The Packers' Super Bowl quest in 2015 came to a sudden stop in last year's playoff game against the Arizona Cardinals. In a game that had everyting, including a last second Hail Mary, a do-over overtime coin flip and an overtime loss where Aaron Rodgers never got to touch the ball, the disappointment was monumental.  I

t surely was a long, long offseason for the Packers as on top of that loss they had to come to grips with the fact that five of the Packers' seven playoff losses under Mike McCarthy have come on the last play of the game. The odds of five of seven playoff games being decided that way are surely astronomical. 

But that didn't stop the oddsmakers from making the Packers one of the early Super Bowl favorites for 2016.The reason why can surely be summed up in two words - Aaron Rodgers.

Despite Rodgers having what was widely considered an off year in 2015, it was his first such occurance and was not helped by a sollection of injuries among his wide receivers, the worst being the loss of favorite target Jordy Nelson for the entire season.

But Nelson has returned this year, Eddie Lacy has toned up with P90X and the Packers' offense appears to be slowly finding it's way again. 

The first four games have displayed flashes of the dynamic Packers' offense of a few years ago. Only the top-ranked defense in the NFL, that of the Minnesota Vikings, have managed to give the Packers offense any serious trouble. 

The offensive line has been outstanding, even without the unceremoniously released Pro Bowl guard Josh Sitton. In all, the offense looks more than goo enough.

The key to the Packers marching to the Super Bowl in 2016 will be the defense. After four games the Packers defense is unexpectedly and almost incredibly the best in the NFL against the run, giving up an average of only 42.8 yds per game.

The emergence of Nick Perry as a true impact bookend OLB to pair with Clay Matthews has been a huge development for the Packers, along with the play of the Packers young linebacker corps, Jake Ryan, Blake Martinez and Joe Thomas.

Finally, the depth and versatility shown by the Packers' secondary, on full display this past week with both starting corners out  against the Giants, could be the deciding factor to survive the excruciating marathon a run to the Super Bowl can be,

Looking up and down their roster, the Packers are clearly Super Bowl material, it's all in front of them.