Around the NFL

Are the Green Bay Packers the team to beat in NFC?

Published: Nov 11, 2014 at 07:24 AM

Marc Sessler

Around The NFL Podcast Co-Host

Four teams in the NFC own better records, but the Green Bay Packers are emerging as the conference's squad to beat.

"We're getting to be an explosive offense, which is exciting," quarterback Aaron Rodgers said Tuesday, per ESPNMilwaukee.com. "Starting to make the plays we're accustomed to making around here."

Aa-Rod isn't joking.

Since telling flustered Packers fans to R-E-L-A-X after the team's 1-2 start, Rodgers and friends are 5-1 and scoring 37.2 points per game, nearly 20 more than what Green Bay spit out during its 1-2 start.

Sunday night's 55-14 wipeout of the Bears had plenty to do with a Chicago team trapped in a fog, but the Packers are making a habit of plastering opponents since Week 4. They've ripped the Vikings by 32, sunk the Panthers by 21 and thrashed the Bears by 21 and 41 points.

"I think there needs to be healthy respect for the game," Rodgers said of the blowouts. "... At some point you're going to be on the other side of it."

Not if Rodgers continues to operate at an MVP level. His four games this year with a passer rating of 138.0 or higher ties a record for the most games at that level in a single season since 1960.

Debate: Best team in the NFC?

Does one NFC team stand out above the rest? Our analysts spot conference powers, including Aaron
Rodgers' Packers. **READ**

The Cardinals, Eagles, Cowboys and Lions all own better records than the Packers (6-3), but Green Bay holds the trump card: the game's finest quarterback.

As NFL Media's Bucky Brooks said on NFL NOW this week, "The Packers' passing game is the most explosive in all of football. This is a team that is dynamic in every way, shape and form."

NFL Media's Daniel Jeremiah went on to call Rodgers "the best quarterback in the National Football League" in the middle of "an MVP season."

We can't help but wonder if Rodgers might be in the middle of a Super Bowl season, too.

The latest Around The NFL Podcast recaps every Week 10 game from an action-packed Sunday. Find more Around The NFL content on NFL NOW.

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