There are officially zero undefeated teams remaining in the NFL, thanks to the Green Bay Packers. The Cardinals now sit at 7-1 following Thursday Night Football, just like the Packers, and Green Bay holds the all-important tiebreaker for playoff seeding. 

“I can’t say enough about that entire locker room,” said Head Coach Matt LaFleur. “The resiliency this group has, the character this group has, no matter what they have the mentality of ‘whatever it takes’ and that showed through tonight.”

It was an effort that took everyone. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for only 184 yards, but had two touchdowns to Randall Cobb. Running backs Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon combined for 137 yards on the ground. Safety Henry Black and cornerback Rasul Douglas recorded their first interceptions in Packers uniforms. Special teams caused a turnover which gave the offense the ball inside the three-yard line. 

“I think we’re a gritty football team.” said Rodgers, adding that not many people probably expected them to win with the pieces they were missing, including three wide receivers in Davante Adams, Allen Lazard, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

Of course, for all of the good that came from beating an undefeated Cardinals team on a short week, the Packers still left Arizona with plenty to clean up on both sides of the ball. A big emphasis, though, being Green Bay’s red zone offense. 

“Those two red zone trips kind of eat at me. Where you’ve gotta come away with more points than that and when you don’t, it’s disappointing and it almost cost us,” said LaFleur. The Packers went 3-for-5 and got stopped twice inside the 10. 

Both LaFleur and Rodgers acknowledged the way the Cardinals defense played in the red zone, continuing to add “bigs” at the goal line, daring Green Bay to throw the ball. 

On a short week, already undermanned, the Packers lost both kick returner Kylin Hill and tight end Robert Tonyan during the game. It was later announced that both players suffered ACL injuries and would be lost for the season. That kind of adversity, unfortunately, is not new for the 2021 Green Bay Packers.

“That’s life in the National Football League. Every week you get new challenges,” said LaFleur. “Adversity is going to strike. It struck us again tonight. I mean, some other key players go out unfortunately. That’s just the unfortunate part of this game. Luckily we’ve got a great locker room and we’ve got a lot of depth and other guys just continue to step up and that’s what we’re going to need the rest of the way.”

So many of the players that made game-changing plays for the Packers on Thursday Night spent the offseason in a different uniform. Cobb, most recently with the Texans, hauled in two touchdowns as WR1. Inside linebacker De’Vondre Campbell, most recently with the Cardinals, had a sack on Kyler Murray. Douglas, who had the game-sealing interception, was signed off the Cardinals practice squad in-season to help a depleted cornerbacks room without Jaire Alexander and Kevin King. Punter Corey Bojorquez has given special teams a much needed boost after spending all of training camp with the Rams. 

“It just shows how good the team is. And that guys step up when their number is being called. Just like me. Practice squad, now I’m playing,” Douglas said of the team’s “next man up” mentality. “And that’s how we practice like everybody is a starter.” 

Part of the reason this team has been so successful is its “don’t blink” mentality, a mantra that came up multiple times in post-game interviews. 

“We didn’t blink at all. We went down early; we fought our way back, and that just shows the character of the guys in this locker room,” said left guard Jon Runyan Jr. 

“I think that’s what we all preach to each other is ‘don’t blink,’” added inside linebacker Krys Barnes, saying that even on the final drive he felt the team would be victorious. 

On offense, Green Bay dominated time of possession, holding the ball for 37:35. On defense, the Packers kept the Cardinals to only 4-of-10 on third down and limited rushing opportunities, with Arizona gaining only 74 yards on the ground all game. 

All of this happened without defensive coordinator Joe Barry, with passing game coordinator Jerry Gray taking over defensive play calling duties, and inside linebackers coach Kirk Olivadotti relaying calls to Campbell on the field. 

“I can't say enough about how far we’ve come from Week 1 to where we are right now,” said LaFleur. 

The players know what this means moving forward, and what a win like this says about a team missing some of its biggest stars. 

“We have a good group of guys that, there's a different feeling to the team than even the last couple years. I’m not sure how it’s going to finish up, but I like the energy that we have in the locker room,” said Rodgers. 

The playoff implications certainly don’t hurt, either. “At the end, we want it to run through Lambeau,” Jones said with a smile. 

The Packers now have a “mini-bye” to get healthy before another road test against the Kansas City Chiefs. That game will kick off at 3:25 p.m. CST on Sunday, Nov. 7.