E45: “Pride Preview” Attack the Pack - Week 14: vs Packers (Feat Dusty Evely)

In this episode, hosts discuss the upcoming Thursday night matchup between the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. They review both teams' recent performances, player updates, and key strategies, including the Lions' recent signings and the Packers' emerging offensive tactics. The episode features an insightful interview with Dusty Evely who provides a deep dive into the Packers' current form and future prospects. Additionally, hosts reflect on highlights from the previous game, including impactful injuries and strategies, and make their predictions for the upcoming game.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:32 Thank You's and Shoutouts
• 5:34 Lions' New Player Signings
• 12:54 Injury Reports
• 15:52 Interview with Dusty Evely
• 46:36 Keys to Victory Against the Packers
• 57:20 Monty vs. Gibbs
• 1:02:54 Grit Picks and Predictions

Transcript

Jason Harwood: 0:44

Welcome everyone

Jacob: 0:45

Okay.

Jason Harwood: 0:57

last year, both road teams won their matchup. Let's end that streak right here on Thursday night. Lions, let's lions need to take it to them.

Jacob: 1:08

Um, I'm going to go ahead and leave you with the video. It's the sound of it. We'll listen to it. And then I'll share the video. And then, if you want to study, you can go ahead and listen to the video. So that's it for this video. I hope you enjoyed it. And I'll see you in my next video. so much.

Jason Harwood: 1:32

We sold our first shirt, Jacob. Um, we have merch, we haven't really pushed it at all. It's not a big deal to us. We just put it out there, but what's cool about this is that my 10 year old Bradley that shirt and that was the first one to sold. So when I told him he was super excited. So if you're the person that bought that shirt. I want to say thank you for doing that. Cause you made a 10 year old, very happy on Saturday when, when he bought, when, when that sold, um,

Jacob: 2:05

Um. Yeah.

Jason Harwood: 2:18

If you want to look, that's cool. Uh, but anyways, whoever bought that, thank you so much. The second cool thing, Jacob, is that we got mentioned on the POD live stream this weekend. and the boys over there, POD are doing, they did their 14 hour marathon live stream. we got mentioned a few times cause a couple of donations that were met. I told them not to mention me in the first one, he read it out loud anyway. So that was really cool. So I want to give a shout out to Jeremy and the POD guys for Uh, give us a little love over there and um, you know, they you know, they're Movember Live event is on Wednesday night. So they're taking donations all the way up till then. So I think if you get to 50, 000, which I think they're around 46, 000 now, Jacob, uh, Jeremy's going to get a tattoo, a real tattoo.

Jacob: 3:11

Wow. what? Have they determined that yet?

Jason Harwood: 3:14

It's the it's a logo. So I think it's his face with a mustache on it. I

Jacob: 3:20

Oh, that's hilarious.

Jason Harwood: 3:21

know. Yeah. So I don't know where he's putting it. I don't know where he's putting the tattoo. If you get up to 60, 000, now that's going to be a big jump, but if you get up to 60, 000, he shaves his head. So, uh, you know,

Jacob: 3:34

Wait, wait, wait. 50, 000 is a tattoo. 60, 000 is shaming your head.

Jason Harwood: 3:38

yeah.

Jacob: 3:39

He must really like his hair.

Jason Harwood: 3:41

Yeah, well, for me, it wouldn't be that big a deal. I'd be like,

Jacob: 3:44

Yeah,

Jason Harwood: 3:45

right. that's That's

Jacob: 3:49

already Hey, Jason can't participate.

Jason Harwood: 3:52

much love to those guys over there. Um, you know, I hope they're live, they're having a live event tomorrow. I hope that goes really well. I'll be there, uh, supporting them. So I'm hoping that it goes really well. Jacob, how was your Thanksgiving weekend?

Jacob: 4:07

Uh, hey man. The Lions won. It was really good. Saturday got a little bit better. The Wolverines pulled it out.

Jason Harwood: 4:12

oh

Jacob: 4:13

We couldn't ask for much more, right?

Jason Harwood: 4:15

I know. was shocking. We to Henry Ford Museum on Saturday. Normally, I'm always watching the Michigan Ohio State game, but I had compromised with my wife. I thought, I didn't think there was a chance, and heck, that the Lions were going to, or the,

Jacob: 4:30

Wolverines,

Jason Harwood: 4:31

going to

Jacob: 4:31

watch your mouth.

Jason Harwood: 4:32

Yeah, and, So, I I know that you, we all think we want our team to win, but you know, I thought it was a pretty big long shot. Although in this, you know, in rivalries, anything can happen and everything did happen in this game. I did, I think I texted you, we sat down for the beginning of the fourth quarter and just started watching it in the museum. Cause you know, it was a tight game. We get all the Wolverines to get down there and throw that first interception. turned it off. I texted you and you're like, go back to the museum. Jason,

Jacob: 5:04

Yeah, you're ruining it. Don't switch it up. Do exactly what you were doing.

Jason Harwood: 5:10

Yeah, no, but I did not listen. And we went back and we got shakes and ice cream and sat and my boys sat, watched with my father in law, even though my father in law was a Michigan state van, he was a common, common enemy. So we were rooting against Ohio state and yeah, what a. a great, uh, what a great win for the program. So happy for those guys. but yeah, so, uh, let's move on to, lion signed a lot of new players this week and let's kind of introduce, uh, everybody to those players. The first player that I'm going to highlight is Jamal Adams. What'd you think of that signing Jacob?

Jacob: 5:49

I mean, obviously it's exciting just because of the name and the possibilities of what he brings. Um, you know, lately he obviously has not been as good as he has been in the past, but I think that this is kind of the perfect situation for us and for him. Uh, you know, we Have all these injury issues. We need a veteran to come in. We signed a couple of veterans, but you know, that was the idea behind this is we're getting a veteran, someone who's obviously he's still showing flashes. He's still able to, you know, he's still able to play. This obviously is a much more exciting signing three or four years ago. But I think the most interesting part about this is, you know, where he signed them, but we have two of the best safeties in the game. So it seems like he's going to be spending a lot of time as a, you know, like a hybrid linebacker kind of situation, what were your first thoughts?

Jason Harwood: 6:35

Yeah, that's well, I first thought is where is he going to play? And cause he left Seattle cause he didn't want, they were trying to move into the linebacker and he didn't want, he didn't want to play, but you know, probably when you're sitting in the unemployment area, you know, you'll sign with a team, especially with the team with a 11 and one record. He lined up with the linebackers. I mean, that's what they've been tweeting out is that he's been, you know, in their room. Which is good. His run defense is salad. His covered skills have declined, but he could blitz the passer really well. Especially with all of the injuries that we've had at linebacker, this might be a perfect marriage for us to get a really high level player. As long as we can get them on board quick enough, play Thursday, just how short we are. So it'll be interesting. I, know if you saw the, his quote. Uh, Jacob, but I'm going to read it right here. Cause I, I loved it. Uh, this is Jamal. Adam says they didn't have to call me. They didn't need me. They've been doing phenomenal. So just to get the call from a first class organization like the Detroit Lions, it's a no brainer for me. First class. you know, how it's all changed. Right. Five years ago, he gets a call from the lions. He's not picking up the phone. His agent's not picking up the phone we need our linebackers. If anything that our linebackers do struggle with outside of Derek Barnes was rushing the passer. We, you know, we would send a blitz, but a lot of times we're not getting home. Um, hopefully Jamal Adams, kind of in that iffy mold that if he played where he plays up closer to the line. Was really good at blitzing at least towards the end of last year. If he was really able to do that. So hopefully, you know, if you're looking for a comparison, I mean, that's probably the iffy position right there. Um, anything else you want to add on Jamal?

Jacob: 8:25

You know, he's familiar with Aaron Glenn. So it seems like that kind of, you know, familiarity probably helped out with that too, because we really, you know, you look at the other people that we sign and most of them are just, you know, veterans that we've gotten from other practice squads. This was kind of the highlight. This was the newsworthy one, just because of the type of player that Jamal Adams has been in the past. So. You know, Brad Holmes, Aaron Glenn, they seem to want to see what we have in Jamal Adams.

Jason Harwood: 8:50

The Lions this week waived Maurice Alexander, but re signed him to the practice squad today. They placed Malcolm Rodriguez and Makai Wingo on injured reserve. And as Jacob alluded to, the other three players that we signed, first player that we'll talk about is, uh, defensive lineman Miles Adam. He was off the Seattle Seahawks practice squad. Uh, I played 33 snaps for them this year. Um, he's played 23 games in four seasons. His game that he, his game that he played earlier this season was actually against the Lions on that Monday night football game. DMed, Michael Dugan, who was the athletic writer for Seattle Seahawks. And I just said, anything you got on Miles Adam and his was a short, sweet answer was he's a dog, man. You know, that's seems like the type of player that Lions sign. And we just. You know, we just need bodies right now. We need guys that can come in and play.

Jacob: 9:45

Absolutely.

Jason Harwood: 9:47

Um, the next guy that we signed was, uh, linebacker Kwon Alexander. Signed him off the Broncos practice squad. This will be his seventh team. He does have an injury history. He is a former pro bowler. But he's got experience. He's probably going to be able to catch up to speed pretty quickly. uh, you know, we may, I don't know if we're going to see him on the field this week, but we, we may, uh, last guy that we signed was defensive lineman off the Rams practice squad, that's Jonah Williams. He's a run stuffer. He could play the edge or defensive line. Um, he started 22 games, including just 16, just last year for the Rams. So, I mean, the Rams were starting them last year. So, I mean, not that far removed from that., I think Brad Holmes is the original one that originally scouted him. So no surprise that he ended up in Detroit. Anything you want to add on any of these guys, Jacob?

Jacob: 10:42

No, I mean, obviously they're, they're noteworthy because of the injuries and stuff that we've had, but we're not asking most of these guys to come in and necessarily contribute right away. Um, you know, they're not offering starting positions to them right now. We just need, we need depth and we need to see what they have. And if they're able to be key rotational pieces, that's what we need is guys. You know, we need dogs, right? We need you to come in here, be a part of the team. We need you to do your job.

Jason Harwood: 11:08

Yep. Yep. I'm sure that they got, you know, specific duties for these guys in mind, especially if they make it and play this week. Hopefully we, this injury bug just doesn't hit us on Thursday. Like it did. Um, Last Thursday were just seemed like every other play where, you know, person's down on the ground. It's going to be a tough game though. Packers are tough. They're a tough team. It's going to be a hard fought division division game play. You know, we've played three games and whatever, 11 days or whatever it's going to be. It's rough. Let's talk about the Packers. We don't need to go over impact players. Nothing much has changed in that realm since we'd played them a few weeks ago. But what we'll talk about is their results. Um, do you want to go over what their results were since week nine there, Jacob?

Jacob: 11:53

Yes, after the last to us, they went on the bi week kind of had to regroup followed it up winning against, uh, at Chicago against the bears 20 to 19. Then they hosted the 49ers at home 49ers team that was definitely injury ravaged also, and they ended up winning 38 to 10. And then last week on Thanksgiving Thursday night game. The Packers versus the Dolphins. They won 30 to 17. So they're right back on the winning streak again. You know, they're nine and three, they've only lost three games. One of them was against us. One of them was against the Vikings. And then week one, uh, they lost that game to the Eagles. So this, you know, this is a tough team and they're definitely. They're getting hot at the right time. This is going to be a tough game. They obviously, especially after losing the last one to us, they really want this one.

Jason Harwood: 12:42

Nope, and it could change the look of the division real quick if, if they were to take this one over. So Lance, you know, gonna have to put them on. And, uh, start out hot and hopefully we could take them down. The injury report, as you would expect on a Thursday game is quite extensive, um, for the Packers and, uh, not as, as many names on the Lions, but. Definitely. Some really impact players. So you want to go through the Packers, um, injury report, Jacob.

Jacob: 13:13

All right, Packers injury report, uh, cornerback Jair Alexander limited practice. Uh, you also got a limited practice out of defensive line. Kenny Clark, Romeo Dobbs, the wide receiver. Um, let's see here. Josh Jacobs, limited practice. They're pretty sure he's going to go Elton Jenkins, limited practice. He's a, you know, the big offensive lineman linebacker, Isaiah McDuffie, offensive lineman, Josh Myers, uh, left tackle, I believe Rashid Walker and then defensive lineman Colby Wooden. These are all guys that got limited practices in, um, the big ones that did not practice linebacker, linebacker, Edger and Cooper, cornerback, Corey Valentine.

Jason Harwood: 13:53

As far as the lions, uh, the list is a little bit smaller cause a lot of our guys are on IR. I, I, her IR list is very long, but as far as the, the guys that are on the active roster that did not practice Taylor Decker, no practice two days in a row, Levi Anzarique, no practice Tuesdays in a row. Josh two days in a row, no practice. And this is the big one for me. DJ Reader did not practice two days in a row, especially with Josh Jacobs coming to town. I hope I haven't heard too much about Reader's injury. I don't think Decker, Anzarico or Paschal go. Hopefully we can find Reader a way to get him on the field. Uh, good news is Carlton Davis went from limited practice to full practice today. So. That's looking pretty good for him to play, which, you know, they got some speed on the outside of the receivers. It's gonna be good to get Carlton back and then have Terrian on the other side so we could be Full strength in the secondary, at least. Hopefully we could hold them off. So our pass rush can get there and Emmanuel Mosley, who, uh, has a full practice two days in a row, looks like he's going to probably be a go. It was a hamstring thing that came up right before the game on Thanksgiving. So that's when they put them inactive, which was a surprise inactive for that game. So. Provide a little bit of depth at, uh, cornerback. So, and we still don't know what position E man's going to play when he, when he does play. So we may or may not figure that out. Just depends on, you know, how that game goes.

Jacob: 15:22

Yeah, he just can't seem to shake the injury bug,

Jason Harwood: 15:24

I

Jacob: 15:25

but it'd be nice to have a healthy secondary. Last week you had Carlton Davis didn't play, um, previously before that Tarion didn't play, so it's like, to get both of them back and to add E Man is definitely gonna be nice.

Jason Harwood: 15:37

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Especially with the, you know, injuries at the other levels on the line and line backer to have your secondary back that's played really well this, this year, um, you know, it would be important. All right. We're going to head over to our friend, Dusty Eveley. We're going to, uh, hit the interview up now. Hope you guys enjoy it. We'll see you on the flip side.

Dusty: 16:05

Yeah.

Jason Harwood: 16:17

fan, which I got to thinking, like, that makes me more mad. Like, why are you a Packers fan? So, you know, you like the Tigers. You could be on the good side, but no, that's all right. Uh, it was great to connect with you on the Tigers stuff,

Dusty: 16:29

Mm hmm.

Jason Harwood: 16:30

talked last time the post season was winding down. Um, it's great to have you back on Dusty. How have you been? Thanks

Dusty: 16:36

Appreciate you having me back. Yeah, man. Uh, excited to talk to you again. Excited to be able to do this. And when we, uh, finished up last time, we were like, cause I would probably chat it for an hour after the fact. And that was kind of a, we let's try to get together the next time, knowing it's kind of coming off the weird week with Thanksgiving and everything. So I'm, I am glad it worked out. I'm thrilled to be back here, uh, talking a little ball with you, man, with, for hopefully for me. Hopefully a game that plays out a little differently than the last time we talked.

Jason Harwood: 17:00

all you want to get beat by more points. Is that what you want? Oh man, no, it's great to have you on. I'm glad that we can, uh, you know, hanging out for an hour afterwards, just, you know, opens up and we can have a better report. So I was really glad that you were able to do that the last time.

Dusty: 17:15

Absolutely.

Jason Harwood: 17:16

So I know we will quit with the pleasantries. We're going to get to where we're enemies here. Um, so we're kind of talking about before we got on here, but what's changed for the Packers since the last meeting, it's only been four weeks. Right? So what, what has changed during that time? Um, that's going to make this game a little different. Do you think? All

Dusty: 17:39

the last time we talked, uh, so. Love was coming off at that point. It was unclear whether he was gonna play. He had the obviously had the knee injury earlier in the season. He came back from that. He had the, uh, the groin injury that he was coming off. I think it was after the Jags game. The Lions game was the next game after the Jags game. And so it was like it was unclear whether he was gonna play. They decided they were gonna play him anyway, and he clearly was not 100%. And so it One of the cool things the Packers really did when love was out was with Willis. They opened up their run game. It was all this stuff. I think love or, um, before I've been trying to get to and just hadn't really gotten to, and this forced his hand a little bit. So they broke out a bunch of like split guns, single wing, uh, spinner stuff with Willis, like a lot of really cool variety. They've been working in pullers for a while, but they've done a bond. They did a bunch of stuff that first week against the Colts with Willis, open up the passing game a little more with the Titans. And then love came back and was hampered. And so all that running game stuff that was really cool with Willis, they couldn't do because so much of that relied on, I mean, a spinner series. So much of that is I fake behind me. I got to spin back the entire way around. We had a bad knee and a bad groin. So like physically he could not do it. I think they tried it in one game with love. He couldn't, he could barely get the handoff off and they scrapped it all. Uh, and so when we talked last time, uh, that was, um, yeah, at the time it was kind of a, I don't know if Willis is going to start, there was a thought that Willis might start just because the state of love pulling his groin, he missed most of the second half of the game before that. Uh, and he played, but he was clearly a mobile. They couldn't do a lot of the run stuff they want to do. Uh, they were doing a whole lot of, I mean, they got down early. They went to a lot of passing stuff. He threw a very confusing pick six, which, which honestly was not as bad as I thought it was in real time. I went back to go watch it, but the scissor making, I think was off a little bit. I think he had sped his clock up just because of where he was physically. He didn't feel great about moving around the wrong game where it wasn't where it needed to be. Well, now. Run games open. Like we've seen that like love is back since the buy a hundred percent. They're they're full. They've fully folded in all of the run game stuff. They've been doing the Willis, all that spinner stuff, all the pullers, all the misdirection, all the really cool, really effective run stuff they've been doing, and they've been building off of that, that now they've done that with love and they're able to, they're able to, uh, both so that with the past game with love and he's been super efficient over the, but he missed, missed a throw this past week. Um, I think it's adjusted completion percentage. Uh, the last week was 95%, something like that. So like he's been good, efficient, deep balls been looking good. Now you've got this cool run stuff. So he's still been a little erratic at times, but that might just be. That's not erratic. I think that might just be Jordan Love to some extent. Um, but off offensively, I mean, they were, they were fairly buttoned up the last time they played, uh, Detroit. Just'cause they did not love, couldn't do physically what they wanted to do. Uh, everything's on the table now and then defensively, uh, I think the pass rush is a little better. Um, they traded Preston Smith away. Um, he's no longer in the building. They've given those snaps to, uh, Aaron Mosby. Um, Brenton Cox. Uh, LVN, uh, Lucas Van Ness has been on the field a little bit more. Uh, it's still not great. I mean, pass rush is still a little weak, but, uh, Van Ness has finally shown some flashes, Mosby's done some stuff and then they're getting Quay Walker to kind of play a little more downhill. So Quay has been the dude, just thinking too much, too many stutter steps. He doesn't really attack the whole of the past two weeks. He's finally come alive. Uh, Edger and Cooper's out. I think this week, and he'd been kind of their, their flashy rookie, but, uh, I think quays look better than he ever has in Green Bay. So the defense looks like they're firing downhill a little better. Everyone understands we're supposed to be doing a little bit more pass rush, still an issue. But I do think the defensive, the defense as a whole is more cohesive than they were. And the offense is more expansive and more effective and consistent than they were still an issue with drops offensively. Um, I don't know if Dobbs is going to go this week. I think that, that might be an issue. Wicks took a lot of those snaps last week. He had a bad drop in the middle Pop straight up in the air that easily could have been an interception. So we'll keep an eye out for that. But, uh, yeah, I just think offensively they're in a much better place and defensively, they're just, I don't think they're bad defensively the last time that they played the lions, but that run defense, their gap integrity was bad. I just feel like they're, they're better and they're communicating better on that front now. So it's, uh, I think offensively they're miles better defensively. I think they're a tick or two better than they were the last time.

Jason Harwood: 22:04

You covered like my next two questions in

Dusty: 22:07

apologize.

Jason Harwood: 22:07

to have to be creative because I was going to

Dusty: 22:09

I talked for a while. I'm sorry.

Jason Harwood: 22:11

no, no, you're good, man. That's, that's what I want you on for. You know, your stuff, uh, the drops that I saw, like there was one big one. What Watson had one on Thanksgiving, right? I mean, that was, was that

Dusty: 22:23

Watson had won the week before.

Jason Harwood: 22:25

week

Dusty: 22:25

Uh, he had that big go ball the week before, yeah, against the Niners. Yeah,

Jason Harwood: 22:29

Yeah, so that, that has been still creeping up for the Packers and as far as, you know, problem with the offense, then you think,

Dusty: 22:38

has been, I mean, I will say Watson, Watson will get, uh, Watson gets his hate. Um, cause he had a problem with drops early. Obviously the first, the first pass attempt to him in his career was, was that big drop against the Vikings, his rookie year. So it's kind of been, that's been on him and he's worn that, uh, as far as drops, that was his first one of the year. Then I was like, he's been, he's turned into a very good, well rounded receiver with very good hands. And, uh, That one drop was the big one, but that's been his only drop of the year. But Wix is, I mean, man, I said, Wix is kind of the wildcard at this point. Reed, Reed will drop passes, but Reed's got pretty decent hands and he's kind of their, their big threat, their big play guy for the most part. Wix is the dude who, if Dobbs is down and Dobbs has a little shaky hands, Wix legitimately at some point this year had like a 27 percent drop rate, like.

Jason Harwood: 23:25

wow.

Dusty: 23:25

he is open. If you look at the metrics, Wicks gets open at a higher rate than literally any other receiver in the league. Like his separation metrics are insane. He just can't catch the ball. He had won this past week, middle of the field that legitimately would have been a pick. I think in the second quarter, uh, But Watson was right there and knocked it down, but it popped straight up in the air after that. He was fine. So if Wicks can get his hands under control, that's good. But I think with Dobbs, I don't, Dobbs is still in concussion protocol. He's missed, he missed last week as well. Um, if Dobbs is out, uh, Wicks, there's going to be a lot of eyes on Wicks, um, in terms of if he can hang out on the ball because everyone else has been, I think it's evened out a little bit. Wick still just has a thousand issues with it.

Jason Harwood: 24:08

Yep, I haven't watched all of the Packers games. Does Willis ever come out? Do they ever trade out love and run a Packers just for him in a game? Or is it just pretty much?

Dusty: 24:18

Now the thought was maybe, um, I think there's some plays they could do with that. I was, man, I had my fingers crossed for a 2QB package at some point. Uh, but no, no, he's, I think he's, he's only been in last time we saw him was the, um, the Jags game. And then I guess there's the blowout against the Niners. He was in for like the last series and they handed it off, but no, they've, uh, I assume they've got in their bag. Um, they've got a package for him. We have not seen it yet. It's possible we see something this week. Like that wouldn't shock me, but we've, we haven't seen it yet since he's since he's left.

Jason Harwood: 24:47

Yeah. So some of the writers that, um, in the Detroit area, you know, we all respect Lafleur as a coach, but it just seems, um, like he takes in the, the lion series specifically, cause that's the ones that we've watched the most, obviously between the two that Lafleur will Be conservative when he shouldn't be conservative and then take chances when he shouldn't take chances. And it's, it seems like Campbell's on the right side of it, taking, you know, doing what he needs to do. So do you, is that something that the Lions are forcing his hand to do, or is that just Lafleur? I mean, is he, do you notice he's, I guess my question is, does he coach different in the Lions games than any of the other games that you see?

Dusty: 25:30

Not that I've really noticed. And I mean, I've, um, you know, I, I watch all of theirs fairly closely and I've not, I've not really thought specifically about what he does differently against the lines. It feels like he probably does the same. I don't, I don't ever feel like there's a pressing or when I was from a ship. I mean, I will say he is, he's one of the more aggressive coaches in terms of going for it. For fourth down and fourth down early in the year, they didn't have a reliable kicker. Uh, and so that was, that was part of it as they get down like inside the 40 there. Um, but I, he seems like, and I think in years past, you could see him pressing a little bit more. Um, he's in year six now, I think year six with the Packers, which. Makes me feel real old, dude. Uh, but I, it seems like, I think he's over the past two years. It feels like he's leveled out a bit. I, I may pay attention to that. That's it's a, it's a very good question. It's not something I've noticed, but it's also not really something I've been looking for either.

Jason Harwood: 26:18

Yeah, just a couple of the reactions that has been spotlighted on the sideline and that we've seen is it just felt like, uh, you know, that he was frustrated with something, how the game went. It was something that the writers picked on here. And I just said, no, for someone that watches all the Packers games, if you had noticed anything, but no, that's cool. Dusty with the last time we played, you know, this is going to be an indoors game, so I'm feeling that this game is going to be totally different. The weather last time played out. Opposite of what the national thought was going to be that golf can't play outside, but it looked like quite the opposite. I know some of it was Jordan Love being hurt,

Dusty: 26:57

Yeah.

Jason Harwood: 26:58

What did you think about that performance last week or last time with the weather and how was it going to be different this time with, you know, game?

Dusty: 27:07

Yeah, it certainly played out differently. I mean, I, I thought, uh, golf was gonna float a couple. I think he completed his first 11 or something, which I know he'd been, he'd been doing quite a bit up at, up until that point, or up at that at that point. So I think it was his performance more than anything that kind of surprised me. Um, I was very much in the camp of, uh, Jared Goff could not throw when it's, when his cold and wet, and, I mean, for most of his career, that was true. Uh, that was different against, uh, against the Packers, uh, the past week. So I'll, I'll wear that one. I mean, I will say. Yeah, Packers offensively is just different. I think they will be different. Um, they, they want to run the ball more. I think they're better at running the ball more. So it does feel like even in a dome, um, I could see the Lions maybe trying to open that up a little bit more, uh, since they have their comfort and familiar with them. Well, I'm not going to say that word because apparently I didn't know how to say that word. Um, what was it? Defensively the Packers defensive backs have been, um, They're beat up. They're like, if you look at where they're beat up, that's where they're most beat up. Jair's been out, uh, Ballantine's out, Nixon is fine. Like, if you're going to attack them, it feels like attacking them through the air, especially in a dome, makes a ton, makes a lot more sense, uh, I think, than on the ground. I think the Packers run defense has been better. I know the Lions are going to try to run the ball. Um, but I do feel like maybe you see a little more pass heavy approach from the lions would be my, be my guess. Whereas I think the Packers just want to run. Um, they will take those big shots of love. They, they, they've been a whole lot of like run, run, run, get a hook, get that run stuff going, and then everything's 20 yards down the field. Like it's a very like throwback air Coriel. Like mid mid 70 Steelers approach is struck the ball. Terry Bradshaw has been a lot of what that offense has been. So I, I, it almost feels like reverse from how these roles have been in the past. I wouldn't be shocked to see the lions pass a little more and I wouldn't be shocked to see the Packers try to run a little more.

Jason Harwood: 28:56

Yeah, DJ reader is not practiced last two days, so if he does not play, that's gonna

Dusty: 29:02

And those linebackers too. I know Anzalone was kind of the dude that kind of made some of that stuff go. And the, what the Packers are doing in the run game is just put the linebackers in hell. Uh, and I feel like they can probably do that, especially if DJ reader doesn't go. I feel like that opens it up a little bit more. Yeah.

Jason Harwood: 29:15

Yeah. That's going to be a tough one for sure. might see project Martin in there. Another big body. We'll, we'll see. Depends on no practice two days in a row and use in a Thursday game. That's uh, not,

Dusty: 29:27

Yeah,

Jason Harwood: 29:27

not the best thing. Um, I just have a question for you in general. Um, I'm just curious, what would you consider a successful Packers season at this point in the season where you're at, where your record, I mean, what would you, I mean, compared to maybe at the beginning of the season where, where we're.

Jacob: 29:43

Yeah.

Dusty: 29:57

the season, if you asked me, I would have said, um, I had such very high expectations. I would have said a trip to the NFC championship game, playing the NFC championship game. Cause last year felt like kind of the ascending year. Uh, this year is going to be put all together as the seasons played out. I feel like they've gotten better. They figured some stuff out, uh, but there's still very much. It's, I think they are still the youngest team in the league. Uh, I think they were that before and they traded Preston Smith away and then they got even younger. Uh, he, he was one of the few guys over 30 that was on the team at that point. Uh, but they still have, I mean, like we talked about inconsistencies with the wide receivers. I think the offensive line still has some. They're not quite all there with the pieces. I think that the defense has been getting better. It was not quite where they want to be. So I don't think, I think if this team made a run to the Super Bowl, I would not shock me because I do think they have that talent. I think they can get hot. I think they can do that. But right now, uh, give me to the divisional round, win a wildcard game. Give me to the divisional round. Give me a good. game in the divisional round where you at least have a chance to win. Uh, and if you make it further than that, I think that's great. But I think if you win a playoff game, you can see, all right, man, listen, we thought this was the years in the year. Um, but we got better. Uh, this was, you know, the, this will now going in the second year with Halfley, uh, Halfway's defense. We've got these wide receivers or another year. I think Reed has been ascending, but it's still been a little inconsistent. So I think there's still room for growth where we thought maybe this was a finished product. Um, so I will take, I'll take a wildcard win. Um, um, Knowing full well that if they get hot, I think I, I don't think this is me being a Homer. I think, I think they've got, I think they've got the dudes. I think they've got the coaching to run and win against everyone. I think that's played out pretty well this year, even against the teams they've played and lost against. Uh, they've been in every single one of those games. Uh, so I am, I'm optimistic about where this team could be, but I'll say when the wildcard game and I'd feel pretty good about where this team's at.

Jason Harwood: 31:50

a tough division. I mean, it's really tough. You've got the lions and Vikings obviously outplayed everyone's expectation. So yeah, you're, you're right. I mean, be nine and three and being third in the division, that's, that's

Dusty: 32:04

I can't, I need to look up the stat. I saw this somewhere. I think. The Packers, I think that the, the teams that have beat them collectively have like a 28 and four record. Like it's just, it's just absolutely insane. Like it's ridiculous. And they've, I mean, the lions beat them by 10. Those other games were one possession games. Uh, it's, it's, it's just absolutely insane.

Jason Harwood: 32:25

All right. So he kind of touched on this, but you think I'm going to ask you again, uh, how are the Packers offense going to try to attack this defense? I'm assuming you're saying Josh Jacobs is going to be the, the key. Yeah. Absolutely.

Dusty: 32:37

Yeah, they've got, they've got three dudes now. They got, yeah, Josh Jacobs is going to be the dude. Um, they're giving him a ton of carries. Uh, Chris Brooks has kind of eclipsed. It was, it was Emmanuel Wilson was a two Brooks has gotten more snaps than him. Every single one of those dudes is just a load. Like none of those guys is like, Oh, where's your third down scat back. We don't have one of those, all those guys like two 40. Uh, so Chris Brooks is kind of two Wilson's the three.

Jacob: 32:59

guess what? What?

Dusty: 33:00

All those guys can run. They want to, they want to attack you between the tackles. You will, you'll see them run sweep stuff occasionally, but most of the stuff's with bow mountain, it's all under arms with bow mountain. Most of the stuff they want to do. They want to beat you between the tackles. Um, they want to beat you with misdirection

Jacob: 33:14

uh,

Dusty: 33:15

nap again, all that spinner stuff. They've got a solid 10 plays off of that standard spinner motion. They've got that. They're keep, they keep building off of each week, every week we see a new wrinkle. So they want to, they want to beat you that way. They want to basically put the linebackers heads in a blender, pound you up front and then take shots over the top. Like that's. That's what they want to do. So the key to, I mean, key in this offense right now, it's insane. Given how much they paid Jordan love is Josh Jacobs. Like that guy, I don't know how much of him you've watched outside of the Lions game, um, and you've got your own Josh Jacobs with Dave Montgomery. So, you know, you know, the type, no, the first guy never brings that guy down.

Jason Harwood: 33:50

Yep.

Dusty: 33:51

Like he's always falling forward. First guy never brings him down. You'll see someone get a hand on him in the backfield and like, Oh, he got six yards out of that. So, uh, he's, he's, he's the, he's the dudes during the drink right now. I'm,

Jason Harwood: 34:02

Yeah, I'm not happy that he's turning out that way for you guys.

Dusty: 34:07

well, I'm not happy. You guys got David Montgomery and here we are.

Jason Harwood: 34:10

I know that's it. You're right. You just look at, I, I'm David Montgomery and I'm sure Josh Jacobs, they have like three levels of every run. It's like, Oh, they're going to be down. Oh, they got them. Oh no. And then the offensive line comes up and pushes them for another two or three yards and it's like, you know, all of a sudden it's like, Well, one yard gain, no, it turns into an eight yard gain. Um, and it's, yeah, it's, it's fun and getting angry around, you know, you know, our, had an angry run last week. We won, the Lions won, that's Penesul, our offensive lineman got angry around.

Dusty: 34:45

He's farmed a man into hell, man.

Jason Harwood: 34:46

Yeah, God, yes, I mean, that's the farm pictures, whoever like screenshot of that is just, oh, it's, it's awesome. Um, so Josh Jacobs, just go back to him. He's been limited practice the last two weeks. You're confident that he's going to go.

Dusty: 35:03

Yeah, I mean, that seems kind of, it's, it's a rest thing. He had, uh, I think it's a knee injury, knee or ankle or something like that. He had, uh, he, he went, he, I get 26 carries a couple, like a couple, I say a couple of weeks ago, they've played, like they're playing so many games in such a short amount of time. So I don't know. It was week, week, uh, week 11, whatever the week 11 game was the Niners game, I guess. Uh, and so it was kind of, is he going to play against the dolphins? Yes, he is. He's gonna play against dolphins. So he'll, he'll be out there. I mean, I wouldn't be shocked if I try to spell them a little bit more, but no, he's, he's,

Jacob: 35:31

Uh,

Jason Harwood: 35:36

had a weird week, like we're having a weird week where we played Thursday and Thursday back to back Thursday games. What did the Packers do? Did they, did, like, the Lions took, I think, Friday and Saturday off and then came back on Sunday. Did the Packers do the same thing, or did they just treat it like a normal week?

Jacob: 35:54

Artie.

Dusty: 35:59

little bit. I think they may have given them one day off, honestly. I can't remember. Um, but, uh, yeah, I think they just, just kind of gave him a day off. Go be with your families, get back in the building.

Jason Harwood: 36:09

I don't know. Are you ready for some Sunday games to come back for our teams?

Dusty: 36:14

I end up a dude, honestly, like I love this past week. My wife was working as I was at home by myself with the kids all day. I just turned on red zone. I had no stress. Like I miss having the games on Sunday, but dude, that it's, it's so nice. It's okay. My team has already won. They've already played. They've already won all of my writing stuff. I do. I've already got that out of the way. I can just watch football. Like this is. This is so nice and relaxing. I love this.

Jason Harwood: 36:39

Yeah, I know it's, I agree with you. It's nice to just have that relaxing, no stress, you know, it's also like frustrating cause like this Sunday coming up, it's going to be like, I don't know, really? We got a way to, you know, we got to wait like 10 days for our team. It's almost like a bi week in there and good for them to rest up or whatever, but selfishly I want my, I want to watch my team play football.

Dusty: 37:01

Oh yeah, I wouldn't say I say that now after that week and a half, I'm going to be dying to have them back. Absolutely.

Jason Harwood: 37:07

Yeah. Well, we play. Yeah. Appreciate it. Buffalo, you know, after the, that's our next game and that's a 425 game. If it doesn't get moved to a Sunday night game,

Dusty: 37:16

That feels like that should get moved.

Jason Harwood: 37:18

I know, I know. I just wish we were a little more healthy going into that, but you know, we'll see how it goes. Um, all right, Dusty. Time for predictions.

Dusty: 37:29

Okay.

Jason Harwood: 37:30

what's your, uh, what's your, you know, it doesn't have to be the score or whatever, what, what's your prediction for the, for the, uh, for the game on, on Thursday,

Dusty: 37:39

Uh, Packers win, uh, Christian Watson goes for, uh,

Jason Harwood: 37:48

Okay. I was, I just want to make sure I heard you right.

Dusty: 37:53

no Packers. Well, I don't know if we talked about this the past time I was on with some other guys and I actually, I picked the lions last time and they thought I was doing a reverse jinx. Like, no, I truly believe that. So I think the Packers win, I think the health of those teams, Packers win, uh, Watson goes 85 plus and a touchdown. I think he has a nice game.

Jason Harwood: 38:10

You said that the last time you said Watson was gonna score and then then it started to rain like crazy and Couldn't

Dusty: 38:19

I know. And I feel like love, I need to rewatch. I think love missed him on one. So I'm not putting that on me. I'm putting that on love for that. Not happening. Just say no,

Jason Harwood: 38:29

I do got to ask you though the branch hit that happened in the game You're you know us Lions fans didn't feel that was enough to be ejected. What

Dusty: 38:39

no, that was enough. That's enough to be ejected. I, now I will say I normally err on the side of, um, it's really like, how do you hit a moving target? Like the guy, like he's, he's kind of got his head down a little bit. Uh, and how do you know that the guy's going to put his head down? You're aiming for the center mass and the guy's going down. That to me was very much, he lined him up, put his hands down and launched. Like I, I am not on board with most injections. That one, I was very much like, no. Okay. That's. That that's objectionable. I understand if you guys don't feel that way, that's totally fine. I usually am on that side, that one specifically, the more replays I saw and like, and I, to be clear, a thousand percent clear, I don't think Brian branch is a dirty player. I think that was a bad play. And I think ejectionable. Yeah, probably like certainly personal foul worthy. Certainly like, uh, that was hitting defenseless, but that felt ejectionable just based on like, that looked like an old school spear to me, like watching that. So I, I, I'm on board with that call. Um, but fully understand if you guys are not, that's, that's fine.

Jason Harwood: 39:46

That's all right, Dusty, we'll have you back on at some point, and maybe, you know, this team could play in the playoffs too. We might get a third meeting, uh, this year. So it might, might happen. We tried to get you on with the Colts because I know you cover the Colts too. That just didn't work out that week. Uh, we like you that much that we were going to have you on, um, for

Dusty: 40:03

Yeah, I apologize. I really want to do that. Yeah. That was a, that was a busy week. Um, Hey, yeah, maybe, maybe I'll pick up another team next year and we'll do that now.

Jason Harwood: 40:10

that's fine. Well, I'll send you our schedule of who we're gonna play our opponents Make sure you just pick one of those teams that we're

Dusty: 40:16

Right.

Jason Harwood: 40:17

so that we

Dusty: 40:17

I'll make sure to get in good with them. Yeah, that's a good idea.

Jason Harwood: 40:21

Dusty bank.

Jacob: 40:21

real quick.

Jason Harwood: 40:22

Oh, go ahead Jacob

Jacob: 40:23

Just I'm not prepared. I don't have on myself, but that's something I wanted to ask you and he might have already talked to you about this, but so the last matchup that we had, you know, scored with less than a minute left. We kicked a field goal with less than a minute left and the Packers came out and they seem like, you know, Even despite the weather and everything, they were determined to try to get something going on board. Obviously, it resulted in a pick 6, but I mean, just, you know, before that, when you on board with the weather and everything, trying to throw it, you know, even though game wasn't necessarily going your

Dusty: 40:55

Oh, yeah,

Jacob: 40:55

or would you rather have them just taking it to the half?

Dusty: 40:57

no, I mean, I think if there's, uh, cause there's like a minute and a half left, something like that, uh, just taking those runs and they will slow play that. So I will say the Packers will slow play that sometimes, you know, they get the couple of runs. If they get a first down, they get up, they spike, they call Tim out, they go no huddle, whatever they want to do. I think based on that game, um, and I think they weren't down. Yeah, they're, they're done by field goal, right? I think Packers done by field goal at that point. So I think it was 17, 10, I think, or I'm sorry, 10, seven at that point, I think, right?

Jacob: 41:24

10,

Dusty: 41:25

10, three. Okay. Uh, I think they knew just based on who their opponent was, you know, that'd be in the lions points are going to be at a premium that had trouble scoring in the red zone. If we can get points here, even a field goal before the half, we go for it. Like that's kind of what they like to do. They do try to go for points. So, um, I'm. I am not, I'm a, I am a brave man. I am not a coward. I, I don't agree with draws and give up runs in that position. I think if you've got the dudes, you think you got on the outside, you've got your receivers, you've got your quarterback, it's raining. Who cares? I think I a hundred percent on board with going for that. I think obviously the results were bad.

Jacob: 42:03

Silence.

Dusty: 42:04

I don't question the decision at all. I'm absolutely, anytime I see a team doing that, where it's like, all right, man, you're down heading to the half. You're on your own 25 and like, okay, they ran and now they're clear. They're running out the clock. That's a, that's a boo boo, sir. Do not just go for points. Go for glory. What are we doing here? So no, I'm, I'm a hundred percent on board with that decision.

Jacob: 42:22

was interested because obviously, you know, it didn't turn out very well, but then they, you know, got another chance and then they continued like, okay, now we're going to throw the ball. Now we're going to come at you even, you know, despite what happened before now it's 17 to three, you know?

Dusty: 42:36

Oh, I am.

Jacob: 42:37

that they were fully. You know, 20

Dusty: 42:40

am. I'm

Jacob: 42:41

we're running plays.

Dusty: 42:42

fully on board with it. I'm full. And now I will say like, if they come out and they're like, okay, we don't like the defense and you want to like play it a little safer. I understand that. But I think that I think based on who, you know, the lions are based on where you currently are games closer than maybe you thought it was going to be at that point. You got a couple of breaks. All right, man, just chuck it. I'm I'm I love the decision. Um, I don't love the decision to throw directly to Kirby Joseph. That's a decision I tell him to stop doing, but actually going for it. No, I absolutely do. Got a gun. Uh, if you've got a guy with that arm, like Jordan love, you got those fast receivers, I'm on board. Just chuck it, man. Get the points when you think you get the points.

Jacob: 43:16

right. And it's different now that we're going to be inside in the dome. You know, now you're free to do whatever.

Dusty: 43:23

Oh man. 10 seconds on the 20. Just start throwing, man. Like just, yeah.

Jason Harwood: 43:27

Well, you, I mean, at very worst, you can get a P. I. Right. And then you, you move your guy up. So, I mean, sometimes it's just worth just chucking it up because it could be like the Matt, Matt Stafford, uh, you know, arm punt that he would do it, just throw it up to Calvin. And if he doesn't, then it's a 50 yard punt. So

Dusty: 43:42

What's the thing. If love was able to do that, right? Like if he's able to even get it downfield, they're at the 20 or something at that point, he gets it down to like the other 40, he gets to the 50, whatever. Lions probably go down, you know, maybe get a field goal or something. Maybe they get a touchdown and that, but you're, you're chucking down a field. You're taking a chance. The fact that all that stuff was covered and then it's thrown five yards for him and gets picked off. Like he just missed Jacobs. I watched that again. Like he threw behind Jacobs. Like it's not, he didn't see Kirby Joseph. That's fine. That blitz. I will say that blitz was sweet. That was a really nice blitz. They brought pressure. He didn't see it. Um, the way they brought that stuff was really, really cool. And then he threw a bad ball and then it just, you know, That did not go well for him. He's had a couple of those this year.

Jason Harwood: 44:22

Well, I also, I think the groin injury at that point played into it. He could not escape, you know, and so he's, instead of chucking it out of bounds is what he should have did. Cause even if I look at that, even if he completes that, uh, Jacobs, Jack Campbell's like immediately

Dusty: 44:38

He, he gets

Jason Harwood: 44:39

blown

Dusty: 44:40

yards. Yeah. He doesn't get much out of that.

Jason Harwood: 44:42

And so it's like, why even, you know, with a minute left, you know, either you're going to, I don't even know if they had timeouts, if they, they'd have to either burn the timeout or you might as well just throw it out of bounds for three yards at that point. But

Dusty: 44:53

Yeah.

Jason Harwood: 44:53

what happens when pressure, pressure can do that to people. So,

Dusty: 44:56

Well, I do think that's a, I will say before we get out of here, I will say, I think that's a lesson learned. I do think he was bad at throwing the ball, knowing when to give up on a play last year. And he kind of got better as the season went on. The season ended. With him not getting, not giving up on a play and thrown in the middle field against the Niners. He came into this year not knowing when to give up on a play. And since that Lions game, he's been better about throwing the ball away, knowing when like, okay, this is cooked. I'll just throw this away. So, uh, I think, I do think that was kind of a lesson learned moment for him. I wish it didn't come on a pick six against the division rival. Uh, but, uh, you take your lessons where you can get them as long as you learn from them. Right.

Jason Harwood: 45:33

Now, I hope he forgets and we teach him again.

Dusty: 45:35

Yeah,

Jason Harwood: 45:37

all right, Dusty, I know we're wrapping up time here. So I'm going to watch you tell people where they can, uh, remind them where they can find your stuff at.

Dusty: 45:45

you can find me at Dusty. I'm mainly over at Blue Sky now. Um, so you can find me there. I am doing, uh, writing at Acme Packing Company, writing for Coltswire. I need to write something over there this week. And now that I'm thinking about it and, uh, yeah, podcasts at, uh, Packaday Podcast, which I'm doing in about five minutes here. So we're on the Wednesday edition of Packaday Podcast. Uh, you can find me anywhere and everywhere.

Jason Harwood: 46:08

Well, Dusty, you've been great. I appreciate it. I book you for every show if you start covering all the teams. So, you know, just know that you got a spot here at talking grit. We really appreciate, uh, everything. And I know you're pushing on time. So, uh, have a good night, man.

Dusty: 46:22

It was well, appreciate you guys. Good to talk to you again.

Jason Harwood: 46:24

All right. Thanks.

Jacob: 46:24

you.

Jason Harwood: 46:29

All right. Fun times with Dusty, uh, always a good time. So happy he's on here. He's always welcome to come back. Uh, Jacob, let's get into the keys to victory.

Jacob: 46:40

Key to victory is a pretty obvious key to victory, but I think it's the most important key to victory. We gotta slow down Josh Jacobs. We just have to. I mean, the last game that we played, you know, obviously the weather and stuff, they was, had against them too, but, you know, that was when the first quarter seemed like it took like 20 minutes of real time to go 15 minutes of game clock, just because we were both running back and forth, their drive and our drive. He's gonna get carries, they're gonna keep feeding in the ball. I mean, the biggest key here, outside of just saying, okay, stop Josh Jacobs, the key here is gonna be our linebacker play. It's going to be, who's going to step up? How are they going to step up? We know Jack Campbell's game, you know, we're going to see more Ben Neiman, David Long, Ezekiel Turner. Who knows if Jamal Adams is really gonna, you know, if he's going to play, if he's going to be right out there, if he's going to be right out at linebacker like that, you know, I haven't heard about Quan Alexander either. I don't know. Does he, does he play, I mean, how much, how many reps does he actually get here? That's the biggest key to stopping him. I think is going to be the linebacker play.

Jason Harwood: 47:46

I think you're right there. I mean, you know, DJ reader being out is really gonna, if he's out, they may have put project Martin in there and we'll see what he's got. You know, he's another big body that could take up to blockers. Allow those linebackers to run free. I think you're right on the only other way that we can stop Josh Jacobs. And that is in with defense that's with offense. And that's by lighting up the scoreboard. Right. So, I mean, I could see a situation where if we're down DJ reader lines, they win that they win the coin toss. They may take the ball. They may take it first, go down and score. Not that one touchdown's gonna, you know, change their whole game plan. But we're hoping that we

Jacob: 48:30

Okay. Um, Okay.

Jason Harwood: 48:50

6 and then only 43 in that. Uh, Thanksgiving or

Jacob: 48:54

Thank you.

Jason Harwood: 48:54

day game. Then they played the Dolphins. So I, I you're a hundred percent on that was one of my keys to victories and slow down Josh Jacobs. You said it's an obvious one. It's obvious, but it's not easy.

Jacob: 49:06

Right. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.

Jason Harwood: 49:25

throw a pick and then that's proven out this year. Whether we can get pressure on him, that's going to be another, you know, that'll be tough. We showed when we got put pressure on him last time, he threw that pick to Kirby Joseph. Um, Hopefully we can, you know, Kirby can get another one just deep. Cause he seems to own, uh, Packers quarterbacks. I'd like to see him get another one here. Last year on Thanksgiving, that's how they started out the game. Right. They hit us with some deep shots. Now that secondary, we're a lot better in secondary than we were last year. So maybe they start attacking us different, but I would just be prepared for, for some shots early. Yup.

Jacob: 50:03

I mean, that's where you're concerned about the last matchup too, but I think the weather took that out of it. That'd be interesting because I think this is one of those games where, you know, traditionally you win the coin toss. Most of the time you defer to the second half. Uh, in a matchup like this and division with these two teams, I almost think whoever wins the coin toss is going to want the ball first. Like let our offense set the tone for how this game is going to go.

Jason Harwood: 50:25

I agree. I think that, you know, depending on, you know, Packers are going to want to show out and just try to run and just kind of control things. I think the lines are going to go past. And I know that hasn't worked out for them terribly, but there's injuries in the Green Bay secondary. Um, and it seemed like in that game, know, the weather was weird, obviously in the Packers game, but we were, you know, when they were expecting run and running when they were expecting pass.

Jacob: 50:52

Yeah.

Jason Harwood: 50:53

we had them all confused, uh, Green Bay's defense. And I know that score was only 10 points, but that game was not a 10 point game. We had that pretty much in the control and we'd let them score late in that game to get, you know, within 10 points. We pretty much controlled that game. The whole second half, uh, the Kirby pick, just like. Um, in my opinion, this is going to be a different game, which is really funny because going into, we talked about with dusty going into a, you know, the other game, like the weather, oh, it's going to help the Packers out. But really, I think the weather helped the lions out more golf played well and the green Bay played well. Packers, you know, receivers could not hold onto the ball. And I don't think the wet, conditions in that game helped them at all. And now we're going to be in a track, you know, indoor playing, uh, you know, basically a track game. So it'll be interesting.

Jacob: 51:45

Yeah. I told you before. I think we have differing opinions about this, but I like the indoor football. Yeah. I know you said before that you kind of like the outdoor, or at least a few times, you like having the outdoor and the elements and different things like that, but I want our best to beat them at their best. I want both teams best to be out there. And I just feel like, you know, if you watch the Bills and 49ers game that just happened with the snow, and obviously the Lions have had a couple snow games too, then, you know, the game plans almost start going out the window, and it's not necessarily That the better team wins. It's just whatever team adapted better, or, you know, whichever one had the lucky breaks here or there, the ball slides your way, or, you know, somebody slips and you, I just don't like that aspect being added. That's why I like the indoor more.

Jason Harwood: 52:30

Yeah, I don't know. I, I wouldn't want like all my games played in elements like that, but it is nice to change it up every once in a while. Um, although, you know, if my team loses because some sort of element, then yeah, I'm going to be mad. Uh, you're right. We want to beat them at their best it's going to be in our house. It's going to be loud. It's going to be super loud in there. They might break a decibel record in this game, depending on how the Lions go, you know, hated rivals coming to town. We win this a hundred percent. We're in the playoffs already. I think we're above 99%. So it's like pretty foregone conclusion. We're going to make the playoffs, but if we win this, it's a hundred percent that we're in the playoffs, you know, knocking out the Packers. Yeah, it's I, I am excited for this one. I think, I think it's going to be a big test for us though. It's going to be a big text, uh, test for the Packers too.

Jacob: 53:22

Yeah, I do like that, uh, you know, after this game, we do have that 10 day break before the bills game. Cause that's another tough matchup upcoming and, you know, knock on wood, there's no more major injuries in this one, but we're already pretty banged up. So it'd be nice to kind of hit the reset for the, you know, last stretch of the season.

Jason Harwood: 53:41

I'm feeling better about this than I was after the bears game. I think all the bears game, we all felt like a weird feeling, like. First of all, we felt like we should have won by a lot more. The game shouldn't have come down to where it was, but then the injuries on top of that felt like a, a loss it was tough to take cause you know, you're looking forward, but as that's kind of worn off, I feel lions, are going to look at that as a badge of honor to go out there and just keep winning. And this team is built right some point, those injuries build up, but I, we just need to basically tread water till we start getting some of these guys back. And, um, I think we could do more than tread water against the Packers. I think we can win.

Jacob: 54:21

Oh, we can win every single game that's on the schedule, right?

Jason Harwood: 54:24

That's

Jacob: 54:25

We've already proven that time and time again, despite the injuries or whatever we've got out there, um, definitely. I mean, we're we're there to compete. And that still holds true. And we talked about before the season started. We don't you know, you don't necessarily have to get the one seat and get the first round by. Obviously, that's what you're aiming for. That's what you want. And you want the path to run through Detroit. But we'll play anybody anywhere and we can win. Any, any weather, any city does not matter. We're built for the playoffs. We just need to, you know, not sustain any more injuries and stay healthy until then.

Jason Harwood: 55:01

Yeah, of course, we'd love to be home, um, you know, just selfishly, I'd like to, because I have tickets for that game, you know, I would love to, love to see him at home, but if we had to go on the road, we're undefeated on the road. There's a reason that we're undefeated on the road. We're built, like you said, to win in a lot of different environments. mentally tough. Crowd won't be a factor in the sense of, you know, pressure or whatever. They love that. Dan Campbell's mentioned that a lot, that almost thrive on that because it feels like it's them against the world. Now, when he said that, I kind of laughed because all these stadiums are half full with Lions fans.

Jacob: 55:38

Right.

Jason Harwood: 55:39

If you get down, the Lions fans will get drowned out. Just like when we, you didn't hear the Lions fans in the Texans game until we started mounting that comeback. And then it, then it, we, the Lions fans took over. So, I mean, You know, it's part of that on the team to play well to get the fans, uh, you know, pumped up. Um, else you got for keys to victory, Jacob?

Jacob: 56:03

No, I mean, it's the same thing week in and week out, right? You're, we want to play lions football. We want to control the game, you know, win the turnover battle, limit the mistakes, you know, just last week for everything to go as well as it did in the first half and to be firing on all cylinders. I guess one key to victory I'll add, get Gibbs more than two carries on the second half.

Jason Harwood: 56:27

Yeah, that would be, uh, that'd be nice, uh, for sure. Um, will say the only thing that I want to add is that love, when you look at his stats, does a lot more damage with zone coverage. Which is notable because the lions play a ton of man and love seems to struggle more with man than with zone So that's a good thing, especially with us getting carlton back and you know having uh, Sub zero himself terry and arnold out there getting our number ones out there on the Uh, I think we'll be all right. I think that we can weather the storm. Uh, especially when you compare it to last year's Thanksgiving day game, when they were throwing deep, I don't, I don't look for those opportunities to be there, um, like they were last year. So we'll see. I think it goes down to what we started out the keys of victory. Slow down, Josh Jacobs. I don't think you'll be able to stop him. We just need to slow him down. All right, Jacob. Monty versus Gibbs. Now this one is hilarious because

Jacob: 57:23

right.

Jason Harwood: 57:24

you would have thought the way that game was going, that Gibbs was just going to wipe the floor, but Monty got more carries in the second half and I edged G out 88 to 87, um, as far as yards. So I

Jacob: 57:38

That's wild. 88. Hang on. Cause you got, I've got the stat line here too. So David Montgomery, 88 yards on 21 attempts. And then John Muir Gibbs, uh, 87 yards on nine attempts.

Jason Harwood: 57:51

I know, but we don't go by yards per carry. We go by overall

Jacob: 57:54

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Jason Harwood: 57:57

uh, so I'm going to pick Gibbs this week.

Jacob: 58:00

Okay.

Jason Harwood: 58:01

is going to be a Gibbs game.

Jacob: 58:03

Last week was a Gibbs game.

Jason Harwood: 58:05

Yep, it was,

Jacob: 58:06

That's okay.

Jason Harwood: 58:07

Uh, yeah, so I'm, I'm picking

Jacob: 58:09

I mean, he shouldn't broke 121 30. I, you know,

Jason Harwood: 58:13

I know, I know,

Jacob: 58:14

what could have been.

Jason Harwood: 58:15

uh,

Jacob: 58:16

you think, I mean, while, while we're talking about this, do you think, I don't know if you saw Scotty Montgomery, the running back coach, what he said before, but, uh, he said, there's absolutely never a situation where a hit, um, when it's okay to fumble the ball. Because you know we kind of talked about Gibbs, you know, he's trying to get more yards He kind of gets hit awkwardly the ball pops loose coach says inexcusable never a hit Never a reason that you should drop the ball. Do you think that that had anything to do with them? I mean because they still rotated. I mean they still did that what they do They still kind of rotate their drives just for whatever reason they didn't let Gibbs carry the ball in the second half twice

Jason Harwood: 58:52

Yeah, I don't think it had anything to do with him only getting two carries the fumble you're talking about. I don't

Jacob: 58:58

Yeah, right

Jason Harwood: 58:59

do with him getting two carries. I don't think it was a punishment. I just think flip flop drives and then it just happened on Gibbs drive. They just weren't in a position, you know, they just didn't run it. And I don't think it had anything to do with that, which is a shame because like you said, nine carries for 87 yards, he's averaging almost 10 a clip. Right. And, it's a first down every time he touches the ball, it would have been nice to give him the ball a little bit, um, or it just didn't work out for whatever reason that fumble, looking back on it, he's, he's thinking end zone. And so, you know, he didn't put two arms in that ball. So I, I mean, I'm sure Montgomery said, you know, you gotta be bracing for contact. You got to also give it to the defender. It was an awesome time to hit. I mean, he hit him

Jacob: 59:44

Right, right.

Jason Harwood: 59:46

right on the ball, came to the side, you know, the ball popped way up in the air, just happened to fall right into a, you know, Bears player's hands. Yeah,

Jacob: 59:56

One other thing I want to mention while we're talking about the Gibbs thing. Uh, I know we talked about this already, but the whiteboard picture. So for anybody that didn't see, you know, Gibbs posted a picture on social media of Jamar Jefferson. He's standing in front of the whiteboard. Uh, which, you know, does have certain drop back protections and different things like that. Which I know you saw and probably everyone saw it, but did you actually read the whiteboard? Did you see these codenames?

Jason Harwood: 1:00:20

I saw some of the code names. I didn't, I don't, I haven't committed to memory, but yeah,

Jacob: 1:00:24

Hilarious. There was, uh, Julia Roberts, Chloe Kardashian, some of them were just like, uh, Spider, and you know, the colors red, blue, gold, but I mean, it was funny that It's like red, blue, spider, and then the next one is Caitlyn Jenner. Ha ha ha.

Jason Harwood: 1:00:42

Well, when you see all those calls on the board, you just have another respect for Frank right now. You think about, you know, we think of like, they need to know the play or they run in a Texas router, you know, whatever, but they're also have all these different protection calls that, that they got to know, I had like the weird, like conspiracy thought in my head that, you know, they purposely put this out there

Jacob: 1:01:02

I wondered that too.

Jason Harwood: 1:01:04

I don't think that's any remotely true. They would never do that, but you know, are they playing 40 chess where they're like, Oh, we're just going to throw this out there and see, cause if you're the Packers, you know, that they've changed all those calls up, you know, they're not gonna,

Jacob: 1:01:19

Right.

Jason Harwood: 1:01:19

leave it on there. I think it was Justin Rogers that said that Ben Johnson is like one of the most paranoid offensive coordinators. So. You know, he, he probably has everything switched up by now.

Jacob: 1:01:30

Right. I did see the quote that Dan Campbell had though, cause they, you know, they asked him about it. About like, uh, you know, the code words and stuff like that. How concerned he was, or if he was mad at Gibbs or whatever. And I think he said, like, Gibbs, you know, he's not gonna play anymore. Um, which was obviously a joke, but he did say, he was like, I don't The exact quote says, I don't really give a crap. If we're gonna lose because of code words, then we're not good enough anyway. I think we'll just post the whole freaking playbook, and every code word we've got, it doesn't matter, it's not gonna hurt us.

Jason Harwood: 1:02:01

Yeah, I know. That's I don't believe that that's true. That's kind of like

Jacob: 1:02:06

No.

Jason Harwood: 1:02:06

or whatever.

Jacob: 1:02:07

Right, right.

Jason Harwood: 1:02:08

um, I mean, at the bottom of the line, you know, most of the teams run the same things, and, uh, it's a matter of execution of running it and then calling it when it's best and knowing your opponent better. I ideally, they don't have that stuff posted, right. Cause you know, especially on this short week, they're going to have do some little gymnastics with that stuff. But, if you're the Packers, know, they may use those codewords, they may use those same codewords and you think they might switch them up. You know, you being paranoid about, you know, if they're going to commit all that stuff to memory about what all those protections mean. So I, I think it's a non story, but

Jacob: 1:02:49

Right.

Jason Harwood: 1:02:49

probably not the smartest move if you're, if you're Gibbs. all right, Jacob, let's move on to grid picks.

Jacob: 1:03:00

all right. Week 13 wrap up for grit picks. Uh, see here. Thursday night football, which we'll just say Thanksgiving Day football. Obviously we didn't pick the Lions game. Uh, Giants at Cowboys, we both went Cowboys. We were right there. Dolphins at Packers. I said the Dolphins. Jason said the Packers. He wished them good luck. He's the reason that they won. Uh, so way to freaking go. Uh,

Jason Harwood: 1:03:27

me.

Jacob: 1:03:28

yeah, it was. It was just you, you wore your Packers socks and

Jason Harwood: 1:03:33

Oh my God.

Jacob: 1:03:34

Sunday night football. 49ers at bills. We both went bills, uh, and they definitely took care of business. Monday night football Browns at Broncos. We both went Broncos. The Broncos won that game and that was actually a very good game. Uh, you know, on paper you're thinking Browns and Broncos, maybe not, but it was actually very good, entertaining, close. So that brings the total right now to this point, I am 27 and 11, and Jason is 24 and 14.

Jason Harwood: 1:04:04

All

Jacob: 1:04:04

Still bringing in the rear.

Jason Harwood: 1:04:06

yeah, that's all right, that's all right, I'm in the butt of a lot of jokes, so I'm used to being back there, so week 14, I'm all started out here, Packers at Lions, obviously Thursday night football. We both believe the Lions are gonna win, so we're not even gonna bother picking that game. Let's move on to Sunday night football. Good game here. I'm excited to watch this one. Chargers at Chiefs. I'll start out. Chargers are going to win this one. They're going to take it to the Chiefs this night. What do you got?

Jacob: 1:04:31

I actually have the same, uh, you know, I don't know if it's just because of my Michigan Harbaugh thing, and you know, wanting the Chargers to do really well, but The defense is really good. The chiefs have just been skating by every which way. Just, you know, getting, getting lucky really in and out. There's just countless, countless things have happened this season to get them to where they're at right now. So it's crazy. I definitely think the Chargers are going to win this game.

Jason Harwood: 1:04:57

Yeah. I mean, you got to miss on the last game. Just crazy,

Jacob: 1:05:02

just don't get that. And it's like that stuff happens and it tends to be in the chief's favor all the time. You know,

Jason Harwood: 1:05:09

I know. know people always want to talk about the recipe and in their back pocket. And I, I don't, I don't necessarily buy into all that, but, um, you know, it, the luck's going to run out and I think it's going to be this week. I think the chargers chargers take it to them. night football bangles at Cowboys still in prime time, even though as dismal as they are, um, you, who are you picking on this one? Jacob.

Jacob: 1:05:37

I'm going Bengals in this one. Uh, you know, the Bengals try to find ways to lose football games. So, I don't understand what's going on there, but yeah, Cowboys just, it's interesting, same as what I said with the Giants, where it's like the Cowboys have a very good defense, and you know, the Giants have a terrible offense, so it was like, I think the Cowboys were going to hold them off long enough for them to score some points. This one's kind of different because the Bengals have a really good offense and then you flip flop that Bengals defense is kind of iffy But are the Cowboys gonna be able to score at all? So I think that one's kind of a toss up there, but I am gonna say that the Bengals win this one

Jason Harwood: 1:06:14

All right, well, I'm gonna I'm taking the the Cowboys in this one, so

Jacob: 1:06:18

All right

Jason Harwood: 1:06:19

a little difference this week. I just want them to ruin their draft position. Now. I just think the Cowboys are going to win. They're gonna, Doudle's gonna be able to run on the Bengals. It's like the Bengals are gonna find a way to screw this up. So I, I'm just going with Cowboys. It, it's a, it's a toss up game to me, to be honest with you, but Cowboys being at home, Monday night football, they won't have to worry about the lights coming in, you know, at a

Jacob: 1:06:41

Yeah, right

Jason Harwood: 1:06:43

Stupid,

Jacob: 1:06:45

You know CD lamb could he could get 300 yards and two or three touchdowns the Bengals defense has been bad but

Jason Harwood: 1:06:53

Yeah. Yeah. We'll see. Great guarantee time. I will, uh, I'm going to start out here. Um, I am going to go give rushes for the most in one game this season. So the highest he's gone is in the Titans game, one 27. He best set this game. He goes for over one 27.

Jacob: 1:07:18

Interesting. Okay.

Jason Harwood: 1:07:20

Yeah,

Jacob: 1:07:20

for my great guarantee this week, I'm going to say that golf has over three touchdown passes

Jason Harwood: 1:07:25

over three. So four, minimum of

Jacob: 1:07:28

for four to five.

Jason Harwood: 1:07:29

Four to five. Man, it. I'll take it, man. That would be awesome.

Jacob: 1:07:35

It's interesting the way the play calling went last week when they, you know, they get down to the goal line. Which, as I'm saying this, is gonna be, you know, the opposite of what I just said. But, you know, we get down to the goal line, and then he had those short touchdown passes. He had a three yard pass to LaPorta, and then the one yard pass to LaPorta, and then it broke our touchdown streak of the rushing touchdowns. Uh, so that was weird that they were calling passes within the zone like that. I just think he's gonna hit some guys.

Jason Harwood: 1:08:00

Deep.

Jacob: 1:08:02

Hopefully.

Jason Harwood: 1:08:03

Yep. I think Amun Ra, I think JMO gets a touchdown on this one too. So if you're doing any time touchdown, I have a feeling JMO's get, JMO's going to get one in this one. Um, also I would not put it past Amun Ra, you know, to get one in this one too. His streak broke last week, so he's going to be wanting to get back on the board. We'll,

Jacob: 1:08:23

against the Packers.

Jason Harwood: 1:08:24

Uh, speaking of those wide receivers, I don't know if you saw this or not, but Josh Reynolds was waived today by the Broncos. I don't

Jacob: 1:08:30

I did not see that. That is brand new information.

Jason Harwood: 1:08:34

so, uh,

Jacob: 1:08:36

Did he ask for the Broncos to waive him, and is he coming back?

Jason Harwood: 1:08:41

I would, I would, I would be shocked if he's not on our practice squad soon. Um, maybe not before this game, but I would be shocked if he's not back on, on this practice squad at some point, because I think DPJ is still on our practice squad. I could

Jacob: 1:08:57

Yeah.

Jason Harwood: 1:08:58

but I got to imagine you would kick him off and put Josh Reynolds on there in a heartbeat.

Jacob: 1:09:02

Right?

Jason Harwood: 1:09:03

I would assume Josh Ronald's would want to come back. Um,

Jacob: 1:09:06

Oh my god, he's gotta be calling right now!

Jason Harwood: 1:09:10

I

Jacob: 1:09:10

Just let me back in, man.

Jason Harwood: 1:09:12

Yeah. Just let me back in the building. So, you know,

Jacob: 1:09:14

He knows the playbook. He'll slide right back in, I mean

Jason Harwood: 1:09:18

yep. Yeah. I want some of those dig routes that he would run, he had like a gunshot wound earlier this year, uh, but it seems like he's healthy for that.

Jacob: 1:09:28

He was on injured reserve, right?

Jason Harwood: 1:09:30

But they, yeah,

Jacob: 1:09:31

And instead of returning, they had to cut him?

Jason Harwood: 1:09:34

they had to cut him. Yeah, that's, that was a choice. They had to either put him

Jacob: 1:09:37

Okay.

Jason Harwood: 1:09:38

roster

Jacob: 1:09:39

So we don't know if he's even healthy right now.

Jason Harwood: 1:09:42

We don't know, but I think that they had a choice. And also, he got waived, so he's got to clear waivers before he has a chance to sign with the Lions. So if another team could pick him up and then he would have to go to that team, um, So, but the opportunity that he's out there is still there. So I, I don't know how much on other teams that they're going to want Josh Reynolds. So he may clear waivers, um, and end up back on our roster, which would be crazy. All right, Jacob, big game, super excited for the Packers. Thursday night, going to be staying up late. Um, I got Friday off, which is awesome. Um, my boys do not, they're going to, but we let them stay up and, uh, I hope they're in good moods on Friday morning.'cause that means the Lion won. Yeah. Yeah. So

Jacob: 1:10:37

Victory Friday,

Jason Harwood: 1:10:38

oh, victory Friday. I know, I wanna get back to Victory Monday though, right?

Jacob: 1:10:42

I, yeah, right, nothing like it,

Jason Harwood: 1:10:44

a couple weeks we'll have a, you know, play these 49 ERs and how that, you know, we were all amped up for this game before the season. Like, this is the game. This is the game. We're gonna get our revenge. We still get our revenge, but it's gonna be half-hearted

Jacob: 1:10:58

it's not, yeah,

Jason Harwood: 1:11:00

it's not gonna be the same. but you know. all right. I'll take an easier game, especially with all the injuries we've incurred. Uh, I I'll, I'll take it. And we don't need to beat ourselves up right before, uh, right before the playoff push. And hopefully we got everything lined up and, um, that'll be our last game where we play our starters until, second week of the playoffs. So I have

Jacob: 1:11:21

right,

Jason Harwood: 1:11:22

weeks

Jacob: 1:11:22

you go.

Jason Harwood: 1:11:25

All right, man. Good talking with you as always. All right. For Jacob. I'm Jason. go lions.