The Green Bay Packers (10-4) travel to meet the Arizona Cardinals (12-2) this week in a clash between a pair of playoff contenders. The NFL’s third-leading passer, Carson Palmer (4,277 yards, 32 TDs), will be on display in this contest. It will begin Sunday, Dec 27 at 4:25 p.m. ET and can be seen on FOX.
Arizona blew out the Eagles 40-17 last week. David Johnson had an outstanding performance on the ground in the win, rushing for 187 yards and three TDs on 29 carries. Green Bay also picked up the win last week, beating the Raiders 30-20. Damarious Randall led the way for the Green Bay defense, registering six tackles and one interception.
The Cardinals, a four-point favorite, will be looking to defend their home field when Green Bay visits. The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is set at 49 points.
The Cardinals enter the game with records of 12-2 Straight Up (SU) and 8-6 Against The Spread (ATS) this season. Over their last five games, the Cardinals have records of 5-0 SU and 2-3 ATS. The Cardinals offense is averaging 426 yards per contest over their last five games. Transitioning to the Arizona defense, there are some factors that could impact the outcome. Don’t expect Green Bay to have much success throwing the ball against the Cardinals. The Packers average 200.3 passing yards per road game, 30th in the NFL. Arizona gets off to a quick start in home games, averaging 6.8 points in the first quarter. Not prone to mistakes, Arizona isn’t likely to fall into the penalty trap this week. They are among the least penalized in the league, with an average of 42 penalty yards per game.
Moving to the road team, the Packers have 10-4 SU and 9-5 ATS records this season. The Packers went 4-1 for both SU and ATS over the last five games. Over the course of the season, Green Bay has averaged 119.5 yards rushing, but over the last five weeks, they’ve exceeded that pace with 140.2 yards. Lately, the Packers have an improved pass defense. They’re allowing only 198.6 passing YPG over their last five matchups. There are no road game jitters for the Packers, who average 5.9 points in the first quarter of away games.
Predictions: SU Winner – Ari, ATS Winner – Ari, O/U – Over
Notes
Arizona is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games.
The total has gone OVER in 10 of Arizona’s last 15 games.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Arizona’s last 7 games at home.
Arizona is 12-2 SU in its last 14 games at home.
Arizona is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games at home.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Arizona’s last 6 games when playing Green Bay.
Arizona is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games when playing Green Bay.
Green Bay is 8-0 SU when leading at the half this season. Arizona is 9-1 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Interestingly, Green Bay is winless (0-2) SU in games where it wins the turnover battle, yet 8-2 SU when losing the turnover battle.
Arizona is an even 3-3 SU this season when allowing at least 3.0 sacks in a game. The Green Bay defense is averaging 3.0 sacks over its last five games.
Arizona has drawn an average of 8.4 penalties on opponents this season, but Green Bay is a perfect 4-0 SU when penalized eight or more times in a game.
Arizona is rated higher in the ground game on both sides of the ball. Its sixth-ranked rushing attack will face the 22nd-ranked run defense of Green Bay, while its fourth-ranked rush defense will look to contain the ninth-ranked run game of the Packers.
Arizona has allowed 19.8 points per game at home this year, which ranks it 14th in the league. Green Bay has scored 24.9 points per game on the road (ranked eighth overall).
