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OPE Season 3 Episode 6 Heading to Brazil
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Aloha and welcome to another episode of OPE! On this episode we preview the upcoming game between the Eagles and the Packers in Brazil. Breaking down the match ups between offense, defense and special teams. We also take a look at some keys to the game and do some over unders!
Make sure to like and subscribe wherever you get your favorite podcasts. also please make sure to check out our website ohanapackers.org for all our past episodes, articles and our merch store!
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction and Season Opener Preview
00:00:32
Speaker
Aloha and welcome back to another episode of the AHANA Packers Edition podcast. We are here for our week one preview of the Packers season opener in Brazil against the Philadelphia Eagles. Joe is running on minimal sleep and I am catching up on sleep from my trip, so basically we're off to our usual start.
00:00:52
Speaker
joe I know we, as we're recording this, I know that these will come out, the the the one we recorded yesterday is coming out tomorrow. This one will come out on Thursday. I know we just talked about this opener, but we're going to go more in depth about it. So it's a little bit of a departure from how I did it last year because I don't find that Um, it'll be much use pulling up like the in season stats cause there are none. And I know that this is a different team from what Philly, you know, a lot of the key pieces are the same, but they are running some, uh, replacements for ah veterans who have retired, um, onto their future or post NFL life. So.
00:01:34
Speaker
But as we usually do, we'll start out um with just the Packers. And unlike our normal one, the Packers are actually done with their practice this week because of the fact that the game is on Friday there. In fact, so this will be dropping Thursday, but we're recording this on Tuesday, like I said. And they are flying out tomorrow at the time of this
Player Practice Updates and Expectations
00:01:56
Speaker
recording. So um as it stands, um today's practice, Edge Cooper,
00:02:04
Speaker
Romeo Dobbs, Carrington Valentine and Emmanuel Wilson were all limited participants. um Of those Dobbs was listed as, I wouldn't even put a touch and go. He said that he has a hand contusion, but he was able to do a little more with it than they figured he would. So he's thinking he'll be fine to play on Friday. um And Wilson, the floor was Wilson was the one Lafleur called out and said ah he did everything pretty well in Tuesday's practice and expects him to be a full goal. Marshawn Lloyd was the lone DNP. Lafleur did say that this was part of the plan and it's not a setback as Marshawn did participate in practice on Sunday and then on Monday.
Team Health and Strategic Additions
00:02:50
Speaker
before being a DNP today. He was present and riding the bike on the side during ah when the team was stretched, was doing stretching and which is the only part that's open to the media. But he did not go outside with the rest of the team. But um honestly, not bad, you know better than they were a year before where you go into week one with um you know the baktiari pitch count practice pitch count situation and dobs and watson both dealing with hamstring injuries and stuff so um overall they are in a better place i think in terms of health and
00:03:25
Speaker
My notes are a little off on this. I completely forgot that they added Purine to the practice squad to kind of counteract McCrary going to the IR. They did sign Chris Brooks today, and that was more to counteract the fact that Messiah Swinson got signed away by Carolina. um Little surprising in that sense that Joe Wilson didn't get brought back or just another tight end, but I think it goes to show where the team is with the guys on the roster. um Pretty confident in the room of Musgrave, Craft, and Sims, and then um just wanting to get a little bit more
00:04:01
Speaker
shoring up at the running back position on the practice squad. I know that Brooks and P. Ryan can't really be expected to play so quickly, but um just to kind of be um be backup to backup options behind Merriweather on the practice squad with Lloyd's status up in the air. And I know that LeFlore has said like, oh, we're going to give Lloyd the full week, but You know, that would that would hold a little more water if he was a veteran. You know, even the second year player where he's been in the system a whole year kind of thing. I take that as a little bit more of lip service for a rookie who has already missed up like half a preseason. So I don't really expect Marshawn Lloyd to play ah come Friday. I think he'll just be in street clothes, um get to experience it, and they'll probably just try to ramp him up for the home opener next week.
00:04:48
Speaker
but That's it for the team updates. Joe, anything you, anything I missed that you wanted to bring up or what? No, oh I'm not.
00:05:00
Speaker
When did the Dobbs injury, I saw it earlier, but when did the Dobbs injury pop up? Because that one's a new one. that And so we're in that whole weird area where because the, and it's the NFL stupid rules where like, it's not the number of practices in the week that have to report it. It's like,
00:05:21
Speaker
the wednesday practice that the Wednesday, Thursday, Friday practice that has to be reported. So I don't think they had reports necessarily, like official reports for Sunday and Monday's practice. And Wednesday is the last practice of the week because they're spending all of Thursday traveling friday and then Friday is the game. Or what all of Wednesday is ah traveling. Thursday, I think they're only doing like team meetings and then Friday is the game. so um Today was like the first we really heard of it that he was, a you know, at all limited because Sunday and Monday the report was just back to back days of all 53 active roster players are participating in practice. So he probably jammed the finger or like went down and had someone step on his head, you know, one of those kind of things.
00:06:10
Speaker
Um, the fact that he's just, you know, quote unquote working through it, you know, actively working through it in practice, I think is a pretty positive sign. And, you know, we haven't heard the dreaded like, Oh, he needs X-rays or um MRIs or anything like that. oh
00:06:25
Speaker
Anywho, we will try to carry this on and we'll touch base with Joe when he gets back in
Eagles Team Dynamics and Matchup Outlook
00:06:30
Speaker
here. But yeah, so as I said, that takes care of the roster and injury updates for the Packers heading into week one. So we'll just dive into the Eagles portion of the preview and So as I noted in the opening, um the two big names that the Eagles are replacing are just what have been two guys that have been absolute pillars for their organization. ah One on each side of the line of scrimmage, Jason Kelsey retired.
00:06:59
Speaker
um And Fletcher Cox retired, so two of the four guys that were left from their 2017 Super Bowl team, Super Bowl roster, have rode off into the sunset, leaving Lane Johnson and Brandon Graham as the last two guys um that are holdovers from that team. You know, this Eagles team, they started out 10-1 or 11-1 last season, but then had a horrible slide down the stretch of the season and um there was We kind of mentioned it in the season preview. There was all kind of stuff that came out of it where um the coordinators didn't gel with the players. um Their head coach had to kind of um mend fences with you know the um with some of the key roster members.
00:07:50
Speaker
um Yeah, and it was just not a good situation for the Eagles as they closed the 2023 season. And they just went out ah sad wet fart trombones in the um that Monday night um playoff game against the box where, you know, if you had told me that they lost by 40, I wouldn't believe you as much as they lost by what was it, nine or something like that. So um That being said, on paper this is still a very dangerous team and it's one of the reasons why um you know we were Joe and I are split on our decision of who would win this game. um It's you know very much up to it's week one so there's going to be some weirdness, but on paper this is still a very talented roster and one that is looking to put the end of last season in the rearview mirror.
Game Plan: Eagles' Offensive Line vs. Packers' Defense
00:08:38
Speaker
so Keeping with the theme of how um this roster has been built, we're going to go front to back. And on offense, you know, that O-line, as much as Jason Kelsey retiring is a big blow to them, they still have a formidable starting five unit.
00:08:57
Speaker
um Four of those guys are in-house players. Mylotta is a just massive left tap. They probably have the best offensive tackle tandem in the league with Mylotta and Johnson manning the two tackles. um Dickerson is at left guard. Cam Jurgens is the guy who um is stepping up to replace Jason Kelsey. Jurgens, I believe he was drafted in 2022, so he's been ah groomed in-house over the past couple seasons. and I think Kelsey on his podcast, the Eagles internally have both, you know, both sides have kind of stated that they expect um a good high level of play from Juergens this season and that he's ready to take over the role. And their one outside signing is Mackay Becton, who had previously been the left tackle for um
00:09:49
Speaker
previously been the left tackle for the Jets but has dealt with massive injury issues the past few seasons and um now is trying to find his way with a you know with a new organization so um he and he is not only making the transition from left half the left side to the right side but also reducing inside from tackle to guard so um But what that does is this Eagles O-line is just a massive unit. um And it sets up a lot of what they want to do with keeping Jalen Hurts healthy, allowing him time to throw the ball. And we finally have Joe back. So Joe, I've been kind of just circling around the fact that this Eagles O-line is the centerpiece of their offense. And basically anything and everything they do is built on the back of this unit. you know
00:10:39
Speaker
going from the um the brotherly shove and all that kind of stuff to hurts his option game to buy him time to throw in the pocket and think it'll be that'll be one of the key matchups for the Packers defense against this Eagles offense is who's able to you know whether the Eagles are winning the line of scrimmage or if Green Bay is able to stalemate and or penetrate at the line of scrimmage to disrupt their run game and get hurts under pressure because he is still a little turnover prone so that's where I think the key on the
00:11:15
Speaker
For the Packers matchup against the Eagles offense is but how do you see that unit to unit matchup looking the offensive line?
Packers' Defensive Strategy to Pressure the Eagles
00:11:23
Speaker
Like I was saying in our other episode ah for the 53 Or when not the 53 when we were doing our season predictions This is not the team. I want to go against in the first game of the season in the new system Because they do have all these these weapons and the groups are formidable in that the offensive line is there, the wide receiver groups. You can even kind of point a little bit to the tight end groups, even though that, that and are the running backs are probably the weakest part of the, the, uh, the weakest part of their T the offense, but.
00:12:10
Speaker
You know, if, if preseason was any indicator with just the shoes, then it looks like the Packers are going to be able to get a ton of pressure no matter what. Because they pretty well handled the deep, the Denver offensive line being, it was a, their number one starters and so on. And now that we're going to be seeing Clark, TJ Slayton.
00:12:38
Speaker
Preston Ron be able to rotate them in and out fairly well, so it It's gonna be tough ah and I wish it was somebody I was like college where you could get a warm-up game and I'm not talking like preseason as warm-up. I'm talking like Play nowhere directional eating. Yeah but Yeah, like Montana State University out of Iceland or whatever. Yeah. Well, when you put two directionals in front of a school's ah you know state name kind of thing, when it's not Northern Northwestern, something university. yeah To say, Hey, you everything's coming together. Everything's being cohesive, you know, and so on. So but looking forward to it per se. I'm just hoping that.
00:13:34
Speaker
The half lead defense is going to be able to adjust to anything. The Eagles offensive line throws Adam because that was the biggest knock with Barry is Barry couldn't adjust to anything. Obviously they played a very vanilla defense during the preseason. So we have no clue. He's going to actually bring to this defense other than they were tackling a lot better. So.
00:14:01
Speaker
You know, and we'll see what happens. Like I said, I'm not overly worried about the run game. Do have Saquon and Gainwell, but you know, Saquon has never really lived up to his height, his height because of the injuries and Gainwell is, is do what he's going to do.
00:14:24
Speaker
So it doesn't scare me too much. And the Titans, I overly worried about the Titans too much either. It's, it's the AJ Brown, Devontae Smith, Jahann Dotson. Well says on, they've got another wide receiver that ah didn't they just draft one this year too.
00:14:42
Speaker
They drafted Johnny Wilson from Florida State who is like kind of a Lazard type where it's like, is he a receiver? isia Is he a really small tight end or is he a really big receiver kind of thing? So yeah, they've added more options to that room and excuse me.
00:15:02
Speaker
So yeah, that's going to be the key, you know, so I put up the key matchup being the, you know, RD line against their O-line because if Philly is able to control the line of scrimmage, none of the stuff that I really say after this is going to matter. But if Greenbeak and if our defensive front can stymie that O-line and win some of those individual battles, um it gives us a shot to cover some of these weapons on the back end. Like you said, predominantly AJ Brown and Devonta Smith, because Jair can only cover one of them. and In this case, I do think he could cover either one. Best guess is he's probably, and we still don't know, they haven't really given much of an indication, but I don't think they're going to match coverages. I still think that they're going to try to play sort of like he's got a side and Stokes or Valentine, probably Stokes because Valentine's been injured, ah gets to the other side of the field. But it would be interesting to see if they do kind of match it up because
00:16:01
Speaker
Agee is a little bit of a better matchup for s Stokes, and I think Ja, while Ja could cover either, I think Devonta Smith is a better match. It's better to have Ja-Yir on Devonta Smith. The more interesting part is going to be, who covers Goddard? Because if healthy when healthy, Goddard has been a match-up problem. um Basically, he's been what we want Musgrave to become, where he's too big for linebackers and safety and cornerbacks and too athletic for safeties and linebackers, or too big for safeties and cornerbacks and too athletic for linebackers. And he just goes into that.
00:16:37
Speaker
but especially when mixed with us, Brown and Smith, you're kind of like, okay, who gets the double team? Who gets extra attention? And in Halfly system, I know it's not necessarily straight man coverage, but there's a lot of match zone, which plays like man coverage. So yeah i'm I'm curious to see how he's going to line up initially. And the big one, like you said, Joe, is how quickly and how able is Halfly to make adjustments if what he his fastball isn't working. So that's and that's really what we don't know, because most of these guys didn't play in the preseason and we didn't, you know, like you said, he kept it very vanilla. ah
00:17:21
Speaker
very much just like just learn the plays make plays on your own kind of thing which I'm totally fine within the preseason but it you know this is the the nitty gritty um finer details that you know that we nerd out to in terms of learning what ah what a coach has really got in his back pocket and like you noted for the running backs um Barkley is a little bit more named than he is substance at this point, predominantly because of the injuries and the fact that New York had nothing outside of him on offense. um But he has had solid games against the Packers in the past, especially you know that London game. He really was the catalyst for turn that turnaround where New York was able to just storm past Green Bay in the second half of that London game. And gain will is just a physical running back. so
00:18:11
Speaker
um Just curious to see how we're gonna match up. um You know, do we open in nickel? I do think that... Um, Halfly will want to open in his two, four, five, you know, whether you call it a two, four, five, or a four, two, five look, it's a nickel look. I think Halfly would prefer to open that way, but it's going to be dependent on if our D-line can protect the back seven players, because if the, old the Philly O-line is able to control the line of scrimmage, we're going to get played out of our sub packages really quickly. So that's why, you know, I keep coming back to it that that's the key matchup when we're on defense on Friday.
00:18:50
Speaker
Well, to answer your question about who would cover Goddard, this may sound really weird considering he didn't play a lot in the preseason and he is coming off injury. I would do a combination of Catan and Quay because Catan is listed at 6-2-2-16 and Quay is 6-4-2-41. So between the two of them,
00:19:21
Speaker
I think they could handle Goddard and and his 256. who So, and he is getting a little age on him too. So, you know, and the injury bugs and everything else, but I think but if anything, I think Quay could handle it. Cause I think Quay's got the speed at linebacker to be able to handle it. But if they decide that they want to throw an extra safety out there, hope
00:19:52
Speaker
You would hope McKinney would be able to handle them because they know each other. Like you were mentioning. Or not. You mentioned, uh, car and art Carlos's that will be dropping tomorrow, but tomorrow is the day before this episode drops. You know, x Xavier McKinney comes from the giants, that one of the Eagles big, excuse me, rivalries.
00:20:24
Speaker
Yeah, that'll be a that'll be another curious one too because you know Initial point there is that McKinney was brought here to play the deep safety role in this defense But if any of the rookies and this again gets back to the whole, you know, we won't we won't dig into this too much but this does get back to the whole Anthony Johnson Jr. point where it's like now you're counting on a rookie to have a big role in a in a season opening game and stuff so yeah it'll be kind of interesting to see what Halfly does this is one of those where
00:20:56
Speaker
If these two teams were to happen to play like in playoffs again, I think that the matchups are going to be way different then than they are now because rookies will be fully indoctrinated. Halfly will have much better graphs on what guys are good and can't do or what they've learned to do over the course of a season.
00:21:16
Speaker
so I do think it'll be more, quote unquote, straight up for Friday's game. But like we both alluded to, I do want to see how quickly and how willing Halfly is to make adjustments on the fly because this Eagles offense has more than enough talent to force adjustments. I'll be really impressed by the defense if they are able to take the fight to Philly and snuff out this offense for the majority of ah even a half of this game.
Key Factors for Game Success
00:21:46
Speaker
so
00:21:47
Speaker
Um, I know we're focusing on the Eagles offense right now, but I do think the best defense for the Packers is for the Green Bay offense to get rolling and score a bunch of points. So with that, we will segue into the Philly defense where just like the offense, it's a line of scrimmage unit and their front seven remains very um potent. Yeah.
00:22:12
Speaker
Fletcher Cox has retired, but Jalen Carter looks more than ready to step into that role as their three technique. I know that they're under Fangio, so they're more of a 3-4 base. But um expect Carter to get a lot of pass rushing opportunities on the interior. um Kind of like how Akeem Hicks maximized his career under um Fangio in Chicago's defense from, you know what was that, 2018 through 21 or whatever before Fangio went to Denver. so um I expect Carter to play that kind of a role. um They still have a bunch of different options on the edges. um They have a mix of power in Josh Sweatt and Brandon Graham and speed guys in Huff and Nolan Smith. And Devin White, I still don't think he's nearly as good as he or some people think he is. But he's still pretty athletic. He can still fly around the field. And if um that D-line and the edges are able to keep him clean, you know we saw what he did against us. you know Granted, it was.
00:23:11
Speaker
four years ago, but still, we saw his sideline to sideline range when he does see the play well, and he's able to just fly to the ball and he just completely neutered our run game when we played the Bucks in 2020.
00:23:24
Speaker
They've got a lot of athleticism, a lot of skill on that front seven. And they kind of need it because they're secondary. They've got some names, but they're not all proven. And the proven one, even the proven ones like Adaria Slay, he's getting up there. I think this is his 11th season already at this point, which is kind of weird because doesn't it doesn't feel like he's been in the NFL that long. Yeah, so there you go. kind of think Yeah, he's a 2013 pick. so But yeah, it's like ju like it was 12 seasons ago that he came into the league. So it'll be important for the Packers O-line to be on top of its game because um the key for us, just like it is for Philly, is that O-line being able to handle whatever pressure the defensive front puts on it so that we can get as many guys into the for past routes as possible. um Because I do think in coverage, Musgrave and Kraft are going to be able to create mismatches.
00:24:21
Speaker
um And the number of receivers, like we don't have someone who at least at this point has proven to be the equivalent of a Devonta Smith or ah A.J. Brown, but I do think our top five to six receivers are better and more potent.
00:24:41
Speaker
to throw against what Philly has at corner, then AJ Brown and Devonta Smith against Jair and even Stokes at this point. I know i know that a lot of people are going to kind of roll their eyes at that, but I really do think that there is a little bit. It at least comes out more even than you'd think it would when you kind of say like who has the advantage if you compare the Philly receivers against our secondary and then the Green Bay receivers against the Philly secondary because like I said you look at that Philly secondary and it's variously and then
00:25:16
Speaker
They brought CJ Gardner Johnson back at safety, but he's not really a deep safety. He's more of a box safety. And then everyone else in that secondary, you're kind of like, okay, I've heard of him, but is he really that good? And that's guys like Reed Blankenship, Kalei Ringo. And then it's rookies, in you know, highly touted rookies in Quignon Mitchell and, um excuse me, and Cooper DeGene, but they're still NFL rookies. so You know, there's just like we talk about how the Packers secondary, you know, safety room is going to do this year. There's a lot of variability on how that Eagle secondary is going to do, especially against a unit like our receiving corps that can throw a lot of different curve balls at you by just throwing different guys on the field to create mismatches. So, um,
00:26:04
Speaker
Like I said, as as most games do, this game is going to come down to which O-line is able to establish and assert itself because the O-line that does that first is going to create rhythm for their offense and especially with it being week one.
00:26:20
Speaker
Every team is trying to figure out who it is as much as it's trying to figure out its opponent. And whoever can gain traction first, especially with this being an oddball night. I think they said this is the first time a team has played on a Friday night since 1970 or something like that. And the fact that it is also an international game where both teams are coming off of a 10-hour flight and I think, well,
00:26:44
Speaker
Philly's just probably longer because Green Bay's flight is 10 hours so Philly's probably got a longer travel day involved so whoever can kind of get the screws tightened in their in their dome faster is gonna be the one to benefit quicker so You know, just as much as Philly's O-line is pretty experienced. Green Bay's O-line is pretty equally experienced. You know, you're only replacing one starter at right guard. um But everyone else has been around the block, and more importantly, been around the block together. So, whoever can, like I said, whoever can, whichever unit can gain traction first is going to be absolutely key for this matchup.
00:27:21
Speaker
You know, that's the thing with week one is it's like, yes, the matchup matters. The paper matchup does matter. But there is an element of chaos that's in week one that isn't there for the rest of the season because guys haven't played a lot. Guys aren't necessarily in full conditioning. You know, they're they're in shape, but they're not in play a 60 minute game shape kind of thing. so um
00:27:46
Speaker
players are going to be tested and stuff. And um it's not the you know it's not it's not a beauty contest. It's just score more points than the opponent. And does it doesn't matter if you drive that car across the finish line or drag it across. It's just get across with more points than the other guys. So um it might turn into a barroom brawl kind of thing. And I do want to see how this Packers team reacts if that's the case.
00:28:09
Speaker
um yeah know it's a little bit of a It's a little bit of a trend with La Flora that his team doesn't always respond well when their nose gets dirty and bloody a little bit. So it would be nice that they're able to answer the bell if, you know, this game turns ugly and physical. Not like dirty, ugly, but just like muddied, muddled and um and disjointed. Ugly kind of thing. um And then on special teams, um Jake Elliott is their kicker. A little bit of a
00:28:43
Speaker
Rough preseason, but he only kicked like five field goals. um Career 86% kicker, 85 and a half between 40 to 49 yards and 70% from 50 plus. so good strong leg and honestly the return men I don't know too much about so um hopefully Basaccio will be able to um you know get a little work done on you know be able to stifle their return game our return teams will be able to gain some ground and work through um you know just win the field position battle but
00:29:20
Speaker
My keys to the game and Joe, I know that I kind of threw these out there, but um let me know if you think there's anything else. But like I said, this is a meat and potatoes game because it's week one. So it's going to be, you know, you're going to be like, oh gee, thanks for telling me that. But.
00:29:37
Speaker
The four keys that I've got to this week, one is tackle well. As Joe mentioned, the Eagles have a lot of skill at the, a lot of talent at the skill positions and they're going to be able to spread green base defense out. So you got to tackle when you have the opportunity because all those guys can, you know, from, from Brown to Smith to Goddard to Barkley, if they get the ball in space, they can take it this thing. So you got to tackle.
00:30:03
Speaker
there I know that whether it's, um, finishing turnover opportunities on defense or if there are shot plays, Green Bay's gotta convert those. You can't, you know, we've seen it as recently as a couple years ago where they set up a Christian Watson double move and he drops the ball and it just... takes the air out of the balloon for the Packers, you know, f So you've got to take adva Take care of the football, be the ones create turnovers on defense, do ball over on offense. And like i alluded to with the special teams win the field position battle
00:30:37
Speaker
and I don't know too much about this Brazil stadium. I don't know what like the field is but we hit you know you've heard where when football teams play on non football fields that sometimes that other you know other sports style stadium like the turf is softer or it does this or they stitch the grass together differently so you want to be in plus territory or as close to plus territory as much as you can be so um big week for wheel in hopefully he doesn't have to do much this week because we're scoring touchdowns or kicking field goals and potentially big week for nervous in to get points on the board but Joe did you have anything else besides those no really not I mean that covers
00:31:22
Speaker
Yeah, like I said, it's nothing too extravagant, nothing too um imaginative. it is It really just is, because we don't, you don like we said, we haven't seen, any idea of what we think Halfly's defense will look like is based off of how he ran it at Boston College. He has different and better players here. um And so you'd like to think that you know he's, yeah Boston College is a div one school, but it's not a top team. So, you know, his defense was made to cover deficiencies in other position groups, whereas in the NFL, um, I know that, you know, they're, they're trying to figure out the linebacker and safety room, but even still, he has better athletes relative to what he had on those BC teams. So we don't really know what that defense is. And then on offense, the big question is, of course, you know,
00:32:15
Speaker
How is love going to start the season? is Are we going to find out that he gets out of the gates quickly? Or is he a guy that has a little bit of a ramp up period, which you know some people complain about. But that's the case for a lot of quarterbacks. you know A lot of them start the season off a little slow. Rogers was kind of like that half the time where you're kind of like,
00:32:32
Speaker
he's barely averaging 200 yards and he's kind of like at one or two touchdowns a game and Packers are scoring like 24 points a game. And it's not until like we get into October and stuff that you're like, shit here's the 30 points per game offense that we were expecting all offseason and all. So um that's why You know, long loop coming back. That's why these keys to the game are the very basics. You've got to just win at the basics to get this win in week one, because if you take care of the ball, take care of field position, tackle, and just convert your big play opportunities, that's how you're going to, whether you blow out or squeak out a win, that's how you get wins in week one. Yeah. I mean, week one is always a big game for everybody. So.
00:33:22
Speaker
You know, all you can hope for is they come out and plays some, you know, to come out of it with a victory and no injuries. yeah and like in terms of how you want to see this game go you want to see them making like mental mistakes you don't want to see like oh god like we once again we've been sold on this being the fastest Packers defense ever and they look slow compared to the you know you don't want to just see like oh man like that dude can't play dead kind of thing and stuff or like our linebackers still look like they're running in mud and all that kind of stuff so oh
00:34:00
Speaker
you You know, I can live with mental mistakes in week one, but you want to see them push through those and make enough
Performance Predictions and Strategy Evaluation
00:34:07
Speaker
plays to win. But we move to what's usually your baby, Joe, with the over unders. What do you got for this week? but The first one, Josh Jacobs rushing yards over under 63 and a half.
00:34:21
Speaker
I'm going to go over um something that Westendorf brought up on Packaday is that, which is a little surprising about this Eagles front. And it's a lot of the same players is um as bad as the Packers were in average yards allowed per rush, the Eagles were like the next worst team or something like that, or they weren't very far away from the Packers. So I do think that if They're able to, um you know, possess the ball that Jacobs is going, you know, it might not be the most efficient, but I do think he's going to get to like 80 yards rushing on Friday. The way of the injuries seem to be in the running back room at the moment, I'm going to say they're going to have to rely on him. So he's easily going to go over just because of the reliance of him.
00:35:06
Speaker
throughout the game and I know the floor has kind of said like he hopes to keep the same system he had with Jones where he was trying to limit him but I think where you're trying to make a statement and it is an international game you're the only game that night you like you play your stars a little bit because you do kind of want them to get in shape and stuff and I do think Jacobs is gonna pop one like 15 to 20 yard run on Friday and you know that's kind of to um be a fresh air because I forget what it was last year we didn't have a 10 plus yard run until like week six or something. like you I remember it was like they struggled to get a explosive run for a while last season.
00:35:44
Speaker
Either they didn't get one for but the first five or six weeks or like they had one in week two and then it took like a month to get the next one or something like that. So I think Jacob is going to break at least one on Friday. Got some of these over unders from gambling sites. So and these are what the the oh the betting people think. So over under Jordan Love passing touchdowns one and a half. I'm going to say over just because I think if they get in tight on the goal line, I think they're going to play action into touchdowns. So I'll go over. I've been trying to think on what I like it at first and looked up the under is for his touchdowns or not touchdowns, his ah
00:36:42
Speaker
Passing yards. It's like over under two two hundred and forty five point five Right, which is pretty high. So if he's no, it's actually 257 and a half yards so 257 So if he's gonna go with that many yards even if it's slightly under that you would have to think that he's gonna have more than ah two touchdowns so And what really bugged me about the over unders that these guys were putting out is they must be thinking the Packers are going to play from behind e because unless they fully go
00:37:25
Speaker
Scorched earth and just are non-stop killing the Eagles. I Don't see them easily putting up 250, you know him easily putting up Yeah, seven like you said unless it's against like a prevent look kind of thing. So yeah. Yeah, I agree with you So it does then you'd think he'd have to go over and so I would take the over to just But I think like I said, they're gonna have to rely on Jacobs a little bit more with the other guys ailing and So you see it where Jacob's.
00:38:01
Speaker
Well, you also got to throw in, uh, touch passes. So you gotta, you gotta think that Jaden Reed's going to at least have one with one of those touch passes. yeah So next one I got is green Bay X half green Bay defense sacks two and a half.
00:38:23
Speaker
I'm going under. I think not because I do think that particularly Rashawn Preston and Lucas, I think they're going to get some good pressures, but because of the Eagles run game and because of the fact that Hurts is a running quarterback, I think he's going to run out of a bunch of sacks. And I think that Halfly is going to have him playing kind of more of a contained system than like a just pure, you know, like if it was Kirk Cousins back there, like just bum rush him and get him down on the ground kind of game plan. So I got the under on that one.
00:39:00
Speaker
I'll take the over, but just by a half a s sack. So I'm going to say three sacks on there. And I think at least one of them is going to come from an outside source other than the edge rushers or the defensive line. I think what's going to happen is Jalen is going to roll out. Like he's going to run the speed guys, whether it's Jair, the way he did against cousins that got him the safety a couple of years ago, or.
00:39:30
Speaker
you know, Stokes with his speed or one of the speed guys is just going to come streaking in and, and keep him from even getting to the line of scrimmage. So I think the defensive line are going to have a couple, but I think either one of the, the speedster linebackers or one of the DBs is going to have one too. The last one is Jalen hurts INTs over, under one. I said one, normally they set him at one and a half, but It's either he's going to get one or he's not going to get one. He is the defense. Like I said, go scorched earth. I don't see him giving up too many of them.
00:40:11
Speaker
yeah i think that head says under but the the fan in me wants to say over because kind of like you're saying with the sax if they're over that means that they're winning the game kind of thing so screw it i'm gonna say over because let's be optimistic say it i i mean i would say push because i would say that he's gonna at least throw one whether it's a tip whether it's whatever And that's, it's kind of the same way with Jordan Love. That's the kind of quarterback that they are. They're not going to give up a ton of them, but they are going to give up the occasional one. Yeah. They are going to take some risks with the ball, like more calculated, but they will put the ball in harm's way.
00:40:59
Speaker
And I think that's going to be another emphasis of this half lead defense is takeaways, which we've had a real lack thereof from this team for many years. you do get that where you get Yeah, you do get that sort of ah um there is the vibe like there was when um capers first came in where it's like, yeah, like we're we're trying to give weird pressure looks and weird coverage looks because we want to create interception opportunities and stuff. So, yeah, I do get that feeling to where they're like, you know, you can't sell out for it, but that is the goal of Halfly system is to create opportunities to take the ball away.
00:41:37
Speaker
Right. And what I'm going to say is it's weird that they haven't because they do have ball hawks. You know, Jair is a ball heart. She's a ball heart. Keyshawn is going to get something. x Xavier McKinney is a ball heart. Carrington in college was a ball heart. These guys have the ability to do it. They just the opportunity hasn't been there for them. Well, I think they're going to get one. So I guess if I went with this, it would be a push.
00:42:09
Speaker
All right. And that's going to carry us through to the end of our coverage. Any anything else you got for this one? I know we're trying to keep this as short as sweet as possible because Joe needs to get some sleep working double 12 this week. But Joe, anything else from you?
00:42:24
Speaker
Not really. Like I said, and then like I said, on our other episode, this is not the game that I would love to start with. rather it be against it I would rather it be against a rival than the Eagles because it would have more of a chance if it was Detroit even, because that would be a hell of a game. You know, it is what it is. They've got football going.
00:42:49
Speaker
Yeah, and I do think it helps that. I think it's better for the Packers that it's an international game, you know, like it's a neutral site game as opposed to in the Lincoln, you know, in the link where, you know, Philly guys are sleeping, are not sleeping in their own beds like they probably would have expected to. And also, you know, it adds to the weirdness for everybody. So everyone hopefully is a little bit wrong footed and hopefully, like I said, Green Bay can take advantage before the Eagles can.
00:43:18
Speaker
Yeah, but so yeah, like we said, we want we do want to try and keep these um preview ones a little bit shorter and sweeter than our Sunday
Conclusion and Call to Action
00:43:27
Speaker
recap ones. So that'll do it for us tonight. Check out ohanapackers.org, the website, um streams of all of our episodes, all of Cheese Talks episodes.
00:43:38
Speaker
um blog posts are going up. Carlos is releasing an article soon. um I say soon because I'm all thrown off on the recording this Tuesday. I think his drops on Wednesday and this episode is coming out Thursday. So um hopefully you'll have read that by the time you're listening to this episode. Check out the merch on the website. Support us please. um to get Joe some better internet, get me better internet, and other things, the ability to go to some games and meet up in person, and also to bring you better content. That's the one that I should lead with. That's right. That's what that's what the merch is for, is to pay content creators, ah not just the two of us.
00:44:17
Speaker
Please be following the um the podcast on Twitter, at ohana underscore packers. ah Like I said, we'll be putting out I'll start putting out some um some polls this week just to kind of go over just to kind of decide what to go over in the pregame space, how we're going to fill our recap, and you know everything in between. Do we live tweet the game? Especially because there's the rumor that reporters in Brazil won't be able to tweet updates on the game. So we'll kind of see how that goes for um Friday's game.
00:44:47
Speaker
um and then as like we always say if we do have any sort of drawings you've got to be following the show's twitter account so at ohana underscore packers follow the podcast on your favorite podcasting apps give us a like and a subscribe we really appreciate it and all your comments positive and negative we want to hear them Packers are ready to kick off the 2024 season. um And like Joe said, football is back and we're ready for it. So um here's to a good 2024 season. Let's hope the Packers get it off on the right foot. Go Pack Go and Aloha.