Here are things to consider
when Green Bay faces Arizona
GETTING HEALTHY: The Cardinals sacked Rodgers eight times in their meeting three weeks ago, but Green Bay was without starting left tackle David Bakhtiari because of an ankle injury and lost starting right tackle Bryan Bulaga, also to an ankle problem, during the contest.
That shouldn’t be the case on Saturday night. Bulaga was back the next game and Bakhtiari practiced all week on a limited basis. The Packers also should have cornerback Sam Shields, who has been out while undergoing the concussion protocol.
But Green Bay wide receiver Davante Adams was ruled out for the game with a knee injury, as was tight end Andrew Quarless.
MISSING OKAFOR: Arizona will be without one of its best pass rushers, outside linebacker Alex Okafor, and the exact reason is a mystery.
An obviously irritated Arians would say only that Okafor injured a toe during the team’s weekend off.
The team signed 12-year NFL veteran Jason Babin to help at the position.
TEMPO, TEMPO: The Packers’ offense started to click last weekend when it went up-tempo.
The Cardinals took appropriate notice.
“When I was watching the game Sunday, those guys were moving extremely fast,” Peterson said, “the fastest I’ve seen all year.”
The Cardinals are well aware of how Rodgers likes to catch opponents with too many men on the field. They had to call a timeout in one such instance in their first meeting.
FAMILIAR FOES: Because of the one-sided nature of their previous meeting, the Cardinals and the Packers didn’t get to a big portion of their game plans.
That gave them a head start getting ready for this one.
As for what players can carry over from that game, Packers linebacker Julius Peppers says not a whole lot.
“More scheme things, plays, the plays they like to run, the sets they like to run out of. That’s pretty much it,” he said. “You can’t really take too much else from it. It’s a different game, and all these games have different personalities.”
HIGH-SCORING HISTORY: Rodgers has experienced playoff football in Arizona firsthand.
In 2009, he engaged in a spectacular passing duel with Kurt Warner in the wild-card round.
Rodgers threw for 422 yards and four touchdowns, but the Packers lost in overtime 51-45 when Karlos Dansby returned Rodgers’ fumble 17 yards for a score.
It remains the highest-scoring playoff game in NFL history.