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Super Bowl.
Sure, as cornerback Al Harris said, the goal of every team is to make the Super Bowl. But only a few have a legitimate chance. And the Packers, after one of their most successful off-season training programs, think they are one of those teams.
“We definitely feel that it’s a realistic achievement for us with the guys we have in the locker room and what we achieved last year,” linebacker Nick Barnett said.
The Packers went 13-3 last season and won the NFC North title before suffering a painful overtime loss to the New York Giants in the NFC Championship Game at Lambeau Field.
Yes, quarterback Brett Favre has retired after having an MVP-caliber season, but the Packers’ confidence is as high or even higher.
“We have a good football team here,” said right tackle Mark Tauscher, who is entering his ninth season. “There’s more talent here than I think at any point since I’ve been here. This is a very talented football team.”
McCarthy certainly wouldn’t argue with Tauscher’s opinion.
“Our roster, this is the best it’s looked since I’ve been here as far as the names and the talent and the type of people on the board,” McCarthy said. “So I’m very happy with that, the depth of it.”
Attendance in the team’s off-season workouts was at an all-time high, and the Packers should be nearly 100 percent healthy when they report to camp. Even though McCarthy has some fear about the state of his defensive line, he expects everyone to be ready to go on July 28.
Off the field, the Packers, led by quarterback Aaron Rodgers, have taken steps to bring the team closer together.
“We want to win, which is why you see the guys doing what they’re doing,” receiver Donald Driver said. “Most of us are in here every day. Off-season workout program. (Organized team activities). Lifting. Getting treatment. Guys are doing everything they can do to prepare for this season.”
The Packers might be at an elite level but there are obvious concerns:
Can Rodgers be effective for a whole season even though he has never started a game? Will running back Ryan Grant have a contract in place by camp? Will the offensive line continue to struggle? Was the Packers’ lack of a pass rush late last season a sign of things to come? Can the older players — and the team as a whole — continue to stay healthy?
“My confidence is better this season that it was last year,” Driver said. “It gets better and better, and I think that’s what you have to say. We have a very talented team, it’s just a matter of everybody going out there and doing their jobs. If everybody does their job, then we’ll be OK.”
McCarthy said he wouldn’t place any expectations on his team. He said that led to “false confidence.”
“I’m a big believer in real confidence, and that’s something that we’ll stay in touch with,” McCarthy said.
“We’re trying to win every single football game, and this team is a team that has the ability to be something special and we felt that way coming off our offseason last year. We felt good about the direction we were going. I think our challenges are going to be a lot different this year. The obstacles that we’re going to have to get over are going to be a lot different. We just have to go out week in and week out and find ways to win games. That will be our focus. That’s the one thing I can promise you.”
The Packers hope that will be enough. After a season on the brink of greatness, anything less might not be acceptable. With the two words the Packers spoke as one as they left the field, they said as much themselves.
“I think you want to have high expectations,” Tauscher said. “I think it’s good to have that added pressure on you. So am I going to say we need the Super Bowl or bust? I just think we need to come out and play good football and let everything fall into where it’s going to fall.”
