What do you think? Will the Green Bay Packers go to the Super Bowl because Aaron Rodgers after four weeks is beginning to heat it up? Is it because rookies Kevin King and Josh Jones have shored up the defensive backfield? Maybe you like the way the defensive line and linebackers have surprised us by snuffing out opponents’ run games?
None of those are the biggest reason I’m optimistic the Packers will go all the way this time around. My top reason: there is simply no dominant team out there standing in their way.
Sunday’s week 4 games provided a wealth of evidence to support my theory.
Going into the season, the New England Patriots were the consensus choice as the league’s top team. Even after the Patriots’ week 1 throttling by the Chiefs – at home – it looked like that was an aberration when they bounced right back with two easy wins. But then on Sunday – and again at home – a decent, but not highly regarded Panthers team served them up with another loss. The Patriots don’t have the look of immortality this season.
Yeah, but Packers fans got a good look at the Atlanta Falcons in week 2. Atlanta appeared to pick up where they left off when they let a Super Bowl win slip through their fingers in February. So what happens on Sunday? The Falcons fall to the Bills – at home, no less.
A smattering of delusional enthusiasts have big hopes for the Vikings this year. Well, they had their chance to make a statement – at home – against the Lions. Neither team, however, showed the type of passing attack needed to go deep into the playoffs. Detroit’s Matthew Stafford barely reached 200 passing yards and he had no touchdowns. The Vikings Case Keenum was back to being ordinary. Stafford finished with a passer rating of 81.2 and Keenum was worse, at 76.9. That won’t cut it.
In an event, you can put a fork in the Vikings – rookie star rusher Dalvin Cook suffered an apparent ACL tear in the game – they’re done.
The Cowboys have some big talent, but we got a clue they also had some big problems when in week 2 they were demolished, 42-17 by the Broncos. That apparently was no fluke, because on Sunday they went down to the L.A. Rams – yes, in Dallas. The Rams took control of the game in the second half, outscoring the Boys 19-6.
Who’s left to contest for the Lombardi Trophy? The Pittsburgh Steelers are well-positioned at 3-1 to make a run, but how good can a team be that lost to the Bears in week 3?
The Chiefs will be gunning for their fourth straight win in their Monday night faceoff with the Redskins. They look at this point to be the top team in the AFC. The good news, though, is that if the Packers wind up facing Kansas City this season it will be in the Super Bowl.
I have to admit the Rams have been impressive, and they just looked good again in handling the Cowboys. I wonder, though, whether any 4-12 team has ever managed such a turnaround in the space of one year. This is a team that hasn’t experienced a playoff game since 2004.
Through four weeks, I’m not about to declare that the 2017 Packers are a “super” team, but it doesn’t look like anyone else in the league is either. That renders this season a golden opportunity for some solid and opportunistic team to win it all.
It will most likely be a team with a record of winning their home games, with a roster of players who are rich in playoff experience, and with an MVP-level quarterback – preferably one’s who’s been there before.
Ladies and gents, I present to you the 2017 Green Bay Packers.
Cheers to your blind optimism and silly logic. But unfortunately for the Packers, the Bills can’t knock the Falcons out of the divisional round of the NFC playoffs. Atlanta has embarrassed Green Bay, BAD, twice this year and I have no reason to believe it wont happen again until proven otherwise.
Good one Rob, thanks for making me smile.
We’re coming up on week 5 my man, so i’ll propose this….
How about, come week 16 or 17, lets give this topic a revisit.
Come hell or high water, i’m going to be entertained this season.
Nice article Rob, it’d be nice however I believe you’re missing a few parameters in your logic…
1) how quickly can key players get off IR ?
2) can they avoid further injuries ?
3) when do they get a decent O-line ?
4) how quickly can they dump Randall ?
If they are up 35 in the 4th Q of the Super Bowl that is when I will start to believe.
Vikings are not “done”. We lost Cook for the season and that is a blow but this team is not built around him. This is not like when we had a mediocre defense and Christian Ponder all depending on AP.
We are a passing team with a great defense. We have seven pro bowl level players on defense (Xavier Rhodes, Harrison Smith, Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, Linval Joseph, Everson Griffen, Danielle Hunter). Five of them are arguably the top players in the league at their positions.
The O-line is fixed and getting even better weekly. We are 2-2 but only had our #1 QB for one week. Our offense has become a passing attack offense even with Cook. We have the #1 and #3 WR in the entire NFL. Even with 3/4ths of the games run by a back-up QB.
Even without Cook our run game will be better than that of the Packers.
The Vikings are not “done” and are going to defeat the Packers week after next.
“We have seven pro bowl level players on defense. Five of them are arguably the top players in the league at their positions. We have the #1 and #3 WR in the entire NFL.”
Hahahaha, best joke I’ve heard all week. Sorry dude, Randy moss retired years ago. I literally had to google who your receivers were..
Go to NFL.com or any legit football web site and get yourself an education, Cheese.
Adam Thielen has 24 catches for 358 yards, 14.9 per catch average, on pace over full year to hit 96 catches for 1,432 yards! He IS third in the NFL.
Stefon Diggs has 22 catches for 391 yards, 17.8 yards per catch, 4 TDs, on pace over a full year to hit 88 catches for 1,564 yards and 16 TDs! He is first in the NFL.
You had to google the receivers because you clearly are not very up to speed in the NFL. NEWS FLASH: Jim Brown retired a while back. NEWS FLASH: NFL helmets no longer made out of leather.
Just to clarify the 1st and 3rd ranking are based on yardage. By reception # they are 8th and 13th. By TDs Diggs is tied for 2nd.
By yardage in your fancy passing offense Adams is #27 and Nelson is #37, though Nelson is #1 in TDs with 5. Just laying some perspective on you via objective stats.
Congratulations on having a bunch of receiving yards. Seems like it worked out great for YOU GUYS against the Lions, being that the Vikings only scored one touchdown and lost the game. Nice job on skewing statistics. You don’t see me running around saying Jordy Nelson is the #1 receiver in the NFL because he leads a single category. Although touchdowns win games, where as yards…. not so much.
Just want to add this from another news source:
“…the best pass-catching duo in the NFL a quarter of the way into the season has undoubtedly been Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen of the Minnesota Vikings. The tandem currently ranks first and third in the NFL in receiving yards, while consistently providing big plays for an offense that has been down starting quarterback Sam Bradford for the past three weeks.
Diggs is churning out big plays, averaging almost 18 yards per catch and scoring four times. A ridiculous 17 of his 22 catches have gone for first downs, and eight have been for gains of 20 yards or more, the top mark in the NFL. Considering how Minnesota’s offense couldn’t throw more than 5 yards past the line of scrimmage last season, that is an extraordinary feat for the third-year wide receiver. Diggs’ long speed, body control and amazing concentration in tight quarters has set him apart as a receiver, moving him into the conversation as a top-10 player at his position.
Thielen hasn’t received the same media attention, but he’s been almost as good, with 24 catches for 358 yards, an average of 14.9 yards per catch. The fourth-year pro has yet to score a touchdown this season, but don’t confuse that for an absence of big plays. Thielen is second in the league to Diggs with seven catches of 20 yards or more, including two that went for more than 40 yards. His ability to work inside or outside allows the Vikings offense to be diverse in its approach and create mismatches with a big slot on a smaller nickel corner.
Considering the injuries that have affected the Vikings offense, a strong argument can be made that Diggs and Thielen are the unit’s most valuable players right now, as they’ve continued to produce at a league-leading level despite adversity. Time will tell if the added attention the duo will face impacts their production. But through one quarter of the season, there has clearly been no receiving tandem more impressive across the NFL than that of Diggs and Thielen.”
Just watch, some fool is going to post that when I pointed out Thielen and Diggs are #3 and #1 in yards that I manipulated statistics.
I would not trade Diggs or Thielen straight up for Jordy Nelson. Even if Nelson was not old, injury riddled, and expensive to pay.
I didn’t say you manipulated statistics, I said you skewed them because you said the Vikings had the #1 and #3 receivers in the league, totally leaving out that it was strictly for receiving yards through the first four games of the season. Whoopdy-freakin-doo. I can find all kinds of stupid random stats about the Packers that don’t mean shit too. Yards don’t win football games, touchdowns do. Who leads the league in receiving touchdowns? Jordy motherfucking Nelson, Beeeeotch!
Nice uncited news source. Probably got that from a Vikings blog.
When a fan says “We” like they are on the team it makes me laugh. Pathetic.
I say “We” because I am proud to associate with my team. But I totally understand why you would be reluctant to do that.
Yeah who would want to associate with a team that has a bunch of Super Bowl trophies…….
That lonely boy queen fan sure can be entertaining sometimes….Crying foul..We are NOT done!!….In a mili second of reading that i imagined him whining to his mom..”I want more cookies!!”
“The Vikings are not “done” and are going to defeat the Packers week after next.”
Is that right Gomer?….celebrating a victory before you win anything? Par for the course.
As i wrote last season, they were done when they were 5-0. Queen fans can be so cute sometimes.
It sounds like Grade 5 is not going smooth for you. You should focus on your homework.
…so cute.
Vikings are irrelevant. Buffalo Bills of the NFC. NO ONE gives rats ass bout that bottom-feeder organization. there only claim to fame is they are in Packers Division. So they get couple ass-kickings every year