The season of giving is finally coming to a close as January is right around the corner. With it comes the playoffs. With this being the second to last Sunday before the journey to the Super Bowl begins for 12 lucky teams in the NFL, the Cardinals will be looking for the chance to earn themselves a free pass into the semifinals of the NFC playoffs against the always dangerous Packers. Both these teams have had a history of playing in nail biters. We will see if this contest falls into the same vein.
Moving On From Mathieu
Sadly not everything can be perfect for a team going into the playoffs. While the team already clinched the division and no worse than the three seed at this point going forward they will have some shuffling to do in the defensive backfield. The man known as “The Honey Badger” will not be joining the postseason push for Super Bowl L in San Francisco as the former LSU Tiger tore his ACL in Philadelphia after making a cut up the field on an interception. Cardinal fans didn’t even get the time to wonder what the injury was due to Tyrann Mathieu’s clear reach for his knee and the quick bends he tried to get out of it while laying on the grass there at Lincoln Financial Field. While the tear was clean and his return is expected come OTAs next season, the fact is that this will be the second ACL injury the young man will have to come back from and this time it will be to a different knee as the previous injury he suffered in 2013 was on his left ACL. As for the now Arians has hinted at three different players replacing Mathieu but he made the comment that they would be in different packages. This could hurt the defense as it could sell what the play is designed to do to an opposing offense. Before with “The Honey Badger” in the backfield with his versatility, physicality and football IQ it was difficult to judge what exactly the Cardinals were going to do on any given play. Now that curtain that hides the next act from the public just became another layer thinner than it was prior.
No Holiday Turnovers
The Cardinals are rocking a pretty nice streak here over the last four games. No Cardinal offensive player wants to talk about it as to avoid the jinx, but since the announcers in the game will no doubt bring it up the first chance they get it will be better to just spill the beans now rather than later. Carson Palmer and the offense have yet to surrender a turnover in the last four straight games played. That kind of ball protection has helped boost the team’s turnover ratio to a plus 10 now. Not only that, but because of the control the offense has shown with the ball the Cardinals have scored in 15 of the last 16 quarters during those four contests. Arizona hasn’t had difficulty putting up points this season as they average just under 32 points a game this year but to have that kind of consistent finishing on drives to at least get a field goal every quarter gives this team such a large safety net. Now with the errant throws being limited and the fumbling issues being but to the wayside the Cardinals are finding the exact formula they will need come the postseason. The worst thing that could happen right now in relation to that groove this team has going would be to have a game that they just seem to find every single defender at the last minute and make poor decisions. And Greenbay thrives on those kinds of mistakes on defense. They have two pick-sixes on the year already with 14 interceptions as it is. Watch for Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins to just the routes of the receivers harder than usual to try Palmer in those tight windows early in the game.
The Return of Cardinal A.E.
David Johnson has proven to be a steal of a draft pick for the Cardinals this season as he currently holds the week’s FedEx Ground Player of the Week recognition for his work he did against the Eagles on the road in prime time. And the Cardinals needed the kind of steady improvement that the rookie has delivered with the absence of the free agent surprise of the season in Chris Johnson showing himself to be what he was like back in Tennessee. CJ2K is out with a tibia injury that the Cardinals hope to have healed up come the Super Bowl if the team should be so lucky as to make it that far. However they may be able to run with a multiple back rotation this week against a Green Bay defense that is a little soft against the run this year with their 116 yards per game given up on the ground. Andre Ellington is looking like he could be ready to go by game time this Sunday and that would be huge for the offense as it would open up a whole new page in the playbook with Arians able to use Ellington as a receiver on quick routes on five wide plays. That kind of versatility puts a defense on their heels and may even scare certain teams out of blitz packages just to accommodate for the amount of weapons that can do damage in the open field. If Ellington can show a smidgeon of what he is known for then the Cardinals have a very nice problem to have. Which back becomes the feature one going into the playoffs?
The game will kick off from University of Phoenix Stadium at 2:25 PM Arizona time this Sunday. If the Cardinals want to remain in the conversation as a credible threat to the Panthers in the NFC then this is a game that they must win. To the doubters nothing would look more convincing than a victory over a former Super Bowl champion and consistent MVP contestant every season like Aaron Rodgers. There will be a lot of adjusting to do in this game but the Cardinals may just be able to handle the differences and make a deep run into February.
Packers – 27 Cardinals – 33