Mike's Mid-Week Chat: What's the top priority vs. the 49ers?

[Cheesehead]

The PI review is a total farce. At this point I think Al Riverton and the NY review process are either totally inept or under instructions from Godell and the league office to kill the new rule. I think the league recognized very quickly this was a can of worms that needed to go away and now they're paying the price for opening that can. True?


I'm not sure if it's the league office or the officials themselves. They're a union just like the players.


Tonyan or Sternberger. Who has the biggest impact over the next six weeks?


I'm going to guess Tonyan. It's great to see Sternberger getting in there, but he's still a very young, raw player.


Hi Mike, if you could pick one thing to completely turn around for the rest of year what would it be? Less penalties on O? Fewer big plays out of the D? Improved Run D? Other?


The defense cutting down on the explosive plays would be my top priority. Those breakdowns are going to cost you games against contenders.


Hi from Costa Rica, it's one game at the time, but do you think beating the niners would give this team the ideal December and January stamina to go for the SB?


A win would put them in great position, but the division needs to be won first, and that's still a long way from being decided.


When the Packers and Vikings played earlier in the season someone was designated to be in Kirk cousins face on play action roll outs and it seemed to be effective. I have not seen other teams do this and Kirk has been on a roll lately have you noticed this?


If you're referring to Cousins throwing two TD passes on rolls to his left against the Broncos, yeah, it was surprising to see those work so well when the Packers put on film some good defense against those rollouts (though in GB he was mostly going right). I heard an interesting stat the other day -- since Cousins threw that pick in the end zone at Lambeau to Kevin King in the fourth quarter, he's thrown only one INT. The Vikings are a very different team now than the one that came to GB in Week 2.


Mike, what's it going to take to secure the middle of the field on defense?


Better communication and assignment-sound football. I think the defense gets caught up too much in trying to make presnap adjustments and get everything perfect before the snap, and then they're not quite ready for what's coming. Don't worry about perfect alignment, just stay sound and react accordingly.


I'm as excited and impressed with Aaron Jones as the next guy. But MVP? The last RB to win MVP had over 2,000 yards rushing. In my opinion, Rodgers was trying to give Jones huge kudos while taking a slight at Carolina who has had the Packers number the last few years.


I think he was just trying to say Jones doesn't take as big a back seat to McCaffrey in the NFC RB picture as many projected going into the game.


After this Niners game, we play Giants, Redskins and bears. All teams who seem to be just trying to get to the off season. If we get this W and don't have any slip ups, the pressure will be on Vikes to have a chance for dec 23rd game


And even if the Packers don't get this one, they will have an opportunity to get rolling again before Week 16. But flying to the East Coast will be a tough trip after coming home from the West Coast after a night game, no matter the opponent.


Hi Mike! Kyle Shanahan lost Super Bowl LI because he didn’t run the ball. The key to this game will be force the Niners to quit on the run game early. Who needs to step up and have a big game against that backfield?


Kenny Clark started to look like the Clark of last year in the Carolina game. They're going to double-team him plenty, but when he's not double-teamed, he needs to keep making those impact plays.


In your wildest dream could you have imagined four months ago 8-2 and we'd be talking about the #1 seed at this time? Be honest Mike.


Nothing surprises me in this league. My motto going into the season was optimism without expectations. I knew this team had a chance to be good. But they've also won a bunch of close games that could have gone the other way and made things look radically different. It's how this league is.


Mike, I have not watched the Niners much this year, other than the Seattle game. What strikes me is that they are number 1 against the pass and number 20 against the run, giving up 142 and 110 yards per game, respectively. I can't tell for certain, but Aaron seems to audible out of running situations at times. How important is commitment to the run, even if the defense shows signs of loading the box?


You have to trust Rodgers to get the offense in the best possible play when the situation warrants. There's no reason to run uphill if there's another option that's better. Yes, the Packers have to commit to the run in this game, both play caller and QB, but the Seahawks didn't run the ball all that much and Wilson made plenty of things happen.


Mike, How about some Quarterback run plays by design... One more thing for defenses to think about?


With Rodgers? No thanks. He's going to run when he gets opportunities, but there's no reason to expose him unnecessarily. The Packers have plenty of other ways they can run the ball.


I know you will say its too early to worry about this.. but between Bryan Bulaga, Clark and Blake Martinez, who is most important guy to get locked up for extension?


Yeah, way too early, but based on age and position played, I'd put Clark as the top priority. He's going to be the most expensive, too. Nothing against Bulaga and Martinez, who are playing well, but a young guy who is as disruptive in the middle of the trenches like Clark would be really tough to replace.


Mike, apologies if you already talked about this and I didn’t see, but which players are likely going to be out for the niners on Sunday, and conversely how can the packers use the consistent starts of their healthy players as an advantage in the long run? Thanks, and hopefully the pack stays healthy!


We'll have to watch SF's injury situation all week. Kittle, Sanders, Breida, Gould, Ford will all be on the injury report, among others, but it's not known whether they'll be available come Sunday night or not.


Hey Mike, does 2 losses feel like the margin of error for this team to be in a good position (division / seeding?) because that seems like the general consensus by most fans.


It's hard to get a gauge on the big picture because there are so many games coming up with NFC contenders against one another. GB-SF, MIN-SEA, SF-NO, SF-SEA, and there's another one I'm forgetting. Lots to sort out.


All right folks, sorry to cut it short but I do have to get to practice for the media portion we're allowed to watch, so I have to run. Thanks again for your participation and we'll talk again next week. Take care, Mike