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Week 12 Packers Demolish Vikings
25 Plays13 days ago
Aloha and welcome to another episode of OPE! On this episode we break down the Fresh, Stale and moldy of the packers victory over the division rival Minnesota Vikings! #GoPackGo #GreenBayPackers
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Transcript
Intro
Recap of Packers' Win Against Vikings
00:00:21
Speaker
Aloha and welcome back to another episode of the Ohana Packers Edition podcast. Today, we recap the Packers' second NFC North Divisional win of the season, a mark they...
00:00:34
Speaker
didn't hit last year. or So um progress, progress for the 2025 team over the 2024 team. um You know, wasn't in the most aesthetically pleasing game of any reason, but the Packers did what they needed to do to um beat the Vikings at home for the first time under with Jordan Love at quarterback. And it was really good for them to, um you know, to really put their stamp on this game. It You know, as has been the case with a lot of the game with the Packers this season, it took longer than it probably should have.
00:01:06
Speaker
But at the same time, you come away with a three score win and, um you know, we're going to be picking more. We're going to be more picking nits than just lambasting overall things. I think there's a bit more nuance to how this game played out than um a lot of people are going to want to admit. But.
Season Progress and Coaching Decisions
00:01:22
Speaker
Overall, I'm just happy to see the Packers annoyingly only keep pace today. It looked like today might set up to be a really good day for the Packers. And ah the Giants and Steelers said, ha just kidding. And the Packers will have to, I mean, it was always going to come down to the Packers pulling their own weight.
00:01:42
Speaker
And, you know, you've gotten some good fortune already this season. And you've got to just carry your own water at this point. But joe I'm back. Looks like the Packers are back and they've got three days turnaround before they play the Lions on Thanksgiving. But how are you doing today?
00:02:01
Speaker
Well, I kind of like what I told Brian in our post game. and And then I said this a couple of times on Twitter because people are talking about it. I think this is one of the few times that I'm okay with the conservativeness that LeFleur went with today. and And the reason I say that is because of the short week going against two division rivals.
00:02:27
Speaker
This was
Packers' Defense and Special Teams Performance
00:02:28
Speaker
like the optimal outcome for what you could have asked for today. Was it pretty? no and but at least offensively, it was not pretty at all. There was still some things there that, you know, again, because of the conservativeness, because of having the Thursday game, didn't make it look good.
00:02:51
Speaker
But overall, you know, it was a win. the defense was dominant. the The special teams didn't screw anything up. Matter of fact, they had plus a custom plays there, but Overall, I think it was a good game.
00:03:08
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I agree. Um, like you said, you know, let's let's just pick off one big low hanging fruit for this game. Um, Jordan Love was very clearly limited today. Um, you know, the first time of that is the fact that, um, you know, before the game, uh, Pelissero basically said that if this injury was to his throwing shoulder, he wouldn't have played today and Thanksgiving would have been, uh, you know, at, at best up in the air, likely in doubt. So, um, that just gives kind of gives you an idea of how separated the separation in his left shoulder is.
00:03:42
Speaker
And then the tangible sign of it from the game itself was the fact that he handed everything off with his right hand. um He barely even. But I'm going to hold you on that one. then Yeah. but I'm going to hold you on that one because you got to remember, he also came into the season having surgery on that left hand. Right. And this is one of the few times that I will agree with Tazeem that.
00:04:04
Speaker
he's been doing that on and off all season long because of that left hand and if you looked at the end of the day he also had a bandage on So i think I think it's partly both ways. And I think
Offensive and Defensive Strategies
00:04:18
Speaker
that they just figured, you know what?
00:04:21
Speaker
Like the thumb is mostly not a problem, but um with the shoulder compounding that, like just let's not even screw around and potentially, um you know, open the door for any sort of issue there. So that's how I read into it. um And you could kind of tell like Jordan was mostly on for today, but there were a couple throws where he couldn't,
00:04:43
Speaker
You know, you know, people say like, oh, it's his non-throwing arm, all that kind of stuff. But um you just don't feel good rotating your torso when you've got a shoulder issue to the obviously it's not his throwing arm, but to his non-throwing shoulder, you know, he just doesn't want to like pop open that left side and, you know, really torque his body and stuff. So, um,
00:05:04
Speaker
It's just him being a little bit conservative with it on all phases. But um regardless, um the main thing is that you know the offense played a clean game. Like you said, it wasn't pretty. it wasn't or like it wasn't um aesthetically pleasing. They did need a little assistant to get that second touchdown. But um when they had their opportunities, they did take advantage of them today. So we can start to we after now that we've gotten that note out of the way, we can go and um get into our segments today. Well, before I do, Brian wanted me to play this for you, so I got to play this real quick.
00:05:41
Speaker
I got a little little ah fun joke to poke at, Kalano. Okay, go for it. What J.J. McCarthy needs in Minnesota is what he had in Michigan.
00:05:53
Speaker
Colin Stallions, the ultimate cheater.
00:05:58
Speaker
That make a whole world of difference. You know, it's...
00:06:03
Speaker
So he had to poke fun at you. So I had to play that for you. the ah But yeah, we can go ahead and judge. Do you want to respond real quick to that or do we just want to jump into it? There's nothing really to say. He's playing so bad. um Really, that whole Minnesota offense is just playing terribly. You know, Justin Jefferson can complain all he wants, but. um That O-line doesn't block much of anything very well. JJ's not playing well as, you know, partly as a result of it. And, um you know, all the all those jokes are going to play themselves out because, you know, the the only way they weren't is if JJ came out and played really well. And, you know, with the way he's played, especially these past couple weeks, like, just opened the door for all those kind of snide remarks and stuff. So it is what it is. Until he plays better, that's going to be the talking point.
00:06:52
Speaker
and And like I kind of told Brian, you know, I don't feel sorry for him today because the Packers defense was just dominant. But overall, I feel sorry for him because last year he didn't have a rookie season. This year he has nobody to sit behind. They just said, here, kid, you're you're our guy. and and so And then on top of that with how Darnold played last year and how Darnold is playing this year, now you've got all the fans saying, well, we should have just kept Darnold. We should have just kept Darnold. So, like I said, I don't feel sorry for him for today's game, but I do feel sorry for him overall because this isn't the type of situation that you want for a young kid. It was a no-win situation. like It's honestly in a weird way worse than the like Jordan situation going into 2023 because everybody knew, like, oh, Rodgers was still – 22 wasn't a good season for Rodgers, but they're like –
00:07:48
Speaker
okay, like he's one season off from being a back-to-back MVP. The play is going to be, you know, depreciatively worse. ah You got rid of Razul. And, you know, there's like questions on defense. How good were they really on that side of the ball? All that kind of stuff.
00:08:05
Speaker
the questions in the wide receiver room. And so you know there was like, well, you know we're going to find out about Jordan. Whereas with McCarthy, it's kind of like Vikings fans will tell you, like we were just hoping to get average play. Because if you've got average QB play, you know the the top if you go listen to like um the um oh shucks um Paul um Farrington show, the one that Herman goes on.
00:08:28
Speaker
Yeah. um You know, he talks about how, like, he and Ziggy, his co-host, they talk about how you just needed, like, forget top 15. You needed, like, top 20 QB play, and they're not even getting that. But realistically, like...
00:08:43
Speaker
no viking fan because they're thinking like darnold's a bust like you should be able to come in and play well under o'connell kind of thing and all and like you said like i don't feel sorry for mccarthy because he's not my quarterback he's a rival and i hope we embarrass him every time we play him at this point because that's just how the that's just how it goes you know uh westendorf and i joke about that all the time like we love him for what he did in ann arbor but I mean, you're the enemy now. And, you know, especially when we play you guys, like we'rere we're we're hoping for the worst for you.
00:09:13
Speaker
But at the same time, it's like that situation, there was only two ways it could go. And unfortunate like you said,
In-depth Analysis of Player Performances
00:09:20
Speaker
unfortunately for McCarthy, it's gone the way of ah like everything's his fault. This team, you know, like.
00:09:27
Speaker
And like I said, he's not done anything, any favors for himself by how he's played. And at the same time, I don't think that situation outside of Justin Jefferson was nearly as good as a lot of people like tried to make it out to be like that O-line has been so much worse than everyone, you know.
00:09:45
Speaker
thought it would be. um And just overall, like nothing has worked out um the way that Vikings fans want to be. But this is a Packers show and we're going to get on to our segments. So hit the button, Joe.
00:09:59
Speaker
that's a mody cheese ah or wait Hit the wrong one. yeah Mmm, cheese. You want to lead us off? I mean, you got the obvious one. You got Emmanuel Wilson. Josh Jacobs...
00:10:15
Speaker
josh jacobs Josh Jacobs more or less was out because of it being a short week. I think everybody can agree that had it been normal week, normal rest, he probably would have played.
00:10:29
Speaker
But because it was such a short week, they would rather have him for the Detroit game than than worry about it during ah today's ah Vikings game. Plus, you get more time off after that game than a normal week too. So yeah, you get the mini bye to let him reset and stuff. So yeah. Completely agree with you there. 28 carries, 107 yards, 3.8 average with two touchdowns.
00:10:55
Speaker
And, you know, then he added a couple, you know, 18 yards in the in the receiving area. So really went out kind of in a way. And this is this is just because visual for casual fans or whatever, looked way better than than Josh Jacobs has really all year with with running in the the lanes and getting into open space and stuff like that. Now, I'm not saying he's a better player than Josh Jacobs. I'm not saying all that stuff.
00:11:25
Speaker
But if you're a casual fan and you see we haven't had the 100-yard rusher all year and then all a sudden this guy comes in and automatically gets 107 touchdowns,
00:11:36
Speaker
um you're you're questioning why you're paying big money to Josh Jacobs and and whatever, but it's all a rotation with him and Chris Brooks.
00:11:50
Speaker
I'm surprised they didn't use Pierre Strong at all. They just kept running with ah oh Wilson and and Brooks, but this is where I say the conservativeness didn't bother me so much because it was actually working with Wilson.
00:12:07
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with you. like You kind of got the feeling of that on that. um Not so much the first, like the scoring drive, but like the second drive on where you know he had those, like there were those sequences where he would get like four consecutive runs kind of thing, and he would pop it. And you're kind of like, OK, it's working good. But at some point, and then like the next first down is like, lose three yards. And it wasn't Wilson's fault or anything like that. It's just like, at some point, Flores is like, well, screw this. I'm not going to let you just
00:12:42
Speaker
Boing your way through and stuff. Or he had the third down play call where he's just like, fuck it. They're running inside zone. And he just runs Eric Wilson off of, um off of um what's it called? Aaron Banks' butt cheek kind of thing. And there's nothing that um that Wilson could do on that play. and I agree with you. Like, I had a complaint early on in the game where you're like, ugh, like, come on, LaFleur. Like, use that, you know, use Wilson's hard-charging running style. Let's get a little more play action. and Like I said, the weather wasn't great, and Love looked relatively on target early on in the game and stuff. And so i was kind of like, like, get it was one of those, like, I don't know what the forecast was for today, but I'm like...
00:13:26
Speaker
while the weather's good, get your throws in kind of thing. And especially against a team that you want to put down early so that you can get after the quarterback. Like, yeah, like let's, let's get some throws in. But like you said, over in the grand scheme of things, Jordan, clearly not a hundred percent. um ah Wilson having success, like just ride the hot hand and stuff. And it like you said, it,
00:13:53
Speaker
You know, both of us are here saying, you know, we've said all season saying like, you know, don't be so conservative, be more aggressive, all that kind of stuff. And at the same time, this really did play out very similar to the to how week one did against Detroit, where it's like they they ran the ball effectively this time and they got enough pass plays in to like...
00:14:15
Speaker
create first downs and stuff like that. And your defense, the big one is um for my first fresh point is the defense had an overall really good day at the office. And therefore, and Olsen, I appreciate that Greg Olsen made this point like, oh, you know, um you have two philosophies. One is like your defense is playing well, you know, especially as the the half has played out, the first half has played out today so that you can play this more ball control style. But You know, you and I fall on the side that Olsen kind of, I think, was bound pounding the table for where he's like, you can also set up your defense by going for the jugular a little bit. But I agree with you. ah Overall, um...
00:14:57
Speaker
no Jacobs. um They're starting to do some more different shuffling on the offensive line. um That center quarterback exchange between Ryan and Love, it's mostly been good, but there are still a few times where you can tell Ryan's not a natural center and hasn't played a lot of center. and you see where he's like, oh God, like I'm reading this double A gap look. I got to get this ball back faster. And get my head up and get into the into the play kind of thing and he kind of zings a couple a little hot and high against ah across love's face so um i agree with you like wilson great day i know the numbers aren't flashy or anything but like i said
00:15:36
Speaker
LeFleur really looked at it and was like, it's working. So I'm going to put all my cards on that horse. And you can't do this in terms of numbers because the numbers are what they are. But he ends 28 for 107.
00:15:52
Speaker
But the two touchdowns are both one-yard touchdown runs. And so, like, you know, if you do the non-touchdown plays, the non-goal line dive plays, he's at 26 for 105, which still isn't, like, anything special. But that's over four yards a carry on not the not, like, just get it into the end zone plays. So...
00:16:14
Speaker
like you said, Wilson deserves his flowers. I really appreciate Olsen doing a great job as color guy, like doing like his homework on Wilson and doing the whole, like, this is a guy who got cut three days after signing with the Broncos and was ready to quit on his NFL dream, blah, blah, blah, and all that kind of stuff. And he did the whole nine yards on like, and now look at him. He's starting for the Packers on a playoff contender and has been like a good, like source and a source of offense. And,
00:16:42
Speaker
you know We've both pounded the table for Wilson at different times, and we really like how he runs, and it's really good just to see guys like that get take their opportunity and run with it. Back to my um fresh thing. It's the defensive performance. And especially this um pass rush. Like I said, this Vikings O-line, you know, it came into the season with, I don't want to say fanfare, but Vikings fans were really, like, pounding their chest about how, like, once we get Christian Derisaw back, this
Game Strategy and Future Adjustments
00:17:10
Speaker
is going to be a top 10, maybe even top 5 offensive line because, you know, they've um they made two big signings in free agency, getting um Kelly from the... ah
00:17:21
Speaker
I think they signed two Colts guys, Kelly from the Colts and one of the guards from the Colts. His name is escaping me. And then they're like, and we've got Darisaw coming off injury and Brian O'Neal, who's just been a stalwart on the right side for like a decade now. But...
00:17:36
Speaker
injuries and Dara son not being himself after injury has really turtled that old line and they've been a mess up front but it and so it was really good to see the Packers control the line of scrimmage you know they they had some moments where um the vikings were able to crease them in the run game a little bit i do think olsen again point made a good deal pointing out like you don't have quay walker today and therefore like you're playing um you know you're playing mcstuffy out of position at mike linebacker and hopper is having to play more so your run fits aren't as crisp as they are if your um starting alignment is in there so um
00:18:17
Speaker
it was good to see them like kind of get their stuff together and then um be able to just rein in this Vikings offense and getting five sacks. You know, like I said, some people will say like, Oh, but you just said their old line isn't that good.
00:18:32
Speaker
How many times have we said that about an old line and the Packers haven't like converted kind of thing. And you know, how much of that is on, um you know, a young quarterback who's not seeing the field very good. How much of that is on the pressure? Yeah.
00:18:45
Speaker
I thought on the initial watch, they were ah creating consistent pressure in the pocket. Parsons, this is a game you bring him to Green Bay for, and you see the, just the, even on the goal line sack that Devontae Wyatt gets,
00:19:03
Speaker
Parsons is the one who just completely screws everything up for the Vikings on that play. Almost honestly could have created a safety if they called the center for like grabbing onto him as he got by him.
00:19:15
Speaker
But um you just saw the Packers really just take apart an O-line in a way they haven't done in a few weeks. And it was really good to see that from them. And, you know, I...
00:19:30
Speaker
I jokingly was messaging Jacob back and forth that, of course, this is the week we're going to make McCarthy look like the top 10 pick he is because, you know, that's what we do. it It's how I joke about, you know, my Red Sox that we make any rookie pitcher look like a potential Cy Young candidate kind of thing and stuff. um And I'm like, that's kind of been the Packers MO on defense for the past five plus years. So it was really good that You know I know some people aren't going to give it the flowers it deserves.
00:20:03
Speaker
When ah on a day where you're supposed to, you know, tilt the field on a certain side of the ball, it was good to see the Packers defense do that. I thought Halfley called a good aggressive game. And one thing that I i didn't get to carry through the whole game because i I didn't get to watch part of it. My kids had swimming lessons, but... um it did look like they made a more conservative concerted effort to keep Parsons and Gary on the field um a lot more of the first half than they had in previous weeks. And I don't think that's a, you know, a function of like, oh, all the questions about why did Inaugbury out snap Gary last week and stuff. I do think, and we saw it on offense too, where LeFleur tightened his rotations down at wide receiver.
00:20:52
Speaker
And I kind of wonder if, you know they played the first half of the season let's spread the snaps out let's you know give guys opportunities let's see if they can run with it but i do wonder if as they get into this back half of the season especially this three week stretch where they're playing three division opponents in a row if we're gonna see them just be like all right let's start to ratchet things in let's get our better play makers out there and let's start to um ramp them up so that you know they're gonna see a little bit more playing time as the playoffs come and parsons played his part you know rashawn had a couple qb hits almost got in for a sack at one point and wyatt it was good to see you know i know his were more cleanup sacks but it was good to see him get on the board you know he's been pretty quiet since returning from injury and um
00:21:39
Speaker
How about Brinson getting his first you know half sack today? So um just a good game up front. Like I said, the run game was a little bit um a little more effective for the Vikings, especially early on. But overall, they just snuffed the life out of this Minnesota offense from up front as the game went on.
00:21:59
Speaker
For sure. And you know you also have to throw in, and like I told Brian with ah during the post game that I'm waiting for pro football reference to drop the stats on how many snaps each player played. Because I know Van Ness played, but I'm wondering how much it was because it didn't look like a lot. But I think that was also a factor in some of it too.
00:22:28
Speaker
But I'm going to ask you, because I asked
Team Identity and Role Challenges
00:22:31
Speaker
Brian, and i've i said this on social medias and that, Is it actually an interception by McDuffie or because by rule, the arm wasn't quite going forward and Rashid or Rashawn got the hit it.
00:22:54
Speaker
The ball didn't start coming forward until Rashawn. Yeah. So by rule, that would technically be a strip sack. We'll see.
00:23:04
Speaker
um what's it called? So far the official score is it's an interception. I don't, they'll take a day and they'll kind of like reconcile. i want I forget if they wait till the Monday night game is done or not, but I think like 24 or 48 hours after the game is when the like score official scoring is like set. And as it is so far, you know, what is it, whatever, like six hours after the game, um we are still with an inter so with two interceptions for the Packers. So, um,
00:23:38
Speaker
you know Obviously, would be great for Rashawn's stats and stuff like that. But I think um either way, it's um it's it's just nice to see this front creating a lot more pressure again. regard like Pressure that's resulting in tangible effects. you know like I'm always for heating up the quarterback no matter what. Pressures do matter. But you do want to be converting those into tangible effects.
00:24:02
Speaker
positive outcomes for your team, whether it's sacks, hits that are creating off-target throws, you know, yeah just, you know, not all pressures are created equal. And especially though against ah like, ah like you said, basically a rookie quarterback in McCarthy because he didn't play last year. um It is good to see them getting hits and sacks and just piling up the, the, ah the, the the the counting stats, those like tangible counting stats that like matter ah as opposed to just being around the quarterback.
00:24:35
Speaker
Yeah. And like ah Like I was telling Brian, I'm kind of torn on it because for one, I would love to see it be an interception because it was McDuffie's first career interception. Yeah. But on the other hand, it would kind of knock the whole, well, Rashawn isn't producing narrative out of out the window.
00:24:56
Speaker
um So it's kind of, you know, which one do you want more? But if you go by rule, it should be a strip sack.
00:25:09
Speaker
Yeah, it'll really interesting to see. um But yeah, as as a whole, the defense played great. Evan Williams looked like he was playing lights out. He had the game. Of course, the interception was a... I made the joke on on socials that that was a Jay Cutler-like throw because it was way ah ah way outside of the reach of the wide receiver and straight to Evan Williams. So...
00:25:35
Speaker
you know it was great to
Game Reflection and Special Teams Impact
00:25:36
Speaker
see that actually hang on to it compared to what last week was with all the drops yeah i know like as a and especially like you had the one where mcduffie like knocked valentine out and stuff like that or and then the other one was nixon and and it looked like mckinney like slapped it out of his hand yeah and so it was good to see that he actually hung on to that one but My thing with the defense, and I got to credit Halfley with it, was when Nixon went out with what they were reporting as a stinger, instead of sticking with his soft zone coverage, he was like, I don't know if I, you know, it it and it was like he didn't trust what, you know, Haddon when he brought him in. So it's like, well, we're just going to send everything we got at at McCarthy so he doesn't have any chance to hit any kind of receiver.
00:26:26
Speaker
And it's like, Jeff, we've been calling for that all friggin' season. Like, like, um, Deron Bland has an all-pro voting because the Cowboys were just like, he's not very good, so let's just light the the pocket up and we'll get some interceptions out of it, kind of thing, because of errant throws.
00:26:47
Speaker
And like I said, I understand the philosophical reasoning behind Halfley's approach and all that kind of stuff. But it's the same stuff we say about LaFleur on ah offense, where it's like, that's not what your team does or is really good at doing. And um you've got to play to what your team actually does well. So um like you said, i don't know. We'll see how that plays out on Wednesday or Thursday, you know, on Thanksgiving against the Lions, if, you know, a different opponent creates different things and stuff. But yeah,
00:27:18
Speaker
It was good to see it for one day. and um it It was really important for the Packers to do that. And like I said, like you know no one's going to give the Packers any flowers for beating up on a you know ah Vikings team that has um offensive issues.
00:27:33
Speaker
But at the same time, like you did the thing you're supposed to do against a um and and um against a deficient team. And for once this season, we saw them like take advantage of those mismatches all over the field on defense, and it was really good to see out of them.
00:27:49
Speaker
um For sure. And like I said, and just that was great to see. ah you know Even
Game Summarization and Future Outlook
00:27:59
Speaker
Tyron Hopper was getting some play in there, so that was good to see him get step up in place of you know kind of rotating in and out with McDuffie. So that was good to see, but...
00:28:10
Speaker
oh Yeah, overall, you can't complain. um I'm trying to think what else. I mean, there was a lot of good things going on today.
00:28:20
Speaker
ah No real drops today. no real drops your your your tight ends look decent for what little they had going to them even musgraves you know they finally sent him up the seam and he and he drew the the dpi yeah and then he had a catch later on in the game that kind of extended out that drive and he stayed on his feet and actually got a little bit of yak and that was kind of amazing oh
00:28:50
Speaker
let's see ah You know, like you said, no real drops. So the receivers were kind of doing there, even though the only we only really saw play out of Dobbs and and Watson. Yeah, I guess we had there was a couple. and wig yeah Yeah. We've had some key, key, key receptions. So.
00:29:10
Speaker
It's good to see him kind of get back in the flow of things and a little bit more like explosiveness out of him. You know, he's been really like not a check down guy, but like ah just like catching the ball at the sticks guy so far this season. So it's good to see him like get some shake down the field and create a few more like kind of bigger plays and stuff.
00:29:29
Speaker
Yeah. The O-line overall I thought was good. You know, like like like ah like we both said, it wasn't like a flashy day at the office. But um overall, like you kind of set the table for what you were going to do this game. And you run the ball 42 times.
00:29:48
Speaker
yeah That's counting. So you run the ball 42 times and that's including, um what's it called? Kneeling out the clock a couple times. So you take two, so 40 like official runs and you get like 148 yards. like that's a really, really good day at the office that you kind of just say like, we're going to do this thing and stop us. And it like you said, it was a little more sloggy than it was like aesthetically pleasing. But at the same time, like you can't complain too much when this is obviously how they wanted to approach the game. And, um you know,
00:30:27
Speaker
the two big factors. We're going to keep saying it over again. Short week. Jordan's not 100%. So we'll see, you know, how it goes going into Thursday. But you did you did what you needed to do to secure three-score win, which is something they haven't done a lot of this season. So um as much as, you know, we can lambast like, oh, like, I wish that they had...
00:30:49
Speaker
Let Jordan throw a few more times. I wish that they you didn't get Jordan blown up in the pocket, especially against a core, a defensive coordinator who likes to blitz a lot. Um, you, you kept him pretty clean throughout most of the game and, um,
00:31:04
Speaker
You just um you control flow of the game. i I do want to see them open it up a few more times here and there because I don't think you can do this against all the best teams in this country.
00:31:18
Speaker
I don't think this is going to stop the Rams from putting 31 on you and a half kind of thing and stuff. So you have to be able to again show that you can go blow for blow against a good defense.
00:31:30
Speaker
But for what was on the table for this week, the Packers didn't, I want to say, an A- minus job at minimum of like, this is your game plan, this is what we're going to do today. And they executed pretty well for for against a division opponent that has given you trouble the last few years.
00:31:48
Speaker
And I guess, you know, we we should throw special teams in there because, you know, there were there were no real mistakes. um they ah you know They had the key turnover on on special teams ah by doing their job. you know You're told to drive the guy towards the ball to try to force a mistake. ah za I had to laugh when I watched that frigging replay because you saw the ball come loose and then all a sudden you see Zane Anderson grab it and fetal.
00:32:23
Speaker
It's like you're not getting that ball away from him because he just went he just went leech on that ball. He grabbed it and fiddled it. And and so, you know, you got that.
00:32:35
Speaker
You had that. And then you had Whelan with had a pretty decent ah ah game today. So, yeah, I mean. Even though i know what it's going to seem like, we're going to end up having some stales and some moldies, and we'll end up talking more about those in a way.
00:32:55
Speaker
So it's going to seem like we're ragging on this game, but they did so well, it's hard to pick and choose what we want to talk about as good. And, like, like it it was kind of a, you know, it was for all intents and purposes, a very ho-hum win. you You win by 17, but it's 23-6. It's not like it was 34-17 or something like that where you scored four touchdowns. you you know use Like I said, you you you take the opening drive, march down the field, get a touchdown, um you know, and then your other touchdown comes off of that muffed punt. So, you know, you drive across midfield, get stuffed up, and then you – kick it down and get a short touchdown run kind of thing. So
00:33:38
Speaker
um you Like I said, you took advantage of your opportunities in a way that you really haven't the past month or so. You've kind of you know let good opportunities go by the wayside. So it's good to the team do that. But yeah, I i think that's really it for now for like the the real like fresh and great from this game because they did a lot of good, but I don't know how much of it was necessarily great today kind of thing.
00:34:05
Speaker
Right. So, well, let's just go ahead and jump in to the next one. What's this deal shit? So the one that sticks in my mind is even though the it didn't necessarily hurt them, i'm I'm again to the point in the season that let's stop with the rotation on the offensive line.
00:34:31
Speaker
Pick a guy. Obviously, it's not Morgan at right guard because he just can't handle or can't hold up there. And I know Belton had the ankle injury for a while, but if he's healthy, if he's the guy you think is going to be your your guard going forward, put him there. Then you can let Morgan take all take the reps at left tackle and...
00:34:53
Speaker
in practice you know behind walker at the moment in practice and you know ah that's who you're thinking is your left tackle the future then he can start taking snaps from walker but you know it didn't hurt him today but you're not going to be able to go forward continuing to rotate these guys in and out yeah i i i'm so torn because i agree with you like i at some point, it's like, do you guys like Morgan at a spot or do you not? like them right like And
00:35:25
Speaker
and I don't like him at guard, but it's like you've done so many things to get him in at right guard that it's like, oh, like now you're realizing why we don't like him at guard because he gets blown up by power so easily and so often.
00:35:38
Speaker
But, and then on the other hand, I'm like, I like how Belton looked in there. I've always thought that he was more of a guard at the NFL level than he was a tackle. And I do understand that like, he didn't rep guard nearly as much as he's rep tackle, especially I think once the regular season started, I think they really put a lot of his work in at tackle. And then, like you said, you have the injury. So, you know, he's missing time and all that kind of stuff.
00:36:03
Speaker
But i agree with you. Like, um like, At some point, the merry-go-round has to stop s spinning and you got to just make a decision. and um on on top of that, because you know what's going to happen at the end of the season, you're obviously not wanting to re-sign Rasheed Walker.
00:36:26
Speaker
You're obviously are either going to cut ah Elton Elton or you're going to majorly restructure his contract.
00:36:36
Speaker
You're probably not bringing Ryan back unless it's on an extreme a cheap deal. So. And there's a possibility that they somehow don't bring Aaron Banks back, but, you know, that's probably less more.
00:36:54
Speaker
how do I put that? That's probably less likelier to happen than the other situations, but it's still a possibility. So Why mess with this stuff? Force a guy to learn a position that you know you're not going to have him play going forward, whereas Belton seems like he's going to be your guard of the future.
00:37:19
Speaker
yeah I know that's what Mafi likes to throw out there all the time is he's a better guard than he is. any or he's He's projected as a guard. Well, you know what, Mafi? Suck it. Because Brian Bulaga was also, quote-unquote, projected to be a guard. Where was his all-pro seasons at?
00:37:36
Speaker
where were they mike right tackle okay so mafia shut up um so you know it it doesn't it you're you were able to get away with it on limited basis like today against the vikings you were able to get away with it you were able to get away with it last year in a couple of games you were able to get away with it a couple years ago in a couple of games But it's not going to be something that you can steadily go forward with, especially with some of the teams that we're coming up against.
00:38:15
Speaker
You're going to have a hard time against Detroit. You're probably going to have a hard time against Chicago, um Denver. Baltimore, those teams have these defenses. You're not going to, especially if you're wanting to run more of an up-tempo offense against some of these teams, you're not going to be able to do it going forward. So settle in with some guys. Obviously you have to do it if there's injuries, but settle in with some guys, call it good.
00:38:44
Speaker
And, and next year settle in even further. Yeah, I agree with you. And especially like this Detroit game. like I understand doing it at home and stuff, but like this Detroit game coming up, you're in Detroit. It's short week. um That crowd is going to be up and at it and all that kind of stuff. So um just don't don't play with fire. like you You need that game on Thursday. So yeah, just stop screwing around with it.
00:39:12
Speaker
um
00:39:14
Speaker
Like i said, the nitpicky one that I have for Stale is like, I felt like LeFleur... I kind of just throw my hands up in there on this one because like we both said, that the plan was so obvious to like, if the run game could go like run the ball and get a win and get to thursday get to Thanksgiving kind of thing. Like that was very clearly the attitude for the team going into this game and stuff. But... um There were so many times where you're like, okay, the run game is having success.
00:39:45
Speaker
Matt's going to go to the well a few too many times and stuff. And it's like, like you would have liked to have seen a play action or something. like something to like che like Like I said, you had that one third down play where Wilson like delayed blitzes right off the guard kind of thing. And it's like...
00:40:04
Speaker
ah we know your tendency we know what you're gonna do you're gonna either run inside zone or one of your stupid ass dumb toss plays into the boundary and wilson just shot a gap and was like here i am let's get a tfl on this third and short and get you off the field kind of thing um sup a couple of those first downs and then like you're you're in first and like 13 because you lose like two or three yards or second and 13 because you lose a couple yards and it's like I get that you're trying to shorten the game and get to Thursday and all that kind of stuff, but it's like, you don't have to be so stubborn as a mule about it kind of thing. Like you can, like, it's like Greg Olson was saying. It's like, I understand wanting to play like, you know, you have what should be a pretty straight, um a pretty straight advantage, your defense against their offense kind of thing. But it's like,
00:40:56
Speaker
Why not create a couple more explosive pass opportunities, hit on those, and then, you know, you can create a few more, like, touchdown opportunities and really tee off on an opposing quarterback. So, um yeah, that that's that was my one stale for – my biggest stale for the game.
00:41:17
Speaker
Oh, Baker. Yeah, I mean, you could see it a few times, like you said, where – we got into third and one third and two and what happens, you get a play action, you know, or not a play action as shotgun run play, you know, that was getting kind of predictable, but and again, like I said at the top of the show, I think this is one of the few times i can be okay with it because we weren't in a shootout at all. Uh, you were just basically buying, uh, rest time for your defense on a lot of that stuff. So,
00:41:55
Speaker
you know, whatever. I will add on ah the one so ah something to your where you keep talking about Olsen. I was getting tired that early on that we kept hearing the phrase, give it to your $50 million dollars quarterback.
00:42:11
Speaker
Give it to your $50 million dollars quarterbacks. Like it doesn't matter how much the guy makes I get your point, Greg, but we don't have to keep going back to, we'll give it to your $50 million dollars quarterback. Give it to your $50 million. I was seriously, if i if I still drank, that was probably going to be a drinking game. was how Every time he said that, just take a shot on it.
00:42:34
Speaker
um You know, I don't normally have any issues with Greg Olson on commentary, but that was just getting super annoying today. Too many bat times back to that well.
00:42:46
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Other than that, i'm I still wise. The only other one I got was like, like I said, the run fits like the especially if Quay is not going to be able to play on Thanksgiving, they've got to figure that out against Detroit because the way that they shut Detroit down week one is they were just super disciplined in the run defense. um They had really good gap control and you can't have.
00:43:10
Speaker
those kinds of mess ups that you had um the past couple weeks where you're just one guy not being in their gap assignment kind of thing. You just can't have those kind of mistakes like they've had the past few weeks.
00:43:22
Speaker
um For Stale, that's it though. Yeah. Like like I said, like there there aren't too many things to poo-poo about this game because overall, like you come out ah with ah with a 17-point win in a game you should have won like that. Yeah.
00:43:38
Speaker
yeah Well, yeah, what was what was it? They were like six and a half point favorites, and this is the first game all season that they've won a game being that such high ah ah favorite. All right, we can jump on. It's a moldy cheese. ah
00:43:58
Speaker
The one that I think I'm going to put into moldy right now and is we've got to get Romeo off of punt returns.
00:44:10
Speaker
i'm I understand why, because he's more sure-handed, but he plays it too much receiver-like.
00:44:21
Speaker
I mean, even Olsen kind of said, well, he caught it like a receiver on that, on one of the punt returns he had, and and then he like delays when he when he's...
00:44:33
Speaker
re actually returning to the point where, okay, you can't just sit there and wait for things to, you kind of go out, you got to kind of go out and, and and I don't know if this is me being spoiled because I was punt returner has been just like super amazing this year.
00:44:51
Speaker
ah you know, this is my, my way of saying Brian, because you need to take get Caden Wegent at all costs this next season. Uh,
00:45:03
Speaker
But
00:45:06
Speaker
I don't know. i don't think he's been bad at it, but you can tell he doesn't know what he's doing as the returner. Am I off on that? No, you're not off. i I'm fine with it because he's fielding them clean when he fields them.
00:45:25
Speaker
Today's game was the first time where I thought, I don't know if he misread the puns or if they just told him, like, if it looks like it's going inside the 10, get away from it. like Because there was a few where he's fielded them in between the 10 and the five kind of thing. And today, i don't know if it was the weather, the the fact that it was a gloomy overcast game, or if the wind was weird. But like there were like because you know there was the one where they started with the ball on like the two-yard line or whatever. and Yeah. like like He could have fielded it. He could have fair caught it, and like we would have started on the 8 or something like that.
00:46:00
Speaker
But it it kind of looked like he was playing it like, I'm told I'm not supposed to go inside the 10-yard line kind of thing and stuff. The return, you're right. like That delay on the returns, it's it is weird.
00:46:15
Speaker
I don't... Like, my thing is, like, I'm so used to seeing not field so many at, like, the 30-yard line that bounced down to, like, the 20 or the 15 that I'm like, fuck it.
00:46:26
Speaker
Him gaining four yards is, like, 20 yards of better field position than what we were getting with anything else that was back there. So, yeah, like... I...
00:46:39
Speaker
I'm only stopping short of agreeing with you completely because I'm like, I think, sadly, this is the best they're going to get this season. um Because the other option, you know, Jaden wasn't doing that great last year and he's injured. Keyshawn has never been super sure-handed as a punt returner. He always has kind of given me a little bit of um heartburn as a punt returner. And Golden just it doesn't look natural when he's back there. I don't i don't know who else you would try there. yeah And for all the people that were bemoaning, like, oh, my God, Goode and LeFleur fucked up with the whole Mikko Hardman thing. He's on IR. Like... he had the night He had the nice putt return and then he muffed one that no one talks about, you know, later in the game. Just conveniently everyone doesn't recognize that he muffed one later in that same game. And then, oh yeah, he's on IR. So it's totally moot at this point.
00:47:32
Speaker
ah The only other place I can go is like maybe one of those practice squad guys can do it. But then you get into the whole like, ugh, like who are you elevating that guy over or whatever. So like i don't even think you could you'd have to do that necessarily i mean there's enough guys on the active roster at the moment that you could give a shot at i mean you got malik heath why not give him a shot at it just to see if he can you know because here's the other thing you don't necessarily want romeo on punt return because there's more likelihood that you know there's an injury there so who would you rather have
00:48:15
Speaker
uh, back there with a more likelihood, you know, with, with a bigger probability, would you rather lose Malik or would you rather lose Romeo, especially with the way Romeo has been kind of banged up all year long anyway.
00:48:31
Speaker
But I mean, you've got that you've got, maybe you could try Wilson back there when, when Jacobs is um When Jacobs is playing, obviously you don't want Wilson back there if if you know he's having to start the game.
00:48:51
Speaker
there's got to be something they could try that's not you know why not put savi on back there he's already taking your kick returns savi on the one guy that i'm kind of like maybe there's something the thing is is they just don't like when you look at body types they just don't have a lot of body types that you look at and you're kind of like that's what a punt returner looks you know like that kind of splendor explosive receiver have i got a guy for you
00:49:20
Speaker
he's averaging 28.3 yards per punt return this year and teams still keep punting it to him for some reason beyond reason and this is kind of a way out there but did you happen to catch any of the game the hawkeye game this weekend yeah They were literally having their back their their quarterback punt the ball on fourth down instead of bringing the punter out there because the defense was lining up and preparing for them to actually go for fourth down.
00:49:51
Speaker
And they didn't have they wouldn't bring Weijit out there for the return. It would allow them not to have to deal with Weijit on the return. So that's what they were doing. They did it like four or five times that the the quarterback was punting the ball on fourth down.
00:50:06
Speaker
Yep. so So, yeah, this where I officially state. If you want to fix your return, your both returns, your kickoff and punt returns next year, whether it's a late round pick, because I honestly, and even though I'm an Iowa homer ah and all that stuff,
00:50:27
Speaker
There's no way I could justify using a high round pick on Wegent because I don't think he's going to be more than a gadget guy slash return specialist in the NFL because I think he's only listed at like 5'9 on the Iowa um website.
00:50:46
Speaker
Well, as two draft guys, we both know that colleges overestimate on their guys. So if they're listing him at five, nine, he's probably only five, six, five, seven. He's Darren Sproul sized. Yeah. Yeah.
00:51:01
Speaker
So, but anyway, that that's my whole spiel on that. But I, I don't know. There's so many others that they could, There's so many different people that they could try. And I kind of go back to the Maliki thing.
00:51:17
Speaker
You're sparingly using him. He's already, quote unquote, had his disciplinary thing this last week. you're You're using Bo Melton over him.
00:51:30
Speaker
Why are you keeping him on the roster if you're not using him? And, you know, this isn't to say we know what's going on in practice or anything. I guess this could be something that we could shoot off to, you know, the beat on socials and say, hey, what are you seeing when it comes to, you know, Heath as a returner or something?
00:51:52
Speaker
Because they might be able to give a little bit more of an answer than what we can give you ah from our situations. But there's I don't know. i just I don't like seeing Romeo back there. Not that he's not being been capable of what he's doing. he just doesn't... he's I don't think he's producing...
00:52:13
Speaker
well enough to justify using your number one, number two receiver as, as the punt returner. Yeah. And like I said, my only counter is like, he's catching it when he kept, when he fields them, he's fielding them clean. And that's really all I care about. But I do agree. He's not natural back there necessarily, but none of the guys they put back there have looked that smooth anyway. So yeah, that's, that's really where I'm at on that side of it.
00:52:39
Speaker
Um, to think if anything really hit moldy for me um
00:52:45
Speaker
like i said this this one's really a struggle because even though they did so much good it's hard to pick and choose on that and there's very little bad that you can actually sit there and pick apart yeah like i guess the moldy for me would be like we're coming out the end of November and I still don't know what this team's identity is. And part of that is injuries are kind of clouding it. And part of it is, um you know, they're, they're still um trying to figure out what they want to do on offense without um craft in the mold. And, you know, we've seen them go to more of the jumbo set and stuff. So I, I am glad that like Matt has been pretty quick to um bounce in that direction. and
00:53:28
Speaker
Honestly, I've liked a lot of the stuff they've run out of that jumbo set. They they have created some strong runs, whether it's on you know it's in like clear running situations. And um I do want to see them pass a little more out of that. I think they've been yeah i think honestly, a little bit um by design, they've been run heavy just to sort of set you know these are our tendencies and then you can counter off of it. But...
00:53:53
Speaker
and like my and Like I said, and like you've been saying repeatedly and I'll say it again. This is like a nitpicky Moldy, but I'm just like, I don't know what this team does well. And the reason I'm putting it in in Moldy is like, we're getting into the part of the season where it's like, you should know what your bread and butter is, what you should be leaning on as an ah as a team. And I just don't know at this point, like...
00:54:20
Speaker
This team should be able to create explosive in the passing games. They've been inconsistent because they can't protect the quarterback well enough on in time. I think playing more Chris Brooks is going to help with that. um Because he has been, like Olsen did such a great job of highlighting how much of an eraser he's been for the Packers on the interior of their pass protection schemes. um I think that um they've, like you said, just pick an O-line at this point.
00:54:49
Speaker
i don't I don't want to say I don't care if it is Morgan at right guard, but you've just got pick one at this point. Like, just stop shuffling the deck chairs. the The ship is on its way. You can't keep going. You can't keep waffling on this thing. You're not going to beat the best teams by shuffling your O-line around. and you You just... you don't play efficiently. And I know the advanced numbers say otherwise, but you just, this offense is so herky-jerky that you can't afford to have a drive end because, oh shoot, the guard went the wrong way and it's because he doesn't quite have the the calls down or, oh, he heard differently, that kind of stuff. So it's like it like, stop playing with your, like stop playing with your food in that sense and just make a decision.
00:55:33
Speaker
But yeah, like I don't like the fact that You know, this team should be so much better than last year's team, but we kind of had this conversation last season where it's like, okay, like...
00:55:46
Speaker
what what is this team going to be and what is it really good at? And I just don't like that we're here at the end of November heading into this Thanksgiving game and we're having this same conversation where it's like, yeah, what what do they do well? what what is there What is going to be their tentpole for the playoff run and all that kind of stuff? So like that's more of ah like a big picture thing, but it it is like kind of in the... you know I can't harp on it too much this game. Like you said, circumstances, the short week, Jordan, um you're you know golden. How healthy or injured is he? Lucas, how injured or healthy is he? You don't have Kwe. So obviously you're you're you're playing with an unshuffled, unfulled deck.
00:56:29
Speaker
But at the same time, it's like, okay, like we got to start figuring out who we are and what we are and like really so like tightening down the nuts and bolts on that. I got to think that a lot of the guys that didn't play today because of injury were more precautionary going for because of the short week.
00:56:49
Speaker
because we saw Golden play a little bit last week, but he didn't play today. We saw, you know, like we said earlier, Josh Jacobs probably would have played today had there been, you know, this would have been a normal week.
00:57:02
Speaker
So I'm wondering if some of that had an effect. and And that's kind of what I said with the injury report was, you know, had it been any other week, would some of these guys actually been listed or been o on those but yeah i mean it and then this is something i said in the post game with brian that this is a weird team compared to what we've been used to for the longest time we have always had to deal with our offense's lights out and we just gotta hope that our defense can do something
00:57:42
Speaker
Well, now it's completely opposite. our Our defense is playing lights out, but our offense is, well, maybe we'll get a few touchdowns out of it. So I don't know. I don't know how to treat this team because because of that simple fact.
00:57:58
Speaker
um I know we've talked before, but what? The last time we've had such a dominant defense was... Maybe you could throw the 2010 defense in there, but before that, it had to have been 96, 97.
00:58:14
Speaker
Yeah. So I just, I don't know. This team just feels so weird compared to what we're used to. Yeah. it like ah Like you said,
00:58:27
Speaker
I think we all thought this offense would be playing better one way or another, or honestly a couple different ways. So remains to be seen, but I think we'll stop dissecting this one because we're just going to keep talking in the same circles. you got anything else before I start really hacking up something that's it, push the limits on how I'm feeling do today?
00:58:47
Speaker
No, I think we're pretty good. um Just you know try to get as healthy as you can for Thursday's game. um you know And hope that... i hope the Lions are a little bit more beat up because of what they had to deal with in their game than what the Packers are. you know Because relatively speaking, the Packers got off light compared to what
00:59:18
Speaker
the Giants-Lions game went to be. Yeah. So agree. Let's see how much that overtime, that extra period um affects the the Lions on Thanksgiving. And this is a game you got to have because you're not getting any more help outside the division in the the rest of the division. um The Rams look just insurmountable at this point. And it's all about just getting as high in the seating as you can. And you just got to keep stacking wins at this point. um and We'll see how it goes, but that's going to do it for us today. The Packers get their seventh win of the season, move to seven, three and one. They remain second in the division because the bears continue to just have the luck of the Irish and stack up win after win. Um,
01:00:04
Speaker
But hey, you know you you play him two times the rest of this season. You're going to play Detroit one more time, Minnesota one more time. This is strap up, nut up time for this for the NFL season. And um you know um like we've been saying for the last little bit, the Packers have a lot of questions to answer. But no better time to do it than in the stretch run as you get ready for the postseason. but um Check out our website, ohanapackers.org. We're going to keep you guys up to speed with what we're seeing. Please support us through our merch. um
01:00:37
Speaker
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01:00:49
Speaker
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01:01:01
Speaker
Excuse me. Please follow the podcast on your favorite podcasting apps. Give us a like, get a subscribe. And um hit us up on any of our social medias. Joe tries to put out the um the the posts before and after games. um Just hit us with any questions, comments, thoughts, and we'll address them on the show because we want to create the content you're looking for.
01:01:25
Speaker
The Packers pick up their second division win of the season. They outpace their division win total from 2024. So great improvement there and set themselves up for a very important Thanksgiving game against the Lions ah this coming Thursday. So for Iowa Joe, I'm Mike.
01:01:42
Speaker
Go Pack Go and Aloha.