Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt took a cautious approach, Green Bay's Mike McCarthy kept the Packers at full bore most of the day.

The result was a 33-7 Green Bay rout of the NFC champion Cardinals in their regular season finale on Sunday.

Next Sunday, the teams will meet again on the same field in the first round of the playoffs. The outcome will determine which coach took the right approach.

"We wanted to come out here to win the game, keep our razor sharp and gain some momentum going into the playoffs," McCarthy said. "It didn't matter who we were playing. I understand Arizona had a different agenda. ... We like the way we played the last eight weeks and it was very important for us to maximize this opportunity."

McCarthy knew he was taking a risk that one of his key players might get hurt.

Aaron Rodgers played three quarters, mostly against Arizona reserves, completing 21 of 26 passes for 235 yards and a touchdown.

Charles Woodson, who later left with a shoulder injury McCarthy said wasn't serious, returned an interception 45 yards for another score as the Packers (11-5) won for the seventh time in eight games.

It was the most one-sided home loss for Arizona in Whisenhunt's three seasons with the Cardinals, and many of the Packers didn't think it was meaningless.

"They've got a lot to think about," Green Bay defensive end Johnny Jolly said.

Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett, however, said the game "kind of really didn't mean anything."

"I guess if they want to celebrate it they can go ahead," Dockett said. "But us personally, we know we've got some work to do and our main focus is next weekend."

Arizona (10-6) sat quarterback Kurt Warner after one quarter. Backup Matt Leinart completed 13 of 21 passes for 96 yards and was intercepted twice.

Most of Arizona's first-team defense played only one possession.

The Cardinals lost standout cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to a bruised left kneecap on the third play of the game.

Whisenhunt said he had two game plans ready. The one he would use was determined by the outcome of the Minnesota-New York Giants game. When the Vikings won, ending any chance for Arizona to get a No. 2 seed, Whisenhunt opted for the bland option.

"I can't speak to what they were doing," Whisenhunt said of the Packers. "I know we had a plan going in about what we were going to do if the situation was the way it ended up being. It was very difficult to stick to that plan. All I can say is hopefully it will pay off for us next week."

Whisenhunt thought his team let down before the game even started after seeing the Vikings win in a rout.