Got a question for ya. Why is no one acknowledging the Green Bay Packers as serious contenders in 2009? Not talking about contenders in the mediocre NFC North––talking about Super Bowl contenders. This is where you predictably roll your eyes. Go ahead. After all, the Packers were 6-10 last season. And if the NFL has taught us anything, it’s that bad teams don’t make instant turnarounds….right?

Sarcasm aside, Green Bay really doesn’t have to make a turnaround. People don’t seem to realize that this is virtually the same team that hosted the NFC Championship game two years ago. There are just two major differences between the ’07 Packers and the ’09 Packers. You can probably guess the first one (something to do with the man under center). The second difference is experience: this young Packers team is two years wiser.

Mike McCarthy has twice as much experience as a head coach. Workhorse running back Ryan Grant, who averaged 5.1 yards per carry as a de facto rookie in ’07, is 26 years old and in the heart of his prime. He’s eager to prove that a hamstring injury was to blame for his subpar ’08 campaign (in which he actually rushed for 1,203 yards but averaged just 3.9 per attempt). The depth behind Grant is better too, as agile Brandon Jackson and plodding DeShawn Wynn are no longer callow rookies but emerging third-year contributors.

The passing game is even more lethal. Sagacious 11th-year veteran Donald Driver is coming off a 1,000-yard season, and bourgeoning speedster Greg Jennings just raked in $16 million in guarantees in a well-deserved contract extension. Granted, the Pack’s pass protection may not be where it was in 2007 when they had bookend veteran tackles Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher, but the interior blockers like Daryn Colledge and Jason Spitz are better. And, with an assortment of young talents vying for other starting positions, the line as a whole is relatively promising.

Of course, this offense wasn’t the problem last season anyway. It ranked eighth in yards and fifth in total points. The defense, on the other hand, ranked 20th in yards and 22nd in total points. To rectify this, McCarthy fired defensive coordinator Bob Sanders and brought in Dom Capers. The 3-4 aficionado is aiming to add to his legacy of overhauling mundane units by installing an aggressive, byzantine system.

The thought of the time-honored Packers abandoning the traditional 4-3 has left fans across the Midwest somewhat befuddled. But it’s the right move. General manager Ted Thompson, as usual, did a shrewd job of stocking the roster over the offseason. Per his modus operandi, Thompson, despite some $30 million in salary cap space, eschewed the free agent market and focused on developing current players and investing in new ones via the draft.

He found 325-pound defensive lineman B.J. Raji at Pick Nine, giving Capers a versatile cornerstone to build around. Shocked that USC outside linebacker Clay Matthews was still available at Pick 26, Thompson shipped a second-rounder and a pair of third-rounders to New England to snatch the son of former Browns Pro Bowl linebacker Clay Matthews and nephew of Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans Hall of Fame blocker Bruce Matthews.

The additions of the prized rookies––and, more directly, the new scheme––pushed some incumbent players into better-fitting positions. Cullen Jenkins is now a 3-4 end. And A.J. Hawk becomes an inside linebacker. The secondary, featuring three Pro Bowlers in Charles Woodson, Al Harris and Nick Collins, and a glistening breakout prospect in Atari Bigby, should be good enough to adjust to the new zone assignments.

With solid depth on both sides of the ball, decent special teams (assuming both kicking games shape up) and a coaching staff boasting many well-regarded assistants, it’s hard, maybe even illogical, to argue that this isn’t a better group than the one that finished 13-5 in 2007.

That is, of course, unless you doubt the guy under center. But few people do. The popular thing to say about Aaron Rodgers is that not only did he win-over the locker room and Lambeau Field by handling the Brett Favre drama with utmost class, but he also played darn well as a first-year starter. Rodgers threw for 4,038 yards and 28 touchdowns (both good for fourth in the NFL) while completing 63.6 percent of his passes.

Yet, one can argue that the Packers would have never finished 0-7 in games decided by four points or less if You Know Who had been orchestrating the offense. Whether this criticism is fair or unfair could determine this team’s Super Bowl chances.

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