Al, I respect you opinion and agree with many of your thoughts and observations.

Regarding your comment of SF beating Vikings by running the ball more. I’m not in the “run the ball more crowd”.
Here’s my short list why I’m not:
1. You take it away from a HOF QB who consistently makes big plays when opposing team loads the box. SF has a game manager for a QB and don’t have much choice. Grappollo is normally only successful when he can play action. The best teams have a QB who reads the defense at the LOS and audibles to what has the highest percentage of success. In today’s game that means passing more than running. Ala, Brady, Rodgers, etc….
2. Quick short passes provide similar results. Dillon caught 6 passes for a 7.3 YPC, which I would argue are better then a run, especially when the OL cannot consistently create holes.
3. Mlf teams have 9 losses over the past 3 years, how many do the SF 49r’s have? Results speaks for themself’s.
4. It’s easy to say afterwards to run the ball because the pass failed. But, if you are being truthful with yourself, how many times were you saying run the ball before a play and they passed and made a big play. Those plays aren’t discussed on here. I don’t read statements stating why didn’t they run the ball instead of Rodgers throwing and making a big play. If you criticize one side you should compliment the other and balance it out.
5. Our interior OL, without Myers and Jenkins just isn’t consistent enough to open the required holes to achieve success running 36 times a game. With the current OL, I would bet a lot of money that if we tried to run the ball 36 times against the Vikings we lose more so. Much more likely to succeed with Rodgers making a play. If Bak and Myers comes back this could change and we run the ball more with consistent results.

I don’t believe you will ever see a HOF QB in todays game where they run the ball 36 times. If it happens it’s an anomaly.

I love the physical running game as much as anyone, but I also realize the importance of using your best talent to win games. Running the ball is very important aspect of the game, but the quality is more important than quantity IMO.

On Sunday Crosby was flirting with that left upright on a few of his XP and FG attempts. After each kick I rewatched the snap, hold, and laces and all of them were PERFECT.

IMO there isn't another Packers player who will benefit more from the bye week than Crosby, at least mentally. After the bye hopefully Crosby comes back a new man, FULL of confidence. A week with his wife Molly and friends just may be what the doctor ordered. After the bye if he still struggles I'm not sure what you do.

Passing on 3rd down with a tad over 3 minutes left made me scratch my head too Al. To top it off Rodgers threw into triple coverage to Adams but he still damn near caught the ball! I'm thinking MLF thought Crosby would nail the 42 yarder and not hit the upright.

It's AWESOME to know the Rams as we know them today will basically team, even after the 2023 draft. I haven't heard as much lately from the "Gute Haters". Wait, hold on, could it be, could Gute and his staff REALLY know what their doing???

GPG!

Nice comments Al, as always.

Just 2 things. I agreed with your assessment of Yosh when you wrote your suggestion. It is no way that there is warranted Jenkins would stay healthy, but if you have that type of player (Yosh) you should go with him (I respect Newman performances, but...), if not for other reason to educate him for the time when he will LT position from David.

Refs - I have only 2 serious issue during the game. First was that choking of Lucas Patrick that went unpunished and second that obvious holding on Lazard deep in the gold zone - remember how Aaron was pissed of and he was complaining heavy to the referee who was standing in front of holding. But you are right. It was much better officiating than it was vs Vikings.

Keep up Al.

Getting to the bye at 9-3 with all the injuries in tow is the story of the year. A couple of thoughts:

* Coaching has been pretty good to get us to this point. Joe Barry has earned his stripes and has the defense playing as a unit. Previous year's we would have been talking about all the missed assignments and confusion - even at game 12. The O-line and D-line coaches have been crazy good.

* Additions to the roster and next men up. Got to acknowledge Gutekunst and the scouts have done their job. Campbell and Douglas are outstanding. The only glaring need is a punt/kick return specialist - next year

* It is not all about Aaron Rodgers. The team is showing that it is more than the sum of its parts. Yes, Rodgers pushes us over the top but the team is better when he manages the game with more balance. Trying to squeeze the ball into a triple covered Adams is his weakness. We could win it all if he embraces this balance mindset.

* Get healthy boys - finish strong.

Dillon/Jones - Jones needs to be used more in the passing game, he is deadly on screens, keep feeding the big man Dillon to soften up defenses. It's a deadly combo anyway they use it but after tweaking his knee i'd rather not see Jones pounding it up the middle against that tough front.

Crosby - Definitely has the yip's, caused by poor protection and bad snaps early in the season, he will get it going and be fine i'm sure.

Rams draft - The Rams and Seattle love to burn those high draft choices, Seattle is what the Rams will be in two years, bereft of young talent with a bunch of over priced, aging vets and no help on the way via the draft.

Yosh -B'Gosh - What an excellent find by Gutey and his staff! Yosh is by no means a perfect player but with his size and talent he has been a Godsend at Left Tackle! Especially with Bakhtari and Jenkins hurt.

Two Points - My only beef with the two point decision is this. Why the hell can't the Packers convert on two point plays when it seems that teams always seem to convert these against the Packers! That is very frustrating!

Great time for a bye week! Lets hope we get Myers, Z, Bakhtiari, King and Alexander back soon!

GO PACK!!

ND

"Yosh - I've said before that I had enough confidence in Yosh that I would have had him playing left tackle and move Jenkins inside....but if they had, Jenkins would likely still be playing (polluted mindset alert.) "

I've thought this, too, in retrospect. You never really know. Getting Bakhtiari--and Myers--back will be huge, especially when Bakhtiari rounds back into game shape, but the Packers will end up missing Jenkins, yet, especially in the playoffs.

"Going for two? Not sure I understood that decision. "

The call was confusing, yes. It's less of a problem if you're a team that is proficient at converting 2's, but is there a team out there that struggles more scoring AND defending 2's than the Packers?

"Rams - So selling out and signing/trading for big name players doesn't guarantee anything? "

Honestly, the problem is the guy with the headset. McVay might be buying into his clippings too much. The only thing new out of this Rams offense is Stafford and he's reportedly playing hurt. Don't you find ways to take the pressure off him? Lose Robert Woods? RUN THE BALL! There's nothing creative here: same offense they tried to run against the Packers in January. They tried that WR pass, but that was well sniffed out by the Packers...and that's not creative, it's a gimmick play. Minus two big pass plays, that offense did next to nothing. Credit the Packers defense, but the 'prodigy' McVay needs a serious self-scout at this point.

I never thought about the o line setup. Why didnt they keep yoshi outside and move Jenkins inside. Especially with the problems the 3 interior lineman have been having. To what could have been

Al I love your weekly article. I'm surprised you havnt mentioned how the packers never can stop a 2 pt conversion. I'm surprised opposing teams havnt done it everytime cause the success rate is almost 100%

2 pt conversation.

The words Always and Never are used a bit much concerning football where those words NEVER hold the truth.

A favor to ask... How about TGR or some GBP CHTV poster that knows how to use Pro Football facts website pull up the success percentages on 2 point attempts and 2 point defenses and post the league wide stats PER TEAM so we can see if the Packers are among the worst or are actually middle of the pack?

Intelligent conversation with facts as a part of the discussion is always better than plain conversation with hyperbole as the entrée.

I wish I knew where those sites are and how to mine the data, however I am a Biological Scientist, not a Computer Scientist.

Dillon / Jones.-
Dillon definitely has been getting better yards then Jones this year for whatever reason. That being said, I'd like to see them find more ways to get Jones the ball in space.

Crosby -
They have live with him. They simply can't make a change at this time. All but one of the kicks made it through. But everyone of them have went left. I don't know if there is a timing thing that is just off which is causing him to pull it? Is there a problem of where its getting placed causing that? I don't know.

Not much to do -
They traded Bojo to the Packers when in my eyes he was clearly the better punter on Sunday. That should speak a lot about their scouting of players.

Turnovers -
While we did get the pick 6. We did get the sack fumble. One dropped intercepting by Douglas could have been a bigger deal in the game. We lucked out that, it didn't ended up coming back to bite us. The drive that Douglas dropped an easy interception they ended up scoring a TD on. They have to come down with the ball every chance they get!

OBJ -
He can still make big plays. No question. But outside of that one big play, OBJ was held in check. Would it have been worth it to bring him in for potentially 1 play a game? Possibly? Maybe it would be different with him in GB. But with what I just saw on Sunday, the big play that he had, MVS can make the exact same play.

Yosh -
I had a LOT more confidence in Yosh after the previous couple of games that he started. He again proved he was more then capable of playing.
So not going to lie, I had thought about if Yosh had kept playing and Jenkins was at LG, Runyan at RG. Jenkins would be still playing. Obviously it was a freak injury and it happens. but this could have happened with how well Yosh has played.

Refs -
Completely agree with having this crew over Hochuli's. That being said, they have to call the choking by Donald. Right in front of the ref and that doesn't get called?

Rams -
We will have to see if anything changes at the end of the year for them. But the best philosophy is still drafting and developing.

Third down 3 minutes left -
I'm find with throwing the ball. If you convert the first downs you end the game your way. The biggest thing is to keep the clock running. But they need to do high probability of completing pass plays in those situations.

How could that Ref not throw a flag on Donald choking Patrick? I hope the League offices see that and do something about it. I think Yosh Nijman is the unsung hero of our O Line. He has been solid for us, all season long. Yes, we should have run the ball more against the vikings! I now see that Dalvin Cook injured his shoulder and MAY miss significant time. Did the turf in their stadium cause Cook's injury. I did not watch the viking game but saw the Cook injury report on one of those "around the NFL" segments. It would not surprise me if the turf caused Cook's injury. It almost claimed Darnell Savage, when we played them there. Crappy turf, crappy stadium, crappy team. GO PACK, GO!!!

Dillon and Jones - The use of these 2 weapons has not been optimized in this offense yet. There is a lot left on the field each and every week. I would like to see a lot more 2 back sets. Both can catch the ball quite well and both can run inside and outside (although Dillon does not seem to get any chances at outside zone runs or even sweep type blocking).

With Tonyan out it is time to use the bye to get Deguara all primed to step into the Tonyan role for the final 5 games and playoffs. Get him coached up and insert him into the game plan.

I would really like too see this offense move to more 1 and 2 WR looks with Deguara, Jones and Dillon in on 80+ percent of the plays. THAT is December football and Playoff winning football. MVS, Lazard or EQ just do not do enough to justify leaving one of Jones or Dillon on the bench as much as they are and this offense just runs better with a receiving threat at TE (sorry Big Dog, you aint it anymore). More screens, more outside runs with either back, more misdirection in the backfield from 2 back sets, more wheel and seam routes from Jones and Dillon and integration of Deguara into the gameplan and I can see a steamroller bringing home the Lombardi Trophy.

The GBP have run enough 3 and 4 WR sets to know that they can do it when the WR actually get open and catch the ball. We all know Adams can execute at a very high level, the problem is that the other WR are inconsistent at getting open or at catching the ball. The capability is there for the power offense I describe to be successful with this roster as well, but the team doesn't run it enough to iron out the wrinkles. The last 5 games of this season is an opportunity to do just that and position this team for a successful playoff run.

Thats (almost) all I have to say about that.

It’s been a long time since a franchise has gone so far in that they came out in the underworld for years. Most teams learned from the early cap pratfalls where that happened. It looks like the Rams may end up in a hole deeper than any this century. The Bears aren’t in a great situation, but the Rams are much deeper in the mire.

In both cases, it’s hard to say that it was driven by a nucleus of generational talent either. This has more to do with inept leadership desperately clinging on or the owner trying to cement a fan base after a venal move. For all the Packers have issues at times and an inherently unaccountable structure, hopefully it protects against these types of destructive follies.

We should remember that going into what I believe is inevitably going to be an off season of change and a season following that is the first in a new era. Painful as it likely will be, the alternative is likely far worse. The cap eventually exacts a price that is unavoidable and lingers, sometimes for years.

'Third down 3 minutes left - Why pass the ball? Run the ball, kill more clock. Especially if you're just going to try a field goal on fourth down anyway. The Rams would not have had enough time left to score AND try an onside kick.'

I certainly agree with your thinking Al and I thought of that when they started passing at that time of the game and was disappointed when they were passing the ball. Apparently, they figured they could get a first down and run out the clock.

Two comments:

Rasul Douglas got the defensive player of the week. Please don't bench him when King returns. He has earned his spot with clutch plays. Rather have a guy who makes clutch plays to put a game out of reach and then gives up a meaningless TD.

Secondly, I like the comment about letting the players play. Too many pass interference, holding and roughing the passer penalties that change the game's outcome.

I love Aaron Jones, an absolutely fun guy to watch play and a fun/great guy off the field. But I just haven't seen it from him yet this year unfortunately. Only 1 game over 100 yards, against the Bengals, and the long run in the 4th quarter is where he picked up most of those yards. I don't want to be a huge negative guy or debby downer because I love Aaron Jones, but it just makes me think. What if we kept Jamaal Williams and Corey Linsley last season and let Aaron Jones walk. The offensive line has held up, but with an all Pro Center holding down the interior line would've been a huge upgrade, and then the 2nd round Josh Myers pick could've turned into something else of value that we desperately needed. Because and AJ Dillon Jamaal Williams backfield with Corey Linsley to run behind is not that much of a difference than an Aaron Jones AJ Dillon backfield running behind Lucas Patrick. That's just my thoughts on how this entire season has gone and how the running back rotation has worked out, as well as the offensive line performance.

Dillon/Jones - assuming Jones is back and healthy after the bye the Packers need to get the ball in their hands more often each game. They should combine for 25-30 touches per game via the run and the pass. they. have both evolved into playmakers for the Packers and most importantly they can keep moving the chains and chewing up the clock.

Crosby - he isn't going anywhere so the FG unit needs to get better.

Turnovers - I'm confident that someone on the Packers coaching staff knows how to catch a football. Whoever it is have them spend time with the Dbs until they get it right. An alternative would to have the DBs spend with Davante Adams. I would never expect DBs to catch everything but some of the picks they are dropping are gimmes. Maybe watch tapes of Herb Adderley until they get it right.

OBJ - I'm just glad that he chose not to sign with the Packers. He is obviously injured despite his TD catch.

Yosh - I too advocated for Yosh to remain at LT and to return Jenkins to LG. I thought it was a great opportunity for Yosh to get the snaps and experience. Still not sure why it didn't happen. Maybe Jenkins is still healthy if he returns to LG.

Refs - I no longer have any confidence in any NFL officiating crew. They are just too inconsistent from game to game and sometimes from play to play. No call on choking Patrick righting front of the official is unacceptable from any crew at any level.

Throwing or 3rd down late in the game. I didn't agree with it but maybe it's MLF or Rodgers trying to keep their foot on the gas. For years there were complaints here at CHTV about MM taking his foot off the gas late in games. speaking for myself if I was going to pass at that point I would have gone with a quick slant to Adams or a short pass to Dillon or Deguara. It also sends a message to future opponents that we're not going to stop throwing regardless of what the score is.
In the end who knows what they were actually trying to do so I just prepare myself for more WTFs as the season goes on.

As for Rams drafting/trading etc. - the entire organization especially McVay, Stafford and Aaron Donald look overrated to me.

Enjoy the bye week. GPG! Thanks, Since '61

Always enjoy this weekly column the most, Al. I said to my wife during the game that if I was the opposing team I'd ALWAYS go for the two points since the Packers seem to allow the play to be practically a "gimme" with the other team just walking in or passing to a wide open receiver. Conversely, the Packers seem to be climbing Mt. Everest when they are trying to convert a two pointer. It's a head scratcher for sure. The Rams "Dream Team" approach has been tried numerous times (Philadelphia Eagles, Olympic basketball squad, etc.) and it always come down to a load of INDIVIDUAL talent that can't play as a TEAM. IMO, these guys are used to being "The Man" at their respective positions and each wants to be the one to make the play, not unselfishly let another guy make the play. Team cohesiveness is underappreciated.

Big Al, enjoy reading you every week. You left a lot on the table to discuss, but here are few things I think about:
The concrete mix...
The Packers have taken their talent, owned their mistakes and have hardened into a physical team. They aren't perfect, but they also aren't a Jello mix which I have thought in the past.
Coach 'em up....
I do believe that the Packers record is because they have superior coaching. I'm not saying they have the best coaches, but the team has responded to the coaches and are playing as a team unlike I've seen in a long time.
Maybe some reinforcements....
The list of quality players that may come back for the playoffs is very impressive. How many actually do, we can only guess. If King, Alexander, and Smith are able to return the defense will be rocking.

There are some outstanding issues like FG/EP kicking, and punt returns being worst in the league. Also wonder how deep the current offensive line goes without reinforcements.
Overall a 9-3 record at the bye is pretty heady stuff.

A part of me hates the bye week as a Sunday without the Packers; but another part of me thinks there should be two bye weeks per season to give the players more time to rest and heal from the strain and brutality of NFL football.
When there is a bye, it sure is good when the Packers win the previous game as they did against the Rams. At least I can savor this victory over the long two weeks until the next game.

"The fact that they didn't convert even one of their chances against the Vikings still kills me."

As with the NFCCG. Sore wounds for sure.

Loved the Hackett description on Yosh. I remember thinking to myself when I saw him standing next to our defensive lineman in his first camp, Man that is one big dude! What if he can become a star for us one day!

1. Yes ! I was against moving Jenkins. Never move an All-pro. OL. 2. The 2 point failed. Yes, I would have just kicked the extra point. Why shift the momentum? 3. Darth Vader play. I say Donald was held. Could have been a flag on Runyan. Replay the down! 4. Rodgers Toe. Throwing on 3rd down. He's the MVP. Might have been an audible.

Still say and think Packers would/will win games easier w/o Rodgers throwing those hero balls especially in first half!

I seem to wince now when we attempt a FG but that last miss may have been wind related. I’ve read on several sites from players talking how the wind was swirling. If that was the case I think our kicking team did fine. I would like to think we will find out in our next game against the bears, but that won’t happen as it will be all TDs and no FGs! GPG!

I had the same thought about the Darth Vader move. The ref is right there. I suspect he was so shocked by the move that he didn't know what the call should be. He's a thought: try unnecessary roughness. Here's another thought, and it has happened before: criminal assault. Just because I stepped onto the football field doesn't mean I consented to someone trying to pinch my wind pipe shut. There is a whole lot of abuse that happens in the trenches but that is a very dangerous move and shouldn't go unnoticed. Brown County DA, where you at? Donald, you are an overrated dirty POS. You ain't no Kenny Clark.

After the Packers signed UDFA Nijman, I saw his size and looked up his athletic tests. He is a elite athlete for his size. For example he ran a 4.82, did 27 on the bench and broad jumped 9'5". The Packers knew he was green playing O line only having played it for 4 years at VA Tech (he was a DL player in HS.

The Packers were patient with him believing he would respond well to coaching. He has.

Yosh is another great find by Gutey and his team.

Mike McCarthy beat the Vikings with a quarterback who had never started a game. Just saying.