Happy Thanksgiving from CHTV!

Packers welcome Dolphins for a holiday showdown

Don’t be bamboozled by their record. The Dolphins are a different team with Tua Tagovailoa at quarterback. He left the second game of the season with his third concussion of his career and six weeks later he was back. The Dolphins are 5-6 and in the last two games, Tagovailoa has completed 75 percent of his passes, averaging 302.5 passing yards with 3.5 touchdowns and no picks.

The Packers had six hurries against the 49ers and five the week before at Chicago. They cannot sit back and allow the fifth-year lefty to carve up the secondary. The Patriots generated seven pressures against the Dolphins and Tagovailoa was still able to throw on the move and make the off-platform completion.

Don’t think that the Dolphins are a bad team because they are under .500. They are surging right now and their backs are to the wall just to sneak into the playoffs in a very tough AFC. That’s the team you have to be leery of. It is backed into a corner and it knows it has no margin for error. It is set up perfectly for Green Bay’s defensive front seven to force throws, get Tagovailoa on the run and put Miami behind the sticks.

Do that and the Packers will enjoy eating their turkey after tonight’s game.

Maggie’s Pre-Game Six Pack - 2024 Week 13

The 8-3 Packers stay home at Lambeau Field this week to host a 5-6 Miami Dolphins team on Thanksgiving night. It’s a short turnaround for both teams who had dominant wins on Sunday, and the Dolphins are showing signs of life after looking dead in the water earlier this year. Interestingly, this is the first ever Thursday contest between the Packers and Dolphins. Here are six things to keep in mind going into the game, after you’ve enjoyed your third slice of pie.

Packers' Red Zone Offense Woes Cured by Jacobs Against 49ers

Over the course of an NFL season, there are several statistics that likely determine who wins and loses games on a week-to-week basis. The most obvious is who wins the turnover battle. The next might be which team has less penalties than the other.

However, the most important could be winning the Red Zone battle. Going into the Week 11 game at the Chicago Bears, the Green Bay Packers were almost at the bottom of the league in Red Zone efficiency. They ranked 29th in the league going into that game. They had scored touchdowns on 47% of their drives inside the 20. Negative plays usually have been the biggest factor in the Packers getting seven points or three or none.

After the last two games, the Packers are up to 20th in the rankings, scoring touchdowns on 54.55% of their drives. Against the Bears, the Packers were 3 of 5 inside the 20, however the two non-TD drives ended up with no points. It was as big a reason the game came down to the final play as any.

On Sunday in the 38-10 win over the 49ers, the Packers were at a season-best 5 of 5 inside the 20. The biggest reason was getting the ball two its biggest red-zone threats. Josh Jacobs had three 1-yard rushing touchdowns and Tucker Kraft had a nifty catch-and-run touchdown on a screen pass.

Did Matt LaFleur finally figure out the best way to score for the team is by getting the ball to Josh Jacobs? On short-yardage downs and goal-to-go situations, the best bet for 7 points is riding #8. Of his seven red-zone touchdowns, four are in the last two games. For this season to have success well into January, riding #8 could be the way.

Packer Transplants 290 with special guest Darrell Thompson

CHTV co-founders Corey Behnke and Aaron Nagler are joined by the Chair for the Pro Football Retired Players Association Board of Directors and former Packers running back Darrell Thompson to discuss the important work done for retired NFL players by the PFRPA. The guys also break down the beatdown of the 49ers and look ahead to a matchup with the Dolphins on Thanksgiving night.

What to make of Christian Watson's Development

It's reasonable to be concerned about focus drops on deep passes still causing pause with Watson, but one really bad play this season, regardless of its implications, shouldn't negate his evident development.

It's hard to say there's been a more desirable field stretcher specialist in the NFL this season, even though Watson has always lacked the targets. Bear in mind Watson has only been credited with three regular-season drops since week 12 of 2022. That's fewer than Doubs, Wicks, and Reed all have this season. Besides Reed, no one has really emerged as another strongest contender to land the other hefty extension in the receiver room, but Watson may find himself back in the driver's seat at the expense of Wicks.

Watson's "prime" years at his talent ceiling may perfectly align with a second contract and be an exciting experience for, ideally, the Packers. If Watson's snap share continues to stay over 60%, as it has in three of the last four weeks, his deeper installment back into the offense could be a catalyst to a Packers playoff run as his game appears to be hitting stride.

Best of all, with rigorous off-season recovery efforts after revelations about understanding and solving his hamstring issues, Watson hasn't experienced any setbacks in his health.

Confessions of a Polluted Mindset - Demolition Derby

The big question is, what happened to Quay Walker? In a really good way, though.

He's had some good games this season, but has also had some stinkers. Against the 49ers, it might have been the best version of Quay Walker we've seen since he entered the league. He was aggressive and decisive. Last week you heard LaFleur admit publicly in a presser that Quay should have continued his attack on Caleb Williams on a potential sack play instead of holding up. I've written before that the main issue I saw from him was holding up his attack, playing it safe trying to cover all possibilities and ending up stopping none. Against the 49ers game he was flying to the ball, which allowed him to avoid blocks from the offensive linemen instead of meeting them head on (that's important!). That resulted in him being in better position to make plays and because he was aggressive, made better tackles. He was also effective on the five times he blitzed, again, going full bore with no hesitation. Now, you certainly would have liked for him to nab that interception, but if overall this is the Quay Walker that shows up the rest of the season, the Packers defense will be in much better shape.

Get more brain-drain thoughts from Jersey Al in his weekly Confessions of a Polluted Mindset column.

Packers Playbook: Running the "Willis Playbook" with Love at QB

Dusty Evely from ACME Packing Company and Packers legend John Kuhn show how the Packers are leaning into some of the run game concepts that worked so well with Malik Willis under center earlier in the season.

5 Takeaways From 49ers 10 - 38 Packers: Jacobs Was Born to Be a Packer

Josh Jacobs is proving week after week why Green Bay brought him in this offseason. He tallied 26 carries for 106 yards and a hat-trick of touchdowns versus San Francisco, finally giving him a touchdown total (seven on the season) to match his rushing yardage production. Jacobs seems to be gathering steam each week.

Over the last five games, Jacobs’s yards per carry is now up to 5.1, and he forced 15 missed tackles on Sunday, more than any back in any game this season. He became the first running back in the last 55 regular season games to rush for over 100 yards against the Niners. Jacobs spoke after the game about why he chose to sign with the Packers, telling Tom Brady he felt he was “the missing piece”. It seems like he was born to run the ball in the winter in Green Bay.

Check out four other takeaways from the Packers win over the 49ers.

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The Packers are running the damn ball.

Can the Dolphins handle the Frozen Tundra?

Corey Behnke and Aaron Nagler discuss the Dolphins coming to a frigid Lambeau Field, led by a quarterback whose teams are 0-7 when the temperature is below 40 degrees.

Carry The G Cream Ale, the official beer of CHTV!

Cheesehead TV Nation Dolphins-Packers

Aaron chats with Andy Herman from the Pack-A-Day podcast about Thursday night's showdown with the Miami Dolphins…

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