Green Bay Packers vs. Arizona Cardinals: What's the Game Plan for Green Bay?

In a matchup of two playoff-bound teams, the Green Bay Packers will travel to take on the Arizona Cardinals in a Week 16 showdown Sunday.

Green Bay (10-4) can clinch the NFC North with a win and a Minnesota Vikings loss this weekend, while Arizona (12-2) has its division all locked up and is fighting for home-field advantage throughout the postseason at this point.

Sunday's contest will be a true test for the Packers to see how they stack up against the league's best. Despite back-to-back losses earlier in the season to the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers, they have won their last three games and can propel themselves back into the national spotlight with a road victory over a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

On the other hand, the Cardinals are on an eight-game winning streak, boast an MVP candidate in quarterback Carson Palmer and have a top-10 scoring offense and defense. 

Let's now get to some game plans the Packers could use against Arizona on both sides of the ball Sunday.

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Offensive Game Plan

If the Packers want to keep Sunday's game close—let alone come out ahead—they'll have to keep pace with Arizona's high-powered offense, which scores the league's second-most points per game (31.8).

Green Bay isn't too far behind with the 10th-highest scoring offense (24.8 ppg), but the unit has been very inconsistent lately.

Two weeks ago, head coach Mike McCarthy chose to ride Eddie Lacy in the run game after taking over play-calling controls ahead of Green Bay's win over the Dallas Cowboys. In the game, Lacy carried the ball 24 times for 124 rushing yards—both season highs. 

Yet in last week's win over Oakland, Lacy struggled to get going on the ground and finished with just 11 carries for 23 yards. 

Talk about night and day.

Arizona's run defense allows the fourth-fewest yards per game (86.7)—making Lacy's potential for a big rushing day virtually nonexistent.

Although one of the two teams to beat the Cardinals this season—the St. Louis Rams—rode its tailback to a win, the Packers likely won't do the same. Rams rookie Todd Gurley busted out for 146 yards—a number no Green Bay back has reached this year.

Instead, expect the Packers to follow the lead of their quarterback to match the production Palmer is sure to bring. 

Aaron Rodgers will need to take control through the air—especially against a banged-up secondary. Outside of shutdown cornerback Patrick Peterson, the Cardinals will be rolling out a few new faces in their defensive backfield.

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Slot corner/safety Tyrann Mathieu tore his ACL in the Cards' win over the Philadelphia Eagles last week—leaving a massive hole that's impossible to fill as Mathieu was arguably the best player on the defense before he went down. He was dominant in both the pass and run game and caused headaches for players and coaches all over the country as they tried to prepare for his ball-hawking ability.  

Furthermore, free safety Rashad Johnson remains questionable for Sunday's game after sitting out last week with an ankle injury. 

Mathieu's absence opens up opportunities for any opposing quarterback to attack downfield, but missing Johnson could be the dagger with Rodgers at the helm.

Defensive Game Plan

For any team that's tried to defend against Arizona's offense this season, it's quickly found there are few, if any, weak spots to exploit.  

The Cardinals average 126.4 rushing yards (sixth-best in the NFL) and 296.5 passing yards (third-best) per game this year. Combine both totals and Arizona gains far and away the most yards per game as an entire offense—the next closest team—the Pittsburgh Steelers—is still 20 yards behind in second.

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It's literally a pick-your-poison type of attack for opposing defenses when facing Palmer and Co.—and it won't be any different Sunday as the Packers try to slow down the Cardinals offense. 

Green Bay's toughest test will certainly be in the passing game. 

For starters, the Packers will likely be without No. 1 cornerback Sam Shields for the second straight game. Shields remains in the concussion protocol, failed to practice at all this week and was listed as doubtful on the team's Friday injury report. 

If Shields can't go, it will be up to rookie corners Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins to cover the Cardinals' top two receivers with slot corner Casey Hayward manning his usual spot. 

In last week's win over the Oakland Raiders, Randall had a rough time covering rookie wideout Amari Cooper—who finished with 120 receiving yards and two touchdowns on six catches. 

This time around, Randall and Rollins will have their hands full with Arizona's trio of talented pass-catchers. 

Player	Receptions	Receiving Yards	Yards/Reception	TD
Larry Fitzgerald	99	1,131	11.4	7
John Brown	58	933	16.1	6
Michael Floyd	45	722	16.0	6

In the table above, you can see just how productive Larry Fitzgerald, John Brown and Michael Floyd have been this season. 

At 6'3'' and 218 pounds, the veteran Fitzgerald is the most physical receiver of the bunch and has become the most reliable option for Palmer in the short passing game. Brown and Floyd are both big-play threats but require just as much—if not more—attention from opposing secondaries. 

This game could ultimately come down to how well the Packers' young corners can cover the man across from them on every down. Since Arizona boasts three of the league's best talents at wideout, Randall and Rollins will likely be forced to match up man-to-man on Fitzgerald and Floyd with Hayward on Brown in the slot.

Green Bay defensive coordinator Dom Capers will be tasked with dialing up the right amount of timely blitzes to disrupt Palmer and force the veteran quarterback to make mistakes—something he's done very little of so far this season. Palmer has thrown 32 touchdowns compared to just nine interceptions as he's slowly made a case for MVP honors.

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Packers Offensive Tackles vs. Cardinals Defensive Ends

In order for the Packers to successfully move the ball through the air with Rodgers slinging it around, they'll need to block Arizona's elite pass-rushers off the edge.

Calais Campbell and Dwight Freeney are two of the league's best defensive ends, and they will be matched up on the outside against a banged-up Green Bay O-line. 

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Left tackle David Bakhtiari is questionable for Sunday's game with an ankle injury, while right tackle Bryan Bulaga is probable as he deals with an ankle injury of his own. 

Bakhtiari, who didn't participate in practice all week, left last week's game early after reinjuring his sprained ankle—forcing Don Barclay to fill in and do battle with the Raiders' young pass-rusher Khalil Mack, who is just 24.

On the other hand, Campbell and Freeney are seasoned vets who know how to attack any offensive lineman's weakness. For Bakhtiari and Bulaga, their weaknesses right now are bum ankles which could factor into how disruptive the Cardinals can be on Sunday.

RB James Starks 

Although he's taken a backseat to Lacy in the run game lately, James Starks could prove to be a dangerous weapon in the Packers passing attack this weekend. 

Head coach Mike McCarthy has used Starks in the screen game for much of the season as a change-of-pace mismatch out of the backfield. He's had a reception of at least 13 yards in eight different games this year—six of which came in consecutive contests from Weeks 9 through 14.

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Starks is also averaging 9.4 yards per reception—the third-highest mark for any running back with at least 40 receptions.

If Green Bay faces long-yardage situations on Sunday, Starks could be the receiver Rodgers looks to in the passing game. 

Game Prediction

There's no question Sunday's game will provide the ultimate measuring tool for where Green Bay stands right now amongst the league's best teams. 

The Cardinals are certainly in that category with a 12-2 record, top-10 offensive and defensive units, playmakers up and down the roster and the best NFC squad not from Carolina. They are truly a complete team with almost no weaknesses.

On the other hand, the Packers offense has been inconsistent all season without a true identity and the secondary will have to make do with a pair of rookies matching up with Arizona's talented receiving corps.

This contest should be a high-scoring one as a pair of Pro Bowl quarterbacks—Rodgers and Palmer—go head-to-head.

Final Prediction: Cardinals 34, Packers 23