The Green Bay Packers are off to a 2-0 start this season with two convincing wins over Minnesota and Detroit. These two division rivals are both 0-2 and do not look like world beaters. But over the next four games, the Packers as a team and the Green Bay defense in particular will face a much bigger test.

The Packers next four games are against the Saints in New Orleans, at home against the Falcons and then at Tampa Bay and at Houston. That means the next four quarterbacks the Packers face will be Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Tom Brady and Deshaun Watson. All of them have been considered among the better signal callers in the league, three of them have been to Super Bowls, two of them have won Super Bowls and all of them have repeatedly led their respective teams to the playoffs.

Not to put down Kirk Cousins or Matthew Stafford, but for the next four weeks, the Packers defense will be facing a different caliber of quarterback. Brady is a three time NFL MVP, a six time Super Bowl champ and has been named to the Pro Bowl 14 times.

Brees has won a Super Bowl and been named to 13 Pro Bowls and was twice named the AP’s Offensive Player of the Year.

Ryan led the Falcons to a Super Bowl appearance, was named league MVP in 2016 and has been selected to four Pro Bowls.

Watson is the youngest of the group and has already been named to two Pro Bowls in his first three seasons in the league while leading the Texans to the playoffs twice.

Last year, the Packers defense did not face many elite quarterbacks. When they played the Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes was injured. In the playoffs, the Packers faced Russell Wilson and he was probably the only elite quarterback the team faced all year.

This year, the Packers have faced Kirk Cousins and Matthew Stafford, two good but not elite quarterbacks who are certainly capable of leading their teams to winning seasons but have never been considered among the game’s best.

So far, the Packers defense has been solid if not spectacular. They are ranked 13^th in the league in rushing yards allowed per game with 111.5. They are also 13^th against the pass with 233 yards allowed per game and 10^th overall in yards allowed with 344.5 per game.

The defense has also been opportunistic and productive, scoring points on a safety in the season opener in Minnesota and producing a pick-six in Week 2 when Chandon Sullivan intercepted Stafford and returned it seven yards for a key touchdown.

The Saints offense is not off to a great start, but unfortunately, experts and fans alike have been critical of Brees for not throwing the ball downfield. How the future Hall of Famer will react to the criticism remains to be seen but the Packers certainly don’t want him to be inspired to prove his critics wrong.

The Saints were without record-setting wide receiver Michael Thomas last Monday night against the Raiders. His status for the Packers on Sunday night is still up in the air. The Saints will have all-purpose running back Alvin Kamara and tight end Jared Cook.

The Packers defense has given up points on the first drive of the game in both contests and that is something the team needs to address. But they have also made adjustments and slowed down both the Vikings and the Lions in the second quarter of both games.

The Vikings were held to 10 points over the first three quarters in the season opener. Only after the Packers led 29-10 did Minnesota score three more touchdowns to reach 34 points for the game.

Against Detroit, the defense allowed the Lions to score touchdowns on their first two drives of the game to take a 14-3 lead but then only allowed seven more points over the last three quarters of the contest.

“Our defense, it didn’t start the way we wanted but certainly they answered the bell, they stepped up,” coach Matt LaFleur said after the win over the Lions. “I think there was a lot of great adjustments made by our coaching staff and our players went out and executed it. That’s what needs to happen.”

Over the next four weeks, the Packers defense will have to show they can do some of the things they struggled with last season. The Green Bay run defense will have to slow down Kamara, Todd Gurley, Leonard Fournette and David Johnson over the next four games. They may have to do that without the services of their best defensive lineman as Kenny Clark’s status for Sunday and beyond is still uncertain.

When opposing teams pass, the defense has to get more pressure on opposing quarterbacks and they have to show they can shut down talented tight ends, something that was a problem for the Packers throughout 2019 even in games they won. We will see exactly what players like Christian Kirksey, Krys Barnes, Raven Greene, Rashan Gary and Kingsley Keke can do against better competition.

These next four games will be a litmus test for the defense. Facing four dangerous offenses with better quarterbacks than the team saw last season will be a challenge. It will tell us whether Mike Pettine’s stop the pass first, bend but don’t break strategy can be effective against offenses that have more weapons than those they faced last year and earlier in the season.

At the end of these four games, we should have a much better idea about exactly how good this defense can be.