It’s no time to brag yet, but with Denver easily covering an inexplicably low -3 spread in their 27-7 win against Tampa Bay last week, that puts me on a three game Lock of the Week winning streak.
Let’s keep the good times rolling in Week 5. A win this week won’t come easy. Have you looked at the board! After much deliberation, I finally decided on a game to bet. The best NFL game for bettors this week takes place on Thursday, Oct. 6 when the reeling Arizona Cardinals, losers of 3 of their last 4, battle the San Francisco 49eres at Levi’s Stadium.
Arizona Cardinals vs San Francisco 49’ers
When: Thursday, Oct. 6 at 8:30 pm ET
Where: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA
Betting Odds: Arizona -3, Total 42
Arizona Cardinals
What happened to Arizona? Are the Cardinals toast? History? Those are the questions that a lot of people are asking regarding the Cardinals who went 13-3 last year. There are all sorts of questions regarding one of last year’s NFC Championship runners-up. I understand those questions.
The problem with the Cardinals, like fellow 1 and 3 preseason Super Bowl favorite Carolina, has to do with the schedule. Arizona has had to face New England at home, Buffalo on the road, and the Los Angeles Rams at home in 3 of their first 4 games. The Rams always play the Cardinals tough. Nobody should have bought into Arizona as a -9 home favorite over New England, and taking on Buffalo on the road is never an easy task.
This Thursday, just like Carolina again, the Cardinals have a chance to make things right in a game against the woeful San Francisco 49’ers. Sure, SF was fired up in Week 1. That’s why they manhandled RB Todd Gurley and scored 28 points on the Rams’ excellent defense. Look what’s happened since? The Rams have beaten both Seattle and Arizona while SF has lost 3 in a row.
Carolina scored 46 points against San Francisco in a big win in Week 2. In Week 3, it was Seattle’s turn to get the offense going as they scored 37 points of their own. With rookie Dak Prescott at QB, Dallas put up 24 versus the 49’ers. San Francisco’s defense has no shot of stopping Arizona’s offense on Thursday night.
The Cardinals only score 23 points per game. They average 382 yards per game on offense, though. The glass half empty football fan will say that Arizona doesn’t know how to put the ball into the end zone. The glass half full football fan will say that Arizona has just run into bad luck. Eventually, the yardage is going to translate to points on the scoreboard.
San Francisco 49’ers
I’m a glass half full kind of guy when it comes to the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals have the seventh ranked offense in yards per game in the NFL at 382. The defense is ranked eighth in the NFL in yards allowed per game at 313.5. San Francisco’s defense allows 390 yards and 26.8 points per game. The 49’ers offense averages just 292.8 yards, thirtieth in the NFL.
The only big question is whether or not QB Carson Palmer will be able to play. He left the game versus the Rams with a concussion. Even if Palmer doesn’t play, I like Arizona back-up Drew Stanton to dominate the 49’ers’ defense.
This is Arizona’s get back-to-prominence game. Jump on the 3-point spread before the pros push it up to Arizona -4.5 to -5. The Cardinals, like Carolina, Seattle and Dallas before them, should easily handle the San Francisco 49’ers on Thursday night.
NFL Free ATS Pick: Arizona -3
Here is a look at the latest Super Bowl Odds.
