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5 takeaways from the Packers' win over the Cardinals


5 takeaways from the Packers' win over the Cardinals

  1. Green Bay also responded in the one moment it needed to.

Arizona pulled back by 10 points before halftime, scored a touchdown and then turned an interception – due to Packers receiver Bo Melton falling on his route – into a field goal.

The Cardinals then took over the kickoff in the third quarter and added another field goal to get within 24-13.

“There was never any panic or anything like that,” LaFleur said. “It was just one of those ones where you have to concentrate on the work.”

So the Packers responded by rushing for 70 yards in nine plays. A few defensive penalties helped, and when the Cardinals went full-out on third down from the Arizona 20, Love kept moving away from the free rusher and slinging the ball to Romeo Doub's matchup in a one-on-one.

Doubs adjusted the throw to catch it near the front pylon for the score. It was his second throw of the game, which ended with three catches for a total of 49 yards after his game suspension.

“It was great to have Rome back out there on the field, it was huge,” Love said. “He went out there and made some great plays.”

Watson was also back after missing just one game with an ankle injury, and he had three catches for 68 yards, including the big 44-yard TD.

“Just because of his speed and the big threat he poses, it’s nice to have him back too,” Love said.

“We are a family. We're all in this together. Just sticking together and maintaining that brotherhood is definitely very important to us.”

  1. The defense keeps taking the ball away.

It took until the end of the third quarter for Green Bay's defense to score its first turnover, and then the floodgates opened.

Defensive lineman Karl Brooks forced a fumble on a tackle on a screen pass, only to lose the ball and recover it himself. Then safety Evan Williams hit a ball that cornerback Jaire Alexander caught back. Finally, the Cardinals botched a handoff exchange and Kenny Clark got the equalizer.

“We're always ready over there on the sideline because you never know when the defense is going to get a big advantage,” Love said.

They scored three on three straight possessions, resulting in a missed field goal, a made field goal and a game-winning drive lasting 5 minutes, 37 seconds, increasing the Packers' time advantage on the day to more than 13 minutes.

Safety Xavier McKinney's interception streak came to an end, but this defense's penchant for stealing the ball remained alive under new coordinator Jeff Hafley. Green Bay now has 17 takeaways in six games after having 18 in the entire 2023 regular season.

“It’s a credit to our guys that they’re ball-aware,” LaFleur said. “That's something we'll obviously continue to preach because I think it makes a big difference between winning and losing.”

“You can talk about it and practice it until you're completely blue in the face as far as hitting the ball and making a conscious effort to really attack the football, but these guys have to go out there and do it, and that's what you see.

  1. The pass rush also had an effective day, even if the stats didn't show it.

Murray wasn't sacked on his 32 pass attempts, but he never seemed entirely comfortable in the pocket. More importantly, when he tried to scramble around, he didn't do much as the defense did a good job of containing and tracking.

He had just 14 rushing yards on seven attempts and only completed one pass longer than 18 yards in the entire game. That was a 27-yarder for tight end Trey McBridge (eight catches, 96 yards), who became his main target after rookie receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. left the game with a concussion.

“Our guys just played very disciplined football and had all 11 players playing at the same time,” LaFleur said. “Our D-line did a great job, not only in the run game, but also preventing Kyler from getting loose and rushing us.”

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