NFL: Projecting final records for all 32 teams
By Brad Rowland
Green Bay Packers
The 2013 edition of the Packers managed to go 8-7-1, and that is incredibly encouraging given that Mike McCarthy’s club accumulated a 2-5-1 mark without Aaron Rodgers. In short? Aaron Rodgers is a game-changing player, and Green Bay is scary, as long as he is upright.
Offensively, the Packers were a top-10 group last season in DVOA ratings, and with Rodgers, they are a top-5 unit on paper. Randall Cobb returns fully healthy and while Green Bay did lose James Jones and Jermichael Finley in the off-season, the combination of Eddie Lacy, Jordy Nelson and the aforementioned Cobb is more than enough to surround Rodgers with quality options.
On defense, the Packers had several hiccups with injury and ineffectiveness last season, and that is certainly the spot where pundits worry about their status. The addition of Julius Peppers will be helpful, but keeping Clay Matthews on the field will be huge, and Green Bay has already lost defensive tackle B.J. Raji to injury woes. If Ha Ha Clinton-Dix can be the player that many expect, that adds a blue-chipper to the defensive backfield, and truly, the Packers only need to be average defensively to win double-figure games.
The Pick: 10-6