Sunday Six: Belichick Coaches Patriots, Teaches Packers History

The Green Bay Packers will host the New England Patriots on Sunday. Here are six things you need to know before kickoff.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – When the Green Bay Packers host the New England Patriots on Sunday, few people will be happier to be at Lambeau Field than Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

Belichick is one of the great historians of the game. He’s also one of the great tacticians. Those facts met time and time again as he studied the Packers’ film. Before every snap on the film, there’s a shot of the game clock, score and down-and-distance situation. There, on Lambeau Field’s green façade, are the names of the legends.

“You see the film’s scan on the scoreboard and you see those names up there and the great players and coaches they’ve had there,” Belichick told reporters on Wednesday. “It really brings back a lot of memories and appreciation for what this franchise has done and really how great they’ve been.

“[Cecil] Isbell, [Clarke] Hinkle, [Don] Hutson, [Curly] Lambeau, [Vince] Lombardi. You just go right down the line. Isbell and Hutson, great combination there. Hutson started the draft. First real receiver-[quarterback] combination, Isbell and Hutson. Now we see those throughout the league, every quarterback-receiver combination. It all started 80-something years ago with them.”

On Friday, Belichick recalled games against the Packers played at Milwaukee County Stadium, where both teams shared the same sideline in center field. He mentioned the 2014 game at Lambeau Field, won by the Packers. He described the bus ride to the stadium and how the stadium “pops out in the middle of nowhere” of what’s otherwise a residential area.

Belichick found it important to discuss the Packers’ history to his players. The game will be played at Lambeau Field. Who’s Lambeau? He talked about the genesis of the NFL Draft being the controversy over which team Hutson would play for after collage, a decision made by a postmark.

“Some of our players, honestly, they don’t know who some of these people are,” Belichick said. “I mean, this is 80 years ago or more. Lambeau started in what, 1921? About 100 years for him.

“You see a lot of names, you see them on the stadium, see everybody talking about them. The stadium’s named after him. Who is he? Who’s Hutson? Bear Bryant, Lambeau, [Knute] Rockne, Notre Dame, I think there’s a lot of things that these players and coaches – I’ve talked to the coaches about it, too – ‘I’ve heard about it, where is this all kind of connected?’ It’s all kind of interesting.

“And certainly Lambeau, who took the Notre Dame box, which was shift in the backfield, power football, nobody ever split out, power play, after power play, after power play. That’s what it was. And then he got Hutson and then he got Isbell and then he got Hinkle and then he very quickly became ‘Air Lambeau.’”

Here are five more of the best things we heard this week.

Quay Walker’s Versatility

Through three games, first-round pick Quay Walker has played a lot of snaps at linebacker. He’s also played on the defensive line and in the slot. He even played one snap of cornerback last week. Along with his regular duties tackling running backs and dropping into coverage, defensive coordinator Joe Barry sent him on nine blitzes last week at Tampa Bay.

With an elite combination of size and athleticism, Walker has incredible ability. For Barry, the balance is not giving him too much too early in his career.

“He’s so gifted, he can do so many things but, at the same time, you have to be careful and you’ve got to pump the brakes,” Barry said. “He’s a great chess piece because we can move him around and do a lot of things, but you have to be careful drawing the line. And I talk to KO [inside linebackers coach Kirk Olivadotti] about that all the time, saying, ‘KO, you’ve got to tell me at times, say Dude, enough is enough, we can’t do that.’

“But Quay is the type of kid you could give him 1,000 things and he’d just be, ‘Yes sir, OK, Coach.’ So, I think we do have to be careful with that, obviously. It’s a fine line. But he’s a lot of fun to work with because he can do a lot of great things and incredibly talented kid, great kid, and he kind of has the mentality, and he feels, ‘Whatever you want me to do, Coach, I can do it. I can line up anywhere and I’ll get that done.’”

You’ve Got to Adjust

Offensively, Packers coach Matt LaFleur starts every game with a script, of sorts. The “first 15 to 25 ideas,” as quarterback Aaron Rodgers called them this week, is put together to attack the opponent in various situations. The idea is to get the offense off to a hot start, gain intel about the defense and set things up for later in the game.

Those early ideas worked against the Buccaneers, with the Packers opening with two touchdowns and marching down the field for a potential third touchdown before Aaron Jones’ fumble. After the Buccaneers adjusted from zone to man coverage, the Packers struggled to adapt. LaFleur’s adjustments might not have been good enough, but the execution was lacking, too.

While fans point to halftime adjustments, the fact is there are conversations after every series.

“The most important conversations are really those player-to-player conversations where you can have the little subtle adjustments between myself and the receivers, myself and the backs, myself and the line to be able to get us in and out of things a little bit quicker is important,” Rodgers said.

“It’s talking about the looks that we had, it’s talking about the pressures, and adjusting to those, because this scheme or this system hasn’t been a big adjustments-at-halftime-type thing. It’s trusting the scheme and the stuff that we have in the hopper to pull back out. But I think I’ve seen a lot of growth in those areas as less reliant on scheme at times and more creative with some adjustments, not just at halftime but in all the quarters. When we’re talking on the sidelines, making little subtle adjustments and then just trusting that that’s going to work.”

Return of Christian Watson

Christian Watson called it frustrating to be inactive last week for his Tampa homecoming. Coming off a hamstring injury, Watson was full participation on Thursday and Friday and figures to be back in the lineup.

“Just seeing how much I’ve grown up to this point of the season, not even having gotten to do the majority of training camp, if I can continue to grow at this rate, I’m excited to see where I’m at Week 8, Week 10, Week 14,” he said. “I think there’s leaps and strides to be made. And I know with that comes more and more opportunities, and I’m obviously excited to see where it goes.”

Brian Hoyer’s History

With Patriots quarterback Mac Jones out with an ankle injury, 36-year-old Brian Hoyer will get the start. It will be his first start since 2019. Hoyer has lost 11 consecutive starts dating to the 2016 season with Chicago.

“Brian Hoyer is a guy that I’ve got a lot of respect for,” LaFleur said. “My brother was on that staff in Cleveland when he was there as a starter, then they had him in San Francisco, as well. I remember watching a lot of the cut-ups – this was a long time ago – from the ‘14 season and you could make the case and take all his great plays that he made and you thought he was one of the top quarterbacks in the league. He’s been doing it for a really long time, and he’s going to know their system inside and out.”

Ironman Marcedes

At age 38, Marcedes Lewis isn’t just the oldest tight end in the NFL. He’s also got the longest streak of consecutive starts at the position. He extended the ironman streak last week vs. Tampa Bay, when he was questionable with a groin injury. He is off the injury report for Sunday.

“He’s a stud. I mean, he is a pro’s pro,” tight ends coach John Dunn said. “The fact he’s still doing it, doing it at the level he’s doing it at, how he attacks it daily, you wouldn’t know that he’s set any type of record or played as long as he has, because he’s hungry every day. And he loves football and he loves the process.

“He is a blessing to the room. Everyone looks up to him. He’s a great leader for us. He’s a calming voice and, seeing him out there every day, everyone’s got a smile on their face and they’re a little bit more confident playing with him. So, he’s a stud, right? He loves the game, he’s physical, he brings a certain mindset to it. And kudos to him, right? It says a lot about him, not only as a player but more about his integrity, who he is as a person and just his competitive mindset.”

How to Watch: Patriots at Packers

TV: This will be CBS’s game of the week and be shown to much of the nation. Jim Nantz and Tony Romo will be on the call and Tracy Wolfson will report from the sideline.

Live stream: fuboTV (Start your free trial).

Sunday Ticket: Channel 715.

Radio: Packers Radio Network (Wayne Larrivee and Larry McCarren; click here for affiliates), SiriusXM 82 or 227 and the SXM App, and Sports Radio USA (Larry Kahn and Mark Carrier).

Pregame Vitals

Time and date: 3:25 p.m. Sunday.

Location: Lambeau Field.

Records: Packers, 2-1; Patriots, 1-2.

History: The series is tied 6-6. That includes Green Bay’s victory in Super Bowl XXXI, a game in which Desmond Howard was voted MVP and Reggie White had three sacks. The Patriots won the last matchup in 2018.

The Packers won the last game at Lambeau Field, 26-21, in 2014. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix’s late breakup of a deep shot from Brady to Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Rodgers’ third-down completion to Randall Cobb clinched the victory. Rodgers threw for 368 yards and two touchdowns and a rookie by the name of Davante Adams had a breakout performance with six receptions for 121 yards.