Steve from Scranton, PA

Mike, a very Happy Thanksgiving to you, Wes and your families! Thanks for all you do throughout the year. Personally I've come to really enjoy lying on the couch watching Sunday Night Football while reviewing the game blog, reading your post-game articles and checking out the videos, especially Coach LaFleur's locker room speech and his one-on-one interview with Larry. But it's crazy to think the Packers' next Sunday afternoon game is Dec. 29 at MIN, and may well be flexed. What the heck?

One at a time …

Caleb from Knoxville, TN

What's your favorite Packers-Dolphins game historically?

I've only covered a handful, but that final drive in Miami in 2014 was really something.

Doug from Woodington, OH

I'll be up very early Thursday preparing for a 1:30 p.m. family meal. As much as I'm looking forward to gathering with loved ones, I'm also excited to tune into the game and follow the live blog action with Spoff. A proper way to end a special day. With that, what do the Dolphins do well that GB must have an answer for on Thanksgiving?

They run away from you, with or without the ball in their hands. With the ball in their hands, the Packers must tackle well. Missed tackles lead to ruptured plays. Without the ball in their hands, the Packers must communicate to adequately handle bunch formations at the line and smoothly pass off assignments in zone.

Sean from Boulder, CO

Lots of variables defensively for the Packers Thursday. Everyone knows Hill but we do a pretty good job of preventing the long strike. My concern is Waddle is his array of elite routes and Achane out of the backfield. Those two can absolutely destroy defenses focusing on Hill. Not to mention, Smith has had a career year thus far. Do you think they try to take the game to Tua or stay back and hope they can cover for three seconds before the standard rush gets there? Pick your poison, I guess.

I expect the Dolphins, especially in the cold, to throw quick passes underneath, or WR screens, etc., and let their playmakers play. As I said on "Unscripted," these guys are the masters at turning 5-yard passes into 25-yard gains. If you blitz on a play Tua is taking a three-step drop and getting the ball out right away, you're really vulnerable to the run after catch.

Rob from Springfield, IL

Good morning II. As we approach Thanksgiving and prepare for the Dolphins, what kind of insight can you provide on Miami's D? Seems like we hear a lot (and deservedly so) about the talented offense, but do not hear much about the D. I like the way the running game looked against the 49ers and feel like if we can keep that up, we will be hard to beat against anyone.

Miami's defense is just solid across the board, ranked in or near the top 10 in the league in every major category – yards and points per game, opponent passer rating, third down, red zone. There isn't some glaring weakness. But Buffalo put up 30 points on them twice, and the Bills are built a lot like the Packers when it comes to explosive plays.

Aaron from Miami, FL

Hey fellas, as a Packers fan living in south Florida, I've watched my share of Tua. He seems to have trouble with the handle in cold or rainy weather. I joke with my Dolphins fan friend that it due to his tiny Tua hands. Let's hope my observations hold true on Thursday!

Tua's throwing hand actually measures 10 inches, just slightly smaller than Josh Allen's and Aaron Rodgers' (both 10 1/8). He's determined to crack the narrative about him being winless when it's under 40 degrees, and these guys played in absolutely arctic conditions last January in Kansas City, so I don't expect 20 degrees to bother them much.

Mike from Sun Prairie, WI

The Wing-T offense concepts are really opening up the running game. We all know this but Matt LaFleur is a tireless offensive schemer that deserves more credit. Limiting the time a defense has to read and react to pre-snap movements is pure genius, stops them from playing fast. That's the idea behind these formations right?

That and distracting their eyes with potential threats that don't pertain to who's actually getting the ball.

Jackson from Wausau, WI

Good morning Spoff, are we seeing an elite running back renaissance in the NFL? Perhaps I'm a prisoner of the moment, but it sure feels like many of the top teams have that elite running back that is putting up huge numbers this year and fueling their offensive output. Is the NFL slowly shifting back to pounding the rock like before the pass-happy mid-2000s began?

It'll feel like a renaissance until once again teams will hesitate to pay top dollar to a running back in his upper 20s, which is usually smart business but always has its exceptions. Barkley turns 28 in a couple months and Henry is almost 31, but here we are. I doubt the Eagles or Ravens envisioned those guys topping 1,300 rushing yards by Thanksgiving, but that's how their seasons have unfolded and they're riding the hot hands for all they're worth.

Craig from Appleton, WI

If the Giants don't give Daniel Jones the big contract after beating the Vikings in the playoffs, is Xavier McKinney a Packer right now?

Interesting question. Impossible to answer.

Justin from Thousand Oaks, CA

Craziest part of the McKinney signing is he might not even be the best free-agent pickup from the Giants this year. I don't have a ton of sympathy for Giants fans (too many painful playoff memories), but man, that can't feel good to watch TWO guys you didn't re-sign having Pro Bowl-worthy seasons, if not MVP-worthy in the case of Barkley.

There's still a long way to go to see what Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes do from here on out, but it would be a nice change of pace to see a non-QB win the MVP again. It's been 12 years, and Adrian Peterson is the only one since 2006.

Bryan from Edgerton, WI

Why are the Vikings doing so well when they were predicted to do poorly?

Because Kevin O'Connell and Brian Flores are tremendous coaches on their respective sides of the ball, and they've been able to take a process that normally doesn't work – jettisoning a bunch of homegrown talent and replacing it with a bevy of free-agent signings – and make it work.

Steve from Ankeny, IA

I have three TVs in my garage/party room. My sons and I were watching the Vikings/Bears, Chiefs/Panthers and Texans/Titans as those games came to a close. Missed field goals, long passes, "almost" comebacks, to the point that two of those games were attempting an onside kick at the exact same time! My son finally spoke up and said, "What is going on!" You guys talk about it being a crazy game sometimes, man are you right. Gotta love this game.

And the nuttiest game of them all was Cowboys/Commanders, with 41 points scored in the last nine minutes. Mercy.

Bill from Coeur d'Alene, ID

I know this is a strange time to ask this question, after the big win against the 49ers, but what would've happened if the NFL had ruled that the field goal block vs. Chicago was illegal a few days after the game was done? Would it simply acknowledge that the call was incorrect or would the game be changed to a tie or something else? It did, after all, result in deciding the outcome of the game.

The NFL could've said the Packers committed a half dozen infractions that the officials missed on the play but it wouldn't have mattered. The outcome wasn't changing. Were you not around for the Fail Mary? The league announced Golden Tate should've been called for offensive pass interference, and then what spoke even louder was resolving the collective bargaining dispute with the officials' union less than 48 hours later.

Conner from Des Moines, IA

San Francisco was called for 12 men on the field twice on the same drive. The officials allowed the first play to continue but blew the second play dead. The defensive player was trying to leave the field on the first play and the defense was set with 12 players on the second play. Does the rule create a distinction between when a defense is set with 12 men and when the defense is making a substitution, or is there another explanation for this apparent discrepancy?

No, that's the explanation. They changed the rule several years ago and started blowing plays dead with 12 defenders on the field (when no one's trying to get off) so teams couldn't intentionally do it late in games to kill clock and guard against a big play. Something similar came up in college with Oregon earlier this season and the NCAA quickly adjusted its rule.

Tyler from Cross Plains, WI

Hey guys, just wanted to chime in on the Eli Manning HOF debate. I don't think you can leave him out, not only did he win two Super Bowls, he was the MVP in both of those games. Super Bowls is what it's all about, right? How can you not include a guy who went 2-0 in the big game, and was the MVP both times? With this being a passing league now, we're going to start seeing some gaudy passing numbers from a lot of QBs, but the number of players with two Super Bowl MVPs will be a short list.

It's only got six names on it – Brady (5), Mahomes (3), Montana (3), Bradshaw, Starr and Eli Manning. As Wes said, we aren't going to resolve the debate in this column, but his two Super Bowl MVPs when Brady was the opposing QB are hands down the strongest arguments in his favor.

Rod from Chugiak, AK

I wouldn't give a cold half pinch of last year's bear scat for what it took Detroit to "earn" their present roster. Seventeen total wins over four years ('18-'22) to amass such a gluttonous horde of top-echelon draft capital just ain't worth all the disgust and hopelessness. Give me what year in, year out earns GB our usual back-end picks.

What should be pointed out is two of the top 10 draft picks the Lions accumulated during that time – Jeff Okudah (No. 3 overall) and T.J. Hockenson (No. 8) – aren't even part of what Detroit's got going now, and another – Aidan Hutchinson (No. 2) – is on IR. The current Lions are a lot more than a collection of high draft picks.

Andy from Danvers, IL

On Sunday our seats were in the end zone opposite of where the Packers were driving towards to end the first half. On the throw to Christian Watson, we were in perfect position to see him get a few steps on his man, but unfortunately he did not make the catch. The thing that impressed me most about that play was as soon as he dropped it, Doubs sprinted over to encourage him to keep his head up and walked off the field with him. Hopefully Romeo Doubs heals up and is able to get back in the mix soon!

The tightness of that receiver group isn't just a bunch of happy talk. It's real, and it helped navigate the Doubs situation earlier as well as continues to contribute to getting Wicks back to being the player everyone saw late last season.

Dave from Comer, GA

I know there is no math in the Inbox, but when was the last time we had nearly double the amount of runs vs. passes? (42-23) That's almost 65%!

How soon we forget. Back in Week 2 vs. Indy, the Packers ran the ball 53 times and passed it 14, with Malik Willis at QB.

Alex from Lucketts, VA

Thanks for another WYMM. I'd like to thank our receivers who are constantly blocking hard. I think it was Deebo who could've fooled or engaged Keisean Nixon, but instead took a snap off and let Nixon realize and run free to cause the fumble. Not getting the full 22 view at home, is it more common than I realize for a WR to take plays off?

Probably.

Ken from Oceanport, NJ

Four wins versus AFC South, one against a Rams team without Kupp and Naqua, one against the Niners without their starting QB, the Bears and Cardinals. Three losses against the Eagles, Vikings and Lions. That doesn't reflect a true 8-3 record. We need to start having quality wins. Your thoughts?

There's no committee selecting the playoff field, so the resume doesn't matter come January. What matters is how healthy you are and how well you're playing. Until then you rack up the wins you can and jockey for position. I will say, though, that Houston came as close as anyone in the last two months to beating Detroit, while the Cardinals have beaten the 49ers (with Purdy), Dolphins (with Tua) and Chargers. So I'm not discounting those wins by any stretch. The Packers pummeled the first-place Vikings in Week 17 of 2022 for a quality win. How'd that work out?

Jack from Moweaqua, IL

With the way the division is playing out, Miami on a three-game bender, and us trying to match that, this week should be fun. ML always talks about stacking wins, so how can a team carry over that confidence in a short week? This is a hungry/dangerous team we are about to face, and I believe this is the most crucial game of the season so far. Thoughts?

"So far" is the operative phrase there. But this one is big, for sure. Two teams with momentum and plenty to play for with the whole country watching. Should be a ton of fun.

Paul from Phoenix, AZ

Gentlemen, a succinct, but heartfelt, thanks to you and your families this Thanksgiving for all you provide this old Packers fan.

Back at you, and by you I mean everybody. Happy Wednesday.