Marshall Faulk asks, "When you're Professional Grade, you look to stay ahead of others in your field. Think about what defines your team. Maybe it's a tough defense. Or a commitment to the ground game. What team in the league is most similar to yours in playing style or emphasis? What can your team learn from them that will help you reach the next level?"
In today's NFL, you're most defined by the quarterback position. It's a passing league, and while everything doesn't completely depend on your signal-caller, he's the biggest determining factor to your team's overall success.
And Peyton Manning is one of the NFL's best.
So we immediately look at that: who in the NFL has elite or near-elite pocket passers? There aren't many. The names that jump out are Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Andrew Luck, and Drew Brees. So we'll start by considering them.
All have winning records except the Saints. They're out.
Next we'll look at their records at home, since the Broncos are undefeated in their stadium (and home field advantage is a key characteristic of a team's makeup). The Broncos, Patriots, and Packers are each perfect at home. Indy has lost two. They're out.
Finally, we'll look at the statistical makeup of each team. There are a lot of parallels, and at this point you're just taking your pick. Our friends at Acme Packing Company broke down the statistical similarities between the Broncos and Packers quite nicely, so we're rolling with that mirror-image team.
The Packers are the closest team to the Broncos in the NFL.
So what can we learn from Rodgers' Packers?
"R-E-L-A-X," as Rodgers famously spelled. The Broncos are winning while they're learning offensive balance. It doesn't get much better than that!
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