THURSDAY NIGHT PREVIEW:
GREEN BAY PACKERS (6-1) AT ARIZONA CARDINALS (7-0)
Week 8 of the 2021 NFL season gets underway on Thursday, October 28 (8:20 PM ET, FOX/NFL Network/Amazon) as the Green Bay Packers (6-1) visit the Arizona Cardinals (7-0) in a battle of NFC division leaders. Green Bay leads the all-time series, 44-24-4, while Arizona has won each of the past two regular-season meetings. In their last matchup, Week 13 of the 2018 season, running back CHASE EDMONDS recorded two rushing touchdowns in the Cardinals’ 20-17 win at Green Bay.
Last week, the Packers earned their sixth-consecutive victory with a 24-10 win over Washington. Quarterback AARON RODGERS recorded his 70th career game with at least three touchdown passes and a passer rating of 100-or-higher, the fourth-most such games in NFL history. He is one of two NFC quarterbacks (MATTHEW STAFFORD) with six games with two-or-more touchdown passes this season and aims for his seventh in a row with multiple touchdown passes. In 14 career starts on Thursday, Rodgers has a 10-4 record with 32 touchdown passes and five interceptions for a 107.8 rating.
Wide receiver DAVANTE ADAMS recorded his third touchdown catch of the season in Week 7 and leads all players with 61 touchdown receptions since the beginning of the 2016 season. In the last meeting between the two clubs, he registered eight receptions for 93 yards and a touchdown. Adams has recorded at least 10 receptions and 160 receiving yards in three of his past four Thursday games. Since 2018, running back AARON JONES ranks third in the NFL with 45 scrimmage touchdowns (35 rushing, 10 receiving). He recorded a rushing touchdown in the last meeting against Arizona and has four touchdowns (three rushing, one receiving) in five career games on Thursday.
In four of its past six games, Green Bay has held opponents to 17 points or fewer. Linebacker DE’VONDRE CAMPBELL led the team with 13 tackles in Week 7 and recorded his second-career game with two forced fumbles. He is the only player in the NFC this season with at least 60 tackles (67) and two interceptions. Last season, Campbell registered 99 tackles and two sacks in 16 games with the Cardinals. Linebacker RASHAN GARY had a career-high two sacks and his first-career forced fumble in Week 7 while defensive lineman KINGSLEY KEKE recorded a season-high 1.5 sacks last week.
Arizona, the league’s last remaining undefeated team, improved to 7-0 for the first time since 1974 with its 31-5 win over Houston last week. Quarterback KYLER MURRAY passed for three touchdowns with a 121.3 rating in Week 7 and is the only quarterback in the NFL with a passer rating of 100-or-higher in six games this season. He has four touchdown passes against zero interceptions for a 112.6 rating in two career starts on Thursday Night Football and aims for his third in a row on Thursday with two touchdown passes and a passer rating of 100-or-higher.
Running back JAMES CONNER registered his NFC-leading sixth rushing touchdown of the season in Week 7 and aims for his third in a row at home with a rushing touchdown. Edmonds ranks tied for second among NFC running backs with 27 receptions this season. Wide receiver DEANDRE HOPKINS recorded his seventh touchdown catch of the season last week and is the only player with at least six touchdown receptions in each of the past five seasons. He has four touchdown catches in his past three Thursday games and aims for his fifth in a row on Thursday with at least five receptions. Tight end ZACH ERTZ registered a 47-yard touchdown reception in his Cardinals debut last week.
The Cardinals enter Week 8 allowing 16.3 points per game, the fewest in the NFL. Last week, linebacker MARKUS GOLDEN recorded his second-consecutive game with two sacks and a forced fumble, and he leads all players with four forced fumbles this season. Linebacker CHANDLER JONES recorded a sack and two tackles for loss in the last meeting between the two clubs and has eight sacks in eight career Thursday games. Defensive end J.J. WATT has a pass defensed in three of his past four on Thursday while safety BUDDA BAKER has four tackles for loss and four passes defensed in four career Thursday games. Jones and Watt (102 sacks each) are two of the three active players (VON MILLER) with at least 100 career sacks.
FOX will broadcast 10 Thursday Night Football games between Weeks 5-15 (excluding Thanksgiving night). Thursday’s game is slated to be simulcast via NFL Network, distributed in Spanish on FOX Deportes and streamed on Amazon Prime Video.
The game will feature Joe Buck, Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews and Kristina Pink on the call for FOX. The Amazon broadcast features Andrea Kremer and Hannah Storm, and the Amazon Scout’s feed is called by Bucky Brooks, Daniel Jeremiah and Joy Taylor.
For the Week 8 Green Bay-Arizona capsule, click here.
COURTESY NFLmedia.com
