NFC Playoffs: Cardinals, Packers Kick Off At 4:40 P.M.

Sunday's playoff match-up between the Cardinals and Packers is the third of the weekend to be a rematch of the previous week's game. In Week 17, the Packers decimated the Cardinals, 33-7.

A little extra drama has been added to today's game: on Sunday morning, it was reported that Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner is expected to retire once the team's postseason end. So if the Packers beat the Cardinals today, it may signal the end of one of the strangest, most improbable careers the NFL has ever seen.

Back to the game itself, though...let's check in with our SB Nation blogs. Our Cardinals blog, Revenge of the Birds, foresees a 33-28 Cardinals win.

Realistically I would never pick the Cardinals to lose, especially in the playoffs. But I do believe the game could go either way and both teams could certainly score over 30 points. In fact, I think the team that does score over 30 will win. It's exciting that the Cardinals are in their second consecutive postseason and that they have a shot to get back to the Super Bowl this year. It's going to be a challenge, but after all, no one expected the Cardinals to do anything last year

But to Packers blog, Acme Packing Company, it's a pretty open-and-shut affair: the Packers are the superior football team.

Bottom line: I didn't see any area where the Cardinals are better than the Packers. Yes, I'm a Packer homer, but there's nothing about their team that worries me, unless WR Larry Fitzgerald goes off again like he did in the playoffs last year, but even then the Packers should still be able to keep up in a shootout.

Though they've been better in recent weeks at avoiding penalties, the Packers are still likely to commit more. The Cardinals' special teams are much better than the Packers' awful unit. But those two areas alone aren't going to win them the game.

Both of these blogs will have live game threads ready to go. Jump in there and talk while you watch:

Packers live game thread
Cardinals live game thread