Hey everybody, sorry for the time adjustment today, but hope we can still have a good chat. Go ahead and start sending in your questions and I'll get rolling shortly.
Afternoon, Mike! Is John Williams the Packers center for the foreseeable future?
LaFleur didn't commit to that this week in the wake of Sean Rhyan's injury. The Packers also haven't put Rhyan on IR, so maybe he won't be out long. Lots of unknown right now. If not Williams, Jager Burton and Donovan Jennings are other options at center.
Did you stay up till the end of the Brewers game? Can't remember last time they lost four in a regular row. I like there chances!
Of course I stayed up. Wouldn't miss it. If you had told me before the series started the Brewers would be up 3-1 with Miz on the mound in Game 5, I'd have taken it.
The league needs improvement on officiating now. The product is simply bad. What influence do the individual clubs have in providing feedback on how things are officiated during the season?
All teams send plays into the league that they want explanations on regarding the officiating. But nothing meaningful in terms of change can come until the offseason when they have more extensive leaguewide meetings and discuss potential adjustments to the process, replay system, and the like.
The Packers offense only seems to find success by throwing the football. The Panthers will be without three of their top defensive backs. Do you feel like the key to this game will be Christian Watson and Matthew Golden?
The Packers just have to finish drives, whether they're throwing the ball or running it, which hopefully they can do with Josh Jacobs back against a bad run defense. But four trips into the RZ last week producing 7 total points won't get it done. The Packers don't have a problem moving the ball, their problem is putting enough points on the board.
The OLs of other teams are opening holes that I could have run through 60 years ago. Are GB's guys that much inferior, or is it a coaching, play design and/or play calling problem?
LaFleur continues to describe it as a collective issue. Some plays are poorly blocked, some the back doesn't maximize on what's there, sometimes they're running plays into bad defensive looks that are doomed. There isn't a simple fix or they would've found it by now.
Mike, this has to be Kevin Zeitler's week doesn't it? Travis Glover looks to be out.
I don't know. I'm not predicting anything with the O-line because it's been hard to get a read on any decisions.
Is Matthew Golden playing this week?
Don't know. The final injury report comes out later today.
Hey Mike, how are you holding up after that late night? One more W.
It was disappointing not to get the win when it was there for the taking, but I believe in this team. Looking forward to tonight.
What in the world is the story with Kevin Zeitler? Thought he was supposed to bring veteran this and that. Healthy scratch?
I don't know why he hasn't played yet.
Hello Mike! I wonder how many times a team was down to almost nobody at center after injuries to have a guy like John come in and do a great job no center exp.
That was a whale of a performance by Williams under really tough circumstances. Would've been difficult enough in a home game, but in a noisy dome against a tough defensive front, he held his own and gave the Packers a great chance to win despite a crazy injury situation.
Any chance Branch could still be fined for the head shot on Tucker Kraft? That was brutal to watch and I still can't believe Tucker just got up and put his helmet back on! Tough dude!
Oh sure. The league fines players for things that don't get flagged all the time.
Does anyone even know how or when replay assist can step in?
There's a specific list of instances, but the broadcast networks never post that list to inform the fans so we're all in the dark a bit on that.
How's Micah Parsons' training been looking lately? Is he set to practice soon and hopefully we see him Pats or Vikings week?
LaFleur said he's hoping Parsons can return to practice next week. That's all we know right now.
What happened to Golden?
As far as him being on the injury report this week, I don't know. Presumably got banged up in the Lions game.
Mike, any possible trade options being discussed? Colts are selling off players it appears. Might Philly be next in line?
The Packers don't discuss any of that. Reports are they've been in on discussions, but whether anything comes to fruition, who knows.
Do you think Green Bay was not as aggressive in trying to obtain some of the Colts players during to their salary cap struggles coming up?
The Packers don't have a lot of room for any high-priced players right now and would have to adjust contracts and push money into the future to accommodate an expensive addition right now. I'm sure that makes it tough to do.
Nice article on Brandon Cisse, he's the real deal at CB. Great first pick.
Yeah, thanks. He's enjoyable to talk to. Very introspective and well spoken. Can't help but be impressed for what he's doing as a rookie at a tough position out there.
Do you fear as I do, that the official will double down and call even more weak penalties on the team in retaliation for the bad publicity they are getting this week?
I hope not but at this point I have no idea. Seeing an official throw his flag out of anger while lying on his back, as though "somebody's gotta pay for this" is a really bad look for the league.
Will Josh Jacobs still be available to play Thursday night?
I haven't heard otherwise.
Is Aaron Banks ready to go?
Could be. I said as the lineup became known before last Sunday's game if they held him out one more because with everything he's dealt with, playing two games in five days would be a bit much. If he's good to go now, he gets some extra time before his next game, too. Can't hurt.
Zaire Franklin looks to be out for a few weeks. Shin must have taken a huge kick. Hope he can be back in a few weeks.
Definitely. He's been a great addition and leader. Isaiah McDuffie and Ty'Ron Hopper have held it down in the middle of the defense in the absence of Franklin and Edgerrin Cooper, but hopefully Franklin is back soon.
re: Cisse. To make back to back plays and prevent any points after losing a pick to a tough call. Very mature.
That's exactly what I wrote about yesterday.
What Officiating Crew this week, I dare ask…..
Scott Novak's crew has TNF at Lambeau.
Agree. I have never later. An official just throw a flag because he got embarrassed.
It was embarrassing for all involved.
Did Cam Achord shed any light on the "kicking situation" from last week?
He speaks to the media in a little over an hour, so we'll see what he says. The coordinator press conferences are why I had to change my chat time today.
I still can't get over the taunting call on Golden, but not on the whole Detroit team after the offsides? Really?
They had another penalty to deal with. Too difficult to pay attention to another one at the same time, apparently.
On the broadcast it twice showed two receivers wide open that Jordan Love apparently didn't see.
That's football. It's a fast-moving game. I'm sure on the fourth-and-4 from the 7, when he saw the film, Love was kicking himself for not looking backside because Pierre Strong Jr. was wide open for the TD. But (stuff) happens.
For those curious Novak's crew is #1 in the league for called penalties...
Terrific
The word INCONSISTENT doesn't even begin to describe the officiating this year.
Not even close. But I'll repeat what I've said several times -- the league has made the officials' jobs extremely difficult with all the additional rules, and has not provided adequate support via technology to get significant calls correct. They've thickened the rule book, barely adjusted the replay system, and what has resulted is an officiating mess that's on display every week in nearly every game. Sunday in Detroit was just the worst of numerous really bad ones out there.
Re 'eye in the sky', be careful what you wish for. In England we have Video Assistant Referee for 'clear and obvious' errors. These take forever and still manage to get it wrong. Ruins football (soccer) for fans even more.
No one wants excessive delays, but they could also put a time limit on the length of a replay review and force a call to be made. They tried that a long while back in the infancy of replay, and it wasn't a bad idea. If you just let New York handle the replays, like they do in baseball, and don't take the time to involve the on-field officials in the viewing and discussion, it could go a lot faster.
How confident can fans be in consistency of our kicking game for the next few games?
We'll see. Trey Smack has to work through this and reward the faith the team is placing in him.
Regardless of the refs horrible officiating, the Packers need to be more disciplined for the penalties that have been accurate.
Absolutely true. Their high penalty number is exaggerated by a lot of questionable calls, but they'd still be one of the most penalized teams in the league on just legit ones.
I for one this year have watched all the Packer games this year, but have definitely not watched other games as much just because of the officiating.
I'm sure you're not alone. Someone wrote into the Inbox a couple weeks ago that they were at a sportsbook with a big wall bank of 8 large screen TVs with all the early games going on at once on a Sunday. In one moment, six of the TVs had a penalty being announced by the referee at the same time. I would think that's something the league would not want.
As you pointed out, baseball has managed to add it pretty well so far.
Baseball improved its product by putting in the pitch clock rules, three-batter minimum for relievers, restrictions on mound visits and disengagements, etc. All those have sped up the game and make it tolerable if there's a long replay review when they really need to make sure they're getting a call correct.
I know the answer, but has anyone provided clarity on the grounding call? I didn't think the LOS mattered if you can short hop it to a receiver. If that's "the rule", then every spike on a failed screen should be grounding.
That looked to me like a flat-out wrong interpretation of the rule. If there's a receiver in the area, getting the ball to the LOS doesn't matter. It's called that way all the time, except by Alex Moore apparently.
Spoff did you see Orlovsky on X showing how Hutch was beating the snap & Bulaga/DBakh wondering if former ops were no longer used? Curious bc it used to be an advantage. Why change?
I did see that, but I don't know what's changed so it's hard for me to comment.
How close are we that just having flag football when it comes to the QB?
Maybe not during my career, but it's probably on the long-term horizon.
Watching the World Series has been a nice reprieve, don't have to worry about a flag after each play.
And I don't have to live chat the entire game, lol
The answer to the O-Line is "block better". But what does that mean?
Usually it means fundamentals. Pad level, technique, etc. I've never played or coached tackle football so I'm not qualified to talk specifics, but blocking is all about fundamentals, and yours being better than the other guys'.
They ignored the fact he was in the process of being sacked as well. Just a horrible call.
Totally.
Apparently Love can be clobbered with impunity, and the rest of the quarterbacks are playing touch.
That's where I go back to making it too hard on the officials. It's difficult to see in real time from only one angle if a QB absorbs contact to the head that should be a penalty. It's happened to Love several times. It's very easy to see on replay, and that's why I continue to insist making safety rules reviewable would improve the officiating considerably. It's a no-brainer in my book.
You're correct, all the changes to baseball have been positive. Too bad there won't be baseball next year, that's why the Brewers have to do it this year!
For sure.
Enlighting - Packers RTP penalties from 2021-2025 are 10 total over 90 games for .11 RTP per game. in 2026 they have 8 RTP penalties over 7 games for 1.14 per game. The most last year was the Bears and they had 9 for the seasoned.
It's not so much the 8 compared to other years as the 8-0 ledger when looking at GB vs. opponents. That's the head scratcher.
Thoughts on MLF going for it on 4th even when a FG is an option. Seems like every time we don't get it the momentum swings and the other team ends up scoring a TD and the whole tenor of the game shifts.
I say often, particularly in the live blog during games, I always see the temptation to go for it on fourth-and-1. But when the fourth down requires longer than a yard and the defense knows you're going to pass and doesn't have to defend the run, that makes life a lot harder.
I hope the Brewers not winning a winnable game doesn't set a trend.
Three of the four games in the Series have been tightly contested all the way. Those can always go to either side. The Brewers have played in those types of games all season. You don't win them all, but they aren't afraid of those contests.
Has this been the worst start to the season in the Love tenure in terms of our dropped passes?
I don't have any stats in front of me to compare, but it hasn't been good, that's for sure. Love has put a number of good throws on the money and those opportunities have gotten away.
I say enough of the fourth down calls unless it's less than a yard until we can run the ball efficiently on any down.
But the kicker needs to be reliable, too. It's a tough spot for any coach, honestly.
Mike, do you think Smack is the kicker for the remainder of the season, regardless of performance?
I would never say "regardless," but they're definitely sticking with him for now.
It's a shame. Love might have a QBR of at least 100 without all those drops.
Stats aside, I feel like the Lions game was the only one that the drops contributed greatly to a loss.
I just wish LaFleur had a consistent game management strategy. You take the three when it's the first points on the board. You go for the tie, especially when you can trust the ground game.
A lot of coaches, not just LaFleur, make those fourth-down calls based on how good they feel about a play they're about to call. Right or wrong, the decisions can come down to that.
I saw Gronk and Edelman on a show afterwards. Gronk said the GB/Det officials should never get close to a playoff game. They get in the way of the game. The officials seem to swallow their whistles during the playoffs outside of the obvious calls. And Goff is a great actor. He took a dive on one RTP. I know the officials get a grade. Who disciplines the officials during the season and what's the punishment? Slap on the wrist?
I don't know what punishments exist in season for officials, but if anyone from Alex Moore's crew gets a playoff assignment, I'll be shocked. That game in Detroit was thoroughly disqualifying.
Not saying I don't tense up every time but it seems the Pack's % on 4th down is enviable this season.
They had missed on their first four of the season, I believe, then converted 10 in a row, including the first 3 in Detroit, before the failed fourth-and-4 from the 7.
Maybe you've addressed previously but the NFL doesn't have a corner on bad officiating by any stretch. The "miss" on the baserunner way outside of the basepath last night was ridiculous.
Yeah, and that's not reviewable under baseball's rules.
I've read the Packers lead in most penalties and dropped passes since beginning of 2025. Mercy!
Mercy indeed.
Mike, as an employee of a NFL team, are you prohibited from placing bets on NFL games? And if so, does this prohibition also apply to your family members?
Doesn't apply to my family members, but definitely applies to me. And it's not just NFL games, but all sports. I don't bet on anything anyway, but the rules for league employees are very strict.
Everyone criticized Matt last year for getting conservative and playing not to lose instead of playing to win. Hes been aggressive this year and largely bet right but now he's reckless or can't manage a game. He can't win.
Nature of the beast for any head coach. You have to win games or the scrutiny ratchets up.
Doesn't the league inform the teams on when replay assist can step in? Surely the networks aren't the only ones with that information.
I'm sure the teams know but it's not as though they can do anything about it during the game.
just cannot play a complete 60-minute game. too many self-inflicted wounds to go with , lets call it 'referee assistance'.
The two division losses on the road were both there for the taking, and the Packers let them get away. It's the difference between first place and last place in the NFC North right now.
How do the Packers rush the quarterback with RTP penalty looming?
I don't think they can worry about the two RTP calls from the Lions game, honestly. Both were just wrong.
If the teams know when replay assist can step in, can't the PR folks from the teams make that information available to the fans? Kind of like how we know what is reviewable with a coaches challange.
That's up to the networks if they want to share the info I guess.
My biggest criticism of the team this year has to be the OL situation. I just don't know how it came to this state.
I don't want to oversimplify, but it came to this because the two most seasoned veterans on the unit got injured early (Zach Bako-Bewele and Banks) and things have been a bit of disarray since. The Packers were counting on those two, a lot, and they haven't been available.
Still a lot of positives and potential with our team, I'm feeling like we will win all of our remaining division games. You?
I don't look down the line on the schedule like that because so much changes week to week in this league. But this Packers team is still talented and capable of winning a lot of games. They just have to go out and do it.
With 3 losses to NFC opponents, how could that play out at the end of the year concerning tie breakers?
Way too early to tell. Get to 5-3, rest up over the mini-bye, and try to get rolling again. That's it, that's all.
Important question Spoff… are you following your Partner in All Things Packers during the Brewer games for the entertainment value or do you tune out and take a pure approach to focus on the game only?
Ha, I see what he's tweeting but I refuse to engage on social media during games like that. Just not my style.
We've really been fortunate to catch teams with backup QBs, bad run defenses, or hurting at DB. 4-3 is a little disappointing considering the gift the football gods have bestowed on the Packers. Now we have a short week, but it's at home so time to capitalize.
Exactly.
With the exception of Jameson Williams and St Brown being wide open much of the time I like how Gannon handles the defense. Are the players buying into what he calls? It seems like they are being more aggressive than I can remember from previous DCs. I won't mention the officials on this post.
Gannon has been pretty aggressive in a lot of games. The pass rush wasn't nearly good enough against the Lions but I didn't go through and count the blitzes or anything. Goff is deadly on play-action and most of those downfield throws into open windows were off play-action.
Mike, your thoughts on Josh Jacobs performance in the last game?
He looked like he hadn't played in a while, but a couple of runs in the second half looked promising.
Is it fair to criticize the team's plan for the O line though given both ZBB and Banks were coming off injuries dating back to last season?
Fair.
The Packers could run the table if they can play with discipline and cut out the missed kicks and drops. But so could any team, I guess.
That's this league. It's ultra competitive, and the other guys get paid, too.
What would a Brewers championship mean to you?
Hard to put it into words, honestly. I need to experience it and then describe my emotions after, I guess. Hopefully that'll be the case.
Enjoy the game tonight Mike. I'll be hoisting a local Atlantic Canada IPA in your general direction at the first pitch!
Thanks, and with that, I'm going to call it a chat. Thanks for all the questions and enjoy the rest of your week. I'll be back on this platform tomorrow night from the press box. Take care everybody, and go Brewers. Best, Spoff
