Falcons run all over Packers for first win of season
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
33 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Sep 25, 2026
Published
Fri, September 25, 2026
8
Player insights
6
Players mentioned
Topics
Bijan RobinsonJordan LoveDalton KincaidDrake LondonMatthew GoldenMichael Penix Jr.
Player analysis
Player insights
Bijan Robinson
PositiveBreakout4:06
Bijan Robinson is described as an incredible, rare talent with unique flexibility, bend, and change-of-direction skills that surpass Le'Veon Bell and LaShawn McCoy. He possesses elite vision, patience, and pace, while also offering better straight-line speed and receiving ability than those comparisons. His gravity and playmaking ability are the primary drivers of the Falcons' offense, often making the offensive line look better than it is.
Insight pagePositiveUsage22:35
Derrik Klassen highlights that Bijan Robinson was able to break off big runs against the Packers, aided by missed tackles from the Green Bay secondary.
Insight pageDalton Kincaid
NegativeUsage32:56
The podcast mentions that a video analysis focusing on Dalton Kincaid and the Bills' offense is scheduled to be released on their YouTube channel.
Insight pageDrake London
PositiveUsage0:14
Drake London is a focal point of the Falcons' passing attack, frequently utilized on go balls and dig routes where he uses his size to dominate cornerbacks. His ability to win contested catches and create separation on speed-outs makes him a reliable target for Michael Penix, serving as a primary engine for the offense alongside Bijan Robinson.
Insight pageJordan Love
NegativeProjection23:38
Derrik Klassen observes that Jordan Love is struggling due to an untenable situation, specifically noting that the Packers' offensive line allowed 15 quick pressures against the Falcons, which makes it impossible for any quarterback to function effectively.
Insight pageNegativeProjection25:10
Jordan Love is struggling due to a severely compromised Packers offensive line that cannot protect him or establish a run game. With the team failing to generate rushing yards, defenses are teeing off on Love, leading to constant pressure and making it difficult for him to maintain a functional offense.
Insight pageMatthew Golden
NegativeUsage24:57
Matthew Golden displays high-end ball-tracking skills reminiscent of Stefon Diggs, allowing him to make difficult catches on back-shoulder throws and contested balls. However, he remains inconsistent, with several catchable balls hitting his hands and failing to be secured, reflecting the volatility expected from his prospect profile.
Insight pageMichael Penix Jr.
PositiveProjection0:20
Michael Penix had a solid debut, showing resilience after a tough first quarter. In the final three quarters, he completed 16 of 18 passes for 234 yards. He demonstrated quick decision-making, with a 2.12-second average time-to-throw, and effectively accessed the middle of the field. While he is still adjusting to the offense, his performance provides optimism for the Falcons' passing game moving forward.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00Welcome to The Athletic Football Show brought to you by the US Bank Smartly Visa Signature Card.
0:05I'm Robert Mays. Man, that was a doozy of a Thursday night game in a way that I don't think anybody could have expected.
0:11The Atlanta Falcons break out in a big way.
0:14Monster games from B. John Robinson and Drake London after that offense was DOA through the first two weeks of Cooper Rush
0:20and a fantastic debut from Michael Penix. If you're a Michael Penix believer, we dug into all the positives for the Falcons,
0:26but just as many negatives for the Packers. There is a chance this thing gets really good.
0:30Really ugly in Green Bay based on the state of the offensive line.
0:34Some other areas of that roster dug into all of that with Derrik Klassen on this recap.
0:39Let's get to it right now. I'd like to start this conversation by apologizing to the Atlanta Falcons.
0:44We were making jokes about the Falcons being in primetime a bunch over the next few weeks.
0:48How I can't believe we have three state straight Falcons games in primetime.
0:52I want to sincerely apologize because that team and especially the that offense with Michael Penix back that's worthy of primetime viewing.
0:58They did not deserve the derision that they received from us on this on this program over the last few days as
1:04we as we stared down those three primetime games.
1:06That's where I want to begin this conversation with a very real mea culpa.
1:10Yeah, not if they're going to be that every week.
1:13And I don't know if they will, but at least that team looked way more competitive than they had.
1:18I mean, obviously the Steelers game was close, but neither of those teams looked serious that week.
1:23I would say. And like, I think too, part of the thing with Michael Penix, he looked totally solid this week.
1:29I just think even over these next three primetime games, it was like, man, he hasn't really played football in a while.
1:35Like, is he going to like, even if you thought the offense might look better when he's back eventually, was it really
1:41going to look good his first week or two back?
1:43And like the first sign we got of it is like, even if he wasn't exceptional in any way, it's like the offense can be an offense now.
1:51And Drake London can dunk on people. John Robinson can be incredible.
1:54Like the offense works and that's enough when you have these skill players.
1:58You look at both of these sides in this game and it is such a stark reminder of how much it matters to have a real NFL quarterback.
2:06Even if you change out nothing else, having a guy that even if flawed, and we can talk about Penix, even if
2:12flawed is a real NFL quarterback, what it does for the functionality of your offense.
2:16But also just, you think the guys in that locker room know that they have a shot with Michael Penix that they didn't have with Cooper Rush?
2:23You think they know that? You think that bled into what the rest of the team felt like today?
2:28Absolutely. And on the Packers side of it, which we'll dig into, it's impossible to win games with non-NFL quarterbacks, which at
2:34this point, Cooper Rush is not, right? But it's also impossible to win games with non-NFL offensive lines.
2:39Those are the two things that we learned today on the Falcons and Packers sides of this.
2:44We'll get to the Packers in a second, though.
2:46I want to talk about the Falcons offense. Bijan is incredible.
2:50Dude. He's incredible. There are two things in watching that game that really stuck with me as I was watching him over the course of those four quarters.
2:57One, watching him is like a nerve-wracking experience for me because when he's doing some of the jump cuts and just the
3:03way that he's changing direction and everything else, I just expect his legs to explode on like every other touch that he has.
3:10It doesn't seem right. I do not have the experience of worrying that a guy is going to get hurt with no
3:16prior injury history or actual no rational reason to believe that more often than when I'm watching Bijan Robinson.
3:21Well, and you know what he reminds me of, too?
3:24We were actually talking about this with JSN. The way he runs is like he's speed skating sometimes.
3:28Like when he's like, especially on those outside zone runs and he turns the corner, he gets or it's like he's turning
3:34the corner as like an edge rusher. Like there's nobody else who runs the way that he does.
3:39And I think he's so fascinating to me because I think he has such rare like flexibility and bend in a way
3:45that like you just don't see from any other runner.
3:48But then the vision is like. And the patience, the timing, the pace, the rhythm, all of it is just it's like melodic.
3:55It's beautiful to watch. I love it so much.
3:57I think in my mind, Le'Veon Bell is the best I've ever seen at that.
4:01But Bijan Robinson has that and has more to him than I think even Le'Veon Bell did in some other ways.
4:07Like he's just again, he's a little bit more flexible.
4:10He definitely does. He's more exclusive. Totally. And like the change of direction.
4:13It's almost like if you combined. I'm trying to do like a it's the David Montgomery meme from that game at Iowa
4:19State, which is all the best of all time.
4:22But it's actually true with Bijan. The two guys that come to mind when it comes to some of the change of
4:28direction stuff isn't as violent as this player. But stick with me for a second.
4:32It's like if you combine some elements of LaShawn McCoy with some elements of Le'Veon Bell.
4:36But he also has more like straight line giddy up than either of those guys.
4:40And he also is a better receiver than those guys.
4:43What a special player. And tonight was just such an incredible example of that.
4:47The Falcons finished with a 64% rushing success rate in this game.
4:5064% running the ball for 242 yards. Based on what it felt like watching.
4:54You know, it feels low to the point where I was keeping track of it in my mind.
4:59And when I watched them throw a backwards pass to Brian Robinson that got blown up, I was like, there's one of them.
5:05That's the reason it won't be higher. That's really good.
5:08That's really good. The other prevailing thought that I had while watching Bijan.
5:12There is no greater compliment you can pay an NFL player in 2026 than them breathing life into Al Michaels.
5:17Yeah. He looked like he wanted to watch the game, which you don't get a lot of those anymore.
5:22I'm legitimately excited at some of the stuff that Bijan was doing.
5:26There is no greater compliment for a skilled position player or a player of any kind in 2026 than having Al show
5:32that sort of vivacity on a Thursday night at this stage of his career.
5:35And that's exactly what we were getting from him and Bijan today.
5:39They were getting up for all of it. Like, I think even on a couple of the Bijan runs, they were like,
5:45look at Charlie Werner throwing this block and stuff like that.
5:48I'm like, they don't give a shit about that.
5:50If Bijan's not ripping off like the most incredible run that you've ever seen.
5:54Who did? He did play a great game, by the way.
5:57Charlie Werner. He's he's an important piece for like popping all these zone runs for them.
6:02Like it's that they have like this is why.
6:04And again, they're not going to score 30 whatever points every single week.
6:08But this is why when we did like the offensive surrounding casts show, like I kind of liked what they had.
6:13I still again at the offensive line. I don't know if they'll be this good every week, but like that play calling staff.
6:20Some of the screens that they were calling were perfect.
6:22Like it just they've got enough here. If Penix is going to play well.
6:26It was one of those situations. And again, it's just and let's I'll be honest with you.
6:31I did not watch every down of the Cooper Rush Falcons over the first two weeks.
6:35I was not doing a lot of studying about the Cooper Rush Falcons.
6:39And so from a distance and we can be honest with people.
6:42You can only go back and rewatch so much in any given week.
6:46Like you're going to catch up with every team over the course of the year.
6:50But the first two weeks, I didn't feel compelled to really go back and deep dive into the Cooper Rush Falcons.
6:56When I was watching the Steelers defense, I was watching the Steelers defense.
6:59And so there was a moment where two weeks into the season, even with Cooper Rush, there was kind of a voice
7:05in the back of my head where I was like, man, is this going to be a disaster?
7:10Like that would just be surprising to me. Like I think with this level of skill position talent, with an offensive line
7:16that even if they're it's a flawed group, like Jake Matthews is really long in the teeth.
7:21I think that overall, the pass blocking just quality top to bottom is probably not.
7:25It's probably like average at best. Even with that, that clears the bar compared to what these guys were working with in Cleveland.
7:31And so, and I actually was really excited to see what Tommy Reese as a play caller, which I think we're, we haven't brought that up enough.
7:39Like he's calling plays like Tommy Reese has his finger on the button with this offense in a way that he never has when they were in Cleveland.
7:46Because when he's been the play caller in Cleveland, Kevin has given it to him at points during the season for reasons that you can understand.
7:53It's like, this is a lost year. I'm invested in this guy long-term.
7:57Let's give him some opportunities. All of these things in combination, I wanted to see it.
8:01And I did think that it could be at least interesting.
8:04And so to look what they did, it looked like the way they did over the first two weeks.
8:10I was like, man, is this going to be like an unwatchable football team for the entire year?
8:15I am so glad that that is not the case.
8:17Like, I'm so glad we actually get to enjoy these players and the Falcons can be at the very least a compelling
8:23offense for us to watch weekend and weekend. Because I thought they would be at the very least coming into the year, even if the defense is flawed.
8:31Exactly. And like I, again, I really do think that they've got something here.
8:35There's such an interesting case too, because again, the offensive line is not spectacular.
8:39And I think B. John Robinson, like by virtue of how he plays and reads, it just makes them a lot better than they are.
8:46Absolutely. It's a great thing to bring up. It's their offense is so cool because it's it's really just two star players
8:52having insane gravity and making everything else better. And like that's a little bit of a fragile build.
8:57I don't know if I love that, but the fact that it can work like this when it works like this, it's literally just B.
9:03John Robinson popping 20 yards runs. And then the next play, they're throwing like go balls to Drake London and he's just
9:09dunking on the corner and throwing it to the ground.
9:12Like it's it's unbelievably cool offense to watch when it works.
9:15It's probably discounting Sam Laporta at this even early in his career.
9:18But I don't think it's all that dissimilar to without the Lions offense when they were really good early, early in that
9:24tenure with Ben Johnson, where it was the running game.
9:27It was Amon Ra and then they were kind of piecing a lot of the other spots together.
9:32And I was because I was going to say, can you remember an offense that's like that where it's just a real
9:38difference making running back plus one of these receivers and you can cobble together a very good, very interesting offense out of it.
9:45I don't think there are a lot of examples, but I think the early Lions are kind of adjacent to that at the very least.
9:51I'm struggling to think of ones like I'm sure there have been stretches with the Niners where it's like just CMC and Kittle.
9:58But like that feels like cheating because Shanahan is but even that's not because they have other guys like that's what I'm saying.
10:04It was either a uke for a stretch or it was Debo for a stretch.
10:08And so I can't I'm sure there are examples.
10:11It's 1035 p.m. on a Thursday night. I'm sure people throw them in the comments.
10:15If you if there's anything that does remind you of this, let us know, because I do when I watch this, it does feel a little bit different.
10:22Let's talk about Pettix for a second. Like, again, this is a the waves crashing over you sort of game like just
10:28the Packers were drowning and we'll talk about that in a minute.
10:32But I really did like some of the stuff I saw from him.
10:35And it was fun to see him access the middle of the field a little bit more often on some of those in breakers.
10:42Like I he is I said this during the game and I truly firmly believe it.
10:46And somebody else said Cam Ward, which is another good candidate for this.
10:50Michael Penix is number one on my list of it would be cool if he was good quarterbacks.
10:55The guy has a shit out of the ball.
10:57He has a can like I would love if Michael Penix was good at football because I do think that his play
11:03style and what in his just bundle of traits would be really fun to watch if it all did come together.
11:09And so I'm not saying that after one game, I am so happy one week into the Michael Penix experience with Tommy
11:15Reese and Kevin Stefanski in this offense. My first reaction is I can't wait to watch it again.
11:20I want to see more believing that game with this thought.
11:23To me feels like an absolute win for the first glimpse that we got a Penix this season.
11:28I came away more excited to watch the offense down the stretch than I thought I might be, because again, I don't think this game was spectacular.
11:35But the fact that this was his first game in primetime, he's coming off of the injuries.
11:40He has not played a game in this offense specifically.
11:43The fact that he came out and I thought played like a pretty solid game, especially after the first quarter, like the first quarter was tough.
11:50But again, like you, he hasn't played football in a while.
11:53And in this offense, he hasn't played football. I'm throwing.
11:56Here's the stat. I was because I was the first quarter.
11:59Because remember, he was like one of five to start the game.
12:02In the final three quarters of this game, Michael Penix was 16 of 18 for 234 yards.
12:07He was pretty good. And like, honestly, it's pretty damn good.
12:10By the way, 11% pressure rate. That's what I was going to say.
12:1311%. And that's I will say, too, that actually there's a little bit of the Bo Nix thing here where like, yes,
12:19the pass protection was really good and the pressure rate is low.
12:23That's partly because he gets the ball out. Some of that is by design.
12:26That's just some of the stuff that they do.
12:29Some of that is the screen time to throw in those final three quarters.
12:332.12 per next gen. That's crazy. The ball comes out.
12:35And even some of and obviously he did make a couple of the middle field throws.
12:40He hit London on a dig at one point.
12:42But even some of the vertical throws he's making, he's not holding the ball that long.
12:47Like the one that he throws where London is just scot free, where he runs that little speed out for a second, then shoots up the field.
12:54And he's just wide open because he says jumping on the out route balls out immediately.
12:58And even on the one where London dunks on the guy down the right side, it's not like he's holding the ball for that long.
13:05But he's still it's one of those things where I think at sometimes I'm like, I just chucking it up to the guy.
13:12But it's like, hey, you have Drake London. Just do that.
13:15That's what you should do. You should be doing that.
13:17And I will say what he deserves credit for to be seeing it that quickly and be making decisions that quickly.
13:23This is game one of this offense. And he didn't have 11 on 11 reps all throughout training camp.
13:28Like that. The first quarter was ugly. The final three quarters.
13:31That's about as good as you can want this to look if you're a Falcons fan, given what Michael Penix is offseason looks like.
13:38I'm excited to see more of it. And I think, too, more than even just like how some of the results came
13:44down at the end, I'm glad he just didn't buckle after the first quarter.
13:48Like, it's your first game. You're probably hyped up.
13:50You've had so many injuries to this point. You're thinking you're this.
13:54This is now another good shot to prove that I can do something.
13:57You throw the pick over the middle. That is like there's nothing else holding that safety.
14:02He's going to drive on that every time. It's a really tough play to have made.
14:06And then they were just like he was getting heated up more in the first quarter over the over the last three quarters.
14:12I think Green Bay wasn't able to get home as much.
14:15But like there was a weak overload pressure that they sent that got to him.
14:19There was another play where Van Ness just like smoked Jake Matthews around the edge.
14:23And like I was like, OK, there enough things have happened that this could snowball away from you if you weren't up for the task.
14:30But he kind of settled in after that. And I thought he played fairly well.
14:34I did joke about this during the game. It was inevitable that my high school would eventually produce the greatest football player of all time.
14:41Lucas Van Ness is becoming that. He's on track.
14:44I didn't quite get there. I fell like one or two steps short.
14:47But I think Lucas Van Ness is he could finally make the prophecy come true if he keeps playing at this level
14:53because he is like the one lone bright spot for the Packers in this game.
14:57And him and Matthew Golden. It's like, man, Matthew Golden, Lucas Van Ness.
15:01Good thing we got something out of those two first round picks.
15:04Let's not talk about anything else. And you know what's funny?
15:07Even Golden, I thought, was incredibly frustrating in this game.
15:10Like he had some great plays, especially towards the end.
15:13But like Jordan Love kind of under through a corner route and he didn't want to go and get it.
15:18And then there was one play. I think it was a third down where Golden is streaking down the field and Love
15:24throws it as if he was going to run the corner.
15:27And so I don't know whose fault that is.
15:30But I was like, that seems like weird ball location.
15:33There was just like a number of weird mishaps with all of the Packers receivers today.
15:37It was kind of a game you would expect from Matthew Golden based on what Matthew Golden was as a prospect where
15:43there's some easy plays that just don't get made.
15:45And then his two big catches in this game.
15:48The first one, the ball tracking on that first play is insane.
15:51Yes. To go back over the other shoulder and catch that ball.
15:55And it's why as a prospect, he reminded me a little bit of Stefan Diggs because I that ball tracking is like that's what Diggs really did well.
16:02And even at Texas, Golden was a fantastic ball tracker with the ball in the air.
16:07And then he makes a ridiculous play on the touchdown.
16:09That ball is on his back hip coming 100 miles an hour.
16:13And he makes that catch. And then there are a couple other ones that hit him in the hands.
16:18One was a contested catch on the right sideline, but it very much was what I might expect from the Matthew Golden experience after watching him at Texas.
16:26And I liked him as a prospect. I'm glad you said Diggs, though, because I think my thought from this game actually
16:32was because you had some of the ups and downs with him.
16:35You remember early on when Diggs was like when he was in Minnesota, it was not as pass heavy of offenses.
16:41It was kind of weird. He was splitting reps with Adam Thielen.
16:44And it was kind of like he needed to go to an offense that was going to be super pass heavy and
16:50just let the volatility be what it was going to be.
16:53And he was going to have some insane plays.
16:55It almost feels like Matthew Golden would be like better in an offense that was trying to do that rather than what the Packers are.
17:02Obviously, in this game, they threw the ball a shit ton.
17:05But like, oh, buddy, that's not what they want to be the year.
17:09This might be the year where you're getting that from the Packers.
17:12Well, and that's why we got some of the good plays from him.
17:16And you got like that is probably what it would look like in a more like pass heavy offense.
17:21I don't know if the Packers necessarily want to be living in that world.
17:25But I mean, like you said this year and we can start to talk about it.
17:29They might have to with the way that this thing is constructed.
17:32So what is that world? What do you think this is?
17:35I really don't know how you can run a functional offense doing what they're doing.
17:40Like, I guess they're going to have to lean into just more like screens and yak stuff.
17:44And if they really want to, like. It's funny, I think for a while now people have they look at the Jordan Love.
17:51EPA numbers and the high success rates. And they're like, why would you not let him throw more?
17:56And it's like, well, part of the reason they never wanted to do that is they are protecting themselves, not necessarily from
18:02him and some of his proclivities to be a little bit aggressive, but from the offensive line having to be stuck in so many pure past scenarios.
18:09And I think you see in a game like this where they cannot run the ball at all.
18:14I mean, they had what, like 20 rushing yards in this game.
18:17If that you are never going to if that's what you're going to do, defenses are never going to be scared that you're going to run.
18:24They're going to tee off all the time and it's going to be on these backup guards.
18:29It's going to be on a left tackle who has not played left tackle in the NFL before.
18:34It's going to be on a right tackle who's also a backup.
18:37And you're just going to end up in a situation where Jordan Love is top of a three step drop and he's
18:43already got somebody in his face all the time.
18:46Yeah, it's going to be really hard to have a functional offense with this version of the offensive line.
18:51I just don't know how you do it. And Barnwall made a really good comparison on the midweek show that really got
18:57my gears turning about this Packers season. And I, it's going to take, did you watch Widow's Bay?
19:02You know, you don't engage with modern media. I have not yet, but we're tracking on it.
19:07We're going to get there. Ask me again in a couple months.
19:10I don't want to give it away, but there's like a very classic just slasher movie trope where the killer just refuses to die.
19:16And one of the characters just goes so far beyond what you might reasonably expect to make sure that this thing is dead.
19:23That's how I feel about the Green Bay Packers.
19:25And so when Barnwall this week was like, ah, it's done.
19:28There's no way. This is real. The offense is broken.
19:31I think my response is always, one, let's wait a tick.
19:34Two, I want to see one more week with them not playing in a rainstorm to see how much we should actually panic about this.
19:41And the answer is we should panic about this.
19:43We absolutely should panic about this. You, and I think there's two things happening here.
19:47You did a very good job this summer of pointing out the potential fragility of the offensive line and what that could mean for the Packers.
19:55I still gave them benefit of the doubt because over time, I think they've earned it.
19:59The ecosystem, Stenevich, all of the ways that they've gotten by without a lead offensive lineman and still produced lead offense.
20:05But I think even I would be willing to acknowledge that it was a narrow path to pulling that off.
20:10That was when they were healthy. Right. Now they're all banged up.
20:13Yes. But this was kind of my concern. This is so far past it.
20:17But Bako Bobele and Banks were hurt in training camp.
20:20So it's not as if those guys had clean bills of health.
20:23I don't know if you could have seen this sort of outcome.
20:27But I think the downside case of this being a group that you really had to cobble together that wasn't even starting
20:33from a place of strength, I don't think was that far.
20:36It wasn't a remote possibility. That's what I would say.
20:38Yeah. This game, I think even like the Flores game was obviously bad.
20:42But like, I think Flores is just on such an insane thing that he's doing right now that I was willing to kind of push that away.
20:49Like you said, the Jets game, rainstorm, their pass rush looks a lot better right now.
20:54It was the first game for some of these guys.
20:57Like whatever. This game mid game. Yes. That's the other thing about the Jets game.
21:01You got guys going out in and out mid game.
21:03That was also part of my rationale this week.
21:06I was like, yeah, they got it's a short week.
21:09So you don't have a full week of practice.
21:11But at least you know who the five guys are going to be.
21:15Exactly. And so the fact that they got picked apart as bad as they did, that I think is really concerning to me.
21:21And you would you would think for most of these guys, these are going to be the ones that they're going to be trying to play moving forward.
21:29Like Bacabale is out for the season. And so like this is kind of where they're going to be stuck at.
21:34And so I'm just really concerned because like my thing with them was I think if they went into the season with
21:40the five guys, they wanted healthy, like relatively healthy.
21:43I'm like, OK, I still think that this is a unit that has degraded over time.
21:47But you can probably get away with this. But the fact that Banks Bacabale were already hurt going into the offseason and
21:53now Bacabale is out for the season and the guards situation has gotten even worse because of some of the injuries that they've had to deal with there.
22:01Now it's to the point where it's like you're just chipping away at this like five tears from what it was, you know, two or three years ago.
22:09And it's just really hard to see how it's going to get better.
22:12And then the other thing I would say, I had kind of the same concern about the cornerback room, about in terms
22:18of like just giving up some explosive plays. Today is exactly what I was scared of.
22:23It is that Drake London can dunk on you and you have a young corner who's going to bite on stuff and
22:29is going to give a big plays to him as well.
22:32And I think that those guys looking as tough as they did.
22:35Brandon Cease also missed a tackle on one of the big Bichon runs like it's this.
22:39The two units that give up the bad plays, offensive line and cornerback room, are as bad or worse than I thought
22:45they would be for the Packers going into the season.
22:48All right, before we move on, let's take a quick break.
22:51So I was looking at the numbers just because I was curious.
22:54And I think it's a good thing to point out.
22:57And like you said, those were the floor creating units.
23:00And so those being the floor creating units, that is how you find a really low floor as a team.
23:05And I think we are about to get to a place where we find out how low the floor is for the Packers.
23:12So I wanted to, I was curious about this.
23:14I was looking it up as you were talking because I was looking at the box score.
23:19And I was kind of shocked at one of the numbers that I saw.
23:23I want to try to put it in perspective.
23:25So there have been what? So there are 32 teams that played 16 games last year.
23:30So do the math on that. Plus two weeks of the NFL season.
23:33In terms of quick pressures allowed, Jordan Love in weeks one and three of this year is first and third.
23:39And quick pressures allowed in a game over the last two seasons.
23:42Oh, there were 15 of them today. Against Flores.
23:44Okay. Right. That can happen. Week one, he's blitzing at an 80% rate when he even he's never done that.
23:50Like whatever that one is, whatever. 15 quick pressures given up in this game by the Green Bay Packers offensive line.
23:56You can't, you can't function as an offense. No.
23:58If that's what's happening. And I think the Falcons pass rush is better than we probably thought going into the year.
24:04Doorless is showing some cool flashes. Dexter has been productive.
24:07I, that unit is better than what it would have looked like on paper going into the season.
24:12This is, what are you going to do with this?
24:14What am I supposed to do with this? It's both things are true.
24:18I think that some of those, those pass rush guys for the Falcons look good.
24:22Like, you know, Dexter had a handful of really impressive reps even last week against a much better Panthers offensive line, I think.
24:28And so those guys are looking better than we would have thought.
24:32But like before two months ago, nobody was thinking as these players, like Dexter was just like moved away.
24:37Like nobody cared. Doorless was, I think, a kind of forgotten piece on this defense for a lot of people.
24:42The fact that they are the ones that are giving up or attacking you in such a way that is giving up some of the most quick pressures.
24:50Like, you're just not going to function that way.
24:52And like, I know I'm going to sit here and sound like I'm being Jordan Love's lawyer.
24:57And I don't think he played very well in this game.
25:00Like there were a handful of opportunities, especially as the game went on.
25:04He's crumbling. But like, who wouldn't? That shit snowballs, man.
25:06Who wouldn't? That stuff snowballs. If we're going to give up 15 quick pressures to the Atlanta Falcons, who isn't crumbling in that scenario?
25:13That's the only defense I have. It's not that he played well.
25:16It's just that like everyone is going to falter like that.
25:19It's an untenable situation for any quarterback. I I'm exhausted of quarterback discourse this week.
25:23I'm not going to do this with Jordan Love.
25:26Basically, I'm just not going to do it. Like, let's wait a little while.
25:30And and that's not that we shouldn't even do it.
25:32Let it obey. But I'm also just not going to do it, even if there would have been a decent reason for it.
25:39I think the conversation about the Packers and I got off track before, but I was talking Barnwell said on the midweek
25:45show this week, is this potentially the Packers 2022 ramp season?
25:48And here's why I think that is going to be an important distinction.
25:51If the answer is yes, then part of making that calculation is we think this is a blip in otherwise really strong
25:57track record or an offensive coach and what he has been able to do year after year after year when the Packers
26:03have essentially been a top 10 offense every single year.
26:06The same was true with the Rams. They had that one awful, awful season after the Super Bowl.
26:11Stafford missed half the year. But like you said, we just talked about it before we started recording.
26:16He was three and six before he even started, before he missed time.
26:20The offensive line, the bottom fell out. If the answer is yes, then you say, okay, whatever happens, the season happens.
26:25It hurts and stings even more because we don't have a first round pick, but it's something that we can live with.
26:31If the answer is no, and you think that this is not a blip and you think this is the continuation and
26:37just kind of natural endpoint for something that has been happening, then we're having a different conversation.
26:42And my instinct is to say it's more the former than the latter, but depending on how bad and ugly this thing
26:48gets, I mean, you listen to the crowd tonight.
26:51I mean, they are, it is going to get ugly there if this continues.
26:54I don't know how you handle that as an organization.
26:57I think to me, the distinction, not even just about like how the individual seasons went with, you know, the 22 Rams or whatever.
27:04Sean McVay by that point had taken the Rams to two Super Bowls and won one of them.
27:09They just won it. They had just won it the year before.
27:12You've got a little bit of equity to have a five win season.
27:16The Packers have been largely successful and like consistent with Matt LaFleur.
27:19Like they have not had losing seasons. They've gone to the playoffs.
27:22I think almost every single season obviously had the MVP stretch with Aaron Rodgers.
27:26Like they've been very good. They've not been two and one Super Bowls and reached those highs where you're willing to be
27:32like, ah, we can eat a year and hope the next year is going to be better.
27:37And I think that to me is where the calculus really changes with this.
27:41Because honestly, I probably agree that I would lean more towards that.
27:44This is a blip in Matt LaFleur's tenure and that he can and will be better than this.
27:49It's just that there is something about having seen what the highs were for Sean McVay, that it was easier to be like, ah, it's a blip.
27:56It'll be fine. And with Matt LaFleur, even if I think he can and will be good, it's like, well, what am I rebuying into?
28:03Going to the divisional round again? Like, I just don't know if that's as appealing.
28:07I agree with that. And I also think when you look at the roster, the roster is the part of it that
28:13to me does feel like we've been moving in a negative direction for a little while.
28:18The state of the offensive line coming into the season, again, was already feeling pretty fragile.
28:22We talked about it so much this offseason where there were so many guys, and for some of them, it's worked, right?
28:28Like, Golden looks good. Lucas Van Ness looks good.
28:30For some of it, it worked. But how many this-has-to-happen things were the case for the Packers this offseason where we just never talked about them like that?
28:38They had so many contingencies built into the roster.
28:41They had depth. They had luxuries. They just didn't have any of that.
28:44And they don't have any of that. And you're seeing what those results look like.
28:48I don't know where I land with it. I'm always a little bit more cautious with stuff like this.
28:54I'm prone to giving guys the benefit of the doubt.
28:56Whether Matt LaFleur deserves it, I think this is probably the first time where I'm really willing to hear arguments that he doesn't.
29:03But I think three weeks into the year, it's probably too early to make any sort of determination like that.
29:08But it's going to get uglier before it gets better, if the offensive line doesn't get better.
29:13The one complicating factor in this that I think it's at least interesting to think about, and I don't know how their
29:19inner workings totally work and who's going to make these decisions and who would be at the forefront of this or at the center of this.
29:26A lot of times, coaches get fired because owners get embarrassed.
29:29There is no owner. There is no person who really has to wear this if it gets really ugly for the Packers.
29:35And whether that plays into the decision, I don't know.
29:38But I do think it's a factor that's probably at least worth considering when you compare this to the dynamics at play
29:44for a lot of other NFL teams. And I think they did just extend him, which is like also another weird...
29:49They just did. Next year is the first year of his extension.
29:53It's just a weird situation they found themselves in where this is the one year that it's like falling out for Matt LaFleur.
29:59For that reason, and because again, it's a unique circumstance with the way the organization works, I would call them for the most part pretty conservative.
30:06I mean, think about we've had two coaches of that team since I was like in high school.
30:11Again, it just doesn't... And they've had a lot of success and that's the reason for it.
30:16But I just don't expect them to make an irrational kind of flippant decision about this.
30:20But if it keeps going at this rate, maybe it becomes a little bit less irrational.
30:25Maybe it becomes a little bit less frivolous. Yeah, it depends.
30:28It's like 7 and 10, probably going to move on or probably just like be fine with it.
30:33Let him go next year. If it's like a 4 and 13 situation, that I think is where it starts to get harder to live with.
30:40And I don't know if it'll be that bad, but like the offensive line is going to be that every week, maybe.
30:46And then you're handing that pick away. Oh my God, that's the other part.
30:50And I believe it's to the Jets. If they're bad, it's to the Jets.
30:53Yes. I think if they're good, it goes to the Cowboys.
30:56The Jets get, I think, whatever is the better pick between the Cowboys and the Packers.
31:01Yes. Yeah. However that works. Yeah. And so, man, that's the toughest part of seasons like this when it all just kind
31:07of falls apart is that not having that pick at the end of it.
31:11The Rams didn't have that. Did the Rams have their first round pick in 2022?
31:15Oh shit. Probably not. What if they ever had one?
31:18That might've been the year where they might've had it.
31:20I mean, I want to figure that out really quick.
31:23Cause that'd be one more point of this comparison.
31:25It's hard to keep track of when they had them.
31:28And when they have drafted Jared verse in 2023, 23, 24, 24.
31:32Yeah. Wait, maybe that actually kind of makes sense.
31:34So this was, I was wondering because when the golf trade happened, I wasn't sure if the 2023 first round pick was part of it.
31:41Okay. In 2023. Yes. The 2023 first round picks are the right.
31:44Yeah. The Rams gave that to the lions and then the lions traded that to the Cardinals.
31:49That was the Paris Johnson pick. And then the lions traded down and drafted Jameer Gibbs.
31:53So yeah, if you want to take it one step further, the 2023, 23, 23 Rams also did not have their first
31:59round pick as part of this process. But like you said, it stings a little bit less when you have the super bowl.
32:06When you got the trophy, it stings a little bit less.
32:09There's nothing to ease the pain of what this could potentially turn into.
32:12If you were the Packers, it's been a while.
32:15It is a tough place to be a tough, tough place to be.
32:18Now they know how the other half lives if this thing goes south.
32:22All right. That is all we've got for today.
32:24If you're listening to this on Friday, our week three preview should be available in your feeds and on YouTube.
32:30Really fun show. Dug into a bunch of the matchups from week three.
32:33Really enjoyed all those conversations. If you were watching this on YouTube, please encourage you guys to like and subscribe to the channel.
32:40Ton of YouTube specific stuff that we're putting on this year.
32:43Dave is now has a YouTube franchise that we're doing called This Rocked.
32:46He broke down Hezekiah Massas this week. Derek is diving deep on Brian Flores on how it happened.
32:51And then I have a video on Dalton Kincaid and the Bills offense coming a little bit later.
32:56So if you are not subscribed to the YouTube channel, that is the only place that you can get all of the
33:02video first stuff that we were doing. Encourage you to do that for now.
33:06That is all we've got. Appreciate you guys listening.
33:08We'll talk to you very soon.
