James from Geneva, IL

We're basically a fourth of the way through the season, so what observations and assessments can be made about the 2024 Packers thus far? I'd argue their record is what it should be given their performance which can be described as: inconsistent, up and down, opportunistic, mistake-prone, unfocused, efficient, undisciplined and interesting. What say you?

That pretty much sums it up, though there are more positives than you wrote. The Packers show promise, but corrections are needed to turn potential into performance. While Green Bay is fishing from the same 2-2 boat it was last year at this time, the offense is more explosive, and the defense is generating takeaways at an historic clip. Just gotta get the band playing on the same beat.

Keith from Fishers, IN

I know on any day, any one of the receivers could be the "star." I also know there is no "No. 1" in the depth chart. But Jayden Reed sure seems to have shown that he is the most valuable receiver. He can run, he can catch, he's fast, he can block; just an all-round football player. I'm wondering if his athleticism would also translate into being able to throw the ball. I'd love to see him pull up on a sweep and hit Christian Watson or even Jordan Love (or Malik Willis?) with a pass. Any insight on whether he can throw?

I'm too impressed by how Reed catches the ball to ask whether he can throw it. He's special. Reed makes the extraordinary look ordinary. Those are elite traits when it comes to receiver play. The more plays Reed makes, the more the Packers can keep expanding the playbook.

Jason from Austin, TX

I have to believe that if this game happened two weeks from now, Love would have looked a lot better. Love was (is?) still in preseason form while the Vikings' defense is in peak-season condition. As much as Love balled out, there were a lot of throws that were either low, or behind the receivers. If he hits them in stride, those are much bigger plays. I'm glad he was able to play. The rust had to come off eventually. I think he'll look sharper next week.

I agreed, but the offense's failures don't fall solely on Love. As a team, that game was the definition of leaving plays out there. The Packers needed more guys stepping up like Reed did.

Craig from Milwaukee, WI

Do you think Love should have sat one more week? I know he was rusty.

No, he was cleared and healthy to play. Hopefully, Love shook off whatever rust he needed to and is back in rhythm against Los Angeles.

Bill from Wilmington, DE

Wes, I totally agree with Mike that the first defensive possession was a critically bad one. Missed INT, convert third-and-14, next throw TD – then offensively drive down and miss kick. Tone-setter for sure. Allowing long third-down conversions must stop!

When there's an opportunity to make a play, you gotta make it. The opening series featured a dropped interception and the defense failing to get off the field on third-and-14. No bueno.

Venny from Montgomery, AL

There were way too many disappointing moments in the game, but I found myself the most disappointed after the Packers cut the lead to six with plenty of time to spare and the defense allowed a long drive for the Vikings to extend the lead to nine. The defense was playing markedly better in the second half and just forced a fumble that the offense capitalized on. I expected the defense to be on fire the drive following the two-point conversion, but the Vikes iced them.

It's tough to keep a good offense with a creative play-caller down, but that was the tough defensive series for Green Bay. Credit to Kevin O'Connell. He trusted his quarterback to make throws, kept the foot on the gas, and let Justin Jefferson do his thing.

Richard from Woodruff, WI

Hi guys. Well, we won the coin toss and gave Minnesota the football. I thought that we would choose to receive. Did that put us at a disadvantage even before the kickoff? Yes, speculation and hindsight. Thanks.

That surprised me, though it's kind of 50/50 at this point what Green Bay will do. The Packers deferred in Weeks 15-16 last season against Tampa Bay and Carolina.

Kevin from Hermansville, MI

Being a longtime registered high school basketball official, when certain game situations occur, you are looking to the bench for the coach to call a timeout. How everyone on that crew missed the fact that Matt LaFleur wanted a timeout is unheard of! As an official, if you miss that you just say sorry coach…you don't give him a technical foul!

Bill Vinovich and his crew had a rough day, further evidenced by how the Vikings needed to challenge several catches/non-catches to get the call on the field correct. It happens. But the NFL still needs to take a hard look at how its officials impact a game. That sequence at the end of the first half featured way too much Vinovich and Co., and too little football.

Steve from Halifax, Canada

I get that the youth movement requires patience and some unearned losses. To me Tucker Kraft is a perfect example of why you stay the course. He's going to be a standout tight end in an offense that places a premium on TEs. Notwithstanding he made two glaring errors. A hold and a fumble, when going out of bounds was the correct answer. I'm a rabid fan. I must learn patience and I do love ML's fire. How could this not be the perfect leader for a group of young "dawgs."

Kraft leaves it all out on the field and his rapid development often can make it easy to forget he's still only 23. It ain't always gonna be perfect, but Kraft is the type of player you want lined up next to you. He is going to be a fan favorite here for years to come.

Scott from La Crosse, WI

I have a question about the play preceding LaFleur's penalty. Romeo Doubs caught the ball with his feet in the end zone, so why wasn't that considered a TD? I get the ball didn't cross the line, but if the QB throws a fade to the sideline or out of the endzone it is considered a TD if the receiver's feet are in bounds. Since Doubs established himself in the end zone prior to the catch, I would think that should be considered at TD also. I understand we scored anyways, but at the time didn't understand.

It's not considered a catch if the receiver double-clutches the ball on the sideline, though. The goal-line play would've been a TD if Doubs didn't bobble it. The officials correctly ruled he re-established possession at the 1. I took issue with everything that happened after that.

Paul from Winchester, VA

Going into the half, I wasn't feeling very optimistic about the second half. They were down big, and the muffed punt was the only good thing that had happened. MLF had lost his cool and taken a penalty in that timeout situation. I was worried that a young team would likely fall apart even more mentally in those circumstances. Even though a division loss hurts, the game left me feeling better than I expected when exactly the opposite happened. They came back out and climbed back into it. Resilience!

Reed picked his team up after the penalty, which is what good teams do. What good teams don't do is hurt themselves with penalties and miscues. If they can shore up the loose ends, the Packers can be a contender in a wide-open NFC.

Ray from Phoenix, AZ

So many improved teams in the NFC which makes the road for the wild card a real challenge. Ten of our last 13 games are against NFC teams. It is early, but the two losses to conference teams has put GB in a bit of a hole. Those NFC games are almost must-win games. Am I wrong?

Wins are wins however you get them, but conference record is one of the top tiebreakers for playoff spots/seeding. So yeah, it would behoove the Packers to get that first NFC win Sunday.

Geoffrey from Claremont, NH

So, we let go of a very promising kicker that we drafted in Anders Carlson. We played the competition game with his brain, dumped him, then dumped his replacement, and hired a guy who has a worse FG % than Carlson. To all of this LaFleur says "rookies have problems." How stupid is that?

The Packers gave Carlson all 2023 and a full offseason in 2024 to show progress. There weren't enough markers to continue that arrangement. Today, he's still a free agent. If Green Bay misread something there, so is the rest of the NFL as we speak.

Rob from Spring Lake, NJ

When fans question MLF's expressed confidence in No. 44, they clearly have never taken Psychology 101. Publicly criticizing him, or questioning his abilities, will only give him more "fear of failure," which you should never add to your kicker's mindset. You have to "have confidence"... until he is no longer your kicker. In other words, don't confuse expressed confidence with continued commitment.

If you don't want to go to psychology class, take note of what happened in Minnesota with Mike Zimmer all those years. Brayden Narvesoncan kick the snot out of the ball. He is a good kicker worth developing. Like anything, it's up to Narveson to respond in a positive way to this adversity.

Zachary from Waupun, WI

I'm not overly concerned with the team, but obviously kicker is a concern. I know they don't grow on trees otherwise Brian Gutekunst would've fixed it by now. What's the solution if any?

First, you gotta take the emotion out of it and look at everything objectively. It's a production-based business. Hopefully, Narveson amps up the production soon.

John from Elgin, IL

If our kicker hits one field goal, we win.

That's easy to say, but a bunch of other stuff also happened.

Michael from Morrison, IL

The injuries to Christian Watson and Devonte Wyattare very frustrating, and I hope they return to the field sooner rather than later. However, we as a fan base do have to take heart in the fact that the Packers have great depth at both positions.

That's true. LaFleur didn't have an update on Wyatt when asked Monday. There is a chance next Sunday could be the first time a defensive lineman on the 53-man roster misses a game due to injury in two years. Wyatt missed the London game on Oct. 6, 2022, due to a quadricep injury.

Wayne from Stevens Points, WI

So many fans wanted to see Jaire Alexander line up against Justin Jefferson. Too bad he has injured himself during practice two of the last three times this matchup was scheduled. Should the Packers excuse him from practice in the weeks before top competition? A second question. Does the Packers' offense improve once Watson gets hurt? Seems impossible as he is the man for which defenses have to account.

The Packers' offense definitely loses something without Watson on the field, but Green Bay has weathered these storms before. Having Bo Melton and Malik Heath as reserves helps. Like last year when Watson was out with the hamstring, Melton was running a lot of the deep developing routes in the second half.

Dave from Rockford, IL

How do you explain our franchise quarterback being 0-2 and our backup quarterback being 2-0?

It's the National Football League?

Pat from Hudson, WI

With all of the strong and accurate legs we see in college football on Saturdays, why are the Packers having so much trouble finding one to kick for them on Sundays? Don't get me wrong, I couldn't make a 1-yard FG off a tee with no one contesting it, but I'm a 65-year-old fat man, not a 25-year-old athlete. I just don't get it.

First, the physical act of kicking is hard to do. Even if you have the ability, it's one of the most pressure-packed jobs in all of sports. While you may think there are a ton of college kickers with strong, accurate legs, it's rare to find many with more than an 80% career accuracy in college. When there is one from a big program, they get drafted in the third round like Jake Moody last year.

Dan from Algonquin, IL

Hi Wes, I'm already on to the Rams game. My brother is heading to LA to see the game with his kids, and I'll be vacationing in northwestern Wisconsin with friends and my other brother. The Rams are not happy they lost to an anemic Bears team, and we're not happy we gifted a win to the Vikings in Green Bay. Which team is closer to a breakout game Sunday?

The Packers, for sure. LA is a hurting unit right now, especially at receiver. The Rams have avoided 0-4 thanks to a narrow win over a banged-up San Francisco squad.

Jeffery from Brooklyn, WI

As hard as it was to watch this game, it still had its bright spots. This has to be a game to watch the film and basically learn from it. Can you think of another game that went so wrong but still in the game at the end?

The 2020-21 NFC Championship Game.

Gary from Neenah, WI

Asking for a friend, and me too. Why was the game on CBS rather than FOX? It doesn't really matter but I thought all NFC games were on FOX if both teams were from the NFC.

I believe it's a result of "cross-flexing" to keep games balanced between FOX and CBS. Those traditional FOX/NFC and CBS/AFC lines have been blurred. In fact, Sunday was actually the third straight week the Vikings were on CBS.

Rico from Seattle, WA

After the Packers scored to close the gap to 28-20, why did LaFleur decide to go for a two-point conversion rather than extra point? They made it, but one point was all that was needed to keep it a one-score game.

Playing to win the game. With how the analytics department is structured, I'm sure the odds of converting at least one of the two two-point tries favored the Packers.

Bob from Rome, NY

Wes, it looks like some season ticketholders don't bleed green and gold, just green (or plastic). Extremely disappointing with the amount of purple in the stands from what I could see on TV. Thank you!

It doesn't surprise me anymore. I'm kind of numb to it at this point.

Tyler from Stetsonville, WI

In a week of great news for my family I was informed that I won tickets and sideline passes to the Packers game on Oct. 13 through Packers Perks! To say I am excited is an understatement! I have been to Lambeau many times, but THIS will be a new experience. I cannot wait. I was telling my wife (who is coming with me and wanted a fall game to go to) that if there was a game that'd work this is it. We also sort of met at Lambeau, so the Packers have been quite good to us! Hope to see both of you there.

That's awesome to hear. Our Packers Everywhere squad does a tremendous job of connecting with fans and bringing them closer to the team. I hope you have a blast.

Matt from Fitchburg, WI

Quarter 1, we're in a tight spot. Quarter 2, we're in a real tight spot.

My hair.