Travis from Leland, NC

We've seen this movie before and I don't like it!

Nobody does.

John from Madison, WI

And cue the fans losing their minds...

The words of an old friend came in handy yesterday. "All we can do is watch."

Kevin from Littleton, MA

I'm sure you'll get plenty of questions about "taking points off the board" but this team needs to figure out how to close out games.

I'd call you Capt. Obvious but I doubt this crowd is in the mood for much humor today.

Dan from Gastonia, NC

To paraphrase Denny Green, "We are who they thought we were." Until we can change that narrative, opposing teams will remain confident over 60 minutes. Good news is there are probably only three defenses on our schedule that can do that. We have time to improve before we see them. Back to work.

As I wrote in my Rapid Reaction piece, this is up to the Packers. The narrative is obvious. Are they going to change it? I'm not going all doom and gloom after Week 1. I share the fan base's frustrations, but there's no reason to succumb to resignation.

John from Los Angeles, CA

I left for a work meeting while we were up 22-10. Imagine my surprise at seeing the final score. We heard a lot about how "finishing games" was an area of emphasis. Did you see anything in the tape to suggest we're getting closer to fixing our late game collapses? How much of a grace period until we should expect to see this "area of emphasis" reflected on the field?

As regular readers will recall, I said all offseason when asked about finishing games that it doesn't matter what anybody says and there's no way to "emphasize" it in practice in any meaningful way. That's all useless blather. The team has to do it when it counts in games. That's it, that's all. They failed in their first attempt this season. There will be more opportunities.

Dave from Lake Zurich, IL

The TV announcers thought two of the three defensive penalties against the Packers after the failed fourth-and-1 weren't warranted. They were the roughing the passer by Chris McClellan and the hold by Xavier McKinney near the goal line. I don't think the studio rules analyst commented on either. I would've liked to have heard his take.

I don't think anything an announcer or rules analyst says would make anybody feel any better. I didn't have access to TV audio and honestly haven't had a chance to get a good look at any replays. These types of postgames are just too chaotic. What I struggle with the most is not a single illegal contact, defensive holding or RTP was called all game until that one drive in the fourth quarter. That makes it hard to process a sequence like that.

Jame from the Philippines

I didn't break the no math rule, but I did ask A.I. the statistical probability of the three consecutive third-down flags and the interception in the end zone occurring. A.I. replied a .01 probability of this occurring. So the Pack will be alright because anyone of those three stops we would have a different conclusion.

That feels like a dangerous assumption. If the Packers get one of those third-down stops, they're still protecting a five-point lead with half a quarter or more to go. I'd like to think the game ends differently, but there's no way to know.

Matt from Blaine, MN

I already know what's about to happen: Fans will write in with complaints about the officiating, and Mike will acknowledge that the officiating was poor but also point out all the opportunities we had to win, chastising fans for focusing too much on the officials. Here's the problem: While it's absolutely true the Packers theoretically could have still won, the other guys get paid too and margins in the NFL are slim. Realistically, nobody can win in the NFL when the refs tilt the field that much.

I hear you. That was egregious. Not going to argue that point. If that's the final drive of the game, I'm with you 100%. But after all the flags and frustrations, the situation was the Packers had the ball, down three, with 6½ minutes left, and the offense got steamrolled. No matter what happens leading up to that point, you must have the mettle and moxie to find a way, and the Packers didn't give themselves a chance. A few questionable calls on the defense should not have led to an offensive collapse.

Greg from Perkasie, PA

It's pretty frustrating to know exactly how a game is going to turn out as soon as momentum starts to shift to the other team.

The Packers had plenty of opps to shift the momentum back. They didn't. I felt like I talked about that on "Unscripted" ad nauseum the past month. (Stuff) is gonna go wrong. It just will. Can you stop it from continuing to go wrong? Especially on the road, that takes a level of resiliency that's difficult to summon, and the Packers haven't found it for a while now.

Patrick from Paducah, KY

Per the obvious stated in the Game Recap, the game flipped on its head when taking points off the board to go for a fourth-and-long 1. Knowing we had some questions with the O-line entering the game, they had played well but not dominant up to that point. The defense looked solid but what about a divisional game on the road to start the season with an 8-point lead says to scrap the three and go for it in that situation when all they could do is tie on an ensuing drive? Make it make sense...

Agree or disagree, I thought LaFleur explained his rationale pretty well after the game. If the field goal would've made it a two-possession game, he's taking the points. He didn't say this specifically, but I think implicit in his reasoning is he didn't believe 25 points would be enough to win the game, so already in the red zone he was pushing for more. The aggression backfired. Happens. It'll pay off at some point, too. I understand all the arguments for and against, and I'm conservative in those situations by nature, but I totally get why he made the call he did.

Dave from Comer, GA

That was just plain ugly. And not in a pretty way.

No phase escapes blame here. There's plenty to talk about with the offense and defense, of course. But the special teams gave up a kickoff return of 60-plus right after the Packers had taken a 12-point lead. The Vikings only had to go 28 yards to make it 22-17. And Trey Smack's missed PAT loomed large when you apply it to LaFleur's reasoning mentioned above. If the Packers have another point on the board, the field goal early in the fourth quarter does make it a two-possession game, up by nine instead of eight. It all ties together. Always does.

Peter from Eagan, MN

Other than the Packers can't run block, pass block, or finish games, please tell me how this team wasn't ready for the pressure brought by the Vikings. Everybody knew Brian Flores would bring pressure.

Yup, and the Packers burned a number of pressure calls early for big plays. But the Vikings got the upper hand late, which counts for a lot more in this league.

Tom from Dell Rapids, SD

Of course there's plenty to lament, but I think the one thing that concerns me the most is can our offensive line regroup and get to where it needs to be? When we took the points off the board, I was most concerned because I hadn't seen much to give me much confidence that we could get that one yard. Not going to overreact – still think we can be very good but the line needs to pull together and ramp it up.

Couldn't agree more. The unit is crucial to success, and it has to play better. So learn from it. All of it. Don't get hung up on last year, which the fans and media will. They're going to have to hear it and answer all those questions. But block that out. Look at what happened in this game and be better for it. I've said all along the Packers' offensive line is not a finished product. That shouldn't be a news flash. It continues to have too many moving parts. The group needs stability.

Neil from Altamonte Springs, FL

After the opener in Minnesota, what needs to change most for the offense to finish drives in the red zone – play-calling, personnel packages, or just execution up front? The big plays to Watson were there, but settling for field goals won't win the division.

It's always execution. LaFleur pointed out on the third-quarter goal-to-go, they botched a protection which gave Jordan Love no throwing lane for what should've been an easy slant to Christian Watson for the score. In the first half, the Packers also started a drive at the plus-40 and kicked a field goal (didn't even get into the red zone) and another at the plus-36 and went backwards with two penalties, no points. All that and they still were up 22-10 with about 20 minutes left. That lead absolutely should've been bigger, but I'm the last person to preach avoiding crunch time, because that always defines a team over everything else.

Judy from Brodhead, WI

SO, SO happy Tucker Kraft's contract was settled before the first game. Congrats to him! I don't believe it was a distraction for him, but it's great that he truly knows how valued he is to his team and fans. I'm sure it makes this comeback season even more special, for him and all of us, knowing he'll be a Packer for the foreseeable future. GPG!

I had zero doubts the deal would get done. It was imperative for both sides.

Jim from Eau Claire, WI

I have a question regarding Tucker Kraft's four-year contract extension. Is the four years added on to the last year of his existing contract meaning we have him under contract for five years?

Yes. Kraft is now under contract through the 2030 season.

Doug from Roberts, WI

With Tucker Kraft's contract having significant performance bonuses, please explain how those expenses affect the cap in coming years. Are these incentives considered likely to be earned (LTBE) or not likely to be earned (NLTBE)? Who determines this or was it collectively bargained with the NFLPA? Specifically, if Tucker has an incentive for making All-Pro, does this expense hit the cap the following year? Thanks for your knowledge!

Any incentive in the new contract Kraft has reached before would be considered LTBE and would count on this year's cap, with a cap credit next year if not paid out. Any incentives he has not previously reached would be NLTBE and if paid out would count on next year's cap.

Frank from Green Bay, WI

Just a comment about Packy Packer. I sat through the '70s, Packy was an awful mascot befitting a not good era in Packer football. Please keep him there.

All the more reason to associate him with a different era if you ask me.

Ryan from Sun Prairie, WI

On the team buses from the hotel to the stadium are the drivers Packer employees?

No, they're bus company employees. But they often wear Packers hats just to be friendly.

Jakester from Bradenton, FL

When the dust from the season opener settles, would you mind laying out a brief timeline of what your schedules look like for road games? Many people may assume you just go watch games like regular fans and then just write about it. But I'm guessing it's a grueling ordeal that you repeat several times a year, and always under deadline pressure. Yes, you get to see every game in person and get a peek behind the curtain, but is it mostly work and only a little fun? Thanks and GPG!

We get on the bus at the team hotel a few hours before the game to head to the stadium. I post the inactives 90 minutes before kickoff and get something to eat. A few minutes before kickoff we launch the live blog/chat, I do that for the entire game (or close to it), write the quick bulletin story at the final gun that goes on top of Wes's quarter-by-quarter updates, and rush off to the press conferences. After those, I try to get the Game Recap/5 takeaways written on the bus and sent back before we get to the airport. Then I write my Rapid Reaction column on the plane before pivoting to the morning Insider Inbox. If I don't get that done before the plane lands, I finish it at home before going to bed, and I'm typically way too wired to fall asleep right away. Then it's time to turn the page.

Peter from Wauwatosa, WI

Can you wake me up when September ends?

Sorry, too much work to do.

Brad from Basalt, CO

How do you have an overreaction Monday when the game went exactly as you feared it would?

OK, that's actually pretty good. Worth a brief smile on an otherwise unhappy Monday.

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