Thursday, February 9th, 2012
The Arizona Cardinals will look to bounce back in the win column in a short week when they travel to play the Detroit Lions in an NFL football game on Sunday afternoon. Kick off time in Detroit is scheduled for 1PM Eastern Time with regional television coverage provided by Fox. The LVSC NFL odds makers have set the opening line in this game and the Arizona Cardinals were opened as 11 ½ point favorites with the over under coming in at 48 ½. The early money from the NFL betting public has come in on the road favorite, as the Arizona Cardinals are currently a 12-½ point favorite. The total has seen early movement towards the under, as the over under is currently lined at 46 for the betting public to play into. NFL money line gamblers can make a play on the favored Arizona Cardinals at –800 with the home underdog Detroit Lions bringing back +600 to pull off the home upset victory without the need for getting the points.
Arizona sits with a record of 8-5 on the season and a full two games in front of San Francisco in the NFC West standings. They would clinch the NFC west with a win and a San Francisco loss. Should both San Francisco and Arizona finished tied in the division the San Francisco 49ers own the tiebreaker by having beaten Arizona in both meetings on the season. Arizona has plenty to play for as they look to move closer to a division title. The Cardinals were miserable on Monday Night Football dropping a 24-9 contest to the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park. The team committed 7 turnovers and gave a gift win to the 49ers. Kurt Warner hit on 16 of 29 passes last week for 178 yards no touchdowns and two picks in defeat. On the year Warner has played well hitting on 66.7% of his passes with 23 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. One of Warner’s main targets suffered an injury last week. Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald suffered a sprained knee and has been limited in practice because of it. The veteran wide out expressed to the media his intentions of playing on Sunday. Both of Arizona’s young running backs are producing as Tim Hightower and Beanie Wells averaged 4.4 yards a carry on the season. Both backs were hit by the turnover bug against San Francisco as each one of them lost a fumble. On the defensive side of the ball the Cardinals allow just 19.8 points per game. A trouble spot for them is their pass defense. Arizona allows 249 yards through the air ranking 28th in the NFL. Detroit is having another poor season as the team sits with a 2-11 record. They are coming off a bad 48-3 loss at the Baltimore Ravens last week. The team was absolutely torched defensively allowing 308 yards rushing and 240 through the air in defeat. The defense has been a trouble spot for years on this team. The Lions allow an incredible 31 points per game and 400 yards of offense. Rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford missed last week’s game with an injured shoulder and head coach Jim Schwartz told the media that his young signal caller is doubtful for Sunday’s game with the Cardinals. Veteran quarterback Dante Culpepper will be under center once again. Culpepper had a bad game last week in relief of Stafford hitting on just 47% of his throws with 0 touchdowns and two interceptions. Second year running back Kevin Smith suffered a torn ACL last week and is done for the season. Eight year pro Maurice Morris is in line to see additional work in the backfield with Smith’s absence. Morris has averaged 3.7 yards a carry this season. Nine of Detroit’s eleven losses have been by double digits.
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NFL Trend: Arizona Cardinals are 4-0 ATS to the under in their past 4 games
The Wagerline consensus has 70.0% of the NFL bettors on Arizona Cardinals –12 1/2
The Wagerline consensus has 58.9% the NFL bettors playing over 46 1/2
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