Stars must play like stars

Thomas from Evansville, IN

Who are you keeping your eye on to step up against the 49ers? I’m eyeing AJ Dillon on offense and Rasul Douglas on D.

While I enjoy reading questions/answers speculating about which players could be the difference-maker in the game this weekend, I really just enjoy waiting for the “beautiful mystery” to reveal itself. It could be that Davante Adams once again proves he is the best wide receiver in the game, Dean Lowry plays the best game of his career, or Ty Summers comes up with a game-changing play on special teams. No matter who it is, I’ll get equal enjoyment from their success as long as it leads to a win!

As much as we talk about players emerging or stepping up, we can’t forget that stars must perform like stars to win these games. Come late Saturday night, we still have to be talking about players like Rodgers and Adams being among the best on the field for the Packers to advance.

Do you think Rasul Douglas will put the Packers fans in a frenzy with a playoff pick-six?

With the season he’s had, I wouldn’t put anything past that dude.

Congrats to Davante for receiving the Tom Mulhern Stand-Up Guy Award. I imagine Tom would have been proud of the guy Davante is. Tom was the father of my close friend. He was a really great guy and was a real family man. A generally great example of a man to emulate. It warms my heart that the sportswriter community honors Tom every year. Did either of you guys know him?

I did. Very early in my newspaper career Tom was at the Appleton Post-Crescent and we would cross paths at big high school games and in the press box at Lambeau. I always enjoyed chatting with him about the latest goings on with our jobs/beats. As a sports reporter, he was the most “normal guy” you’d ever meet, and I mean that in the most complimentary and respectful way possible. This industry can get crazy, and Tom was a great guy just doing what he loved, professionally and passionately. If there’s a type of role model in this business that should never go out of style, it was Tom. As Wes said, all the credit goes to Jason for keeping him a part of our little sports media world here every year.

Eric from Stramproy, Netherlands

Good morning II. Do you prefer a Saturday night game to a Sunday night game? I’m fine with it. Burning the midnight oil in the middle of the weekend is quite a nice change of rhythm and still lotta Sunday left.

I can’t speak to the circadian rhythms overseas, but I’m hoping things play out the same way as last year – write about a win Saturday night, watch at home Sunday to find out the next opponent, update our site the moment we know, and then turn my attention to the “postgame” Inbox column for Monday.

Someone showed Butler’s numbers next to John Lynch and Butler clearly had the better career (more INTs, sacks, fumble recoveries and 2x the first-team All-Pro nods) in 33 fewer games. Butler seems like he should be a lock by comparison, but do you think he suffers from HOF voters’ Packers fatigue where they view Butler as “only” a top 30 player in Packers history, while someone like Lynch is a top five player in Bucs history?

Perhaps. Those contexts can enter the equation and it’s not necessarily wrong. But it was 43 fewer games, for the record, and all that aside I’ve decided to look at it this way – if Lynch is a Hall of Famer, then Butler is, too. Him getting in last year only helps Butler’s case.

What’s the key to stopping the 49ers’ run game this Saturday?

Gap discipline and tackling. Fill the gaps you’re supposed to, trust your teammates to fill theirs, and then if you have to make the tackle, don’t miss it.

I’ve enjoyed your discussions on the pros and cons of analytics in football. It occurs to me that most of the statistics underlying current analytic analysis are probably based on football played before analytics dominated. It seems reasonable to assume that as more data is added from the modern analytic games, the failures of analytics will get incorporated. For example, perhaps less emphasis on extreme go-for-it-on-fourth-down decisions.

I’m not holding my breath.

Mike, Wes touched on it on “Unscripted,” but I was wondering how you see the Rams-Bucs matchup? I think the Rams D matches up pretty well with the Bucs O but how does the Rams O match up with that Bucs D?

Akers’ return changes LA’s run game. He’s a faster back with fresh legs, and that could make a difference against Tampa Bay. But the Rams’ pass protection struggled against the 49ers two weeks ago and if that unit has another rough day, it’ll make things really tough on Stafford.

I want to give a disgruntled “Thanks a lot” to Josh from Adams, WI, for raising the bar in the “Make Mike Spofford Laugh!” contest. Now, everyone else has to work much harder just to get a mere tee-hee or hee-haw from the Man. *SIGH*

Adam from Great Meadows, NJ

Somebody asked about a magic number of points for Green Bay to score in order to win. Here’s some interesting tidbits. In Aaron Rodgers’ playoff career, he has never failed to score 20-plus points. Therefore, Rodgers is a perfect 6-0 when the D allows less than 20. Rodgers is 10-1 when the D allows 25 or less. He’s 10-3 when the D allows 28 or less. However, he’s 1-6 when the defense allows 30-plus. The only win was 2016 in DAL. Keep SF under 28 points and there’s a really, really good chance GB wins.