker
it seems like week in week out there's not really anything but like coach speak in them or really were you know just ways around not answering the question but making it sound like they answer the question and you guys really do ask some decent questions it's just we don't seem to get any kind of answers out of them yeah is that kind of the feeling that you get too or is there any way that would want to change that Well, I think two things, Joe, I think it's really good question. One is that the the broadcasting of press conferences all over the place have changed the way coaches answer.
00:08:23
Speaker
Right. Like, mean, you know, they always knew what they could say would get out, you know, no matter what. But the fact that it's live streamed everywhere. I think has really changed how coaches approach it.
00:08:33
Speaker
The other thing that I think people should realize is that press conferences, while they're the only avenue that fans see, they're not our only opportunity to ask questions. Like there's a lot of stuff that I that ask off to the side. I mean, you know, we we get a chance to talk to Matt LaFleur.
00:08:51
Speaker
you know, sort of in an informal setting sometimes, either on the way to practice, after practice, or quite frankly, can call them or text them if, you know, I try not to do it too much, but if there's something that I really want to know and need to know, you know, so I think fans like, well, you don't ask this question or you don't ask that question. Well, sometimes we ask those questions just not in that setting.
00:09:11
Speaker
Yeah, you're not in a not in a public type forum. So I do think you're right. I think it's a good observation about maybe the answers are a little bit more sanitized, I guess, if you will.
00:09:23
Speaker
But I do think there are other avenues for us to ask questions and get answers. And look, I work for a TV company now at ESPN, even though my job is still probably 75 percent or 80 percent writing.
00:09:36
Speaker
I still do plenty of TV, SportsCenter, NFL Live, that type of stuff. But I can tell you this, that players especially give much better answers when there aren't cameras around.
00:09:48
Speaker
You know, I mean, it's just, I don't know why that is, but maybe it's they feel like they're more relaxed or it's an informal setting. But in a one-on-one interview or a two-on-one or smaller group setting, the answers are way, way better than if there's 30 people with 10 cameras standing around a player. That's just, I don't know why that is.
00:10:08
Speaker
That's just the way. And, you know, oftentimes, you know, we'll wait out the TV cameras to leave and then sort of go in for, know, some follow-up questions. Maybe that's a little bit too much of a how the sausage is made, but that's sort of think gives people an insight into sort of how we go about trying to get answers for fans. And like, look, a lot of the clips that you see from big group interviews or big press conference settings.
00:10:33
Speaker
Right. And that's what I said. You guys do have a lot of questions that you've got to ask because, you know, that's your job to get the information so you can produce what you produce. And, you know, I've tried to sit there and listen to press conference after press conference. And it's just, you know, it gets to the point where I can almost repeat what they're going to answer that question. Yeah. We all have our own way asking questions, too. mean, look, I try to be short to the point and blunt like i just i you know other people have longer winded questions i mean i'm not going to mention any names but those are going to mention name because i find it hilarious those who watch the press conferences know
00:11:12
Speaker
And look, I'm not saying my style is right and somebody else's style is wrong, but I sort of feel like, you know, don't beat around the bush. Just be direct because you're not going to trick these guys. Like you're not going to fool Matt LaFleur or Ryan Groove or Jordan Love or whoever into saying something that they don't want to say, right? And we used to spend and maybe still do amongst the beat writers, we'll spend some time go, how are we going to get an answer to this question?
00:11:37
Speaker
You know, and the bottom line is if they're not, if they don't want answer it, they're not, it doesn't matter how we ask it, they're not going answer it. So I try to, you know, just, Hey, I'm going ask my question directly.
00:11:47
Speaker
Be blunt. don't, I don't like playing games. And sometimes it works. Sometimes doesn't. And that's why I can follow you and Wes a lot more, but just because not to take anything away from anybody else, you know, I know, know, I'm pretty sure I know the person you're talking about, and you won't say the name, but I'll say it just because I enjoy his stuff.
00:12:07
Speaker
It's just I get what you're saying with what he does. And sometimes it's one of those where you can obviously tell he's trying to trick a question into it.
00:12:18
Speaker
And he'll have this like long winded lead up to it. And it's great. I find that's probably the entertaining part of it. I got a lot of respect for everybody on the beat. I mean, look, I've been doing this 20, what did 20,
00:12:32
Speaker
1997 was my first season. I got into this because I didn't want to do math. So there is no math in journalism. You tell me how many seasons I've been doing this. But I started in 1997.
00:12:43
Speaker
I started in 1997. So there are at least three people on the Packers beat that have been doing it longer than I have. Tom Silverstein from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has been covering the team since the 80s.
00:12:57
Speaker
Pete Doherty from the Green Bay Press, who's that my former colleague. who does a great job as a columnist now. He started covering the Packers in 1994, and Jason Wildey's got one year on me. He started in 1996. So, like, you know, there's a lot of guys that have been around this team a long, long time. And there's some great new people, too. Matt Schneidman from The Athletic does a really good job.
00:13:19
Speaker
You mentioned Wes Hodkowitz, Mike Spofford. Jim Polzine from the Madison paper comes up. Paul Brettel is newer reporter. Bill Huber. Nobody covers, nobody writes more stories than Bill.
00:13:32
Speaker
Works for SI. So I think it's a good mix of people on the beat that fans get an opportunity to get different aspects, different angles. You know, at ESPN, we don't write every day. We write maybe couple times a week, so it's little bit more bigger picture, trying to cover the team from a national perspective. Like, I like the minutia. I would love to be able to write about, hey, here's who the number seven and eight offensive linemen are.
00:13:57
Speaker
But if I turn that story in, my editors at ESPN would be like, We don't care about this. So it's a little bit of a different, you know, we all have different jobs to do. I think ESPN, you know, our philosophy in covering the team is that we're covering local team from a national perspective.
00:14:13
Speaker
Just leave that to us podcasters. We'll talk about the seven and eight linemen. It's important though, man. Especially, that's the one thing I realized when I started covering the Packers early on is that Packers fans are super educated about the team. Like, I mean, more so than a
Fan Engagement and Team Dynamics
00:14:28
Speaker
lot of fan bases. You know, I'll never forget my first sort of realization about how much people cared about this team. And And the minutia of it is I think it was after my first year, Craig Hendrick was the punter signed with the Tennessee Titans in free agency. If I'm not mistaken, he was the first million dollar punter.
00:14:49
Speaker
We put that on the front page of the Green Bay Press Gazette, not the front page of the sports section, the front page of the newspaper, like a punter leaving town, right? Like going to another team. Like that was sort of, I was like, wow, this covering something that people really, really care about.
00:15:05
Speaker
I might actually remember that. I probably could have had a copy of that back in the day. I just don't know whatever it ended up because I've my grandparents lived in Sheboygan for all my life.
00:15:17
Speaker
So we would get like the Sheboygan press, I think it was called and and the Green Bay Gazette and all that stuff, because they're for the longest time on my wall where they would print like full length poster size of each player.
00:15:32
Speaker
And so I would have that lined up. But So let's go ahead and continue with our look into the past four weeks. Obviously, the big acquisition the whole offseason by anybody, could argue, was Micah Parsons.
00:15:49
Speaker
This kind of going to be a two-parter, so take it however you need to take it. One, how do you rank the Parsons acquisition amongst other big-name ones that you have?
00:16:00
Speaker
And do you think he's changed the locker room in any way coming over from the way he did and the type of player he is? Yeah. Yeah, for the first part, Joe, like, I mean, I was here.
00:16:12
Speaker
I was already Reggie. Right was already here and far right here when I got here. But like, I know what that those those things did to this franchise. I mean, the team, as you guys know, was so down for so long.
00:16:25
Speaker
And those guys just brought, you know, an instant credibility, you know, guys like Charles Woodson. Julius Peppers was a massive, even though they ended up not winning the Super Bowl with him.
00:16:36
Speaker
Like, it was a big impact here. And there's been big impact signings that have not worked out, right? Like Jimmy Graham, Martellus Bennett, some of those. What's the old one, Mike? Joe Johnston? No.
00:16:50
Speaker
I forgot about that. They paid a lot. Defensive linemen, right? They paid a lot of money for him. I totally forgot that. Yeah. I think that was Mike Sherman when he was GM. But the Micah Parsons thing, I mean, it's right up there.
00:17:05
Speaker
It really is. With some of the biggest moves they've made since I've been covering them, and that includes drafting Jordan Love and trading Aaron Rodgers and going through all the Rodgers saga and the Favre stuff, like I mean, it's probably, you know, if I was ranking the top 10 biggest stories or biggest storylines, I mean, Micah Parsons would definitely be on the list. I think that your second part of the question is the most important aspect of this is it has brought it brought an instant energy to the locker room. It brought sort of a realization among the players that the organization really believes this team.
00:17:38
Speaker
is Super Bowl capable and this is move to sort of put them over the top if that's what's needed. And I also just think that guys, especially when you're an organization that doesn't bring in a ton of veterans, they pick their spots, right? mean, Xavier McKinney and Josh Jacobs two years ago.
00:17:57
Speaker
Like it's it's incredible to watch how the young players guys that are just trying to make their way in the league and sort of maybe even becoming star players like a Jane Reed, for example, like how much they look up to those guys like like Micah Parsons, like Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney.
00:18:14
Speaker
Like that's a real thing like that. That's a real feeling in the locker room. And, you know, we don't even see what goes on outside. the locker room. But you know, when the guys are on their own, I wrote a story a week or so ago about how competitive Micah Parsons is and like him and Josh Jacobs and Nicole Hardman went bowling and like they were they were they were competitive. wasn't just a bunch of guys throwing beers back and goofing around like it was competitive.
00:18:42
Speaker
Tucker Craft and Micah have been playing these ping pong games sort in the players lounge that have gotten pretty competitive. Colin Oliver the rookie who hasn't even played yet for the Packers. But they, they, he was telling me about how the games of horse shooting baskets with Micah Parsons are like the most intense things that he's ever been involved in. And I just think that's, that, that has an impact.
00:19:05
Speaker
You can't measure that, right? Like you can measure how many pressures a guy gets or how many sacks he gets, but like the impact on other guys and the mood and all that, like you can't measure that. I think it's, it's,
00:19:18
Speaker
That's just an extra thing that is a real thing, though. From your point of view, Rob, so for us mere mortals, that had to be one of the weirdest trades to follow because, you know, Joe and I, our attitude was there's no reason to get hyped up about it because there's no way, no reason for Parsons to
Impact of Micah Parsons Trade
00:19:37
Speaker
get dealt. And I think this was the first time where...
00:19:42
Speaker
the like really smaller media members who were sort of trailing the the parsons saga kind of ended up coming up because of come ended coming up with the scoop on it because i can't remember the last time anyone of anywhere near this caliber player of parsons got completely by any of like anyone from your tier yeah reporter or and you know and then much less like rapaport or uh that tier where it's like yeah you know rapaport the two days before is like he's still giving the answers that it's like oh yeah if he's available green bay should be in conversation from From your point of view, how surreal was it when the stars really did start to align and it became really clear from Wednesday afternoon, I guess, for you, that, oh my god, this thing is actually going to happen.
00:20:33
Speaker
might just happen go to happen. And to kind of add on to his question, are you watching Reddit now from now on for some of the news? Is that where the rumors first started? not know. Well, actually, it was more than a rumor. And this has happened twice so far.
00:20:49
Speaker
The Devante trade was broke on Reddit because somebody went and posted that my barber is the same barber that Devante goes to. And Devante's saying this is what's going on. And then within the next day, that's exactly what happened.
00:21:05
Speaker
The same thing happened with Micah that somebody posted something saying, right i have this physical trainer who works for such and such and he knows what's going on and so the only thing i wonder about that joe is how many every one or two that are right how many aren't even like so they broke it okay they broke it maybe but like it wasn't actually done until right you know what i mean but yeah to get back to the original point i was uh i was quite surprised at first um first
00:21:35
Speaker
because you just didn't and it was only because you just didn't think that the Cowboys were going trade In fact, I was sitting with Brian Gutekunst on Wednesday. The cuts were on Tuesday, right?
00:21:48
Speaker
Yeah. Brian Gutekunst did his press conference on Wednesday. Thursday, had a previously scheduled one-on-one interview with him and the floor. And Gutekunst was probably just, it was early Thursday morning. He probably already knew the deal was done.
00:22:03
Speaker
But even he, I was sitting there and he was telling me, I just don't think the old man, meaning Jerry Jones, is ever going to trade him. Like, I just don't think he's going to trade him. And I think we all thought that, right?
00:22:14
Speaker
But I will say, and if you go back and listen to the press conferences on Tuesday, I did ask Gutekunst about it. And I asked it much more directly than someone else asked it before me about it because I had, I had that by Tuesday, had already had credible information, offense to the Reddit people, but some people that, for people that I trust that the terms of the deal were, the Packers had offered two first round picks and Kenny Clark, I was initially told that the Cowboys turned that down.
00:22:45
Speaker
so, But that was what I was told the offer was. And then we had locker room access on Wednesday. I asked Xavier McKinney, whose agent is the same agent as Micah Parsons.
00:22:58
Speaker
I figured Xavier must know. So I went to him and he kind of looked at me, smiled, and he goes, I ain't touching that, bro. So clearly by Wednesday, we all had an inkling of it. And I can tell you this, the reason that our story was posted so fast on Thursday when the trade actually, when Adam Schefter and Rappaport actually finally reported that it was done, we had our story up almost instantly because we knew, we had a good feeling it was going to happen and we wrote ahead of time. Like I wrote probably 800 words with a couple of blanks in there because I had a feeling by then
00:23:30
Speaker
there was a decent chance that it was going to happen. But it just, you know, up until that point, it was the thing that, like we talked about, man, like they just don't do it. The Packers just don't do this kind stuff. They don't throw away first. I shouldn't say throw away, but they don't throw around first round picks like this. And the Cowboys, you just didn't think we're going let them go.
00:23:47
Speaker
But obviously both happened. So to kind of compound on that, not anymore Reddit, I was just kind of joking with that, but they did post it and it was so funny when hot sheets immediately. Yeah.
00:24:01
Speaker
Immediately before the trade actually, you know, was announced and all that, they, the original poster had deleted it all. So I don't know if it was actually a thing that where he knew what was going or they knew what was going on and they had to delete because they got in trouble. Or if it was just, yeah.
00:24:19
Speaker
But anyway, do you think with what the Packers are kind of going through right now last couple weeks because injuries and all that, do you think the Micah Parsons trade has kind of hindered them in doing any other possible moves?
00:24:32
Speaker
Or could there be some other moves on the horizon just to kind of, since free agency pool is kind of barren at the moment, do you think there's any other way they could move? Or do you think they're kind of stuck with what they got?
00:24:45
Speaker
I mean, like, From a financial standpoint, they've got, I'm just looking at our numbers here. I think they've got around, looks like 12, depending on all the websites are different, but our ESPN salary information has them with about $12.5 million in salary cap space that they can still use this year. So if there was a player they thought could help them, I mean, it's not like they couldn't do it.
00:25:07
Speaker
It's just at this point, who's available, right? It's more likely you promote a guy from a practice squad or you pick up somebody on waivers. So I don't think it's going to be anything that would be cost prohibitive.
00:25:17
Speaker
Well, I meant more like draft pick-wise since they've already given up the two first-rounders and they gave up the, what was it, a sixth-rounder for Canard. Yeah, I guess when we get down here to the trade deadline in about a month or so, mean, I still think guys that are getting moved during the season – are getting moved for third, fourth, fifth, sixth round picks. So I don't think that would necessarily be something that would prevent them from doing something. Now, obviously, we know how much they like draft picks, and they're down a few draft picks right now.
00:25:47
Speaker
But, yeah, I don't know that there's an in-season move. Like, you think about some of the biggest in-season moves that they've made in recent years, they really haven't cost very much. So I think you can do that.
00:25:59
Speaker
if you know if you want to okay okay mike you got anything else for him because we're gonna have to wrap up here pretty quick with rob did i lose mike nope okay i'm here okay no just wanted to yeah i think we got the big questions in you know the oh we probably should we did get a twitter question so we probably should throw that out there for you let's see if i can find it again
00:26:25
Speaker
Zachner from Twitter at Maxi Zahetner. Sorry if I butchered your name, but he's actually got two questions for you. One will, who will be the special teams coordinator next year? And is Jeff Halfley gone or is he going to be the new assistant head coach?
00:26:43
Speaker
Well, I would have after two weeks, three weeks, I would have said Jeff Halfley will probably be coaching the Miami Dolphins next year or any. Look, I still think I think what happened in Dallas is is not the norm. I think their defense is going to be really good. And I mean, Halfley interviewed for what the Jets job, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah.
00:27:04
Speaker
This offseason and like he's going to be a head coach. There's he's going to be an NFL head coach. He's already been a college coach. He's been outstanding since he's been here, and his reputation around the league is only rising. So I do think that he will probably – he'll definitely get head coaching job interviews in this next cycle.
00:27:25
Speaker
It is a little bit – you guys know it's not the coolest thing. to hire a defensive guy to be a head coach, right? Everybody wants the young, hot offensive coordinator who had something to do with Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay or whatever, right? Or maybe that, maybe there's a new, maybe that's now the Dan Campbell coaching tree or whatever. But I do think I would be, would say there's a decent chance 50-50 or better that Jeff Halfley is a head coach in the NFL somewhere next year.
Coaching Staff Future Debate
00:27:54
Speaker
Who has for special teams coordinators? I mean, I don't know. It's just, I mean, you go over the years, like, I mean, we go, we can, the list is long. I'm sure I probably couldn't even name all the special teams coordinators since they fired Sean Slocum after the NFC championship game in 2014. but.
00:28:16
Speaker
Kind of reminds you of that Browns Jersey that has all the quarterback names on Right. I'm going to go against the grain and say, And people probably won't like it, but that Rich Versace is here to stay and that this is not going to – look, Malifleur does not like to fire people. Right.
00:28:35
Speaker
And maybe – look, you're a head coach. It's part of the job, but he seems to not have a tendency to do that. So I'm going to just – if you're asking for a prediction, people probably won't like it. But I'm going to say that Halfley's gone and Versace is still here.
00:28:52
Speaker
Do you think if they happened to get rid of Basaccia just hypothetically that they could possibly keep Halfley for another year or two by promoting him to that assistant head coach position?
00:29:04
Speaker
No, because I think, Joe, if there's a head coaching job, he's going to take it. Right. OK. OK. We've got to keep home. There's only 32 of these. And, you know, people take jobs that.
00:29:15
Speaker
I mean, people take the Cleveland job or the Jets job or whatever jobs keep turning over because they think I can do it right like that. These guys are, you know, their egos are huge, but they have to be like, you don't get to the point, you know, I'll never forget, like, you know,
00:29:31
Speaker
quarterbacks that come in here that they brought in over the years like that haven't been good anywhere else Mike Holmgren would bring brought Rick Meyer in here Rick Meyer was terrible but I guarantee you Mike Holmgren said I'm the quarterback who I can make this guy good and I just think that's the way coaches think like they don't look at it like everybody else who's taking the Jets job has failed so I'm gonna fail too that's not how they look at it and maybe they should but yeah I just he's gonna take a head coaching job if he gets offered one Gotcha. Well, got to keep hope alive. It's, you know, you know, we want to keep them.
00:30:05
Speaker
That's another thing I love about social media is everybody's posting all these horrible, you know, quote unquote, horrible things that Halfley's done. So it makes it look bad to other team. Mine was he doesn't return his shopping cart at the store.
00:30:19
Speaker
That's hilarious. Yeah. Trying to fake soil his reputation. And then they're doing the opposite with Rich Passaccia where they're trying to make him look even better. Like, you know, he helps old ladies across the street.
00:30:31
Speaker
That's a new one. I like the creativity there. Hats off for creativity on that one. Rob, I know Joe and I could go on and on, but we want to be respectful of your
Podcast Wrap-Up and Future Plans
00:30:39
Speaker
time. just want to say thank you so much for joining us here today.
00:30:42
Speaker
I understand that it's the bi-week, but I know that you've got a lot to do. Like you said, just getting outside to breathe in the fresh air every once in a while. So thank you so much for your time. Hopefully, we'll be able to bring you back on at some point in the near future.
00:30:54
Speaker
But just... normally we have to do the, tell us where you're from, but Rob, just, if you, if you've got anything on the, on the front burner that you, you can't quite say, but want to slow release here, just let it know.
00:31:07
Speaker
Let us know. I will say this. I think there's going to be some pretty cool games coming up. Like obviously the Aaron Rogers game is going to, I'm sure we'll have some pretty cool content ahead of that one. Like, and I mean, just appreciate you guys and,
00:31:23
Speaker
Appreciate everybody following along. And I know there's some people don't like us for this or that or whatever. But I've learned that, you know, that's probably just tune that out because there's plenty of good people out there that like you guys that are doing neat stuff and bringing content to fans. So I appreciate you guys having me on and appreciate you following what I do.
00:31:45
Speaker
Well, like Mike said, thanks a lot, Rob. And hopefully we can get you in the offseason at some point when you get a little bit more time and we can hopefully, I'm hoping one of these days we can have like news broke right on the podcast with a writer or something.
00:31:58
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I keep checking my phone. There's nothing happening right now. But like, you know, you're kind of married to this thing, so you never know. I just, I do see like I'm getting all the injury updates from Kyler Murray has now returned to the game. thank
00:32:27
Speaker
All right. That was great. Thank you. Rob is definitely the biggest reporter I've talked to on any of these kind of pods. So it was really nice for him to take time out of his day. Yeah, like I said, you know, it's always interesting to hear the perspective from someone who is like writing for a national, you know, obviously ESPN has...
00:32:48
Speaker
lost some of its luster but you know it's it's still like but it's small small sections like with rob doing espn milwaukee and green bay and that that they keep companies like espn going so we do appreciate rob you know hopefully we can like i said get you on again mike we're at what two one and one and you like to talk about how you know you want to win the quarter of the seasons How do you think the outlook's going to be going starting next week?
00:33:21
Speaker
You know, obviously what's happening, you know, so Detroit is up 28 to three on the Bengals. Jake Browning has an arm, but he just cannot make decisions to save his life.
00:33:35
Speaker
So, you know, what's going to happen, obviously, amongst Packer fans is the transitive rule of sports, which does not exist, is, you know, they've seen Minnesota put 45, I think, on the Bengals. And I think I forget who they played last week, but they got pummeled last week as well.
00:33:52
Speaker
And then I'm honestly surprised Detroit only has 28 points, you know, almost at the end of the third quarter, you know, given who Campbell is. You know, the Bengals do have a solid defense.
00:34:03
Speaker
So you got to give them a little bit credit. But when you're offense can't stay on the field. That's the thing is like, we're going to find out how healthy or not healthy, how much or not healthier this O-line has gotten over the bye week.
00:34:19
Speaker
That's really going to shape how they're going to do coming out of this. So you come out of the bye. You're going to play the Bengals. You fly out to the West Coast-ish to play the Cardinals.
00:34:31
Speaker
And then you're at Pittsburgh on Sunday Night Football. Those are your first three games. And, you know, it's October. Nothing's a must win. But because you went 0-1-1 your last two weeks, you've got to start racking up wins again. And, you know, I...
00:34:47
Speaker
The one that's been frustrating for me is I've seen people conflate the outcome of the Thursday night game between the Rams and the 49ers as like, oh, see, like, how would you feel if LeFleur, you know, went aggressive? But I'm like, that's not the point. Like,
00:35:04
Speaker
you're using the final outcome to like justify an action when the reality is like, you look at it and LeFleur, when he crossed the 50 was like, how do I get a field goal with as little time on the clock so that Dallas can't go and win instead of, okay, we're across this field, let's go score this touchdown and win this game. And that's the part that the two of us, you know, we both went on our individual rants after last week's episode. It has been fun to see Joe across both his personal and his personal Twitter, the podcast Twitter, his Blue Sky just retweeting that I went on an impressive rant for once in my life. Well, like I said, I keep saying this and I keep telling people this.
00:35:43
Speaker
Normally, it's me who goes on these tangents and these rants and shit like that. To have Mike do it, you knew they fucked up.
00:35:55
Speaker
Yep. So it's, you know, we'll see. hate saying, you know, doing the we'll have to see, but it's just hard to tell because if this team is healthier, you know, if Zach Tom is fine and is actually able to play, you know, a full game, that changes the calculus on what this team is going to do.
00:36:14
Speaker
If we're going to still have a super shuffled offensive line, then I don't expect LeFleur is going to open it up in any regard. You know, he's going to play you know, as frustrating as it is, he's going to try and get a lead and he's going to just try and get to the following week kind of thing. And, you know, like I said, there's two schools of thought on this is, you know, you get a lead and you just bleed the clock out or you use your offense to effectively bleed the clock by, you know, getting additional scores and like forcing an opponent to have to do the one thing that your defense is the best at stopping. So, I mean,
00:36:49
Speaker
We'll see. like you said, Cincy would be a good one to just get out and also flaunt what you can do on both sides of the ball because, you know, to get the quote-unquote, to get the vibes going again, you go and you just put your knee on an opponent's chest again and snuff the life out of them. Like, that's what we'd want to see. But in all honesty, I just want to see this team win and have a, you know, relatively convincing win coming out of the bye.
00:37:16
Speaker
LeFleur has kind of a weird post-bye record where he's like, usually fine, but every once in a while he'll have a clunker kind of thing and stuff. So, you know, like last year it was the, the bears game in Chicago and that did help lead to a little bit of a run and stuff, but got to get the first one.
00:37:37
Speaker
I just think that there's no way he can come out and do against the Bengals and have the same style of game plan that he did against the Browns and the Cowboys.
00:37:50
Speaker
Because that's just, again, that leads to you're only playing for the tie. You're only playing to not, you know, only win by like a field goal. With the way that they're playing right now, this defense should be able to eat.
00:38:05
Speaker
I keep joking this is going to be like the Sean Clifford revenge game, that they're finally going to bench Jake Browning and bring Clifford up to the active roster, and he's just going to go nuts.
00:38:18
Speaker
But you can't lay flat. You can't take him... You can't look at them and say, we should be able to roll these guys.
00:38:27
Speaker
Come out, be a dominant team like we know you can be, and get the win. I know I joke with you about you using the quarters of the season, and you got to win the quarters of the season.
00:38:41
Speaker
Well, if you're going to look at it like that, then win the first game of the second quarter. at least win that one. So get the, like I said, get the vibes rolling again, but, you know, we're going to get back to our regular programming. We're going to have our opponent preview.
00:38:57
Speaker
but yeah, Joe was able to land Rob, which was a great, you know, a great piece for the bi-week of get us, something you know, something different for once and a good different in that sense. But, and this just goes to show anybody if you're part of the beat or if you're part of the Packers,
00:39:14
Speaker
When I'm up there, I am stalking that place just to find somebody to talk to. You may be next.
00:39:20
Speaker
So, like I said, that's my way of patting Joe on the back for his excellent work for the pod. But yeah, just continue to follow us. Please check out the website, ohanapackers.org.
00:39:33
Speaker
You know, Carlos has been putting his best effort forward, putting out a lot of articles. I think he's going through school right now, so he's been kind of slacking a little bit when it comes to the article sections. But when he does put them out there, they are pretty good bangers.
00:39:49
Speaker
So in order to support all of us, please check out the merch section. We're continuing. We have Joe added the Tucker craft. I burned my opponent's house down. I burned my enemy's house down shirts and other.
00:40:02
Speaker
And again, I say thank you to Don because Don's been helping me produce, clean up the images a little bit to make them more appealing. So check all of that out.
00:40:14
Speaker
And all of the episodes of this and Cheese Talk Radio are on there. Please follow the podcast on social medias at Ohana underscore Packers on Twitter, at Ohana Packers Edition on Instagram.
00:40:26
Speaker
Search Ohana Packers Edition on Facebook. Please follow if you aren't. We want to hit the 100 follower count so that when we do our live streams that we can live stream there as well.
00:40:37
Speaker
Please follow the podcast on your favorite podcasting app. Give us a like subscribe. And positive or negative comments, you know, just like Rob said, you know, we aim to put out content for everyone. So whatever you got for us, please give it to us. We want to put out the content you're looking for.
00:40:54
Speaker
And give a shout out here real quick because I've been trying to catch up on any comments that are coming across our feeds on the podcasting notes. And we have had
00:41:09
Speaker
a regular come in through the comments and I've been trying to catch up on them. And want to find his name. Uh...
00:41:20
Speaker
Chris, Chris the casual in as he calls himself, but it's CNiche290 on Spotify. Thank you for the kind words and thank you for supporting us and sharing your feedback. We appreciate everything like Mike says, positive, negative.
00:41:40
Speaker
I may argue with you a little bit if it's too negative, but otherwise positive, negative, we wanna hear from you guys. So with that, we say Pack Go and Aloha.