The Green Bay Packers are in a position that no one believed they would be in prior to the start of the regular season. Perhaps even fewer believed they would be here after their 2-5 start. Here, of course, is a divisional round matchup with the San Francisco 49ers. Green Bay got there after winning their final three regular season games to finish 9-8 and then upset the Dallas Cowboys with an eye-popping score of 48-32.
To be sure, the current Packers team has improved a great deal from the one that appeared on the gridiron at Soldier Field in Chicago in Week One. Jordan Love went from one of the most inaccurate passers in the NFL to finishing the season as a top-ten quarterback:
- 4,159 passing yards (seventh)
- 32 touchdowns (second)
- 96.1 passer rating (11th)
- 62.0 QBR (ninth)
Love’s improvement during the season coincided with the improvement of his wide receivers as well. The Packers’ boasted six wide receivers with over 300 receiving yards, and nine with over 200. While Aaron Jones was limited with injuries for much of the regular season, he finished the year with three consecutive 100+ rushing yard games.
In other words, the Packers are playing their best football right now and, despite being a seventh seed, are as dangerous as any team remaining in the NFL Playoffs. What’s more, their brand of football is incredibly entertaining to watch. So much so that they have made a fan of a four-time Super Bowl Champion.
Future Hall of Famer Rob Gronkowski Professes His Newfound Love for the Green Bay Packers
Four-time Super Bowl Champion and future Hall of Famer Rob Gronkowski did not face the Packers much in his career. However, his third and final matchup against them is one that Packers fans would rather forget. In the 2021 NFC Championship, Gronkowski had just one reception for 29 yards, but it was a play that epitomized how poorly the team played,
Now retired, Gronkowski is a studio analyst for Fox Sports. On Wednesday, he appeared on the Up and Adams podcast with Kay Adams. During the show, he expressed his newfound love for the Packers and their young core of players:
“They’re all guys you really never heard of before…You gotta respect the way they’re winning games right now.”
Rob Gronkowski on his “newfound love” for the Packers? 🤯
(via @UpAndAdamsShow)pic.twitter.com/GleLPNtgg7
— NFL on ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsNFL) January 17, 2024
“I have a newfound love for the Green Bay Packers. And it’s just a coincidence that I say “love” and their quarterback is Jordan Love. But I really do. They’re playing some serious ball. They’re all guys you’ve never heard of before. They’re young bucks, they’re the youngest team in the NFL.
“And you got to respect the way that they are winning games right now, the way they got into the playoffs, and the way they dominated. They’re playing real football, and I actually really enjoy watching the Green Bay Packers. They’re one of my favorite teams right now.”
There are not many players who know what it takes to win on the highest level year in and year out, but Gronkowski is one of them having been a part of four of Tom Brady’s seven Super Bowl wins. If he sees something in this young Packers team, there is definitely something real to be excited about.
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