Expectations are a powerful thing. Some are capable of rising up to meet them; others crumble in the process.
The sports media lives on the successes and failures of teams compared to their expectations. We’ve seen this the past few years in Green Bay. From the moment the Packers fired Mike McCarthy and hired Matt LaFleur, this was a Super Bowl or bust situation. And to be fair, why wouldn’t it be? LaFleur, an offensive coach, took over one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history and one of the league’s best wide receiver-running back combos. Expectations were deservedly high.
But things ratcheted up when a 13-win season ended in an absolute ass-kicking in the NFC championship. The expectations were now piled on top of criticisms. When another 13-win season ended with a controversial field-goal call by the head coach, they ratcheted up again. And when last year‘s 13-win team and their back-to-back MVP went belly up at home against the 49ers as the 1-seed, things boiled over.
Green Bay’s expectations have always carried an ugly amount of pressure. The type of pressure that can build a stressful environment. The media loves to place that pressure on Rodgers, and they have relished in his shortcomings and perceived failures.
But while the media was laughing their way through this year’s disaster of a start, Green Bay may have actually developed a key secret weapon. No expectations. This is a team playing with house money! Just to get back to where they’ve gotten is an accomplishment in most people’s eyes. The pressure is completely off. It might not be a star skill position player or a difficult to prepare for gadget player(although they might have one of those if Nixon gets his way) but make no mistake, low pressure is a huge asset in the NFL.
Rodgers and his suddenly clicking offense, combined with a resurgence special teams and suddenly aggressive defense, get to play the underdog. If they beat Detroit on Sunday for once they will be the ones that have nothing to lose in a match up with San Francisco. The Niners are hands-down one of the favorites to win the Super Bowl. After the Christian McCaffrey trade, anything less would be a huge disappointment.
There’s not going to be any talking heads picking Green Bay or ripping them apart if they lose. There’s not going to be any ridiculous criticisms of the way this team was built when the season ends.
If they beat the Niners they likely would get a Vikings team that they have clearly figured out. The pressure would completely be on the Purple to not commit an ultimate meltdown. A division winner falling to a 9-8 7 seed. House money. From there who knows what happens. Maybe they get a dinged up Eagles team. Maybe they get a Cowboys team they were able to beat before they pulled it together. We do know they would be underdogs every step of the way. And that’s a great thing.
If you’re a talented team, it’s a lot easier to make a run when nobody expects anything from you. Just ask Eli Manning and his friends or Joe Burrow and his buddies. This is a finally healthy all time great that relishes in the role of underdog. This could be his ultimate crowning achievement. The R-E-L-A-X press conference times 1000. For the first time in four years, the pressure is off in Green Bay, and for that exact reason anything seems possible.
