The Arizona Cardinals decided to rest their starters against the Green Bay Packers last week, and they were blown out 33-7 because of it.  We will see if the extra rest paid off for the Cardinals in their rematch against the Packers this weekend in the NFC Wild Card game.  The Cardinals got hot at the right time last year, winning the NFC Championship and making a trip to the Super Bowl.  They are looking to get hot again in this year’s playoffs, and the offense should be able to find success and get on the right track against the Packers.  They have a great quarterback in Kurt Warner, who has two huge weapons in the passing game with All-Pro wide-receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin.  The Packers have a very solid defense though, giving up only 284 yards per game this season.  They are great at stopping the run, so if Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower can get some things going in the running game it would be huge for Warner and the passing game.  It’s not likely they will rack up that many rushing yards though, so Warner will have to do most of the work with his arm.

The Cardinals defense will be facing a very good quarterback in Aaron Rodgers.  Rodgers has a great season this year, throwing for 4,434 yards, 30 touchdowns, and only 7 interceptions.  He completed 65% of his passes and has a very strong arm.  He also gets a lot of help from his running backs, with the Packers averaging 118 rushing yards this season.  The big weakness for the Packers is their pass protection, as they gave up 50 sacks this season.  The Cardinals front line should have some opportunities to get to Rodgers and they need to make the most of them.  If the Cardinals can’t slow Rodgers down, they will likely lose the game.  I want to go with the former NFC Champs in this game, but with Rodgers playing so well and the Packers coming off a big win over the Cardinals, I am going with the Packers in this game.

PREDICTION:  Arizona Cardinals 24, Green Bay Packers 27