The Green Bay Packers are going to look a lot different in 2023 with Aaron Rodgers being traded to the New York Jets. In August of 2008, the Packers traded his predecessor, Brett Favre, to the Jets as well. It’s certainly easy to say that the return for Rodgers was greater, but will they rebound quicker?
After the trade, the Packers went from a 13-3 record in 2007 to a 6-10 mark in Rodgers’ first season. The team had flaws up and down the roster but a supposed downgrade from one Hall of Fame quarterback to another was not entirely the culprit.
The question for the 2023 Packers is, “is Jordan Love the guy?”
Packers Odds win the NFC North in 2023-24
“Never Tell Me The Odds”
The Packers have an uphill battle ahead of them in any sense. At almost every position, the Packers have athletes on par with the rest of the division. Is that saying Christian Watson will develop into Justin Jefferson or Amon-Ra St. Brown? Who knows? But even if Love isn’t the guy, he’s got better weapons from top to bottom than Rodgers did in his first year.
As of now, major sportsbooks have the Packers’ odds to take the NFC North at +350. That’s good for third place behind the favorite, Lions (+145) and Vikings (+270), and ahead of the Bears (+420). There’s plenty to unpack there but we are only going to focus on the Packers, obviously. There are realities where the Packers cash that bet and take the division. There are also realities where they finish at the bottom since the owner of the Bears is currently in New York.
If you were a bettor from the outside looking in, +350 is not a bad bet, using a bet365 bonus code. The defense should be better in Green Bay and you can take advantage of the uncertainty that is Love.
Jordan Love is the Key
Speaking of uncertainty, Love is a bit of a question mark. Let’s compare his career to this point to Rodgers’ up until he took over as full-time quarterback.
Rodgers, from 2005-2007 as Favre’s number-two, appeared in seven games with no starts and threw for 329 yards and a touchdown. However, 201 of those yards and that lone touchdown game in one game in 2007 in the loss to Dallas.
Love, on the other hand, has amassed 606 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games. He did start a game in his rookie season against the Chiefs where he threw for 190 yards and a touchdown. Later on in the year, he took over in the final game against the Lions and threw for 134 yards and a touchdown. Last year, however, Love only attempted 21 passes for 195 yards a score.
All in all, Love, now, has more experience than Rodgers did and he did it in one less year.
There is good reason to believe that Love will be able to take the reigns and make sure the Packers don’t miss a step. The Packers have a secret weapon in Love because on one hand, he’s considered one of the worst prospective starting quarterbacks, he’s also overrated among fans.
Realistic expectations is to have Love around the middle of pack to start. Love has the arm to do what needs to be done even if most of his attempts to this point have been check downs. Another fun bit to his game is his legs. His athleticism will be enough to get him out of problems and allow the Packers to work out of structure.
If Watson, Doubs, and company can find space when the play breaks down and Love is in the middle of a scramble drill, expect this team to make a number of big plays.
How About that Schedule?
After going 8-9 in 2022, the Packers played themselves into a third-place schedule for 2023. The Packers get the their six NFC North foes plus the NFC South, AFC West, the Rams, Steelers, and Giants. Not terrible.
To start, the most interesting part of this year’s schedule is the fact that the 18-week schedule is book-ended by the Bears. We will see right away if the right to be owner of the Bears passed on to Love from Rodgers or if they were returned. After that, they get the Falcons (away), Saints, Lions, and Raiders (away) prior to the bye.
In terms of talent, the Packers can realistically get to the bye with one or two losses.
Out of the early bye, the next four games are at the Broncos, Vikings, Rams, and at the Steelers. Only one of those teams made the playoffs last year and was routinely exposed. The Steelers will continue to have at least a winning record, so they’ll be tough but the Broncos and Rams are not exactly up to expectations.
Then it gets difficult. The Chargers, at the Lions, Chiefs, and at the Giants are the next four games that could very well end up as four losses. If the Packers are going to salvage their season, it’ll have to happen in the last four weeks. They drew the Buccaneers, at the Panthers, at the Vikings, and the Bears at home.
If this team can play around the mean, Green Bay can sneak on in as a Wild Card team. That’ll be impressive considering the fact Rodgers only managed to win six games in his first full year as starter. Love has a good opportunity to, at the very least, match that.
1 Comment
I think Love will do better than Rogers, if he has any problems to work out we will be behind him , and back him 100/💯