The Green Bay Packers took it to the Arizona Cardinals in their 33-7 victory last week, but I wouldn’t expect another blowout for the Packers in their rematch this weekend in the NFC Wild Card game. The Packers stuck with Aaron Rodgers and most of the other starters for the majority of the game last week, while the Cardinals played their reserves for most of the game.  They will be going up against a Kurt Warner led Cardinals’ offense, which can be very explosive at times.  They only average 93 rushing yards per game, so the Cardinals are a pass-heavy offense.  Warner helped the Cardinals make it all the way to the Super Bowl last season, and he is a very good quarterback.  He threw for 3,753 yards with 26 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, while completing 66% of his passes.  He has some great receivers, including Larry Fitzgerald, so the Packers’ secondary is going to get challenged a lot.  Warner is old and slow though, so he is not very mobile.  If the Packers can close in on Warner and collapse the pocket, it will make things very difficult for Warner to make plays and it could cause some turnovers.

Aaron Rodgers has proven he is an elite quarterback, now he has to prove it in the playoffs.  Rodgers was sacked 50 times this season though, which is a big cause for concern going into the playoffs.  If the offensive line can hold up, then Rodgers will have a good game. He will need Ryan Grant to give him some support in the running game, which Grant should be able to do against a Cardinals defense that gives up 113 rushing yards per game.  This game will be a lot closer than last week’s game, but I think Rodgers is a great quarterback and will prove it in this game with a win.

PREDICTION:  Green Bay Packers 27, Arizona Cardinals 24

The Green Bay Packers (10-5) are on the road against Arizona Cardinals (10-5) on Sunday.  This matchup may be the same in the first round of the playoffs, so both teams have some extra incentive to play well.  The Cardinals may be resting up some starters, but their coach Ken Whisenhunt has been keeping things pretty quiet so the Packers need to be prepared for anything.  The Cardinals have an offense that is capable of making a lot of big plays and can put up a ton of points.  The Packers defense has been strong most of the season, and they give up only 290 total yards per game.  They are better at stopping the run, giving up only 86 rushing yards per game and the Cardinals’ passing game is their strength so the Packers should be able to shut down the Cardinals’ running backs.  Still, with Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, and Anquan Boldin it will be a challenge for the Packers and hopefully those three don’t play a lot.

Most of the time the Cardinals need their offense to put up a lot of points for them to win, as their defense is not very strong.  They give up 347 total yards per game, so Aaron Rodgers and the Packers’ offense should find success.  Rodgers has had a great season and made history this year by becoming the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 4,000 yards in his first two seasons as a full-time starter.  If Warner and crew play a lot, Rodgers should be able to keep up (or at least keep it close) with the the Cardinals high-scoring offense.  He will need some help from Ryan Grant though, who has over 1,200 yards this season including 97 yards and 2 touchdowns last week.  If the Packers are clicking and the Cardinals are resting, then the Packers should win.  I don’t know how much Whisenhunt is going to play his starters, so it could go either way.

PREDICTION:  Green Bay Packers 31, Arizona Cardinals 28

The Packers are going to come out angry this week as they should have beaten the Steelers.  Aaron Rodgers will likely torture the Seahawks this weekend as they are allowing 249.4 yards passing per game and opposing QBs have a 94.8 rating against them.  Rodgers will move the ball around using all of his receivers this week and the Seahawks will have no answer for that.  Ryan Grant should also have a big game for the Packers when they turn to him to help run out the clock.

The Packers need to get after Matt Hasselbeck early and often in this football game.  As soon as he sees he is going to have a long day he will be putting the ball up for grabs quite a bit.  The Seahawks don’t have much of a running game for the Packers to have to worry about.

PREDICTION:  PACKERS 34, SEAHAWKS 13

These are two teams going in different directions as the Packers have won five games in a row while the Steelers have lost five games in a row including losses to the Chiefs, Raiders and Browns in that losing streak.  The Packers’ O-Line must keep Aaron Rodgers relatively clean tomorrow if they want to win this game.  When Rodgers is sacked less than six times in a game the Packers are 9-0.  The Steelers will be sending James Harrison (10 sacks), LaMarr Woodley (9 sacks) and Lawrence Timmons (6 sacks) after Rodgers all game long.  That means that Rodgers will likely use a shorter passing game tomorrow and he has the receivers to get that done.  The Steelers are allowing 209.2 yards passing per game this season and they only have 8 interceptions this year so the Packers should have some success getting the ball to Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, Jermichael Finley, James Jones and Donald Lee.  The Steelers are only allowing 84.9 yards rushing per game this season but the Browns torched them last week on the ground so Ryan Grant and Ahman Green will likely get their fair share of yards too.

The Packers’ D is the real reason for the hot streak as they have been outstanding allowing only 14.2 points per game in the last five.  The Steelers would like to get Rashard Mendenhall going in the running game but the Packers will likely stop that as they are only allowing 85.0 yards rushing per game and 3.6 yards per carry.  The Steelers might have trouble keeping Ben Roethlisberger clean tomorrow as he has been sacked 38 times this season and Clay Matthews will likely be let loose to hassle him the whole game.  The Steelers still have solid receivers in Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, Heath Miller and Mike Wallace but the Packers specialize in picking off passes as they have 23 interceptions already this year.

PREDICTION:  PACKERS 27, STEELERS 17

The Green Bay Packers (8-4) are heading to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (5-7).  The Packers beat the Bears 21-15 to open up the season, but the Bears are a different team now.  Their defense is not as good as it was then and their offense has been about as good as it was in that first game where Cutler threw four interceptions.  The Packers probably wont get four interceptions off of Cutler again, as the Bears have tightened the quarterbacks’ reigns after a Rex Grossman type performance most of the season.  The Bears offense has been laughable at times and the Packers defense should have no problem slowing them down.

Aaron Rodgers and the passing game will have some opportunities to find some success, but the windy and cold weather may make it hard to go deep down the field.  Ryan Grant should get a lot of carries, and with the Bears giving up 126 rushing yards per game, he should have a good day.  The Bears defense is depleted and has been underachieving all season, so I think the Packers should not have a problem in this game.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Chicago Bears 13, Green Bay Packers 28