Inbox: He's a treat to watch

Andy from Lowell, MI

Any word from Vic recently? Last I remember he had moved to western NC, and latest news reports about that region are pretty bleak. Praying for the folks there having to put their lives back together.

Several asked about Vic, so here's the update I got from him via text message: I live a mile from the SC border, so I was just on the better side of the insanity line. We got 10 inches of rain; Asheville got 30. Couple trees down, house OK, big cleanup, no power. Huge storm.

Jeff from Athens, WI

The first four weeks of the season seem like a mini season of its own. Wins, losses, injuries, players returning from injuries. Hopefully things become less adventurous as the season goes on. I'll take the wins and players returning from injuries. The Packer opponents can have the rest.

Good luck with that.

Alex from Salt Lake City, UT

I feel like things are never as bad as they seem and never as good as they seem. The headlines get dominated by the team that makes (or gets lucky) one or two plays a game. That being said, what are the keys to beating the Rams?

The Rams are shorthanded on offense and kicking a lot of field goals lately. Keep them on that trend, don't turn the ball over, and I like the Packers' chances.

Matt from Bloomington, IN

How do you explain our franchise quarterback being 0-2 and our backup quarterback being 2-0? It's the NFL was a fine answer from Wes. That being said, the opponents in those games matter too. I recently told a friend that sometimes I wish we could play the AFC South every week.

My answer to the original question is simply this: The teams that beat the Packers scored 34 and 31 points. The teams that lost to the Packers scored 10 and 14. It's a team game.

Steve from Houston, TX

There have been four games in the NFL this season where a team has scored 29 point or more and lost. The Packers have played in two of them. If you're looking to Jordan Love's performance for the reasons the Packers are 2-2, are you looking in the right place?

This, too. Love has turned the ball over too much, but unfortunately, he wasn't able to make the usual strides from a first game of the season to a second due to the injury interruption. I'm willing to be patient here.

Ryan from Baldwin, WI

What is your opinion on if Jordan Love should have sat out against the Vikings?

I gave mine in Monday’s column.

John from Byron, MN

Spoff implied this and I thought it made a lot of sense. Love played tentative to start, favoring the knee. As the game went on he seemed to forget about it more and let loose. Is learning to play injured (but healthy enough) an important step for a pro?

What a concept.

Brian from Madison, WI

Last year, when the Lions beat the Packers 34-20 at Lambeau, you discussed the game as showing the gap the Packers needed to close to be a top-tier team. Do you see the Vikings game the same way? If so, is the gap the size of the 28-0 lead the Vikings had in the second quarter, or the two-point final score?

I get where you're coming from, but I don't draw a parallel between those two particular contests. Last Sunday's game was just bizarre on so many levels I don't think it really says much about where the Packers are or where they're going.

Larry from Green Valley, AZ

Did you watch the Ravens Sunday night? Quite the mix of speed, athleticism and talent. DeCosta may be the best GM in the NFL. Too bad Gute cannot come close. Wish we had John Schneider back. GB is totally undisciplined.

The Ravens are 2-2, too, and have two playoff wins over the last six seasons to the Packers' four.

Hannes from Glendale, WI

Mike, I felt on the play Christian Watson was injured and another one in the second quarter where Tucker Kraft was blown up at full speed, Love could have avoided putting his receivers in harm's way. Aaron Rodgers sometimes mused about this and I haven't noticed it from Love before Sunday. Did you see what I think I saw or were these just the cost of trying to move the chains in the NFL?

I thought that initially on the Watson play until I heard LaFleur describe it in detail Monday and went back and looked at the film. The Vikings LB Grugiere-Hill is dropping into a Tampa-2 look and is expected to turn and run with the deep middle route, which is Musgrave, to clear out for Watson on the cross. But he didn't. The LB stopped and cut across on the throw to Watson. It's just a helluva play. If anything, Love drew him there with his eyes instead of looking him off longer on Luke Musgrave. On the Kraft play, if I recall correctly, it was on third-and-18, down 21-0. Gotta try to make something happen there.

TR from Manawa, WI

Against the Packers' defense, QBs have the most time in the pocket in the league and second most time before throwing. The Packers' pass-rush win rate is the lowest in the league. What do you make of this?

They were rushing in a very contained, controlled fashion in the first two games against running threats in Hurts and Richardson. We saw what the pass rush is capable of in Tennessee. The Vikings were much better in protection than the Titans and seemed prepared for the Packers' repeated stunts up front with the straight four-man rush. I think it's time to get back to winning one-on-ones.

Nick from Plainwell, MI

Good morning Insiders! LaFleur mentioned Monday how the front four weren't getting home. The blitzes Hafley dialed up seemed to help in the second half but we can't always be blitzing. I think Gary has especially been a little underwhelming since the second half of last year. We are now four games in, what have you seen that maybe us TV watchers don't see?

With the Packers coming off an eight-sack game, the Vikings chipped on the edges and helped with their running backs. They geared up to protect. Down two of its top four corners, Green Bay's coverage didn't hold up long enough often enough. It was a bad mix and Darnold wasn't missing much.

Tom from Baraga, MI

Not a complaint on the kicker. I like him. BUT all his misses were the same kick 35-45 yards and just to the right. I feel since all are similar this should be a fairly simple fix. But this is Week 4 and it is still there. What does he need to address in order to fix this? In other words what does he need to change?

He needs to make kicks. Mason Crosby always used to say, "My job is to make kicks." Full stop. I have no interest in analyzing it any further.

Ken from Arvada, CO

In my lifetime, I've had the opportunity to see many great Packers receivers. The ones that stand out to me as being the best of the best are James Lofton, Sterling Sharpe and Davante Adams. They ran their routes with an effortless grace and precision. Jayden Reed appears to be cut from similar cloth. How do the four compare when they were at the point Reed is in his career? Thanks and GPG.

I'm not going to go there because as Wes and I discussed on our latest "Unscripted," I don't think there's any comparison for the type of player Reed is. He's just different. It's not about the stats. It's about what he brings to the game and to the team, and while those other guys are distinguished/should-be/sure-fire Hall of Famers, Reed is still different. He's a treat to watch in a way I can't fully describe.

Mark from Austin, TX

Tuesday's submissions are more of what I expected from Packer fans. Did Love come back too early? If the kicker hadn't missed those FGs....ignoring that the defense allowed 28 points in the first half. Cooper seems to be making big plays with limited snaps. Why do you think he is not seeing more playing time?

He didn't get the reps in training camp and the preseason due to injury, which left him a lot of catching up to do. For example, he lined up on the wrong side of the defensive formation in Brazil, and Saquon Barkley ran right through where he was supposed to be for a touchdown. So there's work to do. We're not privy to how the coaches are catching him up because we don't get to watch any 11-on-11 practice snaps in the regular season, but I trust they have a plan for bringing him along and his playing time will not remain static.

Scott from Sauk City, WI

Other than Minnesota being 4-0 at this point, what has surprised you the most at this point in the season, and why is it Jayden Daniels? I give honorable mention to Justin Fields and the Steelers. On the flip side, I'm starting to worry about the temperature of the seat under old friend Mike McCarthy. I legitimately feel bad for him.

I did not have Washington sitting atop the NFC East at the season's sort-of quarter pole, that's for sure. Same with Pittsburgh and the AFC North. I also didn't expect Jacksonville to be 0-4. I thought with a Super Bowl-winning coach and up-and-coming QB the Jaguars would rebound from last season's late collapse. They have not, and that club has now gone 1-9 in its last 10 games dating back to last December. Yikes. As for McCarthy, I don't think leaving him hanging on an expiring, lame-duck contract is the right way to treat a coach who has won 12 regular-season games each of the last three years. But he will have collected anywhere from $20-35 million from the Cowboys (specifics of his five-year deal in Dallas weren't disclosed, only reported as $4-7 million per year), so I stop short of sympathy.

Gary from Davenport, IA

Here's another example of how useless preseason strength of schedule rankings are. When the opponents were announced, I had hoped to see Washington on the schedule. After four weeks, I am now glad Washington is not on the schedule. Do you think they could win their division? The NFC East has not had a repeat winner since 2004, so we can rule out Dallas this year.

That division will remain up in the air for quite a while. Four of Washington's last seven games are against Dallas and Philly.

Dave from Ankeny, IA

Can you explain the difference between a "muff" and a fumble and why one can be advanced and not the other? This has probably been covered before but I missed it.

A muff can't be advanced because the player guilty of the muff never had possession of the ball.

Arthur from Franklin, MA

Hi Insiders, adding to the discussion on the decision to defer to start the game, if the defense gets that interception, it looks like a great decision. I wonder if the coaches felt they had a chance to "steal" a possession to start the game and give their rusty QB a little cushion. For what it's worth, I like the idea that the decision to defer or receive is strategic based on the opponent and not just a default choice.

That's how LaFleur has always done it. There's always a reason based on the opponent, the game plan, something.

Steve from Scranton, PA

Mike, you often say the NFL is a "week-to-week" league, and that's how teams are judged (as Bill Parcells famously stated). I'll go further…given players' supreme athleticism, high-level coaching and overall team parity, it's literally become a "play-to-play" league. Nowadays, a backup RB or TE can bust a big play as quickly as a WR1, and a blitzing CB can make a strip-sack and score defensively. I truly believe if McDuffie holds onto the INT on the first drive, it's a completely different game.

That's why I always say the margins are forever small. Wicks had a chance for a great fourth-down catch on the goal line in the third quarter, couldn't come up with it. A ball tipped twice got picked and was returned to the 4-yard line. All the Vikings returner has to do is catch the punt, or just get away from it. I could go on forever. The list is endless after any given game.

Bob from Fredericksburg, VA

Good morning gentlemen, I couldn't help but ponder the irony of Jordan paying homage to Favre by wearing his jersey pregame. And then putting up Favre like stats with the four TDs and three picks. Woulda been nice to get the win though. But the way he kept slinging it while fighting through the injury, kinda took me back a bit.

All true.

Patrick from Charlotte, NC

The NFC North is the only division in the NFL that has every team with a positive point differential after four games. Whichever ever team ends up on top when it is all said and done will have to earned it.

The NFC North is a collective 11-5 thus far. Only one other division has more than eight total wins – the AFC West with 10.

Josh from Seattle, WA

When it comes to the secondary market of tickets, that box cannot be closed. It makes too much money for too many fans. If you are upset about how Lambeau can fill up with other colors, think about this: they are all traveling tourist to historic Lambeau Field boosting the local economy and enjoying the NFL experience. Also, have you seen the home crowds for the Rams? Let us be grateful and enjoy the game without complaining.

I hear you, but nobody brags about the Rams' fan base. I will be curious how many Packers fans will be at SoFi on Sunday, though. Hopefully the team can capitalize on the situation.

George from Findlay, OH

Could last Sunday have caused a wider expression of emotions? Frustration, despair, hope, elation and finally disappointment. In the end it was another loss to those darn old Vikings.

And another opponent awaits. Happy Wednesday.