Why Sunday's Game in Arizona Will Be Different

Because Green Bay will win.

Because he isn't our starting LT:

Are Cards fans selling their tikets yet?

I hope so. Get ready AZ...because round 2 is going to be dramatically different. 

I can't wait to see this football game

I am one who thinks that the Cardinals (and the Panthers) can be beaten. Would I bet money on it happen probably not.  But I think this one is going to completely different than the last meeting.  If we could be behind the scenes this week at Packers practices there will be a ton of "why not us?" talk.

The biggest positive is that we know how they want to attack our D and we can draw from things we did against their O to make a more solid gameplan. 

Offensively it's not going to be anything fancy, just smart, mistake free football. Get the ball out quick, be opportunistic, don't take sacks. Having a better LT and RT will help, but it wasn't only Barclay/Walker that struggled. They weren't the only ones that gave up sacks...Sitton/Linsley seemed to struggle with a couple stunts and Lang seemingly got blown up. All 5 will have to step up and play smart. 

biggest difference will be if the GBP doesn't turn the ball over.  take the TOs out of the 1st game and it woulda been interesting.

Obviously the tackle sitch should be markedly better. Getting Shields back would be a huge difference as well.

Pack will be coming in off of their best showing in three months, Cardinals their worst. 

AZ is definitely the favorite on paper, but how nuts that we're actually looking forward to this?!

Arizona isn't exactly a playoff tested team from the standpoint their guys have been in a lot of playoff games.  That and the fact they will be heavily favored maybe helps GB.  The Packers come in a confident bunch with nothing to lose.  That doesn't always work, but it could be a factor. 

The other item is it is not like the Cardinals have a real home field advantage.   I would bet up to at least a third of the stadium (maybe more) will be Packers fans. 

Guys still need to make plays - and the coaches need to prepare.  Those factors shouldn't change.  But I would bet GB has Arizonas full attention given how they looked yesterday. 

Green Bay needs to run the ball and stay with it. Mix in a couple of screens and play action passes on Offense. On Defense play strong man-to-man coverage with a safety covering Johnson out of the backfield. 

Fun little fact - a 7 point (or higher) road dog has won in this round 7 of the last 8 seasons.  Right now GB is the only 7 point dog this weekend, Pittsburgh is 6.5.

"1 thing that cannot happen on D is for Jake Ryan to be isolated on David Johnson in the passing game. That was hard to watch."

Exactly, they are going to have to adjust the game plan to never allow that to happen.   If that means going with a 4-2-5  with a safety acting as a MLB for any play that he is on the field, so be it.     We just can't allow that matchup to happen at any time.  

On paper the Cardinals are similar to the Redskins in the passing offense.

Fitzerald is their #1 receiving threat. At this point in his career, Larry Fitzgerald is a great possession receiver and a good blocker. He's almost become a TE. Fitzgerald is listed at 6'3, 217. I bet he's a few pounds heavier than that now. Jordan Reed, a great receiving TE, is 6'2, 237. You have to cover Fitzgerald like you cover Reed, which will likely fall to Micah Hyde. Is he up to it?

John Brown is their #2 receiving threat. He's a small, extremely fast WR who is a deep threat. In other words, he's very similar to DeSean Jackson. The Packers handled Jackson well yesterday, but having Shields back would be immense.

The big thing the Redskins didn't have was a running/receiving threat at RB like David Johnson. Capers will have to scheme so that he's not matched up on Joe Thomas or Ryan.

Overall, as others said the Packers defense held their own in Arizona.

On offense, the Cardinals defense is gettable. Seattle put up 68 points in 2 games on them and Cincinnati put up 31. Patrick Peterson is a shut down CB, but Bethel is a guy you can go after. Without Mathieu, the middle is open. If the OL can protect and/or the scheme calls for some quick passes in rhythm, I think this will be a close game.

A couple of weeks ago, I would have laughed at the thought that the Pack could play with the Cardinals if they played them again.   After yesterday, it feels different.  I felt like we hadn't seen that level of play since the Chiefs game in week 3.

If the O-Line play comes close to what it was yesterday, they'll have a chance to stay in the game.  The complete domination of our O-Line was the primary reason for the awful performance a few weeks ago.

Shields...maybe???

Doubt the Packer offense gives up two touchdowns the second time around. That alone combined with a reasonably proficient offense should produce a very competitive game. 

What is up with Shields?

i remember when he got hurt it looked bad but concussion isn't what I was thinking - looked like his arm or shoulder got injured 

4 weeks for a concussion? 

Floyd also killed them. Him and Brown are 2a and 2b.

Watch for JJ Nelson. Young guy that is pretty surprising. They might try a couple deep shots to him. He can fly!

Tschmack posted:

What is up with Shields?

i remember when he got hurt it looked bad but concussion isn't what I was thinking - looked like his arm or shoulder got injured 

4 weeks for a concussion? 

PROTOCOL!

The pressure is on Arizona. 

2 things about that Boris: 1) if we can get to Palmer then they can't throw the deep ball 2) if we are getting to Palmer then they will throw short, quick passes. The issue that plagued our D was tackling, probably the poorest tackling effort of the year. Floyd was turning 5 yard receptions in to 25 yard receptions and Johnson was turning 3 yard runs in to 23 yard runs not because guys were out of position, but because they whiffed on tackles. That big time TFL that Jake Ryan had against WAS, that's the kind of attack and finish mentality they need vs AZ.

The Cards DL is better than the Skins DL.  The OL will have to play better than yesterday, and they played damn good yesterday.  

Our DL, needs to take advantage of a non mobile QB, and get to the spot.

We can't drop interceptions like we did yesterday. If Palmer is like cousins yesterday, we have to pick them. 

It's a cliche', but it all starts up front.  If the Packers OL holds up, they will have a great chance to win.  Last time around the turn style was starting at LT.  This game will be different.

Yup, blocking and tackling win football games.....be proficiant at those and you are in the game

I agree. Typically the more physical team will win in playoffs. Need to win those trench battles on both sides of ball.

I saw Quarless on L side vs Wash, keep him and/or Kuhn in to slow pass rush.

By the way, Kuhn has been very good lately....

The 2 TD drives in the 2nd half that were run heavy featured a lot of Quarless, often lined up on the left of Tretter and Sitton. 

R MaN posted:

The pressure is on Arizona. 

Yes, yes, yes.

Especially Arians and Carson Palmer. They've had a good stretch here, nice stories for each, but neither has done dick in the dance. 

The difference is Aaron Rodgers cares again.  

The difference I saw in Aaron was that he was getting the ball out on time.   When he did scramble, it was more controlled and thus his accuracy improved.  

Pikes Peak posted:

By the way, Kuhn has been very good lately....

It was dumb luck, but he pancaked 2 defenders on Lacy's big run.  He flattened a defender in the hole and another defender fell over the pile he created. 

http://www.packers.com/media-c...4e-9bff-338b841a4157

Cards are the favorite to win the whole thing.

http://espn.go.com/chalk/story...-favorites-las-vegas

If we lose to the eventual Super Bowl champs, I have no problem with that.   They will have earned it

I know it is not my body taking the punishment, but sometimes I just want Eddie to plow clean over that DB.  He is pretty quick to dance and do that spin thing (to his credit, it does work), but in cases like the link BD posted, just cremate the guy for getting in your way.  Maybe next time he will be the one with happy feet.  

I'd like to think minus the rib injury Eddie would have eaten that DB up like a bag of Doritos. 

dipped in cheese?

R MaN posted:

The pressure is on Arizona. 

It is not.