The Arizona Cardinals (7-0 SU, 6-1 ATS) are solid home favorites over the Green Bay Packers (6-1, 6-1 ATS) in an important Week 8 NFC showdown on Thursday Night Football (8:20 p.m. EDT, Fox, NFLN).
Betting line: Cardinals -6.5 (50.5)
NFL · Thu (10/28) @ 8:20pm ET
| GB Packers | at | ARI Cardinals |
| State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona | ||
Packers At Cardinals Facts And Analysis
The skinny: The two teams with the longest winning streaks in the NFL — Arizona seven, Green Bay six — meet in the biggest game of Week 8.
Facts: The point spread opened Arizona -3.5 in Las Vegas, but that was before Green Bay’s Davante Adams, hailed by many as the top receiver in the league, went on the COVID reserve list, followed by the team’s second-leading wide receiver, Allen Lazard. It is highly unlikely Adams will fulfill protocol obligations in time to fly more than 1,800 miles to the game and play. Lazard is out.
Arizona has built its record thanks in part to facing three rookie starting QBs, including Davis Mills and Houston last week, in a 31-5 home victory. Only one other team has had three games against a first-year starter (New England). Green Bay has faced one.
The Packers and QB Aaron Rodgers haven’t been this big an underdog since they traveled to San Francisco’s for 2019’s NFC title game, a 37-20 49ers win as a 7.5-point choice.
Flashbacks: In their last meeting, Week 13 in 2018, the Cardinals were 20-17 winners at Lambeau as 13.5-point underdogs behind rookie QB Josh Rosen, who hasn’t won a game since. It was the biggest upset of the season and resulted in Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy getting the heave-ho. Also, when these teams met in the 2009 wild-card round, Arizona won at home, 51-45 in OT, despite four TD throws by Rodgers. That is the high-scoring playoff game in history.
Analysis: The Packers are coming off a shaky 24-10 home win over Washington, a game in which the D.C. team came up empty five times inside the Green Bay 30. But the Packers seemed relatively flat, with only 304 yards of offense, possibly looking ahead to this game and playing vanilla.
It’s not like the Packers can’t do well without Adams. He missed six games the previous two seasons and Green Bay went 6-0 (5-1 ATS), with Rodgers throwing 17 TDs and one INT. This week RB Aaron Jones could be the key performer running and receiving. There’s also a good chance WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling comes off short-term IR. He had a 149-yard game last season.
As for Arizona’s Kyler Murray, he’s the third-ranked passer in the league, but he’s had six fumbles and five interceptions and could have a rocky game against a Packers defense that has had 11 sacks the past three games.
Pick: Packers 30, Cardinals 28
Last week: 5-7-1 ATS, 9-4 SU
Season total: 58-46-3 (.558) ATS; 72-35 (.673)
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