Staff Picks: Can Cardinals Upset Packers?

The Arizona Cardinals travel to face the Green Bay Packers.

Oct 6, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) under center with center Josh Myers (71) against the Los Angeles Rams during the second half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY -- The Arizona Cardinals travel to historic Lambeau Field on Saturday to face the Green Bay Packers in Week 6.

Riding high off an upset victory over the San Francisco 49ers, the Cardinals hope to carry that momentum against a Packers team looking to defend home turf.

Can the Cardinals play the role of spoiler once again - or will Green Bay prove to be too tough?

Cardinals vs Packers Staff Predictions

Oct 6, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) throws a pass against the San Francisco 49ers during the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Donnie Druin - The Cardinals are riding high from their Week 5 upset victory on the road - can lightning strike twice? Arizona faces a Packers defense that leads the league in turnovers and will be without their starting right side of the offensive line. This game will go deep into the fourth quarter, but it’s tough to go into Lambeau Field and escape with a victory if you’re not playing complementary football. Will the defense step up for a second straight week? Prove me wrong. GB 27, AZ 21

Richie Bradshaw - The Cardinals are 2-0 in the NFC West like we all predicted, but have lost their other three games. Streaky isn’t the right word for the Cards, but they aren’t quite consistent enough to trust on a week-to-week basis. AZ has the “luxury” of visiting Green Bay and a red-hot offense manned by Jordan Love, who has been quite turnover prone this season. However, this offense is firing on all cylinders and is as tough to stop as any in the league. Stop me if you’ve heard this before – The Cardinals will have to win a shootout with the Packers if they want to win. On the road against one of the better teams in the conference, I’m not sure they can pull this off. The Niners are a division rival, so they always had that going for them, but this is different. GB 34, AZ 21

Kyler Burd - The Cardinals are in a good spot in the NFC West after the San Francisco 49ers beat the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football. A win in Lambeau would give Arizona first place in a division that has been one of the most competitive in football for the last several years, a position they have not held since the 7-0 start to the 2021 season. The Green Bay Packers present a formidable opponent. Their offense is tied for 4th most yards per game and 9th in points per game. On the flip side, Green Bay is allowing the 12th most yards per game and have shown some cracks that teams can exploit. Still, the Packers represent a team who had a fun playoff run last season and know a bit more about their own identity, something the Cardinals continue to struggle with. This game truly feels like it could go either way, but the Packers are just a bit further down their own path than Arizona and I expect they will defend Lambeau from an upset. GB 31, AZ 27

Kevin Hicks - The Cardinals come into this week intrinsically motivated by the possibility of being on top of the shockingly wide open NFC West race with a victory on Sunday. The Packers have been about as good as expected - with or without young stud QB Jordan Love - and even managed to keep their losses close. The Lambeau factor will still persist even if the winter weather isn’t quite there yet - but Kyler Murray will take charge and lead the Cards to a victory in a game that could produce several fireworks. AZ 27, GB 24

Alex D’Agostino - The Cardinals keep showing they can surprise against good teams on the road, but Lambeau field is an entirely different story. It’s not the juggernaut Packers of the Aaron Rodgers era, but Green Bay isn’t an offense to be taken lightly, especially with Arizona’s defensive struggles. They’re not a run-first team, but Josh Jacobs could have plenty of running lanes. Chunk plays could spell death for the Cardinals, but Jordan Love plays closer to Brett Favre than Aaron Rodgers. With that in mind, the key - as I wrote earlier this week - will be the turnover battle. Kyler Murray will have to keep the ball out of harm’s way to have a chance to keep up. Ultimately, there won’t be much opportunity to keep the Packers down - they’ll have to force Love to make mistakes. With a nonexistent pass rush, I can’t see that happening. Expect Arizona to move the ball well, but fall short, while allowing plenty of yardage and points. GB 34 - AZ 22

Jack London - It is pretty clear that the offense will need to step up again to win this game - probably something akin to the performance against the Rams. I think Arizona could scrounge up enough defense against the turnover prone Jordan Love. But they may have to play their most complete game yet. For whatever reason, I'm a bit more worried about the next game against the Chargers. I think they can pull this one out in Lambeau. AZ 28, GB 21