NFL Wildcard playoff week concludes Sunday afternoon with yet another rematch of a Week-17 game. The Packers dominated the Cardinals on the road last week and have just won loss – the heartbreaker against Pittsburgh – in their last eight games. Can the Cards recover from last week's disaster and cool them off? The sports betting spread suggests as much, making them one-point favorites.
Packers vs Cardinals
Sunday, January 10, 4:30 p.m. ET
NFL odds favorite: Cardinals -1
Arizona's 10 wins are an improvement over last year's nine and we all know what happened last season, but the Cards have far less momentum entering the playoffs this year. They went 3-3 over their final six contests and their Sunday-nighter triumph of Minnesota was their only victory over a team that made the playoffs this season. Five of their wins came against St. Louis, Seattle and Detroit.
That's not to say Arizona isn't a decent football team. The Cards still pass the ball well via Kurt Warner, who can change a game in a hurry with Larry Fitzgerald. Fellow dominant wideout Anquan Boldin may not play this weekend but the Cards are actually 5-1 without him over the last two seasons. The running game still needs work but it's improving with Beanie Wells' development; while Arizona still allows too many points, it rushes the passer well and has some good playmakers on defense.
The problem is that the Cards' opponents, the Green Bay Packers, seem like a better team no matter how you analyze the sportsbook matchup. Green Bay has a dominant passing offense led by MVP candidate Aaron Rodgers, who is the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 4,000 yards in each of his first two seasons as a starter. Its rushing attack quietly ranked in the in the middle of the pack. Green Bay had the NFL's No. 2 defense and No. 1 run defense – an amazingly fast improvement under Dom Capers' 3-4 system. Drafting Clay Matthews and B.J. Raji paid immediate dividends.
Even though Arizona plays at home this week, it's only 4-4 there. Green Bay is 5-3 on the road and pummelled the Cards in Arizona just days ago. The Packers pass, run, defend the pass and defend the run better than the Cardinals do. They can even counter the awesome power of Larry Fitzgerald with Defensive Player of the Year candidate Charles Woodson, whom they'll stick on him like glue. The Pack look like they'll contend for years to come and their amazing pass protection improvement during the season – 37 sacks allowed in games 1-8, 13 allowed in games 9-16 – shows that they're ahead of schedule. Pick Green Bay.
Free pick: Packers -1
