Packers Cardinals Preview

Posted by Mark Daniels on

I liken this week's game to a train wreck, the Green Bay Packers, on the uphill line having won three straight, against the Arizona Cardinals, careening downhill with four straight defeats, collide at Lambeau Field on Sunday.  Physics being what they are, you would think the downhill bound train would get the better of the wreck but that's not how I see this one. In what could be a sack happy afternoon, I think the Packers offense will fare better against a good Arizona defense than the Cardinals will against Green Bay's D.  Both teams are desparate for the week off.  The bye arrives for both teams after the game.  The Packers will likely sit down Jordy Nelson and John Kuhn with bad hamstrings for another week, just to be sure, Jerel Worthy will need another week to clear his concussed head and of course Charles Woodson and Greg Jennings are both on the mend.  The Packers want to be 6-3 at the break and slowly bring the team back to full health for the December drive.   Arizona has lost both starting tackles, their top two running backs and their quarterback to injury.  John Skelton gets another start in place of Kevin Kolb but the attrition rate has been too severe.  Arizona ranks last or next to last in nearly every offensive category.  While their defense remains stout, 4th in points per game, 6th in yards and tied with Green Bay for the league lead in sacks, the Packers are better equipped than Arizona to deal with their blitz pressure package.  The Cards have watched their quarterback get taken down a league high 39 times so far.  Watch for another healthy dose of Alex Green in the backfield although James Starks may become more than a bit, change of pace back.   Jermichael Finley is a matching waiting to be exploited, the last time he had a big game was......yes, it's been that long.  James Jones, Randall Cobb and Donald Driver will hopefully have watched Arizona's Monday night debacle against the 49ers where the San Francisco receivers buckled knees with double moves and cuts after the catch for badly missed tackles.  Yards after the catch, particularly on hot routes against the blitz, could pile up.  Green Bay's secondary should be able to handle Larry Fitzgerald and his cast of receivers by simply not letting the Pro Bowler beat them singlehandedly.  Another key to this game will be field position.  Patrick Peterson is a field flipping punt returner who brought four back for scores last year as a rookie.  Giving the Cardinals long fields will play right into the Packer's hands.   Watch for Mason Crosby to iron out the doinks, hit a couple and the Packers will score just enough to throttle the Cardinals, who haven't won in Green Bay since their second and last NFL championship season of 1947, when coach Jimmy Conzelman and quarterback Paul Christman led the birds to a 14-10 victory at old City Stadium.  I like the Pack 20-10.  To hear what Mike McCarthy and the boys think about the matchup, click on the link below.  I'll have a compete recap of the game posted Sunday evening.

Packers Arizona preview

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