clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Wild Card Playoff Preview: Green Bay Packers at Cardinals

I've been going into a lot of detail about how the Green Bay Packers matchup against the Cardinals all this week:

Packers Pass Offense vs. Cardinals Pass Defense

Packers Run Offense vs. Cardinals Run Defense

Packers Pass Defense vs. Cardinals Pass Offense

Packers Run Defense vs. Cardinals Run Offense

Bottom line: I didn't see any area where the Cardinals are better than the Packers. Yes, I'm a Packer homer, but there's nothing about their team that worries me, unless WR Larry Fitzgerald goes off again like he did in the playoffs last year, but even then the Packers should still be able to keep up in a shootout.

Though they've been better in recent weeks at avoiding penalties, the Packers are still likely to commit more. The Cardinals' special teams are much better than the Packers' awful unit. But those two areas alone aren't going to win them the game. 

The Cardinals won't be as bad as they were during their 33-7 loss to the Packers last week, but the Jets and Cowboys proved on Saturday that their week 17 wins weren't a fluke. The last time the Cardinals faced a defense similar to the Packers was December 14th at the 49ers (the 49ers defense is a 3-4, and, like the Packers, very good against the run and pass), and that game was a turnover disaster for the Cardinals. My prediction is Packers 31, Cardinals 17.