endzorn":9i8kllqz said:
I think our Super Bowl window has closed. Unpopular, I know, but hear me out.
I disagree. Hear me out.
As long as you have a defense as good as you do, you are always going to be a contender. Not only that, your defense is actually improved over the last 2 seasons and will be solid for the foreseeable future. Guys like Reed, Griffin, Jones and Clark are good now and will get better and better as time goes on.
Earl Thomas: Hall of Fame.
Your problem is not the coaches or the game planning or Russell Wilson and anything outside of football he is involved in. Your problem is drafting quality Offensive Linemen. You have been spending top draft picks on them and have been missing. The guys you drafted are just not that good. It's one of the toughest areas to draft and to have immediate impact or even to develop. Green Bay moved up to grab Jason Spriggs with the 48th pick last year and the pundits, coaches and fans were ecstatic about his potential. He is a complete bust at this point. Meanwhile a 7th rounder (Murphy) out of Stanford who barely got a look, started yesterday and held up well under enormous pressure from the best DL in football. You have yet to find guys like that. Could it be your scouting? Priority?
Green Bay has the opposite problem. We have been drafting defenders to shore up a weak defense for years and keep missing. We might finally have a top 10 defense after all of those draft picks. One thing is for sure, our DL is much improved and it seems like Capers finally understands the potential Mike Daniels has and how good he is shooting gaps and not just occupying blockers. But considering how many draft picks we have spent on the defensive side of the ball, we should be a lot better than we are. We miss having Nick Collins at Safety. He was our "Earl Thomas".
Your window is not closing, but actually opening up. Your defense got better and you have a quality QB in Wilson. Those are the 2 things you need to be competitive and to make deep runs in the playoffs. You are 2-3 quality players away from fixing that offense. You are contenders right now but contenders with some holes that other teams can exploit. You have a good HC and front office dedicated to winning football. Those guys will keep you at or near the top for years to come.
Welcome to the "We have a great team filled with Hall of Famers and we can't seem to get over that hump" club. Green Bay has had 2 Hall of Fame QB's back to back over the course of 25 years and we have only 2 Super Bowl wins in that time. Put it in perspective. In 5 years, you have been the best team in the NFC with 5 playoff appearances, 2 SB's and 1 win.
Enjoy the journey. Your window is wide open.