Aaron Nagler and Ahman Green preview Vikings-Packers

0:00This is Belie, one network, every topic, everywhere. Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider presented by FanDuel Matthew Collar here and a very exciting show as we deep dive into the Green Bay Packers, the Vikings opponent for this week. All right, we welcome into the show the guests that none of you wanted, Aaron Negler from Cheesehead TV to give the Green Bay Packers perspective on Sunday's contest between the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers. First question for you, Negler. Do you like it? Do you like starting week one at US Bank Stadium for the pack? I hate it. I hate it. All its forms. I hate the history. I hate that building. I hate this team. Good to be on. Thanks for having me. It has been a discussion though this week of whether you'd like to have the division

1:00rival. I think from the Vikings perspective, no Mike Parsons, no Josh Jacobs, they don't know who's playing on the offensive line because of a couple of injuries. That seems favorable and not only that, but Kevin O'Connell and Kyle or Murray haven't put anything on tape yet. So it's a little bit harder, I think, to prepare for what exactly this offense is going to look like. I think there's a slight edge toward Minnesota in this battle because if they had played for the first time in like week nine, then Mike Parsons might have 14 quarterback pressures or something in that game. Right. I know. I think you're absolutely spot on. There's zero doubt that it sets up well for the Vikings. No question about it. And the reasons you mentioned are absolutely solid. It's funny in Packerland over here in the Packer's Fear. A lot is being made of Jonathan Ganon's history with Kyle or Murray and what advantages that might bring the Packers. And I don't know that it's a huge deal, but you have to think, yes, of course, he knows what he's good at, where his strengths lie, what weaknesses he may have, things that,

2:02you know, situationally or tendency wise, he might be able to glean some kind of small advantage, but overall, you're absolutely correct. It's the division week one thing. I don't mind it either way. You know, you're going to have to play them eventually. It is not who you play. It's when you play them. And certainly with this kind of setup, certainly would feel like the Vikings have a tad bit of an advantage here. And look, I don't think it really matters when the Packers play the Vikings in Minnesota. Minnesota always has an advantage in that building, right? It's a true home field advantage. And the Packers under the floor haven't fared well when they've crossed the state line. Yeah. No, it is. And I was just looking up the Vikings have since Brian Flores took over, allowed the fourth fewest points at home in the entire NFL. I mean, the noise advantage is very real. Let's talk about the battle between Flores and Jordan love and Matt LaFlor first, and then we'll get into the defensive side without Parsons and so forth. But I love this battle because I feel like what Jordan love has been really good at is

3:07also what Brian Flores wants to do the most. Love was one of the best quarterbacks in the league against the Blitz. He's one of the best quarterbacks against too high safety looks. And these are things that Flores does all the time. And with a running game that may not be the same, it feels like that's the thing that we're going to put on the marquee is this quarterback who has emerged as being very, very good. Maybe we'll have to be trusted a little more by his head coach and this absolute sociopath of a defensive coordinator who is at the top of his game with a defense that just got Harrison Smith back, which I'm sure thrilled everybody in Green Bay to see. I mean, that's such a huge development, right? And I kind of went through the offseason. I don't know what the feeling was with the Vikings and their fan base, but I've kind of just assumed that was going to happen, right? Like he was going to pull a Michael stray hand and like just skip camp and then come ready to go week one. Can't say it's a surprise. I would suspect the Packers have probably been thinking that was going to happen as well. So I don't think there's any surprise factor there, but you talk about an extension of Flores

4:09on the field. And that's, you know, you know, you've covered this team like a glove for a long time. Like it is what makes that whole defense tick, right? And I do think you mentioned it's funny. When I've been having chats with Packers fans, people talk about, oh, yes, Flores, the craziness of the blitzing the way he does it on any down, what early downs, it doesn't matter. But people always talk about like, well, then the receiver should be able to take advantage of this suspect secondary. Yeah, except Flores plays like 70% zone behind these pressure packages, right? And to your point, the cover two stuff, certainly you would think, okay, you have cover two beaters and things like that. But the way Flores gets into these unconventional usage of this personnel, if you're a quarterback and Jordan love is, as Matt LaFour has been talking all off season, one of the best in the game at sorting things out, where is the pressure coming from? Where am I hot and things like that? It's all well and good to have a pretty snap look, but you snap the ball.

5:09Now suddenly, you have a linebacker dropping into the too high safety look, right? Like it's not conventional. I think you look back at that game at Lambo last year, they really gave the Packers protection unit a lot of trouble, a whole bunch of trouble, which is why essentially Matt LaFour just batten down the hatches and just ran the ball. And when three hours in the cloud of dust, I think of course, another component there was that McCarthy was at quarterback and I don't think they were worried about the Vikings' offense. But every time the Packers tried to get something going through the air, they had all sorts of trouble sorting out what Flores was bringing, who was coming, who was dropping. I don't think adding, you know, putting that game in Minnesota, adding probably a rookie along the offensive line, that crowd noise, that environment, it's going to be really tough. It's going to be a very big daunting challenge for Jordan Love. I mean, I think he is as advertised. He is one of the best in the game at the line of scrimmage, but man, you get into that

6:11environment, you get into a moment where hopefully everybody's on the same page up front, but you haven't, you've barely run with your starting five, whoever that might be as a cohesive unit all summer long. And now this is your kind of kickoff point this season. Yeah, not, not really thrilled, doesn't give us warm fuzzy feelings in Green Bay. I'll tell you that. At the same time in that very same game, there were throws that Jordan Love made to the far sideline off of his back foot as people rushed in to get him the thing that I think Flores and the Vikings defense should be concerned about. Jordan Love is the spectacular play where he has numerous times against the Vikings made just eye popping throws. And there's a little bit of the same thing with someone like Patrick Mahomes or someone like Josh Allen where when you have the size and the athleticism to make throws that you don't necessarily have to step into like, I think we both have a ton of respect for Jared Goff seeing how good he's been in his career.

7:13But if he is ever so slightly off platform, it's all, it's all, at all. Whereas Jordan Love could be running this way, running that way, running 10 yards back and then still throw it off his back foot and it goes 40 yards down the field. And so if you get those pressure packages and even if they're working, this is a guy who's been really good, even under pressure. And I think where the biggest edge for Green Bay is that I'm fascinated to see how Flores tries to counter this is Harrison Smith is 37 years old and has not had a training camp. Josh Mattellis is not a burner either. How are they going to deal with the speed, which kind of brings me to that receiver group. I have openly mocked you for years when it comes to the receivers. That's true. Oh, we have so many of them. They're just everywhere. It's wonderful. It's like, oh, yeah, I'd rather have Moss or Jefferson, but sure, that's fine. I do think though now with golden Watson read, that's a lot of team speed that I think could

8:14give the Vikings problems. So where do you think the receiver unit is at going into the season? Yeah. I mean, this is what's so fascinating from the Packers offensive perspective as far as having these skill position players all playing together, essentially for the first time. Last year, we had Christian Watson kind of appear in the middle of the season just in time to lose Tucker craft, right? You look at golden in his maturation, the time on task last year, disappointing output production wise, but certainly seems to have a really good rapport with Jordan Love. And Jayden Reed, you just spam him from the slot, right? He's made plays against this Vikings defense. Plenty of them. I do think the time on task together should help them. And it's something where you, I mean, I don't think it's any big mystery. Their game plan has to be get the ball out of Jordan's hands as quickly as possible. Now that doesn't necessarily mean we're going to be throwing a bunch of slants or we're going to be throwing a bunch of, you know, kind of hitch routes, but get those guys in space and use some of that yak ability, use some of that speed against.

9:16As you mentioned, you know, I'm not a burner unit there in the secondary for the Vikings. I do wonder when you talk about the passing game and this should be the strength of the offense, especially now with Josh Jacobs on the shelf, I do wonder how much Matlow Florel leads into some of the kind of draw kind of counters, just things to keep things off balance for the Vikings defense because you can't have Jordan Love back there 45, 50 times throwing it around the yard. That's just asking for trouble, right? I do think there's one kind of game here in this matchup between La Flore and Flores that the Packers can point to and that's the New Year's Eve contest a couple years ago. You know, that's a game again where it wasn't like they were trying to spam downfield shot plays or anything like that, but they were effective and they, they utilize the flats with the tight end of quite a little bit in that game. And I do think this is a game where they're going to try and get somewhat horizontal,

10:20probably almost inviting pressure at times to try to get guys in the open field and give them some yak opportunities. But I mean, that's really easy for me to say and it's a lot harder to do when Flores is drawing things up. I think as long as they keep Bo Melton on the sideline, the Vikings are better off that 100 yards in that game, baby. Come on now. Yep, the Bo Melton game. The defense has changed quite a bit since then in terms of the secondary where Isaiah Rogers has become a good player. Byron Murphy clearly has become a good player. And I think he may have not played in that game because he missed down the stretch. So they were playing some backups. That's going to matter that the Vikings defense is completely healthy going into this game. The other thing that I'm curious about is just how they're going to block for him because for Jordan love, Dallas Turner's had a really good camp and it was one of his breakout games last year. That's the unfortunate thing about having an offense that could not move the football at all is. Right. Dallas Turner has this amazing game against the Packers, which if it had been Kirk or in Darnone or anybody else, we would have been like, whoa, look at that.

11:22It would have been main storyline as opposed to the seasons over. The walls have collapsed. Everything is melting. Right. So instead of that, but that was a Dallas Turner kind of breakout game. Like what do you think the plan is with offensive line? I saw that Mike Clay of ESPN and his offensive line rankings put the packet 24th. Now Vikings fans will say they hold all the time. That's probably true at Lambo. They'll get away with it, but not here. Right. No, naturally, of course. Right. Yeah. All the time. Yeah. So what does that look like though? Because it feels like when the offseason thinking, well, the Packers got to make some upgrades there and doesn't seem like they really did. Yeah, tell me about it. That was the A number one thing I was talking about all offseason as far as what needed improvement, upgrade, etc. And outside of drafting, Jager Burton, who was my favorite player in the draft? So I'm very excited about that. The fact that that was all they did. They didn't change as far as like influx of talent, not really.

12:23Didn't change anything as far as the offensive staff as far as the coaches, the offensive line coach, offensive coordinator. All remains the same. And yeah, you're counting on Aaron Banks coming back, but he hasn't been able to stay on the field. Back Bakobowela, former artist formerly known as Zack Tom. He has been mixed in, but still hasn't been 100%. We don't really know who's going to be playing on Sunday. And I think obviously the Packers prefer it that way. They don't want to tip their hand, so to speak. But it's not like, you know, you're going to put someone in there and things are going to completely change game plan wise. They're going to have all week to work on what will be, I would suspect again, a game plan of we got to make sure that we're not leaving our offensive line out to dry. I do kind of wonder about how much kind of max protect you can do. I mean, that's the old adage of what do you prefer as a quarterback. You know, you can keep guys in and you can chip and you can slide and do all that stuff,

13:24which I'm sure there will be some of that. But at some point, you want options in the passing game. Aaron Rogers used to talk about this all the time. Like, I don't want guys in protection. I want options out on the field, right? And I think Jordan probably be that way as well, especially given, again, it comes back to the best way to help this offensive line is with the skill position players and Jordan love being as in sync and having as many banked reps as they have, right? I think more than anything, that's probably their best approach because get the ball out of Jordan loves hands quickly and not have to worry about the offensive line as much. It's again, very easily said, a lot harder to do, especially when you've got so many different types of coverages, so many different personnel, you know, kind of mixing and matching from Flora's that keeps you guessing, you know, essentially, Jordan's done a pretty good job of it, but it's very difficult and especially in that environment. Man, it's going to be again, a monster challenge for this offense. Well, you just have to run the football.

14:25Well, no, we're so much, right? Marsha on Lloyd, though, I know very little about Marsha on Lloyd. I saw him in college and he looked like another running back who's good at football, but he's carried the ball like six times or something. Yeah, since he's gotten to Green Bay. And now he not only has to carry some load here because I don't think Caleb Johnson's going to carry the ball like 25 times or anything. No, no. And also, I think maybe the scariest part is past protection versus this team, which loves to take advantage of running backs in past protection. Tell me more about Marsha on Lloyd. Well, it's interesting because I mean, he's played one regular season game in the two years. He's been in the NFL, right? It's well documented. He's been banged up. It's been really frustrating. But he has shown promise this summer. There's no doubt about that. But you mentioned the past protection issue. I'll be surprised if Chris Brooks doesn't get more snapset running back than anybody in this game. Chris Brooks is a pass pro demon.

15:25He's outstanding in protection pedestrian as a runner. He'll get you something in the passing game, but he's back there. He will be back there essentially to make sure Jordan love is upright, right? But that said, it's interesting to bring up the running game because I suspect now we don't know this for sure because you never know preseason, what they're showing, what they're doing. And practice a little bit gives you a little bit more kind of an insight, but it does feel and look like they're going to be running. They're going to be changing their approach in the running game a little bit going back to some of the outside zone stuff that we saw last when Aaron Jones was in town, right? They made some serious hay in 2023 down the stretch with the outside zone setting that up, making every play look the same. And Jordan love, you probably remember just absolutely cooked down the stretch that season. Well, the bring in Josh Jacobs, he's much more of a power runner. They've tried to utilize angle blocking, power running technique between the tackles and the two various effect.

16:26It hasn't been incredibly productive, but it sure feels like and now with Jacobs on the sideline, it even kind of lends itself to the idea of we're going to get back to doing a little bit more zone. We're going to try and make things look the same. And you don't have to, you just have to stay on schedule, right? I think Lloyd will be fine. I won't be surprised if Pierre Strong, who's on the practice squad, gets called up and kind of splits time in this game as far as running the football. He's had an excellent summer. He's been with the Packers now for a year or two and he's not a dynamo. I don't think anyone's going to confuse him with an all pro anytime soon, but he's a very good zone runner and he has an excellent job of being able to read his block, know where the cup back lane is, put his foot in the ground and get up field. And if you can just do that, get three, four yards, keep the offense on schedule and stay out of third and long. That's the whole key on offense, right? Because look, if you're on third and two and in this day and age, you're going four down, fourth down, I feel pretty good about, okay, yeah, we can probably keep the sticks

17:27moving even in that environment against this defense. You get in a third and 11, third and 15, it's a wrap, you know, it's, that's, that's death for this offense in this game. So I do think, yeah, they will again lean into some kind of outside zone type stuff, but we all know it's not the bread and butter of this offense this year. It's going to be about Jordan love. I heard that they're thinking about activating Dorsey Levin's to come back. Maybe just run a wheel route up the left side line or touchdown. That's what you said. Him and Edgar Bennett in the same backfield. Oh, yeah, well, Edgar was more of a mutter. He wouldn't really apply to this, you know, dome situation you guys got going, but they could pass protect those two guys. Both could sort of double his full backs at this day and age, but, you know, I think for the Vikings, the run defense is one of the bigger questions because they are replacing the interior with two guys who have not been starters before in Tyron Grimdawkins and Levi Dragrad Riegas. And as you know, Jalen Redmond is a very good player.

18:28We're not really sure how much they're going to play the two rookies, Dominic Orange and Kayla Banks based on preseason, I would say Dominic Orange is much more ready than Kayla Banks is to play. But if there's an edge, it's probably their Eric Wilson, who you know is a great player, but on the undersized side, you can take some advantage there, maybe a big nickel situation with J Ward playing, but like if they could get the run going, then we saw this last year, teams could control the game a little bit if they could run and keep flores out of those situations where he could do all the crazy stuff, although he kind of will do it on any any of this down. That's the trick, right? Absolutely. It's the early downs where he just creates chaos. Yeah, like you can have this great plan of, yeah, we're going to run. We're going to stay out of the sticks and then all of a sudden you've got like some random, maybe Wilson linebacker, blitzing from a spot you didn't expect. And now a sudden it's second and 12, right? And now you're now you're behind the sticks. That happens all the time. So on the defensive side without Michael Parsons, I don't know if you could cover this on your show, but they were a different defense without him last year.

19:31A little bit. A little bit about that. A little bit. I thought so. I just, I'm looking at the defense and I'm trying to find where there's anyone who the Vikings would be specifically concerned about outside of Xavier McKinney, who's a very good player. But aside from that, it's just kind of a lot of guys. Am I wrong about that? I mean, the defensive line at one point every time the Vikings would play Kenny Clark, it'd be like, here we go again. And, and even Rashon Gary has had a lot of moments against the Vikings over the years. Adrian Cooper, I think also is a very, very good player, but along the defensive line, who's creating the pressure on Kyler Murray? Well, it's going to be fascinating to see how active Devante Wyatt is along with your old friend, Devon Hardgrave, you know, I understand that like there are not a lot of big names up front. I think there's a lot of promise a lot of upside, but we have to see it in actual game action. Chris McClellan, one of the draft picks from this year, he's been excellent.

20:32He's had a great summer. I don't doubt for a moment that, you know, people are going to focus on Lucas Van Ness. I don't expect him to light it up in this game, but I do think, especially against this quarterback and Kyler Murray, you're going to want those edges to set an edge and to keep him kind of hemmed in the pocket. Though I think it's interesting. I don't know what you guys have been talking about all summer, but it's fascinating listening to Packer's fans kind of talk about, oh, he's a scramble or he just wants to escape the pocket. I think he's a better pocket passer than maybe some NFL fans give him credit for, but I do think you want to keep him there. Like I don't want anything to do with Kyler Murray being let loose, right? And running around and making plays with both his arm and his legs. And I do think they'll probably be set up for that. But yeah, as far as, especially on the interior, it's going to be interesting to see the rotation that they use because they went deep as far as keeping a number of defensive tackles this year. I think they got caught last year with why it went down a number of other injuries and

21:34they were kind of scrambling, bringing in big guys every week for a month at the end of the season. So they've got numbers there. I think, you know, like a hockey line shift, keep guys fresh, et cetera. But the other component here is because of what you're talking about, the fact that there isn't a dominant pass rusher, you know, obviously you don't get Mike a back for a month plus. One of the we saw a lot of in training camp was a bunch of different pressure looks, a bunch of different blitz packages that man, stuff that I haven't seen on the regular in Green Bay in a very long time. I saw more cat blitzes this summer than I've seen in a decade, like sending corners, sending safety, sending every, like from every angle, it was there I say a bit flora as ask. And so my kind of theory all summer has been now, is this a tool in the toolbox or is this going to be, hey, this is our approach while we're waiting for Micah to come back? Because as you say, there's certainly nobody there that you're looking at.

22:34Oh, that guy's definitely going to win his one on one. He's certainly going to cause havoc. I do wonder if there's going to be a bit of, you know, give and take as far as yes, you want to play coverage. You want to keep it all in front of you, rally and tackle. That has been the way the Packers have played defense under Matt LaFour since he came to town, right? But again, man, the number of different pressure packages we saw this summer and the way, I mean, the amount that they utilize them in training camp practices, I just wonder if this, it's kind of like, again, this is our answer to the fact that we know we have to generate pressure. So we're going to do it from the jump with packages. I'm anxious to see if that materializes on some day. And I think that Jeff Haffley had some really good stuff at times, but at least from the data didn't mash the button like Brian Flores does. And it might be one of those, you know, how when the Rams do something, everyone's like, oh, my gosh, we have to do everything the Rams did. I think it's a little bit the same thing of Brian Flores where the people are trying everywhere,

23:39even when it's, it's amazing. Washington kind of filter around the league. Like he's been doing it for so long now suddenly, like it is certainly kind of the invoked thing. Now no one's doing it at his level. No one's doing it as much as he is, but it certainly seems to be taking a bit of a hold on the NFL. Yeah, I think because the secret is you have Harrison Smith that can make all the changes at the line of scrimmage. And there's not too many guys who can line up at Ed rusher and play the deep middle. And yet somehow Harrison Smith is able to do that a lot of times. So you have to have the players and the schematics, but sending extra rushers, having four or five rush, but you have no idea where those four or five are going to come at you. It's kind of very Pittsburgh Steelers, Dick Leboe, like with a lot of different guys who can do it. And so I think that a lot of teams, if you don't have a Miles Garrett on your team, you're like, well, how can we figure out a different way? It's probably too trick Christian Darrysau because you're not going to win that straight up one on one.

24:40And that's where it will be interesting to me because Kyler Murray, as you said, has been much better in the pocket speaks to my theory that no one has ever watched Kyler Murray play a game because he's played for the Arizona Cardinals. All people have ever seen, right? Highlight Reels of Kyler Murray of which they are very fun to watch. In 2024, he rushed like in a scramble 40 times and dropped back to past 612. I mean, 6% of the time he was scrambling and running past the line of scrimmage. And he was in the top 15 in terms of throws under two and a half seconds. They want to get rid of the ball quickly. They want to stack completions with him. They want to use the tight end. They want to pick their spots in order to go deep, which of course leads me to I saw now. Now this is the thing about training camp where you're so busy, you're going to practice it and everything else. You sort of see flashes of what's happening with other teams. And I saw flashes of a competition with Keisha Nixon. How did that play out?

25:40And then I saw controversy and then I saw Packers people yelling at each other. And I was like, that's your business for now. But what is the situation with whom Stever is guarding Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison? You know, it's never straight up man, right? There will be tons of different looks, tons of different coverage, you know, principles at play here. It's interesting that Brandon Cise, their, you know, first draft pick from this rookie class is listed as a starter opposite Keisha Nixon. I do think Cise really looks the part. And I'm not saying he's coming here to shut anybody down, but it certainly raises the talent floor at the corner spot in Green Bay, which is something we talked about all off season that was completely necessary. Keisha Nixon had a very, very rough end to 2025. That is no secret. He's had some rough moments this summer as well, but he's also had some really competitive moments. And I think what gets kind of lost in the sauce here is like he was playing very good football for nine, ten weeks for Green Bay last year.

26:43And it really, the wheels really came off starting that Denver game essentially, which is practically where the Packers season ended, but he's certainly not an all pro, but he's a lot better than the internet would have you believe. And certainly you're going to need help. You're going to need safety cover, you know, help over the top. You're going to need to, you know, roll coverage to Justin Jefferson. That's all going to occur. KOC is going to do his best to try and get him free. I like that's the cat mouse, right? But look, I do think a big component here is they have raised the floor when it comes to the cornerback room. That can only help. Now, as far as like the approach, I mean, you can only do so much. I say, you know, there are premier players that at some point you just got to tip your cap and I suspect there will be a moment or two like that on Sunday where as just Justin, Justin Jefferson, there's not much you can do about it, right? I don't think for a moment that anyone's going to be foolish enough to say, okay, we're going to play cover one and we're going to try and man up outside on, on JJ, right?

27:44That's just not going to occur. So yeah, they'll throw a lot of different looks at the quarterback. They'll throw a lot of different kind of disguising types of coverages pre and post nap. But again, I fully expect Jefferson to get his like that. I think that's a foregone conclusion at this point. You just have to limit, try to limit the damage. We will never forget the play where Kuei Walker was lined up with Jefferson one on one in 2022, the definitive play of that game. I don't think something similar is going to happen. Yeah, that's not even the word, though that's not even the worst one. It's pressed and smith in the site. That's just a different thing. That's right. Press the board. Yeah, amazing, amazing moment in Packer's history. Yeah, I mean, and the Vikings did such crazy things as put them in the slot and then all of a sudden he was getting what would have seen that coming. Outside, I got my backers, linebackers. That wasn't necessarily ideal. And I think he went for 184 and two touchdowns in that game. I heard. Yeah. That did have to bring it up. I'm going to welcome. Well, it's last time that they played an opener. If you want to bring up 2020, you can wear the Vikings targeted Tajay Sharpe on a fourth

28:49down for some reason. It was like fourth and five and they threw a bomb to Tajay Sharpe who has you do zero catches the entire season for the Vikings. Oh, the times we've had, Nagler. Let me let me ask you this. So this is not a playoff game. So Matt LaFlor should be fine. But when it comes to amazing, when it comes to the bigger picture of the Packers this season, there's a lot on this team that I think you probably refer to as question marks. I probably refer to as I don't know if they have enough to be a serious, super bowl contender, but they certainly have the quarterback to put them in position to be in the playoffs. How do you feel about that assessment and where does LaFlor fit into this because the Wisconsinites were restless last year after blowing 21 to three lead? Yeah, they were. You know, look, LaFlor decided to contract extension. I think he's in a probably a better spot this season head, head space wise, not having

29:50that hanging over him. But who knows, you know, as far as, you know, the prospects for this team, if they stay healthy, yeah, they're, they should not only just make the playoffs, they should, they should at least compete for the division, if not make a run in the playoffs. Like last year is so instructive when you look at the four teams that played in the championship weekend, they're the four healthiest teams in the league. Like there, there's a correlation there as much as we try to pretend there isn't, oh, we just next man up and just coach them up and no, like you, the ball bounces a certain way and you stay healthy. Yeah, you're in the mix. And I think the packer should be the exact same in that regard. I know it's so funny watching people from the outside, like dismissing the packers this year, which I understand I get it when you look at the offseason moves or lack thereof, but they've always been a draft and develop program. And this is the year where the develop comes to the four, you know, where a guy like Matthew Goldin who was almost an afterthought last year, probably steps center stage, right? Where you're talking about Edren Cooper, you just mentioned he had a bit of a, I'm not going to say pedestrian here because I think he had a really good year last season, but not

30:54eye popping plays, certainly no big turnover type plays, but a really good player who's entering year three in a new system. And you know, they've been doing some things this summer with him as far as moving him around that I'm pretty excited about. So I get it. The packers didn't make a ton of headlines this year as far as acquisitions go, but they are true to their program. And they've just consistently won a lot of football games every year and been in the playoffs every year. And I understand it's not a birthright, I understand it's not automatic. But you know, this, they know what they're doing. And I get that people look at the pass rush, or lack thereof. Again, that is why again, it's probably kind of mixing things up a little bit. And Parsons comes back, that changes everything, right? And if the season kind of starts out, I know people have been talking like they just got to go two and two and I think they should start hopefully three and one maybe, right? Now you add Michael Parsons, you're cooking with gas. We saw what a difference he made last year. So yeah, it does matle floor, you know, need to do something different.

31:57They need to finish games better. Yeah, absolutely. There were so many games last year where they were up, say, 10 points in the fourth quarter that they pissed away, so to speak. But yeah, I'm not, I'm not buying that all of a sudden, they're going to be this huge regression team that just suddenly can't win more than seven or eight games. Which is what I keep seeing kind of bandied about. So I get it. I understand the optics. I'm very excited for the season to kick off that. Well, Parsons coming back, it's really about can you survive the first part of the season? And then it's just completely different when you have a player like that. And with Jonathan Ganon in 2024, his Arizona defense gave the Vikings problems. Now his Arizona defense is in general. We're not that great, but his schematics were a little bit problematic for Kevin O'Connell with some of the second level blitzing in different disguises and stuff that he was able to use. They had one of my, they had one of my favorite games. I think it was two years ago when the Cardinals came up to Minnesota and I was at last and I was two years ago, I think, but 24.

32:58Yeah. It's a, that was a great football. It was. And I just kept, I just remember thinking the entire time if Ganon had been an offensive head coach instead of a defensive head coach, you would have gone for it more instead of settling for all those field goals. And it would have been a completely different ballgame. But to your point, I think Ganon's defense had a really interesting approach to against KOC in that game. And I've kind of been referencing that a bit over the course of this kind of off season of knowing that they open against the Vikings. Man, you talk about just nerd chess match. This is going to be a really fun game in that regard. Yeah, I certainly think so. And you're right that if they go for a fourth down there, then, you know, they probably use a defensive coach. They want to kick it and play defense every time. The thing is funny to me about and not that like, you know, people shouldn't be skeptical of Kyler Murray based on his career. But every time Kyler Murray has played against the Vikings, it's been like last minute, close games, crazy stuff. Right. And it's like, I don't know, that seems like that could work with a better football team.

33:58That's the last thing I wanted to ask you, Negler is, you talk about teams that are being doubted. No one believes in us except for in this locker room or in this maybe supper club in, you know, Wisconsin's case. But you know, the Vikings are getting on Fandall, the last place projection at plus 430 to win the division. So are you nervous about Kyler Murray? Maybe having one of them years for the Vikings. Well, with KOC, anything's possible. Absolutely. Look, it's fascinating. I think we've talked about this before on your show. It's like, as fans, we get so in the weeds with our own team, right? And we see every flaw. I had a guy in our happy hour last night list off like 10 things that are like problematic or you're going to be an issue or whatever. And I see Vikings fans talking about KOC in a negative way. And I'm just like, you guys have no idea. I mean, you got, I know there's plenty of fans out there that appreciate him as a coach. He's a really good coach and a really good offensive mind.

35:00Yeah, I think he's going to make Kyler Murray look, if not reborn, then at least dangerous. Like with these weapons in Minnesota, absolutely. Like there is no way that Murray doesn't look, I'm not going to say exponentially better, but much better than he's looked in his time in Arizona, especially the last couple of years. Yeah, man, that's certainly something that I'm expecting from, you know, this Vikings group. I don't doubt for a moment that the rest of the division is going to be hell, right? We're all going to beat each other up. There's no question about it. I think, again, it's, it sucks. You hate to go here, but it's true. At the end of the year, who's healthy? Who's getting guys back as opposed to losing guys at the wrong time towards the end of the year? And how do you manage your roster? Because it's the war of attrition in the NFL now that drives a lot of this. As far as if you do lose somebody, but you can put them on IR and you can bring them back late in the year and you're playing good ball and all of a sudden you get a piece back who kind of starts to rev up and become that proverbial team no one wants to face.

36:03There's so kind of such a long runway to get there, right? We all want the answers right now. But man, yeah, with Kyler Murray and KOC, that alone should get opponents worried, right? I think that's going to be a pretty damn good pairing. It's funny how often my podcast when it comes to coachings are like discussions is no, your coach is not that bad. No, your coach is not that bad because the fans that they always enjoy and look, O'Connell's got to win in the playoffs. We know that the colossal mess up of McCarthy. We all know that just like LaFlaur and the playoffs like we get it. But the NFC North is very, very well coached. I think top to bottom. Agreed. Is it safe to assume you're picking the Packers in this game? Are you picking the Vikings? The Packers are one and a half point underdogs. They are. They are. Yeah, no, the Packers are winning this game. Packers should win this game. The only way they lose this game is if they shoot themselves in the foot repeatedly, costly penalties, maybe a turnover on special teams.

37:05Packers are the better team they should win. A stunning prediction to close out the show from Cheesehead TV. But you know what? I love it. I follow everything you do. Watch all the videos. Try to keep up on the pack as much as I can. You do awesome, awesome work and always great to get together with you. And I am certain we will do it again when it is Lambo week. So thank you. Absolutely. Thanks, Matthew. Thanks so much for having me, man. Folks, a couple of days ago, I was having this problem around the house with some insects. So I decided to call a company to come take care of it. First company I called phone was ringing ringing. Nothing. So guess what? I went on to the next one. If you guys operate a company and you don't want to be the one who is losing customers because they hang up and move on. Well, that's why today's episode is brought to you by Quo spelled Q U O the business phone system that is built so you never miss an opportunity. All your calls, texts and voice mails live in one place. So anyone on your team can pick up a conversation, see the full history and respond fast.

38:08Quo is rated the number one business phone system on G2. Just to buy over 90,000 businesses who rely on it to stay reachable and look professional every day. It's easy to use. You don't have to change your number and it integrates with all the tools that businesses already use. And there is no hassle. It's super, super easy. So look, money is on the line for you. Always say hello with Quo. Try Quo for free. Plus 20 and get 20% off your first six months. When you go to Quo.com slash believe that is Q U O dot com slash B L E A V give it a try for your business today. All right. We welcome into the show an all time great green Bay Packer and now a great green Bay Packer broadcaster and with believe in Packers podcast former running back a mom green my friend welcome back to the show. Sir, how are we doing? I'm doing good. How are you doing?

39:08I mean, I'm just ready for football. Dude, we've talked about every possible angle, every possible player, every possible prediction. And now we have a football game. I want to start out with this as a former player. Would you have preferred to play your most well, I don't know if you would have considered Chicago your most heated rival, but call it a tie with the Vikings. Would you have preferred to play a top opponent who you're both projected to be really good in the first week or would you have rather face like, I don't know, back in your day, maybe the Texans weren't the best team when they were just coming into the league. Would you have rather have had like a ramp up against the team that was a little lesser or do you want to come fly and hot out of the gate against the best of the best? For me to be honest, I don't, I didn't really care because I knew that part was out of my control because we had seasons where we opened with you guys, we opened with you, the Bears or the Lions and we had to roll with it. Or we rolled with somebody, we knew that the previous year didn't have a good season,

40:11whatever reason, due to injury, coaching change, whatever. So I'm a couple of persons, even then when I was playing, it was like, if it's out of my control, I'm not going to worry about it, but being a game, I'm going to be prepared. So we had a couple of seasons where we opened, I know we opened with you guys a couple times and Detroit one year. And I think it's good because you find out exactly where you are in that game. And so I remember Detroit game, we came out smoking and we had to beat them pretty bad. And I think I'm not sure, no, we had y'all in Lambo. So I can't remember how that game will, in my, I don't know, I can't remember if we win or lost that game. I think they are tone setting games though, right? For a season. I mean, you get a win there, you're going to go into the beginning of the first quarter of the year feeling pretty darn good about yourself. And when we look at both of these teams, I mean, both of them have high expectations. Both of them are filled, as you said, with a lot of veteran players. This isn't two teams on the rise, hoping to be scrappy in 2026.

41:14But I'm really interested in coming off of last year, the loss to the bears, where the packers are up 21 to three. Like what's the vibe check overall in green Bay? Is it like anxiety about what's next? Do you feel like this is make or break for Matt LaFlure? Like what's been your big conversation in green Bay throughout this off season? I'd say what I've been hearing everybody is the, you know, Matt is, it's, I say on the hot seat because of those games and the way they ended against the bears, you know, if it was, being that it was a, you know, divisional opponent. So it could have been y'all, it could have been the Lions in those tight games or be up, like you said, up 21, three. And I watched that game. I'm like, when they're going to put the nail in the coffin because I'm like, all right, big bomb, throw it or get the round game going where you just blow, you bludgeon them or eight, nine, ten plays in a row and then score a touchdown. And then okay, it's 28, it's 28 to three. What else? All right, you know, it didn't the games potentially over, but obviously, you know,

42:15way to win down. And I think that's where I, you know, I said this last year, either on my show or even with another interview in that bears game, 21, three, you know, as a player and obviously as a coach, LaFour also played football. He knows you're up that big. And I don't think it was coming out of half because they had the score coming out of half that first half. You, whenever you got the ball, you make an ass statement. You're either going to go deep or like I mentioned, bludgeon their defense with the run game or a mixture of run and play action pass to get them wore out and say, hey, this is it. You're not going to give, we're not going to give you a shot to come back. We're going to take our, we're going to take the momentum away and make sure we own it because if we give you all just an inch, that's all the team like that is looking for. It's just give us a inch. And unfortunately, they did. They gave him every opportunity to come back and they got the win. And so I think I believe that the floor is definitely going to have that on this hit

43:17with every team, but definitely with the rivalry teams and know, you know, what I have to find a way. But and what I said about that, you know, before I go and say that, what I always said about that was Matt has to get the confidence also from the players and the players within him, you know, so they got to believe and have confidence with him as a coach and a coach and staff. And then as players, because, you know, you're dealing with a lot of grown men in the room, some of the grown men are older than before, you know, in some instances. So if they don't believe what you're selling as a head coach or office coordinator or defense coordinator, then that execution is not going to be, I'm not going to say they are just going to drop because, you know, they don't believe you know, because they're going to play. They're going to, you know, guys are going to be honorable and play, but still the confidence might waver this the tad bit going into a tight game, knowing what hit what hit last year, you know, between the bears and some other games that they had where they thought, this is a game we got, you know, like the Cleveland game last year, you know, that those,

44:19those, like those little mistakes, you know, sometimes it's just, you know, game big game anxiety, you know, sometimes players hit it, it hits them and don't really realize it. And then they're like, oh man, I messed up where I knew I shouldn't have messed up. And so it's just finding that confident level to where even if it's a play call that they don't like, they're going to run it and then make it work. And then vice versa, where the player believes in the coach and him and they're calling whatever they're going to call defensive plays for Gannon. And so Gannon has to prove himself this year to those older players that are on the Packers defense. Yeah. And I was wondering about that when you talk about the number of times where Mat La Flore teams have been on the brink or had a lead or, you know, potentially should, you know, at the goal line against the Tampa Bay bucks and the playoffs, like just get one more play. Don't get a block against the San Francisco 49ers and you've got a chance to go to the Super Bowl. It just seems like it's really added up on him, which in one way you could say, well, they've been in a lot of big games.

45:20And this is what happened with someone like Brett Favre, right? Like, well, he made a lot of mistakes in big games. There's a lot of guys who weren't in any big games. So there is that, right? And there's only one team that can win it at the end of the year. But I wonder if you think that for players who have been there a long time, if that starts to add up in terms of the confidence and trust factor when it is big games, when it is pressure packed moments, because I've got to think that LaFlora is going into the season, really feeling like there is a ton of pressure on him. And I can't doubt that the players, you know, feel that too. Yeah, yeah. I don't, I mean, I, I'd be honest. I don't know. I say for LaFlora again, for his body of work, very, so, and yeah, I forget. You just reminded me about the time for the 49er game, you know, that happened in as well. You know, any season, any big play, I think that what was I doing in my head? And the biggest thing was I was trying to simplify everything. I wasn't going to make it all men is worth down. If we don't get this worth down, this is it. No, just get the next yard. And so that's where I believe LaFlora has to look at a game and say, Hey, to himself in a play call,

46:26you know what, I just got to get first down. All right, what's our best play on the, on the list right here? Or we got to go deep, you know, what's the best play? And if the play doesn't work, we already know the other side of the ball, they're trying to win too. So that means they made a better play, but I'm not going to go into that uncomfortantly and make that play call. I'm going to make the play call. And if it doesn't work, you know, say, Hey, they got us, you know, that was my best play call. I gave it my best and my team did the same thing. My players executed perfectly. And, you know, they deflected the ball or they intercepted the ball, whatever. But for me, and when you send that message in a press conference after a game, you know, win or lose, the players will hear and see that. And because I've been around coaches, you know, I was with coach, Tom Osborne, he was always a guy that built our confidence within us as individual players. So then in any big game, we just, we knew what to do because we knew it was a simple way to play football, play hard like we did. And this bludgeon, the team defensively, offensively.

47:29And if we do this, that and the other, we're going to be where we want to be. We're going to be in an old game or what have you. I say, you build that develop that mindset for the floor and his staff. Then you're going to have a group of players out there on all three sides of the ball, offense defensive special team that won't hesitate in a, in a pressure point, since you're a pressure building situation and go out there and make a big play or just make the play, you know, and if it's a big play, great, you know, often. And then it's, they were, they got trained to do that mentally. And because it's, that's the other part of the game. People don't talk about it a whole lot is that physical part to the fit, to the mental part. That mental part is where brings in the bigger place and the, and the players that understand that part, Tom Brady's one of them guys that are in an F. Hall of Fame are, are all Paul and from every sport across the board. Michael Jordan was the guy in basketball. He knew those moments when, I mean, I've seen, I've seen scientific data that says, Michael Jordan's heart beat was just as normal as him when he's sitting in a locker room. When he's asked to get the game winner, he was not even, you know, you said,

48:32I got this and let's go out there and hit it. Boom. And if I miss it, you know what? I just miss it. But I'm going to be every time come to me. He's always confident about that. So it's just things like that that separate, you know, players to coaches to who's the better. And the floor and the staff just don't overthink it. Even if you have a whole bunch of five six year olds over on the, on the sideline, just say, okay, our best players, the faster player. Let's get him the ball. Let's do that. You know, if it's pop one or in the same thing here, you got a good, wide receiver core. You lost some guys because if we didn't see what does going New England, but you still got a good mix and you got a run game. You got a little, you know, you got a little hurt with Josh being out for the suspension. That's okay. Next man up mentality. Let's go play ball. We got March on law. Lloyd did have a fantastic training, a preseason, which I believe he's done that and getting the young guy. Caleb as well. That I think that's a, I think he's a sleeper. I think he's going to help that offense out way more than what they think he's going to do. And, and then, you know, then the defense, you know, some changes there.

49:34Obviously weight no mica and that's that point, but you still got guys that's going to, you got to have that next. I say the best thing to do in all the situation is that next man up mentality. Because if you don't have that in your mind and that, you know, that's something was going to throw you off when you get in there. Because you're just not going to be fully ready knowing what you got to do. If you worried about, man, if I get hurt or whatever, who's behind me? It's like, man, going, you're in there now. You go get the job, huh? And again, that's all tells back to coaching. It's the coach is saying, hey, you, you could do it. We're asking and we want you to go out there and be a victor on every other play. Basically, or every play out there. Yeah. The mentality part has been so interesting to watch from slightly a far, not that far away, but slightly far with watching Green Bay because, you know, I follow a lot of the packer media and packer fans and stuff like that. And what they're saying. And it does seem like everything that you were describing there, like not having the heartbeat go up and everybody sort of just staying focused on the job and not feeling the pressure and not feeling the black cloud of what's happened before.

50:36Sort of the opposite of how it's actually felt for Green Bay and some of these big games. And, you know, I guess I would even count this, you know, being Vikings and Packers as a big game to start the season with a lot of pressure on it. But I wonder how you feel like Jordan love maybe mitigates some of that. Because he last year performed in a lot of metrics like one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL. So do you feel like Jordan love has established himself is that guy who can drive the offense if the running game is not the same. Like can they lean on that because Laflora has always wanted to do a lot of play action and give the ball to Josh, Jacob, and that's a lot and everything else. And, you know, Jordan love is asked to make a few big throws a game, but a lot of it has been like, oh, let's get him quick game and stuff like that. Run the ball and then hit a deep shot over the top. Like do you feel like this offense is suddenly going to be more Jordan loves complete show with Josh Jacobs out.

51:37There's a potential for that. Obviously you just as a quarterback. I mean, not as a quarterback, but as the coach and the OC. Seeing how he plays, you know, how he performs without one of the, you know, the starter at the run game. Behind them, not being behind them, being being March on Lloyd, which I think I believe can be obviously. I can tell you he had a fantastic preseason. I say that will just go by paying attention as a coach, like all men, he's hot. You know, if he's not hot, okay, just keep the rotation of play calling, run the pass deep balls to play. You find it to where eventually you say to him, you, you, they have a conversation. Hey, how are you feeling? You know, because what I see this, are you on the sand pages that and this big assured that community K is there. Because then that's where you know, because then that player, Jordan is going to feel supported. He said, man, coach, just ask me every other play like how you doing? Did you like that throw or what did you like about that last play or what formation you want to run? And then you're going to get this out of because you know, you could do this real quick, you know, with your side arm or whatever.

52:40Like we're basically getting him, you know, we've, I say the simplest thing. One thing I learned when I was as a player is coach said it. I remember the first time I heard it. I heard it a lot after that was the coach's job is put the players in the best positions to win. And so how you do that is you asked that player. So Matt to Jordan, all those questions. Hey, what's your favorite throw in this situation? Four for one or third and nine or third and 45. What would you do here? You know, what would you want to run and try it out and see what happens? You know, is it a deep curl? Is it a dagger or you want to run a comeback? You think you can do that in this? You know what? We could sit you. It's tried in practice and see how it works. Now, once you start to figure out what the player likes. And then also give him the support to go out there and try it out. You know, give him that time, even in a big game, like, you know, let's try this out. When you say it like that, then it's not as heavy.

53:41It's not as like, because I remember Brett every now and then in practice, and sometimes in games, he would like light in a situation, do something crazy. Like, I mean, he would pass gas real easy in me in the in the in the huddle and just laugh about it. And then everybody's like laughing at that and forgot, Hey, man, it's third and nine. And we got to school. We got to get the first down and get in field. Go range. And nobody's worried about that no more. Now they're going, now we're loose. We're having fun. And I think that's where you get your player where Jordan has the so feels the support and knows that, you know what? Next row, I know it's going to get caught. Somebody's going to get it. If I'm looking at the table or a Christian, they're going to get open and boom. Here we go. And we're going to have fun doing this. I say, once you get to that mindset, but that's the coaches job to get Jordan there, because you got to show him the support and give an opportunity, give him input input. Hey, coach, you know what? I don't, I didn't like that, bro. I don't like that play because of this. I don't like this formation because of that. And I've, because I've heard conversations with play with myself with Brett, with Aaron,

54:46even in Seattle with more and more and more and I think Dennis Erickson and our office corner there. When the player feels that the input is being actually processed by the coach and the coaches actually hearing them and then they see it happen on the field or the playboy like, oh, coach, switch the formation just like I at. Oh, okay. You know, and then it was coaches that was on that staff before I got there. And I remember somebody, Dorsey, he would tell me about Andy Reed all the time. He said, that's why he said, I am not surprised at every time because me and Dorsey still talk. And he says every time, like, especially last five, six years. I'm not surprised. He said when Andy Reed was on the packer staff during the Super Bowl times, they were running, making their runs. He would find a way, obviously, to get in our brain, ask the certain questions of what we liked because he was mostly sometimes we deal with the running backs. And so he would like, I got you. He said, are Dorsey what about this in this situation? What do you like to do?

55:47You want to go outside, run, inside, and Dorsey would say, hey, boom. And then he'll get to Coach Homberin and be like getting his ear and eventually Coach Homberin will be like, oh, there's a plane. He's on the plane. It's on the call sheet, boom, boom. And so Dorsey's like, man, I appreciate you. So then you fast forward, hey, that's, you know, the product is in what he's done. He's gets the noces players and he has, you know, this halfway, the, you know, six super bowls or whatever they got now out of KC. So it's just finding that for a look floor is finding that that sweet spot. And do it authentically. Get to know your player, get to know Jordan more than what he already knows. And then know him on the level to win. He knows the situation. Oh, yeah, I know what play to call right now because Jordan, we already talked about this two weeks ago. You know, if you develop that, I think that's where the floor, he gets that connection with the players with Jordan. For example, I think that's where this, this team could definitely take it to the next level. And that's been one of my big questions all off season about the Packers is just will the floor fully lean into Jordan.

56:49And what I love is this offense. And maybe he's just going to be forced to do it without the run game for who knows how many weeks that Josh Jacobs could potentially be out. So you really have no other option. I mean, like you said, there's, there's guys they're going to run the football. It's not like they're going to stop doing that. But I've also thought it might be the worst thing for the NFC North. If Jordan love just throws the ball all the time and really becomes the centerpiece because he has the physical talent to do it. And he showed that he could be very efficient last year and doing it. Doesn't throw a ton of interceptions. Really doesn't take a lot of sacks for a guy. You know, who is does have some mobility there. So, you know, I think that if he has a little more belief in trust rather than sort of trying to protect him and put him in a box, then you could see a higher output for the offense. I just also want to ask you about, you know, Mike Parsons being out and the state of defense. When I look at it, I think that the Vikings should be not too terrified at the moment, just because the Roshan Gary is now in Dallas.

57:50And it just, it feels like there is a lack of who is the one who scares you when Michael Parsons is out. But am I am I wrong about that? I'm not wrong. No, you're not wrong. Because Michael Parsons is going to put the fear of God and it just about any quarterback for that matter when he's healthy when he's on the field. You know, so him not being there, obviously, yes, I mean for a for Kyler for JJ coming in off the bench, you know, it's going to be one less worry, but still got to go out there and execute, you know, it's going to be somebody else coming off the edge. The obviously won't be able to get in maybe right away, but they're going to work their way. So that means the offense align for them for the Vikings got to be still stop. You can't take that defense lightly because just one person is gone. You know, somebody's going to step up and regardless of who that person is, don't let them. I'll say this from a bikey step or because then what the Packers are going to do, you know, I and this is for every any fan knowing that

58:57this is going to be nice man mentality to come in and play for whoever's coming in for Micah and until that time, you know, is November, December, the timeline. And for him, I mean, I like what he said in preseason already is on him, you know, in terms of he said it's on me already talked with the staff. So we're, you know, we're going to make sure I'm 100% before I come back. So I love to hear that for Minnesota, you know, with their offense align and they got good. I say, I love TJ Hockerson with the tight end position there. Fantastic receiver out, you know, in terms of and any blocks well as well, you know, he has to and then they got the run game. And then of course, can't forget about Justin Jefferson. And so this game, like I said, it's going to be something where both teams are ready. It's rivalry game. So you know, it's going to be easy to get up for it because in one is early, you just got to make sure both sides of the ball. That you can say you don't overthink you go out there, you know, play ball against one another. You know, it's going to be tough down to the wire. And if not, I've seen Minnesota games where we were in Minnesota and it got it got ugly fast because Justin got hot.

1:00:02A lot with his QBs, which was a, I know Kirk cousin that went one of a few times, we're curving and Justin got hot early. And so the defense of backfield, that's where the Packers, I say, had the most change over. And so you know, has some young guys coming in, they had to draft from a brand of C say, not that they have to, but bringing him in and he's been developed. He looks real good in the defensive back position, real comfortable. So it definitely is going to be somebody back there that's going to get tested, right? You know, he's a first round. He's going to get tested. They go, you know, I'll be, I would not be surprised. I'll be, I'll see, you know what, I'll be a little surprised if he ever, he lines up over Justin and try to, you know, deal with that early. I mean, I don't mind doing that because that then you give a young player that confidence, we like, Hey, man, my coaches do it, you know, put me right here right now. So that means he's serious. He believes in me, you know, and he's tested me right now too. So I got to pass this test. And if I don't, you know, it's just the first game. Don't take it as all men in my career is over. It's like, no, Justin Jefferson is one of the best in the league.

1:01:02And if you, if he beats you, so what, you just come back to the next play, keep battling. And so it's so many little other things that I say that we could hit on and that, but that's kind of the big one. Big two or three right there with the Minnesota's offense, their office align. And obviously what, what color, you know, Kyler's going to feel, but feel like in that playbook and behind that office align. Yeah. No, you're exactly right. And if they can't pressure Kyler and you're giving Justin Jefferson all day to get through the entire route and have it all play out, then I think it's going to be a big problem for the Packers coverage. And you know, one of the games you might be referencing is 2022 and Jefferson went off in the opener for nine catches 184 yards to touchdowns. Like you know if that happens, then Green Bay is going to be in a bit of trouble because Brian Flores playing from ahead on defense, usually has a pretty big advantage there. So I don't want to deal with that. You do you just do you guys when you decide, you know, you're going to pick who's going to win the game because you're a Packer legend.

1:02:03Do you just pick the Packers for every game or do you do it objectively? I'm on. No, no, no, I do it. Okay. All right. The Packers are underdogs by one and a half points on fan duels. So are you picking the Packers to win this football game? I say, not no, I said no one to unknown, which is on the Minnesota side because we got Kyler coming in, you know, from a free agent and still. I say not still, but learning a new offense potentially. Yeah. You know, and then I'll say other, you know, I said not really no big change. I didn't change this other than my man. I like him a lot. The Harrison Smith coming back. Harrison's with come back. Yeah, I think defensive. I think defensively, man, that puts a lot of those guys that been with him in a good spot. Yeah. Because he's the quarterback of the defense. He can line people up and also make the plays that he makes.

1:03:04So I think defensively, it's going to be a good matchup against our offense, the Packers offense to the Minnesota defense, where the question mark is, is Minnesota's offense? Can Will they and can they, you know, I know somebody's, I know if anybody's going to show up, definitely is going to be Justin Jefferson. He's showing up. Aaron Jones, he's been around a long time. He's going to show up. But it's already going to all show up together where it could be getting points on the board. Because that's going to be the number one thing. Getting points for the board on the board. So the defense doesn't have to be out there too long, get fatigued and all that. I say so for me, objectively, just for those two question marks, I say, I said, Mick is one, the offense aside of it, just seeing how everything's going to mesh together with a new quarterback and everybody else working at it. I give, I'll take that Packer number in terms of, I mean, not the Packer. Is there a Minnesota? Yeah, Minnesota is favored by one and a half. Yeah, one and a half. So I'll say, I'm going to go on the Packer side only because Kyler's coming in,

1:04:07just getting fresh at this and trying to, you know, be the quarterback that he may be, you know, for the rest of the season, you know, be somebody that's going to be putting up the artist, his first couple of years like he's done in Arizona. And so that's where I give the edge to Green Bay just on that standpoint of, we don't know how things are going to work out. We'll see we were waiting to find out just like everybody else. Yeah. I mean, there's no question is the biggest question going into the games. What does Kyler look like in this offense? For sure. Okay, let me give you a little quick, a Montgreen trivia. You played as a Green Bay Packer. I don't know how many is Seattle Seahawk, but 11 games against the Minnesota Vikings. How many of those games did you go for more than 100 yards of all the games you played against the Minnesota Vikings? Oh, good question. I 11, I'm going to say, because there was some tough games between the Hambo and the Metro dome. I'm never played in US being out of the safe.

1:05:09I don't have 11. I think I'm batting. I say I'm batting five five, I say 500. I saw my, but the five game or is 11. So yeah, five to six or six to five. Yeah, I'll say six games, six games over 100. It was actually only three. The Minnesota Vikings did a great job against the time, but I'll give you the ones, the times that you did have a 100 yard game, you absolutely went off in 2025 for 161. And then in 2003, that was in December, 2003, November 21 for 137. And then in 2004, November 14, 21 for 145. And all of those were one score wins for the Packers. So they mattered a lot. Those 100 yard games to us, some big packer seasons there. But you do have a little bit of trouble getting consistency against. Oh, man, that those times, that's where that team was consistent. Right. They had Dini Green.

1:06:10I think was a coach. Yeah, early on, you had Dini Green would have been 2000. And then it was Mike Tyson after that. Mike Tyson, they built a really good run game in 06. It was one of the best run games. Maybe ever in the NFL. So they had they put together like Pat Williams and Kevin Williams eventually there. There were some up. I got one of Kevin's helmets downstairs. He was at the pro bowl with me. And yeah, he was a problem. We could not move him. He was a big, he's a big human being. Oh, yes. He is large and any strong. And so yeah, that's what I remember. Like I said, those games in that Metro dome were rough. I mean, they were so. And you know what? I didn't care. I was getting the 1000 100 yards. I cared that I got 50 because after my mindset is there's having a big game. And then it's having an official game. So I went on. We play against teams like that at those at those years that they were playing some good football.

1:07:12My thing was, you know what? Let's be efficient today. You know, when I need to get the yardage that I need to get, you know, I may not get a 100 yard day today. You know what? I will have this conversation with myself in my head. And so I would say, you know what? This is going to be an efficient day because we already know that the line is stout. The linebackers are, they had to belong with Detroit during my time. Minnesota and Detroit had the heaviest linebackers that I remember trying to pick up. Like guys were bare minimum 250. Yeah. All the 260, almost knocking on door 270 is like the EJ Henderson's. Yeah, he's a. Yeah. I had to, yeah, he was a, I did not like blocking him. Okay. It wasn't. I did my job. But yeah, at the end of the day, it was like, man, you need to lose some weight. He's not going to lose weight from me. I know that. But we, they have a good defensive front. You know, remember my first year, John Riner was still playing, you know? That guy, that guy crazy man. It was, it was always an efficient mindset. Not, I might get 50, you know, 45, but you know what?

1:08:13I'm going to make sure it's a conversion. It's a touchdown. You know, it's a two yard touchdown or as a fourth and one. Or I'm going to be efficient because that's where you know, you have respect for the other teams defense. And so that's the same thing I would think about with Tampa Bay or with the Bears when Erlecker came through. It's like art. This is rivalry game and they got provoked guys on the other side, respectable guys. So if there is not going to be no big, thick enough grandiose or 200 yards and no, get what I can get. If I have a big day, great. If I don't, this long as it is efficient and that I don't, you know, I keep my mistakes to a minimum and that I do whenever time I get the play call or it's a play where I'm involved. If the screenplay would have passed play action or whatever, maybe have to pick my blitz. I pick a, I do, I do what I'm supposed to do because we knew then that's why Chris Burman named us the black and blue division at that time. We were, we were budgeted. We're beating each other up, you know, the whole time. And so it was tough to really go say, oh, yeah, I'm going to get a hundred against these, you know,

1:09:13against the bears, you know, in the shoulder field or I'm going to Detroit and do this. It's like, no, man, we just, we're going to play tough because we already know, you know, we got them once, but now they're going to want to return the favor because we're going into a US bank or we're going into Raymond James, you know, going down there. So that was what made our division good then. And now we're back to that now for the whole division. And I believe this is be a big game for Minnesota to either way because, especially if the game is close, you know, if they get the victory great because now all teams are on, you know, are firing all cylinders because from last year's talk, I remember the conversation was basically, all right, we know Detroit and we know the bears and Packers doing this, but Minnesota is here because they're still struggling. They had injuries. JJ's been hurt. He hasn't been able to develop properly because of that. And so that is where they're down at the bottom, but this is a new season and made some changes. So now it's going to be interesting to see where Kyle Fitch already talked about that,

1:10:14but then also with the offense align and with the defense, which, you know, Brian Flores, he has a, what is it? 44.9% percentage. Should have me, he's going to blitz you a lot. And that's one thing Jordan knows very well is that he's going to either send corners or send extra linebacker to what have you. And that's where I think he has that part understood about me to playing against him in the sort of Brian Flores defense and knowing that they're going to bring that, that heat as much as possible. It's amazing. No matter how many things change, the toughness of this division does not seem to change. And the battles between the Packers and Vikings are always fascinating. Can't wait for Sunday. A Montgren Packer legend, believe in Packers podcasts you're doing now, which is super awesome. And an absolute honor to have you on the show. My friend, thanks for doing this. And I hope we could do it again. I know problem. I appreciate you. Appreciate it. It was fun to talk as usual.