Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Aaron Nagler breaks down what Green Bay's offseason means for Packers/Vikings

Episode Date: September 8, 2020

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Coors Brewing Company, Golden, Colorado, and as always, celebrate. This is Greg Olson, and I'm thrilled to introduce my new podcast, TE1. TE1 will chronicle a 60-year evolution of the tight end position, from its origins as an obscure, overlooked blocking role to the versatile superstar position that it is today. I'll explore the evolution of the position through conversations with some of the all-time game-changing tight ends. And just like thechanging tight ends.

And just like the incredible tight ends we sit down with on my new show, the Chevy Silverado is in a league of its own. This truck is all about grit, strength, and dependability, the same attributes it takes to be a tight end. Hello and welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here and joining me on the show, one of my favorite follows on Twitter and somebody that I'm not sure Vikings fans are going to jump right on board and follow your website very closely. I can't imagine why. Keyshead TV, Aaron Nagler.

What is up, man? Hey, how are you? Thanks so much for having me. I got to admit, I'm a little trepidatious here, treading some purple water, but you seem like a fine fellow, and I gather this is not an ambush, so I'm all in. It is not. I am not going to tell you why your 13-3 season was a fraud last year or anything like that.

Well, you know, Eric and George already went about that, so it's all good. The PFF guys are certainly leading the charge on the fraudulent 13-3 season. They are. Maybe we can talk about that first, though, because there's a difference between calling your season a fraud and saying that a lot of things broke your way. And we went through this same way with 13-3 in 2017 with Case Keenum, where we said, look, Aaron Rodgers got hurt that had nothing to do with the Vikings or anything. But a lot of quarterbacks got hurt that year.

The schedule fell your way. You got to go to London and play the Browns. A lot of stuff happened that helped you go 13-3 that was going to be tough to repeat. And I imagine there's at least the feeling of that or the potential dread of regression in Green Bay. Oh, no question about it. And I think anybody who has a modicum of sense, really, but has an ability to step back and look at it as a totality will tell you, look, A number one, it's about health. I mean, the Packers were as healthy last year as they have been in probably over a decade.

There's no question that that plays into it. And then there's no doubt that they were strong in two areas specifically that helped them. It was both in the red zone on both sides of the ball and then creating turnovers. Now, the red zone stuff, I expect that to continue. I think they'll still be really good at punching it in when they zone on both sides of the ball, and then creating turnovers. Now, the red zone stuff, I expect that to continue. I think they'll still be really good at punching it in when they're on offense, and I think they'll be really good at keeping people out of the end zone on defense. Where I do think there's going to be regression is in turnovers. They lived off turnovers.

They lived off giving Aaron Rodgers and the offense short fields. That certainly helped them throughout the year. That's just something that you don't expect to continue. I do think they'll continue to be opportunistic. I don't think there's any question there. But you don't have to look much further than in our own division with the Bears. Coming into 2019, that was a team that feasted off turnovers, that absolutely lived off turnovers, probably more so than the Packers did last year.

And you saw how that, I won't say crashed, but it really regressed. And I don't think there's any question that the Packers are in for a bit of a regression there. So how does the offense get better when drafting a running back? And I'm sure, again, you've heard this before. We've had a long offseason. Right. And no preseason games.

So no one's seen these guys like right no doubt we've gone through these things over and over and you know I guess on my side and talking about the division and so forth there's a difference though in my mind between saying you know what the direction of the Packers in the future is pretty fuzzy when you pick a quarterback in the first round and you decide to go running back instead of receivers for Aaron Rodgers there's a difference between that and then saying they'll be bad this year or they'll be inept this year at the same time I look at the depth chart and I say boy that Devontae Adams still good at football but the rest of the guys what uh so I mean what

is your your sense there for the other weapons that, I mean, is there someone that you think will emerge, or do you think it's going to be kind of more of the same? I think it'll be similar. I think there will be, I wouldn't call it an emergence, because I think the emerging happened last year with Alan Lazard. And I know he's been not dismissed, but he's not considered, I think, to be a legit number two by a lot of outsiders, national media, what have you.

You know, he certainly came on at the end of last season. He's gotten Aaron's trust, which anybody who's followed the Packers knows is pretty damn important. But he is a legit number two wide receiver in the NFL. I have zero question about it. And then you look at what we've just witnessed the last kind of two and a half weeks of camp.

Marquez Valdez-Scantling has put together a string of really good, not just days, but weeks of practice. That is certainly something that you are hopeful continues, but you never really know once things are live and once the games matter. And we've certainly, the NFL is littered with guys who have had good camps and then kind of fallen by the wayside. But to get to the drafting of the running back,

you've got to remember how the Packers operate. And I think this gets lost a lot because of the need of people who cover the league to create content and to be able to have headlines and talk about these things, et cetera. They compartmentalize it in a way, well, they haven't helped Aaron or they haven't helped the offense or they're not going to improve. They very much are going to improve because of the development and the continuity on offense. They don't look at most times. They don't look at the draft as a way to plug holes this season. What they're counting

on is continued development, not only from wide receivers already there, but guys that they selected in the draft last year. You don't have to go very far to look at how the Packers view draft picks and how they utilize them as long-term capital. They're not there for a quick fix, you know. Selecting A.J. Dillon is much more about the fact that Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams are both in the last years of their deals and guarding against and giving them leverage when they have to and choose to negotiate with those guys rather than oh we need someone we need to plug in right now and look he is going to help this team this year there is zero doubt in my mind I think the biggest question for him and that's not unlike most rookie backs is his ability and pass protection I think that's the thing that's

going to keep him off the field initially if If he can prove himself in that regard, I think you'll only see more touches and more opportunities. But they've got a really good one-two punch in Jones and Williams. There's no need to upend that. But Dillon will certainly help them. He can catch out of the backfield. We've seen that throughout camp. It's just a question of can he get the checks,

can he get the protections down. And once he does, you'll see him utilized. But to me, I understand why the outside noise is always kind of what are the Packers doing they didn't help Aaron Rodgers well no they are by developing guys and that's what they're all about okay at the same time Aaron Rodgers said kind of himself they didn't help Aaron Rodgers right I mean when he was talking about scouting wide receivers in the he was really hoping they he saw them jump up in the draft, and he thought they were going to go get a wide out. I think a lot of people thought that that's what they were going to do.

And, look, I don't doubt Aaron's disappointed, but as he himself pointed out last summer or two summers ago when there was a lot of noise about him being disappointed with one of their moves, I'm just the quarterback. They pay me to play quarterback, and I'm not here to GM the team. I think he was saying that in regards to the Jordy Nelson departure. And I think this offseason is another reminder. You know, Brian Gutekunst is not here.

It ain't show friends. It's show business, you know. And as much as people want one last push for Aaron, that's how franchises get in trouble. I mean, what will be fascinating to kind of watch here now is the Saints approach, where they have kicked the can repeatedly. They are going to be in so much cap trouble next year, trying to get Drew Brees one more ring. And the Packers approach, which is definitely long-term, definitely thinking ahead, definitely pay as you go and not getting in trouble salary cap-wise and trying to build something long term look the

Packers catch a lot of heat with Aaron Rodgers only having quote one ring they've wasted Aaron's prime which is absurd but you hear that a lot but the Saints for some reason never get that pushback they never get that even though they went seven and nine three years in a row you know they've gone through defensive coordinators etc but they never get that blowback. So, like I said, I understand the outside perceptions and why the Packers get the heat they do. They just operate a little differently than everybody else. So I don't think you hear that criticism from Minnesota very often. You only have one ring with Aaron Rodgers, right?

Oh, true. Fair. So I think that I can land on still feeling very much like they should have drafted a receiver in a good receiver draft but also agree absolutely with you that if and we've seen this with the Vikings where after 2017 every move was gotta win now gotta win now gotta win now and some of those moves worked out okay but I think some of the other moves put them in a position where they eventually had to move on from people or maybe a good example would be drafting Garrett Bradbury who Kenny Clark I'm sure is excited to see this week oh one of his

best friends I mean he loves playing against him three sacks by Kenny Clark last year against Garrett Bradbury and we'll talk about some of these matchups in a second but I think from a general team building standpoint the Vikings drafting Garrett Bradbury in the first round sets the expectation that he'll step in right away and be great, that he's the next Travis Frederick or something, and maybe that wasn't the right move to make at that time, but they felt, oh, that's our immediate need at this moment, this season, got to win now, and I do think that's how you make some mistakes.

I was just going to say, and that's how teams get in trouble, and that's not to say I think they've done actually a pretty damn good job in the draft over the length of the time that that crew has been together. I think they've done a good job when it comes to roster construction. But I agree with you. That first-round pick especially, it's so funny. You talk about, oh, the Packers should have drafted a wide receiver. How did Laquan Treadwell work out? You know, how did Troy Williamson work out? Like, there's a vast,

you know, wide swath of players you could point to where you're like, wait a second, maybe that's not it. Now, to your point about the depth of wide receiver in this draft that they passed on, now there, I think that's a legit kind of eyebrow raise, right? Where they certainly don't have top flight talent at the position outside of Devontae Adams. You would expect in this wide receiver rich class, they would have made a move there. I think the move up for Jordan Love, kind of, you know, obviously robbing them of a fourth round pick. The way they were drafting at the bottom end of the round, I mean, I think they were like, what, second or third to last each and every round. Just the way the board fell, it just didn't happen. And, you know, I can't kill Gutekunst for that,

especially now where who knows what's going on next year with the draft. And some college football players will be playing, some won't. But this receiver class is going to be excellent as well. So it's not like there won't be another opportunity to go get wide receiver talent. How exhausted are you of being asked about the Packers wide receiver? Well, I tell you what, I feel pretty confident that I know exactly what I'm talking about, because I have sharpened this tool a lot. So there's no doubt that this is well-covered territory, but I understand why. I totally get it. For the Packers, they are always kind of

operating outside the norm, so to speak. And I tried to ask Brian Gutekunst about that yesterday when we talked to him, and he didn't really bite. But I think it is very clear that comparative to their peers, comparative to other personnel groups, they are a little outside the group thing around the league. I want to remind you to go to SodaStick.com to get your original Minnesota sports-inspired goods. They just launched their official collaboration with Bud Grant.

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I love that the schedule makers put this game first. Thank you very much. It's been so long since there's been any football. We really appreciate that. And I also love Aaron Rodgers versus Mike Zimmer matchups. Oh, they're great. I think that if you're putting something on the marquee, that's what you put. You don't put Rodgers-Cousins. You put Rodgers versus Zimmer because they've gone against each other so many times. And a lot of times at U.S. Bank Stadium,

Rodgers has not had his best games. At Lambeau, he's played better against the Vikings defense. But to have his talent versus the Zimmer defense, but now the Zimmer defense has changed a little bit. A lot of new faces from previous years. So there isn't the Everson Griffin, the Linval Joseph, and so forth. And it also is a different feeling in terms of the offense that the Packers are running because it's kind of similar to what the Vikings run under Gary Kubiak. So I guess, is it any longer Aaron Rodgers-Zimmer?

Is it still all about Rodgers on that offense? Or should we expect it to be more of a run-first offense this year? Yeah, I think they'll continue to lean into the running game as much as they can. There's no doubt that, like you said, they have a long history against each other. Aaron, any opportunity he gets, he talks about how much he respects Mike Zimmer, about what a good coach he is, how tough it is to go against his defenses. And look, I don't doubt there are a lot of new faces in Minnesota. There's no doubt about it.

If there's a side of the ball where continuity, you can probably get away with a lack of continuity. It's on defense. And I think Zimmer will absolutely have them coached up. It won't matter who's out there, really. It's about Mike and his scheme and how he goes about trying to counter what Aaron does at the line of scrimmage. I think the interesting part is the fact that, yeah,

you're two of LeFleur. It's going to be a bit different than what Aaron has done in the past as far as spreading it out, trying to get his matchups that he likes. That's been taken away from him a little bit. And coming out of this camp, I got to tell you, we saw precious little of that kind of thing. Whereas last summer, there was a lot of talk about doing what Aaron felt comfortable with, holding over from McCarthy's offense, and then kind of melding that with what LeFleur does. There was a lot less of that this summer. Last summer, we saw a lot of Aaron in the spread, picking it apart, blah, blah, blah.

There was, I can't even remember one day where we saw any of it. Now, they could have been working on it inside. Who knows? But this is very much, I think, a continuing, a developing offense as far as trying to get to a lot more of not just what Matt wants to do, because there are other people in the room, but trying to lean into that style of offense where you're going to have a lot more condensed formations, a lot of jet motion, orbit motion, trying to get those, you know get those linebackers to take false steps, trying to set things up for later.

But ultimately, the chess match, like you talk about, is about what Zimmer presents and how Aaron counters at the line of scrimmage because Aaron still has a lot of leeway when he gets to the line. So to me, yeah, I'm with you. That is what I'm most excited to watch. And I wonder about, because one thing that works for Gary Kubiak with Kirk Cousins is that no matter how much the other team disguises defenses and coverages, that he has a lot of things that work no matter what.

No matter what, right. I wrote about deep crossing routes and how they work against man coverage. They work against zone coverage. It doesn't really matter. And bootlegs, they give the quarterback a lot more time to throw. These are two guys. Kubiak loves his bootlegs, no doubt about it. Right, right.

And so I wonder if this is actually a better fit to go against the Vikings defense because that was the thing that when you go back and watch on tape the games where Rodgers didn't play well against Zimmer's defense, it was where's Harrison Smith going to be? Where's this pressure coming from? How is this look going to actually work? And I think that what the Kubiak style, Shanahan style offense does is it sort of counteracts some of that. Well, it gives you delineated reads is what I always talk about. This idea of there's a high,

there's a low, there's an outlet, and you get the ball out of your hand, right? And I think Aaron, it sounds weird to say, but I think Aaron kind of struggled with that last year where he didn't play in rhythm a lot, and it's not something he's done a lot over the last kind of five, six years. It's very much been the Aaron Rodgers show, get outside the pocket, make something happen, and, you know, it's just not built for that. And this summer, now it's not live. Who knows what happens when things actually kind of turn on, so to speak.

But this summer I saw a quarterback who was a lot more comfortable playing in rhythm. And I think, to your point, that the offense helps in that regard. And Matt has talked about it a lot. And I think if they can get in rhythm, if they can get some, especially on the play-action game, then Aaron should be a little bit more comfortable. But look, I mean, it's not like Mike Zimmer doesn't know how to counter whatever offense is going to be thrown at him. I do think it will come down a lot to that chess match at the line of scrimmage. And, you know, it'll be interesting to see the lack of crowd noise.

You know, Aaron will actually be able to operate in U.S. Bank Stadium probably for the first time since they opened. And having been in U.S. Bank Stadium for the fake crowd noise during the Vikings team squad scrimmage, let me just tell you, a lot different than playing against the Green Bay Packers. Very, very different. I tell you what, that first night when they opened, I was there for the Packers-Vikings game.

I've never had noise hurt, like physically hurt me the way that night did. I mean, on third downs, it literally hurt my ears. So to have that taken away, you can't shake it any other way, then that's an advantage for the Packers. No doubt about it. It absolutely is. And that night was one of the loudest I've ever heard in any stadium. That was insane. That was insane.

That was insane. It was so loud that my buddy Alex Boone, after the games, told fans they need to shut the bleep up when the Vikings win. So that was quite the first impression for Boone for Vikings. No doubt. So here's what I was thinking about the other day, is that we're always talking in terms of data, analytics, those sort of things about, hey, running isn't the way to go and so forth.

But I was thinking about this game specifically and how much running might just define this game because the Vikings interior of their defensive line does not have Limbaugh Joseph and Michael Pierce opted out. So now you're talking about Shamar Stephan and Jaleel Johnson is going to be the other guy in run situations. My guess is Afadi Adenabo slash Armand Watts are used in passing situations, but there's a lot less confidence in shutting down the run, which the Vikings generally have done super, super well, and that's been a main part of Mike Zimmer's success, is if you can stop teams running on first down, get them to second down and long, third down and long, you can do that with Linval Joseph. Then he mugs that A-gap and goes to town.

Exactly, exactly. But if Shamar Stephan and Jaleel Johnson are just not Michael Pierce, or not Linval Joseph and Tom Johnson, or whatever combination they've had in the past, Sheldon Richardson was very, very good against the Packers as well. Oh, he played his – man, he whooped the Packers up front year after year, no doubt about it. Yeah, he did. And so it's a big, big difference between having those guys

and trying to run against them. You might have a lot more success. But on the Vikings' side, in the first game in Week 2 last year, Delvin Cook was the game-breaker and nearly won the viking side in the first game in week two last year delvin cook was the game breaker and nearly won the game by himself at the end before kirk cousins through the interception i think this could have a similar vibe where the team that actually runs better wins which is a silly sounding thing to say in 2020 no i mean but i think it makes sense and look the delvin cook thing there's no zero question they missed him in that second matchup.

I mean, we could see that. There's no doubt about it. The funny thing about Cook in that first game is he certainly, he was running at a good clip. But the big play, the touchdown, was literally the one play they ran at, you know, the A gap without, and Kenny Clark was off the field. So, A, there was Kenny Clark being gone. But the one play, and then Darnell Savage, the rookie safety, took a horrible angle on that play.

And you look at the rest of it, he certainly was productive. There's no doubt he's going to get his. But I thought they did an okay job containing him in that game. Now, that said, it's a very different environment in Minnesota. He's able to cut a lot faster, I think, on that turf. And I think he's made for it. I think they're going to utilize him. And it's funny because I think so much is made of the Packers' run defense

because of the collapse against San Francisco in the NFC Championship game. But I think, I suspect they'll utilize Cook in the passing game a little bit more to try and kind of test to see what the Packers have as far as, you know, the one spot you can look at on defense and say, what do they have there? Like, it's pretty thin. Is that inside backer? If you're talking at on defense and say, what do they have there? It's pretty thin, is that inside backer. If you're talking about Kirksey over Martinez, I think that's an improvement generally. But we haven't really seen him as far as any live reps, obviously.

And after that, their rookie Kamal Martin got hurt. He was having a good camp. He's gone for a while. Oren Burks looked like Oren Burks, which is pretty pedestrian. So if I'm the Vikings, that's exactly where I'm attacking, at least at first. And I don't think there's any question that on the flip side with the Packers trying to run the football, that's what they're going to want to do. And you're absolutely nailing it as far as I think they'll test the inside, right, because, as you say, it's very different personnel-wise.

But, look, I think the Vikings did a really good job, or I'm sorry, the Packers did a good job up front last year in that building, at least getting going a little bit. What really kind of obviously ended up killing the Vikings were the injuries at backer. Aaron Jones breaking off that

big touchdown run to seal the win, it's no coincidence that that happens after their inside-out pursuit is decimated by injury. So to me, as long as those backers are there, the Vikings have a really good chance of shutting down whatever the Packers want to do on the ground. Now that said, if LeFleur proved anything last year,

it's that he will stick with it. He did a really good job last year of, regardless if they're getting two yards per clip or four yards a clip, he's going to keep with the running game. Sometimes to a lot of fans' frustration, but I think it only helps when you have a quarterback like Rodgers who is getting up there longer in the tooth, maybe not be as – the escapability is still there, but you don't want to –

you want to keep him in advantageous situations. And I think the more they run the football, the better off they're going to be in that regard. You do make a great point about the linebackers for the Vikings and just how important they are to the entire operation. That's been Zimmer's whole thing, right? I mean, like those guys, along with Harrison Smith, make that defense. That's why I haven't really bought into this whole, Oh,

they've got all these new corners. They've got this problem on the interior of the line. It was like, well, that's yeah, I understand that. But man, those, those, the talented pieces are still there that have been the foundation. So I do, like I said, I think the Packers will definitely try, but I don't doubt Mike will have a plan for it. All right. So on my last podcast episode, we talked about the three most important slash interesting Vikings going into

week one. Who are your three most interesting slash important to winning on the Packers side for this one? And I'll tell you who I named. I named Dantzler Gladney, which is one person now, because we're not sure which guy is going to play the most. So that's one guy. Garrett Bradbury going up against Kenny Clark.

If he's going to show that he's better this year, Bradbury, it's your opportunity against the guy that picked you up and threw you up against Kirk Cousins last year. And the other one was Daniil Hunter, because we're not really sure of Daniil Hunter's status. What's going on there, right? Yeah, well, you're asking, I mean, we've asked Mike Zimmer every single day pretty much about Hunter's status. So we'll see on Wednesday when the first injury report comes out. But those are my three on the Vikings side. How about on the Packers side? Well, I'll start with whoever they're going to ask to block Daniel Hunter

if Daniel Hunter is a go because it's got to be Mystery Man at right tackle for me at number one because, look, the start of camp, it was a quote-unquote battle between Billy Turner and Rick Wagner at right tackle. Then Wagner missed a ton of time with a left arm injury. And just as he came back, Billy Turner dropped out of a practice and now has been missing for over a week. And the report from Rob at ESPN was that he will most likely miss this game. Now the Packers obviously haven't confirmed that. They don't need to do anything until Wednesday when the injury report has to be out, but I suspect he won't be

available. So then it becomes, well, who are they playing at right tackle? Is it Rick Wagner with a bum arm? Are they going to slide Lane Taylor, the right guard, or Elton Jenkins, the left guard, over to tackle, which is something they have talked about doing? What is their plan there? I don't know, and they have done a really good job of making sure we don't know. So I'm sure they have a plan. But whoever that mystery man is, he's going to have to block Daniel Hunter. He's going to have to block Ngakwe. He's going to have to show up in a big way against a really good defensive end.

So that, to me, is number one. Number two is Tyler Irvin, the guy who they plucked off waivers last year from Jacksonville. He basically saved their return game, and I think he'll continue to do that. They've started utilizing him on offense quite a bit as far as what we've seen this summer. I'm forbid from talking about how they've used him, but I do think they will. Among anything else, are you sure you're allowed to say there is a right tackle? There is a right tackle, exactly.

But the Packers have tried to incorporate him on the offensive side of the ball in some really interesting ways. And I think it's not this thing where he's going to get a ton of volume and a ton of production, but I do think he's going to be a bit of a chess piece for them. And I'm very fascinated to see how they utilize him starting week one. And then number three, this is going to sound weird, but it's Aaron Rogers.

It's, it's, is this guy that we have seen for the last week and a half, two weeks, as far as a really sharp, really efficient, something we haven't seen from Aaron Rogers in a, I would say a decade

really just so smooth just playing within the confines of the offense it's been really weird to watch and is that somebody just testing it out is that somebody who's going to continue that into week one are we going to see a complete reversion to oh my first guy's covered or I just don't like it so I'm going to run around and try and make something happen. Who's going to show up? So I know it sounds like a cop-out, but I am genuinely intrigued and kind of mystified as to, especially now that his heir apparent is on the sideline, like which Rodgers is going to show up?

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So I'm sure you're picking the Packers to win this game, but what's your, like, do some sort of meter. I don't know, confidence percentage quotient or something? Right, right. What's the confidence level? You're right. I am picking the pack. I've been doing it all week.

And to me, it comes down to this. Right. And I've said several times here, I've said all week on my streams, et cetera, I think Mike Zimmer is a hell of a coach, and he's going to have them ready. I think there's no doubt this is going to be a close game. But to me, given the nature of the contest with the lack of offseason, really, no offseason work on the field, a really limited camp, no preseason games, if you put all of that into your decision

of who to pick in this game, I got to come down on the side of the veteran quarterback in Aaron Rodgers coupled with the squad that is almost identical to the one that came in there last year with the crowd, with all the circumstances, with the injuries, and won that game, turning the ball over three times and still getting the W. That team is still together. There have been tweaks here and and there but for the most part

they're bringing in the same squad whereas with the Vikings that's a really different squad and that's not you know to say a lot of NFL teams are different this year there's no doubt about it but because of that continuity I gotta go with the Packers in this one you know I I appreciate uh the argument and I and I buy into it a lot of how much continuity you have and how that's going to affect teams very early in the season. And that's the thing. I probably wouldn't lean into it as much if it wasn't week one. Hell, it's week one where crazy stuff happens every year,

and you've got to think this year we'll give you more crazy stuff. So who knows? The Vikings could come out and lay 40 on them, and I could just be full of egg. I lean ever so slightly toward the Packers in this game as well because of the no-crowd noise, which I think is a huge deal for Aaron Rodgers. It's a monster, yeah. But also, there are certain teams that just have the formula. Like, do you have a beefly nose tackle who can just drive the center and guards back into Kirk Cousins.

Basically, last year, if you picked the schedule based on which teams could create interior pressure, you would have gotten it almost entirely right. They lost to every team they could. They beat every team they couldn't. They lost to Matt Miller because Chris Jones took over. Well, Chris Jones is otherworldly. And we haven't even mentioned Zedarius yet. I mean, Zedarius was unblockable in that game.

And, again, I don't doubt they'll have a plan for it, but at some point it's going to be third and long. You know what I mean? Yeah. So it's just, yeah, to me, I don't see where much has changed. You know? Yeah. No, and the interior of the offensive line might actually be worse.

Now, Josh Klein's not there, and it's Dakota Dozier who's barely played. So Aaron Nagler, one of my favorite follows on Twitter. Especially, I mean, just I love the following sort of the fans and the people who go after you for Minnesota and things like that. It's always great when you've got something great involving the Vikings. I enjoy it. I think that the Vikings fans versus Packers fans is one of the most entertaining sort of back and forth.

It's not like Eagles fans. When they got involved, it was scary and dangerous. Oh, yeah. Well, the Eagles fans are a special breed. There's no doubt about it. And, look, I go after Vikings fans. Vikings are my least favorite franchise in the entire NFL. For a lot of

reasons, I was born and bred into that hatred. I can't help it. I will say this, though. Ultimately, when you dig way deep down, my tongue is firmly planted in my cheek. You look around the world today, the fact, A, that we're having an NFL season

at all is a miracle, but B, with everything going on, with a pandemic, we're so divided. We've had all this stuff going on as far as racial injustice and protests in the streets, et cetera. The NFL is a welcome oasis in the middle of all that. And, look, we all love football. I love NFL football. I've been watching it since I was three years old. And, look, I love teasing Vikings fans. I love going after Vikings fans.

But ultimately, we're all in this kind of fraternity, this brotherhood, whatever you want to call it, together in the sense of this is our escape and I want to keep it that way. And I love the back and forth. Totally agree. And this summer has probably even changed my perspective. And you and I are two people building businesses around football, but even today this is not the most serious thing in the entire world.

So if you want to make fun of what Aaron is saying about the Packers winning, follow Cheesehead TV. Do it, people. I really do take away a lot from what's going on with the Packers from following you. So I appreciate your work and have a great deal of respect for somebody who's trailblazed in the same sort of realm as I'm trying to be in here. So I appreciate you very much. And thanks for the time, man.

Absolutely. I appreciate the kind words and thanks so much for having me on. Hi, my name is Bobby Peters, and I've recently written a book titled the 2017 New England Patriots Pass Game Manual. If you've ever wondered what makes the New England Patriots offense, specifically their pass game, so successful over the years, this book is for you. The book breaks down in detail the schemes the Patriots use by concept. Each concept is broken down into its different variations, its statistical usage based on down and distance, and the important coaching points for how each route is run and how the quarterback reads the play. The book is available now on Amazon.

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