Cory's Corner: The Packers are Wisconsin's sports savior

The Packers’ 2015 training camp opens in earnest on Thursday.

The entire state of Wisconsin has been yearning for July 30 for quite awhile now. The Brewers were 10 games back in the NL Central race on April 25 and the proposed new Bucks arena is getting slowed by political filibustering.

Yes, that’s where the Packers step in. They have instantly been tabbed as the state’s pro sports savior before the NFL season even kicks off.

The Packers exhibited one of the largest choke jobs in sports history in last year’s  NFC Championship Game and are the best team in the conference yet again.

They have the best offense led by its own Superman. Aaron Rodgers had to play with his cape on last year after getting his calf injured and the offense is easily one of the best in the NFL. The tandem of wide receivers continues to mature and get better. Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb have carved out a nice niche by hauling in laser beams and understanding nonverbal communication better than anyone else in the league.

And the offensive line is primed to be one of the best in the NFL. It didn’t seem like that was going to be the case in 2012 when Rodgers was sacked 51 times. However, his sack percentage has gone down ever since — including 5.1 last season, the lowest of his career.  

The defense isn’t as upbeat. The defensive line is going to have major questions now that Letroy Guion will be missing three games. B.J. Raji is coming back, but who’s to say how much he’s got left in the tank. The Packers allowed 120 yards a game on the ground last year and will need to do much better than that if they want to win in January and February.

But the defense will come down to Clay Matthews. Matthews must quickly understand how to play ‘rover’ between inside and outside linebacker. Dom Capers has to play Matthews delicately. He has to let him have enough freedom to be the tremendous ball stalker that he is. However, Capers still must rein Matthews in enough to prevent him from taking too many chances and overpursuing.

This state has been through an entire winter of disappointment. That rolled into a spring of awful and now a summer of terribleness.

The Packers are a 6-to-1 favorite to win Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium. They’ve got all the tools to make it happen.

Because there’s an entire state that’s been waiting for something to happen. 

 

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHEESEHEAD NATION WEEKLY NEWSLETTER HERE.

__________________________

Cory Jennerjohn is a graduate from UW-Oshkosh and has been in sports media for over 15 years. He was a co-host on "Clubhouse Live" and has also done various radio and TV work as well. He has written for newspapers, magazines and websites. He currently is a columnist for CHTV and also does various podcasts. He recently earned his Masters degree from the University of Iowa. He can be found on Twitter: @Coryjennerjohn

__________________________

NFL Categories: 
0 points
 

Comments (2)

Fan-Friendly This filter will hide comments which have ratio of 5 to 1 down-vote to up-vote.
J0hn Denver's Gavel's picture

July 28, 2015 at 04:47 pm

Badgers basketball in the final game? I mean I guess maybe you could say they disappointed by not winning it all. But yes, the Packers are the kings of Wisconsin and of course trump all the other s#it shows in Wisconsin sports this year. 1.5 days til pads!

0 points
0
0
ray nichkee's picture

July 28, 2015 at 06:16 pm

Good point but i think he was talking pro sports. The badgers bb was fun to watch these past few seasons. They had a great run, we can be disappointed losing all those guys and next yrar bo ryan will be gone.

the bucks just got the green light from everybody but walker and he is all for it. They should be better next year.

I know this is thinking way too far ahead but how about winning the superbowl on the 49ers home field? Im not setting myself up for disappointment but that would be pretty sweet.

0 points
0
0