Blog

The Green Bay Packers and Arizona Cardinals meet in a quick turnaround game that saw the Cardinals (-6, 50) spank
the Pack 38-8 on this same field just 20 days ago. Aaron Rodgers was lucky to escape with his life in that game, getting
sacked eight times while passing for just 77 total yards. On the other side, Carson Palmer had a routine 265 yard – two 
touchdown game in the rout. Arizona was sent out a -7 (50) favorite and the line and total has not moved though the money
on the side and bounced around (.15-.20 cents) in some locations. Weather will not be an issue at Phoenix Stadium for 
the game which kicks at 8:15 PM EST and will be carried by NBC. 

After losing six of their final ten and falling behind 11-0 to the Redskins in their Wild Card round game, Green Bay finally 
found some of it’s early season mojo in the final three quarters in their blowout of Washington. Once Rodgers was able 
to get some time (1-8 to start the game), he was able to go 20-28 for 210 and two touchdowns the rest of the way as Green
Bay outscored the Skins 35-7 to close things out. Green Bay was also able to establish it’s ground game with Eddie Lacy
(12-63, TD) and James Starks (12-53, TD) effectively splitting carries. The defense pressured Kirk Cousins throughout with
Clay Mathews especially effective and disruptive lining up in different spots on every play. 

This will be a different Arizona team than the one that we saw last year, forced to go into the playoffs with third-string QB Ryan
Lindley and no running backs. This year we have a rested and almost completely healthy Cardinal outfit with veteran Pro
Bowler Carson Palmer (64%, 4671, 35/11) at the controls throwing to the best wide receiving corps in the league with Larry
Fitzgerald (109, 1215, 11 TDs) leading the way. Chris Johnson (815 yards) led the team in rushing before going down with a 
leg injury but David Johnson (581, 4.6, 8 TDs) has proven to be a very capable replacement and will carry the mail here. The 
defense has been solid all year finishing fifth in the league overall in total defense and top eight in virtually every significant 
metric. 

Will this matchup be a replay of the Cardinals December 27th beat down of the Packers ??? Probably not. Despite a great 
season that saw them win nine of their final ten games, Arizona suffered a momentum crushing backhand of their own in 
their season finale against Seattle and Carson Palmer is yet to win a playoff game in his 13 year career. Aaron Rodgers is 
proven playoff commodity but has been running for his life the second half of the season and it remains to be seen whether
the Packer offensive line can be as effective as it was against the not ready for prime time Redskins. Green Bay is 6-3 SU 
and ATS against the spread on the road while the Cardinals went 6-2 SU but just 3-5 ATS in Glendale. The Arizona defense
figures to pressure Rodgers but can’t be counted on for two scores like it had in the first meeting. All things considered, we’re 
expecting a much more competitive game this time around and probably more points.