William from Chugwater, WY
Vic, you mention perspective a lot in this column and I think as Packers fans we need to use a little perspective when looking at Green Bay's defensive performance yesterday. To me, it was obvious Dom Capers was not going to let Marshall and Jeffery beat him. They had 58 yards combined. I would much rather Chicago give the ball to Bennett and Forte than to their more explosive WRs. What are your thoughts?
Pick your poison? I don't know if that was it. Maybe it was the players assigned to Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery that should get the credit. Coach Capers is a huge stop-the-run guy. He has long preached it all begins with stopping the run and making an offense one-dimensional. The Packers defense did not succeed at doing that on Sunday; the Packers offense made the Bears one-dimensional.
Antoine from Quebec, Canada
I was just wondering why Dom Capers kept a very light box (two defensive linemen, four linebackers) when his defense was getting run over?
That two-down-linemen nickel was just one of the looks the Packers used on Sunday. I saw 4-3, 3-4 and variations of both. Coach Capers emptied his bag on the Bears. When the Bears went with that four-wide look, with Martellus Bennett split wide, they sometimes motioned Matt Forte out of the backfield and went empty, and you don't want to get caught light on the back end against that strategy. I didn't see anything that smacked of a bad look.
Dan from De Pere, WI
We attended the game at Soldier Field yesterday. Our seats were in the nosebleeds and we were joined by several other Packers fans. During halftime, Packers President Mark Murphy made his way all the way up to the top level and personally greeted Packers fans and thanked them for coming. He was very polite and patient. He took several photos, some even with Bears fans. He even stayed and watched the game halfway into the third quarter. It was one of the classiest moves I have witnessed in professional sports. This is an example of why the Packers are one of the best organizations in all of professional sports. Packers fans everywhere have good reason to be proud.
The Packers celebrate their fans more than any team in the league, maybe in all of professional sports. I think the Packers Everywhere pep rallies are an example of that.
Jesse from Cortland, NY
What is your take on what happened to our run defense?
It got blocked. So, I guess the run defense is the issue of the week. Fortunately, it's a short week. I have a feeling the Packers are going to do everything perfectly this week, and the big question next week will be: Vic, are we peaking too early?
Joshua from Mankato, MN
Now that the offense is fixed, I'm sure some fans will again be criticizing the defense for all the rushing yards they surrendered. Do you think it's counterproductive to view a team in this bifurcated manner? Offensive and defensive performances are intertwined, are they not?
Yes, bifurcating is a problem. The bifurcating must stop, and it begins with stopping the bifurcaters. I am officially proclaiming this "Ban Bifurcating Week."
Milton from Midland, MI
Vic, if you were going to assign a Packers MVP for the month of September, who would be your picks on offense and defense? I believe Corey Linsley and Sam Shields have been playing lights out. What are your thoughts?
My pick on defense would be Shields. My pick on offense would be Aaron Rodgers for his performance against the Bears. I think we'll look back on yesterday's game as a turning point in the Packers season. It might be an exaggeration to say it was a season saver, but I don't think it's an exaggeration to say it reversed the fortunes of this football team. I shudder to think what "Ask Vic" would be this week had the Packers lost to the Bears.
