The Packers are 2-0 and seem to have their offense firing on all cylinders right now, while Kurt Warner, Anquan Boldin, and Larry Fitzgerald and the rest of the Cardinals offense has looked anything but sharp coming in at 0-2.

The Cardinals are currently listed as 3.5-point home favorites.

The Packers tore apart the Buffalo Bills at home last week as Rodgers tossed a pair of touchdowns, completing 8-of-9 passes for 98 yards overall.

In a loss to the Chargers last week, the Cards offense turned the ball over twice and failed to put seven points on the board in all five of their red zone appearances.

Preseason games don’t mean much, but this is the spot where Arizona must come through in order to gain some confidence for the regular season.

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Bodog is favoring the home-team Packers by 3 points as both teams get ready to play their first games of the 2009 NFL preseason schedule.

This will be Browns head coach Eric Mangini’s first game with his new club after coaching the New York Jets the previous few seasons and he’ll have some decisions to make in regards to his starting quarterback.

Derek Anderson struggled quite a bit last season, and with former first-round draft pick Brady Quinn waiting in the wings there should be a lively quarterback battle in the preseason.

Green Bay’s QB situation will require much less work as Aaron Rodgers is the team’s starter.

Cleveland has a reason to play hard for their new coach and a quarterback battle, which generally makes for winning ball in the preseason.

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Players report July 31 to the team’s facilities in Green Bay. Camp opens Aug. 1. An intrasquad scrimmage will be held at Lambeau Field on Saturday night, Aug. 8. The team has seven two-a-days scheduled in the first 20 days of camp, which will close Sept. 1.

There will be a fresh start for the Packers since they fired nearly all of the defensive coaching staff and brought in Dom Capers to engineer a switch from a 4-3 alignment to a 3-4 scheme.

The Packers have the ingredients for a good offense, but will need their defense to come together quickly if they hope to contend in a division that has been bolstered by the arrival of Jay Cutler in Chicago, Matthew Stafford in Detroit and, perhaps, Brett Favre in Minnesota.

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Certainly it's hard to blame Aaron Rodgers for that 2008 disappointment. In his first season as a starter, Rodgers ranked sixth overall in QB rating and was one of six quarterbacks to throw for more than 4,000 yards and 26 touchdowns. So did Green Bay make the right move in pushing Favre aside? Statistically yes, but Rodgers was 0-for-7 last year when the Packer offense had the ball trailing or tied with less than five minutes remaining and the chance to win the game. Green Bay finished 0-7 in games decided by four points or fewer.

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The main question on offense is whether Ryan Grant, a revelation in 2007, can stay healthy and productive in 2008. Sure, he had 1,203 yards last year, but only four touchdowns and a yards-per-carry average under 4.0. Green Bay's rushing attack was 17th overall last year. Receivers Greg Jennings and Donald Driver remain one of the most productive duos in the league.

It's on defense where Green Bay will look a lot different. That unit, not so much Rodgers, has to take the blame for a lot of those last-minute losses, and it ranked just 26th against the run. Packers management certainly thought a change was needed, so a majority of the defensive staff was let go. New defensive coordinator Dom Capers is installing the 3-4 defense. But how long will it take the returning players to adjust to that? No. 9 overall pick B.J. Raji should be a nice fit in the new scheme, however.

Here is the Packers' 2009 schedule, and we'll break it down after:
Sept. 13 vs. Chicago Bears, 8:20 p.m.
Sept. 20 vs. Cincinnati Bengals, 1 p.m.
Sept. 27 at St. Louis Rams, 1 p.m.
Oct. 5 at Minnesota Vikings, 8:20 p.m.
Week 5: Bye
Oct. 18 vs. Detroit Lions, 1 p.m.
Oct. 25 at Cleveland Browns, 1 p.m.
Nov. 1 vs. Minnesota Vikings, 1 p.m.
Nov. 8 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1 p.m.
Nov. 15 vs. Dallas Cowboys, 4:15 p.m.
Nov. 22 vs. San Francisco 49ers, 1 p.m.
Nov. 26 at Detroit Lions, 12:30 p.m.
Dec. 7 vs. Baltimore Ravens, 8:30 p.m.
Dec. 13 at Chicago Bears, 1 p.m.
Dec. 20 at Pittsburgh Steelers, 1 p.m.
Dec. 27 vs. Seattle Seahawks, 1 p.m.
Jan. 3 at Arizona Cardinals, 4:15 p.m.

Strength of schedule: 30th (opponents combined to go 109-146-1, .428, in 2008)
Projected record: 7-9
Bodog over/under total: 8 1/2
Bodog odds to win Super Bowl XLIV: 26/1

That opener with Chicago will be the first of many Jay Cutler-Rodgers duels. The two friends already have been trading text messages. But I like a Bears upset, as Chicago is 4-2 against Green Bay in Coach Mike McCarthy's three seasons, although the game at Lambeau was a Packer rout last year. Green Bay certainly will be favored in the final two games of the opening month and will finish it 2-1.

In October, look for that record to flip to 1-2, with a lock win at home against Detroit. Packer backers, I'm sure, will argue for a win at Cleveland, but the Dawg Pound is never an easy place to play. By the way, it's Green Bay's first visit to Cleveland since 1995.

In November, Green Bay will win each home game, which is saying something against Super Bowl contenders Minnesota and Dallas. The Cowboys have only won once ever at Lambeau, although that was last year. And Tony Romo is 2-0 against Green Bay … nope, I'm sticking with a Green Bay upset. Yes, I do believe the Packers fall to the Lions on Thanksgiving. Try not to laugh, but Detroit is 11-6-1 against Green Bay on Thanksgiving, and the Lions last win on the holiday came against Green Bay in 2003. Come on, Detroit isn't going to go winless at home again! The Pack will go 0-2 on the road that month – they don't like playing in Tampa, winning just one in their last seven attempts there.

At 6-5 to start December, the Pack should be in the wild-card hunt, but I forecast a 1-4 finish for a 7-9 record. Green Bay certainly will be favored to beat Seattle and should, but it could be an underdog in all those other games (maybe not Baltimore). Playing the two Super Bowl teams from last year on the road within two weeks is a cruel twist in the schedule.

Would a second straight losing season post-Favre cost McCarthy and/or GM Ted Thompson their job? It just might.

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Green Bay’s second-half slide continued last week, as they dropped their fifth game in a row on Monday night to the Bears. The Packers were in control with a 14-3 lead heading into the second before Chicago clawed back to tie the game in the fourth quarter. Green Bay could have won on a field goal in the fourth quarter, but Chicago blocked it to send the game to overtime. Green Bay’s defeat was complete after the Bears hit a field goal in OT.

The Packers already took care of the Lions back in Week 2 in a 48-25 win. To avoid the ultimate season of futility the Lions will need to win in Green Bay for the first time since 1991. Get your NFL picks with Bodog now.

Since beating up on the Bears the Packers have gone 0-4, including last week’s 20-16 loss to Jacksonville. The Green Bay defense, which had been solid to start the season, has fallen off dramatically during their bad run. Green Bay’s defense showed their inadequacy last week after giving up two fourth-quarter touchdowns to the Jaguars to blow another lead.

The Bears have gone 3-1 since losing to Green Bay and kept their playoff hopes alive last week with a 27-24 win over New Orleans. Chicago has won their last two games despite lackluster performances from quarterback Kyle Orton. In those two wins Orton threw three interceptions and only two touchdowns.

When Green Bay visited Chicago last season the Bears killed them 35-7 as a 7.5-point underdog, and on Monday night the Bears are a 4-point favorite. Be sure to get your NFL football odds in the Bodog Sportsbook.

This week the 1.5-point favored Packers will try to pick up the pieces against a Jacksonville Jaguars team that is one of the most disappointing teams in the whole league.

The Jags lost 23-10 to the Bears on Sunday to fall to 4-9 on the season. David Garrard completed only 4-of-12 passes in the first half for a 7.6 passer rating when the Jaguars fell behind 20-3. He finished 19-of-38 for 178 yards and a 61.1 rating.

Total bettors should know that the over is 9-2 in the Jaguars’ last 11 games in December and 4-1 in the Packers’ last five games in December.

The Texans will be playing on a short week of rest after dumping Jacksonville 30-17 on Monday night as 3-point home faves. Steve Slaton rushed for 130 yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Jaguars; he should continue his fine rookie season against the No. 29-ranked run defense in the NFL. Green Bay counters with a higher-scoring offense than Houston’s, although the Texans are getting more yards per attempt, both passing and rushing.

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In the past three games the Panthers have allowed 410 rushing yards and six touchdowns on the ground. Next up they will face the Green Bay Packers, who are 3-point favorites heading into Sunday.
The Packers will be looking to fix a pass defense that got roasted by the Saints. The final net passing total of 318 yards was a season high against Green Bay, which had been yielding an average of 176.3 yards per game. Only three opponents before the Saints had passed for at least 200 yards against the Packers this season.

At least the Saints finally get to go home again in Week 12. New Orleans hasn’t played at the Superdome since Week 6. In New Orleans this season the Saints are 3-1, compared to 2-4 on the road.

The Packers dominated the Bears 37-3 in a must-win divisional clash last week. Ryan Grant had no trouble with the Bears’ run defense with 145 yards and a TD on 25 carries. Get all your NFL odds in the Bodog Sportsbook.