Another year of Green Bay Packer football is finally upon us! Another year with HOF quarterback play is expected…however, until the Packers show me a reason to believe they’re capable of winning a Super Bowl (and no, because they won it 6 years ago isn’t applicable) I can’t realistically believe they’ll actually accomplish the goal. I’ve been a huge supporter of Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy since they’ve arrived and the “success” has shown that building through the draft and staying young while adding a free agent here and there is a great way to give yourself a chance each and every year, it’s only garnered one championship.
After seeing Aaron Rodgers develop from 2005 to 2007 behind Brett Favre and seeing his improvement, essentially each season since starting, it’s easy to say he’s the best QB in the NFL. My only issue with that statement is Why does he only have 1 Super Bowl ring? One can blame Thompson for not building a strong enough defense around him to win…another can point a finger at McCarthy for going soft in the NFC title game at Seattle in January of 2015. However, in 4 of Rodgers’ six playoff losses, he’s been outplayed by the opposing quarterback (passer rating) and hasn’t played to near the level that I’ve come to expect from him and he gets a pass from most fans for it. Like his predecessor (Favre), Aaron won his only Super Bowl with a top 5 Defense (based on total yards; Brett had the #1 overall D while Rodgers had the 5th in 2010) – and I’m confident in saying he’ll need a top 5 defense to win a Super Bowl this year.
After dissecting all of the preseason games, I believe this defense will be improved overall from last year (15th overall) which gave up 20 points to a very good Arizona offense, on the road, but choked in overtime just like the year prior – I don’t think they’ll finish in the top 5 thus I don’t think the Packers will win the Super Bowl. IF THAT’S THE OUTCOME, AGAIN, MAJOR CHANGE MUST OCCUR. Then again, many fans are happy being “relevant” or “having a shot” every year. If Quarterback is that important to winning titles, and Rodgers is that great, shouldn’t we as a fan base expect to be a dynasty? Hell, a team has won 3 rings in a decade in each decade since the NFL began and time is running out, so why not the Packers???
Here’s my season and playoff predictions! Have fun and thank God football is back!
NFC | AFC | |||||||
West | Seattle | 11 | 5 | Oakland | 8 | 8 | ||
Arizona | 10 | 6 | Kansas City | 8 | 8 | |||
Los Angeles | 8 | 8 | San Diego | 7 | 9 | |||
San Francisco | 2 | 14 | Denver | 6 | 10 | |||
East | New York | 9 | 7 | New England | 12 | 4 | ||
Washington | 8 | 8 | Miami | 9 | 7 | |||
Dallas | 7 | 9 | New York | 8 | 8 | |||
Philadelphia | 5 | 11 | Buffalo | 8 | 8 | |||
South | Tampa Bay | 9 | 7 | Houston | 10 | 6 | ||
Carolina | 9 | 7 | Jacksonville | 9 | 7 | |||
New Orleans | 8 | 8 | Indianapolis | 8 | 8 | |||
Atlanta | 5 | 11 | Tennessee | 7 | 9 | |||
North | Green Bay | 12 | 4 | Pittsburgh | 11 | 5 | ||
Minnesota | 11 | 5 | Cincinnati | 9 | 7 | |||
Detroit | 5 | 11 | Cleveland | 7 | 9 | |||
Chicago | 4 | 12 | Baltimore | 6 | 10 |
6Arizona @ 3New York | 6Jacksonville @ 3Houston | ||
5Minnesota @ 4Tampa Bay | 5Cincinnati @ 4Oakland | ||
New York @ Seattle | Houston @ Pittsburgh | ||
Tampa Bay @ Green Bay | Cincinnati @ New England | ||
Seattle @ Green Bay | Pittsburgh @ New England | ||
Seattle 27 | New England 20 |