Three Reasons Why the 2024 Packers Will Win the Super Bowl

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have beaten the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions in two straight games and won three straight to make the playoffs. They crushed the Dallas Cowboys and shocked the San Francisco 49ers with a chance to advance to the NFC Championship Game.

Last year, the Packers showed Super Bowl potential. This year, they will win the Super Bowl. On the eve of the season-opening Packers-Eagles matchup, here are three reasons why the Packers could live up to expectations and bring the Lombardi Trophy back to Titletown.

1. Love of Jordan

As always, every great team starts with a great quarterback. Considering the rules are twisted for TV ratings, it’s probably impossible to win a Super Bowl without a really good quarterback.

It looks like the Packers have signed Jordan Love to a really good, even great, deal.

Love was arguably the best quarterback in the NFL during the second half of last season. According to Stathead, he had the following ranking over the last eight games:

– First with 2,150 passing yards (Dak Prescott, 2,101).

– First with seven games rated 100+ (Matthew Stafford, Brock Purdy, 5).

– First, he has an 18-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio (Tommy DeVito is 7-to-1).

– First with one interception (tied with Easton Stick and DeVito, but Love has attempted 105 more interceptions than Stick and 128 more than DeVito).

– First with a success rate of 53.8 percent (Purdy, 52.4).

– Second with a 112.7 passer rating (Purdy, 117.0).

– Third with a 70.3 percent completion rate (Derek Carr, 72.4 percent).

This streak of games—and that’s not even mentioning the playoff win in Dallas, where he had the highest passer rating by a visiting quarterback in NFL playoff history—is on par with anything the legendary Aaron Rodgers has done.

“I think everybody’s very hungry,” Love said. “I think the message this year is just to come out and get off to a fast start, not (need) a late-season run. Get off to a fast start and let people know what we’re going to do this year and what we’re going to be about.”

2. Playmakers Here, There, Everywhere

Of course, Love didn’t do it alone. Throwing those 18 touchdown passes on his own would have been a major accomplishment.

The not-so-secret secret to the Packers’ efficient passing game is the abundance of pass-catching threats surrounding Love.

Romeo Doubs is a dynamic route runner and dominant red zone threat. Jayden Reed is an electric slot receiver. Christian Watson is a game-breaking threat with elite physical tools. Dontayvion Wicks is a sharp route runner with big-play ability. Bo Melton has elite speed. Malik Heath is a talented goon.

Oh, and tight end Luke Musgrave has deep speed, tight end Tucker Kraft is a YAC machine, and running back Josh Jacobs has 197 catches in five seasons.

Good luck covering all of these players. Over the course of 60 or 70 offensive snaps, Green Bay’s extensive list of playmakers will be too long to stop.

It was a play in the preseason game, but Wicks was matched up against a safety for his long touchdown against Cleveland.

With Love, plenty of weapons and excellent pass protection from Zach Tom, Rasheed Walker and Elgton Jenkins, the Packers’ passing game could be their best since the 2011 team scored the second-most points in NFL history at the time.

“I think what people are seeing and hearing is just a small part of what we guys in the building see and participate in every day,” Watson said. “I think the excitement here is even higher.

“The expectations for us are probably higher than most of the world. We see that every day. The excitement is there, but we know there’s a lot of work to do and sustain to get these things done. It’s not just a given that we have the guys to do it, but the excitement is there, for sure.”

3. New Defense, New Results

Is Packers first-year defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley the right man for the job?

Who knows?

Can he come up with winning game plans every week? Can he adapt to what the opposing offense is doing? Can he adapt to the offense’s adjustments? Can he make the right decision at the right time?

What we do know is that players love his scheme and his offensive mentality, which is important after three years of Joe Barry.

Where Hafley could make the difference in a win could be turnovers.

The Packers ranked second-to-last in the NFL with seven interceptions last year. This was after they caught 17 in 2022 and 18 in 2021. Their 18 total interceptions ranked 23rd in the NFL.

In Dom Capers’ first season as defensive coordinator in 2009, the Packers intercepted 30 passes and caused 40 turnovers. No one expects that level of dominance, but even the league-average totals of 12 interceptions and 24 tackles could be the difference between last year’s nine wins and 11 or 12 wins.

From that perspective, perhaps the most positive development in August was Hafley’s large takeaways from his team during training camp.

Hafley wasn’t the only big signing on defense.

Critically, GM Brian Gutekunst destroyed the safety corps, which was really the only solution at that position considering how few plays that group made last season. Incredibly, there isn’t a single safety on this year’s roster who played a single snap on defense last season. Xavier McKinney and rookies Javon Bullard and Evan Williams are infinite upgrades over Darnell Savage, Jonathan Owens and Rudy Ford.

Jaire Alexander is locked in at cornerback and Eric Stokes is healthy. The passing offense is real.

There are some questions, of course, but there are plenty of areas where the Packers can be better than mediocre.

“You’ve always got to have that confidence,” Stokes said, looking ahead to Friday night’s game against the Eagles, “but you already know what kind of test they’re putting out there. They’ve got some firepower and all that stuff.

“We’re trying to build a championship defense here. We’re trying to be known as a defensive team. When they think of the Packers, they think of defense. It’s going to start Friday night. Friday night is another test to show everybody.”

More Green Bay Packers News

The team, which finished last season strongly, #Packers surrounded by hope and excitement. Is this going to be a Super Bowl season?

No.

There are three reasons to be concerned.

(The other side of this will air around 9:30)https://t.co/tqL7V5WmEu

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 5, 2024