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Browns Cardinals Odds

The Arizona Cardinals host the Cleveland Browns Sunday in a rare non-conference clash between these two teams. Arizona and Cleveland have only squared off three times since the turn of the century. The home team has won all three, including a 27-21 victory by the Cardinals in their most recent meeting in 2007. While the Browns are eliminated from the playoffs, the Cardinals still have something to play for.

Oddsmakers in Las Vegas have installed a line of Arizona -6.5 over Cleveland with a total set of 37.5 points..

Arizona

Surprisingly, the Cardinals are one of the hottest teams in the league right now. Arizona (6-7, 4-2 home) has won five of their last six to keep their playoff hopes alive. What has been most impressive about this run is the fact that they’ve been an underdog in all six games. They now find themselves just two games back in the NFL wild card hunt with three games to play. The Cardinals will certainly need some help considering there are the No. 10 seed right now, but anything is possible.

Arizona is coming off perhaps their most impressive victory yet. The Cardinals beat the San Francisco 49ers 21-19 last Sunday despite starting quarterback Kevin Kolb going down with an injury early in the game. John Skelton took his place, and led Arizona all the way back from a 19-7 deficit in the third quarter to steal the victory. Skelton finished with 282 yards and three touchdowns. Larry Fitzgerald came up big, hauling in seven passes for 149 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown. His 53-yard grab set up the go-ahead 3-yard touchdown from Skelton to Andre Roberts with 11:50 to play.

The Cardinals rank 22nd in the league in total offense (317.3 yards/game) and 21st in total defense (360.0 yards/game). While their defense has been down much of the season, it has stepped up big of late. Over their last six games, the Cardinals are only allowing an average of 17.5 points. Skelton will likely start over Kolb, who is dealing with a concussion. Skelton comes in completing 53.8 percent of his passes for 1,032 yards with seven touchdowns and nine interceptions. Beanie Wells has rushed for 943 yards and nine scores, while Fitzgerald has 62 receptions for 1,092 yards and seven touchdowns.

Cleveland

The Browns are in shambles right now. Cleveland (4-9, 1-5 away) has lost three straight, and six of their last seven overall. Their coaching staff is getting a lot of grief about the way they handled quarterback Colt McCoy in a 14-3 road loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers last Thursday. McCoy was whacked by James Harrison, and while coaches said he didn’t have concussion-like symptoms after checking him out on the sidelines, the second-year quarterback stated after the game that he doesn’t even remember the hit.

McCoy would finish the game, but he simply could not get anything going against Pittsburgh’s daunting defense. The Browns had their chances, and the defense played about as well as you could expect, but in the end it turned out to be a 15th loss in 16 meetings with the Steelers. McCoy finished 18 of 35 for 209 yards with two interceptions. They did give up 416 total yards to the Steelers, but held them to just two touchdowns while forcing three turnovers. They also came up with a huge goal-line stand that kept the deficit at 7-3 late in the fourth quarter.

Cleveland ranks 29th in the NFL in total offense (291.7 yards/game) and 30th in scoring offense (13.7 points/game). However, the Browns rank 9th in total defense (331.6 yards/game) as their stop unit has been solid all season. McCoy is doubtful to play Sunday, meaning the quarterback duties will likely go to Seneca Wallace. He is a ninth-year pro out of Iowa State with previous starting experience in this league. Wallace will be handing the ball off to Peyton Hillis (346 yards, two TD) while also looking to stretch the field with rookie receiver Greg Little (52 receptions, 538 yards, one TD).

Betting Trends

The Browns are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games as a road underdog of 3.5-10.0, but just 2-8 ATS in their last 10 games as an underdog overall.

The Cardinals are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games overall, but 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games as a favorite of 3.5-10.0 points.