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I look at the roster, and as cliche as it sounds, I define it as a team with a chip on its shoulder.

It starts of course with AR12. He can be voted the best player in the league until the cows come home, he came into the league with a chip, and as laid back as he comes across personally, he will always have a chip on his shoulder. From the draft snub to the Bert shadow, the guy is driven and seems like he always will be.

Then you look at his weapons. Jordy Nelson hasn't let up a bit, and seems hell bent on proving last year was not a fluke, although it obviously was not. And after missing a lot of the pre-season, it seems like Greg Jennings wants to prove that he is indeed The Man (oh and uh, it is also a contract year). And the guys pushing those 2 are loaded with chips on their shoulders: James Jones said in a rent JSO article he treated his off-season workout program like a rookie season, so badly does he want to prove himself. Donald Driver, who you would think would have nothing left to prove, now feels he has to prove to all naysayers that he still has it at age 37. And Randall Cobb, just by nature of his second year, is in classic "my-time-to-shine" mode. And Jermichael Finley, for his part, is intent on proving last year's drops were an aberration.

Then you look at the running game, which consists of Cedric Benson at this point: the guy is obviously dying to prove he still has it after staying unsigned for so long in the off-season. He says so himself. That's a giant chip.

On the other side of the ball, the defense finished dead last in the rankings last year. DEAD LAST. I don't care what the reasons were, these guys are males: they have chips on the shoulder by definition. Clay Mathews in particular looks like he wants to hurt someone.

As a whole Packers have a chip on their shoulder: they steamrolled the regular season last year, finishing 15-1, then laid a gigantic egg in the playoffs, making the whole thing kind of meaningless. That's got to leave a burn.

I look at this team, and I see a group that individually and collectively has a chip on its shoulder.

I know it's early, but looking at the roster, how would you define this team?
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quote:
Originally posted by Henry:
I see a team that went 15-1 and had an off day and lost.

I see a GM and HC saying to themselves you don't win at a Superbowl if you don't have a lower gear to drop into.

Sorry to be a buzz kill and all Knute.


Not at all Hank, not at all. Page 1 was just stagnating.

No way they're looking at this like just another day at the office though.
This team is young as usual, and there will be a lot of mistakes. Especially in the early going. The D-Line won't win every battle, Perry will still be adjusting to playing standing up, CM3 will quintuple-teamed and be held by his hair, and a DB will inevitably get beaten. The O-line will give up a few sacks or only make room for a half a yard of rushing. A WR will drop a pass, the running game won't be that effective. It's the same every year.

Now will it cost us any games? I can't say for sure. There's a few opponents (namely SF) where they will be immaculate with their technique and decision-making, but overall, I have a hard time picturing this team being any worse from last season. The core of the team is here and healthy, and the weaker players have been upgraded (Still worried about Bush starting though). But like I said, I won't be surprised to see a 14-2 and 15-1 performance out of this group.

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