Five things to watch as the Green Bay Packers face the Arizona Cardinals

Oct. 28—1. Finding balance—Last year, the Cardinals offense operated exactly how you'd expect a Kliff Kingsbury offense featuring Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins to operate: A lot of passing (575 pass attempts to 479 runs), a lot of Hopkins targets and catches (160 and 115, both more than twice as many as the next closest teammate), and a lot of Murray running around (second on the team in yards and attempts).

This year, the Cardinals offense is much more balanced:

* They're third in the league in rushing attempts and have run it more than they've passed it. Murray is a distant third in yards and attempts on the team. He's also just 10th among NFL quarterbacks in rushing yardage.

* Hopkins still leads the team in receptions, but he doesn't have twice as many as the next guy. Instead, he has four teammates, Christian Kirk, Chase Edmonds, Rondale Moore and A.J. Green, who are within nine catches of his total of 33.

* Edmonds has become a true dual threat running back, leading the team with 95 touches: 68 rushing attempts and 27 receptions for 569 yards from scrimmage.

Relying so much on Murray and Hopkins got Arizona an 8-8 record last year, but it's safe to say this year's approach is going to yield them something much greater.

2. Defense tough, too—Let's not forget about the Cardinals defense, either. They're tied with Buffalo for fewest points allowed per game at 16.3 and they're fourth in the league in yards per game (316.7) and total turnovers forced (14).

Given the Packers' injury situation on the offensive line (David Bakhtiari still out, Josh Myers still out) and COVID-19 situation among the wide receivers (Davante Adams and Allen Lazard will be out), the challenge the Packers offense faces is huge.

Leaning more on the run game will be necessary—and it might be the best way to attack the Cardinals anyway. They're allowing 5 yards a carry this season, 31st in the league.

After handling just nine carries Sunday against Washington, Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon should be fresh. If Green Bay wants to win tonight, Jones, Dillon and their blockers will have no choice but to be more successful than they were against the Football Team. And who knows, maybe tonight could be the night rookies Kylin Hill and Amari Rodgers get a chance to have an impact on a game.

3. Quick turnaround—Since 2006, the Packers boast a pretty good record in midseason Thursday night games. Not counting the few times they played in the league's season-opener since then—those obviously don't come with the challenge of having played another game just a few days earlier—Green Bay is 7-3.

But if we dig a little further into that record, a couple of troubling trends emerge.

First, six of those seven wins have come against divisional opponents. Last I checked, Arizona was not in the NFC North.

Second, the Packers are just 1-2 in their most recent Thursday night games. They lost to the Seahawks in 2018 and the Eagles in 2019 before beating a shorthanded 49ers team in 2020.

4. Combined record—If it feels like having two such strong teams face off on a Thursday night is unprecedented, it's because it is.

Tonight's game will feature the highest combined winning percentage in a Thursday night game played in Week 8 or later since 2006. The combined 13-1 record of the Packers and Cardinals works out to a 92.9% win rate.

And if this sounds familiar, you might be remembering when the Packers were involved in the game with the previous best mark, a 2007 tilt with the Cowboys in which both teams were 10-1 (90.9%). Fans might also remember that night as the one a third-year quarterback named Aaron Rodgers came on in relief of an injured Brett Favre and showed he was ready to take the reins.

Only two other such games—Thursday night, Week 8 or later—had a combined winning percentage of 80% or better: a Chargers-Chiefs contest in 2018 and a 49ers-Ravens game in 2011.

5. Desert difficulties—Since the Cardinals reached the Super Bowl after the 2008 season, they have had the better of games played against the Packers, especially at tonight's venue in suburban Phoenix.

Green Bay is 1-3 at what is now known as State Farm Stadium. Two of those were brutal overtime playoff losses—the 51-45 shootout after the 2009 season that started with the Packers down 17-0 after a quarter and ended on a stunning fumble return touchdown by Karlos Dansby and a 26-20 defeat where a hail Mary touchdown at the end of regulation gave the Packers hope that was quickly dashed by a 75-yard catch and run by Larry Fitzgerald on the first play of overtime.