Arizona in Playoff Mode at Tennessee
The Cards need a win today before they face this nest week
The NFC West is football’s toughest division. Want proof? The Arizona Cardinals are 8-5 and in third place. With that same record, the Indianapolis Colts have already clinched the AFC South. The Cardinals will venture into AFC South country this afternoon when they take on the Tennessee Titans. The Titans may not be mathematically out yet, but the Cards can take care of that today with a win,
Arizona needs this game badly because they finish with the two teams ahead of them in the West standings, the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers. The Seahawks game is at Seattle which is about as close to a guaranteed loss as there is in the NFL. The 49ers at home for the last game will not be easy either. A loss today, and the Cards could spiral to an 8-8 finish very easily.
Right now, the 49ers and the Carolina Panthers are the two NFC Wild Card teams, both a game ahead of the Cardinals. However, the Cardinals hold the tie-breaker over the Panthers if they wind up tied with them. The Panthers play the New York Jets today in Carolina. If the Cards win and get a Jets win, they would be the second wild card team.
The bad news is though they have to go to Seattle next week. But, the Seahawks have the home field wrapped up with a win today and a New Orleans Saints loss, so they might be resting starters next week. The odds of the Cards making the playoffs are not good. But with a win today, they can stay in the running with two weeks to go. So essentially, the Cardinals playoff run starts now.
They come into the game following a 30-10 win over the St. Louis Rams a week ago. That is exactly the kind of performance they need today in Nashville. The Rams, like the Titans are an inferior opponent and the Cards need to step on their necks early and not let them up.
Bovada has the Cardinals -3 -105 and the Titans +3 -115. Over/Under is 43.5 with over and under both -110.
We are a bit surprised the line is this close. Arizona is a pretty good football team but perhaps are overshadowed because of the division they play in. We are going to take the Cardinals -3 -105 and the over -110. We like the Cards to take care of business in this one to stay in the Wild Card race. We also like the over -110.
The Jets are +10 against the Panthers and +375 while the Panthers are -10 and -550. It doesn’t sound as if they will get any help there. But we like the Jets +10. Hopefully they will be able to keep this one close.
