Have you heard it? The conversation has begun! People are beginning to talk about whether the 2011 Green Bay Packers can go 16-0 in the regular season.
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t expect such a discussion to arise until a team is 9-0 or 10-0. The fact that the Lions’ loss on Sunday leaves us perfectly alone, however, combined with our status as defending champs, the remarkable roll we’ve been on since late last season, and how loaded we are as a team, has prompted this discussion in several quarters.
“Mike & Mike in the Morning” entertained the question briefly on their Tuesday morning broadcast.
Meanwhile, Andrew Perloff and Mark Mravic of SI.com gave the topic more attention in a video dialogue. Perloff doubts that the Packers will get it done, but Mravic notes that there is no one playing better.
On the subject of how well we are playing, Peter King devotes a significant percentage of this week’s MMQB to Aaron Rodgers. It is an admiring analysis of both Rodgers’ character and his play. Good reading. And King includes some statistical data that really captures how exceptionally well -- indeed, historically well -- Rodgers is playing right now.
Meanwhile, Jemele Hill of ESPN.com has written a longer piece about the Packers’ perfect possibility. She likes our odds. And she likes our team.
But it is Don Banks who has, in my exposure at least, given the longest and most thoughtful treatment to the question of whether Green Bay will achieve a perfect season. He cleverly walks through each remaining game on the Packers’ schedule, making a case for why Green Bay might win or might lose.
Except that that’s not exactly how he phrases it. Rather, Banks makes a case for why Green Bay WILL win and why they MIGHT lose each game.
Is he tipping his hand? Does Banks seriously believe that the 2011 Packers will do what only two NFL teams (72 Dolphins, 07 Patriots) have done before?
Do you?
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