Nov 28, 2024; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; General view of a Green Bay Packers helmet during the game against the Miami Dolphins at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Unexpected Travel Issue Could Give Cardinals Edge vs Packers

Originally posted on Arizona Cardinals on SI
By Donnie Druin | Last updated Oct 19, 2025 10:00 AM ET

Homefield advantage is taking on a whole new meaning for the Arizona Cardinals.

You often hear about the struggles for teams crossing time zones, though the Green Bay Packers will have another layer of problems after their plane failed to take off on time Saturday.

Ultimately, the team plane carrying players and coaches was delayed for almost six hours due to mechanical issues. They got in late last night after a new plane was flown in from Detroit and likely will be running on less than optimal sleep for their Week 7 matchup.

Cardinals Catching More Z's = More W's?

There's plenty of data suggesting teams struggling when flying through different time zones on the road.

According to a study from the National Library of Medicine, "Among all intra-time zone rivals, home teams won 56.6%, away teams won 43.8%, for a home vs away winning percentage change of -12.8% (P < 0.001).

"... West teams displayed uniformly high home winning percentages (75.0% and 68.4%) when playing Central and East teams, respectively."

That's for teams that haven't had to suffer through delays.

Of course, that doesn't automatically mean the Cardinals will stroll into State Farm Stadium and get an easy win - though advanced metrics outside of football are on their side.

Packers Still Favorites Over Cardinals

The metrics inside the white lines of the gridiron still favor the Packers, however.

Green Bay enters town atop the NFC West with Super Bowl aspirations, displaying such on both sides of the ball.

Arizona, on the other hand, has played teams tough all season but are losers of their last four games by a combined nine points.

The Cardinals will be without Kyler Murray for a second straight week while Josh Jacobs is questionable for the Packers.

Jordan Love and co. are touchdown favorites over the Cardinals entering Sunday.

"Green Bay, a really good football team and well coached. They've got some really elite players in all three phases, so we got our work cut out for us," Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon told reporters earlier this week.

"They're well coached. They do some really good things. They generate explosives on offense. Defensively, they don't give them up. They can rush and cover. They stop the run well. Offensively, they run it well and throw the ball over people's heads. (A) bigtime challenge that we're looking forward to at home.”