How about we talk about taking back the North before we talk Super Bowl? This team went 1-5 in the division last year and was a blocked FG from making that 0-6. Super Bowl would not be my expectation to start this season. It will be harder than last year. The schedule is way more daunting and as hard it is to imagine but the Bears are showing signs of life. I would love a Super Bowl but I see that as a big leap from last year. The defense will need more bite to it or Love will have to play lights out. If LVN becomes what we hope I will be more optimistic because than I see a path to having a dominate unit on the field.

I would argue that Tom was Gute's best pick of the 2020s even if Cooper becomes an all pro. Cooper was a high draft pick at a nonpremium position. You can get LBers later in draft, if you take one early they are expected to be blue chip talent. To get pro bowl level play at LT from a 4th round pick is more impressive IMO.

"Are you optimistic about their chances or do you think there's something missing?"

This time of year, I'm always optimistic. What I think is missing besides the trophy, is proven depth on the O-line and CB rooms. I hope I'm proven wrong. Wrong is my strongest and most often used trait.

I am a pessimist. I will always consider the negatives before the positives. I am also a realist. Yes it drives my wife crazy especially when we spent 4.5 years looking for a new house.

I do not see the Packers as a Super Bowl contender. They have quality players. They have a team that could go deep in the playoffs. The keys I see for a successful season is:

- Getting this young team to gel as a unit and work together
- MLF calling plays to move the chains consistently
- Figuring out the CB situation and using the right players
- Hafley using all the tools he has and make it work.
- The receivers catching the ball

Most of this involves the coaching staff. When you have a young team with the capability it is up to the coaches to make it work.

Yes I do not consider them a SB contender but I do believe they can make the playoffs and should make the playoffs and we all know anything can happen in the playoffs.

Great article! I love the mix of optimism and realism. The Packers’ depth and high-character roster, as you wrote, sets the core up well for 2025. Jordan Love’s 2024 QBR, shows he’s nearing that elite status, and year three could cement him as a difference maker.
I’m also bullish on the defensive line. With Kenny Clark’s resurgence from the foot injury, Devonte Wyatt’s growth and health, Rashan Gary’s versatility, and two contributors from the draft, this The D-Lines depth could negate the need for a Pro Bowl star. That, with the emerging talent Edgerrin Cooper has shown give the Pack Division winning (For BuckyBadger) and Super Bowl potential.

"My high school Honors Humanities teacher saw it. This is what she wrote in my HS yearbook, "To Al, our class realist. Whenever we ventured too far into the fantasy world, you were there to gently bring us back down to earth."

Thanks Al. I cannot comfortably share what was written in my yearbook...too steamy for this platform.

Regarding the Packers, allow my lipz to say what my stumbling wordz cannot.

XXXXXXOOOOOs,
Pantz "OMG!" B.

*I miss Morganna, the Kissing Bandit

Being an optimist, you get what you get and hope it is all the best these guys who make the final 53 and PS have and are! The best we have and get 'er done!

There is no doubt the teams you mentioned have great players. I also think there is a bit of a “chicken or the egg” factor involved. The teams are successful because of the players, and the players get accolades due to the success of the team.
Just win, baby!

As is with the majority of the teams in the league, they will look much different from now, or even week one, in late December, early January. I don't know about you, but I didn't have Super Bowl on my bingo card in 2010. I was just hoping a young Rodgers and team would continue to improve and make some noise in the playoffs.

I believe the one strength of Gute, is he does take advantage of free agency, and has been pretty adept at bringing in ascending talent from there and practice squads within the league. The Packers have a pretty stout roster. Sure there may be some position groups, we wished were deeper and stronger, but goes pretty much for every team in the NFL.

I can't help but think Love's early injury stunted the growth of the entire offense, and they just couldn't find that groove and stay in it. As with every season, team health is a big driver in success throughout the NFL, especially at the QB position. If they can stay relatively healthy, GB has as good a shot at winning it all and anyone.

There’s nothing wrong with optimism as long as it doesn’t beer into expectation!
This roster is loaded with high potential; I think the two greatest hurdles are injuries and coaching.

What we call "realism" depends on the reality to which we choose to subscribe. We're all interpreting basically the same information, but may see things radically differently. I tend to be more the optimist. I'll be sitting there watching a game where the team I'm rooting for is down 11 with 3 minutes to go and charting out how they can still win.

I've been pointing to 2025 since 12 left and 10 started to shine later in 2023. I think there's a lot to like about this team...and there are plenty of concerns. Some one above pointed out that the 2010 season was more of an "out-of-the-blue" thing, which made it all the more sweet. There are some similarities between this team and that one, but this team in 2024 really seemed to lack a personality or identity. It lacked that veteran(s) who set the tone. It seems like most teams that go far have that. Do they have that person now?

I think superbowls have a lot to do with which teams are hot, which teams are healthy, and how the week-to-week matchups align once you get to January. To hope for a SB is one thing. To expect it is wholly different. I think there are plenty of players this team who have star potential. If this team arrives at a SB next winter, there will be some great storylines to go with it.

I am also optimistic about the Packers chances but given the schedule for 2025 everything will need to break right for the Packers to advance to the Super Bowl.

First is MLF. Will he take a step up in terms of pre game preparation and in game decision making. The Packers need to perform better against the better teams in the league and especially against their division opponents.
Next is Jordan Love. Will he take the next step in his evolution as an NFL QB? Last season he played through injuries and that is a factor but he rarely played like the QB who finished the 2023 season. Will receiving corps improve upon their drops from the 2024 season. Too many drive ending drops last season.
The OL could have 3 new starters this season in Banks, Morgan and Belton, plus the move of Jenkins to Center. It could several games for them to gel.

On defense the DL needs to step up especially their pass rush. Our LB corps looks solid but the CB room is very thin at this point. The Safety position looks good.

Al covered many of the positives this Packers roster has to overcome the concerns I have which makes me optimistic about this team. But the Packers will need all of the players in the article to step up in 2025 plus their HC. As always injuries could be a major factor and hopefully the Packers will mitigate the injury bug this season. The schedule both interns of opponents and the way it flows is also a concern I have for this season.

Bottom line is that it's time for the players and the coaches to step up and get it done. Overcome adversity and play 60 minutes of football every game.
Until the season begins the rest is all hype, propaganda and speculation. GPG! Thanks, Since '61

I think it's pointless to talk about Super Bowls in June.

The task at hand is to win enough games to make the playoffs. Along that 18 week journey, you learn about your team, and what it does well. Players actually get better with all that practice and game experience, although they do get beaten up in the process.

What does this team do well? The ground game was very good last year. We don't take many sacks, we protect the ball pretty well, most of the time. Our average yards/completion is one of the best in the league.

Compared to other teams over the last 55 years, this is a pretty good Packers squad. Maybe not THE best, but certainly one of the better ones. I know that some people ....who call themselves fans.....think that most of our players, past and present, aren't very good, and that our coach is in over his head, and our QB is a bust, blah blah blah. I don't agree with them.

I think the Packers can win 11 games again. I don't think the Lions are going to win 15. I don't think Philadelphia and Minnesota are going 14-3 again. We're much closer to the top of the pile than the middle, IMO.

I appreciated this article, especially the realism part.
It is healthy, IMO, for a fanbase to support their team while simultaneously maintaining a degree of objective appraisal. I have the same concerns as Al does, though I am not as optimistic because I do not see what MLF has objectively done to make this year different and better. I guess the O-line might be a bit stronger. Golden was a good move but very few rookies can make immediate impact.
I am deeply concerned about MLF not accepting the assist of a top offensive mind-not Bissaccia.

One thing to be optimistic about is 'the youngest team in the league' has another year of experience. This will be critical when confronting the Lions, a legit Super Bowl contender, the Vikings, strong personnel across the board, the Bears, likely much improved.

Like Al, I'm a realist. I'm a Packers fan through and through but you have to match up your players against a schedule that is brutal. Critical are both lines. If the Packers can establish dominance the run game could be even better and the defensive line could begin shutting down the run and provide more of a pass rush than last year. Philly won the Super Bowl with a four person rush causing havoc. The Packers have to do the same.
Jordan Love needs to stay healthy as does Josh Jacobs. Musgrave needs to contribute as well as Kraft. The receivers need to stop the dropsies.

This season could go 11-6 or 6-11. I really can't say at this point but I would put the chances of going to the Super Bowl at about 30 percent at the moment.

Need to deal w/the Northern Division first-

So, a Packer fan can be an optimist and realist at the same time, awesome, but why is it that only I get disliked for being so. I've been telling people to keep that optimism in check and live in the real world of expectations for YEARS here.

This team, as I have said, doesn't have enough players of an SB winning caliber level, what they do have is an overflow of average, and less, being hyped as above average or elite, and that is mostly based on the paycheck they have to be given otherwise you can't claim, though falsely, what isn't really possessed.

I, as like AL, have hope, and thankfully, my reality based mind keeps that hope in check. It can be a battle at times, but that battle has been won by the reality side much more often than the other, whose last chance at victory was the last two seasons with Rodgers. I know, boo, Be honest, do you honestly see this team coming close to sniffing an SB entrance? The 'ifs' list isn't getting shorter, but longer, and manipulated rankings and stats aren't erasing any of them.

The last Packer SB winning team was a wildcard entrant, but how much farther ahead were they than anything this team has to offer, realistically. Maintain your optimism, but never discard the reality check to keep you grounded, as AL stated, though he'll get likes for it, and I, well, will expect the usual.

AL, how about being a tad more vocal in the defense of reality going forward, and not slide it in your weekly article that nobody ever disagrees with. I can count on my fingers how many times I comment on your articles because of your fence sitting oratory, but this one made my ears perk up, as you acknowledged the reality side that needs to be promoted equally.

I'm in the same place as Al on this one. The Packers do seem to be lacking in star power, but things can look very different in hindsight, after a team wins it all or comes close to winning it all. Sometimes I think about that '82 Brewers team and all those great players. It was so wrong that they didn't win the World Series that year....

Turning Pessimism into Optimism works.
But-
What we have is a roster that works against weaker teams.
The 1970s Vikings were a strong team,
until they competed with other powerful teams.

So go ahead and tell us how good Love is.
Because you want to praise Gute.
But in truth, I’ll tell you a good coach.
Needs good competitors.
More than praise and hype.
John Madden built teams that would
"rather be feared than respected”.
And with that just win baby.
Optimism isn't what wins super-bowls.

Every year and throughout the seasons, we fall into familiar camps: the optimists and the realists. The optimists see breakout seasons, MVP runs, and deep playoff pushes. The realists, grounded in recent performance, talk about development timelines, cap space, position group being deficiencies, draft pick mistakes.

But, what about the nihilists?

We never discuss what the world looks like through the eyes of someone who believes none of this matters? That Jordan Love’s QBR, the draft picks, the schedule strength, the Lambeau mystique, all of it, is just noise in the cosmic void. Whether the Packers go 13–4 or 4–13 is just the flicker of a candle in a snowstorm, destined to be forgotten, just like every missed field goal and blown 4th quarter lead.

The nihilist isn’t burdened by hope or weighed down by reality. They don’t ask if this is the year; they ask why we bother thinking any year matters at all. That can be kind of freeing.

So, let the optimists dream, and let the realists crunch numbers. But maybe there’s room for the nihilist at the tailgate, eating a brat and shrugging, “Nothing matters, but Go Pack Go!”

it's not just having a pro bowler.
chris jones is a top3 in the league.
mahomes is a top3 or more.
kelce is a top2.
jordan mailata is the best pff grade in all the nfl, offense and defense.
saqueon barkely is the best RB in the nfl and could have won the league mvp.
jalen carter is top3 in the league.

i do not see a single top3 in our roster but neither a top5.
may be 1 top10, may be....

Re: Elgton Jenkins - "Work out something with his contract and let him go prove it."

How about Jenkins first earning his 17.6M contract this year - then working out something afterwards?

I would agree that this is a pretty good team collectively, but in need of a couple more individual players that demonstrate excellence on a weekly basis. The guys I'm looking at are Love, any pass rusher that can tally up a big sack total, and any wide receiver that sticks out and scares opposing defenses.

For us to be a Super Bowl team, the position coaches are going to have to do a great job developing the rookies and unlocking the talent of a couple of our recent high draft picks--so we'll see if they can do it or not. But what about the upper tier of the coaching staff? Can MLF elevate his in-game planning, do a better job managing the clock, and control himself from making silly challenges? He'll need to. Also regarding Hafley, as much of an improvement as we saw last season, can he maintain the solid run defense and stay mostly more aggressive when the situation calls for it? On occasion he drifted back into the passivity that we endured previously, so that urge will have to be minimized.

We should take an objective look @ the top 8 teams and do a side-by-side evaluation/comparison with the Packers.
QB v QB, O-L v OL, play-caller v play-caller, etc.
Doing this project would keep us occupied and give us a realistic evaluation of the Packers.
My guess is the Packers occupy the 9-10th spot

The reality is that we simply have no idea how good or bad this team is right now. Which is, frankly, the same as every year at this time. Some players are going to play better than we expected. Some will play worse. Some will get injured. Somebody we didn't even know existed is going to step in and make plays.

"Packers in recent history with their emphasis on bringing in players of strong character."

I have always considered this statement one of the Packers' secret ingredients for player acquisitions.

Most draft classes are full of team captains, replete with intelligent men and team first leaders who love football. Many earning post season awards and accolades in college. Very few off field issues...and when they take a risk on someone with character issues the team ensures they do not crop up in Green Bay (Cox, Jr...so far) and if issues develop they cut the ties (Marty Bennett).