Week 12 NFL Betting Odds: Arizona At Atlanta

Posted by Eric Williams on Saturday,November 26, 2016 8:21, EDT in

The Atlanta Falcons will look to take another step toward winning the NFC South while the Arizona Cardinals look to avoid another costly loss when the two NFC playoff hopefuls square off in a intriguing matchup that looks like it could be one of the best games on the entire Week 12 docket.

Now, let’s find out which Super Bowl hopeful is going to bring home the bacon in this huge matchup for both teams.

A Closer Look At The Week 12 NFL Betting Odds: Cardinals At Falcons

When: Sunday, November 27, 2016 at 1:00 PM ET
Where: Georgia Dome
TV: FOX
Radio: Sirius XM Radio
Live Stream: FOX Sports GO
NFL Odds: Atlanta Falcons -5 / Over/Under: 50.5

 

 

Why Bet on the Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals fell to 1-2-1 over its last four games by falling to Minnesota 30-24 this past weekend as veteran quarterback Carson Palmer was harassed into a mediocre 20-for-38 passing day for 198 yards and two touchdowns that were cancelled out by a pair of interceptions.

Palmer was also sacked four times by the Vikings’ aggressive defense although running back David Johnson did manage to rush for 103 yards and one score while adding seven catches for 57 yards and another score. Johnson ranks third in the league in rushing with 863 yards.

The Arizona Cardinals are averaging a modest 22.6 points per game this season to rank an uninspiring 18th in scoring, but are limiting the opposition to just 19.0 points per game defensively to rank a solid 10th in points allowed. Arizona has a real sense of urgency according to their veteran signal-caller.

“To win one game,” Palmer said. “Can’t worry about seeding or standings or division records; nothing matters other than this game. As leaders, as the older guys in the locker room, you just keep everybody’s focus on one day at a time, finishing today. We’ve got the practice part done. We have a lot of meetings and a lot of tape to watch. You finish day after day after day, and that’s the mindset that we have.”

Why Bet on the Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons had a bye in Week 11, one week after falling to Philadelphia 24-15 and failing to cover the spread as a 1-point favorite. Matt Ryan was harassed into a 18-for-33 passing day for 267 yards and a touchdown, though he also tossed one costly interception against the Birds.

While wide receiver Julio Jones caught 10 passes for 135 yards, Atlanta’s defense gave up a whopping 429 yards to Philadelphia, including a whopping 208 rushing yards. Still the Falcons average a league-leading 32.0 points per game despite ranking 29th in points allowed (28.3 ppg). The Falcons definitely want to avoid a second-half collapse like they did last season – after getting off to  perfect 5-0 start a year ago.

“Well, we certainly hope so,” Quinn said about the Falcons finishing in style this season. “The scars that you get when you finish poorly, they definitely leave a mark. We’re a way different team than our 2015 team — our mental toughness, our resilience; we’re just tighter, we’re better, we’re more complete in that way.

“That’s, I think, the biggest difference. Although we didn’t finish all of them like we’d like to this year, I would say we’re quite a bit different outfit than we were at the end of 2015.”

 

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Expert Prediction and ATS Pick

The outcome of this contest really depends on which Arizona Cardinals team shows up for this contest, but since I don’t have any faith in their ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ act this season, I say the Atlanta Falcons re the pick to win and narrowly cover the spread.

While Atlanta has gone 6-3 SU and ATS in its last nine games, Arizona is just 1-4 ATS in their last five road games and 0-4 ATS in their last four games overall. Simply put, I say back Matty Ice and Julio Jones to lead the formerly ‘Dirty Birds’ to victory in this affair.

Pick: Atlanta 27 Arizona 21