Coming off the franchise’s worst season in a decade, the Green Bay Packers are expecting better of themselves as the 2019 season opener nears.
They aren’t the only ones.
In his debut 2019 power rankings for CBS Sports, senior writer Pete Prisco didn’t just rank the Packers high — he ranked them at the very top, picking them to defeat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIV. He warns people not to believe the talk about friction between Aaron Rodgers and new coach Matt LaFleur, but that dynamic isn’t at the source of his bold prediction.
What Prisco likes most is actually is the other side of the ball, where the Packers focused most of their offseason attention and became big spenders at the cost of profits: the defense.
I think the Green Bay defense has a chance to be special this season. The additions of pass rushers Preston Smith and Za’Darius Smith will impact the front in a big way.
The rise of second-year corner Jaire Alexander into one of the best at his position will impact the secondary, along with the additions of safeties Adrian Amos and Darnell Savage.
Coordinator Mike Pettine has a lot of toys to play with to use in his creative approach to playing defense. It will be a fun, aggressive unit to watch.
A top-10 defense, Prisco predicts, will also give way to a third league MVP season from the Packers star quarterback as he throws for 40 touchdowns in 2019. Gone are the leg and knee injuries that Rodgers played through during last year’s playoff-missing campaign, and weapons like Davante Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Aaron Jones have only gotten better — and healthier — since then.
The first step toward a February showdown starts Thursday night in Chicago when the Packers march into Soldier Field to take on the Bears at 7:20 p.m. C.T. for the first kickoff of the NFL’s 100th regular season.
Prisco had some thoughts about that games, too, picking the Packers to triumph 23-17 over the Bears in a matchup decided by which side has the better quarterback — in other words, Rodgers.
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Fewer Hopes for Bears, Vikings
Crisco believes more in teams like the Philadelphia Eagles and the Jacksonville Jaguars than either the Bears or Minnesota Vikings, with them checking in at No. 11 and 14, respectively.
The Bears’ defense, which flipped Amos with former-Packer Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, will still be the strength of the team, but Crisco hinges Chicago’s season on whether third-year quarterback Mitchell Trubisky can take the next step. The Packers defense will get to test his progress right away. Should he still be a little rough around the edges? The pass rushers and secondary could have themselves an excitable season opening.
The defense also defines Minnesota in Prisco’s book, though he is a “big believer” in the power of star running back Dalvin Cook. The question lies on Kirk Cousins and whether the veteran arm has what it takes to win the big games — four of which will come against the Bears and Packers in early and late stretches of the season.
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