I was faced with a tough decision after the shocking news broke of the Cowboys trading Micah Parsons to the Packers.
Either I stand pat and keep the Packers off my projected playoff bracket or do I rush to plead with my editors to let me change my preseason picks a few days before publication?
I decided to stick with my original playoff picks and was O.K. with looking foolish for not having the Packers in my field after their Super Bowl stock soared. But I will admit I kicked myself for not swapping the Packers and Panthers after Green Bay crushed Detroit in the season opener.
Yes, I know I should have kicked myself twice for having the Panthers as a playoff team. But somehow my decision to not pencil in the Packers to the postseason is not looking so bad after they lost to the Browns and tied with the Cowboys.
I won’t take a victory lap beyond what I’ve just typed because, again, I picked the Panthers. But we can at least discuss the possibility of the Packers being more pretenders than contenders to kick off NFL Fact or Fiction this week.
We crowned the Packers way too soon
After the Packers improved to 2–0, they became the betting favorites to win the NFC and had the same Super Bowls odds as the Bills, going from 20-1 odds before the Parsons trade to being listed as +675 favorites to win it all.
Oh, how quickly the NFL landscape changes. Many of us were quick to crown the Packers for beating up the Lions and Commanders in the first two weeks and overlooked all the issues on the offensive side that were exposed in the loss against the Browns.
To make matters worse, the Packers’ defense hasn’t been as impressive the past two weeks and struggled to disrupt Dak Prescott’s rhythm in the 40–40 tie last week.
With Green Bay’s defense possibly not being as good as we thought and Jordan Love still showing growing pains in Year 3 as the starter, what do the Packers really have that’s special? They look more like pretenders than contenders through the first month of the season.
At this point, we can probably list three or four better teams than the Packers in the NFC. I would rather take the Eagles, Rams, Buccaneers and the Lions. Yes, the Packers beat the Lions, but the flat performance might have been more about the players adjusting to their new coordinators because they’ve been unstoppable during their three-game winning streak.
We’ll find out more about the two top teams in the NFC North when they meet again in November. For now, let’s pump the brakes on the Packers hype.
Manzano’s view: Fact
