Green Bay Packers

The Cardinals Game Isn't Really A Measuring Stick Anymore

Photo Credit: Joseph Maiorana (USA TODAY Sports)

Things are about as good as they can get for the Green Bay Packers in terms of wins and losses. After blowing their season opener, they’ve ripped off six consecutive wins. Their biggest test to date comes Thursday when they head to Glendale to face the Arizona Cardinals, the only undefeated team in the NFL.

While the six-game win streak is tremendous, only one of those victories came against a team with a winning record, the Cincinnati Bengals. The Cardinals were supposed to provide a perfect opportunity for Green Bay to size up a legitimate contender and see where they stand. Given all the chaos, it will be anything but that for the Packers.

On Monday, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur announced that defensive coordinator Joe Barry was in COVID protocol following a positive test. It’s highly unlikely he will be coaching the defense on Thursday night.

It’s a defense that really hit its stride in the last few weeks and finally got a red zone stop against the Washington Football Team on Sunday. They’ve played an opportunistic defensive style despite not having Jaire Alexander, Za’Darius Smith, Kevin King, or, specifically to Week 7, Preston Smith.

After a horrific showing in Week 1 and the same in the first half of Week 2 against the Detroit Lions, Barry’s defense has stamped out one solid performance after another.

First-round pick Eric Stokes has been sensational at cornerback and has taken over as the lead dog with Alexander on injured reserve. Rashan Gary has been a menace on the edge with Za’Dairus Smith on the shelf, and the stats back it up.

Time and again, Green Bay’s defense continues to show signs of growth and comfortability playing within Barry’s scheme. The real test was set to be Thursday against the Cardinals. While most of the same group will still take the field, they will be doing so without their defensive coordinator. When you’re in a groove like Green Bay’s defense has been, you want to ride the momentum and not have anything deter from what’s worked. Not having Barry on the sideline washes away a lot of the intrigue. We won’t see how his play-calling would’ve stood up to an explosive Cardinals offense.

To make matters worse, Davante Adams was placed in COVID protocols as well after turning back a positive test. Now Green Bay’s offense will likely be without its top weapon in the passing game. Given that it’s a short week and the Packers play Thursday, Adams would likely have to turn in a negative result on Tuesday and Wednesday to play Thursday. In other words, if it isn’t a false positive, No. 17 won’t be out on the field.

In other words, the matchup has lost much of its luster as a potential shootout with Aaron Rodgers and Adams teeing off against Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins.

Green Bay won’t mail it in, and they won’t be feeling sorry for themselves. But the hard truth is that it’s tough to envision them hanging in punch-for-punch with arguably the best team in football right now. The saying has always been, “As long as Green Bay has No. 12, they always have a chance.” And while that’s a hill many will die on, this would be an incredible overcoming of circumstances to get a road win.

The Packers are already without Jaire Alexander and Za’Darius Smith. This year, David Bakhtiari still hasn’t played a snap as he works his way back from a torn ACL. That’s three All-Pro players right out of the chute. Things were already going to be challenging for Green Bay against the Cardinals. Still, they’ve been able to scoop up wins with the unit they’ve rolled out recently. This game was supposed to be a sneak peek at what it could look like if these two meet come playoff time. With Barry and Adams likely away from the team Thursday night, most will be keeping their fingers crossed that this one stays close.

There are two things the Packers can cling to as they continue to prep for Arizona. First, Rodgers has been next level in the last six games Adams has missed.

Secondly, Matt LaFleur made it sound like Marquez Valdes-Scantling could be returning from IR for the game. While it isn’t the same as having No. 17, any addition to the offense right now is a positive, and MVS has been super solid for the Packers when healthy.

It’s not all doom and gloom for Green Bay. With their 6-1 start, they’ve given themselves a little wiggle room for something as agitating as positive COVID tests popping up. They’ll have to be nearly flawless against Arizona, given who won’t be there. Perhaps this is just the kind of spot that Rodgers will thrive in. One thing that is certain, it will be hard to categorize this as any sort of measuring-stick game for the Packers.

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