The Arizona Cardinals close out a very challenging first six-game stretch of their schedule on the road in Week 6 against the Green Bay Packers Sunday afternoon.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Even with a 2-3 record thus far, the Cardinals will be in first place in the NFC West if they can pull off a victory. Arizona is 2-0 in its division and holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over the San Francisco 49ers after defeating them 24-23 last week. The 49ers and Seattle Seahawks are both 3-3 on the season after San Francisco beat Seattle 36-24 on Thursday.
This Week 5 win was a huge bounce-back victory for the Cardinals, who had dropped two straight games heading into a very difficult road matchup. The 49ers appeared to dishing out another loss to Arizona after going up 23-10 in the first half, but the Cardinals were able to hold them scoreless in the second half and open up a lot of options offensively as James Conner got rolling. Conner ended the game with 19 carries for 86 yards. Kyler Murray had a 50-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter and finished with seven rushes for 83 yards to go along with completing 19-of-30 passes for 195 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Getting the ground game going has proven to open up so many opportunities for Murray to make his magic happen all season, so this figures to be a big key heading into this matchup against Green Bay. The Cardinals are now averaging 5.5 yards per rush on the year, which is third in the NFL, and 156.4 yardss son the ground, fifth in the NFL.
Here are Arizona’s team stats and rankings through five weeks per teamrankings.com:
Green Bay is coming off a 24-19 victory over the Los Angeles Rams. Despite throwing a very bad pick-6 in the first half, quarterback Jordan Love rebounded with two touchdown passes in the second half and completed 15-of-26 passes for the game for 224 yards. Josh Jacobs rushed 19 times for 73 yards. Safety Xavier McKinney recorded his league-leading fifth interception in the game and also had a fumble recovery.
Led by Jacobs, the Packers also boast a top-5 rushing offense in the league and are first in the NFL with 14 takeaways on defense.
Here are Green Bay’s full team stats and rankings through five weeks per teamrankings.com:
Arizona has only played Green Bay twice since 2018, last defeating the Packers 20-17 on Dec. 12, 2018 in an unlikely win, as Josh Rosen led Arizona to victory against Aaron Rodgers.
The last time these two teams met was on Oct. 28, 2021, when the Packers defeated a 7-0 Cardinals squad 24-21 after Murray threw an interception with 15 seconds left when A.J. Green infamously was not looking at a pass intended for him in the end zone.
RASUL DOUGLAS INTERCEPTS MURRAY. #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/ZIDly9m0Bc
— NFL (@NFL) October 29, 2021
The Cardinals, who lost starting right guard Will Hernandez to IR after the 49ers game, listed K Matt Prater (left knee), OL Kelvin Beachum (Hamstring), CB Garrett Williams (groin) and OL Christian Jones (ankle) as questionable for Sunday’s matchup. Rookie defensive tackle Darius Robinson (calf) and wide receiver Zay Jones (hamstring)Â were ruled out, as both will wait at least another week to make their season debuts.
Local Game Information
Start Time: 10:00 a.m. MST
Location: Lambeau Field
TV Channel: FOX
Radio:Â Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, Spanish on Fuego 106.7 FM
Spread: Packers -5.5
Over/Under: 47.5
Prediction: Brendan Mau (@Brendan_Mau/ X) – Suns and Cardinals Reporter (2-3 on predictions)
Packers win 27-23
If the Cardinals can pull off two-straight road victories against Super Bowl-caliber opponents, that will do wonders for what they can achieve this season. However, it is extremely difficult to do that twice in a row, which is why I’m not going to predict them to win Sunday. With that said, based on how Green Bay has played this season, it is a team that can be upset by anyone. Here are some keys to watch for Arizona in the matchup:
- Cardinals offense has to limit turnovers
- Can the Cardinals defense build off its strong second-half performance from last week against Love and the Packers and not allow explosive plays?
- Can’t have a one-dimensional offense
- Don’t allow Love and co. to get comfortable, especially running the football
I think the Cardinals have a good chance to surprise everyone once again with a win, but ultimately, I predict Green Bay to win a close battle between the two teams highlighted by winning the turnover battle and a run game Arizona has difficulty containing.
Cardinals’ Trey McBride fined for Week 5 altercation with 49ers’ Dre Greenlaw
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