Sleeping Giants Wear Green and Gold

The NFL has a few surprise teams this year, teams we never expected to begin the season 2-0. But perhaps the most impressive of these is the Green Bay Packers.

Kicking off the season against the Eagles is no picnic, nor is traveling to New York the next week to play the Giants. But that’s how the chips fell for Green Bay when computers and analysts put together schedules last winter, and it seemed unfair. Now it looks like the NFC East got the raw end of the deal.

Green Bay was one of the most underrated teams in the NFL going into the season. No one — well almost no one — predicted a victorious season for the Packers. And you can hardly blame those pundits. By most measures the Packers are an average team on paper: aging quarterback, inexperienced offense, and still-young head coach.

Fortunately for Green Bay, what looks good on paper is completely irrelevant in pro football. Mike McCarthy’s goal to make the offense more potent while keeping Favre under control is working. Favre might not look like the gunslinger of old, but he’s making wiser decisions with the football. More importantly, he’s not putting his defense in jams by turning the ball over.

Speaking of the defense, it’s one of the best in the league. Really. With two solid corners — Charles Woodson and Al Harris — and one of the best (and most underrated)defensive lines in the NFL, the Packers are not a team you want to face. They’ve effectively shut down opponents this season, not an easy task considering the offenses they’ve faced.

Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook looked hapless week one, combining for 278 yards of offense and scoring only 13 points. McNabb’s completion percentage was kept below 50% and he finished the day 15/33 for 184 yards and a touchdown/interception. Perhaps most impressive, Green Bay held the Eagles’ offense to 6 of 18 on third down conversions. It effectively killed drives and kept the Packers in control.

Week two didn’t figure to see the same result, despite some injuries to the Giants’ offense. A week ago, New York had dropped 35 in a losing effort against the Cowboys.

But against the Packers it was a different story. Eli Manning was held to 211 yards passing (101 fewer yards than the week prior) and the Packers were able to hold the New York offense to 13 points while scoring 21 in the fourth quarter alone.

In a NFC that appears cloudy, most experts consider the Cowboys frontrunners. And it’s hard to argue against that. Tony Romo and Co are definitely the safe pick, with a power offense that has scored 82 points in two games this season. But while Dallas has a stronger offense than Green Bay, the defense is anything but infallible. Already they’ve allowed 55 points while the Packers have surrendered only 26.

In the NFC, any team can become a frontrunner. There are no sure things, and no team is invulnerable. But the Packers have a shut-down defense, one that will not surrender a lead. If there’s a chance defense still wins championships in today’s NFL, the Packers are not a team that should be taken lightly.