Green Bay Packers: 2 Big Reasons Why They Can Win this Year’s Super Bowl

With training camp in full swing and the regular season rapidly approaching, all 32 NFL franchises enter the campaign with hopes and dreams of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy come February. The Green Bay Packers, fresh off a disappointing NFC Championship game loss, and an emotionally exhausting offseason, enter the new year with high expectations and title aspirations.

Following back-to-back years of heartbreaking defeat in the NFC Championship game, head coach Matt LaFleur enters his third season at the helm of the Packers, still in search of his first Super Bowl ring.

The Packers roster is loaded with talent from top to bottom. One scout even went as far as to say it is one of the most talented in recent memory.

Let’s start diving into the two big reasons why this season could finally be the Green Bay Packers’ year.

Sense of Urgency

This offseason has been a roller coaster, to say the least. Every Packer fan around the globe could take a collective sigh of relief after training camp got underway and everybody reported on time.  The future in Titletown is filled with many unknowns, so this 2021-2022 season becomes even more important for the franchise.

A staple of Packer football for well over a decade, Aaron Rodgers has a very uncertain future past this year. He is likely in one of, if not his last season wearing the Green and Gold. One last Super Bowl run would cement him as the greatest Packer quarterback of all time, and the narrative around his career could be greatly shaped by this season.

The Aaron Rodgers era could very well be coming to an end in the 920. With his replacement already in the building, the question is not if Jordan Love will take the reigns, but when. So it truly is now or never for Rodgers and this Green Bay Packers team.

Rodgers’ future is just one of the many salary cap issues looming in 2022. With plenty of roster turnover likely in the near future, it is probably the ‘Last Dance’ for the core of this Packers roster as we know it.

Every decision and transaction made by Brian Gutekunst and Matt LaFleur will be carefully monitored and critiqued. With an experienced team and the devastating taste of defeat still lingering, the Pack will be determined to avenge their shortcomings of the past year. Additionally, knowing this will likely be the last season with the current core intact, the pressure is on like never before in Green Bay.

After it is all said and done, people will look back at this season either as the campaign that Rodgers and Co. cemented their legacies. Or, this uber-talented roster will fail to get the job done, and people will be left wondering what could have been.

Beyond the sense of urgency to win in the Green Bay Packers’ current title window, there is one other key reason this year’s team is in a prime spot to win Super Bowl 56.

New Energy On Defense

Led by Jaire Alexander and Za’darius Smith, the Green Bay Packers defensive unit has the pieces to be amongst the best in the league. Under the guidance of Mike Pettine the past few years, the defense showed flashes of dominance.

However, those flashes were too few and far between. Having been knocking on the door of the Super Bowl each of the past two seasons, a change needed to be made to (hopefully) push the team over the edge.

Insert Joe Barry.

The former Detroit and Washington defensive coordinator has coached in the league for 19 years. Entering his first in Green Bay, his track record when put in charge of an entire defense has been lackluster at best. However, during his time as defensive coordinator in both Detroit and Washington, the talent he had was nowhere near the elite level of players he has under his direction now in Green Bay,

Prior to being hired in Green Bay, Barry served as the assistant head coach/linebackers coach under Sean Mcvay for the Los Angeles Rams. While there, his colleagues raved about the energy, attitude, and mindset he brings with him.

"“[I’m] able to lean on him, and [he helps make] a lot of the decisions that are important,” noted Rams coach Sean McVay via Rams.com.  “You truly do lean on him as an assistant head coach and I feel very fortunate to work with Joe. He brings it every single day.”"

So far into his short tenure in Green Bay, he has “brought” it every single day. The energy Joe Barry brings each day is very unique, and something guys on the team can really get behind.

The energy and charisma of Joe Barry, combined with the personalities and play styles of the Green Bay Packers defense, should make for a match made in Heaven. The talent and swagger needed to be a dominant defense in the NFL are very much present in the locker room. If they put all the pieces together on that side of the ball, the Lombardi Trophy will be headed to back Green Bay.