Brett Who?
It may only be the preseason, but the Green Bay Packers have given their faithful reason to be excited for the 2009 season.
In two games, the Packers have dominated on both sides of the ball, generating turnovers on defense, and offensively carving up opposing defenses.
All of those burning questions on how the Packers would handle the transition to 3-4 defense have been put on hold, at least for now. Defensive coordinator Dom Capers kept the Buffalo Bills no huddle offense at bay with an array of blitzes.
Buffalo quarterbacks never looked comfortable as the Green Bay starters forced three turnovers in four series.
On the other side of the ball, quarterback Aaron Rodgers was nearly perfect as he completed eight of nine passes, his one incompletion coming on a dropped pass by wide receiver Donald Driver. Rodgers finished with a passer rating of 151.6 and threw two touchdown passes.
Another highlight for the Packer offense was the emergence of tight end Jermichael Finley. Finley looked nearly uncoverable as he ran free over the middle on several occasions. He finished with three catches for 46 yards and had one catch and run negated by an offensive penalty. Finley's size and speed created mismatches all night on the Buffalo defense.
While the Packers haven't exactly faced stiff competition in the Bills and Cleveland Browns, their dominance on both sides of the ball has been impressive, even if it is the preseason.
Next week the Packers travel to Arizona to take on the defending NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals. The starters should see extended action in the game, which is typically treated as a dress rehearsal for the regular season.
Th Green Bay secondary will be faced with the tall order of matching up against one of the league's best receivers in Larry Fitzgerald. The Cardinals had no problem scoring points last season and will present the Packers with their biggest challenge of the preseason so far.
If the Packers continue to build on the success they have had early on, they should be back in contention for the NFC North crown again this year. Despite improvements by both the Bears and Vikings to the quarterback position, the Packers have showed improvement on defense, which was their weakness last season.
And the Packers have a pretty good quarterback too.
