Packers (

25.75) at
Cards (

18.75)

Game Overview ::

By Mike johnson >>

• Packers running back Josh Jacobs remains the team’s offensive centerpiece, while rookie wide receiver Matthew Golden had an expanded role coming out of the team’s Week 5 bye.
• Green Bay’s defense has played very well for most of the season, with the one exception happening to come in a primetime game against the Cowboys.
• Arizona’s offense looked the best it has all season in their close loss to the Colts last week with veteran Jacoby Brissett under center in place of QB Kyler Murray, who is likely to miss this game as well.
• Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. suffered a concussion in Week 7 and may be held out of this game with the team’s bye week on deck.

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How green bay Will Try To Win ::

The Packers offense remains a relatively predictable one in terms of how they will approach things from an overall philosophy standpoint. They are a team that operates at a slow pace (29th in raw pace of play) and will bleed the play clock, rarely pushing the tempo or going no huddle unless they are forced to do so late in games. They also operate as a run-based offense, ranking near the bottom of the league in pass rate relative to expectation. When Green Bay does take to the air, they are relatively aggressive downfield and Jordan Love ranks 5th in the NFL in intended air yards per pass attempt this season, just as he has in each of the last two seasons as a starter. The Packers like to utilize play-action and build their passing game concepts as an extension from their running game. Again, these are consistent concepts we see from the Packers regardless of opponent and they only make small deviations in the “how” of this approach but overall this is a team we can have strong confidence in from week to week as far as play calling and personnel usage.

The running game obviously relies primarily on all-pro RB Josh Jacobs, who is in his second season with the team and is a tough inside runner who also has a dynamic skill set that fits their scheme well. Jacobs can be used in the passing game as well and is averaging 4.7 receptions for 57 yards per game over the last three games. This offense revolves around him first and foremost, with everything else working as a complement and/or benefiting from the attention he draws. The Packers offensive line has struggled with health and efficiency at times this season, but is getting healthier, while the Cardinals have a middling run defense that is not a “poor” unit, but is far from a brick wall. 

When Green Bay does take to the air, their three primary receiving options are tight end Tucker Kraft and wide receivers Romeo Doubs and Matthew Golden. Kraft is great in the short to intermediate areas of the field and has great after-catch ability. Doubs leads the team in targets and touchdowns, but is relatively reliant on his red zone role for production as he is not consistently targeted downfield and isn’t the type of player to gain a ton of separation or make big plays after the catch. Meanwhile, Golden is an electric rookie whose role was emphasized by the Packers last week, coming out of their bye. Golden has a reception of 30+ yards in three straight games and he has an average of two carries per game over the last four weeks as the team looks for ways to get the ball into his hands. The “roles” of these pass catchers seem to be Golden when they are looking for explosive plays and/or to stress a defense horizontally and vertically, Doubs as a preferred target in the red zone and for contested catches in high leverage third down situations, Kraft as a dynamic playmaker who can be used as a weapon up the seam against certain coverages, and Jacobs as a safety valve who Love gets the ball to in space when all else fails. All four players have between 19 and 28 targets on the season, while Dontayvion Wicks also has 18 targets but left last week’s game with an injury and is in doubt for this matchup. Arizona mixes up their coverages, but their general tendency is a conservative unit that tries to keep things in front of them. Theoretically, this sets up as a spot where Kraft could get opportunities depending on the coverages the Cardinals throw at them. Their shell coverages generally take away downfield passing well, which leads to after catch ability being needed to create chunk plays against Arizona. The top targets for the Colts last week against Arizona were TE Tyler Warren and slot WR Josh Downs. I would expect Kraft and Golden to be used similarly as explosive players who Green Bay looks to get the ball to and let them go make plays.

How arizona Will Try To Win ::