The rigors of training camp are over and the Packers have their final 53 ready to do battle next Sunday in Philly. I can’t wait! This season is the most highly anticipated season since 1996. The Packers of ’96 were playoff tested and went on to win the Super Bowl with a young Brett Favre at quarterback. The 2010 Packers are Super Bowl favorites without even having won one playoff game. Go figure.
The Packers have the best young quarterback in the NFL in Aaron Rodgers, a great receiving core and an emerging star in tight end Jermicheal Finley. The Packers will never be a running team but have a solid starting running back in Ryan Grant and a improving Brandon Jackson behind him. I used to hate Jackson but the kid showed up big time this preseason.
If you are looking for a weak spot it would be the Packers’ defense. Even though they were the NFL’s second-best last year, three regular season games and one playoff game defined their year – awful! They could stop the scrubs like the Bears and Lions but not the Vikings, Steelers or Cardinals. In all those games they had no pressure on the QB. I think they will improve on that this year.
Why you ask? Why can they improve with the same players they had last year that didn’t produce? Hate to be company line but how can guys like B.J. Raji, and Clay Matthews not be better? Raji is right at home at nose tackle and Matthews is going to be a premier pass rushing linebacker in the NFL for a long time. I think the Packers’ defensive line is going to be a dominate force.
Next Sunday we will finally see Charles Woodson and Tramon Williams play for real, which will cure a lot of ills of the preseason. At safety Nick Collins looks solid as ever and newcomer Morgan Burnett looks better than Atari Bigby ever did if you ask me. I can’t wait to see this defense play with all it’s guns on the field. Kevin Kolb better be ready, the kitchen sink might be coming.
I was a little surprised at the final cuts but the fact that several of the released players were snatched up means the Packers have some good players on their team. Props to Ted Thompson for building such a solid team. I couldn’t name a player cut by the Vikings or Bears or Lions. I may be wrong but I doubt many of them got picked up.
Finally, game week is here. Let’s get it on!