Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer, 36, has been selected to three Pro Bowls, but he has yet to win an NFL playoff game. Credit: Associated Press

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Green Bay — At 36 years old, this might be quarterback Carson Palmer's last chance to win a playoff game, let alone reach the Super Bowl.

The pressures are many as Palmer leads the second-seeded Arizona Cardinals (13-3) against the fifth-seeded Green Bay Packers (11-6) in an NFC divisional playoff game Saturday night in Glendale, Ariz.

"The pressure is only something you feel if you're not prepared," coach Bruce Arians said Tuesday. "I'm betting he's going to be really prepared....I'm sure he's going to be excited. My job is to not let him get too excited.

"He's obviously more than just a quarterback. He's the leader of the football team and our guys rally around him. He's a very calming player."

Since the Cardinals' 38-8 romp over the Packers 2½ weeks ago, Palmer turned in a subpar performance in their 36-6 loss to the visiting Seattle Seahawks. With a win over Seattle and a loss by Carolina to Tampa Bay, Arizona would have clinched home-field advantage as the No. 1 seed.

Neither the Panthers' big early lead nor the Cardinals' big early deficit caused Arians to remove Palmer at halftime. He said his decision had been made six days earlier.

"I think Arizona really came out to win," an executive in personnel for an NFL team said after studying the Seattle tape. "I wouldn't say they were flat. They came out sharp, but Seattle imposed their will. Seattle was very much more the physical team."

A personnel director for another team disagreed, saying, "You can disregard the Seattle game. Arizona had nothing to play for."

Seattle had five starters on the inactive list.

Palmer completed just 12 of 25 passes for 129 yards, one interception, one touchdown and a passer rating of 60.3.

There were poor decisions, bad throws and two balls batted down at the line. He floated one interception and threw another deep ball into a three-man cluster of defenders that was even worse. The Seahawks dropped that one.

Arians blamed the receivers for dropping several passes, but it clearly wasn't the way Palmer wanted to enter the postseason.

"What Seattle did well was eliminate the run game and force Carson to make quick decisions," one scout said. "He kind of got out of rhythm and had an uncharacteristic day. He's been really careful with the ball. He was trying to give guys a chance to make a play."

Palmer didn't practice much before the Green Bay and Seattle games because of the dislocated index finger on his right hand that he suffered following through into the hand and face mask of Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin on Dec. 20.

When Palmer continued playing, he developed a "very sore lat (muscle) from changing his motion," according to Arians.

Last week, Arians added: "For a quarterback it's a weird feeling, and it worried him some. But once we readjusted the tape job so that he could use his finger and come off the ball last, the soreness went away and he's really good right now."

Three days after the Seattle game, Palmer said the injuries no longer were an issue.

Palmer, who won the 2002 Heisman Trophy and recently was selected to his third Pro Bowl, is 0-2 as a playoff starter.

In January 2006, Palmer suffered a dislocated kneecap and other major damage on a hit by Steelers nose tackle Kimo von Oelhoffen on the second play of Cincinnati's playoff defeat.

In January 2010, Palmer played poorly (58.4 rating) as the Bengals, a 2½-point favorite, dropped a wild-card game to the Jets, 24-14. Last year, he suffered another blown knee in Game 9 and missed the Cardinals' 27-16 wild-card loss at Carolina.

Palmer's chance to erase the big void in his career starts against the Packers, against whom he posted a 107.8 rating on Dec. 27.

Unexpected departure:Alex Okafor, a two-year starter at weak outside linebacker in the Cardinals' 3-4 defense, suffered a mysterious toe injury over the weekend and won't play. Arians wouldn't say what happened.

Okafor, 6 feet 4½ inches and 261 pounds, was fourth on the team in pressures with 21 but will be missed more for his strength against the run.

"That's why Okafor was out there," said one scout. "He's a better run defender than the others, a little tougher at the point. It's a known quantity what you get out of him."

Kareem Martin (6-6, 272), a third-round pick in 2014, will start after having played just 145 snaps from scrimmage. Rookie Alani Fua (6-4½, 240), who has 39 snaps, and Jason Babin (6-2½, 267) also will play.

Babin, 35, was signed Tuesday after having been on the street since being cut by Baltimore on Oct. 13. Eighteen of his 64½ sacks came for the Eagles in 2011.

"Martin is a talented player, long and rangy, but hasn't pulled the trigger yet as far as being assertive on defense," said one scout. "I wouldn't call Fua soft but he's a little more edge-finesse than a hard-nosed anchor type."

Rookie Markus Golden, the starter on the strong outside, returned to practice Tuesday wearing a knee brace. He missed the past two games.

Elsewhere on defense, the Packers will see strong safety Rashad Johnson after he missed the first meeting with an ankle injury. D.J. Swearinger filled in.

"Whereas 'Honey Badger' (Tyrann Mathieu) may have been the emotional leader, this guy is the leader who coordinates them," one scout said. "Over the past three years he's picked off a ton (12) of balls. That's not necessarily due to his overall athleticism and speed but more of his understanding where to be."

Backup defensive end Cory Redding, who played 22 snaps against Green Bay, went on injured reserve Tuesday with an ankle injury. His place in the rotation will be filled by Josh Mauro, who is back from a two-game calf injury.

Rough outing: The Seahawks overpowered the middle of the Cardinals' offensive line. In the first half alone, center Lyle Sendlein gave up three knockdowns.

"They're pretty average in the O-line," one personnel man said. "Sendlein's average. (Mike) Iupati is a run-down guy only. (Ted) Larsen is a guy. The right tackle (Bobby Massie) is OK. The left tackle (Jared Veldheer) probably is their best guy."

Seattle held Arizona to season-low totals in yards (232) and rushing yards (27).

"Seattle did a nice job putting pressure on their interior and forcing (Palmer) into making rash, quick decisions," said one scout.

Kicking breakdown: The Cardinals couldn't have played worse on special teams than they did against the Seahawks.

Rookie Tyler Lockett returned four punts for 139 yards, all in the first half. Punter Drew Butler silenced the Packers' Micah Hyde but had an awful finale.

"Seattle doubled Justin Bethel and then Richard Sherman would single the other guy," said one scout. "Butler had some deep kicks and the hang time wasn't great."

Meanwhile, kicker Chandler Catanzaro missed his fifth extra point of the season wide right and hooked a 51-yard field goal try no good off the left upright.

"It's not talent," Arians said, referring to Catanzaro. "It's just something that gets into his head. He normally misses it to the right with a poochie-type of kick instead of just blasting it through."

Expect more: Despite the 30-point margin, Arians indicated the Cardinals and Packers should be fairly evenly matched.

"I don't really think we dominated them in any form or fashion other than we got a couple of good fumbles and picked them up and scored," he said. "They're too good, and we didn't get their best shot because they didn't have their best players."

Said Palmer: "The way that game played out, we didn't run much of what we had planned, and now things are so different this time.

"That game was not something we are hanging our hat on. The way that game turned out is not what we are expecting to happen again. We have to play our best football to beat this team, and we know that."