That’s just life in the NFL

I love all us older guys who want to throw around absolutes about performance, but none of those old dynasties existed in the era of COVID-19. The past two years give a whole new meaning to “survival of the fittest.”

Availability has always been the best ability and that’s especially true in these times. For better or worse, you play with the team you put on the field. Fortunately, the Packers have weathered injuries, illnesses, and circumstances out of their control to get to 11 wins. Just keep pushing.

Dave from Lake Zurich, IL

People describe the Ravens as injury-depleted but the Packers played without four Pro Bowlers (David Bakhtiari, Elgton Jenkins, Jaire Alexander, Za’Darius Smith), Robert Tonyan, Kenny Clark, and others.

Everyone is hurt this time of year. Bad teams make excuses. Good teams win.

To the untrained eye, I have to believe Kenny Clark’s absence on Sunday made a huge difference in our defense.

It did because Kenny Clark is one of the best three defensive tackles in football. There’s no replacing that dude, but I felt like the Packers did a decent job up the middle. I saw Tyler Lancaster and Abdullah Anderson were among Green Bay’s highest-graded defenders by PFF against Baltimore, which was my hunch coming out of the game. The biggest issue the Packers had was when they lost containment on Tyler Huntley and he made plays with his feet. Green Bay needs to straighten that out with potential rematches with Kyler Murray, Taysom Hill and Taylor Heinicke on the horizon.

Ignacio from Madrid, Spain

Good morning Wes. I was surprised when yesterday nobody mentioned that low pass to MVS for 25-30 yards in the second quarter. He wasn’t open at all, he had three defenders on him and the window was pretty small. Beautiful throw and beautiful catch but can anyone explain to me why AR12 saw an opportunity there? Is that trust, confidence or insanity?

There’s a fine line between genius and insanity, right? That play was a combination of Rodgers’ incredible arm talent, accuracy and trust that Marquez Valdes-Scantling would make a play on the ball. Marquez Valdes-Scantling was brilliant in that game. He’s no longer just a deep target. He can run the route tree.

I had to double-take when Tyler Davis caught a pass. I thought for sure the announcers had a wrong jersey number. Tell us what you know about him and will he get more snaps and targets now?

Davis has impressed me. All the guy has done is maximize every rep he’s taken with the offense since the injuries to Robert Tonyan and Dominique Dafney. He has some size, too. That 22-yard catch in the seam was the second-most impressive catch of the day behind MVS’.

Derek from Eau Claire, WI

John Harbaugh gives the Packers a rest with a timeout and then only makes them cover half the field on the game’s most important play. That’s a better gift than the Jelly of the Month Club!

I’ve always viewed two-point conversions as roulette and just because it hits red on the first spin doesn’t mean it’s going to be black on the next one. Hindsight is 20/20 but I didn’t like the call, especially with a backup QB in there. Either way, the Packers still had 40-plus seconds, one timeout and a red-hot Rodgers under center.

Charles from Spring Lake, NC

Wes, I’ve been doing math (outside the Inbox so it’s okay, I think). Wouldn’t it have been better for the Ravens to go for two on the first touchdown knowing they were playing to win? This way you get a second attempt if you fail. If you succeed on the first two-point conversion, you can simply kick the extra point for the win on the second touchdown.

Honestly, and I’m not trying to be a smart(butt)…I don’t care. The Ravens did what the Ravens did and the Packers won, end of story. Maybe there’s an Edgar-Allan-Raven-Box out there where you can explore these ideas.