The Green Bay Packers are heading into the 2013 with Super Bowl aspirations after being defeated by the San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs last season and after heading out of minicamp the team feels confident about its chances in the division as well as in the NFC.
Aaron Rodgers had another excellent year statistically, but after running into the 49ers and quarterback Colin Kaepernick, the team had no answers as he ran for a record amount of yards in the playoffs. The team is now two seasons removed from their Super Bowl championship and Rodgers and head coach Mike McCarthy are ready to make the championship jump once again after going 11-5 last season. The Packers have a number of questions heading into training camp this summer and as one of the teams that held and early minicamp, they may start to develop some answers.
McCarthy has started running Bryan Bulaga at left tackle after playing on the right side and he is now back to the position he played in college at Iowa. The team had some issues on the offensive line last season with injuries and pressure on Rodgers and this year McCarthy is trying to change things up with Josh Sitton, T.J. Lang and Marshall Newhouse and the team also drafted two linemen in the draft in April. The team is looking to get more balanced on offense after taking Eddie Lacy later in the draft and a consistent running game could help alleviate the pressure on Rodgers next season.
The Packers offense has a chance to be explosive yet again with players like Randall Cobb and James Jones coming in with more experience and if Jordy Nelson can stay healthy, Rodgers will have one of the best wideout trios in the league. Last season Cobb was one of the breakout players in the NFL with 80 catches for 954 yards and eight touchdowns and he played so well that the team wants him to focus on just offense after also returning kicks on special teams last season. They hope to help him avoid injury and to also make the offense more explosive, despite the fact that he has scored three touchdowns on special teams in his career. He was injured and missed the Week 17 game against the Vikings after hurting his ankle on a return and that is what the coaching staff is hoping to avoid.
The team went 11-5 last season and Cobb led the team in receiving yards while the offense ranked ninth in passing yards per game behind Rodgers, who had over 4,200 yards passing. The team ranked 20th in rushing offense and they are hoping to improve on those numbers heading into next season.