Easy win for Packers as Cardinals helpfully shoot themselves in foot with penalties and fumbles

 

In a game where both quarterbacks completed the same number of passes on the same number of attempts, and neither defense put much pressure on the opposing quarterback, the question was how effective they were with those passes comparatively, but I suppose the question is academic when one team rushes for 179 yards and the other for half that amount, along with 11 fewer first downs, is penalized 13 times for 100 yards, and has three turnovers. 

The Packers were able to pretty much have their way in a 34-13 victory over the Cardinals, dominating time of possession on the ground, allowing Jordan Love to find his top targets for touchdowns to match his numbers with his salary.  As for the Kyler Murray and Cardinals, if you keep shooting yourself in the foot, efficiency pretty much goes out the window.

Love threw for 258 yards, most of them in the first half, and four touchdowns for the second game in a row, which we are told was the first time for a Packer quarterback since Brett Favre in 1995. Love also threw a pick, which means in four starts this year he has thrown for 12 TDs, but also for 6 INTs. However, his QB rating has gone up from 68.1 to 93.7, and if it can be figured out why he keeps throwing the ball to the other team, maybe it won’t become an “issue” down the road when this team starts playing teams with winning records, which they have shown a tendency to lose to this year.

Not a whole lot to talk about otherwise about this game; the Cardinals had a chance in the third quarter to come back from a 24-0 first half deficit to cut it to one score, but missed opportunities and fumbles made this a cakewalk for the Packers, with Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs catching three TD passes between them and Jayden Reed another, again showing that when utilized properly the Packers have one of the best (if underrated) receiving corps in the NFL, while the running attack has other options even when Josh Jacobs has another pedestrian game. 

The defense forced the Cardinals to punt on their first  four possessions, and then forced three fumbles on the Cardinals final three possessions, and so a rest stop on three straight scoring drives that netted just 13 points was allowable under the circumstances. On special teams, guess who missed another field goal attempt?

Overall, the most “impressive” win for the Packers this season, at least in the margin of victory. Next time the Packers play the 5-1 Texans and C.J. Stroud, who in just his second NFL season appears to be a proven “franchise” quarterback. The one blemish on the Texans’ season is a 34-7 blowout loss at the Vikings, and the Packers play at home, so it could be a more winnable game than it appeared just four weeks ago.