Murray Up and Wait: NFC North Preview

31:09And like, especially if you know that Jameer Gibbs can run out of 11 very effectively. I also think like, and this could have been a symptom just of their, the issues along their offensive line and all of the kind of injuries that they had, but there was a kind of tendency to then lean on some of that jumbo personnel to kind of get the running game going a little bit more. I think they were good at, it was like, I think they like ran at the seventh most in the league or something along those lines. and they're really they're really good at that because despite the fact that there was so much and there has been so much like inconsistency along the offensive line you still do have kind of a deep group where you can call on an extra blocker an extra lineman to get out there and kind of kickstart this thing and that's kind of I mean maybe that was also Dan Campbell's kind of fail safe or pull safe when it came to when he took over play calling and all that kind of stuff but I mean I think that there is a way to finagle this with Drew Petsing that you can minimize all of the question marks you have along the offensive line because of what your skill players bring to this offense and how potent it can be and having a veteran quarterback that has seen it all done it all and has really kept this offense afloat through everything yeah I mean Petsing with Jared Goff can we talked about like the potentially questions around the scheme fit with O 'Connell and Kyler Murray.

32:33Now Petsing goes to a different quarterback, same division. It should be a really good match. When they made that hire, I know Cardinals fans are ready to kick him out the door, but I was like, that makes sense. His offense is exactly right for Jared Goff. I don't think they're going to reinvent the wheel. I know I talked about the person also, but I don't think it'll be that different from what we've seen. Very high under center rates, very high play action, very high throwing over the middle of the field. It should be fine. I think the offensive line is the only thing for me that's like the difference between is this the 10th best offense versus a top five offense will go where that, you know, the right side of the offensive line goes.

33:15I'm optimistic. The defense, I have serious. I mean, I'm going to say this. Lions fans, before you get mad, I'm going to say this about every remaining team. That's true. That's true. That's the story of these other teams. Of these teams. And a lot of it has to do with injury, which is also the case for the Lions, who can't field a working secondary to save their lives. I know. For all the attention the Niners get for their injuries, it just feels like this Niners, not Lions defense, hasn't been healthy for years. Years. So up front, largely the same. Another team that plays a ton of base defense, you have Malcolm Rodriguez, good old friend, as the third linebacker when they do that.

33:56But otherwise, same defensive tackle group, which is good. see if tally Williams can take another step um dj want him so the search to find someone who rushed past their opposite Aiden Hutchinson continues you have dj want him they also drafted Derek Moore who's a very productive pass rusher out of Michigan I feel good about the front seven I do too I was just gonna say like if there's anything I feel okay about defensively it is it is the front seven and that like the numbers back that up even from last year just like how it was another one of those things where I was looking through some of the stats and I was like, oh, okay.

34:30So sixth in tackle for loss percentage, they're tied for fourth in sack rate from last year, ninth in defensive DVOA on the entire season. But it was just like the doom and gloom of this was the explosive rate that they allowed and the points that they allowed, which was because of that explosive rate, which was because of the back level. And it's just how much can your front seven really make up for the ability to just throw over top of these guys and and and and score so the back level yeah woof woof woof woof um all right so first of all i know terry and arnold was not good last year and like so i'm not like saying he's some great loss however Do you know that the coaches, the coaches didn't know that they were letting him go.

35:19Really? Yeah, that's what I found out. I was like, oh, like they, there were coaches that found out on Twitter that they were releasing Terry on Arnold. I did enjoy Kelvin Shepard being like, saying with it, like in a, in a more polite way, he wasn't good last year. He was like, I mean, he didn't say it that way. I don't want to, I don't want to, but he was just like, he wasn't lighting the world on fire. um all right so i i mean i'm still trying to figure out exactly what the starting composition will be i know uh dj reed returns opposite him i guess maybe rakia sin who honestly was not that bad is the leader of the clubhouse and is a good fit for the you know it's a very press man heavy defense um maybe mccreary slides inside they drafted keith abby the second ennis rakestraw has been hurt his entire career his entire career um safety do you know who's so uh kirby joseph's injury status remains absolutely which is such a bummer and then my branch um actually i got a little bit i looked up his timeline because they're a little bit more i think he's the one who's more likely to return yeah he tore his achilles when was it december right so it was late in the season.

36:36Yeah. Um, and I think probably early ish in the season could come back, but like it's a tough injury. So you're looking at, we, let's see, I'm looking at the names. Christian is in was you, you know, from the box. Yeah. Chuck park. I mean, kind of got cross trained. Christian isn't got kind of cross trained. I feel like at corner and safety. So you can kind of make him one of those Swiss army knives on the backside. side yeah i mean avante maddox maybe the interesting thing dan campbell just he just said it today dan campbell said it today where because everybody has kind of been like all right you're talking about how brian branch is on a good timeline and like his rehab's going well and this that the other and then like when you were talking about kirby joseph it's basically like i don't know so then dan campbell came out today and said he's going through some personal stuff but his rehab is on track and I'm just like okay well what does that mean and I even tried to do some digging and I was texting some people and I was just like is Kirby Joseph gonna be okay and all I got was like I hope so and I was like okay all right so that it's it's a huge bummer but like the way that Dan was talking about it was like they absolutely could both return this season and that's what you hope for but how do you even stay afloat without those guys and again with like the explosive rate that you allowed last year and and that was with them at some point in the season it's i think the optimistic case of the lions you score so many points that you're just you know playing a lot of run defense i'm also going to say that for other teams in this division yeah it means run defense i meant opportunities to rush the passer and i think that's been a priority for them too like when you look at the way they've approached their front right um it seems like there's they would like to be able to get more pressure with four maybe blitz a little bit less maybe put a little less on us on the corners um so i guess okay i know this has sounded really negative uh there's probably i mean nane hudgeson is awesome i'm still leah lynn mcneil's awesome yes i'm derrick moore is a fun young player i think the linebackers you know jack campbell is obviously really good i think the optimistic case let's let's do this what what is required for things to go right for the lions defense like in your mind what has to click in this group who's like one player you're like if this guy either takes the leap or lives up to his potential or comes out of nowhere then i feel good about this unit um there's a couple and i do think the one one of the things i wanted to point out just kind of about this front in general was the sense like they were tied for sixth in quarterback pressure rate last year despite being 12th in blitz rate so they are getting pressure with four and I think you have to continue doing that and I I feel good about the front seven the one guy that I factors I mean both obviously in the pass rush because of the way that they can use him but more in the run game too is Jack Campbell I mean this is a guy that I talked to Aaron Glenn about when they drafted him at length and all Aaron Glenn told me like at the time was like this is our this this guy's going to outlast me like this is our guy for 10 years this is our middle linebacker for 10 years and against the run last year Jack Campbell was excellent and so if you can kind of if you can marry those two and you can get a good pass rush and and and mitigate the run underneath then if your only weakness is the fact that you have maybe some of these explosives available right for teams I think that's best case scenario because like you're just not going to be able to to count on the secondary, but that's nothing new with the lions.

40:19So they've still been serviceable and this defense has still been decent at times with the buy-in of the front seven. But I think that needs to be all encompassing against the running on the pass. Yeah. I've seen some accounts that they'll play more nickel as well. So a little bit like this is a defensive played a ton of base defense. So definitely Campbell being the onus, like the onus on him and run defense is really significant and he's excellent at it to your point. um yeah and like branch has the earlier branch comes back yes i feel because he's a really special player he really is so i think you know it's kind of like we'll get to there with micah and the packers but it's like if it so to answer my own question if either wanham or derrick moore gives you eight plus sacks and Branch comes back before sometime in the first quarter of the season, I think I'll feel okay about some of the weaknesses.

41:19Yeah, it's treading water until Branch can come back. Alright, let's take a quick break, come back, and let's do the Chicago Bears next. I like things my way. My coffee, my schedule, and my treatment. So I talked to my doctor about self-injecting with the Vivgard Hytrulo Pre-Filled Syringe, which contains F-Gartigamide Alpha and Hyaluronidase QVFC. It's injected under your skin subcutaneously. It means I can inject in my space on my time. It's my treatment, my way. Visit VivgardMyWay.com. That's V-Y-V-G-A-R-T MyWay.com. And talk to your doctor about Vivgard Hytrulo. Brought to you by Argenics.

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43:16Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, They're committed to being your partner and protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRANGER. Click granger.com or just stop by. All right, we're back. Bears, another team with a sick offense and a very dubious defense in my estimation. Yeah. Really, all of these three of these teams. Let's start with the good news. Let's start with the offense. The offense is awesome and fun. It is. It's just weird. It's a weird thing. As someone who grew up in Chicago, experiencing fun and interesting and, again, dynamic offense is not something I'm used to.

44:01I want to ask you about a quote I saw from Caleb that we played on NFL Live where he talked about how it's a really great clip. It was from, I think, earlier in the offseason, but he talks about how last season it was like he was kind of treading water, trying to understand. He was drinking through a fire hose. Yeah, like just so much was on his plate. The offense was so different. There's so much complexity. And now I'm paraphrasing, but he said, now I feel like I can focus on what the defenses are doing and like reading coverages and understanding disguise and whatnot. So I was wondering if you could speak to like his evolution and like what you're seeing from him this offseason as someone who's got boots on the ground versus maybe last offseason when he was still learning.

44:43I have to tell you, last season was, last training camp was horrendous. Like the way, like it was a hard watch. every single day. It was a really hard watch. The procedural penalties were insane. It was very clear that Caleb Williams didn't really know what he was calling. He wasn't even really relaying things correctly. The communication was horrendous. All of the things that could possibly go wrong. But I sat there and having watched Ben Johnson make the switch to offensive coordinator in Detroit and how that was really rocky in the beginning with Jared Goff, I was not hitting the panic button a lot in a lot of the ways that the Chicago media was and Chicago fans were, rightfully so.

45:25Again, it was horrendous looking. But Ben was very transparent throughout that entire process saying, I am overloading him. I am giving him, I'm not expecting him to succeed right away. I'm not expecting him to even look good right now. I'm trying to figure out how much he can handle. And from there, that's how I'll build my offense. That's how I'll build my playbook for the season. That's how I'll build my game plan week in and week out. And it looked like it. So then this year, flash forward to this year, fast forward to this year, it is night and day. I mean, I won't say that there aren't procedural penalties here and there, and there aren't kind of some missed assignments here, and clearly some routes that aren't run correctly.

46:03Sure, that's training camp, that's installs, that's whatever. The decisiveness of Caleb Williams is palpable. the way that he just gets into the huddle and he communicates what he needs to and his you can you can see his eyes moving you can see his head move like he knows what he's supposed to do and that was night and day from last year um i think that there's a lot of off-season work that went into this too i mean there were there were like people like were walking in on ben sleeping in the office in April and you were just like you absolute sicko like what I mean compliment I keep calling Ben a psycho but like in the best way so this is an off this is an offense that has put in a lot of work in the offseason and Colson Loveland was telling us too about how much Caleb Williams like was working with the receivers he was flying guys out to California to work with them to make sure that the timing was down guys like Luther Burden who I mean he's he's injured right now but he should be back soon.

47:06We'll see how long he's out. He's not lacking for any sort of confidence at this point. Now that he has also been in the system for a year, it's just, you can see how everybody kind of knows what to expect. That's really exciting. I mean, the bears, I was looking at penalties recently and the bears had so many penalties in the first half of the offensive penalties, the first half of the season. And it's like the bears and the Jags, right? The two teams with the new play callers, where the quarterbacks were kind of still acclimating to the new offenses. Everybody was acclimating. So I think year two with Ben Johnson, this is all really exciting to hear if you're a Bears fan.

47:44As far as like, you know, where Caleb has to get better, we've talked about a lot. A lot. The big stuff, you know, he does the hard stuff really well and the easy stuff not so well. And that's reflected in the numbers. He was tied for the third most explosive plays of any quarterback in football behind only Drake May and Josh Allen. He was third in QBR under pressure. 20th kept clean uh he was sixth in qbr versus the blitz but then 32nd in off target rate on short throws it's just like yeah everything he did everything he made like all the difficult stuff you know he was able to generate explosives and do really cool things and then i think just down to down accuracy we don't need you don't need to hear me talk about that for the 20 millionth time it's like pretty obvious i mean that's my biggest thing too is as someone who was at those at most of these games and just I hindsight will let you forgive what you went through watching like quarters one through three of these games because of the result you know that they're like they they had these late quarter or late game heroics these fourth quarter heroics then they came back and they won the game and this that the other but when I tell you a hard watch was quarters one through three and the numbers back it up too I mean it's just it like it was it was so hard because it was so start stop and it was hard on ben johnson too because he could get into no sort of like play calling rhythm and that was the biggest thing where i was like you need to be able to just move the ball methodically down the field do the easy things a little bit better a little bit more consistently i love ben johnson's though just almost defiant commitment to the run which is again what we saw in detroit and it now has carried over into chicago where even if the run wasn't working.

49:24Ben was like, well, I've got no other choice at this point because Caleb, it's not fourth quarter Caleb yet. So I need to tread water somehow. And, and they did. Dominant on the ground. Dominant offensive line. Dominant, like yards before contact. Ben, one of the things I really like, I was looking at, um, FDN Fantasy has like, where they rank in various gopher at rates and whatnot. Yeah. Second in run rate on second and long and then second and go for it late. Right. So a lot of the reason time they were comfortable running in second long was him knowing we're using four downs. It's a very progressive way to, you know, call it offense.

50:03And yeah, I mean the, the, the run game, you know, there's some changes with the offensive line that I wouldn't get to in a second. Cause that is a little bit of a concern, but I do still think that they'll be very good. Especially if the passing game is a little bit more efficient. And as far as the efficiency goes, you talked about Luther Burden, who was phenomenal with the ball in his hands. Roma Dunze was hurt last year. I think there's hope that maybe if he's a little bit healthier, he can live up to his draft status. And Colston Loveland in the second half of the season slash postseason emerged as one of the best downfield threats as a tight end in football.

50:46I was looking at his splits because, you know, weeks 10 through the, especially as the season went along and then the post season, he was massive for them. And a couple of things, I mean, the second, again, week 10 through the divisional round, he was second in yards amongst tight ends behind only Trey McBride and first downs. He averaged 9.52 air yards per attempt, way up from the first half of the season, which would have been generously first over the course of the entire season. And then one thing that really caught my eye in terms of his usage, Carmen, in the first half of the season, he was lined up.

51:22He was split out wide just 9 % of the time. In the second half of the season, that jumped to 26 % of the time, as well as he took a jump in the slot. Which is interesting. He's actually, I think, proved to the world that he's a good blocker. And that was a really cool and important development because of how he's been. In the beginning of the season, especially, yes, when he's attached to the formation. Yes. they're very good at getting defenses to play base and throwing on them but basically he kind of became their number one ride receiver and I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about that and like year two I mean that was all year one for a tight end which is crazy I mean that's why Ben Johnson wanted him so bad I really do think that Colson Loveland is the key to this entire offense for so many different reasons and I've I've detailed it a few times now just why it's so important to have a guy like Colston Loveland, who obviously is a receiving threat, but is a willing blocker.

52:17He's not an elite blocker yet, and it's not to say he can't get there, but Ben Johnson is willing to ISO him against DNs. And if that's the case, then you have no idea what he's about to do, whether he's attached to the formation or not. And that really helps you get the defense on his heels. That's what Ben Johnson wants to do, to be able to stay two, three steps ahead. That's why Colson Loveland is so incredibly important to this defense or this offense. And, you know, the age-old thing of, like, why more teams haven't been in these multiple tight end sets is essentially because you're pulling perhaps your best receivers off the field in favor of a tight end.

52:52Well, what happens when your tight end is your best receiver? And that's Colson Loveland. Like, I fully think that Colson Loveland is going to end up being this team's top receiver this year. and I think that Roma Duneza is still going to kind of slot in at at number two because Colston Loveland just gives you so many question marks if you're a defense yeah and that is what Ben Johnson thrives off of because he loves trotting out the you know like the same look just to do different things out of it and Colston Loveland is the one that unlocks all of that on top of the fact you have Cole Komet you have Sam Rausch now and you can run more of his blocking tight end the rookie that they drafted out of stanford so this is going to be a bridge i think we're going to see some he likes using you know using his head and not just the stanford education but like actually engaging block uh yeah i mean lovely you know i mentioned he was split out wide but he was still in line a decent amount absolute weapon off of play action for all the reasons that you mentioned i mean again like i think about all those corner routes in the postseason the deep crossers that are available like those are yeah really special player um so So yeah, I think to go back to the one concern I probably have, you know, the Braxton Jones old friend at left tackle, Ozzie, it's a bummer because Ozzie Trapilo I thought was playing so well.

54:08Well, apparently now he might be coming back. Like before, before training camp's even over. I don't like there was a footnote in an SI article about how he could be ready sooner than expected. And then Hogan Johns pressed Ryan Poles about it recently. and then Ryan Poles was like yeah so it it turns out it's a better situation than we thought we could like it's still on the table that he comes back during training camp you're like what would that would be huge because right now I feel very very bad about the left tackle options I mean not very bad I actually think that Jedrick Wills if he can play up to his potential for the first like essentially time that he could like he was he wasn't bad in Cleveland if we can get like first couple years, Jedrick Wells in Cleveland, maybe that's what I just, I like Braxton a lot, Mina.

55:01I just, he was competent for them. He was injured last year when he lost a job and his, his anchor just, he just can't anchor. He cannot anchor. He's not built to anchor. I, I feel bad because he, I like, I like him a lot. I like him a lot and he was serviceable and you can get by, especially when that person is playing next to Joe Tooney, like the left tackle gets to play next to Joe Tooney but it's just to protect her of the year. I'm in retired. Yeah. Garrett Bradbury is now the center. Yeah. I mean not as good. They drafted Logan Jones too to see like you know if they can develop him. Yeah.

55:36Have that swing guard kind of on the interior too. All right. So top 10 offense I believe very excited for all the reasons we described. Now we do the defense. Do we have to? I was really the Kobe Bryant injury just took me out. Okay. I know. For those who don't, the Bears defense, I talked about this when I talked about the Jags. Like, sorry, the Bears caught a stray here. But when you took out turnovers, they were 32nd in success rate, 30th in EPA per play, 30th in yards per play. The reason we always talk about is there's multiple studies. Turnovers tend not to repeat year to year. they were the 2024 Packers the bear 2025 Bears defense was the 2024 Packers with the turnovers too it's not just about it's it's actually less about the forcing of the turnovers and more about like who comes up with the ball because a turnover is like inherently like chaos and you know especially so the Bears recovered a lot of fumble a lot of their PBUs turned into picks it's all stuff that just tends not to repeat year to year especially by the way when uh most of the people who got the turnovers are gone.

56:47Kevin Byard's gone, you know, uh, Nishan Wright, who was like a weird turnover machine. Um, so the defense, you know, they revamped the safety group. They drafted Dylan Fiedemann, who I thought was a really cool pick for them at Oregon, a very Swiss army knife type player. And the idea was, okay, now we're going to play him next to Kobe Bryant. He's a veteran. He was really good in Seattle. He gets hurt. He's going to miss most of the season. We don't know. We have no clarity on that. Katie from Buffalo steps in. He gets hurt too. Then you're like, okay, well, the corner group is great. Oh, no, Kyler Gordon's hurt again.

57:21Again, doesn't have working soft tissue. Apparently it just does not. The premise of the defense for me, Carmen, was that the pass rush was still going to be bad, but that the secondary was good enough to compensate for it. But now I question whether that premise can happen. I'm with you. Exactly. And that was all of their offseason moves, their draft like drafting Dylan Thienemann all of that told you telegraphed to you that that's what they were going to bank on and now with injuries I am left like and I mean I can't imagine Dennis Allen like just in his office just throwing stuff at the wall both figuratively and literally they're trying to like cross train like Josh Blackwell is now like cross trained at safety like they're trying to figure out all of these different workarounds for Kobe Bryant being out an indefinite amount of time.

58:13First, we heard eight to 10 weeks. Now we don't know. Like they're like Ben Johnson came out. I was like, I don't know where you guys got that. We're like, you know exactly where we got that. Like, I don't stop arguing with us. Just let us know what's going on with him. So, yeah, I don't have a lot of optimism for the defense other than I just think that the offense is going to go out there and score 30 to 35 points a game and you might just be able to get away with it.

58:40They signed Devin Bush. who I think was really good last year. And TJ Edwards was activated just recently. So the linebackers you think could be a little better about. I hope so. Opposite Montez Sweat. This was like one of the big mysteries of the offseason. It's not really a mystery, but there's a lady reasons, but they didn't add pass rush. I hope a bet on Austin Booker, who at least has flashed for them as a young, the young pass rusher. That's the optimistic kind of take on it is like, oh, we've got Austin Booker, but we've also been having Austin Booker for the last couple of seasons where you're like waiting for Austin Booker to take that step forward.

59:21My big thing, too, was you got rid of Andrew Billings. You didn't do a whole lot as far as adding to the interior of that line either to make things easier on these on these edge guys. Does Dio Dengbo, you know, does he is he healthy? Does he factor into this? was their big signing last year he was hurt he was murdered right so yeah again i feel okay jaylen johnson's a good corner tyrick stevenson's been up and down but like if so they drafted malik muhammad who might it again i think the optimistic case let's do this again is that in the second half of the season kobe bryant comes back and the secondary becomes a strength and the offense is able to put up leads so that they're forcing you know opposing offenses to pass otherwise i do i struggle with this group maybe there's a late move to be made to add to the pass rush yeah it's tough um kind of running out of guys actually so i like you know maybe at the end of training camp when like Like that whole timeline, that's where you start.

1:00:33That's where you add something, which they've done before. Or, I mean, I guess best, best case scenario too is like Javon Dexter on the interior takes a huge step forward and becomes a guy that can rush the passer from the middle or whatever. I just, I, Grady Jarrett is, is getting older and I, I don't know. I, I really, really, I was so shocked when like. The baddest run too. like that's the other like that's why I was so shocked when like they they got Dylan Thienemann and then I just kept waiting I was like all right I'm like looking at all the edge guys as they're going and I know the draft really like it just didn't swing their way I feel like because they wanted a pass rusher but where they were picking they're just never worked out and they got taken before and it just didn't it didn't work out for them but yeah and Thienemann's a really good player like i like the pennies really good for them but it is tough um hey montez what was good last year first double digit uh sack guy for them since 2021 robert quinn in 2021 so the ageless robert quinn ageless wonder who had 18 and a half sacks i think that year like like i said it's basically the same i mean honestly we're about to do it again shortly the world's biggest soccer tournament has arrived and you can trade the entire tournament on Kalshi.

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1:03:45It's why Shopify has the best converting checkout on the planet. Your customers already love it. If you want to see less carts being abandoned, it's time for you to head over to Shopify. Sign up for your$1 per month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com slash network. Go to Shopify.com slash network. Shopify.com slash network. Packers. All right. So let's again, it's copy paste here. I feel much better about the offense than the defense. The Packers, however, have somebody walking through that door in like week six and that's going to really. And so in some ways I feel like they're actually a little better equipped.

1:04:29Although I mean, the Lions already have Aiden Hutchinson, but I think the Packers have a better secondary right now than Detroit. let's start with the offense really some interesting things to discuss here so this offense was top 10 it's been top 10 every year with you know Matt LeFleur yeah they let guys walk so what used to be like hey we have a million receivers and they're all equals and it's you know that's our identity and yeah receiver is Matt LeFleur now No, they're they're actually there's it's a streamlined group with Watson who they paid Matthew Golden the first round draft pick last year and Jane Reed behind them.

1:05:14There's you know, Bo Melton, Sabian Williams, but Tucker craft appears to be on track to play week one, which is huge. Let me talk about him. Questions about Josh Jacobs potentially a suspension looming but Marshawn Lloyd. What? Finally, I know there's questions about the Packers offensive line, but there's always questions about the Packers offensive line every year. Jordan Morgan kicks out to left tackle Zach back about Boile now not Zach Tom is stalwart at right tackle. Yeah. So look, I had them as a top 10 offense. They just are that every year they find a way to make it work. I want to pose a question for you about this Packers offense.

1:06:01Because again, it's on one hand, they've been so efficient and they're they always rank so high in every both they're efficient and they're explosive they're really like a very reliable unit however i i tried to put myself in the mindset of like during the year when i why was i getting frustrated watching them at times what did you come up with because i wrote matt lafleur do you need to run the football this much so okay next to stats tracks this thing called run rate over expectation which they base on situation formation personnel it's really good as opposed to just looking at flat run rates because run rates are influenced by game situation yada yada the backwards were first in the league they ran the ball based on this 15 percent more than expected to put that in context baltimore who we think of as like a running team was three percent so then i thought well maybe malik willis Let me take out the Malik Willis games even higher.

1:07:01And they were fine running the ball. They were more efficient than explosive. But your quarterback is had a 98 QBR on third and long. He had a he was second QBR non-play action. So it's not like you have to baby him. Right. So I guess that's what I want to posit to you. Like, I think Malifor is great. I understand also like the run game is very fun. like there's run actions are a big part of what they do generally there's an rpo company all that but like maybe a little less a little less like what do you think i no i'm with you especially when you like they were for like they had top 10 in stuff right too like some like there were there were times where some games that were just like they were not like it was not the eagles game i mean the weather would be yeah yeah it's not working yes it was not working and i'm just like all right can we move off of this like i know i praise ben johnson for like his defiant sense of just like sticking with the run no matter what but that's but that you and you're really good at it b that's kind of like especially when your quarterback is still developing into your system you just you need to give him that safety net this is not the case as you just mentioned with jordan love and have like this this passing attack so bottom third and rushing epa too like there was just times where you were like okay enough i totally am on board with that especially when you do have all the question marks along the offensive line that you did and you're like why are we and right it made I couldn't tell if it was like Josh Jacobs looked a little washed or it was just the overutilization or what it necessarily was in the in the backfield there but I think the line was a big part of it because that was like it was similar to the Lions was kind of slept on how many different like rotation like the injuries that they had and I yeah we're just like they'll figure it out.

1:08:48But yeah, I do think it's like, all right, maybe it's funny because my lesson from less, the let Russ cook movement at a certain point was like, actually the run game was very important for Russell Wilson. But I think when you look at the Packers offense, it's not like they face a disproportionate amount of like single high coverage because of it or team stack the box. No. So I don't know. I think that's just something that I've been noodling with, with, um, um i know it's the same they're the most frustrating team in this division in so many ways because i like i look at all of their offensive stats too but then that translated into what like 23 points per game and i can't for the life of me understand why they were like not productive enough like they were middling in red zone percentage and whatever but like not to the point where it would explain the fact that they had the third highest explosive rates percentage they're fourth in epa per play again middling in red zone but like 23 points per game is all you have to show for it and they have 20 they were 21st in time of possession too the officers didn't even have the ball that long and i'm like how are you not sustaining drives when your offensive efficiency is so good but like the production isn't there it was it just it boggles my mind as to who this Packers team is, was, I guess Matt LaFleur is like stripping it all down this off season or like that's what he said is he got all of his coaches together.

1:10:15He said it to Jordan Rodrigue, good friend of ours that he like this, this off season was spent with his coaches just kind of like stripping it all down. And we're going to start from square one. And however, you know, true that is, it needs it. something that needs to happen i i think as far as the receiving group the question remains do they do they even have they still haven't do they have a number one um because yeah you're paying christian watson like a number one but matthew golden you want him to leave yeah you you know you want golden to like to look like he did the very end of the season right on the game i will say Tucker Craft is like, okay.

1:10:59Like he's, he's him. Like he is a top, I think can absolutely be a top three tight end. The best I had in football last year. He was a monster. The, the effect that Tucker Craft has on this offense. Like I did the, I broke down like them with him on the field, with him off the field. It is equivalent to what Micah Parsons impact is on defense like just the way that the the their offensive metrics fluctuate their success rate fluctuates the points that they have their epa all of that stuff like epa per play with him on the field 0.12 epa per play without him 0.02 like going from being like a top two or three offense yes to like to bottom third yeah and it's like it's again it's just success rate 47.4 percent with him 42.5 percent without him which again is that same fluctuation even though it's you know what five percentage points whatever it is but like that is how important tucker craft is to this offense and how much of an impact he has so the fact that he could in fact be ready for week one seems like it yeah you don't have to lean on the wide receiver group as much because they're not as deep and that's the biggest concern i have now yeah like if one of those guys i know if one of them goes down if watson's when one of those you went when one of them you talk about crafts on us but watson's over the years are really significant and it's not for him it's not just him getting the ball but his ability to stretch the field creates so much space like him and craft you kind of need both of them on the field at the same time because Watson is the one who creates the space of the space.

1:12:41Yes, exactly. And so like, if you could tell me that you get a full season of Watson and craft, I'm like, kind of set it and forget it. This is a top six, seven offense. I feel good about it. Obviously Watson has had his injury history. So yeah, I, I, I, I'm still very optimistic about the Packers offense. Notice I haven't even talked about Jordan love. Yeah. 1 millionth time. I think he's a top 10 quarterback and it's pretty the obvious yes um the line not worry it's been a long time since I felt super solid about it yeah um so I think you know just whether or not this Packers offense can get the ceiling can LaFleur let the governor off a little bit can Watson stay healthy and craft if you tell me those two things and then Jordan Morgan and left tackle is a really important yeah change and I talked about that Packers fans you could check out I think he was my NFC X Factor for the Packers and I went back and watched him at right tackle, and honestly, he was pretty good.

1:13:36So the defense. All right, here we go again. San Jose North, baby. When did this happen? When did this happen? Because the way that I grew up with this division was not the purple people eaters and the monsters of the midway and the black and blue division, which was just running the football in defense, and now it could not be further. So the Packers defense to me is a very simple proposition. can you survive until Micah Parsons returns correct I believe they were talking about like week six the Cowboys game yeah you know he's gonna try to get back to that oh he's he's told every reporter that's asked him about it like a Cowboys game the Cowboys game the Cowboys game so here's something I find really interesting about that okay so I think we agree the premise is like all right when you get parts of the bag it's totally different defense everything changes you saw that last year when you took him out it completely collapsed it was honestly a little bit dubious even with him because of some of the holes so new defensive coordinator jonathan gannon so jonathan gannon in philadelphia the defense sometimes much maligned for this but it was very like we are going to rush for radio pressure with four we're going to play a lot of quarters behind it we're going to try to cap explosives but we're leaning on our front four we're not you know okay so then he goes to arizona where they try it's he's nick ralas comes with him he's It's more chaos ball, honestly, but a lot of compensating for some of the weaknesses.

1:15:03I feel like in the first half of the season, you need Jonathan Gannon to be as like, to be like a mad scientist, frankly, more so than what you saw in Philadelphia. Because let me tell you, they ain't getting pressure before. No. Look at this year right now. You know, sure, Van Ness is healthy. He'll be better. I believe it. Devontae Wyatt's back and healthy. quietly huge loss for them. They'll get more pressure, but I kind of think your best pass, I mean, Edger and Cooper, that's my kind of X factor for this team or your, your, your strength is your safeties, right? Javon Bullard. Can you make him part of the rush?

1:15:43Can you, you know, buy some time confused offenses because he's got to pull out every trick in his bag these first six weeks without Micah Parsons. I feel like he is quietly one of the bigger X factors in the division, Jonathan Gannon specifically. Yes. Yeah, absolutely. Like you have to, and he said it, he's going to devise essentially one defense for before Micah Parsons is back. And then another defense for when he returns, because when he returns, you absolutely can just be like, my guys are better than your guys go. But before that you are going to, I, there's all of the back, the back level is going to be so incredibly crucial.

1:16:15And I do have questions on the kind of the corners of this like of this team which I had um but you have safeties you have three legitimate starting safeties really good this is one of the better Xavier McKinney Evan Williams Javon Bullard do something with them all three of those guys need to be on the field pretty much at all times yeah if I'm Jonathan Gannon and I'm trying to survive without Micah parsons right now and again to your point confuse offenses buy some time for the rush to get there because we have been wanting lucas van nes to kind of make that next step and make that next leap so hopefully with him being healthy he can actually do it i do think devontae wyatt has been very underrated kind of in his packer senior so losing it was it clearly it's funny because the three safeties they're so good too like they're so different skill sets mckinney so even though They complement each other really well.

1:17:10He was a true center fielder, takes so much range. Evan Williams, one of the best run defending safeties in the entire NFL right now. And then Bullard, I almost feel like can Gannon find a way to use him as like a Derwin James style, like get him closer to Elias Gribben. He's really, yes, like that's your strength, right? 100%. DeBron Zaire Franklin to replace Quay Walker, fine. I think he'll be fine. it's funny because I feel like there's a lot of skepticism around the Packers, but I do wonder if the skepticism is a little bit of like, we've been so high on this team and it's kind of the same, but I think maybe what's lost in some of that skepticism is how injured they were last year.

1:17:54Wyatt, Kraft, Parsons. So if all of those guys, this is a team that I find very hard to rank because I think at the end of the season, they could be easily the best team in the division. But I think at the beginning of the season, I don't know.

1:18:16It's crazy that they were still winning games and competitive even without them, which again, credit to LeFleur. He's a very good coach. Yeah, I don't know, man. Corners, like you said, they're an issue. They were an issue last year. They drafted Brandon Cissé. He's really athletic, interesting, but a little bit raw in my estimation. Hargrave, Javon Hargrave switches teams. He should be fine. It's a reunion with Jonathan Gannon, I just realized, from Philadelphia. All right. Are you really going to make me rank these teams? I'll go first, but I'm actually literally, in my head, I've gone back.

1:18:55So what complicates this is the Lions have a really easy schedule. Right. And if they didn't, I don't think. Lass of the easy, in fact. Yeah. And I think the Lions offense is going to be awesome. I'm so skeptical of the Bears' defense. I think all these offenses are going to be awesome. And like I said, I think the Packers are going to be really good at the end of the year. Crush. Oh, my God. All right. I am going to go. I can't put the Lions third. that doesn't make sense with that schedule i i'm i'm this this could end up with any order it literally could and it's not gonna shock these are so weird um all right screw it let's go

1:19:50lions packers bears vikings i hate that i had the bears first in the division like a month ago it's so stupid. I don't know why I keep. I mean, I keep talking about how the Vikings could win this division even, and that would not shock me. I I've been also saying about the bears. I think that they are going to have a worse record while being a better team. So like I could see them winning only nine or 10 games, despite the fact that they are better offensively because like that defense just really, really bothers me. Um, but I also don't think that that really matters until you get to the post season, but do you even get to the post season?

1:20:23That's what throws me off with all of these teams that have these defensive question marks where I'm like, all right, your offense can carry you through the regular season, maybe. But defensive, like, you know, I'm of the old text of defense is what wins you championships in games comes in the postseason. Anyway, I don't know.

1:20:48Packers, Vikings, Bears, Lions? I don't know. Let's just throw that at the wall. I don't know. I don't know. Is that the reverse of what you said? I don't even remember what you said. I don't even know. Next tomorrow, I'm going to rank them differently. Throw this out, honestly. Don't aggregate me. Bears fans, I'm sure, you could easily win this division. I want to be here. I truly, this is the most chaotic, stupidest division in football. Yes. We love her dearly. God. All right. I don't even know. I'm going to change it tomorrow. I literally, in the power hour, had the Bears and Packers first every time, but then the schedule the lions the schedule of the lions the schedule i mean like the vikings are going to have a relatively easy schedule too and the bears strength the bears are the number one strength of schedule like it's a tough schedule that they're going to have to go up again so i don't even know if 30 points a game is going to save them but i think they're going to be a better offense i think they're going to be great on offense they're going to be really great they're all really good offenses that's carmen retaliate carmen where can people check out your work i know there's some stuff that you can't talk about just yet but uh we're gonna find you and then they'll learn about those um my fox sports radio show airs 3 to 5 p.m on central time on saturdays uh it's 1 to 3 p.m pacific and i'm doing a lot as far as like social media but you can also catch me uh on a lot of local things here in chicago on the score um some of the various tv stations there so yes you mentioned some things i can't talk about yet all right um but we will on all platforms and those things will come to light soon.

1:22:19Thank you guys for tuning in. Oh my God, I hate my rankings already. I want to walk them back. I hate them. I will be back next week to talk about preseason football. It begins. And then we will finish with the AFC North. So I will catch you then. Thank you as always to the folks at Omaha Productions. Kirsten Sebecki, Owen Saylor, Jack Foster. See you guys later.

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