Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
OPE Season 3 Episode 35 Saints Get Blanked by Packers
19 Plays2 days ago
Aloha and welcome to another episode of OPE! On this episode we break down the Fresh, Stale and Moldy moments of the Packers shutout victory over the New Orleans Saints!
Please make sure to like and follow wherever you get your favorite podcasts! Also be sure to visit our website ohanapackers.org for all our great articles, past episodes and our merch shop!
Recommended
Transcript
Intro
Packers Make 2024 Playoffs
00:00:24
Speaker
Aloha and welcome back to another episode of the AHANA Packers Edition Podcast, the podcast where two dudes react to the Packers punching their tits to the playoffs. oh Joe, Packers are going to the 2024 season playoffs. a place that we expected them to get to. It's been a little bit of a funky road, but they're here and they did it with a Funnily, you know, we'll get into it when we get into our points, but it wasn't the cleanest win, but it was still a dominating win overall over the a relatively hapless Saints team. But Packers did what you expect a good team to do to a bad team, and that's a really good sign is this team marches on towards the playoffs. For sure, I mean. The defense looked more dominant than the offense did, even though you look at the score and you would think
00:01:16
Speaker
You know, both sides dominated the ball, but. The offense still had some. Sorry, I'm. It's the Christmas time, so Christmas goodies are all over the place, and now it's all in my friggin teeth.
00:01:34
Speaker
oh But. There's still some things to clean up on the offensive side of the ball, and the good news about it is, and I know it's hard to say because They won 34 to nothing, but they also left a lot more opportunities out there. It could have been a higher score. There could have been a lot of other things that could
Coach LaFleur's Insights
00:01:57
Speaker
have been done. you know It looked like their two-minute drill is still kind of needing work. And I think LeFlore even said that when and they did his halftime interview or whatever.
00:02:12
Speaker
and And it it seemed like he wasn't even fully happy with the way things went for the most part. He said, yeah, we played great, but we're still we still haven't played ah ah four you know a complete game from all three aspects of of football. So you know that that was interesting to hear. And yeah, I mean, overall, it's a great win.
Packers vs Jets: A Tale of Two Teams
00:02:38
Speaker
Obviously, playoffs are always the best.
00:03:18
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And I think what tells it all is that LaFleur's got that 16 and 5 or something. I forget exactly what the record was, but january his December and January regular season numbers, whether his quarterback is Love or Rogers, like they all add up and stuff. So just shows you know the work that he's doing on his end, what Love has proved in terms of being his own great quarterback in his own right.
00:03:47
Speaker
and just time marches on and the Packers are going back
Injury Updates: Watson & Williams
00:03:51
Speaker
to the playoffs. But before we get into the fresh stale and moldy, just some quick injury blurb updates from after the game. So LaFleur noted the two updates that he provided where You know, how much is he really saying? Well, the Christian Watson one doesn't sound, you know, it's hard to really gauge on what, how much he's telling us. You know, he kind of said he used his typical, there's concern, but we'll evaluate through the night and I should have answers for you tomorrow. So we'll see what he says in the presser tomorrow.
00:04:28
Speaker
and regard to Evan Williams though that one he shed a little more light on and kind of alluded to it being more of a week-to-week thing that there's something that he's definitely working through so as much as the team overall seems to be getting healthier that safety room is in some doubt right now and obviously would be a bummer to lose Watson to anything but Other than that, let's get into it. So Joe, our topics. It's a quad that popped up Saturday for Williams. And then I just want to say that with the Watson one, and I kind of worry about Jacobs too, because they did point out that, you know, his arm did start hanging there for a little bit. So they were worried about, you know, maybe he
00:05:20
Speaker
tweak something and then they just said yeah we're gonna sit you for the you know for the here ah you know for the rest of the game there's nothing really wrong but just to keep things going but the Watson one I do want to kind of go on that I am surprised that was not penalized and here's my reasoning behind it is because Watson clearly was already out of bounds Watson was clearly already on the ground It's not the first defender that I would say gets the penalty. It's the second one who flies in and lands right on Watson. Had he still been in the field of play? Yeah, no problem. But he was clearly out of bounds. He was clearly, yeah he was clear out of bounds. He was basically on the sideline when he got, when the other guy hit him, I'd have to go back and double check what I'm saying. Cause I just saw it live. I didn't see replays of it or anything and they didn't show any replays of it. So that's typically when they,
00:06:18
Speaker
You know, you know, you're right in your suspicions because they won't go through and replay that play to show you what happened. So, uh, yeah, I, surprise I, surprised that didn't call and it surprised me even more that he went back in and tried to play a little bit more, but it just kept giving him some kind of issue.
Josh Jacobs: A Crucial Contributor
00:06:43
Speaker
And yeah, so.
00:06:46
Speaker
Luckily, we're not in the same boat as we were a few years ago, where it was Davante Adams and a bunch of no names. We at least have, you know, a good group of wide receivers if Washington can't go. But yeah, I'm done. So we'll hit the button. Fresh cheese. So yeah. What's your first fresh thought for the night?
00:07:12
Speaker
I'll have to give it to... Obviously, Josh Jacobs, because he looked like a I said it, I skidded it during the game that, you know, he's a terminator, you know, he he doesn't like stop for anything and nobody can stop him. And my God, for a bigger style back that he is, he's got such amazing moves out there. He can cut on a dime. He can, you know, knocks my head off with a stiff arm.
00:07:42
Speaker
Yeah. The stats weren't overly great, but you, like I said, you know, he only played for basically like two and a half quarters. if yeah So he, he still reached 69 rushing yards. So you got to give him credit for that one. Uh, and he averaged 5.3 with a touchdown. So yeah, he's been amazing pickup. He's been ah ah great a player for this Packers team and.
00:08:12
Speaker
When we were all kind of up in the air when when the Packers signed them and then released Aaron Jones, I don't even think you can have that concern anymore. I mean, yeah, he just went over 1200 yards with a couple games to go.
00:08:29
Speaker
And I know, I know where the little bit of concern is with him leaving the game the way he did, but yeah, he was in good spirits afterwards and did say that Lafleur flat out told him, yeah, if we score again, you're out. So, but yeah, like he just gives such a different dimension to this team. and.
00:08:48
Speaker
Like I said, this is like almost like speaking ill of the dead, but I don't think Jones would be able to give you what Jacobs has given the team this season. And obviously, I do wish somehow they could have figured out how to keep Aaron Jones on this roster. But at the same time, Jacobs has been the the guy they need. And honestly,
00:09:11
Speaker
It's the identity shift that this team has, I think, kind of kneaded under the floor and honestly been searching for whether it's been, you know, the the Thunder and Lightning duo between Jacob, or um Jacob, between Jones and Jamal Williams, or what they tried to do when they drafted A.J. Dillon, or so on and so forth, just trying to reinvent themselves with more of a power run game. Jacobs has given that to them and and so much more. and I think to kind of build off of that too, what he's given them as a past receiver too has been
00:09:47
Speaker
way better than anything I would have expected out of him coming in. I knew he, you know, he, you wouldn't think of him as this great receiving back because he's not like a speedster or anything like that, but he does have a good sense of route timing and his spatial awareness is really good. And then you add in the physicality and the, like you said, that terminator like attitude in terms of like,
00:10:11
Speaker
It just keeps coming. it doesn't It doesn't feel pain and it doesn't care about how you think of it. like He added a couple more guys to his Stiffarm list in Taran Matthew and Werner the Saints linebacker.
00:10:29
Speaker
and yeah he just continues to put pelts on the wall so yeah just another good game like you said only 69 rushing yards so short of our um over under i believe we had it at 70 but five yards a pop got his touchdown and then was uh four for four on targets and some kind of important ones where, you know, he kind of got love out of some, uh, one time, the one time he got him, up he was the relief valve when love looked like for sure he was going to get sacked. And then he had that one where he ran the shallow drag across the field and outran Warner to the opposite, uh, sideline and stuff. So, just an all around really great game for, for Jacobs.
00:11:15
Speaker
And then from my first thought, you kind of touched on it earlier when we first started recording, but it's the
Defense Shines Against Saints
00:11:21
Speaker
defense. And, you know, some people will look at this and say, like, oh, you know, that or the special stats may not tell the whole story, but they were kicking the shit out of that Saints O-line all game. Part of it was Rattler just either running for his life or just throwing the ball like for survival instincts. And the other half was just uncalled holds that were, you know, old friend Lucas Patrick got away with a few and
00:11:53
Speaker
Rashawn got mauled. He just got absolutely held onto on one pass rush. A little more disciplined you'd like to see out of the pass rush because they did get a little sack happy early in the game and they allowed Rattler Avenues to escape the pocket, but overall you could tell that they just really flustered Rattler and forced him into some uncomfortable situations and you know again this isn't the best old line they're gonna face or anything but like we talked about they did what a good team is supposed to do to an inferior opponent and they showed their talent differential and for all intents and purposes put the Saints in their place and you got contributions from everywhere Edge had another really good game overall some you know some of the negatives to the cons to his game coming out of college showed you know they
00:12:48
Speaker
obviously the highlights are excellent when he just is able to dodge or duck blocks and you know knife into the backfield for big tackles but you know for all the people who say why doesn't he play mike you saw why not on several play the the few good saints running plays were because edge couldn't get off of a block he just got swallowed up at the point of attack but After that, know he had a really good game, had his usual negative plays forced. The front four got after the quarterback. And poor Xavier, he thought he had his eighth interception twice on the same drive. And just the the football god said no. but And create a player. Zane Anderson recorded his first career interception. So all around just
00:13:34
Speaker
you got contributions at all points in a game where you were short handed on that side of the field. And the stats stated, the NFL was teetering on the dubious designation of the 2024 season being the first where there were no shutouts and the Packers recorded the first one of the season. So on some level, I know shutouts, there's a little bit of luck involved, but really the Packers defense created its own luck all night tonight.
00:14:03
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, there's not much else you can add to the to what you said about the defense. I mean, Devontae Wyatt looked like a mad man out there. Carrington was doing pretty well. I have to point out again, and I will probably keep pointing this out until I see anything otherwise, but Eric Stokes is looking you know looking solid.
00:14:27
Speaker
Yeah, Xavier had, I only caught the one, almost interception. I don't think I saw the other one. I did see the one where a Catan could have had the interception to seal the game late, but it was a little too often. He had to dive for it. So, but yeah, overall, there's not much you can complain about with this defense.
00:14:50
Speaker
Except for, you know, there are a couple things like I, again, don't like seeing Eric Wilson and, and, uh, uh, McDuffie and coverage. That just scares the hell out of me. Zane got it. And I don't want to take it away from him because it, you know, it is what it is, but you know, he was basically gifted the interception because it was thrown pretty well right at him.
00:15:16
Speaker
Although I will yell at him because he tried to go for number two and it wasn't his to have, I guess you could say. And he almost concussed Valentine on the plate too. Yeah. So, you know, that's, that's a knock on him. so there's two things I want to bring up. One is an ask and the other one is just another kind of rant.
00:15:41
Speaker
The Britain Cox penalty, I think everybody in the world agrees how that should not have been, uh, uh, roughing the passer. I don't know if that was just the, the refs were seeing how beat up the saints were looking and, and we're just trying to help the, you know, kind of here, we'll, we'll give you this for, you know, for this or whatever, but I, and maybe you can explain it or maybe you can't.
00:16:10
Speaker
How is it that the guard can stand straight up, look back at the quarterback, then look down and then motion his hand for the center to snap the ball and that not be considered a false start?
00:16:26
Speaker
I mean, I get the premise, I get the whatever, but if Josh Meyers, for all them times, can get called for false start for just nodding his head, how is it that a guy can stand clear up, look back, and then you know motion for the ball to be snapped?
00:16:42
Speaker
and that not being considered false
Referee Decisions Under Scrutiny
00:16:43
Speaker
start. And it's so interesting. I see a lot of them do it. Yeah. So, okay. I think where it gets into a gray area is the refs do give the guards, the the Steelers, I think were the first team to really go that route. But what the So the stealer is the way that they made it legal is that guard would he would be looking and then he would get set before he would stick his hand out and he it was like a Deliberate but you know and that's the thing I know you're getting at is the way that a lot of these guards do it They just throw their hand out there really quickly. Whereas the Steelers won. It was a more deliberate like
00:17:28
Speaker
It's it's like almost like you know not waving the checkered flag, but it's like putting the checkered flag out there to more let you know that the final lap is starting kind of thing. So I do agree with that. debt it I don't know if it's a saying it's an unfair thing is the right way to go about it, but it is that whole getting into the realm of you're simulating the snap kind of thing and stuff. so Well, like I was saying, Lucas Patrick was the one doing it today, and he was literally standing like straight up, turning back to Rattler, then coming back, setting, and then motioning for the snap to happen. I mean, that in itself, just him standing up from his set is a false start. Yeah. i That's the one where I do wonder what would happen if, like,
00:18:21
Speaker
Because of, like you said, of how like, cause that's the thing with the Steelers one, that guy never got in a stance. He was always just like, standing there looking at the quarterback kind of thing. And then he wouldn't come into a stance until like, okay, Roethlisberger is ready. Like now I'm going to come and get ready kind of thing where I agree. I do agree with you. Like it should be against the rules for the guy to be in his stance. And then like you said, just sprout up and be like, Oh, I got to go look for the step count kind of thing. Because yeah, that is, and I do wonder how the refs would call it if
00:18:59
Speaker
a Packers defender were to like jump into the neutral zone when he got up out of his step, you know, because yeah, I do think in that case, you are Drawing the defender offside. So like I said, whereas like I said, the Steelers used to do it where Ramon Foster was the one who would always do He's like he never got actually in his stance He always looked like he looked like a relay runner looking back for the baton the whole time And so like everyone else is in his stance and then he's kind of just like the whole time He's looking looking looking and then he's like, okay now now we're ready to go kind of thing and stuff So yeah, I don't have a good answer for that. I do think it's just I
00:19:40
Speaker
One of those, like the refs are like, OK, they have to be able to do their stuff kind of thing. But I do agree with you. They've got to rein in the hole when they just get up out of their stance for like what seems like no reason. Because I do think, not push league, but yeah, like you said, i don't I don't know the right word to put with it. But it's not quite kosher the way some of the teams go about it in terms of, that Like you said, like, if you're going to do it, that guy should never be in his stance to start with. He should always be looking back the whole time and then doesn't get set till he's ready to set the ball kind of thing and stuff. So, yeah. Well, I'm old school. If you can't run your friggin, you know, you're the center, you're the guy that has to do all this shit. If you can't do it, then you need to find a different position. I mean, because I just.
00:20:36
Speaker
Can you imagine how they would have handled that back in like the heyday of the sixties and seventies and shit? but yeah, I mean, I got off on a tangent on it, but the reason I, I, I got, it surprised me is because we get the weak ass call of the, the, you know, roughing the passer when he was in the middle of his, you know, going after the quarterback, the quarterback through the ball. He didn't really take the quarterback.
00:21:05
Speaker
you know, spear them or drive them to the ground or anything like that. But yet I'm sitting here watching clear, uh, uh, false start and they're not calling it because it's the process.
00:21:19
Speaker
Well, like I said, that would have never passed. And I don't even think they would have been able to do that in the 90s, let alone doing it now. Yeah. So I think it's i very much as a product of the modern NFL kind of thing and stuff. So could you imagine if somebody tried to do that with Frankie bag of donuts, he'd probably turned around and slapped him or something he'd probably be like what are you doing because yeah frank is from the era where the center would lift his ass up in the air kind of thing you know they're their heads almost touching the ground to see the quarterback in that scenario so yeah it's it is definitely a product of the current nfl and
00:22:01
Speaker
just lump it in as a, it is what it is kind of thing and stuff. But, um, those of you who are too young to know about Frankie bag of donuts, that's Frank Winters, who was the center for the Packers in the mid nineties. And I think he's the content creator or something, something like that. Now, very good player, very good player. Anything else you had go in the fresh category tonight? I mean, there's a ton of it. Cause like I said, we, you know, winning 34 to nothing, there's,
00:22:31
Speaker
there's a lot of things you can go with. Uh, so I'll try to keep it quick though, cause we've got a, you know, with the holidays coming up, we we've got a lot of stuff to try fitting in. so let's go with the backup running backs, Chris Brooks and Emmanuel Wilson. Uh, when they weren't playing Josh Jacobs due to, you know, precaution, whatever the reasoning was, you know,
00:22:55
Speaker
They didn't really miss a step. ah ah You know, Wilson looked good. Chris Brooks is a thumper. I have to give Emmanuel Wilson for the hit that he, I don't even know who the defender was, but he, he almost killed him. I mean, you were just talking about Josh Jacobs taking souls with that stiff arm. Uh, Wilson lower in his head almost, you know, took the soul and and every other part of the defender who tried to tackle him with that hit.
00:23:25
Speaker
and, and they also contributed a little bit in the passing game. Uh, both had a couple of catches, but it's nice to know. I mean, you never hope that Jacobs, uh,
00:23:38
Speaker
something happens to Jacob's, but it's good to know that he can take a breather once in a while and, you know, we'll have a good, uh, we won't lose a step. And it's really nice to see both of these guys pretty much come out of nowhere and Mike's being haunted over there. So I don't know what they want. bigass ma in the house so but but little I totally agree with you. I mean,
00:24:01
Speaker
For your two backup running backs to average well over four yards a carry on 17 attempts outside of your starter, that's a great night. Both of them score a touchdown.
00:24:14
Speaker
and Yeah, everybody ran angry tonight. you know, Brooks powered through for his touchdown run. Uh, Wilson pulled himself across the goal line on his. Yeah. Uh, Alante Taylor has a 31 tattooed on his chest, uh, after tonight's hit. I can't tell who it was when, but that was something else.
00:24:38
Speaker
Yeah. So it it was just a good night on
Brooks & Wilson Maintain Momentum
00:24:41
Speaker
the ground. And I mean, I know that there were running or some wide receiver runs in there and stuff, but the bulk of so, you know, you rush for one hundred eighty eight yards, you know, at four point eight a carry. So You're gaining a first down every three times you rush the ball, which is great. you're running backs combined for, 30 carries. What is that? Uh, 75, one 35, one 40. So, uh, 30 carries, 144 yards. So well over four yards of pop for your, your three main running backs.
00:25:18
Speaker
Just really good production. The O-line was created absolutely creasing the Saints defense.
00:25:26
Speaker
I know that the you know the offense kind of ran into a lull in the second half, but really really the Saints were done midway through the second quarter and the Packers, they felt that. And they the Packers themselves were kind of in like, okay, let's just get to Minnesota mode after that point. So really good to see. ed Yeah. My next one to build off of that is, just a really good night for the old line. know love had some pressure here and there, but overall no sacks. it almost bought a bit of one time, but yeah, other than that, no real big hurts.
00:26:00
Speaker
Yeah, no sacks, only three quarterback hits. Like you said, just kept him clean. And I know Jacob still had to create some some movement on his own. But overall, he had several runs where he or Wilson or Brooks were just running scot-free through the middle of the defense. And you know they had been able to pick up pull a full head of steam.
00:26:24
Speaker
uh, prior to contact. So just really good, uh, running out there for the Packers tonight. Yeah. And you know, that brings me up to my next tangent. What are we going to name the Tucker craft run? you know, cause this, this, it works well. I love it. It's a lot better than the push push. I know. Uh, and I love Maggie.
00:26:49
Speaker
Maggie Loney, but I just can't go with the craft single because that doesn't work for me. I love the work for me, brother. What was that? I like it purely if it's always on third and one or fourth and one. You just need to see it. I thought that was pretty good.
00:27:10
Speaker
I don't know. Yeah. I saw a bunch of different ones that were really interesting. So we, we got to definitely come up with that, but it seems like people were falling in love with the crafting. Also, I guess we can stick with Maggie's and, and go with the crashing with them. But I mean, that's amazing. What can't this guy do? You know, he's out there catching everything. He's running the ball. He's. Hipping up. He's fucking doing everything in the world and.
00:27:39
Speaker
You know, ah ah yeah. So long as they keep that in the playbook and it still works, you know, maybe that'll become the Packer thing instead of the Tush push. We'll have, I guess we're calling it the craft single or something. Like, like you said, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. yeah, just a really nice game. I know all of his receptions were early, but still good to see craft have a game where.
00:28:03
Speaker
He gets three catches and he goes for, oh you know, he averages over 20 a pop. And they lift him wide open on the one. I was like, this guy is, you can't leave him open. And,
00:28:17
Speaker
overall so like this is gonna be weird because Jordan didn't have the sharpest game so there would be part of it that I talk about in the stale a little bit but again took good care of the ball like you said there was the one play where it got a little dicey but otherwise didn't put the ball in harm's way outside of that one play. And it's just clean football. It was nice to see you the Packers play clean football again. And that's a sign of a team that looks to be ready for playoffs and the postseason. So good to see them play overall discipline football. Like you said, the one big penalty
00:29:00
Speaker
oh was rather dubious, but fortunately it didn't bite the Packers in the end. So just good to see them build off of that. one and i i I know it was on wooden, but I don't remember what exactly it was and I don't remember them showing a replay on it. No, they never showed a replay. So yeah, I couldn't tell you what it was. I don't have the all 22 early access of the camera pan before you could see anything. But yeah, they said there was some sort of unnecessary roughness after the play was over. That's why the down
00:29:32
Speaker
counted. So I'm assuming that he he must, I'm assuming it's the whole stereotypical they catch the second guy only kind of thing. There was probably some like pushing and pushing and shoving around the the quarterback. And, know, he probably like, hit the guy's arm off of him or something like that. So I'm assuming that's what it was that, you know, there, it didn't seem like he really had to defend himself when he got to the sideline after it happened.
00:29:59
Speaker
and what's it or Britain Cox got his ass ripped by li because of his penalty. It's like, Matt, I think you're going to apologize when you actually sit down and watch the game. feel for and And to Cox's credit, he kind of like, it looked like he was pretty calm in that exchange. It was just like, like, I don't know what you want me to do coach, but okay. So
00:30:23
Speaker
i'm going to give an honorable myt Well, ah technically I'm going to give two honorable mentions. one that should Well, maybe I won't call it an honorable mention, but that throw Malik Willis made to Jaden Reed was like perfection. That's the type of throws you wish Jordan Love would make deep on on a lot of his, you know, the ones that you see from him. But my honorable mention, and this is going to be really weird to say because it's not a Packer one, it's a Saints one.
00:30:52
Speaker
But that throw Spencer Radler did made in the in midair. I, you don't see that. And for it to be as perfect as it was. So I got to give, you know, I don't know. Do I have, yeah, I got one here right here.
00:31:13
Speaker
That was just, I, and he's a rookie this year, right? Uh, yeah. So for a rookie to come in and he's getting his ass kicked anyway to pop out a frigging pass like that from a jumping position. It just, it was beautiful. So, you know, that gives them a little bit of hope that he can do, you know, that he's got some kind of ability to play off of, but yeah, we'll give it a, we'll call it an honorable mention because it wasn't a Packers. deal yeah
00:31:46
Speaker
But yeah. Okay. yeah okay What's your story? We got to move on. Yep. What's your story today?
00:31:59
Speaker
You know, I really don't think I have any thing. Maybe you could throw in what I was saying earlier about I don't like seeing Eric Wilson and.
00:32:14
Speaker
Isaiah McDuffie in coverage because that just, it scares the life out of me. And yeah, like, luckily it didn't. Yeah. The, the big, play the one big play that they gave up, to foster more over the middle of the field, like Wilson's in just about perfect position on that play, but due to his physical and athletic limitations, the ball goes right over his hand. You know, if that's. you know Wilson is 6'1 on a good day. If that's Kway, he's 6'4 and can jump quite a bit higher and his arms are longer. And so that ball is at worst tipped. If not, maybe Kway is coming down with an interception. I know some people say like he's dropped some, but i'm like i mean he has a pick six to his name. so
00:33:03
Speaker
But yeah, he's a linebacker. Yeah. I mean, yeah, if it's thrown right at him, yeah, he should be able to make the play. But some of the ones that he's dropped have been acrobatic style, you know, he's in midair and it's just right above him and.
00:33:18
Speaker
you know, so you got to give him a little break on that. You know, if he was a, if he could catch everything thrown to him, he'd be a tight end, not a frigging linebacker. Yeah. So yeah, you did see the physical limitations. like you said, there's not a lot to really dig about. I do have two and they're, they're nitpicky, but, like I said, love, so decision making wise, I thought he had a good game, but,
00:33:43
Speaker
But just in terms of his efficiency, it wasn't the greatest game.
Jordan Love: Safe Play or Missed Chances?
00:33:46
Speaker
You could tell like it was almost like he was playing it extra safe, especially after they went up 21-0. He kind of was like pulling a ball he was pulling the ball wide a little bit on certain throws. you know he had the He had the play action played that where Dobbs was wide open, and he kind of just yanks it a little bit too far outside for Dobbs to get to. had a couple other ones where he had some deep over routes to Jaden Reed where he kind of leads him just a little bit safe out to the sideline and then you said the one play where it was sort of dangerous it was one where
00:34:24
Speaker
It was almost like he took a tad too long to come off the deep read. And then he tried to like, at the moment he felt pressure. He was like, I'm just gonna dump it to Luke. And and and then it it got tipped up. And luckily, Alante Taylor ran into his nose tackle and broke the pass up. So got a little bit lucky there. But like I said, those are sort of the the lucky things you need to have happen to get a shutout in this league.
00:34:49
Speaker
you know as much as fans say it's time to tank and all that kind of stuff these players are trying or they in theory are but overall like i said you should never fully tank in the nfl because a lot of these guys have riders in their contract that if they hit certain marks that You know, they'll get extra money. So they're not going to completely give up on any. Yeah, exactly. So like I said, it's stale because it was a clean game, but it could have been a better game as we kind of alluded to for love. And then the other one I've got is the floor. This was the perfect scenario for you to fucking go for it um on on that fourth and five. And what was it? The third quarter or the fourth quarter and my irritation for it got
00:35:39
Speaker
exponentially greater when what's it you get the penalty on special teams and you have to reput and then you only shift field position by like 12 yards or something after the penalty is accounted for and stuff. So it's like, you should have just gone for and you you know like got it. yeah we We went into it a lot last week, but it's like, put it on tape that like It just said that you'll go for it. And, you know, I'm sure LeFlore will say like, well, we got them to jump earlier in the a couple of times earlier in the game, but that was third down. Like you have to snap the ball on third down and they know that. So that's why they're jumping. The the whole idea on the fourth down is like they don't believe you're going to do it. Even the one where they ended up going for the fourth into going into the second quarter.
00:36:30
Speaker
I thought they should have gone for it at the end of the first quarter, you know, like you you run the clock down and then like at the five second mark, you go, you you snap the ball then because you use the like at that point, if you're the Packers, you use your track record of we're drawing them off size, we're drawing them off size. And then when the other team relaxes because they're like, it's the end of the quarter. Then you snap the ball and run it right at him or whatever, but teach their own. It ended up working out in the way it worked for him because when they did run the fork down play, Jordan got like four yards just on a QB dive because they, you know, I know it was the push from the offensive line, but you know, it just,
00:37:21
Speaker
Usually with his QB dive, you get one, two yards and that's, or, you know, a couple of yards, but they like drove him up the field with this, with as deep as he went because they were not set for it. You know, they're so used to seeing on film that they don't go for it. They don't go for it. So I completely agree with you on it.
00:37:58
Speaker
ah
00:38:01
Speaker
Go for it. I know. I don't see a lot of people talking about this, but i then again, I really haven't been overly active on social media is too much lately, but.
Third Down Conversion Concerns
00:38:14
Speaker
Third third down conversion rates for the Packers. Right ah ah now, of course, this isn't going to have tonight's game on there, but going into tonight's game, they were only let me make sure I grabbed the right numbers or somebody can't friggin. Check me on it, but I skied it about it.
00:38:39
Speaker
Oh, there's another one that I'll throw out. There is a, uh, there are 37.9% on third down conversions. So, uh, I got that stat from stat muse and that puts them about mid level for NFL teams. That's not great when you're hoping to be, you know, this, you know, offensive juggernaut.
00:39:02
Speaker
Now, yeah, their, their fourth down plays are when they do finally go for them are rather successful, but the goal is not to get into fourth down. Your goal is to convert the third down. So you don't have a fourth down. So, and that tends to lead to a lot of the issues that we're seeing the, the offensive goal, the offense going cold and they're not scoring the points like we assume, you know, like they should, you know,
00:39:29
Speaker
like tonight's game, only getting a couple of field goals in, you know, they had a field goal in the third quarter. They had a field goal in the fourth, and then it wasn't until Malik came in that they scored another touchdown. So that without that junk time touchdown, they would only had score with the regular offense in there. They would only scored six points for the second half.
00:39:53
Speaker
So, you know that's where i'm putting this as a moldy because this has been a trend all year that third down conversions Aren't happening for them and tonight They were Just under 50 percent. They were six of 13 on third down conversions so You know, that's not great. I mean even the friggin saints were four of 11 So that puts them like on par with each other on third down conversions. So yeah, that's, that's my main moldy is they, that's one thing that they have to work on, especially with the playoffs right around the corner yeah and then the Vikings next week. Yeah. And that stat, I do think they were like,
00:40:40
Speaker
four, four, six or seven or something like that in the first half. And then, you know, kind of like loves that. Cause I think love started like eight for 10 or something really good. And then yeah, like it felt like he didn't complete more than like four passes in the second half of the game and stuff. So, you know, that's going to go handin hand in hand. And if your quarterback's not completing a lot of passes, it's, you're not going to convert third downs. And yeah, like you said, it's picking knits because on one hand,
00:41:10
Speaker
like I said the Saints didn't want to be there from like midway through the second quarter and the Packers like read that Rick could tell but at the same time it's like put him in the body bag kind of thing and like like put him in the ground like make no doubt about it it it goes back to what you know what we said about you know the the Jacksonville game when Jair got hurt And not to say like it's anyone's fault that Jair got hurt, but Jair isn't in position to get injured in that Jacksonville game if you just step on their throat and put the game away earlier.
00:41:51
Speaker
And like I said, it's not quite the same in this case because New Orleans never was never really coming back in this one. But at the same time, it's like, if you score a touchdown in the third quarter, you know, instead of going three and out on your first drive, you score a touchdown and and then it's like, okay.
00:42:10
Speaker
maybe Malik plays a quarter and a half kind of thing. And maybe you start, you know, Jacobs doesn't get dinged up with his shoulder and all that kind of stuff. So yeah, like, I agree with you. it's it's a little it's It's nitpicky, but like you said, the whole premise of this point of the season is be playing your best football going into the playoffs. They are playing much, much better than they were even like two to three weeks ago.
00:42:39
Speaker
But still, there's that much better that this team can be. And I don't, you know, some will say like like 6 of 13 is like 47% or something like that. But realistically, it's one of those where it's not like they were definitely going hit one miss one hit one miss one kind of thing it was like hit hit hit hit hit go for it on a fourth down and make it score you know the three touchdowns on the three opening drives and then it's like and then the brakes got slammed on and you saw like three and out four and out three and out five and out kind of thing and stuff and so yeah it it
00:43:21
Speaker
it does rub the wrong way and like i said i don't put too much stock into it because the packers asserted their dominance early and the saints did not want to be there outside of like maybe three players but at the same time Like I said, you can't complain at a 34-0 win, but you can, you know, like we said, this is the part where you're parsing thin hairs at this point. And like you said, that's the kind of efficiency that the team needs to iron out going into the playoffs. Right. And that's my whole point right there. It's not necessarily for like tonight's game itself. It's overall because
00:44:02
Speaker
If you're a mid-level team on a third on third down convision conversion going into playoffs, then you're going to be a mid-level team on third down conversion conversions in the playoffs. And that's where you're going to go up against better. You know, well I shouldn't say you're going to go up against more efficient teams than some of the ones that you're like the saints or whatever you're going to have guys out and.
00:44:28
Speaker
You know, if you're going to want to make that run to the Superbowl, you're going to have to be ah ah more efficient with your stuff. So only going less than 60 to 50% against a lesser team. What are you going to do against a bigger team? Yeah. And yeah, really the only moldy one I would have is like.
00:44:51
Speaker
It's no one's fault, but the Watson injury, you just really hate to see that coming out this late in the season. And you hope that it's not another reason why like he may or may not be available come playoff time. But we'll wait to see. by the time you're listening to this, we'll have a better idea of what the extent of the injury is. But that's really it for me. My last one. I've got one more.
00:45:18
Speaker
Go for it. And it's it's a goofy one, but I have to do it. Chris Berman, you're great. You've been an icon throughout all our lives. but You need new more material. material The Chuba missile crisis, 90% of the people watching you at that moment probably have no idea what the Cuban Missile Crisis was. And you pull out an old man friggin thing with the Chuba missile. I bet you 90% of the people that were watching weren't even alive. I wasn't alive for the Cuban Missile Crisis. The only reason I know about it is because I love history. So yeah. you
00:45:58
Speaker
Either work off your material or just I know you came back because you love it and you know, I do I love you We've you know, we've watched it over, you know all our lives because that's you were the mainstay it on With the NFL on ESPN But come on, man, you can do better. yeah But yeah. Otherwise, the only other note that I have on this game, so the one one of the plays that I saw draw a lot of like groans was the the one where they went for it on fourth and two on the third touchdown drive. And everyone's like, oh my god, he should have thrown it to Christian. And you know it would have been it.
00:46:42
Speaker
I think everyone needs to take a deep breath and understand the timing of that play. Ekman, he kind of goes into it where he's saying like, you're reading, if you're Jordan, you're you're looking for the big play because you're like, youre you call that hoping the Saints are just at the snap, overdoing everything and they're just going for the kill shot to snuff the run out and they the front does but the secondary slow plays it just enough where Watson isn't open quite enough and you know everyone's like oh my god he needed to wait just a second more but what you have to understand is that love isn't only thinking big play he's also gotta account for
00:47:26
Speaker
if one of those linebackers delay rushes, which is what Damorio Davis does, and he knows that Tucker's running towards the sideline, so he he can't let Tucker's route handcuff him into ending up potentially short of the first down. So, you know, some will complain, like, if he just waits another second, you know, a split second, he'll have a touchdown, but there's nothing wrong with him taking the the easy completion to Tucker to make sure he gets the first down.
00:47:55
Speaker
And then Tucker still turns it into like a 20-yard gain or whatever it is at that point. So yeah, it's it's not as cut and dry as like, oh, he should have just waited. He couldn't. like the the you know It's forth into you're expecting pressure. The Saints have two guys who are like somewhere between spying and free rushing on him so his internal clock is just binging away when he's taking you know when he comes off of Watson to throw the Tucker so yeah the the only way he's throwing that ball to Watson is if someone falls down or if everyone in the secondary just like at the snap of the ball is like it's a run and starts hitting the line of scrimmage and stuff and if they don't do that he's got to go somewhere else with the ball so
00:48:40
Speaker
that's why he didn't throw it to Watson there. Well, and no offense to Christian Watson. I'm going to throw it to the guy that's a little bit more sure handed than not. And like I said, that's not a knock on Christian, but we also know Jordan struggles a little bit with the deep ball. So I'm going to go for the more sure shot that I know is most likely going to, uh, at least extend the drive. Then, you know, you you got a 50 50 shot that I throw the right.
00:49:06
Speaker
you know, put the right touch on the ball and you know, it's not going to bounce off Christian's hands and you know, is whatever. So no, I thought you were going to bring that up earlier, but so I didn't mention any of it. So yeah, I completely agree. Just go with the Tucker pass. You know, that's one of those live for another day moments then. Yeah. And that otherwise we'd probably be sitting here using that as a moldy take.
00:49:33
Speaker
You could have hit Tucker when you friggin' overthrew Christian Watson deep. What do you think? and a Yep. But other than that, I mean, kind of like last week's game, this one is pretty cut and dry. Attackers did what they were supposed to do when they're the better team. They just took care of business, stamped their ticket to the playoffs, and I mean, can't complain about that if you're a fan of this team, Packers are going to the playoffs and...
00:50:06
Speaker
outside of, you know, the Watson, you know, waiting for a Watson update tomorrow, um, and potentially more news on where Evan Williams stands moving forward. You know, is it truly a week to week or a day-to-day thing? we'll see where that stands, but Joe, anything else on this game or, we'll kind of put a bow on this one and we'll go into our back-to-back recording to do the preview.
00:50:30
Speaker
i think We just put a bow on it and you know, this episode will be coming out on Christmas Eve. So just wish everybody, you know, happy holidays. And also want to put the PSA out there that, you know, not everybody has the family get togethers like everybody else. So do check on your friends that, you know, make sure they're doing all right. Cause this is also not a good time of year for some people. So just make sure everything's going on, you know, send that text.
00:50:57
Speaker
you know, make that phone call, do that FaceTime. There's technology now, you don't have to. you There's no excuse for you not to, but other than that, eat your food, unwrap your presents, get drunk, whatever you do on your holidays and, and you know, just don't go to jail. Yeah. but's Put that on a shirt, enjoy your holiday, don't go to jail.
00:51:25
Speaker
Well, I don't know about you, but some of my family get-togethers, it was questionable sometimes. Oh, no. But yeah, from all of us here at Ohana Packers Edition, we just want to wish you all a Merry Christmas. The Packers certainly wished us a Merry Christmas by getting this win, a relatively stress-free one.
00:51:44
Speaker
and stamping their postseason ticket. know we've beaten that phrase into oblivion, but I mean, that was the that was the that was the goal for the team this season, and they've done that with two weeks to spare. So obviously, there's still some seating they're playing for, but we'll be talking about that a little bit in the next episode we're about to record. But Iowa Joe, I'm Mike. I just want to say Merry Christmas, Go Pack Go, and Aloha.