Mike from Somerset, WI
Vic, many times I am wrong in suggesting what the Packers should do with the starting lineup. I have made many suggestions in your column about benching players and they were ignored. Winning games has proven me wrong. I like it when I am wrong and the Packers are winning.
I like it when you're wrong, too, Mike.
Chris from Upland, CA
In the last meeting between these two teams, Cam Newton threw for 430 yards and rushed for 50 yards. What does a defense need to accomplish to contain a versatile QB like Cam?
Everybody has to do their job. It's a difficult task coordinating all of those efforts because mobile quarterbacks such as Newton expand the space in which those jobs must be executed, but that's the new game. That's where we're headed. The Packers are more able now to defend against new age quarterbacks because they have better athletes and more speed on their defense than they have had in the past. I think we're going to be impressed by how well the defense plays against Newton on Sunday.
Gregg from Colorado Springs, CO
At the end of the Miami game, I saw that no time came off the clock with the PAT. Is it the same if you go for two?
All conversion attempts are untimed.
Holger from Guayaquil, Ecuador
Vic, the stadium was not empty. I was there. There were more than 70k people in the stadium. The problem is many of them came in when the game had already started.
No way. I've been covering games in Miami for years and empty seats have always been the norm. The Dolphins report tickets distributed, not butts in the seats. Sunday's crowd was probably around 50K.
David from Tacoma, WA
How does a coach prepare his team to get hot and how does he prevent his team from getting hot too early?
Teams grow in fits and starts; it's seldom according to the script. What's most important is the level of growth at which a team is playing late in the season. Some coaches have a knack for getting their teams to play their best football late in the season, and it's been my experience those coaches are the ones that stress the execution of fundamentals over scheme. The health of a team also plays a big part in how a team is playing late in the season.
Mason from Boise, ID
So I went nuts on that final drive. Know that you were not alone when you were yelling in the interview room. I was one of many Packers fans who let out a battle cry. We all had a moment together.
We sure did.
Matt from Clarkston, MI
Are mobile quarterbacks a unique problem for the Packers, or is it just a function of not being a good run-defense team?
It's a unique problem for every team in the league. Mobile quarterbacks are the trend. They're not going away; we're only going to see more of them.
Thomas from St. Johns, FL
Vic, how do you feel about Aaron's comments on the Dan Patrick radio show about media access? I know you and I remember Pete Rozelle trying to make the NFL No. 1 in TV, but I can't help but agree with Aaron. I have said on this site many, many times the only people who belong on a football field right before and right after a game are the warriors who fought hard and shed blood in the battle for victory. The media does not belong in the locker rooms, on the playing field or in the players' nostrils.
That's not what Aaron Rodgers said. I think you're using some very measured remarks to go into a ridiculous diatribe about warriors and bloodshed. All Rodgers said was he doesn't want to be bumped on the head by a sideline camera on his way to the huddle. I agree. We could use a little more separation on the sidelines, and that includes separation from the fans that pay premium prices to stand along the sidelines during the game. Sun Life Stadium's sidelines were a circus on Sunday. They were full of fans posing for pictures. It was undistinguished looking.
Don from Torrington, CT
On Monday, you wrote "look out." Are we really at "look out" already?
The Packers are playing at a very high level right now.
Derek from South Point, OH
I watched Mike's "What You Might Have Missed" segment on the goal line stand and the final drive. It reminded me about your comments concerning the defensive line's job of holding the gaps and allowing the other players to make the plays. It seems Daniels and Guion were getting it done on that stand.
Everybody has a job to do. Just do your job. If your job is to hold the point of attack, then just hold the point of attack. Somebody else's job is to run to the ball, but he can't do your job if you don't do yours. Statistics can be meaningless when it comes to defensive line play, especially for 3-4 defensive linemen. Joel Steed is probably the best nose tackle I've ever covered, but I doubt many people reading this column even know the name.
Jeppe from Bramming, Denmark
Am I the only one who thinks Letroy Guion looks like a free-agent bargain? You called it, Vic. We wanted Byrd but you gave us Guion.
I like bargains in free agency. That's where I think you can get something done in free agency and it won't hurt your cap. I think there's a chance Guion can become a huge free-agency win for the Packers.
Mike from Milwaukee, WI
I'm stunned every day to see the repeated questions about your reaction to Packers wins and losses, as if you are a fan and not a reporter. I'd offer to those folks that you, Vic, watch a Packers game as I would watch an Eagles/Giants game. I enjoy the show, but I'm not personally invested in the outcome. Does that sound about right?
No, that's not it either. I've explained this a million times but I can't get it through. In the final minutes of that game on Sunday, it took every ounce of my writing and reporting ability to keep up with the action and prepare the bulletin story I was writing for posting as the final second ticked off the clock. It's called "writing running" and it is the essence of deadline reporting. My fingers felt as though they would fly off my hands. I was continually searching for down and distance and for time remaining. Who caught the ball? At what yard line is the ball? My thoughts were consumed by one objective: Do my job. That's what I do at a football game; I do my job. Those who grade my performance don't judge me on how well I cheered. Why can't fans understand this?
KC from Indianola, IA
On that fake-spike play, Davante Adams had the presence of mind to get out of bounds. I could definitely imagine a different rookie getting excited, try to score and then have the clock run out. Good instincts, good coaching or both?
I think we need to pull back a little bit on the fake-spike play; we might be celebrating it and its greatness a little too much. First of all, if you're a rookie receiver and the best quarterback in the game flashes you a look and you don't get it, you might never get it. Adams caught a lot of passes at Fresno State. He played in a high-tech offense. He knew to get out of bounds.
Grant from Wausau, WI
Vic, you've recently said multiple times, run to set up play-action. Do you ever see the league getting so pass happy that you could see pass to set up the draw?
You play the draw the same way you rush the passer: On the way to the quarterback. A running game built on the draw play is a finesse offense. I don't like finesse offense.
Crigs from Port Washington, WI
I think your answer to Owen from Portland, OR, is a cop out. The Packers have run the ball effectively once in six games. If this is a great offensive line and they have a great stable of running backs, there should come a time when they play like it regardless of the opposition.
You want FULL CONSISTENCY. There is no FULL CONSISTENCY. There's full parity but not FULL CONSISTENCY. The hope is that at some point late in the season, the Packers will be playing close to something approaching FULL CONSISTENCY.
Paul from Longmont, CO
After 43 years and nothing significant to offer, isn't it time to retire?
That's a great question for our reader comments section to answer. Feel free to respond there.
