Packers Dominate Cardinals, Look Like Contenders

With Williams and McKinney, the Packers have gone from one of the worst safety rooms in the league to one of the best, and the duo are a major reason for the team’s huge uptick in takeaways.

by

This is what the Packers look like when they’re at their most dangerous. Every single skill position player is a threat to catch a pass on every play and deciding who to defend on defense is one of the most impossible tasks in the NFL. Even third string tight end Ben Sims had two catches for 38 yards, including an incredible 28-yard shoestring catch in the second quarter. While the Cardinals devoted their safeties to bottling up Jayden Reed, the returning Christian Watson (ankle) and Romeo Doubs (suspension) ate up one-on-one coverage. 

On Watson’s 44-yard touchdown with four minutes remaining in the first half, every single Packer eligible receiver was wide open when Love released the ball, despite the Cardinals bringing up both safeties to take away the shorter routes. It was one of Matt LaFleur’s best play calls, and one of Jordan Love’s best throws of the season and gave the Packers a 23-0 lead. As good as that play was, Jordan Love’s read on his 20-yard touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs may have been even better.

Beautiful Blitz 

With their lead trimmed to 24-13 and facing a third and four from the Arizona 20-yard line late in the third quarter, the Cardinals brought an all-out blitz at Jordan Love. The blitz worked beautifully and resulted in linebacker Dennis Gardeck bearing down on Love unblocked. For the vast majority of NFL quarterbacks, this play would have resulted in either a sack, or a hot route checkdown to a short running back or tight end, but Love is one of the best against the blitz. He picked up Rome Doubs with single, man coverage from corner Sean Murphy-Bunting and threw a rainbow down the right sideline that Doubs adjusted to beautifully. Because the Cardinals were in man coverage, Murphy-Bunting never got turned around, and the Packer receiver walked in for his second touchdown of the day.

email newsletter iconStay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.

SIGN UP

It was an emotional moment for Doubs, who was heartily congratulated by his teammates on both scores after his return from a suspension for conduct detrimental to the team. The Packers, and Doubs have not been forthcoming about the underlying cause of the suspension after Doubs skipped a few days of practice last week. What is clear is that Doubs has the unquestioned support of his teammates, and that whatever the issue was, it’s not going to impact his performance going forward. 

On the defensive side of the ball, Xavier McKinney saw his interception streak snapped, and the team failed to record a single sack against Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray, however, despite a lackluster box score, this was their best performance of the season. While the Packer pass rush failed to get home against the mobile Murray, they never lost contain, holding him to just 14 rushing yards on seven carries. Most importantly, Rashan Gary had his best game of the season, generating consistent pressure off the edge while minimizing rushing lanes. 

Exciting Defense

The most exciting aspect of the defense is the play of Green Bay’s rookies, who were outstanding in this game. Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper had eight tackles and continues to cut into the time of Isaiah McDuffie and Eric Wilson. Cooper possesses elite speed, and while he just finished his sixth NFL game, it’s already clear that he’s the best linebacker on the team. Hybrid safety/corner Javon Bullard matched Cooper with eight tackles while taking over slot corner duties from Keisean Nixon. Bullard’s versatility, and excellent tackling in the run game has already paid dividends as Green Bay held Arizona running backs to just seventy-five yards on sixteen carries. Nixon was moved outside to replace the struggling Eric Stokes, and none of this shuffling would have been possible without elite play from rookie safety Evan Williams, who was nearly perfect in coverage the entire game, forced a fumble from Cardinal slot receiver Greg Dortch, and stuffed Kyler Murray on a difficult open-field option run. 

With Williams and McKinney, the Packers have gone from one of the worst safety rooms in the league to one of the best, and the duo are a major reason for the team’s huge uptick in takeaways. Outside of kicker, where Brayden Narveson missed another field goal, the Packers are as talented as any team in the league and should be regarded as major Super Bowl contenders. And they’re almost as fun as they are talented.