2011 Packers vs 2007 Patriots

The "perfect season" has only been successfully accomplished once in the NFL, 1972 Miami Dolphins. Over the last 15 years this feat has been challenged several times, unsuccessfully of course with the most recent being the 2007 New England Patriots. Could 2011 be the season that a team goes undefeated in an NFL season ,counting both Regular and Post-Seasons? Many believe so, but I'm writing this blog in relation the last two teams who have challenged this feat: 07 Patriots and current Packers.

I will not compare the whole season of these two teams, as the 2011 season isn't completed, but I'll compare the two teams as to their position as if the Week 14 within their respective seasons.

2007 Patriots: 

The Pats were coming off the lost in the 06 AFC Championship game against the eventual Super Bowl Champs the Indianapolis Colts. The Pats upgraded their Wide Receivers with a huge trade for Randy Moss, who was with the Raiders and former Dolphins WR Wes Welker. These two pick up proved to be key to the Pats 2007 season. With the help of these two players, the Pats started off 2007 by scoring 24 or more points and each of its first 9 games (30 or more in 8 of those games). The only team that could of possibly beaten the Pats where the Colts and they played week 9 of that season, otherwise known as Super Bowl 41&1/2. This would be the first time the Pats played the Colts since that classic AFC title game, and this game lived up to the hype and some. Pats won this game 24-20 and thus started the "undefeated" talks that would plague the rest of their season.

However, I'll limit this for another blog in the near future, but I want to talk about a game in week 13 against the Baltimore Ravens. This game was the final true test that stood in the way for the Pats as their quest for the undefeated season. This was a Monday Night game and everyone was watching, as the Ravens game it their all against this juggernaut.

2011 Packers:

Coming off their Super Bowl win against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Pack started off their season against the previous Super Bowl champs the New Orleans Saints. The Pack wasn't so dominate in their first half of the season, but they won every game by at least 6 points. That is until week 13 match up against the New York Giants. This game, as to date, is considered to be the Packers final test in their quest to go undefeated in a season.

Now on to the real reason for this blog, I wanted to compare the two teams and their week 13 match-ups. Both teams were on the road and faced two teams who were capable of beating these two powerhouse teams.

It was strange when I saw the Packers win this game against the Giants because it reminded me so much of when the Patriots defeated the Ravens, as both games were had its share of controversial calls from the refs. 

12 vs. 12:

Both QB's, Aaron Rodgers for the Packers and Tom Brady for the Patriots, play beyond great in these respective years. Rodgers could be putting up the stats that would be considered the best ever when it comes to single-season performances. I remember hearing about this same thing 4 years ago, oh yea I did, in Tom Brady.

Aaron Rodgers: As of week 13 in '11: 3,844 yards with 37 TD's and 5 INT's . 70.6 comp%  and a 125.3 QB rating. 

Tom Brady as of week 13 in '07: 3,696 yards with 41 TD's and 5 INT's. 71.5 comp % and a 121.8 QB rating. 

Pats vs Pack Super Bowl Match-up?
There are some comparisons to the two that are highly striking and the ironic thing is that with both teams on a possible collision course for the Super Bowl. Picture this: Could it be the Patriots, who had their streak ended in Super Bowl 42, stop the undefeated streak of the Packers in Super Bowl 46 this season? Less than 2 months away, it would be very interesting game if this were to play out.

What could be.......

I've decided to write this morning. Remember the 2005 NFL Draft? It wasn't that eventful, but I'll just take two players from that draft for the purpose of this blog entry. Aaron Rodgers and Alex Smith will forever be linked to this day, in which two franchises took two different paths to a run at a championship.

Before this draft most people, including myself, believed that Aaron Rodgers would be the #1 pick to the San Francisco 49ers, but the 49ers took a different approach that day. They took Alex Smith at #1. Keep in mind that this year's draft wasn't the most Quarterback-friendly drafts, considering that the new wave of QB's were still a few years away and the previous draft had Eli Manning, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger.

As for Alex Smith, being the #1 pick, he hasn't lived up to that standard and has plenty of times come very very close to having his career ended by inconsistent play and injuries. However, this could be the comeback of all comebacks if Smith can pull off the unthinkable by getting the 49ers back to the Super Bowl.

As for Aaron Rodgers, he's gone from rags to riches over the years. From being snubbed by this favorite team, the 49ers, to winning a championship with his current team. He was protected from early failures by being the backup to one Brett Favre, before he was inserted into the lineup at the start of the 2008 season. 3 years later, Rodgers is arguably one of the top 5 QB in the league. Coming off of a Super Bowl win, most could say that the Packers made a great choice that day in 2005, when it picked Rodgers at 24th in the draft.

Now the true reason why I am writing this is because both the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers are on a collision course to see each other sometime in the playoffs, particularly in the NFC Championship game. This would be the 1st time that Alex Smith will make the playoffs (considering that he gets in as to date) and for Aaron Rodgers, this is his first time defending a Super Bowl title and could be his first time winning the MVP.

As I said before, these two men will be forever linked with each other, but they could start up a late rivalry against one another if both teams stay young (Packers are the 2nd youngest team in the league and the 49ers are the 9th youngest).