Inbox: Nobody in that locker room cares

Jack from Moweaqua, IL

I want to see this team get healthy and begin to stack success and what better place for it to start than in Seattle. I didn't realize the Pack haven't won there since '08! Is there any credence given to going there and having that in the back of their minds? It hasn't been friendly to say the least.

Hey there, it's me for a second straight day. Then Wes is going to take the con for a couple days. To your question, nobody in that locker room cares. Not a single one of them was part of the game that shan't be discussed, and only two ( Kenny Clark and Jaire Alexander) were Packers the last time Green Bay played there, in '18.

Jake from Herriman, UT

Mike, last year, once the offense got going, they made it look effortless in a lot of games. I don't feel like they've ever looked that way this year – even in their best performances. Do you feel the same way? Any idea why that might be? How to fix it?

I think the Dallas playoff game has skewed your view into thinking it was so "effortless" for an extended stretch last year. The Monday night loss to the Giants was rough, there were back-to-back three-and-outs in the fourth quarter at Carolina that almost ended the season, and they scored only 17 points in beating the Bears in the finale to sneak in. Last year's offense was better at minimizing mistakes, such as penalties and turnovers. This year's group is getting there, but it's not there yet. The fumble in Detroit is the only turnover in the last three games, but it was a big one. So was the red-zone flag late.

Tom from Palatine, IL

Very impressed the Packers were able to score 31 points in just 24 minutes but for complementary football that's asking an awful lot from your defense. Love the chunk plays but I think we need to even up the time of possession to give our defense a chance to catch their breath. Any thoughts?

Two of Green Bay's scoring drives in Detroit consumed 7:26 and 5:01. Two others were due to short fields. With Josh Jacobs and this running game, I think the Packers can grind it out at times, and look for explosives other times. Nothing wrong with that. The defense had 15 third downs (and five fourth downs) against the Lions. That's plenty of opportunity to get off the field.

Kevin from Kirkland, IL

Answer ". . . get the coverage to hold up a tick longer." It's hard to play tight coverage when we play so much zone defense against accurate QBs.

True, but when I watch the film I see defenders in the underneath zones with their spacing slightly off by a step or two, which creates throwing lanes. Those zone coverages can be played better with more attention to detail.

Tom from Rochester, NY

Two observations from the Lions game. First, Goff was getting the ball out quick so pass rush was not the issue in my mind. He was playing "Brady ball" by knowing exactly where he was going with the ball pre-snap. Very hard to stop that with zone coverage. Second, this was two games in a row where Jacobs is getting hit at or behind the LOS on 80% of his runs. Are teams on to our blocking schemes now? Or bad execution?

On Goff and the pass rush, that's why I talked Friday about it being such a difficult chess match against him and Ben Johnson's scheme. When I reviewed the film it was confirmed how few of the 41 pass attempts he took a full drop-back, and some bootlegs/moving pockets were mixed in there, too. As for the running game, the plays Jacobs got stuffed were split between the D-linemen making those tackles and DBs charging up from the back end. So some was execution up front, others were the Lions selling out to stop him.

Guy from Hudson, WI

Since the NFL doesn't seem to care about the quality of officiating, why isn't there a rating service for officials? PFF rates players' performance for every game, why not officials? It would help fans understand the inconsistencies better and force the NFL to address the problem.

Just as PFF doesn't always know what players' individual assignments are within a given play or scheme (particularly on defense), I suspect it knows even less about which official is responsible for every call that's made. Such a system would provide only the illusion of comprehensive knowledge for the public.

Andrew from Chicago, IL

The Lions have back-to-back playoff seasons for the first time since 1995 and all of sudden people believe the NFL rigs the games in their favor. You really can't make this stuff up.

Nope.

Ethan from La Crosse, WI

Mike said, "I'm much more inclined to question individual competence in a difficult job than personal integrity." It's good to acknowledge the tough spot the refs are in, and while I understand the point, I think it's also important to mention the NFL has numerous ways to address this, many discussed in this space, and have neglected to take meaningful action.

Agree wholeheartedly.

Brian from Urbana, IL

As one of a plethora of snobs who writes in to the Inbox, I wanted to say that I believe Mike's point about the officiating being incompetent as opposed to malicious is generally known as Hamlin's Razor.

I believe it's Hanlon's Razor, actually, which is different from Occam's Razor, but has now made its Inbox debut. Probably well overdue.

Ray from Phoenix, AZ

If Jordan Love is the most important player to the offensive team's success then to me Jaire Alexander is the most important guy on the defense. You have to have a shutdown corner. When he is not in there, I do not think GB can beat the good teams.

I won't go that far, but I'm not changing my stance that the Packers can't be at their best without one of their best players.

Kerry from Lakewood Ranch, FL

Don't you think a win over the Seahawks pretty much guarantees the Packers a playoff spot? It gives them 10 wins and the head-to-head tiebreaker against all the NFC West teams.

Could be. It might not be a mathematical certainty just yet, but darn close. We'll see what the league says when it releases playoff scenarios in a day or two, and it might be time for Path to the Playoffs.

Joseph from Harrisburg, SD

Hi from the Tucker Kraft State of SD! Would getting the sixth seed really be a bad thing for us? Get some people healthy these last four games if possible and playing a third-place schedule next year might not be such a terrible thing if Detroit and Minnesota end up with tougher schedules in 2025, would it?

The fifth seed is in all likelihood getting the NFC South champ in the first round. That's a spot worth shooting for. So just beat the Seahawks.

Mark from Appleton, WI

According to the NY Times playoff simulator, the Packers currently have a 98 percent chance of making the playoffs. Is this the time to develop secret, unscouted plays and looks during practices (thinking playoffs) while continuing to develop consistency with the current playbook?

No. It's the time to continue devising the best game plans to beat the current opponent.

Dan from Columbus, OH

I know it's probably a tad too early to think about potential playoff matchups, but it does seem like we are locked into a wild card spot. Not only that, it seems entirely possible we play again at Seattle in a month or so. With that being said do the coaches give that any thought and think about not showing everything this week? Or show them a lot of formations but plan to hit them with different plays out of the same formations?

It's not advisable to get distracted in that way, and I can't imagine LaFleur would. If a rematch were to take place, you review film of the previous meeting and build another game plan appropriately, perhaps with your last comment in mind. But there's no reason for it to be on anyone's mind this week.

Scott from Hudson, WI

Hi guys. I'm as hardcore fan as the next but I had to laugh at your response "I do think a reset after a tough loss was timely." Good grief, Lombardi is rolling over in the grave saying that reset after a loss is timely. What's needed, is the same thing that's been needed since Ron Wolf showed up, a better, consistent and championship-level defense. All the draft picks on defense and the D is still average. Two SB wins since early '90s is because of average Ds. A better defense? Please agree?

I won't argue the current Packers need to play better defense. But I take umbrage with your vast generalization regarding the last 30 years. Favre threw six INTs to lose a playoff game in '01 (STL), scored just seven points in getting bounced in '02 (ATL), and threw OT interceptions to end the '03 (PHI) and '07 (NYG) playoff runs. In the Rodgers era, two of the most heartbreaking playoff losses came when the defense got five takeaways 10 years ago (SEA) and when the offense and special teams imploded three years ago (SF) in the best postseason defensive performance of Rodgers' tenure. So saying "two SB wins since early '90s is because of average Ds" is simply not accurate. It's borderline ignorant because it disregards facts, and it's a popular narrative about this franchise due to the HOF QBs that does fans and history a disservice. Yes, there are defensive failures like fourth-and-26 sprinkled throughout the above references, too, but it's a team game. As for Lombardi and a reset, his squads played 14 regular-season games and didn't have more than one postseason contest until his last two years when the Super Bowls began. The current Packers have played 13 games and have four more to go before the playoffs. I'll stand by a reset being timely and not some admission of weakness compared to yesteryear.

Pete from Caledonia, MI

Looking at the last four games, outside of slow starts, the offense is just getting better. I see that improving every week. My fear is the defense. They not only are injured, but they seem to have severe lapses, no pressure, and when they blitz, teams seem to have figured out the screen/slant against the current LBs and slot. I don't see help on the way, in that regard. I see the O having to put up 25-35 a game to beat any decent offense. Do you see more of a "glass half full" here?

I can appreciate the perspective. Where I think the difference can be made is in the red zone, holding teams to field goals more often. The Lions' offense scored six TDs in two games against the Packers, and four of them came on fourth downs. If not fully healthy, something resembling dominant defense will be tough to play. But I think it can get enough red-zone stops to put together winning performances.

Dean from Leavenworth, IN

Goff, Darnold, Mayfield, Geno Smith. All former high first-round picks considered to be busts by the teams that drafted them. Now top 10 franchise QBs leading their current teams to the playoffs. Unprecedented? Can you think of other examples over the last 25 or so years? Do you see more of this happening in future years?

I have no idea, but in the case of the latter three, they're reminders to other clubs that in the right situation they likely have something to offer. You can't call Goff a bust, though, when he took the Rams to a Super Bowl. Yes, they moved on, but he wasn't considered a bust.

Gary from Davenport, IA

The Bills averaged 20.7 yards of offense per minute of time of possession on Sunday. The NFL seems to track records of just about everything but I wasn't sure if that one could be researched. Almost seems like a record to me. Can you imagine moving the ball at that pace and still losing?

I saw a statistic that prior to Bills-Rams on Sunday, teams in the Super Bowl era that scored six TDs and did not turn the ball over were 245-0.

Joe from Wausau, WI

Are Vikings in contention for best record ever for NFL team that did not win their division?

ATMR (WCBW), since the league merger in 1970, the best second-place record belongs to the 1999 Tennessee Titans, who went 13-3 and finished behind 14-2 Jacksonville in the AFC Central. Since the current divisional alignment was implemented in 2002, the most wins posted by a second-place team is 12, which has occurred several times.

Jeff from Lompoc, CA

When is the league going to announce it has flexed the GB-MIN game to SNF? At this point it seems like a foregone conclusion for five primetime games in a row.

The league has until a week from today to change the kickoff time for the Minnesota game, if it's going to do so.

Jerry from La Crosse, WI

In arguing that football is a reflection of society, you need look no further than the Packers. Their young roster is responsible for both the energy and enthusiasm that this team provides, but also the inexperience and lack of discipline that might keep it from its goal. The coaching staff seems to be providing responsible parenting, but the kids need to mature a little more before full potential can be realized. Here's hoping they grow up faster than my kids did, which still seemed pretty fast.

After another playoff push this month, I don't think this team can be considered so young anymore. Happy Tuesday.