Jamie from London, Ontario
More than half the players on Green Bay's roster entered the league as a sixth-round or seventh-round pick or as an undrafted player. I was wondering if this is a normal thing, that most players on rosters are actually later-round picks due to the boom or bust potential of top picks, or if this is a rarity and something unique to this squad?
It's normal for teams to have a lot of late-round picks as bottom-of-the-roster players. Why? Because bottom-of-the-roster players are often players that were cut by another team and late-round picks tend to be cut more often than high-round picks.
Brock from Seymour, IN
In picking Cobb when we had a packed house of talented wide receivers; best available player. You can never have enough talent.
Another wide receiver is the last thing the Packers needed when they picked Cobb. Anybody wanna give him back to get a player of need?
Andrew from Oklahoma City, OK
Buried in all the hype of the first game were the strong performances by the running game. What were your observations of Starks, Grant and the offensive line? To me, they looked fluid and focused.
They played well. In the pregame portion of my blog, I referred to the numbers 300 yards passing and 100 yards rushing as being keys to victory for the Packers. That's the balance between run and pass that wins, especially for a passing team such as the Packers. They don't need to mow teams down with the running game, just make opposing defenses respect it.
Daniel from Reno, NV
Why should the Packers run the "Wildcat" at all? Don't we want Aaron Rodgers on the field as much as possible? Why would you take him out of the game for 4-5 plays a game?
They shouldn't and they didn't. I'll tell you what the "Wildcat" is good for. It's good for getting people to read your column. I put it in the headline and it lit up "Ask Vic" yesterday. I don't understand what it is about that stupid formation that people love, but if that's what people want, then that's what I'll give them.
Tyler from Pierre, SD
I'm sure a lot of people are going to start packing over our defense, but keeping Brees to one of five in the red zone is pretty good. Two field goals, a turnover, a stop on fourth down and a stop to end the game are pretty good ways to end drives, and seven of their points were on the punt return.
Everything you say is true but I doubt that Coach Capers is pleased by the yardage totals. I think we need to acknowledge the manner in which the defense rose to the occasion at crunch time, but also acknowledge that the Saints moved the ball too freely and had the Saints made a few plays at crunch time, we wouldn't be praising the defense today.
Courtney from Butte, MT
What did you think of your first game of your first season with the Packers?
It was different from that which I am accustomed. Other than for the years I covered the Jaguars when Tom Coughlin was their coach, I have pretty much covered teams that played the field-position game. They were defensive-minded and controlled the tempo of the game with their running games. The Packers are the antithesis of those teams. This is contemporary football. This is racehorse offense and it's fun to watch. I'd be lying to you, however, if I didn't admit that I was seeking a little more in the way of control in last night's game. It got a little wild for my taste, and I'm guessing Mike McCarthy might feel the same way. The crowd was fantastic and Lambeau Field was truly a beautiful sight. I really enjoyed the experience.
John from San, TX
I just watched Aaron's postgame conference. It seemed to go way over the reporters' heads, but he made some pretty good tongue-in-cheek comments about the lack of offseason workouts. I thought it was hilarious.
It didn't go over our heads; we got it and I wrote about it in my postgame editorial. You might remember that I was the one all through the lockout that kept arguing with fans that players-only workouts were overrated. I appreciate Rodgers' testiness on the subject because I thought it was unfair for media to have suggested he wasn't being a leader by not organizing player-only workouts during the lockout, but I would also remind Rodgers that most of that criticism was coming from ex-players. My position on the player-only workouts was that it was a PR move by the players to win the fans' sympathy, which it did, and a lot of ex-players in the media were advancing the PR try as a means of supporting the "union."
David from Maineville, OH
How have the hash marks changed since Coach Lombardi ruled the sidelines, and why were they changed?
The hash marks were moved toward the middle of the field in 1972, for the purpose of opening up the passing lanes and persuading teams to turn more to the pass. What resulted was the greatest explosion of thousand-yard rushers in league history.
Jan from Jacksonville, FL
How's the elevator situation up there?
The media has its own elevator in the Lambeau Field press box. We don't have to share it with coaches late in the game or after the game, which means we don't get shutout inside the two-minute warning, and that means I can stay in the press box until the game ends and still get downstairs in time for Mike McCarthy's postgame press conference. I don't know who had the idea for a separate media elevator, but I think I speak for all of my media brethren when I say, "Thank you."
Peggy from Munich, Germany
Much is being said about Peyton Manning's neck injury/surgery. It's now clear he won't be able to play for several weeks. Do you think Manning will play this season? Might this be a career-ending injury for him?
This will not be a career-ending injury. I had the same surgery, a neck fusion, in 2000. He will make a complete recovery and the level at which his neck was fused on Thursday will become the strongest level in his spine. What he has to do now is wait for the bone that was inserted into the damaged level in his neck to fuse to the vertebra above and the vertebra below. When that occurs, in about 2-3 months, that level will become cement. Slowly, the strength in his arm, where he no doubt has had a lot of pain for several months, will return. I've wanted to know for months whether or not he had a fusion. My guess is the procedures we've been hearing about were nothing more than cortisone injections; you're permitted to have three in a six-month period. Yesterday, he got the real fix, and if the surgery was successful, the pain is gone today and he's feeling better than he's felt in a long time. So why did they resist fusing him right away? Because the surgery is delicate and because fusions tend to make the levels directly above and below the fused level go bad years down the road. Fusions are a last-resort surgery. Several players have continued their careers after having had fusions.
Jesse from Tavernier, FL
For the first time since probably 1981, I was watching a game last night and grew disinterested enough to stop paying attention. Is this the new style of football? Sure, the ending was exciting, in the same way the Arena Football championship was exciting at the end, but the actual game was rather boring with it being so skewed toward offense and running free, rather than blocking, tackling and a battle of wills. Please tell me this is not what football is going to be like from here on in.
I've got bad news for you: This is the way football is going to be from here on in, and most people like it. Offense lights the scoreboard and drives TV ratings. It sells tickets. It sells jerseys. The NFL has always favored offense in rules-making. You're old-school, Jesse. I respect your view of the game, but that ship has sailed. At the commissioner’s breakfast on Thursday morning, Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke of the need to "change the way we approach the game." I think we all know what that means: less punishing, more athletic. Last night's game, no doubt, put a big smile on Goodell's face.
