#904 Packers Unscripted: Almost here

0:06Speaker 1:Hi everybody, welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from Packers.com. I am Mike Spofford. He is my partner in everything Packers. Wes Hodkiewicz, we're coming to you here from the Pottawatomie Sportsbook studio inside the walls of Lambeau Field. Wes, on our last show we did a rather extensive preview of the Minnesota Vikings and what they will be bringing into this week one matchup. Sunday at US Bank Stadium. So I'm going to start this episode by just diving right into it. It's keys to victory time. What is it going to take? There are a lot of things that the Packers need to do well to win this game.

0:43Speaker 1:It's a big challenge on the road, division opponent, season opener, all of that. What rises to the top of the list for you as a key to victory?

0:52Speaker 2:15 years covering the Green Bay Packers, 20 years as a professional journalist in some shape or form. I'm going to give you the most obvious answer in the history of the NFL. You have to keep a lid on that passing game. The Minnesota Vikings, when you look at the way that they're built right now, there is nothing that Kyler Murray wants more. There's nothing that Kevin O'Connell wants more than to be able to get Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison going right off the bat. I think it would set the tone for the entire season. There's a lot of good points you raised in many of our discussions this week. They ended last season on a major high note with five straight wins. But it is a new year. And if you're the Green Bay Packers, I look at the Vikings right now and very similar lens as what the Detroit Lions were four years ago, whatever that was when they finished nine and eight. They got a very competitive win over Green Bay to end that season to knock the Packers out of playoffs contention.

1:48Speaker 2:The Minnesota Vikings, they want to be the spoiler here a little bit. but they need their receivers to do it. And I felt like the air was let out of the balloon last year when the Vikings realized the ceiling that was going to be on top of that passing game. Justin Jefferson having two touchdowns that season, 12.5 yards per catch, just not the type of dynamic numbers you're expecting from him. Now, Kyler Murray, he's not going to come in there and I think light this thing up the same way Sam Darnold did. I think there's going to be a lot more components to this thing. But you know O'Connell, the way that these guys are thinking right now, they want to get the ball in the hands of Jefferson and Addison.

2:25Speaker 2:And for the Vikings, win, lose, or draw, I feel like that is going to be the fuel that gets this engine running this season.

2:32Speaker 1:Yeah, this game feels like a battle of the explosive plays, right? Because we haven't seen Kyler Murray running Kevin O'Connell's offense. But yeah, when you talk about Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, TJ Hawkinson, And you look at Kyler Murray's history in Arizona, he's never going to be mistaken as a ball control quarterback. I mean, this is a guy who wants to strike, wants to hit you downfield. And the Packers are very much the same way. And you know how this is in these indoor, like, loud stadiums. And I want to get more into that noise issue in a little bit.

3:07Speaker 1:But these games have a way of of getting a little bit chaotic and a little bit almost too intense at times, whether you're sitting there watching it, whether you're playing it, whether you're standing on the sidelines trying to call plays. And it feels like one of these games that could devolve into big gashes down the field both ways and which team is going to be able to limit the opponent from doing that better. So what you said right off the bat to keep a lid on the passing game, I think the Minnesota Vikings are saying exactly the same thing about the Packers.

3:42Speaker 2:Yeah, totally. And I mean, you go back to the very beginning with Christian Watson. I mean, what was the first pass that Aaron Rodgers threw to Watson back in 2022? They went for the goal ball right off the bat. Watson beat his guy. He didn't make the play, but it just showed you that that potential was there for this Packers offense. And with a guy like Watson, you add in now the Jaden Reeds and the Matthew Goldens of the world. Oh, and then by the way, there's Tucker Kraft hungry for his first game back out there, his action. not on the injury report at all this week.

4:11Speaker 2:He talked about not having a rep count, being full go. This guy has been champing at the bit for the last 10 months to get back on the field, and now he has an opportunity to do it in front of a lot of family and friends that are going to be there. So I think you and I, in some shape or form, going back to the offseason program, whether it was with the Packers yearbook, whether it was our content on Packers.com, we have talked about all these weapons the Packers have assembled specifically on the perimeter. They narrowed it down. They got their big three. They've built the offense around Watson, Reed, and obviously trying to get Matthew Golden more opportunities. Well, now we're going to get a chance to see it. And for Minnesota, the high risk, high reward kind of makeup of Brian Flores' defense, that's going to be put to the test because they're going to be trying to get that clock as close to zero as possible for Jordan Love in the pocket. But the more you send, the more you kind of throw your chips on the table there, the more there are those opportunities for a potential explosive play if the right

5:08Speaker 2:guy isn't covered up at the right time. So that is going to be the ultimate chess match in this. And for the Packers, I actually think the thing that's also sort of the subcategory of this game is it's almost like the past and the danger and the risk of the past, how that can potentially also set up the run for both teams, right? If we're seeing more to shell, how do the teams adapt to that? It's just, this is the beauty of football. We can talk about it.

5:31Speaker 2:There's all the narratives you and I have filled so many column inches over the last eight months discussing what the 2026 season is going to look like for the Packers on Sunday. We start to find out.

5:40Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. The, And as much as I just talked about all the explosive plays and everything and how that's going to play such a big role in this game, it feels like from the Packers' perspective, when you're the road team coming into this environment, Brian Flores, his defense with all the crazy exotic looks and everything that he's going to give Jordan Love to decipher at the line of scrimmage and all that, finding some measure of balance on offense to try as best you can. And it's hard because Brian Flores never plays honestly, so to speak, right?

6:15Speaker 1:He gets crazy up there. But you have to try to get that defense to play you honestly. And the way you do that is by not being just completely one-dimensional, not giving them a read exactly on where you are. And the Packers aren't going to have Josh Jacobs. This is Marshawn Lloyd's time to step in. It's going to be a little bit of a committee approach because Marshawn Lloyd is not going to get 25 carries in his first game, his first real NFL game as a starter in three years in this league. But the Packers have to find some way to create offensive balance and to keep Brian Flores from getting too crazy to where he can just overwhelm and confuse the pass protection unit. And he's going to have that crowd noise on his side.

7:06Speaker 2:Yeah, one of the most critical things I think happened during the preseason that we saw and the times that the number one offense was out there is the fact that Marshawn Lloyd, he was not inhibited at all. They left him out there for the entire series. Now, how many of those series are you going to get throughout the course of the game? We'll wait and see. But it's not like the Packers felt like, OK, well, on first and second down, we got him out there. Third down, we got to get Chris Brooks in. They didn't play it like that. And they had their starting quarterback back there that he needed to protect. the Packers feel confident about everything that Marshawn Lloyd can be as a football player.

7:36Speaker 2:It's the other stuff around that that has been the cause for pause, right? So now that we're actually at that point, that inflection point, as the confidence starts to build with him, as he starts to get those reps underneath his belt, reminding us all that this is only his second regular season official NFL game on Sunday, that's where I think you're going to see number 32 really take off. But talking to guys in the locker room too, I mean, Caleb Johnson, the quarterback, the running back that the Packers just acquired from Pittsburgh, the former third-round pick and All-American at Iowa, he said he feels really confident, too, with where he's at with this first weekend and was quick to remind us all, and certainly it's never something that I have to be reminded of, but Ben Sermons has been through this before. He's done this for 10 years in terms of onboarding a running back on short notice, so To your point, whether it's Lloyd, whether it's Brooks, whether it is a guy like Caleb Johnson getting some opportunities, whoever is back there in the backfield, the Packers have confidence in it. The key is going to be the

8:33Speaker 2:production that you're able to get, right? They need to do a better job. There needs to be less contact before the line of scrimmage. That falls on the offensive line. That falls on the tight ends. It falls into everybody in that equation. If you give your running backs a chance to make some room and make some plays and That's where I feel like the breaking point really can come for this Minnesota defense.

8:51Speaker 1:Yeah. And on the other side of things, when I think about what the Packers need to do defensively, everybody's going to say, oh, well, you got to shut down Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison. It's like, okay, you're not going to shut those guys down. They're going to make plays. This is the NFL. These guys are among the best in the business. My perspective on it is when it comes to trying to limit the explosive plays, are you going to make Kyler Murray throw from the pocket or are you going to let him run around and create his own throwing lanes and try to gash you that way?

9:27Speaker 1:Because if Kyler Murray is hemmed in in a pocket with those, you know, the six foot six Anthony Campbells of the world putting up their hands and trying to, you know, disrupt those passing lanes for him, life gets difficult for a quarterback of his stature. But of course his game is to create his own throwing lanes by stepping up, by getting outside. This is one of those games where the last statistic I'm going to look at when we get our statistical packet after the game. the last one I'm going to look at is how many times did the Packers sack Kyler Murray? Because I think it's going to be completely irrelevant in this game. It's not about sacking him. What the Packers need to do as best they can is to make him throw the ball from the pocket. And if Kyler Murray can beat you from the pocket with Addison and Jefferson and Hawkinson and those guys, I'll tip my cap to him. I don't think Kyler Murray will be able to beat the Packers from the pocket if they can keep him there. Yeah.

10:27Speaker 2:And that's been the recipe for success, right? That's how they've done it twice before against him. It's kind of funny. This is only the third time that he's going to be playing the Packers. A litany of injuries kind of contributed to him not always being out there when those two teams have met. But When you look at his numbers, quickly just going back on it, he's completed almost 68% of his passes against Green Bay, but in those two games only threw for 488 yards, one touchdown against two interceptions, and then more importantly, 13 carries for 35 yards, 2.7 yards per attempt. That's what you want to see because the higher that that gets, the more opportunities there's going to be for explosive plays in the passing game. To your original point, I think this is such a good thing because, and it's such a great thing to point out with this matchup, This will probably be the first time that Brandon Cisse, almost like Christian Watson back in 22, is going to be thrown right into the fire. He's going to know what it's like to be out there in that environment playing against that type of opponent and

11:20Speaker 2:seeing this type of quality receiver. Certainly, I think he had a pretty good introduction into the NFL based on what he saw throughout the spring and the summer here on Green Bay, but Jefferson's different. And Addison, when he's right, is different. So him, Keyshawn Nixon, the guys on the back end, they're all going to have a part to play in this. And certainly, you know, Jonathan Gannon, we were talking to Xavier McKinney on Wednesday. You know, he knows Kyler Murray extremely well, and there's been some pointers and some examples and things that he's already given to his defenders as far as how to go about defending him.

11:53Speaker 2:None of that's going to leak out into the media. Xavier said they're not going to give away that plan, but there is a familiarity there and the Packers have to use that to their advantage.

12:00Speaker 1:Yeah, and the other thing, the last thing I think I want to say about this game, I mentioned it on our last show. I talked about it in our Three Things video after practice on Wednesday. I think the X factor in this game is the building. It's U.S. Bank Stadium because any time you go on your first road game of any season is always a big challenge because you've just spent a whole month of training camp practices. How many times do you use the silent count in a training camp practice? You don't, right? You don't get to that until the last week or two before the first game. And in many cases, if you're opening the season at home, you're not practicing silent count until week two or week three. So that's a big challenge in itself.

12:46Speaker 1:I already mentioned Brian Flores and all of his crazy looks and what he tries to do to confuse the protection unit as far as who's blitzing and who's not. And the Packers have to be on their P's and Q's with the assignment, as well as with the snap count, the silent count. All that stuff creates this big challenge. And on top of that, I think this is going to be a Minnesota fan base coming into this building on Sunday with a sense of renewed hope. Because They went through an awful season last year at the quarterback position with JJ McCarthy and everybody's trying to wait for him to figure it out and to get things going on the right track. And it never happened. And now there's a new quarterback stepping in who is, who gets a clean slate from the Minnesota fans, you know, just as Sam Darnold had a clean slate from the Minnesota fans a couple of years ago.

13:42Speaker 2:Right.

13:43Speaker 1:And then we saw what he did in Kevin O'Connell's offense. This Minnesota crowd is going to be fired up big time for their rivals from across the border coming into their building in week one to kick off the new season, and it's an environment the Packers have to be ready for, and they have to be able to manage it properly.

14:02Speaker 2:Yeah, it was a lot better when there weren't 65,000 people and their shouting and screaming and all that when Aaron Rodgers first tested it many years ago. But all these things added up. When you look at how... You know, you go back two years ago, the Packers fell into a hole against Minnesota, weren't able to climb out of it, tried to in the fourth quarter, but once that fan base was invigorated, once they were going, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Even last year, I understand that the Green Bay had all their reserves out there, and it was just a very select few starters going, but you look at how things went for Clayton Tuna, that offense, when things started to spiral in that first quarter, how the fans inside U.S. Bank Stadium responded to that it just kept unraveling and unraveling and unraveling. So, um, certainly it'll be a much different ball game than it was, um, last season, but I mean, it's the same type of principles that'll be in play for Green Bay. So I think the thing that's really cool about it, uh, we've all spilled a lot of ink talking about Jordan Love, his development, where he's taken this thing, uh, cool common collected,

15:02Speaker 2:his ability to handle these types of situations, It's going to be put to the test, not only with his own play style, but with how he rallies the guys around him, some of the dudes that haven't been in that position before. So it's exciting and as, as difficult as it can be in as much of a mismatch or mix up, whatever you want to call it in terms of a week one divisional matchup right off the bat. I think there are some really cool storylines to follow within it too. And seeing how Green Bay starts this thing in a pretty critical game against one of their NFC North rivals.

15:32Speaker 1:Okay. most annoying noise at us bank stadium the skull chant the horn the led zeppelin song or the prince let's go crazy when they score.

15:42Speaker 2:I think it's the horn for me okay i the the i've always said this um it's the synthesize it was kind of like when we were used to be at lumen field right or it's like okay the horn's really loud but it also helps when you have all these speakers here also blaring the horn for sure um you know teams have music i mean you go but you look at all these college programs they all got their own little gimmicks right the badgers do So that's all good. And I do love, generally speaking, I really do like the game presentation that the Vikings have. Gets people into it. They've used that facility to its maximum potential.

16:14Speaker 2:But yeah, I think the Skoll thing I respect because it's like, dude, it's not easy to get an entire fan base doing one singular thing. I mean, I'm trying to get the Packers fan base to stop doing the wave. And either way, it's not working out very well. But to have the Vikings fans. Um, you know, be so, I mean, that started as kind of a gimmicky thing and then they all, they absorbed it and they've made it their own and I respect it. It's just when you start to bring in all the other elements that it's kind of like, okay, well it's cool in theory, but how much of this is actually being boosted by the atmosphere in some of the technical things.

16:50Speaker 1:I always feel like for all the times I've been there, and this goes back to the Metrodome as well, to me, what, what really juices up the fans is the Led Zeppelin song, the fire and ice. I don't even know what the name of the actual song is, but it's something about something about, you know, the Viking, you know, Norseman, whatever.

17:09Speaker 2:Um, all right.

17:10Speaker 1:Wes is, Wes is going to look up the name of the song. I think that music is what, is what really fires them up.

17:17Speaker 2:I guess it's called the immigrant song.

17:19Speaker 1:There you go. Is that it? Yes. That's that. Sure.

17:21Speaker 2:I'm right on that. Um, yeah. Yeah.

17:23Speaker 1:But it's, they, the lyrics talk about land of the ice and snow and all of this. And that's the.

17:29Speaker 2:What year do you think that was released?

17:30Speaker 1:It had to be in like the seventies, right?

17:33Speaker 2:1970.

17:33Speaker 1:Yeah.

17:33Speaker 2:Okay. Off Led Zeppelin three.

17:36Speaker 1:Led Zeppelin three. There you go.

17:38Speaker 2:You probably, did you own that as a kid?

17:40Speaker 1:No, I did not own that. I did not own that. But I think, I think that's the, I think that's the, the audio element that really like you know, juices up the fan base and gets them going, especially at the very beginning of the game, you know, the first third down for the opposing offense, you know, that kind of stuff. And then when they get their offense going and then you get the Prince music with the, let's go crazy when they score and all that. I mean, it's, if you let, if you let the Vikings take control of the game, that stuff is, that stuff is constant. It just, it, it will last all four quarters and it'll drive you absolutely nuts in and Drives, drives me nuts. And I've never had to try to play a football game there.

18:18Speaker 1:I'm only trying to do my job. Yeah.

18:19Speaker 2:That's the nice thing about having an open air press box.

18:22Speaker 1:And it was open air at the Metronome too.

18:24Speaker 2:It is interesting. Two, two stadiums, both in the NFC North that are open air and two of the louder ones too with Detroit, especially now that they've been more relevant. Be curious if Chicago ends up going that direction. And then you and I are just, our heads are ringing. three times a year. Yeah.

18:40Speaker 1:Detroit, Detroit, it's the, it's the gongs on third down, right? As soon as, as soon as, I mean, by almost before the guy gets tackled on second down, they start the gongs for third down, you know, when, when the opposing team has the ball. And then if it gets to fourth down, they just keep the gongs going and they don't stop.

18:58Speaker 2:Big gong guys.

18:59Speaker 1:Yeah. But we'll get to that when, when Ford Field is, is on the agenda. But for now we do need to pay some bills. So let's hear a quick word from our sponsors. Sirius XM NFL Radio delivers hard-hitting analysis and up-to-the-minute NFL news that true football fanatics need 24-7, 365. Did you know Lambeau Field is just one of our state's many wonders? Start making unforgettable memories on your next vacation. Discover Grandad Bluff and more at TravelWisconsin.com slash wonders. Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Wes, week one. Your thoughts on the kickoff opener Wednesday night in Seattle? Not the type of game anybody was expecting, obviously, when the defending Super Bowl champion starting quarterback exits in the first quarter, but.

19:51Speaker 1:A huge missed opportunity by the New England Patriots.

19:53Speaker 2:Yeah. So I'll get back to Darnold in a second, but I honestly, I was thinking about this when I was going to bed. I had it on the second screen last night. I had like two different things on the back of my screen while I was working on some stories. And As I was hearing stuff and then kind of peeling my head back, I kept thinking, especially once the Rome play happened at the end, I'm like, I don't know. For as much as Darnold potentially having a massive hip injury could be a problem, I don't know if that night could have went any worse for the Patriots. When you look now at these statistics, everybody's bringing up about Drake May now 0-12 against winning teams in his time there. A.J. Brown is reportedly high ankle sprain.

20:32Speaker 2:See how long that takes them out of commission here. And then obviously Rome, no catches, and then has a very rough drop there at the end.

20:40Speaker 1:With the interception right after that.

20:42Speaker 2:With the interception right after.

20:42Speaker 1:They would have had a first down in opposing territory with a chance to add points, and then the very next play is an interception, and Seattle's going the other way to get points of their own.

20:51Speaker 2:Yeah, so as far as to lose a Super Bowl and then have to start the season that way.

20:58Speaker 1:Against that opponent.

20:59Speaker 2:That's a tough draw indeed.

21:01Speaker 1:Place.

21:02Speaker 2:That was about as rough as it gets. Now, I think everybody with the Seahawks, they wait with bated breath here. I know, I think Mike McDonald was saying that they think, you know, they're hopeful for good news here with Darnold, but you just, until that MRI comes back, you can never be too certain.

21:15Speaker 1:Yeah, they need to do the MRI. The initial word is that they don't believe it's a fracture in the hip, but whatever else may be going on there, we'll, we'll have to see. But that, I mean, the, you know, Seattle, Seattle's defense stepped up, made things difficult. For the Patriots and Seattle's defense is what sees the momentum of the game and the backup quarterback was able to make it work and get just enough points on the board to chalk up the victory.

21:39Speaker 2:This is why we talk about it, Mike. We spent this whole training camp talking about Tyrod Taylor and last year, obviously, with Malik Willis, why you want to have a veteran there. Drew Locke has been there for years now, I think over two different stints. I mean, this guy has been a part of this program. He goes in there. He did exactly what he needed to do to win that game. He put Jackson Smith and Jigba in a position to win that game for them and That's what you want out of QB2. Yeah.

22:01Speaker 1:Well, looking around other week one games, elsewhere in the NFC North, the Packers-Vikings is the only NFC North matchup. The Bears and the Lions are not playing each other. The Bears are on the road at Carolina. The Lions opening at home against the Saints, I think. And I said this either in my live chat or in Insider Inbox. I forget with all these different platforms that we use. I think the Bears are going to have a harder time in Carolina than a lot of people are giving them.

22:32Speaker 1:A lot of people think, oh, the Bears are everybody's darling defending NFC North champs. They're going to walk into Carolina and roll those guys. Carolina stole a division championship from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the end of last season, and that is all the talk about Caleb Williams being a quarterback on the rise, and he certainly is. Bryce Young is also very much a quarterback on the rise in this league, and I think Carolina's going to give Chicago everything they can handle.

22:59Speaker 2:And I don't say this with any disrespect, but when people are like, hey, the Bears are going to walk in their role, the Bears didn't do that at all last year over really anybody. So it's like, I don't know how much you can talk about just going in and imposing your will on a team. The Bears had to scratch and claw to get those wins last season.

23:14Speaker 1:But you know what I mean. They're everybody's darling.

23:16Speaker 2:They are, dude. I'm with you 100% on what you're saying.

23:19Speaker 1:They're everybody's pick to click, so to speak, and I just think this game, and I'm not saying Carolina's going to win. I don't know, and I don't look at point spreads and whatnot. I just get the sense that people aren't talking about this as a challenge for Chicago, that this is going to be a challenging season opener, and I think it's very much going to be a challenging game for them.

23:38Speaker 2:Yeah, Will, and I think the biggest thing, and I'm with you on Bryce Young. I think he's shown a lot of growth, and I think he's another example, as we've talked about countless times, especially with a quarterback like Jordan Love. You need time to grow. You need time to learn. Yeah. He had to do some on-the-job training. When they pulled him back, that's when he started to blossom a little bit. But my biggest thing with Carolina right now is they don't have Rico Dotto anymore. So what is that run game going to look like? Can Hubbard be the face of that thing again? Obviously, the rookie they had a couple years back that keeps him tearing his ACL. There's prospects there, but Dotto was such a big part of that comeback and that run last season.

24:12Speaker 1:Power running back.

24:13Speaker 2:Now they've got to do it without him. And Mike McCarthy's got him back.

24:16Speaker 1:Yeah. Detroit at home against New Orleans, I think the Lions get their season off on the right foot.

24:24Speaker 2:Yeah, they need to. When you look at how things ended last year for them and the disappointment that I know kind of flowed through that place and realistically that game against Green Bay, pretty much deciding who was going to be the team that kind of snuck into the playoffs or at least sort of controlled their own destiny there towards the end of the season. A lot for the Lions to prove, Jameer Gibbs to prove. you know, Amin Ra, all these guys, Jamison Williams. We talk a lot about the Packers weapons. The Lions have just as many.

24:52Speaker 2:And you're going up against a New Orleans Saints team that, you know, kind of also was sort of this team on the rise at the end of last season. They were just too far out of it where at least the Panthers were in striking distance. So yeah, I mean, there's no reason why Detroit shouldn't be favored in that. Just mostly interested to see about through the course of season, how that defense holds up. Yeah.

25:10Speaker 1:And they're looking for their star defender in Aiden Hutchinson to return to form now that he's that much further removed from that horrific injury that he had back in 2024. The most intriguing game to me on the AFC side of things, a couple of playoff teams going at it. Buffalo is at Houston. The Houston Texans, that defense all the way up to and including their loss to the Patriots in the playoffs last year, that Houston Texans defense proved it was for real. Is D'Amico Ryan's going to be able to keep that going and keep that in place with Josh Allen and company coming into Energy Stadium?

25:52Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm hoping not because, you know, James Cooks is my running back. So, you know, go Bills. But no, I mean, Houston was such an interesting squad last year because they could not have started the season probably worse than they did while still being in playoff contention.

26:09Speaker 1:Yeah, didn't they start 0-3?

26:11Speaker 2:Yeah, found a way to rally.

26:13Speaker 1:Yeah, and they end up getting all the way to the divisional round of the playoffs.

26:17Speaker 2:And then get smacked out of it again. So it's like they've been in sort of this cyclical pattern here while at the same time Buffalo's still trying to be the team that kind of takes that next step and obviously a massive change this year at the head coaching spot, seeing if that can lead to a new direction for them. Yeah, a lot of the line on that one. I think overall it's a good benchmark throughout the league. I mean, you can whether it's Kansas city and the questions, you know, with everything happening there with Patrick Mahomes and, you know, they got Denver right off the bat. And we talk about the bears being a darling and the NFC. I think everybody's kind of, you know, pumping up the Broncos right now based on what they showed in that second year under Sean Payton. Yeah.

26:57Speaker 1:And, and, Another one of those big division matchups in week one, you look at the NFC East as Cowboys against Giants and Eagles against Commanders. That whole division is all division matchups in week one. Those are key ones to keep an eye on, but anything else catch your eye?

27:16Speaker 2:Just excited, man. I think it's going to be fun. It's a chance and an opportunity now to really get and dive back into ball. Tonight, we're going to obviously have this game between the 49ers and Rams.

27:27Speaker 1:Another Division 1 matchup, or Division matchup in Week 1, excuse me.

27:31Speaker 2:Rams got in at whatever it was, 9.45 our time last night. They're going to try to play this game, staying on their regular body clock. Fascinating to watch. Slept a little on the plane. Going to sleep at the hotel and see how it all rolls out while the San Francisco 49ers have almost relocated there. So that's going to be the ultimate roll of the dice. And again, a divisional matchup with huge implications. This is what you want. This is what we've talked about. This is everything that makes the NFL tick. And the fact that this game is now being played on Wednesdays and Thursdays, right to start off the season. Tells you everything we need to know about the insatiable appetite for NFL football.

28:10Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. Well, we will have plenty to talk about when we come back next week for our Tuesday show, Packers, Vikings, everything else going on in week one. We will cover it for you, but for now, we're going to call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team and everything from Sunday season opener at US Bank Stadium. Wes and I will be sitting next to each other with our laptops in that open air press box. trying not to listen to the horn and the music and the skull chants, and just trying to do our jobs, and we'll do the best we can for you. But until then, thank you for tuning in, everybody, and we will see you next time.