Hey everybody, thanks for logging on. I see questions coming in already so I'll just get rolling.
Can we go with Jordan Love's Intention was to make the first down?
Not bad.
Why do you think the D eased up on rushing Wentz after having early success?
I wouldn't say they eased up. The four-man rush was pretty effective so Gannon wasn't blitzing a ton. Edgerrin Cooper was always a threat, though. In the end, the defense gave up a couple of big plays but that was about it.
Hoping for a bounce back this Sunday.
Indeed. We're going to find out more about this team earlier than I anticipated.
I thought the bologna was supposed to stop? I've seen so many bologna takes this week. I'm sure you've seen more than me.
Week 1 is Week 1. It was a major disappointment for the Packers, clearly. But onward.
I feel the offense puts our defense in multiple tough spots every game. The red zone performance is a huge factor in our losing streak. Whenever we have an explosive play end inside the 10 I've become resigned to a field goal attempt. Do you see anything that would explain their struggles in the red zone?
They haven't run the ball well enough, consistently enough in the red zone. The best red zone offenses can run the ball really well down there.
What's your best guess on the starting O-line for Sunday?
Aaron Banks' health remains such an unknown. So hard to say.
I did not notice many dropped passes. Did you see an improvement in that area?
The Packers' perimeter weapons had a dynamite game. All that was missing was maybe a couple more touches for Reed and a more consistent ground game.
On Monday you mentioned a quote from your/our old fried, yesterday JG mentioned "Players, not plays." I hope it brought a good memory of past rants.
Trust me, Vic didn't invent that line. Football folks say it all the time.
Hey Mike! Thanks for the chat. Do you feel there has been sufficient "development " on the O line over the past couple years? I mean, have most players taken a step from one year to the next?
I don't think there's any way to gauge that based on one real game in the new season. For a young line dealing with shuffling personnel, that Week 1 matchup on the road was absolutely the worst opener possible.
I'm not one to assume the game plays out exactly the same if one play changes, but that missed extra point definitely would have affected the decisions later in the game.
100%. If LaFleur's mindset early in the fourth quarter was to make it a two-possession game, that's what a FG does if that missed PAT is on the board. No way to know how the game plays out after that.
Do you think the lack of playing together during the preseason contributed the miscommunication by the O-Line?
Maybe. Can't rule it out. But they picked up a number of blitzes and stunts to allow for a lot of explosive plays down the field. Why things broken down so badly later in the game, only they know.
Hey Mike - from the greater NYC area and excited to attend the game Sunday. What do you honestly think was the biggest problem with the OL last weekend? Coaching? Mental errors? Talent? All of the above?
When rushers are running free at the QB, that's either a missed assignment or a miscommunication. It doesn't speak to the physical abilities of the players. Those were the really bad breakdowns. I said last week having to start your season with a silent count in a noisy building against a blitz-crazy DC was going to be a major challenge. It turned out to be exactly that.
Hi Mike, thanks for the chat. Anything about your trip to MetLife that you're looking forward to? Or is that barn just another stop on the road?
Wes has a friend who owns a really good Italian restaurant in NYC so we always go there for dinner the night before the game.
The number of starts for each OL starter was telling. This will take some time folks!
That's another thing I said all throughout training camp.
Love was hit 15 times. Only 4 were sacks. Many of the other 11 were late without flags. When will his teammates have his back? it may be worth a penalty in the long run. Love also needs to push back, sending a message to the refs, the opponent, and his teammates. Favre was in defenders faces all the time. We need some anger.
I don't think you can ask someone to be what he's not.
Did you pop open a champagne bottle last night after the Brewers clinched the division?
Nope. I just smiled and went to bed.
Apologies, the point did not go through on my questions. 1. Is there any chatter about outside OL help? 2. Will they shuffle the OL around to include Jager Burton/Anthony Belton somehow?
They aren't going to tell the media in advance. I don't expect a massive reaction, or overreaction, to one game.
Now we say the line hasn't worked together, but all during the off-season and camps it was we were trying to find the best 5. Maybe we need to decide quicker so they can practice togther during camps.
There was one starting spot in flux throughout training camp. The rest of the shuffling was due to injuries to Zach Bako-Bewele and Banks.
I trust all NFL employees, including the officials, are under heavy scrutiny regarding betting. Does this also apply to their family and friends? I don't recall ever watching any football game with 3 consecutive third down penalties being called on the defense.
That was a new one for me, too, especially when none of those penalties (IC, RTP, DH) had been called once during the game previously.
Will Kaleb Johnson get some playing time?
Perhaps. Again, we aren't going to know in advance. They aren't going to tip off the opponent.
What are the Jets strengths on offense?
They have a really good RB in Hall, with Allen providing that 1-2 punch, and Garrett Wilson at WR is a big-play weapon. Geno Smith is also a veteran who knows what it takes in this league. He's not going to be fooled by anything. You have to force mistakes.
Packers played great run stopping but the return coverage was abysmal!
The long kickoff return by the Vikings after the score got to 22-10 was the start of that game's downfall. Minn only had to go 28 yards to make it a 5-point game. That made things too easy on a backup QB.
I saw at least two examples Sunday where taunting or celebrating cost teams late in games. Even Christian Watson came awfully close to dropping the ball before crossing the goal line on his TD. I get that it's an intense, emotional game, but these guys are professionals. Don't coaches hammer this stuff home? Why does it keep happening?
That stuff gets talked about in meeting rooms all the time. But whether all 53 guys are listening for any given team is another question.
What did Love do to earn the false start penalty? I didn't see him do anything different.
I didn't either. No idea.
How are feeling about this matchup?
I admittedly don't know much about the Jets but this game won't be about the Jets. It'll be about the Packers playing their game and doing it for four quarters, not 3 1/2.
This two-possession idea is overrated. The other team still has to score a touchdown AND make a two point conversion just to tie it. Take the field goal points and play some defense!!
I can appreciate that argument. I also see the other rationale. I don't see it as a slam dunk decision either way.
Any idea how the defense will be able to stop Breece Hall and the run?
I thought GB's run defense was pretty solid in Minnesota. Mason had the one run that broke out, but otherwise they held the Vikings RBs in check. Hall is more dangerous, though. He's more likely to break tackles so the Packers must be on their p's and q's there.
I just joined the chat. I sure have missed this thing. Thanks for standing tall in the pocket for us after a loss like that Mike!
I don't consider what I do exactly that. But as I always tell folks, I put the same effort into my job, win or lose. I owe the readers that.
Yes injuries forced the original substitution. Deciding on the replacement was my point.
That's valid. They let them battle it out all through August, and as I said in Inbox this morning, I don't believe they decided on the backups last minute. They had two weeks of practice without the media around after camp ended.
With the court of public opinion amongst Packer fans very loudly calling for jobs after a 6 game skid, what is the atmosphere like behind the scenes? Are they feeling the pressure from outside at all?
That's not something I gauge. The coaches' offices are not just down the hall from me or anything. They're in a completely different part of the building and I only see them at the podium, like everybody else. They know there's a ton of pressure in this business and that Week 1 loss sits well with nobody. But getting all riled up and panicking isn't going to help the players.
Is there any timeline or guess to when the NFL will make a decision on Josh Jacobs? Outside of our control, and it will be what it is. But as Tom Petty said, "Waiting is the hardest part."
The NFL has said nothing about a timeline. All I know is the league has been trying to get access to the video of the incident, but the victim has filed a court motion to seal all the evidence.
The only reasons why I would even consider taking three points off the board are - (1) I am behind and deperately need a touchdown, or (2) the penalty gives me a first down.
I get a lot of people felt that way at the time, and it's even easier to feel that way now. But I also remember the Arizona game last year where the Packers were in FG range late in the fourth quarter to tie the game, and they went for it on fourth-and-2, hit Tucker Kraft for the first down, and scored the winning TD. Sometimes the aggression works. Sometimes it backfires. So it goes.
Mike, in season's past, I thought the coordinators spoke to the media on Thursday or Friday. Is the change to Tuesday permanent for this season?
To my knowledge it has switched to Tuesdays, but now next week with the Thursday game I'm not sure how everything will go.
Did Daniel Whelan address his short punt and what happened? Seemed like a "what else could go wrong?" moment.
Agreed. That was so uncharacteristic. If I know Daniel, he was really upset at himself on that one. He's very much a perfectionist and it serves him well. I can't recall him hitting a punt that badly before.
Hey Mike, My frustration with game 1 was the # of penalties, 15 called and 12 accepted, which, correct me if I'm wrong, points to a lack of focus on the pre-snap penalties and discipline on the ones during a play. I know the coaches preach about this constantly so how does this part of their game get cleaned up? It will make for a long season if this continues.
That's what's gotten lost through all the controversy about the third-down penalties on that one drive. The Packers had 6 pre-snap penalties, 3 false starts, 3 offsides, and one of the offsides gave Wentz a free play and he hit Jefferson for a TD. That's a terrible number of pre-snap penalties for one game and it can't continue.
I understand the value of the explosive play, but it seems for this team, right now, if it doesn't go all the way, the drive still doesn't produce a TD. Part of me thinks we need to figure out how to get 1-5 yards reliably, not 30-40.
I think it mostly comes down to having a reliable running game. Right after gashing a defense, if you come back with a power run that picks up 6-7 yards, you've really got the defense on its heels. This offense has been hit or miss that way since the tail end of the '24 season.
Finish this sentence: the Packers win Sunday if…
...they finish drives in the red zone.
Wouldn't more quick, short passes over the middle have defeated some of the blitzes and moved the chains?
I'm not an X's and O's guy, and the Packers beat the blitzes plenty and gashed the Vikings a number of times. No playbook has blitz beaters where a rusher lined up on the LOS is unblocked. He's too close to the QB for him to do anything.
One of the unfortunate things about the loss is that no one has talked about Christian Watson's 81 yard TD!
The offense made a ton of plays. Love had more than 300 yards passing in the first three quarters. They didn't take advantage of all their chances, though, and it cost them. Not just kicking FGs either. They had a drive in the first half that started at the MIN 36 after the defense stopped the Vikes deep and they were punting from the back of the end zone. To come away with zero points on that possession due to 2 penalties was criminal.
Dink and dunk isn't against the rules!!
That's not how the Packers are built and not how they play. I've been trying to tell people that for several years now.
Aside from the last half of the 4th quarter, I truly believe Jordan Love played great overall. The middle to deep passes are there. Do you think it would be possible to get the RB's involved in the passing game much more after Chris Brooks and MarShawn Lloyd had one target each?
I think that's a possibility but probably more dependent on the opponent and game plan. When you've got 9, 0, 11 and 85 to go catch passes, that's already a lot of mouths to feed.
Watson looks like he's just loping. I wonder how fast he'd be if he moved his legs faster.
He's fun to watch run.
I like the way Jonnu Smith is playing, I think he can be a force for this team.
It was good to see him make a big play in his first game with the team. They'll have some stuff drawn up for him in certain situations.
I would rather have an 81 yard drive than an 81 yard pass play.
I hear you, but a lot can go wrong during an 81-yard drive. See the discussion of penalties on the short field earlier. And without a reliable running game in the red zone, punching it in is no easy task.
On a lighter side, green socks or white socks?
Ha.
I think the Packers struggles on 3rd or 4th and less than 2 yards over the past year should have played into the decision to take the made FG. I'm ok with taking the points off the board when it is an automatic 1st down. Not in this case.
I don't think anything from several months ago has any bearing on a coach's decision in the heat of a Week 1 game.
After that Saints TD reversal, can't we just say it's our "intent" to score every play and just call it good?
Works for me. Man, that was absurd. I addressed it in the Inbox this morning for those who didn't see it.
Speaking of rushers unblocked, how do you let someone right in front of you go free or two blockers take the same guy even when there are two rushers in the same area? You shouldn't need a whole bunch of communication to figure that out.
It's about understanding the protection call and the assignments. If one guy plays the wrong call, that's what happens.
Jets stadium won't be as loud but 85% chance of rain. Turnovers could be big in this one.
Hadn't seen a forecast. Interesting. And yes, won't be nearly as loud. U.S. Bank got deafening in the fourth quarter Sunday.
How do you think Zaire Franklin played for his first start with the Packers?
I didn't study him specifically, but it was a winning performance by the defense overall, I thought. The worst drive of the game, they were snake-bit by the officials. If there's one play other than the offsides free play that really bothered me it was the TD pass to the TE on third down after the long kickoff return. They had a chance to force a FG or fourth-down attempt there, and that pass looked way too easy for Wentz.
If Packers can get at least 14 pts in the second half, they will be hard to beat.
Probably true.
Do players pay much attention to tv broadcast maps? They often talk about nationally televised games, but do smaller coverage maps (like this weeks) have any impact at all?
Unless someone in their family from a different part of the country says something to them, I doubt they even know.
Were there any injuries of concern coming out of MN?
Didn't seem to be. I just got back from the open portion of today's practice before logging on for the chat and everyone on the 53 was practicing except Warren Brinson.
All right folks, practice is going to end soon and I need to get to the locker room for interviews. So I'll call it a chat. Thanks for all the questions and we'll talk again soon. I'll be live here for Sunday's game, and then stay tuned to the website/socials for the day/time on next week's chat with the Thursday game. Take care, Spoff
