The Green Bay Packers are one of a select few teams to have a real chance to come out of the NFC this season.
Fresh off a somewhat drama-filled offseason that saw Green Bay draft a player in Jordan Love who is seen as Aaron Rodgers’ heir-apparent, the former MVP has set out to prove himself once again. In the process, Rodgers feels like the Packers are flying under the radar.
Aaron Rodgers seems to feel his Packers are being disrespected
“I think the beauty is there’s a lot of conversation about other teams,” Rodgers said Wednesday, “whether it’s Tom (Brady) in Tampa, or the teams that were really solid last year: New Orleans, San Francisco, Seattle, Philadelphia and Dallas with Mike (McCarthy) and what they’ve done with their roster,” Rodgers said, via the Packers’ official website. “I like where we’re at as far as kind of flying under the radar even though we went 13-3 last year. We’ve got a chance to prove what kind of team we are starting the season out on Sunday and I look forward to the opportunity.”
Saying your squad is flying under the radar while talking about those teams who are viewed as a tier above you can also be looked as a sign of disrespect.
As for the Packers, they finished up last season with a 13-3 record and as the NFC North champs. That success came to a screeching halt in the NFC Championship Game, with Green Bay falling to the eventual conference champion 49ers by the score of 37-20. All said, the Packers were outscored by San Francisco, 74-28, in their two matchups last season.
If Green Bay wants to be taken seriously in the NFC, it wll have to be more competitive against top-end squads. The good news here is that these Packers have that opportunity with seven games against teams that made the playoffs a season ago.
For Rodgers, it could be one of his final opportunities to prove that this iteration of the Packers are worthy of more respect. Time will tell on that front. It all starts this week against the division-rival Minnesota Vikings.