3 Reasons The Green Bay Packers Could Win The Super Bowl

Amazingly, the Green Bay Packers begin training camp in just four weeks.

And after the 2021 season marked the 11^th straight year Green Bay finished without a Super Bowl title, Packer Nation can’t wait for a new campaign to begin.

There are plenty of questions, like at wide receiver, tight end and special teams. But per usual, the glass is half full — and then some.

Here are three reasons Green Bay has a real chance to win its first Super Bowl since 2010.

1. Dominant defense

When the Packers won the Super Bowl nearly 12 years ago now, they finished No. 5 in total defense. Green Bay doesn’t have a top-five finish since then, but did rank ninth in total defense in both 2020 and 2021.

Now, after keeping the majority of that group intact this offseason and spending two first round draft picks on that unit, the Packers believe they’ll have their best defense in more than a decade.

“We got a lot of guys,” Packers nose tackle Kenny Clark said. “Our defense has a lot of potential to be really good. Great, actually, and just happy about a lot of the pieces that we’re putting together and hopefully we just gel together.”

Clark, a two-time Pro Bowler, is just 26 and in the prime of what’s becoming a brilliant career. Rashan Gary and Preston Smith form a terrific pair of outside linebackers. And inside linebacker De’Vondre Campbell was named first-team All-Pro in 2021.

The secondary has a dynamic cornerback trio of Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas and Eric Stokes. And safety Adrian Amos is as steady as they come.

Green Bay also used its two first round draft picks to select a pair of Georgia standouts — linebacker Quay Walker at No. 22 overall and defensive end Devonte Wyatt at No. 28.

“I’m really excited about that front seven, just the speed we have now,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said. “I think we’re going to be able to wave some defensive line players in that maybe we haven’t had in the past, which is going to keep some guys fresher. So the depth there maybe is a little better than we’ve had in the past, and then the speed.

“I just think our ability to cover ground, our ability to take away passing lanes, to rush the passer, affect the passer … again, we’ve got a long ways to go. This team, they haven’t even really had a first practice yet. But I do like us on paper.”

Since Brett Favre’s arrival reversed a generation of losing football back in 1992, Green Bay has had a top-five defense just five times.

In both 1996 and 2010, the Packers won the Super Bowl. In 1993, they reached the divisional playoffs. In 1998 and 2009, they lost in the Wild Card round.

If things go as planned, this defense should finish in the top-five for the first time since that 2010 Super Bowl team. And instead of having to outscore people — like many Green Bay teams have been forced to do the last 11 seasons — these Packers will be equipped to win their share of rock fights.

“Just nasty,” Alexander said of Green Bay’s defense. “It’s just nasty, honestly.”

2. Run to glory?

Pro Football Focus recently rated Green Bay’s wide receiver group No. 31 in football, ahead of only Chicago’s. That certainly seems fair, considering the Packers’ wide receiver room consists of three rookies and several veterans with major question marks.

With so much uncertainty at the wideout position, expect Green Bay to run the ball more than ever under fourth-year coach Matt LaFleur.

The Packers have run just 42% of the time since LaFleur took over. That number drops to 38.5% when you eliminate quarterback runs — plays that certainly weren’t called by LaFleur.

Green Bay does have one of the NFL’s elite 1-2 punches with Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon. And now, more than ever, LaFleur figures to lean heavier on that dynamic duo.

“I hope so,” Dillon said of getting more carries in 2022. “Any running back would want that.”

Dillon led the Packers with 803 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns a year ago. The 247-pound Dillon is a punishing runner who has surprising speed and gets stronger as the game goes on.

Jones and Tennessee’s Derrick Henry are the only running backs to post 1,000-plus yards from scrimmage and 10-plus scrimmage TDs each of the last three seasons (2019-21).

Jones also joins Jim Brown (1957-61) and Jim Taylor (1958-62) as the only players in NFL history to post 4,000-plus rushing yards (4,163), 40-plus rushing TDs (41) and an average of 5.0-plus yards per carry (5.06) in their first five seasons.

“Certainly when you have two great running backs you feel good about giving them the ball,” LaFleur said. “But there’s other ways than just running the football to get them involved in the offense and both those guys are very versatile players out of the backfield.

“So, time will tell in terms of how we progress when we get into training camp, when we get the pads on, when we get into the preseason games. I think that it will be something that will kind of naturally evolve over time in terms of how we’re going to attack a defense.”

3. Aaron Rodgers

Rodgers threw 37 touchdowns last season, just four interceptions, posted a 111.9 passer rating and won his fourth career MVP award. Only Peyton Manning (five) now has more.

The Packers then opted to bring Rodgers back for an 18^th season by giving him a new deal worth $150.8 million over the next three years. The first two years of the extension are fully guaranteed and will pay Rodgers $42 million in 2022 and $59.5 million in 2023.

By opting to stick with Rodgers, who turns 39 this season, the Packers re-worked several other contracts to get under the salary cap. When those deals come due, though, and Rodgers eventually steps away, Green Bay will be in salary cap hell.

Until then, the Packers have a tiny window to chase their first Super Bowl championship since 2010.

Can Rodgers deliver? That’s the question everyone in the organization is asking.

While Rodgers has been excellent in the regular season throughout his Hall of Fame career, he continues to be the “MDP” — Most Disappointing Player — of the postseason, delivering one playoff clunker after another over the past decade.

In fact, Rodgers has become the James Harden or Alex Rodriguez of the postseason — shining from September until December, then vanishing in January.

Since leading the Packers to a Super Bowl title in 2010, Rodgers is just 7-9 in the postseason. And each of the past two years, the Packers were the NFC’s No. 1 seed, but lost home playoff games.

Green Bay’s 13-10 loss to San Francisco in last year’s divisional playoffs was particularly painful. Rodgers didn’t throw a touchdown pass against the 49ers, was rattled all night, and was outplayed by Jimmy Garoppolo — of all people — at crunch time.

Rodgers remains one of the top quarterbacks of this era, but his playoff failures have undoubtedly tarnished his legacy.

Can 2022 be any different? The Packers are praying their regular season ‘MVP’ stops playing like the ‘MDP’ of January.