The Packers are in a strange state this year. No one expected them to be as good as they are, but now they find themselves 12-2 with a first round bye in the playoffs, and challenging for the number one seed in the NFC. I constantly hear people say the Packers are overrated, but the Packers are tied for the second best record in the NFL!

So how good are the Packers? Are they one of the top 4 teams in the NFL, or are they pretenders? I think they are one of the top 4 teams in the NFL. Right now I would rank the NFL as: Patriots, Packers, Colts, Cowboys. No one can argue with the Patriots, the Colts have a few injuries, and the Cowboys have been slipping lately. Dallas barely beat Detroit in the final seconds and then lost to the Eagles at home.

So why the lack of respect? I think it boils down to a few things.

The first thing is the Patriots. I think every team is getting compared to the Patriots right now. If the Packers beat the Raiders 38-7, people say the Patriots would have done it 52-0. I don't think it is a fair comparison, or a reason to knock the Packers. The Patriots are the best team I have ever seen, although my memory does not go back that far. The first football game I remember is the '85 Super Bowl and I hear those were some pretty good teams, but I don't remember the play, just going to the game.

Another reason people knock the Packers is because they don't make the highlight reel that often so they are not in the spotlight, and that was evident by the pro-bowl selection yesterday.  The Packers don't have a Ray Lewis, or Chad Johnson. Nick Barnett is 5x the linebacker Ray Lewis is, but he doesn't flex after every play so he doesn't get on Sportcenter every night, and doesn't get voted to the pro-bowl. Thats fine, in fact, that is great. I love that Barnett isn't running around the field after every play anymore, he has grown up a bit. I love that Driver doesn't pull cell phones out of the goal posts, or jump into Salvation Army kettles, he just racks up the YAC. But, it is one reason that people don't think the Packers are as good as they really are, kinda like the Browns.

Locally, people have been giving them a hard time for the way they win games. If you look at the St. Louis game, the Packers won 33-14. In that game, they never trailed, even with 2 first half turnovers. That is a convincing win, but fans had a little bit of a bad taste in their mouths after the game. Part of that is 2 turnovers and Stephen Jackson rushing for 103 yards in the first half, and part is just high expectations. The Packers might not always win pretty, but 33-14 is pretty comfortable.

The final reason for the lack of respect is the Cowboys game. The Packers really got embarrassed on national(kinda) TV. They were really never in that game, and the defense couldn't stop the Cowboys at all. I think just as the Packers were gaining some national recognition they dropped an egg to Dallas, and people kind of dismissed them.

I am not saying the lack of respect is a bad thing at all. It doesn't really bother me, I was just more interested in WHY people seemed to be down on the 12-2 Packers.