Passive Packers stay safe distance from Warner

So do you praise Kurt Warner for his passing efficiency or rip the Green Bay Packers for their defensive deficiencies?

Because I'm often accused of being too negative, I'll first say Warner was incredibly sharp Sunday. He passed for five touchdowns and threw only four incompletions while orchestrating the Arizona Cardinals' 51-45 victory over the Packers.

Yet as great as Warner was, it obviously helped that the Green Bay defense rolled out the red carpet and escorted him down it. The Packers kept their distance from the 38-year-old QB, as if the NFL had issued a restraining order, and allowed Cardinals receivers to leisurely stroll through the secondary.

Oddsmakers set the Green Bay-Arizona total at 471/2, and each team almost eclipsed that number in the highest-scoring playoff game in league history. Warner outgunned Aaron Rodgers in a classic offensive exhibition that, ironically, was won on a defensive score.

Combine exceptional quarterback play with atrocious defense and the result will be "more explosive games," in the words of Jimmy Vaccaro, director of operations for Lucky's sports books.

"Look at the eight teams that are left. You have six elite quarterbacks," Vaccaro said. "I don't think the defenses can keep up with the quality quarterbacks. It's crazy. They go up and down the field like nothing. Forget the defense anymore. You just try to outscore teams."

What's amazing is the Packers defense ranked No. 2 in the NFL at the end of the regular season. Warner, who completed 88 percent of his passes and was sacked once Sunday, should forget about retiring.

An eye-opening first weekend of the postseason is in the books, my NFC sleeper pick (Green Bay) is dead and it appears the path to the Super Bowl will only get more entertaining.

Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints are 7-point favorites over Warner and the Cardinals, and nobody will be running to the window to bet under the total of 57.

Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts are 61/2-point favorites over the Baltimore Ravens, who do play some serious defense.

Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings are 21/2-point favorites over Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys.

Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers are 8-point favorites over the New York Jets and the NFL's No. 1 defense.

"Anybody can win this thing," Vaccaro said. "The 'dog I would take would be the Jets. Rex Ryan has told me they should be the favorite and I believe him. The favorite I would take is the Colts."

The remaining field of eight teams includes six great quarterbacks (yes, I'm now putting Romo in that group), and New England's Tom Brady is not one of them. He threw three interceptions and the Patriots fell behind 24-0 in a 33-14 loss to the Ravens. Instead of Bill Belichick coaching in another Super Bowl, could we see a Norv Turner-Wade Phillips matchup?

Las Vegas sports books dodged a bullet with Arizona's win. The Cardinals opened as 21/2-point favorites and the betting public pounded the Packers, who closed as 3-point favorites.

"Everything that was live carried over to the Packers," Vaccaro said. "The books caught a break there. It was a huge, huge win. Not that you won that much, but you avoided losing so much money. It was a great save for the weekend."

Looking ahead to next weekend, the Cardinals, Cowboys, Jets and Ravens are all intriguing underdogs.

"I think you'll get Jets money," Vaccaro said. "The Dallas-Minnesota game is a hard one to figure, but it looks like an automatic take with the Cowboys if it goes to plus-3. I think you'll see plenty of Dallas play.

"I'm almost sure -- nothing is an absolute in this racket -- the joints will be rooting for the 'dogs in three out of the four games."

Warner simply embarrassed the Green Bay defense, and it won't be a big surprise if he does something similar to the Saints.

For those who appreciate great quarterback play, the remainder of this postseason should be as good as it gets.

But defense still wins championships, and that's where the Packers were dreadfully deficient.

Contact sports betting reporter and columnist Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.