DEAL THE CARDS

Packers Look for Redemption in Desert;

 

Face Cards Saturday Night 

 

The best thing that could have happened to the Green Bay Packers the last time the faced the Arizona Cardinals was to get pasted 38 – 8. The Cards showed their hand early and often. Arizona is a fast, furious lot that sports the #5 defense and #1 offense. They are smart, heady, well- disciplined and well coached. And they are fast. Very fast.

The Packers got a first-hand up close and personal view of just how fast the Cards are on both sides of the ball. But the best thing going into this matchup is while the Packers have seen the Cardinals at their very best the Cards have not seen Green Bay at their collective best either. Realistically no one has. One game against Washington isn’t a large enough sample size to suddenly declare the Packers elite. Far from it.

Green Bay comes in knowing what they will have to do to adjust to Arizona’s speed and talent. Perhaps the biggest advantage they have is Arizona possessing a mindset that has them thinking the Pack is a pushover and it’s on to the NFC Championship.

Bruce Arians is far too good a coach to let that happen. No doubt his defense will get an earful of just how dangerous #12 is for the Packers. Aaron Rodgers struck early and often against Washington and afterwards had the look he hasn’t had in a couple months. “Huge” is how Rodgers described the win in D.C. “We really needed that to get our mojo and our confidence back.” Now Rodgers and the offense have to come up with a way to hang with one of the NFC’s big dogs. But it would defy credibility to suggest the Packers look like a bna fide Super Bowl contender based on their performance against a barely above .500 Redskins squad. Call it batting practice for the next step in trying to hang with the big dogs of the NFC.

The Packers couldn’t come close to hanging with the big dogs in their previous meeting or even come close to stopping them. The Cardinal pass rush was relentless dropping Aaron Rodgers 8 times and Scott Tolzien one more for a grand tally of 9 sacks is one outing. Ouch. At the time the right side of the line T. J. Lang and Bryan Bulaga were out with injuries and their fill ins Don Barclay and Lane Taylor were overwhelmed. When David Bahktiari went out so did any semblance of protection. McCarthy attempted to address the issue by moving All Pro LG Josh Sitton to LT and Taylor into the LG slot but the Vikings beat that combination. That area of concern was addressed against Washington when McCarthy moved Sitton back to his natural slot at guard and inserted J.C. Tretter at the valued LT spot. Tretter has filled many roles in Green Bay along the line at C and G but was a tackle in college. Tretter started rough but passed the test as the line was able to settle down after surrendering a safety and gave Rodgers enough time to find an open man.

McCarthy’s offense is predicated on winning the one-on-one matchups especially in the trenches. Seeing the futility of that as the backups proved less than reliable McCarthy held the backs on passing downs for added protection and it was a moved that helped give Rodgers the time he needed. The Packers know how good the rush in Arizona is. The sacks and turnovers from the sacks directly led to 28 points, 14 of which were on sacks and fumble recoveries returned for TD’s. Eliminating sacks and turnovers is the biggest key for the Pack to have a shot at downing the Cards. Conversely the Cardinals have no idea what the Packers look like at their best, and frankly neither do the Packers. If the game against Washington is any indicator the offense looked better than it has since the 6^th game if the season. The Pack now knows what they will see and what they will have to do to slow down the rush and stop the bleeding along the line.

The Packers may be without the services of WR Davante Adams who injured his knee last week. While not torn his sprain/ strain of the knee ligaments may keep him out of action which, in turn, would open the door for Jared Abbrederis. Abby had a drop early but Rodgers came back to him on a 2 point conversion and hit Abbrederis on a slant to convert. Earning Rodgers’ trust is difficult; Rodgers has publicly lobbied for more playing time for Abbrederis by stating “He knows how to get open”. Randall Cobb was used out of the backfield and contributed in round 1 in DC. James Jones also had a few big catches that jump started the Packer offense. One position not heavily involved was tight end. Neither Richard Rodgers nor Andrew Quarless have factored into them outcome but they’ll be needed in Arizona

One player who did have a big footprint on the game was Eddie Lacy. The Packers will need him to bulldoze his way through the line tom open up the passing lanes. Last time the depleted line hindered the running game and the turnovers all but eliminated the running game altogether as Rodgers had to try to throw the Pack back in the game. Starks was unimpressive as well and he will need to hang on to the ball if Green Bay is to have a shot. The Packers fortunes will be directly tied to the offensive line and their collective ability to protect Rodgers and open up running lanes.

The Cardinals are a strong, fast, defensive team. The turnovers led directly and indirectly to 28 of their 38 points. It would be a safe bet to say they can’t count on that type of production… it is simply unrealistic and for the Pack’s sake it has to be an anomaly. Green Bay can counter the expected fury with a few screen passes. If Arizona can get caught it could be a weapon that helps to diffuse the rush. Both Calais Campbell and Frostee Rucker are capable of taking over a game and together they have bolstered a line that has become formidable. Head coach and newly minted NFL wunderkind Bruce Arians is wary of the Packers in advance of Saturday night. He is also keenly observant of the 28 points ‘Zona nabbed off the Packers miscues. “The ball has to bounce your way,” Arians said. “I don’t really think we dominated them in any form or fashion, other than we got a couple of good fumbles and picked them up and scored with them” Arians said. “They’re too good, and we didn’t get their best shot because they didn’t have their best players.”

With the Pack playing without Bahktiari and Bulaga it kicked off a feeding frenzy that set the Cards on their way to a rout. The NFL being what it is a repeat of the blowout is highly unlikely and the Cardinals are taking nothing for granted. Cornerback Jerraud Powers echoed his coach’s sentiments. “When we were facing them during that time, I think they were trying to find their identity or find something that worked,” Powers said. “They were kind of in flux offensively. Since we’ve played them, it seems like those guys found it. They look like a completely different team.” The Cards D will have to do without S Tyrann Mathieu but will still have one of the best CB’s in the business with Patrick Peterson.

The Cardinal offense finished 1^st overall and with good merit. Carson Palmer has been reborn in the desert and has a full arsenal of weapons at his disposal. WR Larry Fitzgerald is playing as well as he has at any point in his illustrious career only now he is joined by Michael Floyd and speedsters John Brown and Jaron Brown. CB Sam Shields has yet to clear the new concussion protocol and his status won’t be known until game time.

One area that the Cards hold an advantage over almost anyone is at the running back position. Rookie David Johnson has exploded onto the scene and has taken over for the equally fast Chris Johnson who, after a monster start, ended up on the IR list. Far from unprepared for such a devastating blowing the Cards turned to the unheralded rookie. Out went Chris Johnson. Enter David Johnson. When Chris Johnson went out he had tallied 814 rushing yards, When David Johnson came in he posted 581 and if that’s not enough Andre Ellington chipped in with 289 yards.

The Packers defense is following a familiar theme of bend but don’t break. While they are still prone to surrendering yards and a few big plays the unmistakable fact is they have been keeping points off the board. The Packer D gave up 18 points to Washington marking the 8^th time in the past 9 outings they have kept an opponent under 20 points. One area that will catch Arians eye is the sack leaders last week were not Clay Matthews or Julius Peppers but Nick Perry (2.5 sacks ) and Mike Neal (2 sacks). The Packers will undoubtedly look to hurry and harass Palmer and force some throws. As Seattle demonstrated in the regular season finale the Cardinals, while formidable, are beatable.

Mike McCarthy has been very vocal in the week leading up to the big game. “Obviously, it was a one-sided game when we were out there a few weeks ago, so we’re focused on the things that we obviously didn’t do a very good job in and we’ve had a chance to apply that, not only to this game, but to the last couple games we’ve played in.” For the Packers to accomplish the task it will require a near perfect performance. The turnovers don’t have to be cut down they will need to be eliminated altogether for Green Bay to move on. If the line can open some holes and Lacy and Starks can establish a ground game it could make for a very memorable playoff game. A Packer win could potentially set up a rematch of last year’s NFC Championship game if Green Bay and Seattle come out upset winners. The reality is more than just wishful thinking. McCarthy was bluntly on point when he added “We’re no underdog going to Arizona,” McCarthy told reporters on Monday. “I don’t care what people think or how we’re picked or things like that. We’re going out there to win, and we expect to win.”

On paper the clear favorite is Arizona. They have the talent, the stats and record to back it up. On the other side Green Bay has a wealth of playoff experience. Don’t expect a blowout but there will be excitement and it could very well be a wild finish. Will last week’s beatdown of Washington catapult the Pack? While we’re not expecting it could very well happen if Arizona is caught looking past the Packers.

  Green Bay  29 

  ARIZONA  31