Watching Aaron Rodgers and the Packers lift the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday night is a memory that I can safely say will stay with me for a very long time. It was a surreal feeling after an amazing season that saw Green Bay overcome pretty much every obstacle the football gods had at their disposal. After Rodgers took that final knee my dad texted me saying, ""cherish it,"" and cherish it I will, because in my time as a sports fan I have never felt anything as immensely satisfying as watching the Packers take home the Super Bowl title.
But looking at the Packers' roster, it's a feeling that I may have to get used to. Ted Thompson has done an amazing job at putting together a young and talented roster that looks primed to win at least a couple more championships. Call it premature if you want, but I believe we could be looking at the NFL's next great dynasty.
Thompson has put together a 53-man roster that is built to win. Much like New England Patriots —the NFL's last great dynasty—the Packers have amazing depth on their roster, and that is key to being a championship team. That depth has been on display all year. As the Packers suffered injury after injury many pundits said that their season was over. There was just no way a team could recover from what the Packers suffered. Who could blame them for thinking that way? The Packers lost an all-pro corner in Al Harris before the season even began, their leading rusher Ryan Grant, arguably their most dangerous pass catcher Jermichael Finley, their starting middle linebacker Nick Barnett, a promising rookie strong safety Morgan Burnett and multiple other pieces of the puzzle.
The fact that their replacements were able to step up and fill in the way they did is the reason Green Bay is Titletown once again. Tramon Williams emerged as one of the league's premier cover corners and Sam Shields had a great season in his own right. James Starks single-handedly revived the stagnant Packers' running game in the playoffs, receivers like Jordy Nelson stepped up their game and Desmond Bishop and A.J. Hawk more than made up for the loss of Barnett. Though one player that I think goes unnoticed in the grand scope of things is Charlie Peprah. After Burnett went down and Atari Bigby was sidelined with his latest injury, Peprah stepped in admirably for the rest of the season opposite Nick Collins in the Packers secondary.
It figures then that after a long season of overcoming injury, the Packers would have to do it again in their biggest game of the year. The Super Bowl was a microcosm of the Packers season as Charles Woodson and Donald Driver were sidelined with injuries, but yet again they were able to overcome.
That is the mark of a truly great team, and that depth is what has this Packers team seemingly on the cusp of legendary status.
I go back to the example of the Patriots' teams of the early part of the last decade. I always remember thinking to myself how amazing it was that no matter what happened to those teams, no matter what injury occurred, they always had some replacement waiting in the wings that was just as good, if not better. I mean, even when Tom Brady went down a couple seasons back, Matt Cassel stepped in and had a Pro-Bowl caliber year. That, to me, is the mark of a great team, and that is what wins you multiple championships.
And of course, let's not forget the presence of a franchise, all-pro caliber quarterback at the helm of one of the league's most prolific offenses and a defense that was among the most stout in the league this past season.
In Super Bowl XXVII the Cowboys won with a very young and talented team. People said they won it earlier than expected. They went on to win two of the next three. The same has been said about the Packers victory on Sunday: It came early. The Packers can only hope to mirror the success of those Dallas teams, but it would seem to me that the Packers have all of the pieces in place to be among the league's elite for the foreseeable future.
Think it is a bit premature to call the Packers a budding dynasty? E-mail Ryan at rmevans2@dailycardinal.com.
