Packers mailbag: Is everyone overreacting to Week 1 collapse against Vikings?

GREEN BAY, Wis. — After eight months of waiting, that was quite the start to the Packers’ season.

Tensions are understandably high among the fanbase.

Let’s dive into your mailbag questions ahead of a Week 2 matchup against the New York Jets.

Does the fact that it was not just an offensive line problem but also a tight end and running back blocking problem make it more or less fixable, and does it make it more or less mind-blowing how it was that bad? — @BrewCommander1

More mistakes equals more to fix, right? I think that answer is pretty simple, but you raise a good point that it wasn’t just the offensive line. Just from my quick rewatch of the game, tight end Mark Redman and running back Chris Brooks weren’t perfect in pass protection, either. Sunday’s capitulation in front of Jordan Love was mind-blowing regardless of how many position groups were at fault.

Do you think there’s a slight overreaction to Week 1? Packers dominated for three and a half quarters, and then the avalanche happened. — @dudebroguy22

I think it would be an overreaction if what happened Sunday were an isolated incident, but we saw that same movie a handful of times last season, too. They preached finishing all offseason, and their inability to do so consistently is clearly still an issue. I also wouldn’t say they dominated for three and a half quarters. The offense left a lot of points on the table and needs to be better, not only on the offensive line but also in the red zone.

Is Zach Bako-Bewele bad now or is it because of injuries? — @therealmitch_c8

I don’t think he’s bad now, no. He was banged up for most of last season and just played his first game since offseason knee surgery. Not that fans want to hear what Adam Stenavich has to say these days, but the Packers offensive coordinator addressed Bako-Bewele on Tuesday.

“I thought, coming back, dealing with what he’s been dealing with, it was a plus from what I wanted,” Stenavich said. “He hadn’t gotten a lot of reps in practice and things like that. He made it through the game. He battled. Was it his best game? No, but I think there’s a lot he can build on, and I expect him, as the season rolls through, for him to be playing some pretty high-level ball pretty soon.”

Can the Packers beat the Jets? — @AdamAfseth

Of course they can, but I’m not picking the Packers again until they prove they can protect Love. Jets 24, Packers 21 on a walk-off field goal. I know Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores does things no other DC does with blitzing and pressure looks. And I know U.S. Bank Stadium is one of the toughest road environments to play in. What I saw Sunday from Green Bay’s pass protection was alarming, and I can’t trust this team to even beat the Jets quite yet.

Will the Packers make any changes to the starting offensive line? — @YeOldeGrumpster

My hunch says no, but we’ll find out around 11:15 a.m. CT on Sunday when the entire team warms up. It was interesting that Stenavich said Tuesday that they’ll rotate guys in practice this week to find their best five. Did the Vikings really shake their belief that much in who they chose to start Week 1 that they’re already back to the drawing board? Stenavich’s response was to a question specifically about Anthony Belton being in play at guard, and the OC seemed to acknowledge that Bako-Bewele is settled at right tackle after returning from injury. Let’s assume Aaron Banks is back from his knee injury, too, sending Donovan Jennings to the bench. Even if Belton is a candidate to start at right guard, where he started seven games last season, they chose Jacob Monk over him based on an entire summer of evidence. I don’t think Monk loses his job because of performance just yet. I’ll predict, from left to right, Jordan Morgan, Banks, Sean Rhyan, Monk and Bako-Bewele.

What duo is better positioned? Matt LaFleur and Jordan Love or Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams? — @petek0421

I still think Love is a better quarterback than Williams, but you can’t ignore the Bears’ recent success overall and against the Packers. If we’re talking about which duo’s team is better positioned right now, I’d go with the Bears. If you want me to take a head coach and quarterback in a vacuum, I’d probably go with LaFleur and Love, but not by much.

Do you think the decline in the offensive line has more to do with the front office scouting and drafting poorly, the assistant coaches not properly training these players or the head coach not sticking to his word of having “the best players play” and instead deferring to lesser veterans? — @hogun_hiro

I think everyone is to blame, and I’m not just talking about the offensive line’s performance last Sunday. This goes back to last season, too. I’m talking about general manager Brian Gutekunst signing Banks to a massive contract when he didn’t exactly have a clean bill of health in the years prior. Moving Elgton Jenkins to center. Drafting a guy in the second round last year in Anthony Belton who couldn’t hold onto his starting job entering Year 2. That’s just a few. Long gone are the days of the David Bakhtiari/T.J. Lang/Josh Sitton/Corey Linsley/Bryan Bulaga offensive lines that made sure Aaron Rodgers’ jersey didn’t get dirty. Gutekunst hasn’t drafted well enough, the coaches haven’t coached well enough and the players haven’t played well enough.

Does an 0-5 start get LaFleur fired? — @Studman223

I don’t think so. He just signed a multi-year extension and team president Ed Policy doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would make a decision like that so soon after extending the head coach. If the Packers win only a couple games this year, we can revisit that question down the line. But even then, I don’t know how LaFleur’s contract is set up with regard to winning requirements or outs before it expires.

Do you really think we have a chance to make the playoffs this year? — @RunninUpThePack

Of course. Remember when the Packers lost 38-3 in the 2021 season opener to the Saints? Then went on to earn the No. 1 seed and Aaron Rodgers won MVP? I’m not saying that will happen, but it’s a long season. Everyone, hang in there.

Why do the Packers have a guy named Butkus on the coaching staff? Isn’t he related to Dick, who hates the Packers? — @GreenRTea

Packers offensive line coach Luke Butkus is indeed the nephew of Bears legend Dick Butkus. At times it might seem that he’s a secret agent sent to destroy the Packers from within, but I don’t think that’s the case. If anyone’s seat gets hot this season, it might be his, if only because LaFleur might have no other option than to find a scapegoat if the offensive line struggles continue.

It’s obvious self-scouting means nothing in GB. Did Matt LaFleur consult with anyone on handling his team? Dude’s Charmin soft. — @Curt54821

Here’s my thing on LaFleur as it relates to the team’s inability to finish games: When dissecting a collapse, it’s not as simple as “LaFleur didn’t keep his foot on the gas” or “LaFleur stinks.” I would argue he did, in fact, keep his foot on the gas by going for it on fourth-and-1 last Sunday.

There’s so much that goes into each blown lead, and each play in those blown leads, for that matter, that it’s impossible to diagnose these issues with one or even two causes. However, what I can say definitively about LaFleur is that he’s the head coach in charge of setting the team’s identity and culture. Right now, that identity is a team incapable of living up to the big moments and crumbling too often when momentum shifts in hostile road environments. That’s ultimately on him, no matter who’s at fault for the more granular aspects of these games.