2011 Season Preview: Green Bay Packers

2010 Record: 10-6

2010 Rankings:

Total Offense - 9

Passing Offense - 5

Rushing Offense - 24

Scoring Offense - 10

Total Defense - 5

Pass Defense - 5

Rush Defense - 18

Scoring Defense - 2

Offense

The defending Super Bowl champions will likely field one of the best offenses in the league once again this year. Aaron Rodgers has come into his own as an all-around quarterback. He's an excellent passer both in short yardage and downfield, can work the check-downs effectively to backs and tight ends and has the athleticism to escape pressure and pick up yards with his feet. Outside of Ben Roethlisberger, Rodgers is probably the best quarterback on the run in the league. The Packers will get RB Ryan Grant back from a season-ending knee injury he suffered in Week 1 last year. Grant isn't going to stun anyone with his stats, but he is a solid back capable of putting up 1200 yards and 10 TDs. On the outside, Rodgers has a plethora of targets from downfield target Greg Jennings, the always consistent Donald Driver, one of the best #3 receivers in the league in Jordy Nelson, emerging talent James Jones, and rookie Randall Cobb. On top of all that, the Pack gets TE Jermichael Finley back from a season-ending injury.

Defense

The Packers defense is almost as good as their offense. They have Pro Bowl talent on all 3 levels of the defense from nose tackle BJ Raji, outside linebacker Clay Matthews, and cornerback Charles Woodson. The Packers have a lot of young talent in the secondary, and they showed up big time in the Super Bowl. Dom Capers 3-4 defensive scheme is similar in its blitz packages to Dick LeBeau's and former Steeler Kevin Greene is their linebackers coach. This is a very good defense that just needs to tighten up against the run to be elite across the board. That said, they were 5th in total defense, 2nd in scoring defense, 4th in sacks, and 6th in turnovers in 2010, so there isn't a ton of room for improvement. This is one of the top defenses in the league, without question.

Intangibles

The Packers suffered a TON of injuries last season, and still came out as Super Bowl Champs. Really the only indispensable player on the roster is QB Aaron Rodgers, but Matt Flynn stepped in last season and had some good performances when Rodgers was injured. This is a very, very good team and there's no reason why they can't make a run at a repeat title. 

If the Packers were a Beer, they would be:

Guinness

Old school, classy, full of flavor yet accessible to the masses. Guinness is about as old-school as it gets as far as beer goes. Nothing has changed with the way Guinness looks or tastes in a very long time. It's instantly recognizable to anyone just by the look of it in a glass. Similarly, the Packers are still rocking the same logos, helmets and uniforms and play on the same frozen tundra as every Packers team for over 50 years.