Green Bay Packers: Super Bowl or bust once again

SANTA CLARA, CA - OCTOBER 04: quarterback Aaron Rodgers
SANTA CLARA, CA - OCTOBER 04: quarterback Aaron Rodgers /
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ARLINGTON, TX – JANUARY 15: Nick Perry
ARLINGTON, TX – JANUARY 15: Nick Perry /

Green Bay Packers fans will stand for nothing less than a Super Bowl title and though there have been just two championships over the course of the careers of Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, the team heads into each season with a  Super Bowl at the top of the list.

This year is no different.

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All one has to do is take a trip around the internet and check out the prognosticators’ projections on the top teams expected to make deep runs into the playoffs.

If Green Bay isn’t mentioned in the top two teams, they hover anywhere, for the most part, between there and the top five teams expected to make significant noise when it comes to the postseason.

For instance, here’s USA Today’s projections:

Bleacher Report’s Chris Simms has never looked kindly on the Packers, but his power ranking projection of the Packers coming in at #10 is a bit ludicrous. Nevertheless, here’s what he has to say:

How he can place the Dolphins, Chiefs, Giants and even the Seahawks above Green Bay is beyond me, but that’s what makes this prognostication game so much fun.

ARLINGTON, TX – JANUARY 15: Head coach Mike McCarthy of the Green Bay Packers calls a play in the first half during the NFC Divisional Playoff Game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT
ARLINGTON, TX – JANUARY 15: Head coach Mike McCarthy of the Green Bay Packers calls a play in the first half during the NFC Divisional Playoff Game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT /

But getting back closer to reality, Pete Prisco of CBS Sports brings the Green Bay Packers back to near the top – second, to be exact, behind the Patriots. Though Prisco sings the praises of Aaron Rodgers with this post, he like so many others, is concerned whether the Packers have done enough to improve their defense – the team’s recent Achilles heel.

Over at Sports Illustrated’s Monday Morning Quarterback, they have also gathered their senses and given the Packers a number two power ranking as we head into the 2017 regular season.

So as we move toward the season and get primed for Sunday’s opener against the Seattle Seahawks, the notion that Green Bay will be competing for a spot in the Super Bowl continues to be the talk of the town.

Aaron Rodgers is ready to take over again, but all team fans will be most interested in seeing what Ted Thompson has done to make improvements to the defense, especially on the back end of the defense.

GREEN BAY, WI – AUGUST 10: Martellus Bennett
GREEN BAY, WI – AUGUST 10: Martellus Bennett /

How the cornerbacks and linebackers play will be affected greatly by how the defensive line plays. If the line provides the pressure needed to hurry quarterbacks, then it will be easier for the young cornerbacks who could be found on islands more often than not.

This is the year that defensive coordinator Dom Capers either makes it or breaks it. If his defense is as inconsistent and bad as they were in 2016, expect the Green Bay Packers to make changes in that domain.

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If the defense makes plays and keeps teams under three scores per-game, the Packers have as good of a chance of winning a Super Bowl this season as they have had in years.

For the Green Bay Packers, once again, it’s Super Bowl or Bust.