Packers, Cards both head into Lambeau Field matchup with momentum from road wins

Arizona (2-3) at Green Bay (3-2)

Sunday, 1 p.m. EDT, Fox

BetMGM NFL odds: Packers by 5.

Against the spread: Cardinals 3-2; Packers 3-2

Series record: Packers lead 46-26-4

Last meeting: Packers beat Cardinals 24-21 in Arizona on Oct. 28, 2021

Last week: Cardinals won 24-23 at San Francisco; Packers won 24-29 on the road over Los Angeles Rams

Cardinals offense: overall (14), rush (4), pass (T-24), scoring (12)

Packers offense: overall (T-4), rush (3), pass (10), scoring (8)

Cardinals defense: overall (25), rush (28), pass (18), scoring (27)

Packers defense: overall (21), rush (11), pass (23), scoring (14)

Turnover differential: Cardinals plus-1; Packers plus-7

WR Michael Wilson caught five passes for a team-high 78 yards in last weekend's win over the 49ers. The second-year player out of Stanford doesn't get the same hype as rookie teammate Marvin Harrison Jr., but the more attention Harrison receives from opposing defenses, the more room Wilson has to operate. At 6-foot-2 and 213 pounds, he combines speed, strength and athleticism that are all excellent for a No. 2 option.

S Xavier McKinney has intercepted a pass in each of his first five games with the Packers. He actually has an interception in six straight games, if you include the pass he picked off while playing for the New York Giants in their 2023 season finale. The only other players since 1990 to have an interception in six straight games were Carolina’s Doug Evans (2001), Minnesota’s Brian Russell (2003) and Dallas’ Trevon Diggs (2021).

Cardinals running game vs. Packers run defense. The Cardinals rushed for 169 yards in their upset of the 49ers, with James Conner gaining 86 yards on 19 carries and Kyler Murray running for 83 yards and a touchdown on seven attempts. Run defense has been one of the Packers’ biggest weaknesses for most of the past few years, though they’ve shown progress in that area so far this season. The Packers allowed 134 yards on 28 carries against the Rams, with Kyren Williams rushing for 102 yards on 22 attempts.

Cardinals OL Will Hernandez (knee) was put on injured reserve this week and is out for the season. ... Cardinals rookie DL Darius Robinson (calf) was activated from IR this week but remains out for this game. ... Cardinals WR Zay Jones (hamstring) also is out. ... Cardinals OT Kelvin Beachum (hamstring), OL Christian Jones (ankle), K Matt Prater (knee) and CB Garrett Williams (groin) are questionable. ... Packers TE Luke Musgrave (ankle) has been placed on injured reserve and will miss at least Green Bay's next four games. ... Packers DL Devonte Wyatt (ankle) will miss a second straight game. ... Packers CB Jaire Alexander (groin), OL Jordan Morgan (shoulder), DL Arron Mosby (shoulder), OT Rasheed Walker (knee) and WR Christian Watson (ankle) are questionable. Morgan has missed three straight games, Alexander's been out for two games and Watson didn't play against the Rams.

The Packers’ 2021 victory in Arizona snapped the Cardinals’ three-game winning streak in this series, which included a 26-20 overtime triumph in a divisional playoff game on Jan. 16, 2016. In that 2021 game, Murray was 22 of 33 for 274 yards with two interceptions and Conner rushed for 22 yards and two touchdowns on five carries. The Packers got two touchdown completions from Aaron Rodgers to Randall Cobb, who both are no longer with the team. The previous time the Cardinals visited Lambeau Field, they won 20-17 on Dec. 2, 2018.

Murray ran for a 50-yard TD for the Cardinals' first TD in last week's win over the 49ers. According to NFL NextGen Stats, he hit 21.27 mph on the run, which is the fastest speed recorded for a QB over the past eight seasons. .... The Cardinals have been called for just 19 penalties through five games, which is the fewest in the NFL. ... The Packers rank third in the NFL in rushing yards while the Cardinals are No. 4. ... Murray has thrown 101 TD passes, which ranks fifth in franchise history. He recently passed Kurt Warner on the team's list. ... Cardinals S Budda Baker had a team-high 12 tackles vs. the 49ers. It was the 29th game of his career with 10 or more tackles. ... Cardinals DL Bilal Nichols will play his 100th career game on Sunday. He's played four seasons with the Bears and two for the Raiders before coming to Arizona over the offseason. ... The Packers had 96-yard drives the past two weeks against Minnesota and the Rams. According to Elias Sports Bureau, it’s the first time in the past 45 seasons that the Packers had a drive of at least 95 yards in back-to-back weeks. … Packers RB Josh Jacobs has 402 yards rushing to rank fourth in the NFL. … The Packers’ plus-7 turnover margin puts them in a tie with Buffalo for the best in the league. … Packers WR Jayden Reed has 414 yards receiving and 110 yards rushing. He’s the sixth player ever to have at least 400 yards receiving and 100 yards rushing in the first five games of a season. The others are Washington’s Wilbur Moore (1943), the New York Giants’ Frank Gifford (1959), Philadelphia’s Timmy Brown (1965), San Francisco’s Paul Hofer (1980) and San Francisco’s Roger Craig (1985). … Packers TE Tucker Kraft has three TD catches to match San Francisco’s George Kittle and Baltimore’s Isaiah Likely for the most among tight ends. Kraft’s 66-yard score against the Rams matched the third-longest touchdown catch by any Packers tight end in the Super Bowl era, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The only longer ones were a 78-yarder by Paul Coffman in 1979 and a 72-yarder from Tom Crabtree in 2012. Jackie Harris also had a 66-yarder in 1993.

Kraft’s recent production shows he has become a must-start tight end every week if you have him on your roster.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Green Bay Packers cornerback Evan Williams (33) celebrates with safety Javon Bullard (20) after forcing an incompletion against the Los Angeles Rams during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft (85) runs for a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Arizona Cardinals linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. (2) celebrates next to cornerback Max Melton (16) after recovering a fumble by San Francisco 49ers running back Jordan Mason during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) passes against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Arizona Cardinals linebacker Kyzir White, middle, is congratulated by teammates after intercepting a pass against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney (29) attempts to intercept a pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Green Bay Packers players celebrate an interception by safety Xavier McKinney (29) during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

AURORA, Colo. (AP) — Donald Trump detoured from the battleground states Friday to visit a Colorado suburb that's been in the news over illegal immigration as he drives a message that migrants are causing chaos in smaller American cities and towns, often using false or misleading claims to do so.

Trump’s rally in Aurora marked the first time ahead of the November election that either presidential campaign has visited Colorado, which reliably votes Democratic statewide.

The Republican nominee has long promised to stage the largest deportation operation in U.S. history and has made immigration core to his political persona since the day he launched his first campaign in 2015. Over the last few months, Trump has pinpointed specific smaller communities that have seen large arrivals of migrants, with tensions flaring locally over resources and some longtime residents expressing distrust about sudden demographic changes.

Aurora entered the spotlight in August when a video circulated showing armed men walking through an apartment building housing Venezuelan migrants. Trump has claimed extensively that Venezuelan gangs are taking over buildings, even though authorities say that was a single block of the suburb near Denver, and the area is again safe.

Ignoring those denials from local authorities, Trump painted a picture of apartment complexes overrun by “barbaric thugs,” blaming President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump's Democratic rival.

“They're ruining your state,” Trump said of the Democrats in the White House.

“No person who has inflicted the violence and terror that Kamala Harris has inflicted on this community can ever be allowed to become the president of the United States,” Trump added.

Trump planned to announce that as president he'd launch “Operation Aurora” to focus on deporting members of the Venezeulan gang Tren de Aragua, or TDA, according to a senior campaign official who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview Trump's speech. The violent gang traces its origins more than a decade to an infamously lawless prison with hardened criminals.

Trump planned to repeat his pledge to invoke the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law that allows the president to deport any noncitizen who is from a country that the U.S. is at war with.

In July, the Biden administration issued a sanction against the gang, placing it alongside MS-13 from El Salvador and the Mafia-styled Camorra from Italy on a list of transnational criminal organizations and offering $12 million in rewards for the arrest of three leaders.

At the venue where he was appearing on Friday, attendees filled a vast conference hall, curated specially for Trump’s visit to Aurora: On stage, posters displayed mug shots of people in prison-orange with descriptions including “Illegal immigrant gang members from Venezuela.”

Stephen Miller, a former top aide who is expected to take a senior role in the White House if Trump wins, pointed to the posters as he addressed the crowd ahead of Trump's appearance.

“Look at all these photos around me," Miller said. “Are these the kids you grew up with? Are these the neighbors you were raised with? Are these the neighbors that you want in your city?” The crowd roared ”no" in reply.

Some of Colorado’s Democratic leaders accused Trump and other Republicans of overstating problems in Aurora.

“What is occurring is minimal and isolated. And to be clear, it’s never acceptable, right? We never say any level is acceptable,” said Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo. “But it’s not a surge. It’s not a change. There is no takeover of any part of this city, of any apartment complex. It has not happened. It is a lie.”

Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, also have spread falsehoods about a community in Springfield, Ohio, where they said Haitian immigrants were accused of stealing and eating pets.

While Ohio and Colorado are not competitive in the presidential race, the Republican message on immigration is intended for states that are. Vance campaigned recently in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, a city of 70,000 that has resettled refugees from Africa and Asia, and touted Trump's plan to ramp up deportations. He argues smaller communities have been “overrun” by immigrants taxing local resources.

Trump has vowed to deport not only “criminal,” a promise he shares with Harris, but also Haitians living legally in Springfield and even people he has denigrated as “pro-Hamas radicals” protesting on college campuses. Trump has said he would revoke the temporary protected status that allows Haitians to stay in the U.S. because of widespread poverty and violence in their home nation.

Trump repeatedly faults Harris and Biden for allowing record high numbers of arrivals, saying that is fueling violent crime, though numbers show a continued downward trend after a coronavirus pandemic-era crime spike.

On the campaign trail, Trump uses specific cases of murders or attacks where suspects are immigrants who arrived in the country illegally. He has referred to them as “animals,” and earlier this week suggested that those suspected in homicide cases “have bad genes.”

Chris Haynes, an associate professor of political science at University of New Haven, who wrote a book about public opinion on immigration policies and has studied the former president’s messaging on immigration, says that is part of what he calls “episodic branding." It may prompt some moderate voters to reassess who they want to support, he said.

“What’s worked for him from the very beginning is to vilify immigrants, but also to try to make people feel like they’re a threat,” said Haynes, saying some of the rhetoric also appeals to low propensity voters that are part of his base.

Harris has tacked to the right on immigration, presenting herself as a candidate who can be tough on policing the border, which is perceived as one of her biggest vulnerabilities.

She wrapped up a three-day western swing with a campaign event Friday in Scottsdale, Arizona, where Harris said she would create a bipartisan council of advisers to provide feedback on her policy initiatives if she makes it to the White House.

“I love good ideas wherever they come from,” said Harris, who is making a push to get Republicans with doubts about Trump to support her.

She also accused Trump of letting Iran “off the hook” while he was in office and made her case that she would be a greater champion for Israel’s security than the Republican nominee.

“Make no mistake, as president, I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend American forces and interests from Iran and Iran-backed terrorists,” Harris said in a call with Jewish supporters ahead of Yom Kippur. “And I will never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. Diplomacy is my preferred path to that end. But all options are on the table.”

Harris charged that Trump “did nothing” after Iranian-backed militias attacked U.S. bases and American troops.

But Trump in fact during his time in office had ordered strikes against Iranian backed militias as well as a January 2020 operation that killed Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force.

Harris participated virtually in a White House briefing with President Biden on the recovery effort from hurricanes Milton and Helene. She sought to reassure those who endured losses from the hurricane that they would get help from the government.

Gomez reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Associated Press writers Darlene Superville and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, in Aurora, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, in Aurora, Colo. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump talks backstage before he speaks at a campaign rally at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, in Aurora, Colo. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, in Aurora, Colo. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, in Aurora, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, in Aurora, Colo. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Supporters of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump check their mobile devices before Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, in Aurora, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Supporters wait to enter to see Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speak at a campaign rally at the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, in Aurora, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump departs a meeting of the Detroit Economic Club, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Supporters queue up to attend a rally with Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, in Aurora, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)