Green Bay Packers' Expectations High, All Players Are Signed

Now that the last player has been signed, first round draft pick Bryan Bulaga, the Green Bay Packers can tend to their business.

Before training camp begins for the Packers, the players will move in their dorm rooms, take physicals, complete paperwork, and all the other minor stuff.

On Sunday, the gloves come off.

There's no fooling around for the Packers, whose expectations are high. For them, it's the Super Bowl or bust.

The 2009 season didn't end the way the team expected with a Wild Card loss to the Arizona Cardinals. After demolishing them in a preseason game and the last regular season game on the road, the Packers were foolish to think the Cardinals would use the same game plan for their playoff matchup. As a result, Green Bay was a day late and a dollar short.

Now it's up to the Packers to put together a solid plan for the 2010 season. That plan will start and end with the leader of the pack. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was on the cover of magazines and emerged from the shadow of Brett Favre. It's his team, and the offense runs through him. He can help himself a little bit by getting rid of the ball faster. That's how Rodgers helped create some of his 56 sacks last year.

Signing Bulaga before noon Central Time was a relief for the organization. It prevented him from missing some valuable time at camp, like last year's first round pick B.J. Raji did. Bulaga must be given a crash course on playing both tackle positions. Aging tackles Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher, 34 and 33, respectively, may get hurt sometime during the season. And in that scenario, Bulaga is a play away from stepping in and protecting Rodgers' backside.

The defense is solid, but they'll miss defensive end Johnny Jolly, who has been suspended this season without pay by the NFL for violating the league's substance abuse policy. 

There can't be a letdown for the team after an 11-5 campaign. If the expectations aren't met in Titletown, two people must have answers to why it didn't happen.

We don't think head coach Mike McCarthy and general manager Ted Thompson are ready to answer those questions.