Green Bay Packers vs Arizona Cardinals: 5 matchups to watch

2. Mike Pettine vs Byron Leftwich

In years past, it has often been the Packers defense that lets them down and causes them to lose. While the defense hasn’t been elite this season, it has been far better than it has in years past. For the first time since 2015, their defense ranks within the top-20 in both yards and points allowed. They are still not an elite unit, but the narrative was always the team only needed a competent defense with Rodgers at quarterback to get them into Super Bowl contention.

Byron Leftwich took over for Mike McCoy as the play caller in Arizona. McCoy was let go earlier in the season. Leftwich is working with a rookie quarterback, which doesn’t make things very easy on him, but it’s his job to set Rosen up to be successful. He hasn’t done that so far this season, and it doesn’t get easier this week. Pettine’s defensive scheme isn’t overly complex, but it does present complicated looks that are tough for rookies to distinguish at the line of scrimmage.

So far this season, the defense has struggled to generate a consistent pass rush, despite their elite sack numbers and to generate turnovers. When the Packers were playing at their best earlier in the decade, the defense generated turnovers at an elite level, which is perfect when Rodgers never turns the ball over. If they can’t generate big plays on that side of the ball this week, this game may be closer than expected.