Let’s take a whirl around the league:
- The bye weeks are over. The feast of late-season football is upon us.
- Sean McDermott made a terrible mistake. He needs to apologize to his team.
- The Steelers and Patriots are headed on a collision course for the regular season game of the year.
- If the Steelers beat the Patriots, the Jaguars will have a strong chance of winning the No. 1 playoff spot in the AFC.
- Jim Caldwell has given the Lions a heart.
- Josh Norman is not the player he was in Carolina.
- Andy Reid needs to stop looking at his play-call sheet and start looking into his players’ eyes.
Giuseppe from Parma, Italy
Vic, why would any home team, on a cold and windy day, playing against an opponent known to have a superior pass defense and an inferior run defense, pass the ball on nine of the first 11 plays?
Yesterday was the day Mike McCarthy was going to take the training wheels off Brett Hundley. That fact was announced in the first drive, which was moving down the field beautifully until Hundley threw an interception in the end zone. That was the game plan. For the Packers to make any kind of move on a playoff berth, it had to happen eventually, because the Packers are not built to win with the running game. I don’t care what the Ravens’ ranking is against the run, I didn’t see the Packers running on them, and I’ll be shocked if the Packers are able to run the ball against the Steelers, Panthers or Vikings. Hundley had to become “The Man.” In my mind, that was McCarthy’s thinking, and I can appreciate it.
Ben from Hilo, HI
Is this moment too big for Brett Hundley?
The moment? No. The pass rush? Yes. As I predicted in Thursday’s column, yesterday’s game was going to tell us whether or not Hundley is able to deal with a fierce pass rush. Unfortunately, the answer appears to be no. The Steelers will see that on tape and throw all three rivers at Hundley this coming Sunday.
Brett from Boonsboro, MD
Well, do we stick with Hundley or see what Callahan can do?
This isn’t tryout time. If you believe in the 10-win theory, the Packers have one more loss to give before they lose their margin for error. You play the people you believe give you the best chance to win. Joe Callahan taking down the Steelers at Heinz Field in his first-ever start? I don’t see that happening. Hundley got a good dose of AFC North football on Sunday. He should be better for the experience.
Matt from Iowa
Vic, do you have any QB trees down there in South Carolina?
There’s one quarterback left on the quarterback tree, but he appears to be forbidden fruit.
Bob from Wauwatosa, WI
Look out, NFC, here come the Vikings. They looked like a serious contender against the Rams. Vic, are they for real?
Where have you been? The Vikings have been for real since 2015. I predicted it. A couple of years ago, I talked about the Vikings drafting well and about to move into a new stadium that would generate a lot of revenue, and the combination would make them the Packers’ No. 1 competition in the NFC North.
Allen from Zephyrhills, FL
Going on social media, I’ve discovered many Packers fan aren’t so winsome after they lose some.
It’s time for us to check ourselves and seek perspective. In November of 2013, the Packers played five games without Aaron Rodgers and didn’t win any of them. Do we remember that? This isn’t something new. Without Rodgers, the Packers aren’t the Packers. What were our expectations? Keep winning as though nothing happened? Really?
John from Madison, WI
Vic, it´s obvious Brett Hundley has not the play level needed to put this team in position to win, so why doesn’t Coach McCarthy give Callahan a chance to show himself?
The Bills gave rookie Nathan Peterman a chance to show himself yesterday. How’d that work for them?
Richard from Truckee, CA
How would you fix college football?
It would begin with leveling the playing field and that begins with greater oversight on recruiting. It all begins there because recruiting is the source of all evil in college football. Clean up recruiting and you will have fixed college football. Ask the FBI how to do it. They know. Maybe they’ll even assist you. I can tell you this, relying on the integrity of the coaches and university presidents isn’t working. College football also suffers from lack of standardization. The power five conferences are their own leagues — and so is Notre Dame — instead of all of them belonging to one ruling body that provides for scheduling. It’s ridiculous that Wisconsin could go through an entire regular season without having to play Ohio State, Penn State or Michigan State. The power five conferences need to establish one ruling body. That’s essentially what Pete Rozelle convinced the NFL to do when he became commissioner, and look at the result. Clean up recruiting and standardize the product; that’s how you level the playing field and make college football interesting for fans of all schools, instead of for just the powerful.
Brandon from St. Paul, MN
I remember you mentioning Coach Knoll’s incredible insight regarding the impacts of the 1978 rule change allowing players to block with their hands. How long did it take for the rest of the league to react? Were there many teams that stubbornly refused to adjust?
It’s Noll, please. It took a year. Don Coryell moved from St. Louis to San Diego in ’78 and immediately began laying the foundation to “Air Coryell.” A year later, the Chargers became the first AFC West champion to run more passing plays than running plays. That was also the year Bill Walsh became the head coach of the 49ers and drafted Joe Montana. With Coryell joined with Dan Fouts and Walsh with Montana, football made a sweeping move from run the ball to throw the ball. It will always boggle my mind that Paul Brown’s last great football decision was to pick Tiger Johnson over Walsh as head coach. Brown should’ve seen where the game was headed. It was headed in the direction he was taking it. Walsh and Ken Anderson would’ve won some of the Super Bowls Walsh and Montana did.
Travis from Fort Walton Beach, FL
Didn’t the league release a memo detailing a focus on respect for waiver processes? If “Deflategate” and the Elliott appeals have discouraged or intimidated the league from enforcing its rules, won’t that send a clear message to 31 teams, telling them it’s open season to contact players prior to being a free agent?
I think what the league is saying is teams have been doing it through agents for a long time, and to allow that to happen but go after the Patriots for doing it would’ve created another controversy that would’ve reflected badly on the commissioner. Look, you and a lot of other Packers fans are suffering from the painful effects of betrayal. You cheered for somebody who deceived you, and now it hurts and you want revenge. I don’t think you’re going to get it, so my advice is to learn from this betrayal: Stick with your own players; free agents are other teams’ players.
Nick from State College, PA
How do you like the skycam view? I think it gives a greater appreciation to the size and speed of linemen and of how scary it is to stand tall in the pocket.
It helped me identify the coverages, but made it more difficult to identify the fronts. Overall, I disliked the experiment greatly because I had difficulty finding the ball. I felt as I do when I watch hockey. After all the pre-snap strategy stuff is achieved, I want to see the ball. I want to know where it is and where it’s going. Skycam blunted my enjoyment of the game.
Dave from Savage, MN
Can you believe how cavalier the national media is about how Bennett made his way out of town? He lied about his injury, made up a story criticizing the team doctor for trying to get him to play against his will, then signs with another team and willfully plays the next week. The media chuckles about Marty “being Marty.” They talk about how he has a right to lie so he can play for the one team he wants to play for. And they have no problem with his lies hurting his employer and a doctor that did nothing to harm him. Where is the integrity? Where are the guts? Why won’t they challenge these guys?
I railed in this column about “Deflategate.” I was outraged, incensed the Patriots were arrogant enough to defile the ball, the centerpiece of the game. I didn’t think the punishment was great enough, especially for a franchise that had already been found guilty in “Spygate.” I campaigned against the Patriots, using my experiences with sidelines communication failures as evidence of more wrongdoing. What was the reaction of my readers? A large and growing faction of them laughed me off as an old fuddy duddy. A lot of them even believed quarterbacks should be allowed to adjust the ball pressure to their liking. Don’t blame the media. Blame the fans for accepting cheating as being part of the game. We’ve lost our virtue.
Adam from Wausau, WI
Did you always plan to continue this column after you retired?
It was part of being new. I knew I’d want to continue writing, but I’d have to do it in a different way. I like this way.
George from Beechview, PA
Are the 49ers trying to use Garoppolo for trade bait? Why would they not show what he has? The Patriots let him go, in the middle of season, for a reason? Clue me in.
Maybe he’s just a guy and the Patriots have skinned another overanxious suitor, just as they did when they traded Deon Branch to the Seahawks for a first-round pick.
Jimmy from Madison, WI
I’m a firm believer the NFL has made ticket prices too high for the families. Do you remember your first game? Without your first game, how can you draw interest to the young boys with dreams? The NFL is not giving the young boys the fire to play. The young kids of America need to experience game day. The future looks sad for the NFL, if they don’t draw more player interest. Your thoughts? My first was Packers/Redskins.
My first game was Giants/Steelers. Charlie Conerly and Bobby Layne were the quarterbacks. My dad bought tickets for $3 each from a guy in the street who promised they weren’t behind the home plate backstop screen. Of course, they were directly behind it, and I remember how disappointed my father was to find out he had been deceived. I said, “It’s all right, dad. At least we’re not behind a pole.” What I remember most is how the colors jumped out at me: the Giants’ scarlet and the Steelers’ gold. I didn’t care who won the game. I was just thankful my eyes were being treated to such a spectacle. Yeah, I agree with everything you say. Tickets cost too much and too many kids are being denied their first game.
Mike from Fort Wayne, IN
So I guess Bennett gets the last laugh all the way to the bank and to the Patriots. Vic, who decides and what is the process for the Packers trying to reclaim some of their money back?
There’s a process that involves the NFL Executive Committee, but I get the strong sense this is going nowhere.
Dave from St. Peters, MO
I agree wholeheartedly with you on touchdown celebrations. At least it entertains my 5-year-old and 7-year-old.
It’s just a matter of time before someone acts out a skit that’s considered offensive or politically motivated, and the you know what hits the fan. It’s almost as though we want it to happen, because we’re an angry people who aren’t satisfied unless we have a target to express our anger.
Mark from Bellevue, WI
Vic, if your father and his contemporaries were able to time travel 50 years forward to today’s NFL and sports scene, what would he say to you about what he sees?
My father doesn’t have to rise from the dead to provide perspective on how it was 50 years ago. I can do it! The year is 1967 and I’m 16 years old and watching the “Ice Bowl.” I am in love with football and can’t get enough of it. I watch the NFL at one o’clock and four o’clock, and position myself close enough to our black-and-white TV to turn the channel — what’s a remote? — to the AFL games during commercial breaks. My father claims overexposure will kill the game, but I want more. What are my thoughts about today’s game? It’s wonderful. Give me more, especially more playoff games. You see, nothing has really changed; we still can’t get enough football. We love it. We crave it. It defines us.
Chad from Troy, MI
If the Broncos go dark for the next decade, not making it back to the playoffs once during that time, was it really worth the gamble with the salary cap? How many dark years is one Super Bowl win worth?
Killing your cap to win the Super Bowl shouldn’t turn you dark for 10 years. You should be able to regain cap health and soften the effects of having killed your cap — as long as you commit fully to recovery — within four years. I think the question is: Is it worth four years of darkness to win it all? I’ll say yes, it is, but can you guarantee you’ll win it all? I am absolutely sure it is not worth four years of darkness to not win it all.
