Packers Mailbag

If you’d like to submit a question or comment, please email packersmailbag@gmail.com or Tweet me @andrewmertig

First up!

What do you focus on? The Packers almost losing to a bad team at home, or a huge comeback?

-Mary in Portage

The Bengals aren’t as bad as their record indicates. They’ve had a lot of regular season success, and they have a very talented group of weapons on offense. In my opinion, a telltale sign of a good team is being able to win a game that you played very poorly in. I think you saw that with the Patriots and the Packers on Sunday. You don’t always have to put your best foot forward to come out on top (which is a crucial skill to have to be successful).

Speaking of Cincinnati: Packers fans have largely taken for granted the historical streak of making the playoffs this team is on. The Bengals are the perfect example of a team that looked like they had nothing but success their future and have now fallen on hard times. Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy deserve a lot of credit for the unbelievable consistency of this team.

Where do the Packers need the greatest improvement?

-Jorge in Milwaukee

The first area is health. They’ll be putting a M.A.S.H. unit on the field on Thursday. Fortunately, they’ll then have an extended period off before playing their Week 5 game.

On the field, the depth at D-line concerns me. Chicago will want to grind the Packers, and I don’t think playing two Defensive linemen is going to work. I also think they need better run defense from the OLBs in that situation. Clay Matthews has a tendency to lose his run lane, and Kyler Fackrell is largely just a waste of space. Nick Perry’s health will be a huge factor for the Packers moving forward.

Predictions against the Bears?

– Paul in Manitowoc

If the Packers can field a healthy offensive line they should win 31-21. The Bears are playing better, but they are a young team on a short week coming off a big upset. I think they’ll be riding so high the Packers should be able to handle them at home.

That’s all I have for this week. Remember to submit your questions for next week.