For the Packers, it's personal.
Green Bay is just hours away from Saturday night's divisional-round tilt with the Cardinals, but will the results be any different than the 38-8 beating they absorbed in Arizona in Week 16?
"I think any time you get slapped in the face on national television," guard T.J. Lang told USA TODAY, "you take that personal. Yeah, that's a team that embarrassed us. It turned a lot of people against us, caused a lot of people to lose faith and hope in us. It's nothing we can do about that now. That game's behind us. There's a lot of learning lessons we can take from that game and hopefully apply this week."
The game tape of that loss was especially brutal, with Packers tackle Bryan Bulaga saying: "It's not a good film to watch, but you've got to do it. You've got to see what happened. ... It was a learning tape to take a look at, correct and move on."
The big question is whether Aaron Rodgers and his Packers offense are up to the challenge against Arizona's deep defense. Runners Eddie Lacy and James Starks came to life in last Sunday's wild-card win over Washington, but the Cardinals sport the league's sixth-best unit against the run along with a versatile pass defense.
"I think the best thing you can ask for is a chance at redemption, almost," said Lang. "Getting that group again, and going out and proving to ourselves and proving to everybody that first time was a fluke."
