How does that Panther loss look now?

Still crappy. The Panthers lost to the Saints after beating the Packers and looked inept last week against the 49ers. They’re as uneven as any team in an uneven league. The Packers played a crappy game that day at Lambeau, no getting around that. The Panthers didn’t do anything particularly noteworthy in Green Bay, like their pick-six and three turnovers from Stafford yesterday. They just played less crappy. If you can’t tell, that game still sticks in my craw, but I gotta let it go.

John from East Setauket, NY

I’m wondering if you can explain why on some offsides plays the refs let the play play out (like on the offsides call when Love had an unsuccessful pass attempt to Christian Watson) but on other occasions they shut the play down. Is there a rhyme and reason to it?

Yes. When a defensive player jumps into the neutral zone, the play should be blown dead if any of the following occurs: 1. He makes contact with an offensive player before the ball is snapped. 2. He causes an offensive player to jump before the ball is snapped. 3. He’s unabated to the quarterback. If none of those three occurs, the officials can let it play out.

Jeanne from Holliston, MA

Hello, Insiders! I watched the replay over and over of Dontayvion Wicks‘ fourth-down catch to seal the victory against the Lions. Tremendous, outstanding catch, no doubt. But what is not getting as much acclaim is Jordan Love’s throw under tremendous pressure with a guy charging in, right in his face. The catch was SO good, I almost failed to notice that Love’s execution on that fourth-down-gotta-have-it play was simply extraordinary! Gotta Love our QB1. Go Pack Go!

I didn’t realize the difficulty of Love’s throw in the moment, and not until I saw the all-22 view from the end zone. To be that accurate under that level of duress in that situation was, as you said, simply extraordinary. I’m not sure where it ranks on the year, because he made really clutch throws against the Cowboys, Cardinals, Steelers, Giants … the number keeps rising.

Michael from Ellicott City, MD

I’ve heard the term “off platform” used to describe throws like the last one Love made in the Lions game, Mahomes is famous for them. Is this something the QBs actually practice? I recall Love making that “jump” throw in the face of pressure several times before.

They have drills that require them to make difficult or unconventional throws. Those are mixed into the drilling of fundamentals and such. QBs also will challenge themselves in practice against the scout team, making a throw harder than it might be in order to test themselves. The confidence to make that throw in a game comes from forcing oneself to make it in practice.

Longtime reader (hopefully) first time getting posted. You mentioned that you’ve been high on Wicks for years, with LaFleur echoing the same during his press conferences. Besides injuries, what do you think has held him back from a breakout game such as this past one?

In some respects he’s been victimized by the Packers’ wide stable of options. So opportunities were at times sporadic his rookie year, and then last season he struggled with drops, so he wasn’t earning opportunities. This year it’s been the nagging calf injury. In this offense, your role grows when you answer the bell. Wicks did that in a big way, but reinforcements could be coming at receiver. He just needs to be ready to answer it again, whenever it may ring for him.

So Anthony Belton seems to have taken over full time at RG as a rookie and I think he might spend the next 10 years there. Did I miss any stories on him or the lack of rotating? If Devonte Wyatt has to go on IR is there a Howard Green on the DL free agent tree Gutey can shake out and help us when it matters most?

Belton’s ascendence was quick. He was thrown into a RG rotation against Minnesota, played the whole second half of that game, and hasn’t given it up. As for Wyatt, his season is over and he will be going on IR at some point. Defensive tackles who can add to the pass rush rank as one of the toughest commodities to find anytime, let alone for the stretch run, but I’m sure if the personnel department finds someone it thinks can help, he’ll be brought in.

Tabb from West Lafayette, IN

People cannot be serious defending Sirianni going for two, down two TDs. Apparently, analytics (?!) says to find out how many possessions you need as early as possible and that there is no debate. But riddle me this: I already know I only need one more possession to tie or go win the game if I just take the PAT. We all have that information BEFORE figuring watching the two-point conversion was unsuccessful requiring said team to now obtain two more possessions. Algebra > analytics?

I’ll never agree with going for two when down 15 and would probably never do it. I understand the analytics, but to me, what’s missing there is the pressure put on the opponent to move the chains when down eight (as opposed to nine). If you’re potentially removing the strain being put on the opposition to beat you, how is that helping you win? It’s a serious hole in the argument, at least to me. The opponent will treat being up eight the same as being up seven, so reduce the margin to one possession and make them get first downs.