Cheesehead
Well-known member
- Mar 19, 2019
- 2,854
- 0
John from Peoria, IL
What have we learned about Matt LaFleur after one regular season?
He’s a leader of men. There were seven new head coaches in the NFL this season and LaFleur is the only one leading his team into the postseason. You don’t have that kind of success without knowing your players and what motivates them.
Sam from Sun Prairie, WI
Hi Spoff and Wes, Preston Smith has been solid all year long but hasn't had as many splash plays the second half of the season. In watching the replays, it seemed like he was getting double-teamed on most plays. Why do you think this is the case instead of Za'Darius Smith?
That’s probably a small side effect of moving Za’Darius inside more. Now, it’s Preston who’s getting the extra attention outside. I doubt either Smith cares at this point as long as the defense is playing well and team is winning.
Trevor from Carmel, NY
How 'bout that Jaire Alexander? At the time, the devil on my shoulder let out a deep groan. The angel on the other side told me what a heads-up play it was. Talk about an underrated play that saved the game. He catches that ball, it's game.
A smart and heads-up play by Alexander accepting the lesser of two evil outcomes. Some players might have given up on the play once Alexander started falling, but instead he tripped up Chris Lacy and lived to play another down. Because Alexander is confident you won’t beat him again. Sure, the Lions scored three points on the drive but it wasn’t a touchdown – and that helped the Packers win the game.
JR from East Moline, IL
I thought that penalty on Alexander for tackling the ball carrier was very bad. I don't know the technicalities of the rule or what it is called, but all I saw was a smaller defender do what he had to do to get someone on the ground. I didn't see a body slam or excessive force, or anything. To me, it looked like Jaire let go once he got him going on the way to the ground.
I understood the reason behind the flag because the NFL has put an emphasis on eliminating “suplex” tackles. However, I felt like the refs were incorrect in ruling, “After the play was over…” The only thing later than that flag was the whistle. I don’t know about you guys but I didn’t hear a whistle until Danny Amendola was in the air.
Jim from Portsmouth, NH
Many times on artificial turf, one sees the release of “dark matter” as a player drags or skids his foot across the field. What is this stuff? The first of 268 photos displayed in Insider Inbox clearly shows this.
It’s called “crumb rubber.” It’s typically made up of ground up tires.
Steve from Davenport, IA
Aaron Rodgers had a lot of near misses on Sunday. Is that easily correctable in practice?
I loved the tweet Dan Orlovsky sent out Sunday night about the eight “absolutely insane/elite/ridiculous” throws” Rodgers made on Sunday. Did he miss a few along the way? Absolutely, but they’re also correctable – stepping into a throw here and timing his release there. In crunch time, he led his team to victory.
Ashley from Chicago, IL
During this bye week, how much work – if any – are the players and coaches allowed to do?
I’m pretty sure the only rule is you can’t have players practice on four consecutive days. Teams are also allowed to conduct one padded practice a week during the postseason. The rest is up to the coach’s discretion. The Packers have given the players off on Tuesday and Wednesday. They’ll then run two “quick” practices on Thursday and Friday, according to LaFleur.
Connor from Boca Raton, FL
Getting fooled on the famous "Philly Special" two weeks in a row is enough for me. Keeping an eye on the QB in those situations has to be a focus going forward as teams have seen it work twice now. I know the Saints would love to get Taysom Hill in that situation.
Fool me once, right? The Packers need to stay on high alert for that the rest of the postseason. Whether they play the Saints or not, that’s on film for everyone to see. It was a good call by Darrell Bevell.
Tom from Gurnee, IL
Packers went 2-0 against the Lions this year and in 120 minutes of football led for zero seconds. Has this ever happened before in a season?
It has only happened once before. The San Francisco 49ers beat the New Orleans Saints twice in the span of three weeks despite never leading in either game. I love your mall, by the way.
Mark from West Des Moines, IA
What was your favorite play from the Packers’ game against the Lions?
The fourth-and-1 fade to Davante Adams from the Detroit 31 with 5 minutes, 57 seconds remaining. There is no higher percentage short-yardage play than Aaron Rodgers throwing a quick out to Adams, especially after Aaron Jones was stopped on third-and-short.
Bill from Raleigh, NC
Hi Wes, one of the fans at the Raleigh Packers bar turned to me after the interception and she said, "Why was Blake Martinez playing safety on that play?" I had nothing. Why was Blake so far downfield? Does he need to change his number?
Martinez was asked this same question in the locker room Sunday night. His reply: “We were in a type of Cover 2. It was just a certain thing we’ve been working on lately, letting a guy, once they over-flood to one side of the field, I can drop back and then read off the quarterback.”