Cardinals Know Big Plays Can Defeat Packers

The Arizona Cardinals will have to hit a few explosive plays to defeat the Green Bay Packers.

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

ARIZONA -- It's going to take a lot for the Arizona Cardinals to stroll into Lambeau Field and secure a win over the Green Bay Packers.

The Cardinals themselves know that.

"Heading to Lambeau (to face) a really good football team. They’re explosive on offense, defense and the kicking game. (They’ve) got some really good players, good scheme," said Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon.

"I have a very high opinion of (Packers Head Coach) Matt (LaFleur) in how he constructs his offense, how he calls plays and how they coach the quarterback. They’re a good football team obviously. (I) know where they were last year, and they’ll be right in the mix. (We’ve) got a big challenge ahead so we’re on to Green Bay. They’re doing a good job in meetings. (It’s) a normal week and then we’ll fly on Friday.”

The Packers are 3-2 on the season and hope to get a healthy Jordan Love rolling against a Cardinals defense that has proven to be friendly towards other teams.

Arizona might have to hit big plays in order to pull off a consecutive road upset after doing so against the San Francisco 49ers - something they've done well all season. Arizona has the third-highest explosive play rate, second only to the Indianapolis Colts and Packers.

Explosive play rates through Week 5 pic.twitter.com/aWdXmpDrPY

— Football Insights 📊 (@fball_insights) October 8, 2024

What's the secret to hitting those big plays?

“Yeah, I think there’s a lot that goes into that, but obviously execution is huge. Even take it one step further, the why behind it and know-knowing what’s going on in the game," said Gannon.

Why is (Offensive Coordinator) Drew (Petzing) calling those things? Why is (Defensive Coordinator) Nick (Rallis) calling certain coverages, certain calls? Again, they’ve got to know—on defense, we talk about situation, stress and strength. Where’s the strength and where’s the stress? On offense, Drew phrases it a different way, but there’s certain plays on a game plan that this is what I’m hunting. If it’s there, we need to convert it.

"There’s few and far between plays that they give you exactly what you want. You call a play that (fits) exactly for what they’re in. When that happens, that has to be converted. ... They all have their hand in it. It takes all 11. I think when they know the value of it, it’s something that we talk about daily. The value is very high to us, and they understand that.”

Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray says the team emphasizes hitting the splash play.

“I think that's something that we emphasize. It's part of winning, having explosives. But no, I think that's just a testament to the execution and practice. I think earlier in the season we weren't having as many explosives and it's a long season," he said.

"We still have to create those in order to be the offense we want to be, but I think we got the guys on the offense side of the ball to continue to do that. Hopefully, we can keep that going.”

The Cardinals have been explosive through bits and pieces of their season - Sunday will be a true test to see if they can do that on a consistent basis.

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