The Green Bay Packers are heading into the 2013 season with very high expectations after losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs and with Aaron Rodgers coming in with a fierce demeanor, the NFC North has been put on notice as training camp continues.
The Packers are determined to be more of a balanced team this year and that is one of the main reasons why they decided to draft Eddie Lacy as well as Johnathan Franklin and both rookies could battle for starting time as the season wears on depending on how James Starks and Alex Green perform. According to Pro Football Talk, Lacy is out of practice and he could be injured, joining the long list of names now for the team in Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson.
One of the biggest issues to overcome this season will be the season ending injury to left tackle Bryan Bulaga, who was injured in Saturday night's scrimmage. The team has been working on changing up the offensive line anyway and now it will be a necessity. The Packers feel that they have a Super Bowl team as they stand now and they still have a bad taste in their mouths after getting defeated the past two seasons in the playoffs by the Giants and the 49ers. The Giants embarrassed the Packers with some fantastic play in that game to advance to the NFC championship game, including the hail Mary catch from Hakeem Nicks at the end of the first half and the great awareness by both Eli Manning and Ahmad Bradshaw before that.
Players on both sides of the ball are very motivated this season, including linebacker AJ Hawk, as the team is still reeling from the 181 yards that Colin Kaepernick gained on the ground in that playoff game. Hawk said the team got blasted and now they have to look forward as they try and win the NFC North again against tough opponents in the Lions, Bears and Vikings. Minnesota defeated the Packers in Week 17 to make the playoffs and then the following week they defeated the Vikings after Joe Webb was forced to start.
It has now been two seasons since the team won the Super Bowl and after going 15-1 and 11-5, the team knows that it's window may be closing a bit. The offense will be different without Greg Jennings, but with James Jones, Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb at the position, Rodgers will have plenty of options to choose from. Eddie Lacy and Johnathan Franklin will be key for the success of the running game and the team has yet to have a player rush for over 100 yards since Brandon Jackson did in 2010 against the Redskins and that is a streak of 43 games.
If the team can be more consistent on both sides of the ball, that will open up the running game and they should finish much better than 27th in the league, which is where they were last season in rush yards per game. As long as Rodgers is his old self, the Packers will be right there again to make the playoffs this season.
