Injured But Victorious – The Packers Defeat Cardinals on the Road, 24-21

After a dramatic finish, the Green Bay Packers pulled a surprise in Glendale, beating the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday Night Football, 24-21.

A walk-off interception by Rasul Douglas in the end zone sealed the first loss of the season for the Cards, who were massive favorites coming into this matchup. Kyler Murray was aiming AJ Green with 12 seconds to go, but the veteran wide receiver didn’t even turn back to look at the ball, leaving an easy job for the Packs’ defender.

To find the irony here, Douglas was on the Cards’ practice squad roster earlier this season, but three weeks ago came to Green Bay.

“The guy that made the pick was with them for four weeks. He was on the streets. We brought him in. He’s starting for us. He’s a great dude,” Aaron Rodger explained.

Up until that moment, the swing was on Arizona’s side, as they moved the ball all the way from the one-yard line in front of their end zone to the five-yard line in front of the Packs’ touchdown line. Previously, Green Bay initially scored to take a 30-21 lead, but the call was reversed because Aaron Jones was short for inches to reach the promised land.

After facing some adversity, Kyler Murray began moving the chains pretty quickly, and everything pointed towards another win of the hosts, which didn’t happen in the end.

The Cards opened the game better, taking a 7-0 lead midway through the first period, but the Packs responded in the second quarter with 10 points, one TD on the ground by Aaron Jones, and the FG from Mason Crosby.

Randall Cobb opened the third period with a TD, his first of two today, with the second coming four seconds into the fourth. In between, James Conner carried the football into the endzone. This was his first touchdown of two, the second with 10:45 to go.

We need to mention that the Cards played without DeAndre Hopkins throughout most of the match. The prolific WR suffered a hamstring injury in the first period.

Though, the Packers also had trouble with injured players, and their list of the absentees was pretty long. The biggest names were WRs – Davante Adams, Allen Lazard, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, LT David Bakhtiari, C Josh Meyers, two CBs Kevin King and Jaire Alexander, and LB Za’Darius Smith. We can pretty much say that Aaron Rodgers led GB’s second team tonight.

"This is why I love this squad… It's going to be a great freaking ride back to Green Bay." @packers QB @AaronRodgers12 shared his thoughts with @ErinAndrews after a WILD #TNFonFOX victory! #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/n7x5SKCrLE

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 29, 2021

The reigning MVP had 184 yards, throwing 22 completed passes in 37 attempts for two touchdowns. Aaron Jones had 110 yards from the scrimmage, 59 on the ground, and 51 through the air, while Robert Tonyan ended the night with 49 yards and an injury. Randall Cobb had three catches for 15 yards, two of them touchdowns.

AJ Dillon was excellent with 78 yards on the ground in 16 snaps, pulling the Packs throughout most of the night.

On the other side, Murray was 22-for-33 for 274 yards and two picks, arguably his worst game of the year. All three of Arizona’s TDs were on the ground, with Chase Edmonds delivering one and Conner two, but these two guys combined 52 rushing yards which is way too low. Overall the Cards had 72 rushing yards.

Hopkins had 66 yards in two catches early on, one 55 yards long. AJ Green totaled for 50, and Christian Kirk had 46. Zach Ertz posted 42 in four catches.

Up next, the Cardinals are heading to San Francisco, while the Packers meet with the Chiefs, also on the road.