Arizona Cardinals vs Green Bay Packers Point Spread Picks

Both of these teams just wrapped a joint practice against each other, and Matt LaFleur has already said the plan is for Jordan Love and Green Bay's starters to get their real work there rather than in Friday's actual game, with the finale not on his docket at all. Arizona ran that same joint-practice week under Mike LaFleur, Matt's younger brother and Arizona's first-year head coach, and the pattern holds up across this entire preseason weekend: teams are doing their live evaluating on the practice field and turning the actual games over to the back of the roster. That is a recipe for sloppy, discontinuous football on both sides, not the kind of offense that racks up points in bunches. Backup units without real chemistry tend to bog down more than they explode, particularly in a game neither coaching staff is treating as consequential enough to dress its best players for. The number should stay low in a game where both LaFleurs have already told you where their attention is this week, and it is not here. I am on the UNDER tonight.

First-place Green Bay has a balanced offense behind QB Jordan Love (9 TDs, 2 INTs) that is ninth in total yards. They come off a 27-18 win over Cincinnati. The defense ranks fifth in yards allowed, including first against the run, and sixth on third down (34.29%). Last-place Arizona has lost four in a row, with a defense ranked 28th against the pass, allowing 246 yards per game. The Cardinals are 0-3 ATS at home, including a loss to Tennessee in their last home game as a 7-point favorite. Green Bay ripped Arizona a year ago, 34-13, with 437 yards (179 rushing). Play Green Bay on the moneyline.

Arizona comes off an impressive road win 24-23 over San Francisco and the game stayed UNDER as the 49ers were shut out in the second half. The Cardinals have gone UNDER six of their past nine Sunday road games and Green Bay has stayed UNDER five straight against NFC West opponents. The Packers went UNDER in their 24-19 victory over the Los Angeles Rams. Jordan Love threw for 224 yards with two TDs and an interception. Arizona is 9-2 UNDER as a non-divisional road underdog of five points or more. Green Bay is 10-1 UNDER as a home favorite against a non-divisional conference team. Take the UNDER.

Arizona appears to be the real deal with a 7-0 record, and the Cardinals will face their toughest test of the season so far against Green Bay on Thursday night after routing Houston, 31-5, on Sunday. Kyler Murray was 20 of 28 passing for 261 yards with three touchdowns, he had his first interception since Week 3, and coach Kliff Kingsbury was back on the sideline after leaving COVID-19 protocol. The Texans were held to 160 total yards of offense in a dominant performance by the Cardinals, who have five straight covers. Green Bay improved to 6-1 with a 24-10 win over Washington, which had a 430-304 edge in yards of offense, but they couldn't score inside the red zone. Arizona actually has won the last three meetings, although they haven't met since 2018. Davante Adams is questionable after testing positive for COVID-19, and the Packers defensive coordinator, Joe Barry, also is out. DeAndre Hopkins (hamstring) is questionable for Arizona while Murray has a minor right finger injury, but he will play. The Packers are a woeful 10-23 straight-up in their last 33 games vs. elite offensive teams (those averaging 29+ points per game). Green Bay also struggles mightily to win on the road vs. top teams, having gone 5-18 in their last 23 road games vs. teams that outscore opponents by double-digits. Not sure if Zona will cover this large spread, but like them a lot to win the game. Take the Cardinals on the moneyline.

Green Bay has no business laying two touchdowns against anybody with its 4-6-1 record both straight-up and ATS and a loser of four of its last five games. Coach Mike McCarthy is on the hot seat as the offense has shown no consistency and it managed only three second-half points while losing 24-17 to Minnesota. Aaron Rodgers is not 100 percent healthy and he did complete 17-of-28 for 198 yards and a touchdown against the Vikings, but he was outplayed by Kirk Cousins who torched the Green Bay defense for 342 yards and three TDs. These teams last met in 2016 when Arizona won 26-20 in overtime and the Cardinals are 4-0-1 ATS their last five games versus NFC teams. Also, the Cardinals are 16-7 ATS their last 23 December games while the Packers are 2-8-1 ATS their last 11 versus the NFC and 4-9-1 ATS their last 14 games overall. Arizona has gone UNDER in six of its last seven after an ATS loss and 13 of its last 18 against NFC teams. The Packers have stayed UNDER in four of their last five overall. Grab the big points with the Cardinals plus the UNDER.