Defensive end Mike Daniels is pretty high on the Green Bay Packers’ roster.
Take a look at what he had to say to the NFL Network today.
“This is an All-Star roster,” Daniels told NFL Media. “That motivates you, but that also can really upset you when things don’t go right because it’s like, ‘Man, we have some of the best players in the league. We have a bunch of All-Pros, a bunch of Pro Bowlers, bunch of fringe All-Pro, fringe Pro Bowl guys year in and year out.’ The scouting they do here is amazing and then the development they do is amazing as well.
“Just getting to the NFC Championship isn’t good enough. Winning the Super Bowl is what the expectations are. Here, there’s such a rich history of success that, when you come here, you’re supposed to win. If you don’t, you really fell way short of the line.”
Two things.
Daniels doesn’t really describe an “all-star” roster there, but okay.
We take the point.
The Packers are supposed to win Super Bowls and they haven’t done that for five seasons now.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers seemed to echo the same disappointment Daniels expressed.
“We have a standard we’ve set around here,” Rodgers said. “We all, myself included, came up short last year. So we’ve got to back to doing what we do best on offense — being consistent and take some pressure off our defense.”
No one has come out and said Super Bowl or bust this season. Nor do we expect them to.
However, that appears to be the expectation that’s being set.
The roster certainly looks capable if injuries don’t get in the way.
Super Bowl or bust is what I’ve thought about this upcoming season ever since they pissed away yet another playoff game to a less talented opponent. If they can’t get it done then Capers, McCarthy, or someone needs to go because they clearly can’t prepare their players to the level needed or put the best man on the field.
The Packer defense was coming on pretty strong the last half of the season, giving up on average 311 yards a game. This would have put them about 3rd best defense in the league if extrapolated out to the whole year.
Playing Datone Jones and Nick Perry instead of Mike Neal may produce better results.
On paper it sure looks like the team is better than last year at several positions. The one thing that makes me believe another Lombardi is possible this year is the quantity of young players and veterans wanting a big payday. Money is what motivates most of these guys just like most of us, except with more 0’s. The amount of guys looking for new contracts is a plus this year, it equals more focus and intensity. After all the contract guys are fighting to put there next meal on their families table. After the season and Lombardi 5 there may be a lot of weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth over resigning players.
This is all possible, but when you have a DC and HC that took their Defense out of a defensive scheme that was working (and very well the whole fucking game) and went into a prevent defense in the last few minutes of that game last year (which they have DONE BEFORE), gives me pause as to their getting it done. I would say 0-2 in the last few years in the “big games” due to the same fuck ups is starting to show a trend . . . But I am ever hopeful that the 3rd time might just be the one this year.