NFC Divisional Playoffs – Green Bay Packers vs Arizona Cardinals
Saturday January 16, 2016 on NBC
For the second time in just about three weeks, the Green Bay Packers will journey to the desert to face the Arizona Cardinals. This time it will be for all the marbles in a NFC Divisional Playoff game. A lot has changed since their first meeting, and both teams are expecting a much closer contest this go-round.
After the December game against the Cardinals, the Green Bay Packers went on to lose to the Vikings the very next week. The Packers continued to struggle on both sides of the ball, and for the first time since 2010, Green Bay failed to win the NFC North. The Packers did however manage to secure a Wild Card spot, and traveled to Washington where the Packers finally find some rhythm, beating the Redskins 35-18.
The Arizona Cardinals also ran into some trouble the very next week, dropping a game to Seattle in a very undesirable fashion (36-6). But the Arizona Cardinals did manage to win their division (NFC West) going 13-3 while earning a bye-week in the process. The Cardinals have used the time to rest players, but Arizona has only been able to game plan for Green Bay this week after not knowing who the opponent would be early on.
-The Rear View
The last match up between these two teams did not favor well for the Packers. Aaron Rodgers was sacked 8 times, fumbled the ball 3 times, 2 of which were returned for TDs. Rodgers also threw an interception as well. After the game was out of reach both teams pulled their starting quarterbacks.
To be fair the Packers played most of that game without their starting offensive tackles, so it’s easy to see how the protection became an issue. But Arizona dominated on the offensive side of the ball as well. Rookie running-back David Johnson had 127 yards of total offense, WR Michael Floyd had 111 yards on just 6 receptions, and Carson Palmer went 18 for 27 with 2 TD passes.
-Looking Forward
The Arizona Cardinals and head coach Bruce Arians have stated all week that the Packers are a completely different team now. Green Bay should have both of their offensive tackles on Saturday, although David Bakhtiari (ankle) was limited in practice and is still officially questionable as of now. The Packers also expect to have Sam Shields back.
But it’s not so much who will be playing for Green Bay, it’s more of how Green Bay is playing right now. After a slow start in Washington the Packers got their groove back. Cheese-heads everywhere were delighted to see the dynamic offense of years past spring back to life. The Redskins had no answer for the Packers running game, and the Packer defense reignited as well sacking Kirk Cousins multiple times (6), and forcing 3 quarterback fumbles.
This changes everything. If Green Bay can run the ball, it makes Aaron Rodgers a bad man once again. This, in my opinion makes the running-backs Eddie Lacy and James Starks the biggest keys to the game. If the Packers should fall behind early, or if they cannot stay with a balanced play call, the Arizona defense will most likely send everybody to get that Aaron Rodgers autograph again.
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As for Arizona, the NFL’s number one offense will probably run the ball a lot on Saturday. They will of course take more than their fair share of shots down field, that’s just what Arizona does, but the Green Bay Packers did rank 6th overall against the pass in 2015.
If the Cardinals can get some consistency on the ground going early, it could soften up the Green Bay defense allowing the play action to take form.
For the Cardinals defense to be successful they will have to get to the quarterback. It worked quite well last time. They will also have to be aggressive in stopping the run with gang tackles and good technique because let’s face it… you’re not going to arm tackle Eddie Lacy.
On a side note the Cardinals have recently lost two valuable defensive players in Alex Okafor and Corey Redding. Rookie OLB Markus Golden is expected to play but is still battling a knee injury. This opens up the door for Dwight Freeney, who on limited snaps has proven that his patented spin move is still a valuable commodity in the NFL. But the best news for Cardinal fans has to be the return of Rashad Johnson, who basically quarterbacks the defense when they are on the field and can ball hawk with the best of them.
Both QBs are playing at a high level right now. The Packers have played with a banged up WR core all year long but Aaron Rodgers can make water into wine when it comes to names you’ve probably never heard of. And Carson Palmer, he has more weapons than the U.S. Military. This makes the time of possession just as important as the time in the pocket.
-My Guess
You’ll have to find your guesses elsewhere friends. The Pack is back, and Arizona has played lights out for most of the season. These are two quality football teams that will be playing for their destiny. I’d give the Cardinals the edge as far as talent goes, but the Packers have the experience in these types of big games, so who knows.. I certainly don’t.
Graffix by Mike Yduarte
