Thoughts on Week 7 (2025): Green Bay Packers at Arizona Cardinals

Weird and crazy things seem to happen when the Green Bay Packers play in the desert. Entering this game at State Farm Stadium, the Packers were looking for their first road win of the 2025 season against the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals entered this game at 2-4 on the season, but all of their games have come down to the wire. This game was no different, as the Packers had no lead up until the final minutes. With this intro out of the way, let’s take a detailed look at how this game went down.

The Packers won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. Therefore, the Cardinals for the ball to start the game. The Arizona offense, led by Jacoby Brissett (who started due to Kyler Murray’s foot injury), was able to get into scoring position on their first possession. The drive, which lasted nearly 7 and a half minutes, didn’t end with a touchdown thanks to a sack of Brissett by Micah Parsons on third and goal from the Green Bay 8 yard line. The field goal from 32 yards out was made by Chad Ryland, giving the Cardinals a 3-0 lead with 7:34 left in the first quarter. After the kick return by Bo Melton, the Packers started their first drive at their own 26 yard line. They converted a third and 5 with a 10 yard pass from Jordan Love to Matthew Golden. Later in the drive, they faced a fourth and 2 after Emanuel Wilson was stuffed on third and 1. Once again, Matthew Golden came up with a catch to get a first down and keep the drive alive. The Packers were unable to convert a second fourth down when Jordan Love overthrew Romeo Doubs on fourth and 5 from the Arizona 38 yard line. With that incomplete pass, the Cardinals took over. After allowing a scramble by Brissett, the Packers defense was able to force the Cardinals to punt. Keisean Nixon forced a fumble that was recovered by Xavier McKinney, but the officials reviewed the play and ruled it as an incomplete pass due to not enough steps by Marvin Harrison, Jr. The ensuing punt went into the end zone for a touchback, giving the Packers the ball at their own 20. During the drive, the Packers got back to back first downs due to penalties against the Cardinals defense. After the second penalty, the Packers were set up in great field position for a score. On first and 10 from the Arizona 31, Jordan Love connected with Romeo Doubs for a 15 yard pass completion. After that, the drive stalled and the Packers had to settle for a field goal. The kick was good from 31 yards out by Lucas Havrisik (who started at kicker for the injured Brandon McManus for a second straight week), tying the game at 3-3 with a little over 13 and a half minutes left in the second quarter. During the defense’s next time on the field, Micah Parsons was caught with a hip drop tackle penalty on second and 14 from the Arizona 25, giving the Cardinals a free first down (yikes). Later in the drive, Jacoby Brissett connected with Marvin Harrison Jr for a 23 yard pass completion that got the Cardinals into scoring position. After that thought, the Cardinals’ drive stalled and they had to settle for a field goal. Ryland made the kick from 40 yards out, giving the Cardinals a 6-3 lead with 5:02 left in the first half. After the kickoff return by Savion Williams, the Packers started their next drive at their own 32 yard line. The drive went nowhere after a pass that went for a loss of two yards on second and 4 and a sack of Jordan Love on third and 6. After the ensuing punt, the Cardinals started their next drive at their own 29 yard line with just over 3 minutes left in the game. The Cardinals then proceeded to go down the field for their first touchdown of the day. The defense should have gotten off the field after the third and 23 play (kudos to Quay Walker for the sack on second and 15), but that didn’t happen as Brissett connected with Zay Jones for a 43 yard pass completion that was almost picked off by Evan Williams. Three plays later, Brissett connected with Michael Wilson for a 14 yard completion on third and 4 from the Green Bay 35. There was an incomplete pass on third and 9 from the 20, but Micah Parsons jumped offsides, giving the Cardinals another try. On third and 4 from the 15, Brissett connected with Trey McBride for a touchdown pass that, with the extra point, gave Arizona a 10 point lead with less than 10 seconds left in the half. Thankfully, the Packers were able to get down the field quickly enough for a 61-yard field goal try. Lucas Havrisik made the kick, which is now a Packers franchise record for longest field goal. That field goal cut the lead to 13-6 heading into halftime.

The Packers unfortunately went three and out on their first drive of the third quarter, but the defense came up in a big way when Rashan Gary got a strip sack of Jacoby Brissett and Evan Williams recovered the fumble. The Packers offense took advantage of that turnover by going down the field in 7 plays, culminating in a 7-yard touchdown run by Josh Jacobs, who was able to get to the edge of the left side of the end zone. The extra point was good, tying the game at 13-13 with a little under 10 minutes left in the third quarter. The defense was not able to keep the Cardinals from moving the ball down the field on their next drive. Even after a sack of Brissett that gave the Cardinals a long third down, they were able to convert that third down. The drive ended with a 12 yard touchdown pass to Trey McBride that, with the extra point, gave Arizona a 20-13 lead with over 4 minutes left in the quarter. The kick return by Savion Williams went for only 23 yards to the Green Bay 33. From there, the Packers offense went down the field to answer Arizona’s touchdown drive with one of their own. On third and 3 from the Green Bay 40, Jordan Love connected with tight end Tucker Kraft for a 22 yard pass completion that got the Packers into Arizona territory. Two plays later, Jordan Love took a massive hit by Budda Baker during a 5 yard run. Thankfully, he got up just fine and continued on. On the next play, which was a first and 10 due to a penalty on Arizona, Love scrambled for a gain of 12 yards to the Arizona 16. They were saved from an incomplete pass on second and 15 due to a roughing the passer penalty, which gave them a first down at the 11 yard line. Two plays later, Love connected with Kraft for a 7-yard TD pass that, with the extra point, tied the game at 20-20 to start the fourth quarter. The Cardinals started their next drive at the Green Bay 45 thanks to a long kick return and a facemask penalty on Arron Mosby on top of that. Thankfully, the Packers defense was able to force the Cardinals to settle for a field goal on that drive. On third and goal from the 10, Micah Parsons got his second sack of the day when he brought down Jacoby Brissett for an 11 yard loss. As a result, the Cardinals had to kick a field goal from 39 yards out. The kick by Chad Ryland was good, giving Arizona a 23-20 lead with just under 9 minutes left in the game. Not only did the Packers start at their own 16 on the ensuing possession due to a holding penalty on the kickoff return, but they proceeded to go three and out on that drive. After the punt, the Cardinals started their next drive at their own 28. After allowing an 11 yard pass on the first play, the Packers defense made sure to get a crucial stop to give the Packers offense a chance at the win. On fourth and 1 from the Arizona 48 yard line, Brissett tried a QB sneak to no avail. He got stuffed on the play, resulting in a turnover on downs. The Packers took over with a great opportunity to get a touchdown to take the lead. It was not an easy drive in the slightest, as they had to make some very tough plays. On third and 7 from the Arizona 45, Jordan Love connected with Tucker Kraft for an 8 yard pass that barely got the first down. Three plays later, they had a third and 1 at the Arizona 28. Rather than run straight at the defense, they tried a wide run with Jacobs, which went for a loss of one yard, forcing Green Bay to face a fourth and 2 at the 29. After initially having the field goal unit out, the Packers took a timeout. Matt LaFleur and Jordan Love talked about the situation, which resulted in the offense getting back onto the field to go for it. Love found Kraft for a 15 yard completion at the left sideline that kept the drive alive. Two plays later, Josh Jacobs turned what looked like a bad run play into a play that nearly scored a touchdown. He would score on the next play from one yard out, giving the Packers their first lead of the day. The extra point was good, making the score 27-23 in Green Bay’s favor with under two minutes left. That extra point was crucial as it forced the Cardinals to try for a touchdown at the end of the game. Arizona’s offense was able to get into scoring position, but the Packers defense was able to keep them from getting that touchdown. Micah Parsons was able to get his third sack of Brissett during this drive, which helped the defense. In the end, Brissett threw the fourth down pass to the end zone. The pass ended up being caught out of bounds, sealing the Packers’ 27-23 win. With this win in Glendale, Arizona, the Packers are now 4-1-1 on the season.

(Here are the highlights of the game, provided by the NFL’s YouTube page. Click on “Watch on YouTube” if you want to.)

On offense, the Packers did not play their best game at all. There were drives that went nowhere due to questionable play calls, bad execution and some costly penalties. They were unable to get into the end zone during the first half. Love overthrew Romeo Doubs on what would have been a touchdown pass during the first offensive possession. They had to settle for a field goal during the second drive. After Arizona scored a touchdown to increase their lead to 10, the Packers offense was able to get into range for a 61-yard field goal, which ended up being important in the end. When Arizona was scoring more points in the second half, the offense was able to keep up with touchdown drives of their own. What mattered in the end was the Packers being able to get clutch plays done, including the fourth and 2 pass to Tucker Kraft that kept the final TD drive alive. Kraft and Josh Jacobs deserve major kudos for being leaders on offense in addition to Jordan Love. Jacobs had a two touchdown game and made some tough runs even on a bad calf (and got a game ball from Matt LaFleur). The offensive line was a bit shaky at times, but they were able to give Love enough time to make the clutch throws and give Jacobs room to run. Hopefully this game is a gut check moment for everyone involved. Execution by the players needs to be top notch and Matt LaFleur needs to get rid of most of the “cute” play calls that usually don’t succeed. Christian Watson is set to return soon from his knee injury, and I hope that he debuts against the Steelers next week. Everyone needs to be ready on offense (and in general) for that prime time game.

On defense, the Packers also did not have the best game in terms of getting stops. Jacoby Brissett was able to get some good passes to his targets, including tight end Trey McBride (who scored on a pair of touchdowns), Marvin Harrison Jr, Zay Jones, and Michael Wilson. What was frustrating was that some of those passes came after sacks of Brissett by the defense. There were times that Brissett found open guys, especially McBride. Nate Hobbs did not have a good game at all. Right now, he is not fitting well in the Packers defense. Hopefully he gets benched in favor of Carrington Valentine, starting next week at Pittsburgh. I give kudos to Brissett for making those passes even though he had to operate the offense on a silent count at home (kudos to Packers fans for filling up State Farm Stadium). In addition to allowing some easy passes, the defense also messed up in extending Cardinals drives with penalties, including a couple of offsides penalties and a questionable pass interference penalty. Somehow, a hip drop penalty was called on Micah Parsons during the first half. It was definitely a hip drop tackle, but the refs almost never call it even though there have been hip drop tackles elsewhere across the NFL. Even with that penalty (plus another offsides penalty), Micah Parsons had a fantastic day on Sunday. He had three sacks of Brissett (each one in a critical situation), 4 tackles for loss, 5 QB hits, and 10 total pressures on the day. Micah got a game ball from Matt LaFleur for his performance, and rightfully so. This defense is still sorely missing Devonte Wyatt’s presence on the D-line. Hopefully he gets to return very soon. Jeff Hafley’s unit got the job done when it mattered the most, and I hope that continues from here on out.

On Special Teams, the Packers were not able to be penalty-free on Sunday. There were two penalties in particular. During a long kickoff return by Arizona, Arron Mosby committed a facemask penalty that helped the Cardinals by allowing them to start a drive in Green Bay territory. After that, there was a holding penalty on Kitan Oladapo that forced the Packers to start a drive (which ended in a three and out) at their own 16 yard line. Other than those two penalties, the Packers did not make another crucial mistake on Special Teams. No punts or kickoffs were returned for a touchdown on either side, and no kicks were blocked. Lucas Havrisik came in for a second straight week due to Brandon McManus’s quad injury and made each kick again. He is now the owner of the longest field goal in Packers history when he made the 61-yarder as time expired in the first half. Havrisik was another recipient of a game ball by Matt LaFleur in the locker room after the game. Daniel Whelan punted three times, with one of them getting inside the 20 yard line. At least none of them went in the end zone for a touchback. Kudos to the line for not allowing any kicks to be blocked. Rich Bisaccia’s unit did not lose the Packers the game on Sunday. Hopefully that continues throughout the season.

Overall, I am glad that the Packers survived another game in Arizona. The chaos began the day before, when the Packers’ plane had mechanical problems that resulted in a delay that lasted at least 5 hours. There were some tough moments during the game itself and the Packers didn’t have a lead for the majority of the game. In the end, the Packers got the clutch win and improved to 4-1-1 on the season, which keeps them at first place in the NFC North. I love how this team overcame the adversity on Sunday and got their first road win of the season. Hopefully they get another road win next week against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The emotions will be high as the Packers are playing against Aaron Rodgers for what might be the only time before Rodgers retires (unless there is somehow a rematch in the Super Bowl). The Packers need to focus on themselves and prepare for a tough game on the road. Hopefully everyone gets healthy for that game. Regardless of the outcome, I’ll be back for the recap. In the meantime, I am celebrating another Victory Monday. Have a great week, everyone. Go Pack Go!