Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Aaron Nagler of Cheesehead TV talks Love vs. Willis and why GB loves Aaron Jones

Episode Date: September 26, 2024

Matthew Coller and Aaron Nagler of Cheesehead TV have a fun conversation about the matchups that will decide Vikings-Packers and Jordan Love's development and future Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here, and by request, somehow, Aaron Nagler, Cheesehead TV, returns to the show. But also, this is going to be a joint venture on both of our shows and our channels, Aaron. So, here's what I'm thinking. I'll ask you a question you ask me a question it sounds like that it sounds a perfect volley back and forth much like I expect we will see on Sunday afternoon at Lambeau Field I like it okay how about this I'll just begin with um got a little it's a quarterback controversy I think in Green Bay oh right in the locker room apart, there's a schism that's going on. No doubt.

Your thoughts. Yeah, clearly all sorts of drama. This is such a beautiful narrative for Vikings fans to dive into. Obviously there is no controversy. However, I think there's a lot of surprise outside of the building when it comes to the job Malik Willis has done keeping the ship afloat,

so to speak, these last two weeks. Certainly the way he's performed, probably outside and above everybody's expectations other than the folks inside the locker room. I do think the guys love him, love playing for him. You've seen that over the course of the last two weeks, but there ain't a guy in there that doesn't want Jordan Love back out on the football field as their starting quarterback. Now, that said, we don't know. I mean, I know there have been immediate reports around Love's possible return for this game on Sunday, but I don't think that's a given. I don't think that's a done deal.

I do think the Packers will give this the entire week. Obviously, want to keep the Vikings having to to work prepare for two different quarterbacks but yeah i think we're not going to know probably until saturday maybe even sunday morning if jordan love is good to go for this game okay so don't call me a malik willis doubter because i would never want to be never that uh but given the situation having to come in at the last minute, and then the adjustment that Matt LaFleur has made, I mean, my observation is the same as Brian Flores', which is, wow, what a job. But I'll give you the hater's angle over here in Minnesota,

which was the, it's not exactly like you played the 85 Bears and the 2000 Ravens in these last two games. And the Vikings have played tremendously good on defense. But what in your mind has Matt LaFleur done to elevate the offense around Malik Willis to get the most out of him, considering that he was asked to just show up here and play quarterback? Well, what's fascinating is to see the development and the kind of growth from the first start to the second start, not just in what he was asked to do, because clearly they did push the ball down the field a little bit more against Tennessee, but the way he's commanded the offense, all the intricacies at the line of scrimmage even,

but the run game itself has really obviously supported a quarterback who has a couple of starts under his belt, didn't go very well a couple years ago. He looks absolutely like a completely different quarterback in LeFleur's system. And I do think the thing that's heartening if you're a Packers fan, probably maybe disheartening if you're a Vikings fan, is that the Packers have been able to run the ball these last two weeks, despite the entire stadium, including the opposing opponents, knowing they're going to try and run the ball. And that has not only helped Malik, but I think it would obviously help Jordan Love coming back. Maybe you don't spread it out and ask him to throw it 40,

45 times a game. I do think that bodes well, but now that said, you're right. The quality of opponent, certainly not top tier. Although I will point out just the week before the Jets went into Tennessee and they struggled to just come back and win that game with Aaron Rodgers and company, who obviously looked like world beaters against the Pats last Thursday night. I mean, Malik Willis and that Packers offense, they marched up, down, up and down the field against that defense. It's not a bad defense, I don't think. I think, obviously, the team as a whole has performed poorly in Tennessee, especially the quarterback. But, yeah, I buy the strength of opponent thing, definitely.

I think with the Vikings, certainly they have played amazingly well on the defensive side of the ball. I do point out, though, and it's something I have talked about quite a bit this week, you know, the Vikings have essentially played 180 minutes of football and have not had a lead for a bit over three minutes of that. It's a whole nother world when you're playing from ahead. I mean, that Texans game, you were there, you know, they had a 14 nothing lead in the blink of an eye, thanks to two turnovers. Now, you have to make those turnovers happen. I definitely give credit there, but you can play very differently when you're able to just get after it, right? When you're able to pin your ears back, get after C.J. Stroud, you know you don't really have to worry because they're trying

to come back. And I do wonder if the Packers are able to get on the front foot in this game on Sunday, make the Vikings live in maybe a bit of a different world than they've been living in through these first three games. To me, that's a big key and probably something that Matt LaFleur tries to do takes the, you know, the opening call coin toss, maybe other than deferring, which is what he usually does. Maybe this is a game where he takes the ball because he wants to get seven on the board right away. And again, put the Vikings in a place where they haven't existed yet. Oh, I think you're absolutely correct. And when you talk about the biggest thing that the Green Bay Packers have done well, it's obviously run the football.

And even though San Francisco ran effectively, they couldn't keep doing it because they weren't in the game. And with Houston, they ran a few times early and then they were down two scores three scores and like there's just there's there's some context here definitely but I will say what one thing I did want to ask you about is Sam Darnold's kind of poise in the pocket and his ability now again it helps to be playing with a lead but he seems to be playing very well even when pressured and that's obviously something that bit of a bugaboo early in his career, certainly his first stop here in New York City. But man, he's looked very calm and very in command of an offense that,

you know, O'Connell, one of the better offensive minds in the league, no doubt about it. But man, I've been surprised. Has it surprised you? Because I don't think anyone was sitting here expecting through three weeks for Darnold to look as good as he has. I think I would go with it surprised me a little, but not blown away because I went to every training camp practice.

And as you saw it develop over the offseason, the thing we kept coming back to is he looks like he's throwing the ball on time. And that was the thing that they talked about over and over and over again was hit the back foot, let it go to number 18. And if you keep doing that over and over again, he will catch the football. Sometimes sports is not as complicated as we need to make it just have, just have Steph Curry shoot threes, like figure out a way to do that. It's the same thing with uh justin jefferson what a genius steve kerr was he's like you know what you should actually do that more you're really quite good at this uh i was uh laughing about an article in baseball about how one of the innovations was

they figured out to throw their best pitch more often you're like really um that seems that seems pretty smart mariano rivera there knew it for a long time. What's great is, you know, somewhere in the sports stratosphere, there is probably a consultant that got paid a lot of money to come up with that result. We've concluded, after burning through your $100,000 consultant fee, that your guys should be throwing their best pitch a lot more. Thanks, guys. Appreciate it. And I need a raise after this great innovation but i mean truthfully though sam darnold has thrown on time and aggressively to justin jefferson and that's really going to get you about 75 of the way there but you're right about some of the pocket movements that he's had when things have broken down and this is the biggest concern though for

this game against the Packers, because that gentleman, Kenny Clark has dominated the Vikings in ways that should have had him be arrested at some point last year, just ran over them once again. And I think the D line of the Green Bay Packers is right up there on the same level as anyone that they face. But when they face Dexter Lawrence interior pressure, he led the entire NFL for that week. And Garrett Bradbury's playing with an injury at Ingram at right guard has really struggled. And so Darnold is going to continue to have to get the ball out quickly.

And there's a little shades. This would be more of my concern comes from there's little shades of, Oh, I can make a play here. I'm going gonna do something special and you go stop it stop it you don't try to do that but this is where your point comes in and i agree with you is if he gets behind is he going to feel obligated to put the team on his shoulders because so far he's been able to say all right i'll get five yards from aaron jones i'll check it down i'll run a screen

i'll run a play action if he gets taken out of that space i do think to your point that things get a lot harder for him well the kenny clark point is apt because i kind of jokingly yesterday when i saw that bradbury was on the injury report and i think he was it did not participate if i remember right but i kind of joked yeah he's got an ankle and anxiety from Kenny Clark coming up on the schedule, right? Now, I think any Packers fan will tell you who's watched these last three games, Kenny has not started on fire so far this year. If that's a scheme change or what he's being asked to do in particular is not kind of suited to his game or at least what he's done over the course of his entire career, I can't really say, but I will say if there is a place for

Kenny to get right, it's at Lambeau Field against Bradbury. I mean, you know it. He has absolutely owned him his entire career. And yeah, playing on a bum ankle, I can't imagine that's going to make it any easier. I have to think Halfley will circle that as far as matchups to try and take advantage of. And not just Kenny, but the entire D front working some of the stunts we've seen that have been really effective some of the things they've done to try and free up Rashawn Gary and all the guys up front but I do think a big big key is going to be how Kenny Clark is able to get right so to speak against Bradbury because I mean I don't think they've played a game yet where Kenny hasn't made his life an utter hell. Oh, you're absolutely right.

And you can go back and look at the PFF numbers and see all the pressures and all the grades and everything else. I mean, it's been, it's been pretty gnarly for Garrett Bradbury. It's just a guy that size, that speed, that technique is just overwhelming for him. I do think the Vikings tackles have played as well as anybody in the NFL. And this is where we have to adjust those pff grades with our brain to say they brian burns they played nick bosa you're not allowed to use your brain with those you just have to you know just look at the numbers and yell about them yep yeah

that's how that works i will say it's fascinating to me to go and back and watch the two games from last year obviously the vikings took it to the Packers really good in Lambeau, and then things kind of turned around on New Year's Eve. But it's funny to me to watch that New Year's Eve game and watch Preston Smith and how effective he was. Now, I don't know. Obviously, they were starting a backup quarterback and then went to their backup of a backup quarterback.

That's going to affect timing and things like that. But, man, it was surprising to see how effective Preston was in that game. And I'm wondering how much they try and get after that matchup early in this game to see. I mean, the young man's been paid. I know he's one of the best, like you're saying, he's one of the best tackles in the league. I don't think there's any doubt about that, but that's another matchup where the Packers, they've got some evidence to say, Hey man, you, you did really well against this guy last time we faced them maybe that's something the Packers try again you know every obvious passing down to get a little bit of one-on-one action there and see if Preston can win again oh that's the thing I mean

with any tackle it's not like someone as good as Preston Smith or Rashawn Gary just gets taken out of the game entirely and that's why the interior becomes so concerning because you know, you're going to get it from Daniel Hunter and Will Anderson who made a difference against the Vikings last week. But if they don't have a guy who's at the nose tackle or, or you know, three tech position that's getting in there all the time, you can step up in the pocket.

And there were a few times, Darnold did, whereas, okay, the rush is coming. I'm going to have to step up a little, but if there's nowhere to step up. And the other thing is too, if he dominates him in the run game, and I really think that's super important for Sam Darnold to stay ahead of the sticks

because O'Connell has played a little more Lafleur ball with play actions. And I thought Lafleur truly was brilliant last year with Jordan love in the play action game and the screen game. Well, there's been a little copycat league over here, I think, with Sam Darnold, rather than just, hey, let's sit him back in the shotgun all day long. So they've played a little more Shanahan-y this season. Are the Packers going to let them actually do that? But I want to know, I mean, you brought up Halfley. For the last few years, I think that Kirk kirk cousins got so used to everything that joe

barry was going to do oh man he just knew at every call before it was even called and was super comfortable no matter what was happening up front i mean that's underselling it probably i'm my one of my guys billy and i were talking on the radio the other day i mean packers fans have probably wiped it from their mind but prior to cousins going down in that game at Lambeau last year, he was absolutely taking the Packers apart. Like there was nothing they could do to stop him. So I agree. I think the Barry switch is long overdue. If you're a Packers fan, I'm fascinated to see how Halfley approaches this one, because you saw him kind of release the hounds on Will Levis in the second half this last Sunday. Now he's got a big lead there. And in the past with Joe Barry,

it was very much, we've got a lead. We're going to sit back. We're going to tackle and we're going to limit big plays, even though that didn't really even work. But that was the mindset, right? With Halfley, this is our first instance of seeing, okay, I've got a big lead and I've got a young, struggling quarterback. I'm going to get after him. I do wonder if, not a similar approach, but again, it comes back to the fact that the Vikings have led for most of this season. If the Packers can get a lead, does Halfley follow that kind of path? Does he try and get after Darnold a little bit more than maybe his predecessor did? So how different is it I mean I I know Barry was just sitting back and we saw this from Ed Donatel so there was Spider-Man meme there

I love that we both have had to deal with Ed Donatel in our lives that's amazing uh yeah there were well I mean the the Daniel Jones game is kind of like the was it fourth and 19 right for the eagles yeah uh he was 26 is what you're talking about 26 yes lord yeah 26 amazing but daniel jones did make a lot of money so that's good for him but it's just i mean as far as schematically like what is the biggest difference i mean eyes on the quarterback and defensive backs in the box. Those are the two biggest things. No matter what you're calling as far as you end up in cover three or a cover two or a cover four, it hasn't really mattered.

It's about pre-snap, giving you one look, maybe dropping into something else, creating a little bit of doubt in the quarterback's mind. But the vision to the quarterback is entirely different. Look no further than Jair Alexander's first pick six of his entire career last week. Again, eyes on the quarterback. It's a vision-based system. It's something they haven't done a lot of in Green Bay in any of the recent past coordinators, whether it's been Barry or Petten or whoever. it has allowed them to break on the ball a lot better. And you don't have to look much further than the fact that they had seven interceptions all last

year. They have, I believe, six now through three games. So it is a very different approach. And again, the bodies in the box is a big change too, as far as dropping, not just safeties, but maybe nickel corners, maybe bringing in an extra linebacker for a true 4-3 look. But they have been a lot more populated. Now, how much of that do we see this week with Justin Jefferson on the outside? That's a different story. I do think maybe we see a bit more too high kind of in general this week for that very reason.

And I do, you know, I can't believe we've gone this long. We haven't talked about, you know, really we've mentioned him twice, but Aaron Jones. And if you're the Green Bay Packers and you are worried about Justin Jefferson, there's zero doubt about it, but man, you cannot let Aaron Jones get going. I mean, he has looked so good through these first three weeks for Minnesota and the way they've utilized him in the passing game, you know, like we've seen him be utilized by the floor in that way, but man, he has picked up right where he left off at the end of last year when he was just ripping off a hundred yard games, adding stuff in the air.

And his pass protection is on point. I mean, this is a guy who he's going to be to me. And I've, I've had some people push back on this, but I think he is the whole key to this game for the Vikings on offense, because I don't see the Packers having a singular answer for him. I think he's got to be the focal point. And that leaves you maybe a little exposed with Jefferson on the outside, but man, Jones can hurt you in so many different ways. I have to think he's job number one for this Packers defense. Right. It's not just Jones and his

effectiveness with runs and everything else it's really also worrying about Jones because then that's where everything starts to play off of it and you can get receivers more open I mean this is Shanahan style football right but he especially is frightening because when he gets any space he's getting five more yards after doesn't take him much right right i mean his his acceleration his quickness all of it is still his ability to get skinny there's so many times where he's got apparently nothing in front of him blocking wise and all of a sudden he's got a four or five yard game because he's able to find the smallest crease and get flipped through it and pick you up a positive gain usually

on first down where now you're not behind the sticks anymore you're not right on schedule so he's invaluable in that regard and that's what I mean when I say he's to me he's the key I absolutely agree there was uh Wes Phillips Vikings offensive coordinator uh pointed out a four-yard carry that he said was maybe the most impressive of the day against the texans because it should have been a two-yard loss and he found a way to positive yards i want to know from you though about aaron jones your perspective on him because i have had now uh three weeks of watching him up close and all those weeks of watching him murder the vikings right emmy clark the offensive side averaged like six yards a carry against the Vikings in his career so now doing it over here but when you ask people about Aaron Jones they like get choked up

talking about him coaches teammates everybody else I want I want the Green Bay perspective on him why is that? I mean he is just the most authentic person you'll ever meet. I covered him for a long time, got to meet him several times, know him probably about as well as anybody I've ever covered just as a man. You know, he represented the organization the best possible way each and every moment he was in public, not just as a football player, but as a person. And I think you saw that illuminated in the Players' Tribute article that he released yesterday and that line at the end about, I don't have a G on my helmet, but it's always in my heart. I mean, the man carries kind of the ideals and the principles that you want from your professional athletes. And I'm not even just talking about the Packers specifically here.

Just as a professional athlete, he underlines and italicizes professional, but he's also just the way he connected on the community level, the way he was with the fans, he's just, he's top shelf. And I don't doubt for a moment that while the, you know, from the start whistle to the end whistle Packers fans will be rooting against him. There's zero doubt there. But I do suspect he'll get a really warm welcome back prior to the game on Sunday. I think he meant a lot to a lot of people. He was one of their best players for a very long time. There's no person I've ever met who would say anything other than glowing things about aaron jones there's a multiple instances that i've noticed from him where he's asked to chip block

and i tweeted about this the other day where he's asked to chip block and he sends the guy flying back like five oh yeah leaving his feet chip blocking nose tackles and just like that that's the effort level that's something no one is going to really think too much about. It's a running back. He's five foot nine. And yet he's like putting his soul into a chip block. And I think that's just the way that he plays. Don't look much further than the Cowboys playoff game last, you know, last year where I and

Jordan Love talked about this at the Super Bowl when he was on Micah Parsons podcast. Parsons was like, there were so many plays where there is no way Aaron Jones is supposed to be here. There is no way it is designed for him to be in my face. Yet Jones repeatedly knew where Micah Parsons was going to be and took him on in the hole. And one, even there's one hilarious play where Jordan Love has to take the ball over Aaron Jones with his own, you know, because like Jones is exactly not where he's supposed to be, but that's where the pressure is. And he picks up the blitz or the pressure and Jordan Love completes a big ball downfield. So yeah, it's a highly, probably underrated part of his game, but it's big. And he, to your point, he knows how to use

his leverage. There's nobody on a football field that scares him. He is going to step in there and he's going to get his nose bloody and he's going to make sure his quarterback is protected. No doubt. That's funny because I feel like, uh, Packers fans and Vikings fans can shake hands over Aaron Jones. Like everybody appreciates him. How can you not appreciate the guy? No doubt. Uh, all right. What else do you want to ask me? What do you got? Well, I think the number one thing I, you know, we've talked a lot about Packers offense and their approach and the Vikings offense. But when it comes to the Vikings defense, we've heard a lot of praise for Flores for good reason.

They are playing out of their minds. All of the kind of exotic stuff. But it's fast. I saw one stat yesterday that kind of blew my mind. They are blitzing on 60 percent of second downs like what planet is he living on i mean now some of this i would suspect is like again they're getting teams behind they're living in a world where they can dictate and that's why to me i'm all my question is how have they been stopping the run in general this year because this is

another game much like the last two where I think everybody in the building is going to know okay the Packers want to run the ball including the Vikings how are they going to stop the run yeah I'll let you know when I see them have to do it I mean that's really been the remarkable thing about I mean they they get down three nothing to the giants because they fumble on the opening sequence and then are never down again in that game and you talk about blitzing on second down but when the other team's down 21 you're blitzing whenever oh exactly right and and cj stroud the thing is the crowd noise was so much for cj stroud last week he had never been here before and and they let's just send everything flores had him in hell

man i mean he's a good young quarterback but he had no idea what what was coming for him on that on that afternoon there's zero doubt about that right exactly so they're not going to be able to do it the same way against green bay and obviously the fact that green bay can run so effectively you can't just be sending blitzes and blitzes and blitzes all the time. So it's going to dictate that. But if there's one concern, I think it is how they're going to stop the run. The big addition this year, which has not been talked about at all, nor would you expect it to be is Jerry Tillery on the inside, but draft next, remember him as a first round pick that hasn't worked out, but he's sort of developed himself into a nice role and what you see them doing a lot is five man fronts so you'll have tillery harrison phillips jonathan bullard and all of these guys

are not household names but they're all run stuffers and they're big giant dudes and i think that allows jonathan grenard and andrew van genkel to kind of cook on the outside and line up way wide it's that old wide nine thing where they're like, former Badger making a name. He has a sack every game, doesn't he? He does. And honestly, he is a fascinating player to watch because he lines up in so many different places, does so many different things. And he's so bendy and fluid as an athlete. It's kind of, he has just been a complete game changer for this defense. So he's going to play physically, but the concern a little bit is at the linebacker position. Ivan Pace has been banged up.

Kamu Grugier-Hill is even banged up. And he's not a guy that you really want out there for 60 or 70 snaps in a backyard brawl because he's an undersized type of linebacker. And even Cashman is not the biggest run stuffing guy. I do think that that is the biggest concern. And when you can catch a team being a little overaggressive and they like to drop people back and things like that, if they do catch them that way,

I think that the Packers can run effectively against this defense. Yeah, I'm wondering how much they employ Harrison Smith down in the box in this game. I mean, I know he moves all over, obviously, but I think he's a big component for Flores this week. I would suspect anyway, and maybe that makes it the fact that he won't do that because maybe that is what's expected. But I do, I mean, look, you watch him play and it's like, he's been in the league for like a hundred years and he looks as fresh as ever. Now it's early in the season. I get it. But man,

he is playing lights out ball still this deep into his career. I mean, what a chess piece. And I do suspect, yeah, if you're sitting up and watching what the Packers have done the last two weeks, you're going to need bodies in the box. And even if it is Jordan Love out there, I think the Packers are going to be committed to the run. It is about how can you generate those few shot plays that we've seen, even with Malik Willis in there. Can you be judicious with them and find moments where maybe the Vikings are having to overcommit to the run game a little bit just because the Packers, I suspect, will be somewhat effective on the ground. Yeah, and I wonder about just if there's any personnel tweaks that get made out of concern about the run game.

If there are players that end up in the game a little bit more, they have a guy named Taki Taimani, who is a hulking human being. He's not quite Gilbert Brown, but he's kind of like that. Few people are. Exactly. But in terms of the past game for the Packers, though, before the season, I saw all of you green nerds talking about how it's all it's OK not to have a number one wide receiver. Who would want that? Which, of course, the franchise. Wait a second. Wait a second. Nobody said that's what you were saying. We all said they don't have a number one and they don't need one.

Not who would want that. I mean, we had Devante Adams for a real long time. That was okay. I enjoyed it. But now there's no need to force a guy into being the number one when you've got a bunch of guys who are really talented and can all get open and all kill you at any given moment. I like both.

It's fine. Fair enough. Maybe I misframed that slightly to make fun of you. It's possible no never never but but i i was sort of laughing at like who needs davante adams i mean uh but i think i think you do have one and i think his name is jayden reed and i thought that last year when he played against the vikings so it was no number one wide receiver like a fox. I think he's the guy. Am I right?

Production-wise so far, yeah, they've certainly wanted to get the ball in his hands any which way they can, right? And it hasn't just been through the passing game. They've even handed it off a couple times. They've thrown screens, things like that. It's fascinating, though, because then teams, again, we were talking about this earlier, are going to start keying on him. And I think we started to see a little bit of that against the Titans, where all of a sudden Christian Watson is up the field and he's got two explosive plays on you because you are probably a little more worried about Jaden Reed than you were previously. So, I mean, Jaden Reed is going to get targets. I mean, he led the league or the league.

He led the team in receptions last year. I don't see that slowing down this year. He can be utilized in all sorts of different ways from a lot of the work he does is from the slot, but they can also line them as a traditional perimeter wide receiver. And we've seen him work from the backfield. And of course they use them all over the map as a motion guy and get the ball in his hands off that motion. And then here's the other thing.

And then all of a sudden you're like, okay, here he comes, here he comes, here he comes. And then he releases out and he blocks like he did on Malik Willis's touchdown on the opening drive last week. He's all over the place. He's a consummate, pretty complete football player. And you know, is he the quote number one? Well, he's been, he's being targeted a lot and he's being, plays are being drawn up for him. There's no doubt about that. We'll see how that continues throughout the year as defensive coordinators have more tape, try to probably take some of that away. I suspect we'll see other guys start to get a little bit more involved.

But yeah, as a target, he's probably their most often kind of play drawn up for guy. You know, my audience has been annoyed at me for giving the Packers too much credit for saying things like that that I think uh Jaden Reid is quite good so I want to I want to direct the conversation to bigger picture here uh the Packers they give a mild salary to Jordan Love in the uhseason, which is not too bad of a contract. And of course, Vikings fans are a little bit still recovering from what it was like to have an expensive quarterback and have to try to manipulate the salary cap to keep your team competitive. I wonder about how important this year is for the Packers to win as it pertains to that

contract, because it doesn't, as you know, if you have Aaron Rogers, it doesn't matter as much because he can get you over the hump. I'm not ready to declare Jordan love quite Aaron Rogers yet in his prime. And, but we all know that there is a factor here with how you build around a team

that teams kind of aim for these windows with like Detroit they're in their window they've paid everyone it's going to get harder eventually but for the next two or three years they can make it happen where where does this sit as it pertains to that contract yeah I think there's no doubt they're intentional in the contract that they handed Jordan while so much of their offense, especially is on the rookie deal. You know, it's not a, it's not a happenstance that, you know, while Jordan is, you know, on the upper echelon, as far as quarterbacks getting paid, they also have the cheapest offense around him. And that's not to say they're not talented, but they are dirt cheap

comparatively. Like I think all of their wide receivers are making less than most of the guys in the top 10 singularly, you know what I mean, as far as the wide receiver position. So they're going to have to start making some decisions. There's no doubt about it. I mean, Christian Watson and Romeo Dobbs are probably both looking to get paid this offseason. The nucleus will be there for the next two or three years. And I do think, yes, no doubt, it gets tougher as you go, guys wanting to get paid. But we also know that every time one of these guys gets paid, especially Jordan Love, he was the, quote, highest paid quarterback for what, a month?

Until Dak Prescott happened. That will happen again next offseason and then the next offseason until he's not even in probably the top five or six. You know, I understand kind of the sticker shock thing. And the Packers will have to make choices. There's no doubt about it. But ultimately, it's the cost of doing business when you have a really good quarterback. Now, to your point about him not being Aaron Rodgers yet, you are absolutely a thousand percent correct there. He has a lot of growing and developing to do. But as I've said for the last 10 plus years while I've been doing this, you don't pay a guy for what he's done. You pay a guy for what you expect him to do. And the Packers expect him to continue to grow and develop and become better and better. And that's a scary thought if you're the rest of the league,

because this guy looked pretty darn good down the stretch last year. So yeah, there's no doubt there will be tough choices along this road with Jordan Love's contract and with, you know, having a superstar quarterback. But, you know, again, it's something the Packers seemingly have planned for, and they certainly feel like they have a roadmap as far as what they want to do, not just on offense, but with the entire roster and the way they're going to have to build around him. So one more Jordan Love question for you, and then you get one more. Yeah. We'll do the whole who's going to win. Is it right? Very good.

Very good. Okay. With, with Jordan love though, you alluded to areas he needs to improve. What do you need to see from him the rest of the way? And I still think he's going to play in this game, but I don't know for sure. Yeah. What do you need to see from him? Really good chance to, to, to walk out of this season saying, okay, contract's good, we're all set here.

Because I've got to think in Jacksonville, they're going, wait, what did we do with Trevor Lawrence at this moment? So what needs to be better? Well, just consistency, especially for the layups. Like, we've seen so many amazing throws and plays and big touchdowns and things like that. Or even, like, things he's done with his legs and escaping pressure and making plays outside the pocket. Those have all been there. But, man, there are some layups. He missed two in Brazil that are just mind-numbingly bad as far as having the guy.

He had Jaden Reed screaming wide open on a deep over route and just bounced it in front of him. Those can't happen. You are way better than that. And it's something we saw at times last season. You don't have to look much further than the, uh, the giants game on Monday night. He starts that game really poorly, you know, and now he eases into it and he gets hot late. It's not quite enough to win it, but you know, those are the things where, you know, and Aaron Rogers used to talk about this all the time, uh, talking about young quarterbacks. It is about finding that consistency and finding, you know, your greatness as far as if you are going to be a great quarterback.

It's doing all of those things on a consistent basis because, you know, a lot of these guys have all sorts of talent and they can make wow plays. But, OK, you're not asking him to do wow plays consistently. I'm asking you to play quarterback consistently down in, down out, week in, week out, season in, season out. And Jordan's just at the start of his journey. It feels weird because we've been talking about him since 2020 when he was drafted, but he sat obviously for years. And now he is just starting on that journey. So I do think there'll be some impatience I've already seen grumbling from Packers fans about his performance in Brazil

even though I would go back to that game and point out some three or four amazing plays he has um but yeah it's about finding consistency that more than anything else is the number one thing he needs to kind of find improve on whatever you want to call it, that's where he's going to start separating himself and become truly great. And there's a ways to go. I don't expect this to just click, you know, anytime soon. I think we're going to see him continue to have ups and downs. I think that's going to happen with any young quarterback. But yeah, to me, that's the major thing that the Packers are undoubtedly looking for, right? Like I said, they expect him to grow and develop, and that's going to be part of it.

I'm going to switch it around then and ask you, can Sam Darnold become the long-term answer here? They just drafted a young guy who obviously is out now for the season. Can Darnold take this thing? I think we're working through that at the moment. Right. I mean, it's a legit question right as well as he's played these first three weeks and i understand it's a long season but he looks good

he looks like a fit i don't know the thing about sam darnold is if he's sam darnold well but if he but if he was coached by matt lafleur with jay Jaden Reed and a run game and all those things from the outset of his career, I think you might be talking about him having $50 million right now in his pocket because we've seen all the talent that's there. It's very unusual that you pick up a guy who has failed in other places and he makes you think that's even possible because he has the arm and he has the scrambling ability and the physical skill set to do it. Normally, it's someone like Ryan Fitzpatrick where you're like, everyone loves him. But like, who's the next guy? He's always going to come up short. Yeah, right.

That's that's not what this is, which does add a layer of intrigue to it. And I think that as the season goes on, we'll get the clearer and clearer on that. Like, was this just a hot start? And then it's going to be a roller coaster. I don't expect them to be bad, but I think that there will be some down moments, some three interception games where we'll go, oh, okay, well, this is the reason. But if it stacks and stacks and stacks, and we get to the end of the year and it's Vikings at the top of the NFC North and Packers fans are going,

how did they do it? This is just like Randall Cunningham. Well, yeah, I mean, if, if that's the case, I mean, if this team, it looks like a legitimate Superbowl contender, then you have to have that conversation of what do you do? And actually you could look at with the packers where i think they expected to move on from rogers then he went and won mvp and you're like well maybe wait right but they they were they were very much sold on mccarthy and so was i during training camp and preseason i did not expect him to grow as much uh his leadership capabilities are there but i mean you're still talking about if they are to win, and this is going crazy down the road.

Way, way down the road, yeah. But if they win 13 games or something, how can you say, all right, well, thanks for the memory, Sam, and now on to someone who's never done anything. Like, that's a hard thing to do. So that conversation may be around the corner, but I'm not anywhere near it yet. OK, I have one other less big picture question way more about this game on Sunday.

Is Jordan Addison going to go? Because I see that he's dealing with the injury and he's limited at practice. I mean, the last couple of times these two teams have faced off. I don't think if I remember right, they haven't had both Jefferson and Addison on the field for the last two, two games that they've played. Very, very possible. I mean, Kevin O'Connell has been really positive about his chances of playing.

And I, I mean, he could be just sandbagging here by having him limited NFL coach. No, get out of town. Well, not, and,

and not that the Packers would do this with Jordan. No, never once. No, sir. Absolutely not. Gamesmanship between squadrons this with Jordan. No, never once. No, sir. Absolutely not. Gamesmanship between squadrons. I don't think so.

But I think that he will. He's had this injury before, and it's usually three to four weeks where he comes back. But the fact that Jalen Naylor has emerged as a key receiver for them and is a route runner and as a ball tracker, and they've been able to use them down the field. It's really mitigated the effect of Jordan Addison being out. But if I were to guess, I think you're going to face the closest the Vikings have been to being healthy here since the first couple of quarters in New York.

And then of course, also Johnny Munt is becoming a fantasy, because he scored a touchdown last week, a fantasy pickup now from week to week. So watch out. Madman Munt. Anybody who knows that reference, I'm very impressed. But, okay, let's get down to brass tacks. I don't really give predictions,

but I will say this. If the Packers get out to an early lead, they win the game. That's, to me, the whole key about this. Like, we've talked about it a lot. Playing with a lead is a very different world. Whoever gets that two-score lead, I think, is going to eat. I hope, being in Lambeau, that plays into the Packers' possibilities here. I don't discount the Vikings' ability to come into Lambeau and take one, much like they did last year, and have several times

in their recent past right but I do think that's a world they haven't lived in yet and if the Packers can get them there I think they can win the game and I think that if the interior of the d-line does not destroy the Minnesota Vikings that the Vikings have a good chance here and I also think that if it is Jordan love that getting him to test that knee, trying to throw kind of kitchen sink at him early in the game and just say, are you ready? Are you comfortable with people flying at you here? Because that's what they're going to be able to do that.

That that's where you get an early turnover or something else like that. But how, how about this game? I'm driving down there. I'm going to look at the fall leaves changing. It's going to be like 75 degrees. something else like that um but how how about this game i'm driving down there i'm gonna look at the fall leaves changing it's gonna be like 75 degrees this is not lambo it's gonna be a pleasant drive but this is what i asked for yeah i just wish that you know we could uh have this game a little later in the season you know a little bring those dome merchants to a cold weather environment but it's still lambo it's still going to be hopping and environment, but it's still Lambeau.

It's still going to be hopping. And the fact that it's the gold package crowd, the Milwaukee crowd going to be in the house. I expect a lot of Vikings fans. I, I do as well as there always are. So it'll be a super fun game. And I really appreciate coming on cheese head TV because I know you folks

like to keep an eye on what you're doing over there matthew when you sent me the message with the person saying are you going to have nagler on you could have knocked me over with a feather the fact that you guys keep wanting to hear from me is amazing and i appreciate it and matthew i appreciate you for reaching out and for uh having this convo thanks so much man 100 you do a great job and uh i'm really really glad we could get together so best to you and we will talk again I guess in December then December it'll be looking forward to it thanks a lot man

it sounds good