The Packers now prepare for a rematch with the Arizona Cardinals, hoping for a different outcome from that ugly 38-8 loss on December 27.
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The Cardinals know where they will go from here, if they can win on Saturday, one of two scenarios will take place, if Seattle wins in Carolina, the Seahawks will come to Glendale for the NFC Championship game (a game for the ages based on the team’s history, this season, and in the past). The Cardinals had made it to the Super Bowl against Pittsburgh Steelers in Tampa Bay, Florida, Feb. 1, 2009. Rodgers has been more involved in planning of late and don’t expect the routine to change as the Packers prepare to visit the Arizona Cardinals in the divisional round this weekend.
Much like that year, the Cardinals are coming off a successful run to the NFC West crown and the Packers squeaked by to earn a wild-card berth after Rodgers and the rest of Green Bay struggled down the stretch.
Considering the match up, I’ve done my best to study up on who I feel could be the “X Factor” in Saturday’s game. “I talked a lot in the past weeks about being able to turn it on and a lot of you probably thought that was lip-service, but we just needed a game like this to get our mojo back, and our confidence going”. But they didn’t look like the same team against Washington in the wild-card victory.
Both teams had their hands full trying not to get frostbitten, as Minnesota stayed in the lead 9-0 for the first three quarters of the game. They went 6-2 at home and protected their own turf in front of a budding fan base.
“But I think our crowd will be super-excited, and we should be more than ready to go”.
The Cardinals opened as seven-point favorites over the Packers (11-6). Aaron Rodgers is completing 58.3 percent of his passes for 210 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions.
The Packers gave the start at left tackle to J.C. Tretter and things got off to a slow start. Arizona recorded nine sacks in Week 16 against the Packers, but linebacker Alex Okafor suffered a toe injury during the bye that ended his season. Eddie Lacy gained 63 yards with a TD; James Starks rushed for 53 and a TD; and Randall Cobb added 24 yards.
Washington responded at the start of the second half, with quarterback Kirk Cousins scoring on a three-yard quarterback draw that put the Redskins back on top 18-17.
“It’s a chip shot, he’s gotta make it”, Zimmer said, insisting that his team had done enough for victory.
“You’ve got to shut down the running game, try to get them one-dimensional”, he said.
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Losing Houston also has some problems as they need to find a good quarterback to throw to their superstar receiver, DeAndre Hopkins, since they had had only a few disappointing options past year.
