A trip to the NFC Championship Game is at stake when the Green Bay Packers travel to University of Phoenix Stadium to play the Arizona Cardinals. The NFL’s fourth-leading passer, Carson Palmer (4,671 yards, 35 TDs), will be on display in this matchup. It will begin Saturday, Jan 16 at 8:15 p.m. ET and can be seen on NBC.
Arizona lost big to the Seahawks 36-6 in its last game. Deone Bucannon led the Arizona defense in the loss, registering seven tackles. Green Bay Packers beat the Redskins 35-18. Mike Neal led the way for the Green Bay defense, totaling three tackles and two sacks.
Arizona is a considerable seven-point favorite in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is 50 points.
Heading into Week 19 of league action, the Cardinals are 13-3 Straight Up (SU) and 9-7 Against The Spread (ATS). Over their last five games, the Cardinals have records of 4-1 SU and 3-2 ATS. They rank fifth in the league with 28.4 points per game at home. The Cardinals offense is averaging 404.6 yards per contest over their last five games. Turning to the Cardinals defense, a few key spots could be deciding factors this week. The Packers may run into some problems against the Cardinals home pass defense, which ranks fourth and gives up 209.1 passing yards per game in its own stadium. One of the keys to the game will be if the Packers can protect the quarterback against Arizona’s aggressive pass rush. The defense ranks fourth in the league in sacks with 3.1 per home game. The Cardinals score at a high rate in the second quarter. Arizona averages 9.6 points during that period, one of the highest marks in the league. Don’t expect many blunders or oversights from Arizona that could cost them the game. The Cardinals are the least penalized team in the NFL, averaging 47 penalty yards per game.
As for their opponent, the Green Bay Packers have a record of 9-7 ATS and 10-6 SU. In the previous five games, Green Bay has a record of 3-2 for both SU and ATS as well. The Green Bay pass defense has given teams issues during the past five games. During that time, opponents have gained an average of 194.4 passing yards against this scary group.
Predictions: SU Winner – Ari, ATS Winner – Ari, O/U – Over
Notes
Arizona is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Arizona’s last 6 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Arizona’s last 5 games at home.
Arizona is 13-3 SU in its last 16 games at home.
Arizona is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games at home.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Arizona’s last 7 games when playing Green Bay.
Arizona is 3-7 SU in its last 10 games when playing Green Bay.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Arizona’s last 5 games when playing at home against Green Bay.
Green Bay is 9-0 SU when leading at the start of the fourth quarter this season. Arizona is 12-0 SU when carrying a lead into the fourth quarter.
Arizona is an even 3-3 SU in games where it wins the turnover battle, yet undefeated (8-0 SU) when losing the turnover battle.
The Arizona defense has forced an average of 2.1 turnovers per game this season. Green Bay is only 2-4 SU when turning the ball over at least 2.0 times in a game.
When it comes to passing this season, Arizona is rated higher on both sides of the ball. Its second-ranked passing attack will face the sixth-ranked pass defense of the Green Bay Packers, while its eighth-ranked pass defense will look to limit the 25th-ranked passing game of the Packers.
Green Bay has allowed 23.2 points per contest on the road, which is ranked 16th in the league. Arizona has put up 28.4 points per game at home (ranked fifth overall).
