Can Packers Defeat the Cardinals On The Road This Saturday Night?

The Green Bay Packers are coming off one of their finest on the field performances in quite some time, defeating the Washington Redskins last week on the road by a score of 35-18. This was a game that (pretty-much) nobody expected the Packers to win. Not only did they win, but they won quite impressively. Meanwhile the Vikings lost at home to the Seattle Seahawks 10-9 due to missed 27-yard field goal in the game's final minute by Vikings kickerBlair Walsh, in what might go down as one of the most famous missed field goals of all time. In fact, this game is already being dubbed as “The shank at the Bank”, in reference to TCF Bank Stadium, which is where the Vikings have played their home games the last two years while they wait for the completion of U.S. Bank Stadium. This means the Packers will travel to Arizona this week to play the Cardinals on Saturday night while the Seahawks will travel to Carolina to play the Panthers Sunday afternoon. So what does this all mean for the Packers this week?

Can Aaron Rodgers continue the swagger he got back last week against the Redskins? Last week in the third quarter, as the Packers were in the midst of going down the field time and time again, six straight times to be exact, for scoring drives, five of them touchdowns, you could tell that number 12 was playing with swagger again for the first time in a long time. However, it was against the Redskins, and the Cardinals are a much better team than the Redskins. If the Packers are going to somehow pull this off, Aaron will need another game like he had on Sunday.

Can the running game do that again? The Packers abandoned the running game against the Vikings in week 17 and it cost them. They made sure to not make the same mistake twice. As a team the Packers ran for 141 yards, and used a running back by committee approach, as Eddie Lacy is dealing with some bad ribs at the moment. The Packers got 63 from Lacy, 53 from Starks, 24 from Cobb, and two more from Kuhn. Add -1 in for Aaron Rodgers and you have 141. They did most of this in the second half however. They will need to get the running game going early to have a chance.

Will the entire offensive line be intact? The Packers offensive line injuries have been well documented this season. All five starters have missed time with injuries. For the first time in two months, it appears as if the entire offensive line will be intact for this game. That could potentially make a big difference.

Which wide receiver will step up this week? Last week, for the first time in three months, the Packers wide receivers were able to create separation. Davante Adams will miss this game with an MCL sprain, so that means Jared Abbrederis will get the start. He looked pretty solid last week in the second half, and the coaches have talked about his polished route running. Expect some snaps for Jeff Janis as well.

Can the secondary cover this time around? In the Packers first trip to Arizona in week 16, they got burned by Michael Floyd and running back David Johnson out of the backfield. An important part of that to note is that Micah Hyde, who is the Packers running back and tight end coverage specialist in the secondary, did not play in that game. He will play this time around. Also, Sam Shields is practicing but has yet to clear concussion protocol. If he can somehow clear protocol, that will go a long way to the Packers chances in this game.

Final Score: Yes the Packers played a great game last week, but at the end of the day, I don't think it is going to mean much in this game. I do think this game won't be as ugly as it was the first time around. If Sam Shields plays, the Packers lose 24-17. If he doesn't play, 31-17.