Green Bay Packers vs. Arizona Cardinals Preview & Prediction | PFF

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It doesn’t help us. But let’s say that Jacobe Brassette starts this game again this week. You want to start talking about the Packers? You want to talk about the Cardinals? Let me go on the Packers offensive side. I mean, I know there’s a lot of mystery to the Cardinals offense right now. I will say that Jacobe Brassette in rhythm, I thought threw the ball pretty well last week against the Colts. They gave them a chance to win. They were about eight yards from winning that game. And, you know, just didn’t get it done at the end of it. Their defense didn’t play well enough. And and look, I think this Packers offense for me, and I love the approach that they had last week against Cincinnati. Could they have gone out there and just sung it all over the place and maybe tried to put up 45 points on the Bengals? Maybe. Maybe they could have tried to. But I think at the end of the day, for as much as Packers fans, you know, they’re waiting for a people like us to start calling Jordan Love a lead and they want to see Matthew Golden hit more home runs and the downfield throwing and all, this offense starts with Josh Jacobs. No matter what you think of anybody else on the team, and I love Golden and Romeo Dobs is playing great, Tucker Craft is great, Jordan Love obviously at times up and down, but he’s mostly really good. But it starts with Josh Jacobs and it starts with what he gives you in the run game. And then again, we’ve talked about this three layered approach with the Packers running the football, winning down low, winning with Jordan Love in the intermediate range, and then you start to open up the home runs with Matthew Golden down the field. If they get all three of those layers going, they’re one of the best offenses in football, if not at times the best offense in football. But it starts with Jacobs, who is sixth in the league in rushing grade. He’s second in receiving grade. What he’s given them as a pass catcher right now has been outstanding. The Cardinals, these are two things they’re struggling with. They have the third worst run defense grade in the league right now. I I just think their their interior of the defensive line, they don’t have a lot of depth beyond Kas Campbell. And the linebackers are something I’ve been concerned about with the preseason. Third worst run defense grade in the NFL, 28th in coverage grade against running backs. There is a chance for Josh Jacobs to have another massive week. And I think that’s always that should always be no matter how much we like Jordan Love and how hot he can get and the receivers and all the weapons on the outside. Step one in this offense is Josh Jacobs getting me six, five, six yards on first down. If that happens, everything else for everybody else on this offense gets so so much easier. I think that’s the formula again this week. Yeah, I think that you’re right that the offense it felt like was was operating a little bit more efficiently last week than what we have seen from the Cardinals. And that could be a part of the game plan, right? I mean, when Kyler Murray’s in there, he’s got the ability to really stretch the ball deep down the field. So, you’re probably game planning more of those shots anyway. So when you see a little bit more of a methodical passing game plan, it’s not just, oh, Kyler Murray sucks. He couldn’t operate this game plan, it’s a little bit different, right? I think Jacobe Brassett’s the game plan for him is going to be a little bit more methodical. So you’re going to see that, but he was able to execute it pretty well. I’m still worried about this run game. I’ I’ve talked about in the early parts of the season. I was worried about their run blocking anyways, the lack of impact run blocking plays that they had from their interior offensive linemen. I think that still exists with Trey Benson and and um and James Connor out. So, it doesn’t help that those guys are out of the game. But specifically, I I I wanted to actually go back to the other side of the ball because I think the Cardinals can work things on offense to to get around 20 points in this game. But scoring more than the Packers, I think will come down to something that you brought up on the Monday show that I I really like that point when I was talking about Matthew Golden and talking about how much of a a big game hunter Jordan Love is, especially on third down, how he had a couple of 20 plus yard throws to Matthew Golden on third down. And I was like, well, you know, is he going to get that every single week? and you pointed out like, hey, you know, he might not get that every single week, but now that he has the element to do so, some weeks it might be a Matthew Golden week deep down the field. Some weeks it might be a little bit underneath or over the intermediate with Tucker Craft or Romeo Dobs or whoever it is. So, I wanted to look this up from the Cardinals and how they have defended the three levels of the field when it comes to how vertical that you get as a passer. 0 to9 yards past the line of scrimmage. The Cardinals have allowed a 79.8% completion percentage. That’s 19th in the NFL. So, not the best second half of the league there. The intermediate 10 to 19 yards down the field, 48.2 completion percentage. They’re actually actually defending that decently well. They are sixth best in the NFL when it comes to completion percentage in that area. And then 20 plus yards down the field, 40.0% completion percentage. That is 14th in the NFL. So, I wonder if it is, to your point, just more of a, hey, Jordan Love, you’re going to have things underneath. Take him this game. You’re going to have things from zero to 10 yards down the field. You’re going to have Romeo Dobs quick. You’re going to have Tucker Craft quick. It’s going to be a yards after the catch type of a game because that’s where the Cardinals have really struggled. They’ve been a team that wants to keep things in front of them. They don’t want to get beat over the top. They don’t want to get beat deep. Are is Jordan Love willing to take those underneath plays? And if so, I think it could be a big day from Tucker Craft and Romeo Dobs. Ultimately, I I do think that the Packers get it done here. I’m going to say 28 to 21, but I think this game is decently competitive, especially if Love maybe has any variance or inconsistencies at all whatsoever. So, I’ll go 28 to 21 with the Packers winning this game on the road. Yeah, I’m with you. Similar score. I have it. 27 to 20 Packers. And again, I think this is the week where what you want to look for from the Cardinals, and it’s a good group of safeties they have back there. What you want to look for is how often in neutral situations are they staying in too high. They play more quarters than just about any team in football. I think actually it might be the highest rate in football that they play quarters that cover four look on the back end. That’s the Matthew Golden effect. How often do they stay back there in two high looks with respect to Matthew Golden? And how do the Packers respond to it? Do they run the football against too high as they should? Does Jordan Love throw it underneath like you mentioned and let these guys work after the catch? And then if the Cardinals make an adjustment, let’s say Josh Jacobs is running the ball. Well, if they make an adjustment, they go single high or rotate down into something, then is that the one home run shot to Matthew Golden that really puts this game away? I think the balance of safeties is something I’m always looking for against this Packers offense. I like them in this game. I think the Cardinals just there’s too many areas of their team right now where they’re playing below average football. And I think especially on defense at linebacker and again at defensive tackle, I think Jacobs has a chance to have a huge game and then the Packers can work right off it. Again, there’s just too many things that feel like on paper they line up for the Packers to have a more explosive day on offense. And I just I feel like they’re going to get a hand a couple of those plays more than what the Cardinals are. And and some of that’s due to injury and that obviously sucks for Arizona side of things. But I do agree with you. I think Packers are winning this

PFF’s Dalton Wasserman and Trevor Sikkema preview the matchup between The Green Bay Packers and The Arizona Cardinals.

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7 comments

  2. Love how everyone keeps sleeping on the Cardinals like we’re some pushover team. The last four losses have all been within 4 points — we’ve been right there every single week. Nobody’s blowing us out. This team’s been fighting, competing, and staying in games that most people expected to be over by halftime. That’s not luck — that’s resilience. All it takes is one game for everything to click, and I honestly think this could be that one.

    The Packers have a habit of playing down to their competition, and if they try that against Arizona, it could get ugly for them real quick. Brissett’s only going to get sharper — last week was literally his first game running this offense. Another week of timing, chemistry, and confidence with his receivers makes a huge difference. You could already see flashes of rhythm last game, now imagine it with better sync and more trust in the pocket.

    This is exactly the kind of matchup that sneaks up on a team like Green Bay — they come in expecting an easy win, but Arizona’s been battle-tested. We’ve gone toe-to-toe with playoff-caliber teams and haven’t been blown off the field once. If the defense keeps applying pressure and the offense converts on third downs, this one can absolutely swing the other way.

    Mark it down — this isn’t the week the Packers ‘blow anyone out.’ If they take the Cardinals lightly, they’re gonna get hit in the mouth. Arizona’s due for one to finally break their way.

  5. when love was the backup and people would ask about his progress lafleur would always say he was trying to teach love to "just rip it" sometimes. guess he learned that lesson

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