Inbox: That’s a formula that rarely if ever fails

[Cheesehead]

Terry from Elk Mound, WI


I respectfully submit “Horn in the first quarter, taillights in the fourth” for II one-liner of the year. Bravo Wes!


A popular reader sentiment, and he delivered it on Christmas no less. Every once in a while as a writer you read a line you wish you’d come up with yourself.


Lynn from Butler, IN


I was pleasantly surprised to see the Inbox Wednesday. Merry Christmas. I wish you could have had Christmas off to spend the whole day with your family.


Wes finished the Christmas Day Inbox on Tuesday afternoon. I wrote this one late last night after my family had gone to bed. It’s all good, but we appreciate the consideration.


Ray from Clark, NJ


Played on Monday night. Well-deserved Christmas Day off. Travel to Detroit on Saturday. Not much time to prepare for division rival Lions. How much does this concern you?


Short weeks are always more about mental preparation anyway, and there is extra meeting time built in to the schedule the rest of the week. It’s still more prep time, and more importantly recovery time, than for a Thursday game.


Ron from Bellaire, MI


The Packers best not sleep on the Lions. From the Lions’ standpoint, the Packers are their biggest rival and they remember "hands to the face" and a "Hail Mary." They would like nothing better than to relegate the Packers to the third seed and have to play the Vikings a third time. The Lions will not sleep on Sunday afternoon. How do the Packers keep the Lions at bay?


Play clean football, make tackles, contain Kerryon Johnson in the run game and Kenny Golladay on deep balls, and spread the ball around to all your weapons on offense. That’s the long answer. The short answer is to control both lines of scrimmage like the Packers did Monday night. The two best position groups on the field in Minneapolis were Green Bay’s offensive and defensive fronts. That’s a formula that rarely if ever fails.


Tom from Fairfield, CT


While I haven't followed the Lions closely, other than a couple or so games they seem to have played every game close and competitively (just like the Packers in this sense). What is the real story with the Lions at this point?


Playing musical quarterbacks has not helped their season, obviously. They were a contender with Matthew Stafford at QB, in my opinion, because he could keep them in games despite a struggling defense. They haven’t been as competitive since taking the Bears to the wire on Thanksgiving Day. That loss seemed to sap some of their spirit.


Josh from Oshkosh, WI


What do the Lions have going for them that the Packers need to watch out for?


All their players without secure futures know this is their last chance to make an impression on the Quinn-Patricia regime that is apparently being retained for 2020.


Jordon from Dubuque, IA


I'm sitting here waiting for my traditional cinnamon rolls to cool off, reading my daily Inbox, watching a movie I've watched everyday this day for years and I've finally figured out where the “I don't know, Margo” reference is from. Merry Christmas everyone.


Better late than never I guess.


Jake from Franklin, WI


Who are the other frontrunners for Defensive Player of the Year? Do you think Z has a shot with the narrative of the Packers not having an "elite" defense?


It strikes me as a large field right now. In no particular order, Stephon Gilmore, Chandler Jones, Aaron Donald, T.J. Watt, Nick Bosa and Cameron Jordan are all contenders along with Smith. Jones and Donald are not going to the playoffs, and Watt might not either, but I don’t think that diminishes their candidacies, so the Packers’ overall rankings shouldn’t take away from Smith’s. There’s no slam-dunk choice.


Burt from Oconto Falls, WI


Couldn't help but notice Aaron Jones going up and down the sidelines apologizing to everyone for his turnover. Talk about accountability and boy did he more than make up for that mistake.


They had his back, he had theirs. There’s the label of a team and the spirit of a team. They aren’t the same thing.


Larry from Belgrade, MT


Everyone seems to be forgetting that, although highly unlikely, a tie between SF and SEA would also net us the No. 1 seed. So really, we really are just rooting for SF to NOT win.


They really, like really did play deep into overtime the first time they met, too.


Billie Jo from West Plains, MO


I was reading the injury report for our game against the Lions this week, and noticed several players listed under Wednesday’s practice as “NIR (veteran rest).” What does the NIR stand for?


Not injury-related.