Boldin & Rodgers-Cromartie Among Cardinals Battling Injury Bug

NFL News - January 7th, 2010 - Written by John

The Arizona Cardinals come into the NFL Playoffs with an already daunting task of turning the tide on the Green Bay Packers, and it certainly won't get easier with three premier starters in limbo after suffering injuries in the finale.

In that game, in which the Pack laid the wood in a 33-7 throttling, receiver Anquan Boldin went down with a bum ankle, cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie hurt his knee and defensive end Calais Campbell broke his left thumb. All had to leave the game and are questionable for the wild card round.

Injuries on the defensive side of the ball are likely to be the most troublesome for the Cardinals because they already rank 20th in the league, and Green Bay's offense knows it can essentially score at will (or at least it believes it can).

And with Boldin's ankle apparently improving, the spotlight will be on Rodgers-Cromartie and Campbell as the week progresses. Boldin told the Arizona Republic that he has a high ankle sprain in his left foot and has a sprained medial collateral ligament in the same ankle. Those are both extremely discomforting injuries, but could be subdued a bit with training and medication.

Campbell recently had a cast placed over his bum thumb, and will probably play, which narrows it down to Rodgers-Cromartie. He said he still can't extend his leg very far, and hasn't gotten the Ochocinco treatment yet. If he can't improve his comprehensive movement on the field, he will likely be held out.

Arizona is currently favored by one, according to the NFL Betting Lines as listed at BetUS. In addition, the Cardinals are currently going off as the longshot to win the NFC in the 2009 NFL Playoffs at +1000, or 10 to 1.