How far do you realistically see us going this year?

[Joemailman]

I don't really see it as negativity. It's just recognizing that a highly successful season relies on some players recovering quickly from major injuries; others contributing far beyond what they ever have before because of injury, opportunity or their own performance; and still others (rookies) adapting to the NFL quickly. A lot of players must step-up this year; more than usual.

I think the Packers have a bunch of players who are already good players but are at an age where they are still capable of more or just coming into their prime. I think few teams have as good a combination of youth and experience as the Packers.

Matthew Golden - 22
Javon Bullard - 23
Edgerrin Cooper - 24
Jordan Morgan - 24
Anthony Belton - 25
Tucker Kraft - 25
Lukas Van Ness - 25
Evan Williams - 25
Xavier McKinney - 26
Jayden Reed - 26
Jordan Love 27
Micah Parsons - 27
Zach Tom - 27
Christian Watson - 27
Daniel Whelan - 27

[Anti-Polar Bear]

So if Coldplay coaches the team, we go 17-0? ok, hire'em hahahaha.

Literally ALL of those "ifs" are way better than 50/50.

Dunno if Coldplay knows anything about American football, but lyrically, pretty sure the song is about quitting burger flipping or any miserable, dead end gig. Grass ain’t always greener on the other side, I reckon, but it’s sagacious to pursue the dream and fail than keep on flipping burgers til one’s too old and impotent to change her mold - as the regrets of not taking a shot drowns her head with even more misery.

Shit, Tex, I’m 43. It’s time to quit the burger gig to chase after the poker dream. Butte and I, we’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

I think the offensive line will be better this year, and that's huge. Morgan will likely be a huge upgrade over Rasheed Walker, and surely Banks will be at least mediocre - if he can stay on the field. Rhyan might be a bit better than he was last year, given his experience at the position, and will be better than Jenkins was. Belton ought to be better just for the experience and practicing as a guard. Tom, if healthy, should be stellar. That's all better than last year.

I think the corner position will be better, though not by much.

I think the defensive line will be better this year, unless injuries strike key players. Still, I'd be curious what the asking price for Vita Vea would be.

The wide receiver room certainly has less depth. Injuries, again, will be key.

The running back room is iffy, even if Jacobs plays. He's slowing down a bit. And who can count on Marshmallow Lloyd?

Outside of Tucker Kraft, that is an awful tight end room. If he goes down, they're screwed.

Good at safety. Really good.

Linebacking group will be about like last year, I think. You lose Quay Walker's speed but gain Franklin's instinctual play.

EDGE rushers - I'm more excited about than most of you. I don't think losing Gary and Enagbare was bad. Those guys were okay, and that's all. Now they have young hungry guys to fight for spots. I like Sorrell, I like Cox (breakout year?), I like the Dentist. If Van Mess can stay healthy, he'll do well this year. So I think they can hold down the fort until Parsons returns.

Love can get the job done, no question. Especially if MLF turns him loose, which he might have to, given the state of the running back room.

I am trying to separate my dislike of MLF as a person (he seems pissy and snarky and not very genuine) from my analysis of his coaching. He's won a bunch of games, but has he gotten the most out of the talent he has, which is every head coach's job? I think maybe not. To be fair, I think he got stuck with a crummy defensive coordinator when he first hired on, and he's had a lot of injuries to deal with, but his in-game decision-making at key moments seems questionable and sometimes turtleish. The way his teams fell apart in fourth quarters last year does not speak well to his coaching.

All in all, in the NFL these days, as others have said, it's about injuries. If your major players stay injury-free or suffer only minor (missing a game or two) injuries, this team can get to the NFCCG and even win it. Maybe win an Owl, with some luck.

If however some of your major players go down, these team will be relegated to the mid- to lower tier of the NFL. But you could say that about most if not all NFL teams.

Good post.

I reckon, the weakest link on the team remains corner. If Nixon AND Valentine are the two boundary corners again, season ain’t gonna be ecstasy.

Sucks that, J-Alex, a shutdown corner, suffered a mental bout of, for you old schoolers, Syd Barrett. Wish J-Alex was still here.

[George Cumby]

I share Patler's concern about MLF. But he apparently has the support of both 1 and 10. That carries some weight.

If Micah and Kraft don't get hurt, the Packers have a legit chance to win the 'Owl last year. Those two are game changers. Game changers who can elevate the team beyond LaFleur and his choke-jobs.

When I was watching the 'Owl last year, the thought that sprang to mind was the Packers could have scored on either of those defenses. Healthy Micah tips the scales.

This team can win the whole enchilada this year. As Joe says, there are a fuckton of players coming into their own. If MLF does an above average job of coaching this year, WATCH. OUT.

This team could implode, if injuries hit the wrong place at the wrong time or if MLF retreats into himself.

[pbmax]

Shit, Tex, I’m 43. It’s time to quit the burger gig to chase after the poker dream. Butte and I, we’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year.

No one under the age of 50 knows that song

[call_me_ishmael]

This is going to be an interesting year. I think if the OL stays healthy and plays well, the sky is the limit for the offense. They have happy receivers on prove it deals and a TE coming off injury that wants a huge contract so I'm sure he's in extremely good shape.

The defense is a question of course. I have my concerns about the coordinator but it does seem like first year coordinators tend to do well? Maybe that's not accurate but it seems like they generally have their best year then revert to the mean.

I think like 9-8 or 10-7 is probably realistic. I am less optimistic about this team than I was last year. They don't have the plethora of talent that they had to start last year. We shall see. They are young but very experienced at this point and could be very dangerous if things go right.

Kinda wild though, I still think the best they've played in the JLove era was the end of the year of 2024. Feels like they've never made it quite back to that level.

[bobblehead]

I'm not excited about the upcoming season. Hopeful, maybe, but not excited. My feeling starts out at 9-8, 10-7; plus or minus a game or two depending on their own injuries and the injuries of their opponents when they play them. My concerns:

- I'm losing faith in LaFleur. Haven't liked much of what he has shown the last few years.
- The stench of the end of last season and the playoff loss has not cleared.
- Running back position could be a real mess.
- Placekicking could be a real mess.
- Pass rush may struggle early with no experienced success to rely on.
- New DC adds uncertainty and a period of adjustment.
- Same for STC.
- Until new/young players prove themselves, the roster is weaker at RB, WR, DL and LB.
- Not sure the roster was improved at any position. Maybe CB, but that is certainly not a given at this point.

The team and coaching staff have a lot to prove after the miserable performance last year.

Wow, how do you be this negative and NOT mention the OL. I think the entire offense revolves around the OL and its health. RB and WR get a whole lot better if they perform. On defense I've been vocal that I think we improved at coordinator, but it could have been even better if we had hired Jimmy. I also think we improve at DL overall, especially when you consider our best rushing EDGE and interior guy finished the season on the other DL. LB? Probably a push, but you could argue Cooper is a year older and hopefully better. CB is an absolute hot mess but no worse than last year. Kicker we paid a vet a million bonus and then cut him before a camp snap was taken. Special teams can hardly be much worse. I said the trend was set at 7 seed, but honestly if injury is mainly luck you have to think we can be a much better team theoretically with reversion to the mean.

[texaspackerbacker]

Dunno if Coldplay knows anything about American football, but lyrically, pretty sure the song is about quitting burger flipping or any miserable, dead end gig. Grass ain’t always greener on the other side, I reckon, but it’s sagacious to pursue the dream and fail than keep on flipping burgers til one’s too old and impotent to change her mold - as the regrets of not taking a shot drowns her head with even more misery.

Shit, Tex, I’m 43. It’s time to quit the burger gig to chase after the poker dream. Butte and I, we’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year.

It's probably time for you to get a wife - secret or otherwise. As for the other, I think it's safe to say you ain't the GOAT poker player or even second all time. Thus, as they say, don't quit your day job.

APB, do you buy any or much of this absolute negative bullshit being spewed by several in here? Also, do you buy the ignorant (IMO) premise that O Line play i.e. your term, yokazumas is any significant factor in overall team performance? I see it as all (or maybe about 95%) about skill positions on offense and predominantly back 7 or 8 on D. Also, do you buy the fairly incredible negativity about LaFleur and Gutekunst?

[Vincenzo]

This is going to be an interesting year. I think if the OL stays healthy and plays well, the sky is the limit for the offense. They have happy receivers on prove it deals and a TE coming off injury that wants a huge contract so I'm sure he's in extremely good shape.

The defense is a question of course. I have my concerns about the coordinator but it does seem like first year coordinators tend to do well? Maybe that's not accurate but it seems like they generally have their best year then revert to the mean.

I think like 9-8 or 10-7 is probably realistic. I am less optimistic about this team than I was last year. They don't have the plethora of talent that they had to start last year. We shall see. They are young but very experienced at this point and could be very dangerous if things go right.

Kinda wild though, I still think the best they've played in the JLove era was the end of the year of 2024. Feels like they've never made it quite back to that level.

With APB our burger flipper’s threads about Coldplay (I told my wife about the band ffs) and Tex derailing the topic - here’s a good post.

Good points here Ishmael - straight to the head of the class…however others have chimed in about our Head Coach, Guy Lafleur which has to be a concern for our team moving forward.

Again, how can Matt Lafleur recover from such a flop the last 5 games to end our 2025 season.
This point is certainly the elephant in the room for us right now!

[MadScientist]

The Packers were really inconsistent last year, which makes this year hard to predict. Are they the going to be the team that spanked the Bears in the first half of the game, or the one that shit the bed in the second? They have the potential to be great, but they have holes that other teams will try to exploit.

On the plus side
Love is good. They can win with him.
The receivers are good, and should be better with a new coach.
The new returner is a big upgrade.
The DL and LB should be good enough.


On the negative side:
Nixon and Valentine are not good enough.
Morgan hasn't looked good in OTA, so may well not be an upgrade over Walker.
Smack has looked inconsistent in OTA.
Lack of TE depth will prevent them from using effective multi TE plays.

While I hope the good will outweigh the bad, at this point the most logical guess is another inconsistent, borderline playoff year.

[Joemailman]

One thing that's come out of the first few practices is MLF stressing the offense getting out of the huddle and up to the line faster. Last year the Packers were 30th in number of offensive drives, 9th in percent of drives that ended in a score. The combination of using of too much play clock on offense, and the defense not getting off the field reduced the number of opportunities the offense had.

[bobblehead]

One thing that's come out of the first few practices is MLF stressing the offense getting out of the huddle and up to the line faster. Last year the Packers were 30th in number of offensive drives, 9th in percent of drives that ended in a score. The combination of using of too much play clock on offense, and the defense not getting off the field reduced the number of opportunities the offense had.

I'd like to see where our D ranked in % of drives ending in a score. Giving the clock eating ways MLF runs the offense I'd bet Mr. Halfwit isn't a lot better than many of our "bad" DC under fat mike where we scored so fast and often our D got gassed.

edit: Just tried to look it up and got this stat. Our 8.9 "real" possessions a game (eliminate kneel downs) was the lowest since at least 1999. I assume the author thought going back further was wasting his time. That in turn means our defense likely also had the least real opponent possessions per game so our 12th rank in terms of yards allowed isn't nearly as impressive.

I've said it before. NBA does "per 100 possessions". NFL should do per 10 possessions for ranking offense and defense.

[Joemailman]

I'd like to see where our D ranked in % of drives ending in a score. Giving the clock eating ways MLF runs the offense I'd bet Mr. Halfwit isn't a lot better than many of our "bad" DC under fat mike where we scored so fast and often our D got gassed.

edit: Just tried to look it up and got this stat. Our 8.9 "real" possessions a game (eliminate kneel downs) was the lowest since at least 1999. I assume the author thought going back further was wasting his time. That in turn means our defense likely also had the least real opponent possessions per game so our 12th rank in terms of yards allowed isn't nearly as impressive.

I've said it before. NBA does "per 100 possessions". NFL should do per 10 possessions for ranking offense and defense.

I can't find the % of drives that ended in a score. However, Packers D allowed 2.26 points per drive, which ranked 23rd.

[texaspackerbacker]

With APB our burger flipper’s threads about Coldplay (I told my wife about the band ffs) and Tex derailing the topic - here’s a good post.

Good points here Ishmael - straight to the head of the class…however others have chimed in about our Head Coach, Guy Lafleur which has to be a concern for our team moving forward.

Again, how can Matt Lafleur recover from such a flop the last 5 games to end our 2025 season.
This point is certainly the elephant in the room for us right now!

Vincenzo, you and negativist dumbass CMI should move in together. You certainly deserve each other stupidity-wise.

The Packers' off year last year was the result of bad luck with injuries far more than any other factor. LaFleur has done a damn good job of keeping the team near the top throughout his tenure, and Gutekunst has done a generally good job also of building the team also. Anybody thinking/saying otherwise, be they media puke or forum dumbass, needs to have their head examined.

Barring another unusual run of bad luck with injuries, this team should again be near the top of the league.

[pbmax]

Vincenzo, you and negativist dumbass CMI should move in together. You certainly deserve each other stupidity-wise.

The Packers' off year last year was the result of bad luck with injuries far more than any other factor. LaFleur has done a damn good job of keeping the team near the top throughout his tenure, and Gutekunst has done a generally good job also of building the team also. Anybody thinking/saying otherwise, be they media puke or forum dumbass, needs to have their head examined.

Barring another unusual run of bad luck with injuries, this team should again be near the top of the league.

The 7th seed into the playoffs is near the top?