Derrick from Rockaway, NJ

What made this one especially frustrating is how it felt both equally in and out of our control.

That's a very succinct and accurate summation.

Donna from Darien, WI

Please make it make sense.

Wish I could.

Tom from Yardley, PA

As a loyal follower of the league and Packers fan for over 60 years, I never thought I'd say this. The NFL has become unwatchable for me. I know it gets discussed here all the time but the refereeing league wide is an embarrassment. The fact that the powers that be know this and don't care is impossible to comprehend. The game so many of us loved growing up is just a shell of its former self. It's really a shame.

Unwatchable is the word of the year in the NFL. The ratings say otherwise, of course, but I get where everyone is coming from. I honestly don't know what to say about the officiating that I haven't already said. I've been a broken record for years, and again in recent weeks, and I'm out of ways to keep criticizing the same (stuff)show. There are hundreds of submissions in the Inbox and easily 90% of them reference the refs. I know you'd all like to have your say, but I can only accommodate so many.

David from Buena Vista, CO

I'm 37. Been a Packers fan for 30 years. The two of you have enhanced my fan experience beyond measure. Thank you. But I'm done. I've canceled my subscriptions and will no longer be watching any NFL. I hope they fix it and one day I can watch again. Go Pack!

For the record, this stuff isn't fun to cover or write about. I do it because it's my job, and one I'm thankful for. But I don't blame anyone who's fed up. The games are terrible when the officials are just playing a guessing game on every play, and that's what it looked like out there. Or when they're throwing flags out of spite because they got knocked to the ground. Or when they admit they didn't hear a whistle but demand the players did. That was the biggest officiating disaster I've ever seen, and the pool report only reinforced the cluelessness on display.

Gary from Pulaski, VA

Mike, I know you're blue talking about this but please hear me out. In the live blog before the game started I remarked that replay assist overturned a RTP call against Joe Burrow. You said maybe that was progress and I agree. Similar situation on one RTP in our game where offensive and defensive players were engaged and QB was hit. RA overturned one but not the other. Don't understand it.

There is nothing less transparent than how replay assist works, or maybe how it's supposed to work. It's the hidden fix that maybe gets used and maybe doesn't. Certain calls are under its purview while others aren't, and nobody's explaining the mechanics, rules and construct because it would only lead to more scrutiny if everyone actually knew when it can step in.

Ethan from Farley, IA

We all know the RTP calls were straight trash, so can we talk about how a player can barely look at another player after a big play without drawing a taunting play, but when Detroit got our defense to jump about five of their players did an identical dance while pointing at our defense and that's perfectly okay…

LOL. I'm sorry. All I can do is laugh at that one. The NFL's own account tweeted the video of the Packers being taunted, oblivious to the fact the Packers were called twice for taunting just last week. The joke's on everybody, and it's called consistency.

Jerry from Las Cruces, NM

Quit playing the nice guy, give the NFL and refs scorched earth. Yes, the Pack did not help themselves with missed opps but c'mon this is getting crazy.

I know a lot of fans want LaFleur to go off at the podium about the officiating and take whatever fine comes his way. And he would be fully justified in doing so. The 8-0 ledger on RTP alone is reason for it, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. But I understand why he doesn't take that approach. Because no matter how justified, it would come off as whiny, woe-is-me blather that would send the wrong message to half a locker room that needs to play better. I genuinely feel bad for the defense because they're dealing with all the penalty garbage, and I commend Xavier McKinney for calmly and honestly providing his perspective. But LaFleur knows his offense didn't play winning football, and the officials had nothing to do with that. The Lions didn't play great either, so I get the frustration with feeling like the officiating shifts the scales. But the Packers have too much work to do on one side of the ball for the head coach to make a public display of all the crappy calls going against them on the other. If this season is to go anywhere, they have to score more points, which would help minimize the officiating impact.

Mike from Algoma, WI

I was happy with the way Matt handled himself during the press conference. He knows it. You know it. I know it. The referees know it too. Everyone knows it. It doesn't have to be repeated.

That, too.

Mark from Canton, GA

Yes, I know the conventional reaction is you have to play good enough so that bad calls don't hurt you. Yes, the Packers had some drops and missed kicks, etc. But can't we all agree that the officiating was particularly egregious and tipped the balance of a game that was won on a last-second FG?

The officiating was egregious. On that I'll agree. But tipped the balance? Not when four trips into the red zone produce a grand total of seven points. There wasn't a single call by an official that had anything to do with that. Whether bad execution, bad kicks or bad decisions, seven points on four trips inside the 20 is a great recipe for a loss, even if you get every call to go your way.

Pete from Hillsborough, NC

We have met the enemy and he is us.

That, too.

Dave from Hollywood, MD

Is Gutey thumbing through his rolodex under "K"?

I don't know. I would surmise they're going to work through this with Trey Smack. They're going to need him and he'll have to reward the faith I suspect they're going to show through this rough patch. It's up to him.

Matt from Kula, HI

One of the worst officiated games I can remember in 55 years of watching football. Several other reasons for the loss are obvious, including futility running the ball. Why didn't Aaron Banks play even though he was activated? Why was Kevin Zeitler a healthy scratch? This team won't reach its full potential without a much better run game. Trying a new OL combination seems to be a reasonable thing to try given the utter lack of success with the current lineup.

Just a guess here, but I wonder if they didn't think Banks would be able to play two games in five days, so they're holding him for Thursday and stuck with Laken Tomlinson for one more. I'm not sure of the answer on Zeitler. It's baffling to me how the line could improve its pass protection considerably over the last several weeks – and the pass pro was reasonably solid in Detroit against a tough pass rush – but struggle so much creating holes to run the ball.

Jessi from Sterling, KS

So begins the uphill NFC North mountain climb. Praying we have the right climbing gear to make it to the top...I feel like if we eliminated one sequence of errors...not finishing in red zone, no drops, completing interceptions, or bad officiating calls...just one of them and we could have had that one. But which one hurts us the most?

I don't know how to rank them, but if there's one single play that sticks out in my mind the most, it's Evan Williams dropping that sure INT. Because the way he'd been playing, I was just stunned he missed it, and he might've returned it a long way.

Mike from Appleton, WI

Plenty to unpack, but kudos to John Williams. I thought he played really well. He showed something. Very composed...sorry.

Ha. I actually appreciate that one on a day like this. Talk about tough duty. His rookie year is an injury washout, the rocket scientist spends his first training camp this past summer learning both center and left tackle in this offense, and he gets thrown into the mix in that building against a defensive front leading the league in sacks. He should've been THE story of this game, truly. A hearty tip of the cap, for sure.

Greg from Perkasie, PA

I feel like MLF decides ahead of time for some games that he needs to score 30-plus points, so he's extra aggressive early and passes up (what should be) an easy three points. I wish he would play to how the game is unfolding, and not to the one he assumed it was going to be more often. Too many times we end up chasing points in low-scoring games.

Fair. He admitted regret for his decision on fourth-and-4 from the 7.

Kevin from Tinton Falls, NJ

This team is officially in trouble because of how this division is playing out. That was a massive loss, especially considering Minnesota's continued success. It's still relatively early in the season, but how do you measure this loss?

I said last week the loser of this game would have a really tough go of it trying to win the division. I stand by that. Going 1-2 through the first round of division games has dug a hole.

Joseph from Vienna, VA

Dear Mike, thank you for posting Jake's question. Your answer was fine until the last sentence. Not every worst moment is equal. I guess I don't have a question, I just wanted to say that line was incredibly disappointing.

I was taken to task by several readers for my "worst moment" comment. Clearly I should've provided more context and/or elaboration. That would have helped avoid the barrage of false equivalencies not worth printing that has become unfortunately the most common and useless form of argument in our civic discourse. But I digress. I brought it on myself. I posted a representation for how a segment of the fan base feels, didn't explain myself thoroughly and got attacked for it. In this world of soap operas with scoreboards, I'll just stick to the scoreboards.

Eric from De Pere, WI

Objectively it was safe at second base Friday night. But the view that confirms that was a long-range side view with the camera at a very low angle a human umpire can never achieve. That play will be an uncontroversial out 99% of the time. So I wonder if relying on an impossible (by humans) view of this is a wise approach for the game. Camera views that were humanly possible make sense, but players play careers knowing that's an out and in the most critical moment it isn't? Not good.

I told my dad, wife and son after the game that falls squarely under the law of unintended consequences with the replay system. Replay review in baseball was never intended to scrutinize a call like that, which wasn't a blatant cheat or "neighborhood play" on a DP turn, and has been a DP in baseball for 150 years. But replay systems are in place for good reason, to fix obvious mistakes. It just all becomes messier than anyone wanted, which is the new world within which all must live and function. On balance, it's better, but requires greater adjustment than originally considered.

Joel from Show Low, AZ

Mike, I read that the Brewers invite some select sportswriters to run in the sausage race. Was that you as the Italian sausage winning the race Friday night?

Ha, no. But that would be a blast to do sometime, and I'd want to be the Polish.

Ron from Green Bay, WI

While watching Game 2 at a bar, when the Brewers got down 4-0, no negative comments, everyone was calm. It was "wait for it, wait for it." Wow!

Special team. Two more.

Pete from Caledonia, MI

Refs stupidity aside, this game was given away. Drops, untimely penalties, missed kicks and questionable coaching decisions did them in, AGAIN. The last win against a relatively good team was last Thanksgiving. The losses since gave the same pattern of inconsistency and lack of focus. It's truly mind-boggling. We keep hearing "things have to be cleaned up" but they just aren't. I'm not sure what can be done to change the outcomes in these big games. Simply, on to Carolina?

Yup. That's it. Onto the next, which is gonna be here in a jiffy. Happy Monday.

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