The Green Bay Packers are not strangers to large point-spreads in recent NFC games and shouldn’t be discounted as upset winners on Saturday.  Once the two teams take the field the odds mean nothing.

The Packers travel to take on the Arizona Cardinals this Saturday in the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs.  The smart money favors the Cardinals who open as full touchdown favorites.  That is the widest spread of the four games.

There are compelling reasons for those placing a wager to plunk down a Benjamin or two on the Cardinals.  There is the matter of the 38 – 8 thrashing the Packers endured in week 16 of the regular season at the hands of the Cards in Glendale.  Remember that’s the one where Goliath hammered David?

Then there are also the uncertainties of the Packers injuries.  Two players who did not participate in the previous Cardinals/Packers matchup are still uncertain.  Questionable are Left tackle David Bakhtiari who remains hobbled by an ankle injury as well as the Packers best cover corner Sam Shields (concussion).  Newly injured players include CB Quinten Rollins (quad) and WR Davante Adams (knee) who is said to be doubtful for the contest.  They will need all able-bodied players active against a powerful foe.  Reserve players will have to step-up should the starters be unable to go.  A tall order against a very good football team.

But the Packers have more going for them than just a wish-and-a-prayer against the Cardinals.

The Packers come off their best performance in months when they defeated the Washington Redskins in the Wildcard Round.  The offense which sputtered early finally found traction and ended up scoring 35 points after being down by 11 early. 

The defense was stellar allowing only 16 points – not counting the two-point safety suffered by the offense early-on.  They may have found a stop-gap left tackle if Bakhtiari is once again side-lined with J.C. Tretter settling in after a shaky start.  The Packers run-stopping was stellar and the defensive backs up to the task.  Even the special teams’ play was up to the challenge.

The Cardinals, on the other hand, come off a season-ending beat-down by Division foe Seattle where Arizona was routed 36 – 6 at home.  The humbling loss was to a Seahawks team that needed divine intervention on a chip-shot field goal to defeat an upstart but over-matched Vikings club in the Wildcard Round.  Limping into the playoffs is not the way head coach Bruce Arians envisioned his team would enter the playoffs.

There is also the matter of quarterbacks.  The Packers will go to battle with the reigning MVP leading the way who is feeling better about his team than he has in months.  The Cardinals will have a veteran who will be tested in only his third post-season game.

Rodgers Playoff Experience    Palmer Playoff Experience

13 Games Played                        2 Games Played

8 – 5 Record                                 0 – 2 Record

64.78% Completion                    51.35% Completion

3193 Passing Yards                    212 Passing Yards

25 Passing TD’s                           1 Passing TD

1 INT                                             7 INT’s         

3 Rushing TD’s                            1 Rushing TD

The Packers have witnessed first-hand a few upsets of heavily favored home teams in recent years.  Unfortunately two of the most memorable were also the most painful.

In 2007 – 08 the second-seeded Packers had a bye in the Wildcard Round and then crushed the Seattle Seahawks in the Divisional Round at Lambeau Field 42 – 20.  The next week the heavily favored (8-points) Packers hosted the fifth-seed New York Giants in the NFC Championship Game.  It was a bad matchup for the Packers who went on to lose to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Giants in overtime (23 – 20) in what turned out to be Brett Favre’s final game as a Packer.

In the 2011 – 2012 season it was more of the same.  The Packers were the number-one seed and hosted the number-four seed New York Giants in the Divisional Round.  The Packers entered the game as 8.5 point favorites.  They ended up being crushed by the Giants 37 – 20.  Green Bay was playing in its first playoff game at home since the 2007 NFC Championship Game and lost for the second consecutive time. The Packers are now notable as being the first team to win at least fifteen regular-season games and not advance beyond their first playoff game and one of only four teams to win at least 15 games during the season and not win the Super Bowl.

This year the Packers enter the Divisional Round as big underdogs on the road where they hope to follow the lead of the New York Giants teams that ended their season twice in the past 9 years.

The Packers will be a different team this time around from the one that got steam-rolled in late December.  Their confidence will be higher after a road playoff win.  They will have put more than just an ill-fitting bandage at left tackle and hope to have their right tackle available the entire game.  The defense is playing playoff football and Mason Crosby and the special teams will be up to the task.  It is also hard to imagine that the offense would give up eight sacks and two easy fumble recoveries for touchdowns which padded that December score.

Is it enough to win?  Hard to say.  But expect a competitive game and hope that there is enough positive Karma left in Aaron Rodgers and Company to pull off the upset and advance to the NFC title game.