Who will be suiting up for the Packers on Thursday vs. Arizona?

Yahoo Sports' Scott Pianowski and Frank Schwab discuss this week's matchup between the Packers and Cardinals.

Video Transcript

SCOTT PIANOWSKI: I'm really sad because this Packers/Cardinals game was setting up to be one of the best games of the season. And we have to start with the COVID news, right. The Packers defensive coordinator, Joe Barry, has tested positive for COVID. And it sounds like for COVID reasons they may not have Davante Adams. They may not have Allen Lazard.

So I don't know who Aaron Rodgers is throwing to. And if it's a skeleton crew, they have limited time. They have to travel to Arizona for this game. They have limited practice time. The Cardinals have become a 6-point favorite. On BetMGM, the total is 51.

Talk about a game I don't want to bet on. When I don't know who's going to be in uniform, I don't know how many reps they've run with Aaron Rodgers, it's just very difficult to know what Packers team we're going to get on Thursday night.

FRANK SCHWAB: Yeah. And I was enjoying Packers plus 3 and 1/2. And I'll be honest. I took it right away because I thought, Packers are a public team. That's going to come down to 3. I want the hook.

And then that ticket, I should burn it right now because it's up to 6. And I think it's going to go higher.

What I wonder, Scott, is this a contrarian game? Everybody's going to write off the Packers. They got no receivers. Aaron Rodgers has nobody to throw to.

Well, this is still a really, really good football team. And Matt LaFleur has his issues sometimes. But I think he's a really good coach.

And not that anybody's do-- you know, we just talked about nothing lasts forever in the NFL. Nothing's-- are the Arizona Cardinals just going undefeated? I don't know that that's true either.

I wonder if especially, if this slide somehow, someway gets over 7, I'm probably going to take the Packers to just say, they'll find a way to keep it close. Aaron Jones, AJ Dillon, use your tight ends more. I kind of trust them and trust Aaron Rodgers to just figure it out when their backs are against the wall. And absolutely positively nobody's going to be picking them.

SCOTT PIANOWSKI: Yeah. I think the line is going to swell because who wants-- nobody wants to bet on an injured Packers team, and the Cardinals are becoming a very-- the Cardinals are 20-point favorites, I think, at kick-off when that Houston game finally started.

Interesting. Talk about the way things have shifted. Kyler Murray is not running anymore. He's got I think 17 rushing yards the last three weeks. He hasn't hit 40 rushing yards in a game. And part of that is they have great receiving corps. They have two running backs they like.

Green Bay's pass defense is just kind of meh. But they've been pressuring the quarterback. They've had a really good pass rush lately.

And I think this game may come down to, in the NFL you don't have to stop your opponent all the time. You just have to disrupt them. You just have to get a couple of turnovers, hit the quarterback a little bit, you know, get in their way.

If Green Bay could hold Arizona to 20 or 24 points, I'm sure they'd be thrilled and say, you know, OK, Aaron. Outscore 20 or 24. And I think Aaron Rodgers even with a skeleton crew can still do that. So.

FRANK SCHWAB: One more thing is just, if you're going to take the Packers, wait until kickoff because I don't know that we're done with the COVID news, honestly. Like if-- it feels like we're going to get a couple more. And I just think everybody's going to bet on the Cardinals.

So wait until-- if you like the Cardinals, beat them now. If you like the Packers, I'd wait until 5 minutes before kickoff.

SCOTT PIANOWSKI: Sure. And also make sure, like, Aaron Rodgers isn't like, scratched or something like that. I mean--

FRANK SCHWAB: Correct. Yeah. And that's the other thing. Like, I'm sitting here with a Packers plus 3 and 1/2 ticket. And it's-- sometimes that works out. But this time [INAUDIBLE].

SCOTT PIANOWSKI: I'm going to probably lean Green Bay, too. But again, let's wait as long as we can to lock anything in there. And I hope that's a good game because these teams are probably on a collision course in the playoffs with the NFC is very top heavy.