Going into Week Four, there are only three undefeated teams remaining in the entire NFL. I think that’s remarkable. I don’t have stats in front of me about previous seasons, but I do have the definite impression that the race for perfection usually has more contestants at this early stage.
The good news, of course, is that our Green Bay Packers are one of those “the few, the proud,” the undefeated. The bad news, however, is that the other two teams are the Detroit Lions and the Buffalo Bills.
What are we to make of being in a group with such perennial bottom-feeders? What’s more, of those three teams, we are the ones with the poorest point differential! Could it be that we are ‘behind’ Detroit and Buffalo?
Or could it be that the Bills and Lions have not only improved significantly, but are playing their best ball? While the Packers, meanwhile, are 3-0 despite not playing their best ball? That is Don Banks’ encouraging thesis in his excellent analysis of the 2011 Packers and their recent triumph over the Bears.
And so, going into Week 4, Green Bay still sits atop Banks’ “NFL Power Rankings” for SI.com. Brian Billick also puts Green Bay ahead of the rest of the league. And we are the unanimous first choice of ESPN.com’s writers in their weekly rankings.
And so, the team that hoisted the Lombardi Trophy back in February is still the consensus #1team in the NFL at the end of September. And this week, we get to play back home at Lambeau Field, with the slightly dysfunctional, controversy-laden, 1-2 Broncos coming to town. It’s the sort of game that an earlier Packers squad would have lost. Not this one, though. I think this is a no-nonsense, focused, professional group that isn’t likely to “look past” or get suckered by a “trap game.” I think we’re the better team, and I believe the better team will win.
More about our upcoming game -- and others -- as Sunday approaches.
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