erin alyce (@herooine.bsky.social)

Ask Maggie: Kicking Special Teams to the Curb Welcome back to another edition of Ask Maggie: Your Packers Mailbag! It’s the mailbag you, the readers, help me write each and every week by submitting your questions to [email protected]. I couldn’t do this without you. Let’s kick (pun very much intended) things off with a question that isn’t about special teams, because that’s coming later. “Do you have any concerns about Gannon staying for 2 years and leaving again for a head coaching job? Yes he did poorly in AZ, but with the talent he has here I could see him follow a Hafley route and then the team has to start from square one to learn a new system etc. Should longevity play any role in the hiring of coordinator positions or should you just pick the person you think is best and let the chips fall where they may?” - Tony I think you answered your question there at the very end. They say the NFL stands for “Not For Long” for a reason. Depending on your thoughts on the current Packers team, you may think their Super Bowl window is closed. You may think they have two years left. You may think they have longer than two years. However you feel, if Green Bay thinks Gannon is the guy to lead the defense in that time span, that’s why you make the hire. Even if he’s only with the Packers for a single season and then lands a head coaching job in 2027, you still make the selection given what you think you can get out of him right now. Look at a team like the Rams. Sean McVay has been with the team since 2017. In that time he had Matt LaFleur, Kevin O’Connell, Liam Coen, and Mike LaFleur as his offensive coordinators, and all of them are now head coaches in the NFL. On defense he had Wade Phillips, Brandon Staley, Raheem Morris, and Chris Shula (who had plenty of interviews for a head coaching job of his own). And yet despite all of that turnover, the Rams have made the playoffs seven times and appeared in two Super Bowls, winning one. The most successful teams are always going to have a high turnover rate because success breeds opportunity. Any team that didn’t have a successful season is going to be looking at the ones that did and trying to figure out what they can replicate. So no, I don’t have any concerns about Gannon possibly only being around for two years. Hopefully by the time he’s offered another crack at a head coaching gig, he’s got some shiny new hardware to bring with him. “How do we like international games? As a Berliner (Germany) I’m really hoping for a Berlin game with the Packers. But I get that it’s unfavorable by the base.” - Teerohr I personally love international games. I know that I’m spoiled living in Wisconsin and I don’t take it for granted that I’m fortunate enough to get to at least one Packers game a season at Lambeau Field. I suppose I can understand the argument that Green Bay doesn’t want to give up home games given how much they do for the local economy, but with the 17th game added onto the schedule, giving up the ninth and “extra” home game feels like a fair trade. Regardless, I love any opportunity for fans to get to see their favorite team. I’ve talked to a ton of international fans and the dedication you all show your team is unreal. The time zone difference to watch your team in the middle of the night or early hours of the morning is one thing. But I’ve also heard plenty of stories about how hard it was to even find information about the Packers before things like the internet and streaming services made that a little bit easier. Relying on newspapers or tickers on the bottom of TV screens to even try to catch the score of the most recent game. Talk about diehards. The only negative I could think of would be that I can see why it would be a bummer for fans that live in other parts of the U.S. to have Packers road games flexed, simply because the Packers may not be in their location often. For example, if the Packers vs Steelers game had been the Ireland game this past season, I could understand why that would be a bummer for fans that live in the Pittsburgh area or within driving distance. That’s a trip they’d likely make knowing it only happens once every eight years. That said, a trip somewhere like Berlin would happen even less likely, I’d have to think, so I’m always in support of international fans getting to see their team in-person. I know how much the Brazil game meant to fans in 2024, even with the extended flight times. The NFL is getting better at managing logistics to make these trips easier for teams, too. So that is an incredibly long answer to say hell yeah, I am always down for international games and for as many fans as possible to get to cheer on their team in-person. For some people it might really be a “once in a lifetime” opportunity. “What, if anything, stood out to you in Gutey’s press conference? Anything make you go “hmmm”?” - Jim We’ll save his comments about special teams for a little bit later on, but something I thought was interesting was his comment about Jordan Morgan at left tackle, specifically when he said "I thought he played really well in the preseason at that spot, probably did enough to win that job, but then we had some injuries and had to do what was best for the team.” I never felt like Rasheed Walker was going to be back in Green Bay this offseason, but for Gute to say Morgan probably did enough to win the LT job coming out of camp, only for the Packers to not utilize him there, was telling. I know the Packers love offensive linemen who cross-train and can play everywhere, which Morgan did do in 2025 (he made a start everywhere but center), but it certainly sounds like he’ll have every opportunity to be the team’s left tackle of the future, which we expected when he was drafted in the first round in 2024. It maybe wasn’t surprising, but Gutekunst also said he feels good about where the team is at regarding cap space going into free agency, should they wish to spend. I think we all have our thoughts on players the team may move on from (ahem, Rashan Gary) to free up some money, so it’ll be interesting to see if the Packers take any swings at positions of need like they did last season with Aaron Banks and Nate Hobbs. “What are fans being reasonable about this offseason? What are fans being unreasonable about?” - Sam Sam, you’re trying to get me in trouble. But I’ll be honest, I haven’t seen too many inflammatory takes floating around. I’m sure they exist, though. I would say concerns about the coaching staff are all reasonable. I get that there’s a portion of the fanbase that doesn’t think LaFleur is the right guy for the job and they think as long as he’s head coach, the Super Bowl window is closed. I don’t agree with that take, but given the recent losses in back-to-back Wild Card games, I don’t fault anyone for their feelings. I also understand why fans have concerns about the coaching staff, even if they do think LaFleur is the right guy as head coach. It’s impossible not to be frustrated with the results we’ve seen on special teams. It’s fair to question why the offensive line has regressed, even beyond the unfortunate injury luck this past season. A lot of that comes down to coaching, so it’s completely reasonable for the fans to want more from a front office that’s spoken a lot about the urgency to win a championship. I guess if I had to pick a recent example of an unreasonable take, it’s anyone thinking Jordan Love isn’t the guy at quarterback. I’m not sure how anyone can watch the Packers offense and think Love is ever the problem. He had a couple of ugly interceptions this season, but that’s really the only thing I’d nitpick about, and we had a quarterback in Green Bay for 16 years who’s in the Hall of Fame and threw what felt like one ugly pick per game. Love threw for 323 yards and four touchdowns in the Wild Card game. If there was anything to dislike about the offense’s productivity down the stretch, I would argue it stemmed from playcalling and decision-making (like handoffs on second and long), not who’s throwing the ball. Just for comparison’s sake, I thought these numbers were fun. Through his first three seasons as Green Bay’s starter (47 games), Love has a record of 27-19-1. He’s thrown for 10,929 yards with a completion percentage of 64.5%. He has 80 touchdowns and 28 interceptions. In Aaron Rodgers’ first three seasons as a starter (47 games), he went 27-20. He threw for 12,394 yards with a completion percentage of 64.6%. He had 86 touchdowns and 31 picks. Finally, in Brett Favre’s first three seasons as a starter (45 games), he went 26-19. He threw for 10,412 yards with a completion percentage of 62.4%. He had 70 touchdowns and 51 interceptions. So there we have it. See you in Canton, Jordan. Anyone that doesn’t think you’re the guy isn’t invited to your jersey retirement at Lambeau. “Re: Bisaccia - why?” - Tony This made me audibly laugh when I opened the email. It paired perfectly with Jim’s question above about things from Gutey’s presser that gave me pause. I don’t love calling for anyone’s job. It’s simply not my style. But repeated special teams blunders sure are hard to watch each season. And I understand the argument that the coaches aren’t the ones executing each week, so if Romeo Doubs can’t secure an onside kick that isn’t entirely Rich’s fault, but I’m not sure how anyone at 1265 Lombardi can watch Green Bay’s special teams and think the product on the field is capable of winning championships. Take kickoffs for example. I’m not sure why it was such an issue for McManus all season to kick the ball between the end zone and the 20-yard line. Instead, he was consistently kicking the ball into the end zone, giving opposing teams the ball at the 35-yard line. On the year, McManus was 18/18 on field goals inside 39 yards and 6/12 on anything over 40 yards. That’s a 50% success rate on kicks of 40+ yards in a league where Jaguars kicker Cam Little just set an NFL record this season with a 68-yard field goal. I think it has to be Daniel Whelan. He’s been Whelan and dealin’ too much and he’s keeping Bisaccia employed. But that’ll do it for this week! We’ll be switching to Fridays for the offseason schedule, so you’ll have one less day to get your questions in! Save me from extended special teams conversation (just kidding, kind of) by emailing your questions to [email protected]. Filed Under: FeaturedMaggie Loney PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHEESEHEAD NATION WEEKLY NEWSLETTER HERE. __________________________ Maggie Loney is a writer for Cheesehead TV and podcaster for the Pack-A-Day Podcast and Pack's What She Said. Find her on Twitter at @MaggieJLoney. __________________________ NFL Categories: Green Bay PackersTags: Rich BisacciaSpecial TeamsJordan LoveBrian GutekunstJonathan Gannon Like 0 points http://dlvr.it/TQqMp1