There are so many reasons to be intimidated by the prospect of Green Bay Packers football.

And its not just Aaron Rodgers, who has vaulted himself into the discussion of the NFLs best QBs.

Its not merely their playmaking defense, and its ability to get to the opposing QB.

Its not only the reminder that they played most of the year without a running game and still won 10 regular-season games.

No, the really scary thing is that GM Ted Thompson consistently finds players and coach Mike McCarthy constantly makes something out of them.

Its that they lost 15 players to injured reserve, including six starters, and nearly every player they plugged in did the job including when injuries occurred during the Super Bowl.

If youre a Bears fan and you ponder the skills of Thompson and McCarthy vs. that of Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith, its a bit daunting.

The Bears just had the luckiest and healthiest season they can ever hope to have, and yet its the Packers who won the Super Bowl and have every right to think theyll be better next year.

The Packers dont figure to lose a third of their roster to injury again next season, and Rodgers and the running game could both improve.

Yes, the Packers have to fear the hangover and might lack some of the hunger of a group trying to win for the first time, but there will also be a bunch of veterans returning from injury that didnt feel a part of it and will want it just as much.

Meanwhile, Thompson will be scouring the corners of the planet for more like Charlie Peprah, Desmond Bishop and Frank Zombo, the three men who led Green Bay in tackles Sunday.

Peprah was originally a fifth-round draft pick claimed off waivers from the Giants in 2006, and after he spent a year with Atlanta, the Packers brought him back for 2010.

Bishop was drafted by the Packers in the sixth round in 2007, and Zombo was an undrafted free agent in 2010 out of Central Michigan.

Up and down their roster you can find stories just like those, players unearthed by Thompson and prepared by McCarthy in the event they might be needed.

Depth is a wonderful thing, as important as any one thing in the NFL, but if you dont have the coaching staff to develop players and get them ready to play, all the depth in the world doesnt matter.

So it probably goes without saying that when you replace that many injured players, the coach and GM must have done a remarkable job, but its worth saying again anyway:

Thompson and McCarthy did a remarkable job.

If youre a Bears fan, its enough to make you jealous of their management team and a little scared.

Chicago Daily Herald wrote:

Packers Super Bowl victory is doubly painful for Bears

The Packers Super Bowl victory Sunday against the Steelers was bad news for Bears fans, but even worse news for the Bears.


The Lombardi Trophy back in Green Bay takes a little of the sheen off the Bears impressive 2010 season the NFC North championship doesnt sound so great when a team you beat out not only wins the Super Bowl, but goes through Soldier Field to get it.


More than that, its a trump card the Bears are going to get pounded with over and over in the offseason: the Packers lost six opening day starters to season-ending injuries and WON THE SUPER BOWL; the Packers started a rookie offensive tackle and WON THE SUPER BOWL; Aaron Rodgers had twice as many concussions as Jay Cutler this season and the Packers WON THE SUPER BOWL.


But even more problematic is the possibility that the Bears are going to have the same issue with the Packers that the White Sox have with the Twins no matter what moves they make in the offseason, it still might not be enough to beat a team that has a knack for staying one step ahead. Just like the Twins made Paul Konerko look silly at the plate when it really, really counted, the Packers muted Julius Peppers without getting burned by Israel Idonije or Tommie Harris.


Thats the biggest issue facing the Bears, assuming there will be a 2011 NFL season: a team that struggles to put back-to-back playoff seasons together has to find a way to overcome a Packers team that whipped them badly in two key areas this season: coaching and the front office.


Why are the Packers able to plug in rookie Bryan Bulaga the 24th pick of the 2010 draft at offensive tackle and win the Super Bowl, while the Bears

Chris Williams the 14th pick of the 2008 draft is running out of o-line positions to find a home?


Why was Packers linebacker Erik Walden picked up off the street on Oct. 27 an unstoppable force in Week 17?


Why was Cullen Jenkins who missed the last month of the regular-season with a calf injury a bigger factor in the NFC Championship Game than Peppers?


How did Packers backup quarterback Matt Flynn nearly beat the New England Patriots on the road a week after the Patriots dominated the Bears when Todd Collins threw four interceptions and had a 6.2 rating against the Carolina Panthers?


The Packers have two basic advantages over the Bears right now: they do more with more and they do more with less. Walden, Jenkins, Sam Shields and B.J. Raji were difference-makers against the Bears this season. They did virtually zilch against the Steelers on Sunday Walden didnt even play and still WON THE SUPER BOWL.


The Bears had a fine season. Lovie Smith is a fine coach. And Jerry Angelo is a fine general manager. But they all have more work to do than they know this offseason. The Packers are not likely to go away. Maybe its because theyre insulated from the real world in Green Bay, but the Packers are less affected by the distractions that come with winning a Super Bowl. When they won it 1967, they won it again in 1968. When they won in 1997, they made it back in 1998.


Historically, whenever the Packers arrive, with a coach and a quarterback, they usually stick around the Lombardi/Starr Era (five titles in seven seasons) and the Holmgren/Favre Era (10 playoffs, two Super Bowls in 12 seasons). In fact, only once in the last 50 years have the Packers made the playoffs in a complete season and failed to make it the next without a coaching change or a quarterback change.


So unless circumstances break up the Mike McCarthy/Aaron Rodgers team, the Bears are going to have to figure out a way to not only maintain their own excellence next season, theyll have to find a way to beat the Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers.

Chicago Sun Times wrote: