Souhan: Scary thing is, Packers believe there's room for improvement

ATLANTA - Football's real dream team is not a product of hype. Football's real dream team is a real and present threat to not only repeat as Super Bowl champions, but to build the kind of dynasty that NFL rules are designed to prevent.

After whipping an Atlanta Falcons team intent on revenge Sunday night at the Georgia Dome, the Green Bay Packers are 5-0, riding an 11-game winning streak that includes a Super Bowl and displaying the kind of versatility and confidence that should have Vikings fans dreading living next to that wacky Packers fan next door the rest of the season.

The Packers hadn't won 11 in a row since 1962, and they have won a championship every other time they started 5-0. The Vikings will face the Pack twice in three games starting Oct. 23, and can only hope the rest of the league isn't depending on them to keep Green Bay from chasing the NFL's first undefeated season since 1972.

Sunday night in Atlanta, the Packers dropped a half-dozen passes; committed stupid penalties, including the dreaded 12th man in the huddle violation; lost an early fumble; fell behind 14-0; and still passed the Falcons dizzy, winning 25-14.

"At halftime, we didn't even talk about the score, didn't talk about what went wrong," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "We talked about adversity football. It's the strength of this football team.

"We're building something special on our ability to make big plays when they're needed."

If the mayor of Green Bay goes through with naming a street after McCarthy, he should make sure it's all passing lanes.

"I answer this question every week," McCarthy said. "We don't really worry about whether we're running or passing. We do what the defense dictates. We take what's there."

NFL defenses seem awfully generous in the presence of green and gold. Rodgers completed passes to 12 receivers. He not only reached 101 career touchdown passes, he became the first NFL quarterback to reach 100 while throwing as few as 34 interceptions, according to ESPN.com and Elias.

In fact, the man he eclipsed on that list, Philip Rivers, had 43 interceptions by the time he reached 100 touchdowns. No. 3 on the list, Dan Marino, had 44.

Rodgers is hardly an impressive character up close. In a locker room filled with physical specimens, Rodgers, with his bowl-cut bangs, half-hearted beard and average build, looks more like a shy personal assistant than the NFL's fastest-rising star.

Appearances aside, Rodgers is becoming Peyton Manning with useful legs, or a Tom Brady with much worse hair. He ranks first in the NFL in passer rating and is much more mobile than the elite passers with whom he deserves to be compared -- Manning, Brady and Drew Brees.

Close to what?

"Making it look really ugly," Finley said. "When we play four quarters the way we can, that scoreboard is going to look real ugly."

The Falcons beat the Packers in the regular season last year but were eliminated by the Packers in the playoffs. Entering the game 2-2, the Falcons were so intent on beating Green Bay that they regularly took cheap shots after the whistle.

"We're the better team," said Packers nose tackle B.J. Raji, speaking of the Falcons. "We have better players, better coaches, we're a better team. Usually better teams win games ...

"We're the champions. We play like champions. We coach like champions."

Reality suits them just fine.