Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers believes this year’s team is better than the one that overcame a 4-6 start and advanced to the NFC title game in 2016.
While the 2022 Packers don’t have the same championship pedigree and experience on the roster, the advantages can be found in overall talent, on defense and specifically in the secondary and at kickoff returner, per Rodgers.
“I think personnel-wise, yeah. I just think lining up personnel-wise, across the board, I think it’s a little bit more talented team,” Rodgers said Wednesday. “Now that team had some guys who had been a part of winning some really big football games, this team has less of those guys. This team is a little more talented, top to bottom, definitely in the backend, the way our guys play in this defense. Guy for guy, it’s probably a little better on that side of the ball. Offense, probably pretty similar. And then we have Keisean Nixon.”
The 2016 Packers rattled off six straight wins to close out the regular season, won the NFC North title at 10-6, beat the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs but were stopped short of the Super Bowl by Matt Ryan, Julio Jones and the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship Game.
The 2022 Packers are riding a four-game win streak but still need a win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday night to clinch a playoff spot as the No. 7 seed in the NFC. Unlike 2016, if the Packers make the postseason in 2022, they’ll be going on the road to open the playoffs, and any Super Bowl run would require three consecutive wins away from home.
Rodgers’ point about the secondary is well taken. In the 2016 NFC title game, the Packers started LaDarius Gunter, Damarious Randall, Micah Hyde, Haha Clinton-Dix and Morgan Burnett. For much of the run to the playoffs, Gunter operated as the No. 1 corner. This year, the Packers have Jaire Alexander opposite of Rasul Douglas, with Adrian Amos and Rudy Ford at safety and Darnell Savage operating in the slot and at safety. Alexander, an All-Pro, is the No. 1 corner.
Unsurprisingly, the Packers’ run in 2016 ended with Gunter and the secondary giving up 180 receiving yards and two scores to Jones in Atlanta. This year’s team just held Justin Jefferson to 15 receiving yards.
This 2022 team is vastly different in terms of winning blueprint. Whereas the 2016 Packers needed Rodgers to go on a superhuman stretch (15 touchdowns, zero interceptions) to close the regular season, the 2022 Packers are riding a four-game win streak in which Rodgers has thrown four touchdown passes and two interceptions. Green Bay is getting dynamic production from running backs Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon, big plays from rookie Christian Watson, tons of takeaways from the defense and field-flipping returns from Nixon.
Does more talent, a better secondary and an explosive kickoff returner mean the Packers will burn through the NFC and get to the Super Bowl? No. But it’s a relevant comparison in terms of the potential this year’s Packers team might have if it secures a playoff spot with a win over the Lions. Green Bay would be entering the postseason riding a five-game winning streak and full of confidence, and it wouldn’t be false confidence. Since Week 10, the Packers have played like one of the NFL’s best. Like the 2016 team, the 2022 Packers would be capable of run if they punch their ticket in the season finale.
