Cardinals vs. Bills Odds

Written by Jason Lowry

This weekend two division leaders will do battle when the 4-0 Buffalo Bills head across the country to take on the 2-2 Arizona Cardinals. The Bills are one of the few remaining undefeated teams, and are your unlikely leaders in the AFC East. Last week the Bills had a minor close call against the Rams as they trailed 14-0 early, but wound up blowing them out 31-14. The Cardinals on the other hand weren’t so fortunate, as headed to New York to take on the Jets, and found themselves giving up 6 touchdown passes to Brett Farve in a 35-56 loss on the road. Even with the rough loss and the Bills perfect on the season, the oddsmakers have the Cardinals as 1.5 favorites in this one over the Bills.

Now though the Bills are 4-0 its not as if their offense is putting up ridiculous numbers, but they are getting great play out of their defense and special teams. They only average the 30th best yardage per game at 264, but they are holding on to the football and getting great field position. Quarterback Trent Edwards continues to look good in his 2nd year as a starter, as he has already thrown for 930 yards and 4 scores this season. Running back Marshawn Lynch continues to be a threat as he has pounded out 4 scores in 4 games as well. Both Lee Evans and Josh Reed are having solid games in the receiving game, and if this offense continues to play like this they should continue to win football games.

The Bills defense is the likely reason this team has played so well out of the gates, as they have only yielded 20 or more points one time this season. They are solid against both the run and the pass, and seem to make the big plays when needed. This weekend will be a good test for this defense, as the Cardinals will definitely air it out with Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald, but he Cardinals are prone to turn the ball over, and that plays right into the hands of a stingy Bills defense.

The Cardinals offense has been all about the pass this season, with Warner airing it out to both Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, but that won’t be the case this weekend , as Boldin will sit this one out. This could be a minor problem as teams will be able to put even more attention on Fitzgerald, which means guys like Steve Breaston will have to step up. Breaston was a big part of the passing game last week catching 9 balls for a 122 yards, and should be in for another big week this weekend. The running game continues in the hands of the veteran Edgerrin James, but don’t expect to big a day out of him against a tough Bills front.

The Cardinals defense has played pretty well to start the season, but some concerns have to be raised after giving up 6 TD passes to Farve last week. One thing worth noting is the Cardinals offense had 7 turnovers last week, which put the defense in bad field position, and kept them on the field for extended periods of time. We expect this defense to pick it up against the Bills this week, who really aren’t to fancy on the offensive side of things. One key will be stopping Lynch, who really seems to get the offense going when he is able to run the ball effectively.

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